Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

You are here

Home

History Timeline

1918 - Terrible Epidemic

November 1918Millions of people worldwide are dying from Spanish influenza, or flu. To keep the infection from spreading throughout the community, Charlotte officials close parks, churches, schools and other public buildings. Still, in the U.S. alone, the disease races through the population in an outbreak called an epidemic. More than 500,000 people will die.

Date of Event:

1936 - Father of Bluegrass

February 17, 1936 - The Father of Bluegrass music, Bill Monroe, makes his first recording in a Charlotte warehouse. By 1939, this country music legend will become a regular guest on WBT's radio programs. He will record nearly 60 songs in Charlotte.

Date of Event:

1890 - Edison meets Latta

February 22, 1890 - Inventor Thomas Edison dines at the home of Edward Dilworth Latta, for whom the new Dilworth neighborhood is named. Soon, Latta will hire Edison's company, General Electric, to develop Charlotte's electric trolley line.

Date of Event:

1918 - Peace

November 11, 1918 - In a railroad car outside Paris, France, German leaders sign a pledge to stop fighting, called an armistice. With the help of American troops, the war has been won by France, England and their supporters, called allies. More formal negotiations must follow, and the official end of the war will come next June with the Treaty of Versailles, France. Worldwide, 10 million servicemen have died and 20 have been million wounded. Among US troops, 116,000 have died in the war.

Date of Event:

1936 - Mint Museum

October 22, 1936  - Although the nation is suffering an economic depression, North Carolina's first art museum opens. The old Charlotte Mint building, now vacant, has been dismantled and moved, brick by brick, from West Trade Street to suburban Randolph Road. Mary Myers Dwelle encouraged donations from Charlotteans to make the project possible. Mint Museum at its Eastover location

Date of Event:

1903 - Flight in Kitty Hawk

December 17, 1903 - On a windy bluff on North Carolina's outerbanks, Orville Wright takes flight in a powered airplane. He is the first person to accomplish this feat. His 100-foot trip lasts 12 seconds. Orville and his brother, Wilbur, traveled here from their Ohio bicycle shop to take advantage of the coastal winds at Kill Devil Hills.

Date of Event:

1920 - Decadent Decade

World War I is over and an optimistic nation prospers. With more money to spend, people enjoy music, art, movies and entertainment in this decade, called the Roaring Twenties. But the party won't last long. Banks and businesses are making poor financial decisions that will soon cause the collapse of America's economy.

Date of Event:

1937 - Shrine Bowl

Fans fill the stands at Memorial Stadium. The first Shrine Bowl game pits the best high school players from North and South Carolina against each other in what will become an annual football rivalry. Charlotte's games will produce the largest annual contribution to any Shriners' Children's Hospital in the U.S.Shrine Bowl

Date of Event:

1914 - Archduke Killed

July 28, 1914 - The European nation of Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, one month after a Serbian kills the Archduke of Austria-Hungary. World War I begins. The deadliest war in history to date, it will last nearly five years. The U.S. will remain uninvolved, or neutral, for three years.

Date of Event:

1921 - Governor Morrison

Cameron Morrison is the third Charlottean to serve as North Carolina's governor. His tireless campaign for better roads will earn him a nickname: the Good Roads Governor. In 1926, he will build a farm southeast of Charlotte and call it Morrocroft. It will have 750 cattle, 300 pigs, and 50,000 chickens. Within 50 years, the Morrocroft farm will give rise to some of Charlotte's most prestigious suburbs: Southpark, Barclay Downs and Foxcroft.Governor Cameron Morrison

Date of Event: