People and Society of United States of America

Nationality

noun: American(s) adjective: American

Ethnic Groups

White 61.6%, Black or African American 12.4%, Asian 6%, Indigenous and Alaska native 1.1%, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.2%, other 8.4%, two or more races 10.2%

Population

310,232,863

Population (Male / Female)

male: 168,598,780 female: 173,364,628

Population Distribution

large urban clusters are spread throughout the eastern half of the US (particularly the Great Lakes area, northeast, east, and southeast) and the western tier states; mountainous areas, principally the Rocky Mountains and Appalachian chain, deserts in the southwest, the dense boreal forests in the extreme north, and the central prarie states are less densely populated; Alaska's population is concentrated along its southern coast - with particular emphasis on the city of Anchorage - and Hawaii's is centered on the island of Oahu

Urban Population

urban population: 83.3% of total population rate of urbanization: 0.96% annual rate of change

Population in Major Urban Areas

18.937 million New York-Newark, 12.534 million Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, 8.937 million Chicago, 6.707 million Houston, 6.574 million Dallas-Fort Worth, 5.490 million WASHINGTON, D.C. (capital)

Age Structure

0-14 years: 18.1% (male 31,618,532/female 30,254,223) 15-64 years: 63.4% (male 108,553,822/female 108,182,491) 65 years and over: 18.5% (2024 est.) (male 28,426,426/female 34,927,914)

Median Age

total: 38.9 years male: 37.8 years female: 40 years

Sex Ratio at Birth

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female

Life Expectancy at Birth

total population: 80.9 years male: 78.7 years female: 83.1 years

Infant Mortality Rate

total: 5.1 deaths/1,000 live births male: 5.4 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.7 deaths/1,000 live births

Drinking Water Source

improved: urban: 99.9% of population rural: 99.7% of population total: 99.9% of population unimproved: urban: 0.1% of population rural: 0.3% of population total: 0.1% of population

Sanitation Facility Access

improved: urban: 99.8% of population rural: 98.9% of population total: 99.7% of population unimproved: urban: 0.2% of population rural: 11.1% of population total: 0.3% of population

Tobacco Use

total: 23% male: 28.4% female: 17.5%

Alcohol Consumption

total: 8.93 liters of pure alcohol beer: 3.97 liters of pure alcohol wine: 1.67 liters of pure alcohol spirits: 3.29 liters of pure alcohol other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol

Literacy Definition

Age 15 and over can read and write

Total School Life Expectancy

total: 16 years male: 16 years female: 17 years

Classroom

Because schools are funded at the state and local levels, the quality of the structures and classroom resources can vary significantly. Most schools try to hold their class size to 20 students or less, but occasionally resources require larger class enrollments. Because students are at school for an average of seven to eight hours per day (depending on local guidelines), they will usually eat lunch during school hours. They may bring a lunch from home, or buy lunch at school for a very reasonable cost (about US $2.00). Dietary guidelines for lunches available at the school are established by the national government (administered by the Department of Agriculture), but local schools decide what foods to serve to meet those guidelines. A typical lunch might consist of a hamburger or slice of pizza, a drink, fruit, and a cookie. For lower-income families, the lunches are free or reduced in price. In the 2004-2005 school year, six out of every ten students in the United States received a free or reduced-price lunch.

Education Culture

The United States does not have a national school system; however, there are federal support programs and educational guidelines, in addition to state and local guidelines. Between 85 to 90% of children under the age of 18 attend public schools. Although the age limit varies by state, all children in the United States have the right to receive at least 11 years of public-funded education. These public schools are funded by local and state taxes and are under those jurisdictions. A fairly small segment of public schooling consists of charter schools, which are public schools that are turned over to a local community or group of parents to operate. Of those children who do not attend public schools, most enroll in private schools, which must be paid for by the families of the students. 80% of private schools in the United States are operated by religious groups. A third educational option taken advantage of by only a small percentage is a home school, which means that the parents teach the children themselves at home. The number of home-schooled children exceeded one million for the first time in 2003. Kindergarten is usually available for one year prior to entrance into elementary school, which begins at age six. School systems usually include grades one through six in elementary school, seven through eight or nine in junior high (sometimes called middle school), and grades nine or ten through twelve in high school. In smaller, rural communities, it is not uncommon for elementary school to include grades one through eight, with high school covering the remaining grades through twelve.  With the influx of non-English-speaking people over the past 20 years, traditional educational models have been expanded to include content and methods from many of the major subcultures of the United States. Like most industrialized nations, approximately one-third of young adults entering the workforce are college educated. Increasingly, a college education is required to obtain a job supporting the standard of living to which many families have become accustomed.

