Welcome to the History Tricks where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental.

And here is your 32nd summary.

Line by line over the course of her life, Francis Perkins drew the blueprint for a better society.

One that protected the weak, curped the unethical, and provided a humanistic framework for government.

As the first woman ever to serve in a presidential cabinet, Ms. Perkins was officially empowered to go ahead and build for vision of a better country, enacting reforms that affect each of us even today, including such things as the duration of a work week, child labor laws, workplace safety regulations, overtime pay, unemployment insurance, and social security.

The end.

Let's talk about Francis Perkins.

But first let's drop her into history in 1933.

In seven days and 19 hours, Wiley Post completed the first flight around the world.

The lone ranger broadcasts the first of what would be over 3,000 episodes in a 21 year run.

The first issues of Newsweek and Esquire magazine were published.

Draft, the first synthetic laundry detergent went on sale.

Albert Einstein arrived in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.

A century of progress, the world's fair in Chicago opened.

Elizabeth McCoombs became the first female member of New Zealand's parliament.

The first singing telegram was delivered by the telegraph cable company in New York City.

Alva Belmont and Lewis Comfort, Timothy died.

Susan Sontag, Corazon Aquino, Nina Simone, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Carol Burnett, Jane Mansfield,

and Joan Rivers were all born.

And in 1933, Francis Perkins is sworn into a historic position that will better the lives of millions for many, many generations.

Fanny Corley Perkins was born on April 10, 1880 in Boston, Massachusetts, the eldest of the two daughters of Fred W. and Susan Bean Perkins.

Though, later records, even her official government records, have shaved two years off of her age.

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