History

New York Life | November 1, 2023

At New York Life
 

Nov. 4, 2011

The Grief Reach Program was born when New York Life Foundation announced $750,000 in two-year grants. The money went to 22 bereavement providers who worked with children. As of 2018, Grief Reach had supported 236 organizations and committed over $7.1 million.

Nov. 8, 1932

Herbert Hoover (Republican) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Democrat), ran against each other for the U.S. presidency. Roosevelt won the election. Hoover would go on to join the New York Life board of directors in 1934, while Roosevelt was a policy owner.

Nov. 16, 1928

New York Life began moving into its new Home Office Building at 51 Madison.  During a dedication ceremony for the new site, New York Life President Darwin Kingsley called the future building a “Cathedral of Insurance...to the better development of the science of society.”  In 2000, the Home Office building was designated a historic landmark by New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Nov. 17, 2022

New York Life declares largest dividend in company history.

Nov. 19, 1856

New York Life purchased its first Home Office Building, on the 100 block of Broadway Avenue.

Nov. 19, 2015

The Shared Grief Project launched. The website dedicated to sharing stories of childhood bereavement from celebrities was made possible in part from a $75,000 grant from the New York Life Foundation.  

Nov. 28, 2019  

New York Life’s Toy House of Marvelous Miracles float debuted at Macy’s 93rd Thanksgiving Day Parade® in honor of our 175th anniversary.  The float was designed to evoke the timeless themes of looking onward and upward, dynamic and diverse families, and bringing people together.

Around the World

Nov. 1, 1848

The first medical school for women opened in Boston. The Boston Female Medical School was founded by Samuel Gregory with just twelve students. In 1874, the school merged with the Boston University School of Medicine, becoming one of the first co-ed medical schools.

Nov. 1, 1993

The European Union came into existence as a result of the Maastricht Treaty.

Nov. 1, 1995

The first all-race local government elections took place in South Africa, marking the end of the apartheid system.

Nov. 4, 1890

The first electrified underground railway system was officially opened in London.

Nov. 5, 1911

Aviator C.P. Snow completed the first transcontinental flight across America, landing at Pasadena, California. He had taken off from Sheepshead Bay, New York, on September 17th and flew a distance of 3,417 miles.

Nov. 7, 1944

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to an unprecedented fourth term, defeating Thomas E. Dewey. Roosevelt died less than a year later on April 12, 1945.

Nov. 9, 1853

Architect Stanford White (1853-1906) was born in New York City. He designed New York's old Madison Square Garden (the site of which eventually became the New York Life home office building,) the Washington Arch, and the Players, Century and Metropolitan Clubs. White was shot to death on the roof of the Madison Square Garden by an acquaintance on June 25, 1906.

Nov. 13, 1927

The Holland Tunnel was opened to traffic. The tunnel runs under the Hudson River between New York City and Jersey City and was the first underwater tunnel built in the U.S. It is comprised of two tubes, each large enough for two lanes of traffic.

Nov. 14, 1889

Newspaper reporter Nellie Bly set out from New York to beat the record of Jules Verne's imaginary hero Phileas Fogg, who traveled around the world in 80 days. Bly (pen name for Elizabeth Cochrane) returned 72 days later to a tumultuous welcome in New York.

Nov. 17, 1800

The U.S. Congress met for the first time in the new capital at Washington, D.C. President John Adams then became the first occupant of the Executive Mansion, later renamed the White House.

Nov. 19, 1863

President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address during ceremonies dedicating 17 acres of the Gettysburg Battlefield as a National Cemetery. Famed orator Edward Everett of Massachusetts preceded Lincoln and spoke for two hours. Lincoln then delivered his address in less than two minutes. Although many in attendance were at first unimpressed, Lincoln's words have come to symbolize the definition of democracy itself.

Nov.  26, 1789

The first American holiday occurred, proclaimed by President George Washington to be Thanksgiving Day, a day of prayer and public thanksgiving in gratitude for the successful establishment of the new American republic.

Nov. 29, 1876

Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876-1977) was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. She became America's first female governor, finishing her husband's term as governor of Wyoming after his death. She was elected governor in 1924, but lost the 1927 election. She also served as vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee and was named director of the U.S. Mint by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.

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