Learning

Children are in school for an average of seven to eight hours per day (depending on state and local regulations), Monday through Friday, for approximately 180 days per year. Most schools have a long break of about two and a half months during the summer season, which is much longer than in many other nations. School uniforms are not required for most public schools in the United States (3% had uniforms in 1997, whereas some studies claimed up to 21% in 2000). However, there is usually some sort of dress code that prohibits clothes that expose too much skin or undergarments, are gang-related, or are otherwise just not safe. In private schools, uniforms are quite common, consisting of collared shirts of specific colors with pants or skirts also of specific colors. Some private schools prefer a more formal uniform of blazer and tie for boys and culottes or skirts for girls. Although the school curriculum changes from state to state, nearly all elementary schools will teach mathematics, language arts (such as reading and writing), science, social studies (including history and geography), and physical education. Most schools today will also teach basic computer skills, which is becoming a critical part of education in all fields of study and general life skills. Secondary schools will teach increasingly focused aspects of these general subject areas and often include additional elective courses such as drama, choral and instrumental music, life skills (such as cooking or personal finances), foreign languages, athletics, publishing, and technical skills (such as auto mechanics, welding, or carpentry). Most states assign performance grades using a series of letters: traditionally A meant exceptional; B, above average; C, average; D, below average; and F was a failing grade that required repetition of the course until mastery was obtained. However, grade inflation has become such a common practice that today a B is more typical of average performance, and a C is passing but substandard work.

To School

Some children ride bikes to school or walk, some ride buses provided by the school, others will take advantage of the public transportation systems available in many metropolitan areas, and yet others will ride in a carpool or with a parent. The method of transportation often depends on whether the school is in an urban or rural setting, the time of year, and the economic status of the parents.

• Protestant52.0%
• Roman Catholic24.0%
• Other10.0%
• None10.0%
• Mormon2.0%
• Jewish1.0%
• Muslim1.0%

English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific islands 2.7%, other 0.7% Note: the US has no official national language, but English has acquired official status in 28 of the 50 states; Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii

English only 78.2%, Spanish 13.4%, Chinese 1.1%, other 7.3%

• English

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  John Adams

  US President

  Second President of the United States of America from 1797-1801 . Without John Adams the United States of America might not have had an Independence Day to celebrate. He was one of the first men in the colonies to argue that we should seek freedom for England . John Adams served with Thomas Jefferson on the committee that wrote the Declaration of Independence. He helped convince Continental Congress that the Declaration should be accepted, and as a result, on July 4, 1776, the country known as The United States of America was born. John Adams, was a lawyer. He graduated from Harvard University . In spite of his great patriotism, courage, and honesty, Adams was an unpopular president. Proud and stubborn, he represented the influence and power of his secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, and his Vice-President, Thomas Jefferson. John Adams was the first president to live in the white house, then called the Castle. It was not finished inside and lacked landscaping. Adams’ most important acts as President were: Keeping us out of war with France , establishing the Marine Corps and the Department of the Navy, and establishing the Library of Congress. The Fifth Amendment was added to the Constitution while he was president.

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  John Quincy Adams

  Government Leader

  6 th President of the United States of America from 1825 - 1829. John Quincy Adams was the son of our 2 nd president, John Adams. This is the only case of both a father and son being elected to presidency until George W. Bush. When John Quincy Adams was 10 years old he watched the Battle of Bunker Hill. His father often took him to Europe on his travels and at age 14 John Quincy became secretary of our ambassador to Russia . John Quincy Adams was a lawyer. He was very brilliant and capable, which is why he held more government offices then any president before him. John Quincy was the first president to win an election without the majority of electoral or popular vote. There were 4 men running for president in 1824 and none of them received two-thirds of majority necessary to win so the House of Representatives chose the president, which was John Quincy Adams. While he was president the Erie Canal was completed and track was laid for America ’s first passenger train. No new states were added during his term.

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  Chester Alan Arthur

  US President

  21 st President of the United States of America from 1881 - 1885. Chester A. Arthur was a professional politician who achieved his goals by whatever he could. He rose to power during a period of dishonesty in government. As a New York lawyer he became known as a defender of Negro’s civil rights. In 1855 he won a case establishing rights for Negroes to ride any street car in the city. As president, Arthur surprised the nation by his honesty and efficiency. Outraged over dishonesty of some previous administrations in appointing officials to positions where they had no particular training or ability, Arthur caused Congress to pass the Civil Service Act. This meant to apply for a government job one must pass a test to show their skills and ability. It also protected them from losing their job when a president died. When Arthur was president, the first skyscraper was built in Chicago , The U.S. celebrated the 100 th anniversary of its independence, and standard time was adopted across the country.

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  James Buchanan

  US President

  15 th President of the United States of America from 1857 - 1861. James Buchanan was our only bachelor President. When he was a young man he became engaged. The couple quarreled and broke the engagement – shortly after the girl died. This unhappy affair really upset Buchanan and he vowed to never marry. While president, his niece acted to be the White House hostess. When Buchanan was president, 7 of the 15 states broke off and created the Confederate States of America . The Pony Express was established and Americans went riding in horse drawn sleighs singing the newest song – Jingle Bells. Three more states were added to the Union . They were Minnesota , Oregon , and Kansas .

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  George H. W. Bush

  US President

  41st George Herbert Walker Bush President of the United States of America from 1989 - 1993. On Tuesday, November 8, 1988, George Bush and Dan Quayle were elected President and Vice-President of the U.S. They represented the Republican Party and defeated Mike Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen of the Democratic Party. Mr. Bush had served as Vice-President to Ronald Reagan for the last 8 years and he became the first Vice-President to be elected to the Presidency on his own since Martin Van Buren. Bush was a pilot during World War II and won the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism. He later graduated from Yale University . He worked as a salesman in the oil industry in Texas and later he and his two partners founded their oil company. He has also been President of an off-shore drilling company. He married Barbra Peirce in 1945 and they have five living children (Robin, a daughter died in 1953 at the age of five). Bush entered politics in 1964 when he ran for Senate and lost. In 1966, he won a seat in the House of Representatives. He served 2 terms. He has also served as an Ambassador of the United Nations, been chairman of the Republican National Committee, and been Director of the C.I.A.

