John Bartko and Anna Slebodnick give birth to their first child, a son, George Bartko, on March 9, 1915.   Young George is the fourth grandchild of Alex and Anna Scšur Kudrick.  The other three grandchildren are Michael Mudry age 5, Anna Mudry age 3, and Mary Mudry age 1.

Two of Alex and Anna Kudrick's nine children are now married.  They are Anna Scšur II married to  John Mudry in 1909 and John Bartko married to Anna Slebodnick last year.  The other seven Kudrick children are living at home with their parents, Alex and Anna Kudrick.  The children include Mary Bartko Kudrick age 21, Michael Kudrick age 17, Helen Kudrick age 14, Elizabeth Kudrick age 12, Joseph Kudrick age 9, Anna Kudrick age 7 and Susan Kudrick age 3.

More events of 1915:  In baseball, Braves Field in Boston opens in August and Boston owner Joe Lannin purchases pitcher Babe Ruth from the Baltimore Orioles.  Soon after the sale Ruth has three hits including his first major-league home run.

Ty Cobb sets a major league record when he steals 96 bases.  Interestingly, during his career, Cobb sets more records than any other player in the history of baseball.
   
On the pigskin front, Jim Thorpe plays football for the Canton Bulldogs and Knute Rockne becomes coach at Notre Dame, a post he will hold for 15 years.

John Heisman, after whom the Heisman Trophy will be named, is busy coaching at Georgia Tech.

The Army football team includes two future generals, Dwight Eisenhower and Omar Bradley.

Pittsburgh begins putting numbers on players uniforms and the second Tournament of Roses game is scheduled, 13 years after the first one is played (1902).

The one millionth Ford rolls off the assembly line as the consumers fall in love with this transportation marvel..

People are singing  "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag" and "The Sunshine of Your Smile," and also entertained by reading  "Of Human Bondage" by W. Somerset Maugham.

The consuming public is introduced to or hears about gas masks, Kraft processed cheese, Kellogg's 40%-Bran Flakes, the Ford tractor-trailer, the doubledecker bus, General Tire and Rubber Company, Carrier Corporation and the Coast Guard.  Interestingly, the Coast Guard is formed in the same year that George Bartko is born because George will serve in the Coast Guard during World War II.

Additional Events of 1915:  The feature or long length film business which the Family Theater in Hazleton is promoting takes a giant step forward with the Civil War classic, D.W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation."

Hollywood stars of the screen are Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Lillian Gish, Theda Bara and Charles Chaplin.

Five Hazleton theaters will stem from a single 500-seat showplace built at 21 East Diamond Avenue.  It begins as the Savoy which opens on Diamond Avenue this year.  Later this movie house will become the Pleasure Parlor, the Temple, the Liberty and the Roxy and will operate well into the 1940s.  It is a one-story building accommodating 500 seats and a small stage where live vaudeville acts sometimes accompany the silent movie venue.

Fire guts the Diamond Theater on Alter Street.

The Motor Transportation Company of Hazleton is awarded a contract to haul coal from the Harwood mines to the bins of the Hazleton Steam Heat Company at 50¢ per ton.  The Hazleton Steam Heat Company provides heat to most businesses and homes in Hazleton.

The Victor Talking Machine Company markets the phonograph under the name Victrola, but the name soon applies to all phonographs.  Landaus Store of Hazleton advertises on the Plain Speaker sports page, "the season's snappiest tunes in sheet music and Victor records such as Deedle Deedle Dum, Kicky Koo and Send Back My Honeymoon."

The north side of Broad Street between Laurel and Wyoming streets includes the old Mansion House (the Leader Store eventually builds on this site), the First National Bank, the Plain Speaker, Peoples Savings and Trust Company and Hymans store located in the Hazle Hall building.

The taxicab makes its first appearance in Hazleton.  The price for a short ride is a nickle, or "jitney," and the term soon is applied to the cars themselves.  Many a car since then has been called a jitney.  Inter-city bus lines soon spring-up to compete with the jitney service.

Albert Einstein formulates the general theory of relativity.