Pop History

The names of famous and influential people are scattered throughout the FiftiesWeb This is merely a short list for those of you who have been asked the question, Name Some Famous People.

FAMOUS PEOPLE
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Politics and World
	Dwight D. Eisenhower Born:10/14/1890 in Denison, Texas Died: 3/28/1969 34th President of the United States 1953-1961 Married to Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower Eisenhower was frist a war hero who served in the Philippines from 1935 to 1939 with Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Afterward, Gen. George C. Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff, brought him into the War Department's General Staff and in 1942 placed him in command of the invasion of North Africa. In 1944, he was made Supreme Allied Commander for the invasion of Europe and commanded the D-Day invasion of Normandy. In the 1952 Presidential election, he defeated Gov. Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois. Eisenhower was re-elected in 1956 by again defeating Stevenson, 457 electoral votes to 73 for Stevenson. His Vice-President was Richard M. Nixon.
	Harry S. Truman Born: 5/8/1884 in Lamar, Missouri Died: 12/26/1972 33th President of the United States 1945-1953 Married to Elizabeth Virginia Wallace Truman Elected vice president in 1944, Truman became president upon Franklin Roosevelt's sudden death in April 1945. This was during World War II and Truman had to finish defeating the Axis powers. Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945 but to end the war with Japan,Truman authorized the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945. Japan surrendered on Aug. 14. Truman surprised everyone by defeating the heavily favored Thomas E. Dewey in 1948. Truman's Vice-President from 1949–1953 was Alben W. Barkley
	Richard M. Nixon Born: 1/9/1913 in Yorba Linda, California Died: 4/22/1994, in New York, New York 37th President of the United States 1969-1974 Vice-President of the United States 1953-61 (under Eisenhower) Married to Patricia Ryan Nixon Nixon is the only President forced to resign in disgrace. Scandal was always part of his political life and in 1952 he was forced to make what is known as the "Checkers" speech. As Vice-President, Nixon often traveled abroad, and in 1958 he faced a hostile demonstration in Venezuela. In 1959 on a trip to the Soviet Union, he engaged in a much-publicized informal "kitchen" debate with Premier Nikita Khrushchev. In 1960 Nixon was defeated by John F. Kennedy for the presidency even though he gained almost as much of the popular vote. Nixon won the White House in 1968 by defeating then Vice-President Hubert Humphrey and again in 1972, against Senator George McGovern of South Dakota.
	Martin Luther King Jr. Born: 1/151929 in Atlanta, Georgia Died: 4/4/1968 in Memphis, Tennessee The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is deservedly the name most closely associated with the Civil Rights movement in the United States. His message of nonviolent protest resonates today. Dr. King organized the massive March on Washington (August 28, 1963), which brought more than 200,000 people together and where, at the Lincoln Memorial, King delivered the "I Have A Dream" speech. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. On April 4, 1968, he was shot and killed on the balcony of the motel where he was staying. James Earl Ray was later convicted of his murder. His birthday is an American national holiday, celebrated on the third Monday in January.
	Queen Elizabeth of Great Britian (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor) Born: 4/26/1926 Queen of Great Britain since 1952, she is the eldest daughter of King George VI. She married Lieutenant Mountbatten, now His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947. Her Majesty was Time Magazine's Woman of the Year in 1952, when she accessioned to the throne.
	Premier Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union Born: 4/17/1894 Kalinovka Died: 9/11/1971 Khrushchev was Soviet Communist leader, premier of the USSR (1958–64), and first secretary of the Communist party of the Soviet Union (1953–64). Khrushchev was vehemently pro-communist and anti-capitalist in his world view. In November of 1956 during a diplomatic reception at the Kremlin, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev told Western diplomats: "Whether you like it our not, history is on our side. We will bury you." He was named Time Magazine's Man of the Year in 1957. He toured the United States in 1959. In 1962 he was forced to remove missles from Cuba, backing down to President John Kennedy. In October 1964, Khrushchev was removed from power at least in part because of his failure in the Cuban Missle Crises. Thereafter he lived in obscurity outside Moscow until his death in 1971.
	President Charles De Gaulle of France Born:1890 Died: 1970 French general and statesman, first president (1959–69) of the Fifth Republic. During World War II when France was invaded by Germany, De Gaulle, who had opposed the Franco-German armistice, fled in June of 1940 to London, where he organized the Free French forces and rallied several French colonies to his movement. De Gaulle was Time Magazine's Man of the Year for 1958.
	Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion of Israel Born: 1886 in Plónsk, Poland Died: 1973 Architect of the then new nation state of Israel. Prime Minister of Israel 1948–53, 1955–63.