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  Grover Cleveland

  US President

  22 nd and 24 th President of the United States of America from 1885 - 1889 and 1893 - 1897. Grover Cleveland was our only president to serve 2 non-successive terms. He was also the 1 st president to be married in the White House. Cleveland was the son of a minister who died when Grover studied law and became a successful attorney. Cleveland was an honest president and didn’t hesitate to veto bills that he considered a “raid on the U.S. Treasury”. His motto was “a public office is a public trust.” When Cleveland was president, France gave us the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of friendship between the two countries. Cleveland defeated Benjamin Harrison in the 1892 election to become our 24 th president. When Cleveland was president the 2 nd time Utah was made the 45 th state, Henry Ford’s 1 st car appeared on the streets of Detroit in 1893, the Chicago World’s Fair featured the 1 st Ferris wheel and the 1 st fairgrounds lighted by electricity, and Thomas A. Edison opened the 1 st motion picture studio

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  Bill Clinton

  US President

  42 nd President of the United States of America from 1993 - 2001. As a 16-year-old member of Boy’s Nation, Clinton stood in the Rose Garden of the White House and shook hands with John Kennedy- an instant of symbolic torch passing that had a powerful effect upon a boy from Hope , Arkansas . Clinton likes to invoke a parallel. Kennedy and Clinton do not look alike, though they share an air of youth and vigor and good health. Mr. Bill Clinton won the presidential election in November 1992, over the incumbent President, George Bush, who managed Desert Storm steadfastly and precisely. The American people responded to Clinton ’s gamble by taking an enormous risk of their own. Clinton ’s best luck was that the economy kept dragging along the bottom or the duration fof the campaign. “First, we have to roll up our sleeves,” Bill Clinton explains how he will make the hard choices that lie ahead of him. With his wife Hilary, he describes a political partnership without precedent in U.S. history. The American people are eager to see many new and creative changes in the future with Clinton ’s in the White House.

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  Calvin Coolidge

  US President

  30 th President of the United States of America from 1923 - 1929. Calvin Coolidge was a shy, silent lawyer. His nickname “Silent Cal” suited him well. He issued few unnecessary public statements and rarely wasted a word. His campaign slogan was “Keep Cool with Coolidge.” Coolidge was a very popular President and could have served a second term but refused. His statement on the subject was “I do not choose to run for President in 1929.” When Coolidge was president, Charles A. Lindbergh made the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, two U.S. Army bi-planes made the first around the world flight, the first diesel locomotive began operation in New York , and the first talking motion picture was made. The title of this movie was “The Jazz Singer” and starred Al Jolson.

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  Dwight D. Eisenhower

  US President

  34 th President of the United States of America from 1953 - 1961. Dwight David Eisenhower, a general in World War II, commanded the greatest army in history. He was the commander of all the Allied armies in Europe . He was the second President to be a West Point graduate. Eisenhower as the choice of both political parties for their nominee for President in 1952. He was very close to being a bipartisan President (one that represents both parties). When Ike, as he was called by his friends, finished his second term in office, he was 70 years old, the oldest man in the U.S. history to leave that office at that time. Almost as soon as he took office, Eisenhower brought an end to U.S. involvement in the Korean War. Other events when he was President were; Dr. Jonas Salk discovered a vaccine to prevent polio, the first satellite was launched in 1958, jet passenger service began on U.S. airlines and Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the Union as 49 th and 50 th states. Eisenhower was the first President to have his inaugural ceremonies on television

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  Millard Fillmore

  US President

  13 th President of the United States of America from 1850 - 1853. Millard Fillmore was born in a log cabin. His parents were poor farmers. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a clothing maker. He hated his work and his master so bad he worked on his father’s farm and studied to become a lawyer. His tutors name was Miss Abigail Powers and she encouraged him to go into politics. In 1826 they were married. Fillmore’s most important contribution to the country was to delay the Civil War by passing the Compromise of 1850. This provided for the run-away slaves to be returned to their owners and abolished slavery in Washington D.C. It also organized the territories of Utah and New Mexico with no reference to slavery and admitted California to the Union as a free state . The city of Fillmore in Millard County , Utah , is named for this President.

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  Gerald R. Ford

  US President

  38 th President of the United States of America from 1974 - 1977. Gerald Ford was the only Vice president to become president upon the resignation of a President. Richard Nixon resigned President on August 9, 1974, and Ford took office the same day. Ford had been Vice President only 8 months when he became President. The major problems Ford inherited as President was soaring inflation and a loss of public confidence in government. The Watergate scandal was not quickly forgotten in the minds of most Americans, and so when President Ford pardoned Nixon of all federal crimes, Ford’s popularity has hurt severely. Other happenings during Ford’s administration were: the bicentennial celebration of the founding of American, space vehicle (Viking I) landed on another planet (Mars) in 1976, and the Vietnam War ended in 1975 when North Vietnam conquered South Vietnam . President, Gerald Ford escaped 2 assassination attempts, both in 1975 and both in California . Gerald Ford was elected President in 1976, and thus became the only person ever to serve as President of the United States without being elected to that office.

