Famous Persons in the USA

Ali, Muhammad After winning the amateur ‘Golden Gloves’ championship in 1959 and 1960, Cassius Clay became Olympic light-heavyweight champion in 1960. He immediately became a professional and within four years he was the heavyweight champion of the world. He then became a Muslim and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Because of his beliefs, he refused to be called up into the army to fight in the Vietnam War. His world title was taken away from him and he was banned from boxing from 1967 to 1970. He returned to the ring in the 1970s and, although he lost his title twice, he became the first heavyweight boxer to win the world championship three times. Ali was very confident in his own skills, and often made up short songs about himself and his talents. At the peak of his fame he claimed that he was the best-known person on the planet. top of the page

Armstrong, Louis Louis Armstrong was born into a very poor home. He was a cheerful, mischievous lad, but one day when he was 13 he went a bit too far. He took a pistol out of the house and fired it in the street. It was meant as a harmless prank, but he ended up being taken to a children's home. It was at the home that he had his first music lesson and learned to play the cornet. He left the home as a teenager and gradually started to earn a living playing his cornet. In the 1920s, after playing in other bands, he formed various small groups of his own, such as The Louis Armstrong Hot Five, and made some records. These recordings brought him world-wide fame among jazz fans. But Armstrong was more than just a cornet player. His big smile and his antics on stage made him into something special. In 1936 he appeared in his first film, Pennies from Heaven, with Bing Crosby. From then on he gradually became a popular singer, his gravelly, cheerful voice having an attraction all of its own. His biggest popular song hits were Hello Dolly, (1964) and What a Wonderful World (1968). top of the page

Armstrong, Neil Neil Armstrong was very interested in flying when he was a young man. He was awarded his pilot's licence at the age of 16, even before he had learnt to drive a car. The following year he became a naval air cadet, and went on to fly in the Korean War. Later in the 1950s, he became a test pilot for NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) before joining the US space programme in 1962. His first mission in space, on Gemini 8 in 1966, ended earlier than expected when he had to make an emergency landing in the Pacific Ocean. In July 1969 Armstrong joined fellow astronauts Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin and Michael Collins on the Apollo 11 mission. They took four days to reach the Moon. On 20 July Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon. As he stepped off the ‘Eagle’ (the lunar landing module), he said, ‘That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.’ top of the page

Billy the Kid There is some confusion over Billy the Kid's real name. At his trial he used the name William Bonney, but as a child he was known as Henry McCarthy. By the age of 12, Billy the Kid was already a gambler and card player, and had knifed a man for insulting his mother. When he was just 16, he and a partner murdered three Native Americans and stole the furs they were carrying. In 1877, after more murderous exploits, he became involved in a ‘war’ between two cattle-ranching families. As leader of one of the gangs, he was in one gun battle after another. He returned to cattle thieving and murder when that ‘war’ was over. A sheriff called Pat Garrett was determined to catch him, and he finally succeeded in 1881. Billy the Kid was sentenced to hang, but he managed to escape. Two months later, Garrett cornered him and shot him dead. Films have been made which show Billy the Kid as a hero, but in reality he was a criminal who murdered at least 21 people. top of the page

Buffalo Bill Like many other people in the ‘Wild West’, William Cody had little schooling and could just about write his name. From the age of 11, he helped to support his family, working as a mounted messenger on wagon trains travelling to the West, and looking after livestock. These jobs helped him become a very good rider. After serving in the American Civil War (1861–1865) he made his living supplying buffalo (bison) meat to railway workers. At that time great herds of buffalo roamed the American prairies, and Cody's skill at shooting them gave him his nickname of ‘Buffalo Bill’. Because of his riding and hunting skills, and also his knowledge of Native American ways, Buffalo Bill was in demand in the 1870s as a scout with the cavalry who were fighting the Native Americans. His skill at this and his various adventures – it is said that he killed and scalped a young chief called Yellow Hair – made him famous as a Western folk hero. In 1872 he started appearing in stage shows about himself. Then from 1883, he started organizing his Wild West Show. This exhibition included horsemanship, shooting skills, mock battles, a buffalo hunt and lots of cowboys and Native Americans. The show featured such stars as Annie Oakley and, from 1885, Chief Sitting Bull. Buffalo Bill continued to star in this show until just two months before his death. top of the page

