May 28, 2015
Today marks the anniversary of the 1934 birth of the Dionne
Quintuplets in Ontario, Canada.
Here are a few things you may not have known about the first
quintuplets known to have survived infancy.
First: The five sisters were identical quintuplets. In order of
birth, their names were Yvonne, Anette, Cecile, Emilie and Marie.
Their parents had five older children and went on to have three
sons after the quintuplets.
Second: Their father planned to put the children on display at the
Chicago Worlds Fair, but didn’t follow through after accusations of
child exploitation. That didn’t stop the Ontario government,
however, who took the quints from their parents and raised them in
a facility designed to allow spectators to watch the children. The
quintuplets attracted 51 million tourist dollars to the
province.
Third: Annette and Cecile are the only two of the quintuplets alive
today. Emilie died in 1954 after an epileptic seizure, Marie died
in 1970 of a blood clot, and Yvonne died in 2001 of cancer.
Our question: What is the largest number of babies born at one time
known to have survived infancy?