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  James A. Garfield

  US President

  20 th President of the United States of America in 1881. James A. Garfield was the last President to be born in a log cabin. Nobody knows what kind of president he would be because he was assassinated a few months into office. His is the shortest term next to William Henry Harrison. Before becoming president, he was a successful professor, college president, Civil War General, and U.S .Congressman. He was a very brilliant man and would entertain his friends by writing Greek in one hand and Latin in the other. On July 2, 1881, while standing in a railroad station in Washington D.C. , Charles J. Guiteau stepped out of a crowd of people and fired 2 shots at Garfield . Guiteau held a grudge because he didn’t appoint him the U.S. Consul in Paris , France . Garfield lived near death for 80 days. Surgeons couldn’t find the bullet lodged in his back. In the short time Garfield was president, The Red Cross was organized by Clara Barton. Garfield County in Utah is named for this President.

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  Ulysses S. Grant

  US President

  18 th President of the United States of America from 1869 - 1877. Ulysses S, Grant was the first West Point graduate to become president. He gained fame as the leader of the victorious Union Army during the Civil War. Grant’s presidency was clouded by disgrace and dishonesty. Grant himself was not dishonest but he put his trust with the wrong people. The dishonest schemes were committed by persons he had in high positions. Grant’s real name was Hyrum Ulysses Grant, but the Congressman who made the appointment papers to West Point thought that Ulysses was his first name and Simpson, his mother’s family name was his middle. Afraid that his classmates would make fun of his initials (H.U.G.), he never corrected the mistake. While Grant was president, the transcontinental railroad was connected, the telephone was invented, Yellowstone Park was made our first National park, Custer was defeated at the Battle of the Big Horn, the Suez Canal was completed, and Colorado was admitted to the Union . Also, the 15 th amendment was added to the Constitution giving all citizens the right to vote.

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  Warren G Harding

  US President

  29 th President of the United States of America from 1921 - 1923. Warren G. Harding was our only President to be in the Newspaper business. He bought the Marion Star when he was 19 and became its editor. When Harding became president, he had the confidence of the American people and his slogan “Back to normalcy” was very popular. Life in the U.S. did seem to be back to normal. Harding had little interest in foreign affairs of other nations. A scandal arose involving a United States Navy oil field in the west called “ Teapot Dome ”. Some of Harding’s advisors in his cabinet had turned the rich Teapot Dome oilfields over to their personal friends. Some cabinet members went to jail for taking bribes. Other officials were convicted of stealing government money. Harding’s close advisors had betrayed him. In 1923 he went on a speaking trip around the country to try to explain things to the American public. While on this trip he became sick and died. While Harding was president, the Unknown Soldier of World War I was buried in Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated.

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  Benjamin Harrison

  US President

  23 rd President of the United States of America from 1889 - 1893. Benjamin Harrison was the grandson of our 9 th President William Henry Harrison. Benjamin was very brilliant. He became a lawyer at the age of 20. Harrison did more than any other president to increase respect for the flag. By his order, the flag waved above the White House and all government buildings. Harrison also urged that the flag be flown over all the schools. Harrison ’s greatest contribution was passing the Anti-Trust Act. During the period of rapid industrialization in the late 1880’s many corporations formed trusts that controlled market prices and destroyed competition. This Act was passed to protect small farmers and businessmen. While Harrison was president, electric lights and bells were installed in the White House, basketball was originated in 1891 by James A Naismith, a physical education instructor. The states of North Dakota , South Dakota , Montana , Washington , Idaho , and Wyoming were added to the United States.

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  William Henry Harrison

  US President

  9 th President of the United States of America in 1841. William Henry Harrison was the oldest man to become the president of the United States . Harrison also served the shortest term in office (31 days). At his inaugural ceremonies he caught a cold which turned to pneumonia. He died one month later. He was the first president to die in office. Harrison was born on a beautiful plantation called “ Berkeley ”. His father wanted him to become a doctor and he studied medicine for a while, but didn’t like it so he joined the army. He gained fame as an Indian fighter at the Battle of Tippecanoe. There he defeated the famous Shawnee Indian Chief Tecumseh in 1811. Harrison campaign slogan was “Tippecanoe and Tyler , too”.

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  Rutherford Birchard Hayes

  US President

  19 th President of the United States of America from 1877 - 1881. Rutherford B. Hayes was a successful Lawyer and a fearless Civil War army officer. He was wounded four times and had four horses shot from under him. Hayes was elected President by a margin of 1 electoral vote. His election over Samuel Tilden ended the most disputed election in U.S. history. Hayes and his wife Lucy tried to set a good example for every American family; smoking, card playing, and the serving of alcohol in the White House was forbidden. Because of her ban on alcohol in the White House, some people called her “Lemonade Lucy”, but most praised her for her high standards and gracious manners. When Hayes was President, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph and demonstrated it at the White House, the first electric street lights were used, and the custom of rolling Easter Eggs on the White House lawn begun.