Capone, Al Alphonse Capone claimed that he was born in New York but it is more likely that he was born in Italy and emigrated with his family to the USA when he was a child. Capone turned to crime very early, and was involved in New York street gangs when he was a teenager. He was a natural leader and soon had many gangsters and hoodlums following him. In 1919 the Congress of the United States voted to ban all sales of alcoholic drinks, and this became law the following year. This ban lasted for 13 years, and was called Prohibition. During Prohibition, many criminals made fortunes because a lot of people still wanted to drink beer and other alcoholic drinks, and only criminals could supply them. Capone operated in Chicago during this time, running various illegal schemes including the selling of alcoholic drinks. He became rich and influential through crime, and was not arrested because he bribed many policemen and other officials. He was very brutal and was involved in the murder of seven members of a rival gang in what became known as the St Valentine's Day massacre. Eventually, in 1932, Capone went to prison for not paying taxes. After only a few years, he came out a sick man and died while still in his forties. top of the page

Custer, George Armstrong George Armstrong Custer grew up in a large, boisterous family. He decided to be an army officer, but was almost expelled from the US Military Academy at West Point. A friend wrote at the time, ‘He is always connected with all the mischief that is going on, and never studies more than he can help’. After West Point, Custer fought for the Union Army of the northern states in the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865. His commanding officer called him ‘gallant’ but ‘reckless’. The newspapers called him the ‘Boy General’ because he was only 23 when he was promoted. He raced his cavalry to victory after victory and became a legendary hero for his courage. After the war, Custer was sent to fight the Native Americans who still roamed the Great Plains. He often fought rashly and did not treat his men well, but the newspapers praised him for his success. Then, in 1876, Custer and all 266 of his troops were killed at Little Bighorn, South Dakota, by a force of over 3000 Sioux led by Chief Sitting Bull. The only survivor was one horse, which was found wandering by itself at the scene of the massacre. top of the page

Dean, James James Dean's mother died when he was just 5 years old, and he grew up on his uncle's farm. At school he loved acting, and went on to perform on stage and television before becoming a star at the age of 24 in East of Eden (1955). Within a few months he made two more films, Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956), but before they appeared in cinemas he had an accident in his sports car and died. Dean became a hero for teenagers who were angry at the way adults misunderstood them, just like the character he played in Rebel Without a Cause. Many years after his death, his face can still be seen on millions of posters, T-shirts and photographs bought by young people all over the world. top of the page

Disney, Walt Walter Disney grew up on a Missouri farm, and enjoyed sketching the animals around him. He later drew advertisements for an advertising agency, before starting on cartoon films for the Laugh-o-Gram company in Kansas. He created Mickey Mouse in 1928 and Donald Duck in 1934. These quickly became the world's favourite cartoon characters. He then started making full-length animated films, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio (1940) and Bambi (1942). Sometimes he was criticized for changing famous stories to suit his cartoons. His film company became the biggest producer of cartoons, but it also made children's films with real actors such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and films such as Mary Poppins (1964) which combined cartoon characters and real actors. Disney is now one of the most successful film companies in the world, making films for adults as well as children. In 1954 Walt Disney opened Disneyland, the huge amusement park in California. The even bigger Disneyworld in Florida opened five years after his death, and Disneyworld near Paris, France, opened in 1992, originally under the name of EuroDisney. top of the page

Edison, Thomas Alva When Thomas Edison was only 7 years old, he was expelled from his school because the headmaster thought he was too slow to learn. His mother then taught him at home and encouraged his interest in science. By the time he was 10 he had made his own laboratory. At the age of 12 he began to sell newspapers and sweets in the carriages of the new railway trains. He set up a laboratory in the luggage van so that he could do experiments while the train was in the station. He later started working as a telegraph operator, but he continued doing experiments in his spare time. Edison set up his own telegraph company before setting up a research laboratory, which he called his ‘invention factory’. He used to boast that this laboratory made a small invention every ten days and a big one every six months. In total, Edison patented over 1000 inventions. One of the most important was the world's first machine for recording sounds, the phonograph. The whole of our modern recording industry, for both pop and classical music, developed from this invention. Edison also helped to invent the electric lamp. The English inventor J. W. Swan had pioneered the work on electric lamps some 20 years earlier. The lamp consisted of a wire inside a glass bulb from which all the air had been taken out to create a vacuum. When an electric current was passed through the wire, called a filament, it glowed white hot and so gave out light. While he was experimenting, Edison found that a current could also flow across the vacuum to a plate inside the bulb. He did not understand why, but we know today it is due to electrons escaping from the filament: it is known now as the Edison effect. This discovery led to the invention of the electronic valve (used before transistors and microchips) and was really the beginning of the whole of our modern electronics industry. top of the page