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  Herbert Hoover

  US President

  31 st President of the United States of America from 1929 - 1933. Herbert Hoover was the first professional engineer to hold the office of President. Hoover ’s father was a village blacksmith so Herbert had to work his way through college to earn his engineering degree. Hoover was one of the best engineers of his time and was entrusted with important engineering projects for the U.S. and other nations. When World War I broke out in 1914, he took up the job of helping stranded Americans leave Europe . He became interested in food distribution to Belgium children orphaned by the war. President Wilson appointed him Federal Food Administrator. Both Presidents Harding and Coolidge made him their Secretary of Commerce. Hoover entered the Presidency on the crest of Prosperity, but just 7 months later the country entered the worst depression of Unites States history. Stocks and bonds became worthless, business failed, banks closed, and millions were out of work. Although the depression was world wide and the result of a let-down after a war, the American people blamed Hoover and did not re-elect him.

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  Andrew Jackson

  US President

  7 th President of the United States of America from 1829 - 1837. Andrew Jackson was the first President to be born in a log cabin. He was an orphan and at the age of 18 he fought in the Revolutionary war and was captured by the British. While he was a prisoner a British officer slashed his arm and face with his saber. After the Revolutionary war, Jackson studied to be a lawyer and he built a beautiful plantation in Nashville , Tennessee , called “The Hermitage”. When the war of 1812 came, Jackson led the American forces at the battle of New Orleans to victory against the British. This made him a national hero and earned his nickname “Old Hickory”. While he was president the first daily newspaper was published in New York in 1833, the McCormick reaper was invented and the Battle of the Alamo took Place. The states of Arkansas and Michigan were added to the Union making a total of 26 States.

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  Thomas Jefferson

  US President

  3rd President of the United States of America from 1801 - 1809. Thomas Jefferson was a plantation owner. His plantation, Monticello , means “Little Mountain” in Indian Language. Jefferson was also a lawyer, an inventor, and a famous architect. He was one of the first farmers to use machinery. His home at Monticello is filled with his inventions. Jefferson was good at everything he tried, and the three he most proud of were: Author of the Declaration of Independence, Author of the Statue of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and founder of University of Virginia . When Jefferson was president, Ohio was admitted to the union as the 17 th state. Jefferson also doubled the land area of our country with the Louisiana Purchase from France . Other events during Jefferson’s term as President were the establishment of West Point Military Academy to train our army officers, the first successful steamboat was built by Robert Fulton, and Zebulon Pike discovered the famous peak in Colorado named after him. ( Pike’s Peak ) Thomas Jefferson was the first president to be inaugurated in Washington D.C.

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  Andrew Johnson

  US President

  17 th President of the United States of America from 1865 - 1869. Andrew Johnson was President during one of the most difficult periods of our history. The Civil War had left great financial problems in our country. The Union had been saved, but the feelings between the North and South were very bitter. Johnson was not a popular president especially with the Congress and Senate. Impeachment charges were filed against him and he was saved by 1 vote, it would have required 36 out of 54 Senate votes to put him out of office and only 35 votes were cast against him. Andrew Johnson never learned to read until he was 14 years old and his wife taught him to write. He had a talent for public speaking and entered debates held by students at college near his home and with this training he entered politics. While Johnson was President, we purchased Alaska from Russia , Nebraska entered the Union , the first practical typewriter was invented, and the 13 th and 14 th Amendments were added to the Constitution. The 13 th freed all remaining slaves and the 14 th made them citizens of the U.S.

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  Lyndon B. Johnson

  US President

  36 th President of the United States of America from 1963 - 1969. Lyndon Baines Johnson was born very poor. After high school he decided he had enough schooling and worked on a road building crew. Finally he realized that his parents had been right, he did need more education. After graduation from college he taught at Houston High School for 2 years. At age 24 he quit teaching and entered politics as a secretary to a Texas Congressman. Later Johnson was elected as a Congressman and then a senator from Texas . When he entered World War II, Johnson was the first member of Congress to go on active duty. He served as a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy and was awarded the Silver Star for bravery. When Johnson was President, the United States became deeply involved in Vietnam and three U.S. astronauts became the first to orbit the moon, the 25 th Amendment was added to the Constitution, this clarified the role of Vice-President in the event of the death or disability of a President and it gave him the right to choose a new Vice-President. Although Johnson was elected by one of the largest majorities in our century, the anti-war movement and race-riots reduced his popular so much that he did not seek a 2 nd term of his own in 1968.

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  John F. Kennedy

  US President

  35 th President of the United States of America from 1961 - 1963. John F. Kennedy was the youngest man elected to office of President, 43 years old. (Theodore Roosevelt was 42 when he became President on death of McKinley.) Kennedy was the wealthiest man to ever take office. Most of his early education took place in exclusive private schools. He attended Harvard Law School to obtain his law degree. During World War II he served as a commander on a P.T. boat in the Navy. Kennedy is best remembered for hi statement, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what can you do for your country.” While Kennedy was President, he avoided an atomic bomb war with Russia and forced them to withdraw their missiles from Communist Cuba, the civil rights demonstrations and protests by Negroes and other minority groups broke out in the large cities of the United States and U.S. troops were sent to Viet Nam . Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald while riding in a motorcade in Dallas , Texas .

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  Abraham Lincoln

  US President

  16 th President of the United States of America from 1861 - 1865 Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin. He attended school only a few months, but read every book he could borrow in order to prove himself. While growing up he worked as a storekeeper and laborer in order to earn enough money to study law. In 1856, Lincoln joined the newly formed Republican Party. His debates with Stephen A. Douglas against slavery won him national recognition. In 1860 he won his party’s nomination for president and his election made him our first Republican President. Lincoln was president during the most difficult time in our nation’s history. Eleven slave states left the Union to the Confederate States of America . The Civil War started only days after his election in 1861 and lasted until 1865. Lincoln put an end to slavery in our country with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Just 6 days after Robert E. Lee surrendered and our nation was reunited, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C. by John Wilkes Boothe. The states of Nevada and West Virginia were admitted to the Union . West Virginia was formed from a part of Virginia which did not leave with the Confederate States . .

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  James Madison

  US President

  4 th President of the Unites States of America from 1809 - 1817. James Madison was a wealthy plantation owner and lawyer. He served our country well as a champion of the Bill of Rights, member of Congress, Secretary of State, and Father of the Constitution. Madison was a peace-loving man, but he was reluctantly obliged to declare war on England in 1812 to establish the rights of American ships and sailors. England was stopping our ships and trying to locate runaway British sailors. They captured American sailors and forced them to serve on English ships. During the War of 1812, the British burned Washington D.C. and the White House. This is the only war which a foreign power has invaded continental United States . In 1814 Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star Spangled Banner” during the shelling of Fort McHenry by British war-ships. While Madison was President the states of Louisiana and Indiana were added to the union to making 19. After his term in office, Madison retired to his plantation, Montpelier , where he joined with Jefferson in founding the University of Virginia . Madison was our shortest president, just 5 feet 4 inches tall.

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  William McKinley

  US President

  25 th President of the Unites States of America from 1897 - 1901. When the Civil War broke out McKinley was the first man in his home town to volunteer. He first served in a regimen command of another future president, Rutherford B. Hayes. After the war he entered law school. Early in life McKinley developed a love for politics. He served two terms as governor of Ohio and seven terms as a U.S. Congressman. His political career almost came to an end when banks came to him to collect notes for 100,000.00 which he signed to a friend who went bankrupt. Threatened with bankruptcy himself, he appealed to his wealthy political sponsor, Marcus Hanna. Hanna and some other wealthy men paid off the notes and saved McKinley’s future. When McKinley ran for president, he conducted most of his campaign from his front porch. His wife was an invalid and he refused to leave her to go on campaign trips. Mr. Hanna arranged for thousands of visitors to go to McKinley’s home in Ohio to hear his speeches. McKinley was just six months into his second term when he was assassinated by Leon T. Czolgosz at a public reception in Buffalo , New York . When McKinley was president, the United States fought and won the Spanish-American war. This victory made U.S. a world power. Guam , Hawaii , the Philippines , Puerto Rico, and American Samoa all became states or dependent territories of the United States.

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  James Monroe

  US President

  5 th President of the Unites States of America from 1817 - 1825. James Monroe was a planter and lawyer. His two homes are named “Ash Lawn” and “Oak Hill”. Monroe was so popular that his two terms where named “The Era of Good Feeling”. During Monroe ’s administration, the states of Mississippi , Illinois , Alabama , Maine , and Missouri were added to the Union to make 24 total states in the United States . While Monroe was president he passed “The Missouri Compromise” which limited the westward expansion of slavery. He purchased Florida from Spain and he gave his name to one of our nation’s most important documents: The Monroe Doctrine. This doctrine stated that the American continents were no longer open to colonization and that there must be no European interference with American nations

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  Richard M. Nixon

  US President

  37 th President of the Unites States of America from 1969 - 1974. Through President Richard Nixon disliked much of the press, he had the White House swimming pool filled in, to give reporters more room when covering the White House events. Born in California in 1913, Nixon graduated from Duke University Law School and became a lawyer. Like Lyndon, Nixon served as a Lieutenant Commander during World War II. He was elected to Congress and became a Senator, before being selected Vice President to Eisenhower. Nixon’s first term serving as president was successful. His second term, however, began with a scandal. 5 men were arrested for breaking into the White House headquarters of the National Democratic Committee in the Watergate building. Several men resigned. At first Nixon denied his involvement, but as impeachment proceedings began, he resigned, the only President that did so. While Nixon was President, Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon, U.S. began major withdrawals of troops from Vietnam , the 26 th Amendment was added to the Constitution allowing 18 year olds to vote, and the Supreme Court ruled that women must receive equal pay for equal work.

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  Franklin Pierce

  US President

  14 th President of the Unites States of America from 1853 - 1857. Franklin Pierce’s natural good looks and pleasant way with people helped him win easy political victories. An outstanding lawyer, he was elected to the House of Representatives at the age of 29. At the 34 he was elected to the Senate. While president the U.S. Senate made the Gadsden Purchase which acquired land in the South West from Mexico , the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed making slavery possible in large areas in the West. Pierce’s support of this act angered people in Northern States. This along with supporting the rights of new immigrants to the country made him unpopular and weakened the Democratic party, and led to the Republican Party being formed between 1854 and 1856. At Christmas time in 1855, carolers sang “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” for the first time. The most popular songs of this era were written by Stephen Foster.