Ford, Henry Henry Ford was born on his family's farm, but he did not like farming. When he was 15, he became an apprentice in a machine shop, and at night he worked repairing watches. In 1893 Ford built his first car. It had two cylinders, two forward gears and a reverse gear. He drove it for a thousand miles, then sold it and built two bigger cars. Then, in 1903, he started the Ford Motor Company. Using light, strong vanadium steel, he built cheap, cars for everyone to buy. In 1908, he built the first Ford ‘Model T’, the ‘Tin Lizzie’, which sold for $825. By June, he was selling a hundred cars a day. By 1927, 15 million Model Ts had been made, and the Ford Motor Company was worth 700 million dollars. The cars were made on an assembly line: as they slowly moved the 300 metres through the factory, workers completed simple single tasks on them. It was boring work, but Ford paid the highest wages in the industry, and once, when he advertised for more workers, the police had to control the crowd who came looking for jobs. Ford went on to produce many fine cars in America and in Europe. They were simple, cheap and reliable: ‘You can afford a Ford’ was one slogan. However, keeping things simple sometimes meant less choice. ‘You can have any colour you like,’ said Henry Ford of his Tin Lizzie, ‘so long as it's black.’ top of the page

Franklin, Benjamin As a young man, Benjamin Franklin tried a number of jobs in America and England. Then, back in America, he set up his own printing business, and by the age of 23 he was printing all the banknotes for Pennsylvania. In 1753 he became the postmaster for that colony. He was always interested in science, and wanted to prove that lightning was just a giant electrical spark. He took the risk of flying a kite up into a thundercloud and showed that an electrical spark would jump from a key tied to the wet string. This famous experiment led to the development of the lightning conductor or rod. In 1757 Franklin became the representative of Pennsylvania in London. Later he spoke in Parliament against the British government's tax policies towards the American colonies. Then, after helping Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence in 1776, he served in Paris where he persuaded France to support the rebels in the American Revolution. He was very popular in France, and when he died a French writer said, ‘He snatched the lightning from the skies and the sceptre from tyrants.’ top of the page

Jackson, Michael Michael Jackson was hailed as a singing and dancing child genius from the age of 6. He began his show business career in 1968 when he and his brothers formed a group called The Jackson Five. They had a string of hits in the USA and Europe. Jackson's style was similar to that of such vocalists as Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross, the singing star who encouraged him in his early days. In 1971, while still singing with The Jackson Five, he also began a solo career which brought him further international hits. While filming The Wiz, a 1978 remake of The Wizard of Oz with a black cast, Jackson met producer and composer Quincey Jones. They worked closely together after that. Jackson's first album with Jones was Off the Wall (1979), which sold 19 million copies. This was followed by Thriller (1982), which sold 38 million copies and became the biggest selling album ever, Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and HIStory (1995). Over the years, Jackson developed a distinctive singing voice and his high-speed dancing drew praise from experts such as Fred Astaire. His spectacular stage shows were one of the main show business attractions of the 1980s. However, rumours of plastic surgery to reshape his face, his bizarre pets and the fact that he lives hidden away in a luxurious Hollywood mansion, led to Jackson being called ‘Wacko Jacko’ by some newspapers. A police investigation into his private life in 1994–1995 developed into a media frenzy. Nevertheless, he still remains popular with his millions of fans and continues to have hit records all over the world. In 1994 he married Lisa-Marie, the daughter of Elvis Presley. top of the page

Jordan, Michael Michael Jordan was a leading college basketball player at the University of North Carolina. He then began an outstanding career with the Chicago Bulls, becoming the National Basketball Association's most valuable player in 1988. Jordan is renowned in professional American basketball for his high scoring. By 1992 he had achieved a record average of 32.3 points in 589 games for the Bulls. He is known as ‘Air’ Jordan because of the height he can leap. He competed in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 with the ‘Dream Team’. This US team consisted of top millionaire professional players instead of the usual college amateurs. Not surprisingly, the team easily won the Olympic gold medal. Jordan announced his retirement from professional basketball in 1993, but less than two years later he decided to resume his career.