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  James K. Polk

  US President

  11 th President of the Unites States of America from 1845 - 1849. Under James K. Polk, the United States achieved its greatest territorial growth. The U.S. flag was raised over most of the area now made up of 9 of our western states. Polk’s successful direction of the Mexican war won the United States most of its territory. Next to George Washington, Polk had the greatest record of successful programs. He carried out every item of his political campaign. His cold, silent, unfriendly, and ungenerous personality didn’t make him a popular president. Before he became president, Polk was a wealthy landowner, farmer, lawyer, and politician. While Polk was in office there was no dancing, no liquor, and no card playing in the White House. This was because of his wife’s strict religious upbringing. During his term in office Brigham Young led the Pioneers to Utah, Gold was discovered in California, the U.S Naval Academy was established in Indianapolis, Maryland, the first postage stamp was issued in the U.S., Elias Howe invented the sewing machine, and the states of Texas, Iowa, and Wisconsin were added to the Union.

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  Ronald Reagan

  US President

  40 th President of the Unites States of America from 1981 - 1989. At age 69, Ronald Reagan was the oldest man in history to be elected President. Before entering politics he was a movie actor for nearly 30 years. He appeared in more than 50 movies. When Reagan became president, the nation faced serious foreign and domestic problems. Relations between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. were at the lowest point in years, and at home the country was experiencing high inflation, a recession, and high unemployment numbers. By the end of Reagan’s first term, he had strengthened the country militarily, ended the high inflation, succeeded in lowering the unemployment numbers, and helped the economy make a strong recovery. The country was so pleased with his performance that he was elected for a second term, Reagan won by the greatest amount of electoral votes in history. (525 to 13). Other events during his administration include, the appointment of the first woman (Sandra Day O’Conner) to the Supreme Court, the 1985 bombing of Libya in retaliation for its terrorist attacks, and the 1984 invasion of Grenada to establish political stability there.

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  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  US President

  32 nd President of the Unites States of America from 1933 - 1945. Franklin D. Roosevelt served the longest term in the Presidency, being elected 4 times. Roosevelt was a millionaire. He studied law at Columbia University Law School but was not interested enough to stay until graduation. He became a state senator at the age of 27, and assistant Secretary of the Navy at age 31. He was excited by the appointment because by then he had decided to become a politician. Roosevelt led the United States through its hardest Depression. When he took office, 1 in every 4 Americans had no job. Americans were worried about what would happen to them next. In his inaugural address he made his most famous statement, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” At the age of 37 Roosevelt caught polio which left him crippled for the rest of his life. When he was president, World War II took place, the Japanese made the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; the Social Security Act was passed which provided for retired workers and unemployed widows, the second Ocean Navy Act was passed, and the 21 st Amendment was added to the Constitution ending prohibition.

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  Theodore Roosevelt

  US President

  26 th President of the Unites States of America from 1901 - 1909. Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest president in the U.S. He was the most popular president since Andrew Jackson and was by far, the most athletic and adventurous president the United States ever had. Many people also consider him to be one of the greatest, too. Roosevelt was both a lawyer and a rancher. When the Spanish-American war broke out he resigned his position as Assistant Secretary of the Navy to lead the famous “Rough Riders”. He returned from the war a national hero. Roosevelt ’s motto while president was “Speak softly but Carry a Big Stick.” In accordance with this he fought dishonesty in government and industry. Roosevelt was very interested in conservation. He was once shown in a cartoon holding a bear cub, and since his nickname was Teddy, a toy manufacturer made a stuffed bear and called it a “Teddy Bear” in honor of the President. While Roosevelt was president, the Pure Food and Drug Act was Passed, the 1 st model t Ford went on sale, and Oklahoma became the 46 th state.

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  William H. Taft

  US President

  27 th President of the Unites States of America from 1909 - 1913. William Howard Taft is the only man in the history of United States who served as president and then as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Taft did not want to be President; he had little taste for politics. His wife however, was very ambitious and she felt that since he spent 20 years of his career as a lawyer and a judge, he was in a rut and should get into politics. No President was more unhappy in the White House than Taft. When his term ended he stated, “I’m glad to be leaving, this is the most lonesome place in the world.” Taft was the largest president, standing over 6 feet tall and weighing over 300 pounds. When Taft was president, the North Pole was discovered by Admiral Robert E. Peary, the 16 th Amendment to the Constitution was passed which gave Congress the legal power to levy income tax, and the state of New Mexico and Arizona were added to the Union . Taft was the first President to have a government car.

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  Zachary Taylor

  US President

  12 th President of the Unites States of America from 1849 - 1850. Zachary Taylor was a professional soldier. He gained fame and became a national hero during the Mexican war. He was much loved and respected by his soldiers who gave him his nickname “Old Rough and Ready”. While Taylor was president arguments over slavery reached a new high. California applied for statehood as a “Free” state. Taylor argued that California be admitted to the union and expressed hope that New Mexico territory be admitted. Before slavery could be settled, Taylor became sick and died. He had gone to lay the cornerstone at Washington Monument on July 4, 1850. It was a very hot day and the ceremonies lasted for hours. Soon after coming back to the White House, the President came down with a fever and died 5 days later. Taylor was the last Whig President. While he was President, the Department of the Interior was created, the overland mail service (Pony Express) begun, and the California gold rush began.

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  Harry S. Truman

  US President

  33 rd President of the Unites States of America from 1945 - 1953. For the first 33 years of Harry Truman’s life he was a farmer. When World War II came along he enlisted for the army. After the war, he tried several businesses, all of which failed, so he studied law and then entered politics. He served as a U.S. Senator from Missouri for 10 years. Truman became President while the United States was still at war with Germany and Japan . During his first few weeks in office, Germany surrendered. He than made one of the most difficult decisions made by a president, to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima , Japan . This forced them to surrender, thus ending World War II. Other Events that took place while Truman was in office were the United Nations was organized, the United States entered the Korean War as part of the United Nations force to halt Civil War in the country of Korea, and the 22 nd Amendment was added to the Constitution which limited Presidents to 2 elected terms.

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  John Tyler

  US President

  10 th President of the Unites States of America from 1841 - 1845. John Tyler was the first Vice–President to inherit the office of President. His professions were lawyer and planter. His plantation was called “Sherwood Forest”; Tyler was not a well-liked president. He didn’t support the polices of any political party including his own Whig party. While Tyler was president, Kit Carson and John C. Freemont explored as far west as California , the Oregon Trail opened, China opened its ports for open trade, and Samuel Morse invented the telegraph. The 27 th state, Florida , was admitted to the Union .

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  Martin Van Buren

  US President

  8 th President of the Unites States of America from 1837 - 1841. Martin Van Buren was the first president born under the United States flag, the previous presidents were born while we were still English colonies. Van Buren was a lawyer (he entered law school at 15). Van Buren was not a popular president. His fondness for elegant and high fashioned clothes made people dislike him, since the country was having a depression and many people were out of work. His enemies gave him the name “Red Fox of Kinderhook”. The most important contributions while Van Buren was President were: Charles Goodyear discovered how to vulcanize rubber in 1839, the first steamship crossed the ocean, and the worlds first postage stamp was issued in England in 1840. No new states were added to the Union.

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  George Washington

  US President

  First President of the Unites States of America from 1789 - 1797. He is known as the “Father of our Country”. Washington was the son of a wealthy Virginia plantation owner. When George was 15 years old he became interested in surveying and marketing out new farms in the wilderness. By the time he was 17 he was a professional surveyor, laying out the plans for towns. During the French and Indian war he served in the British army and was made Lieutenant-Colonel at the age of 22. In 1760 Washington inherited Mt. Vernon (a plantation) and spent his time developing it and establishing a large fortune. He was also a member of the Colonial Legislature. When the revolutionary war broke out Washington led armies of the 13 colonies to victory over the British. In 1792 he was elected for a 2 nd term. He refused to serve a 3 rd term and retired at Mt. Vernon . Washington was the only president that didn’t live in the White House. New York and Philadelphia were the national capitols while he was president. Washington helped choose the place where our Nation’s capitol city, Washington D.C, now stands. While he was president the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution, the first bank was charted by congress, the National Mint for making money was established, the first meeting of the Supreme Court took place. Kentucky , Vermont , and Tennessee were added to make 16 states.

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  Woodrow Wilson

  US President

  28 th President of the Unites States of America from 1913 - 1921. Woodrow Wilson led the United States through World War I and gained lasting fame as a champion of world peace and democracy. Before he became president he had been a teacher and then President of Princeton University. When Wilson was president, the 1 st air mail service was established in 1918 between New York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C., airplanes were used for the first time as fighting machines in World War I, the first telephone lines linking New York and San Francisco began operating in 1915, and the first commercial radio broadcasts were made from Detroit and Pittsburgh in 1920. Three amendments were added to the constitution. Number 17 provided for the Election of U.S. Senators by popular vote, number 18 banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. Number 19 passed in 1920 gave women the right to vote. The Panama Canal begun in 1906 was finished in 1920 and officially opened. In 1920 Wilson was given the Nobel peace prize for his attempt to establish the League of Nations to promote World Peace.

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  Martin Luther King

  Reformer

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  Rosa Parks

  Reformer

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  Malcom X

  Reformer

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  Thurgood Marshall

  Reformer

• Barack Obama

  The Senator for Illinois made history on November 4 when he won the presidential election. He is the first African American to win the race for the White House. Obama’s charisma, intelligence, and powerful speeches have made him extremely popular with many Americans. He has been very successful with his message for change. Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961 to a black Kenyan father and white American mother. His parents divorced and his mother married an Indonesian man. Barack’s family moved to Indonesia in 1967. He attended schools in Jakarta until he was ten years old, when he returned to Hawaii. Obama majored in political science and international relations at Columbia University in New York. After four years in New York, Obama moved to Chicago. There, he worked as the director of a community project from 1985 to 1988. He entered Harvard Law School and became the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. Obama taught law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years. He became an Illinois Senator in 1996. Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. He became the fifth African-American Senator in U.S. history. He supported legislation on conservation, energy, immigration and honest leadership. In November 2008, he defeated John McCain to become America’s 44th President in a very hard-fought campaign battle. .

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  James E. Carter

  US President

  39 th President of the United States of America from 1977 - 1981. Jimmy Carter was a successful peanut farmer in Georgia before he entered politics as a Senator in 1962. He had also been an officer in the U.S. Naval Academy. He was the first graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy to become President. In appearance and manner, Carter was calm reserved and soft spoken. His friends knew him as a man of great personal warmth and charm. In politics, he was an able, energetic campaigner with an iron will and a determination to win every fight. While in the Navy, Carter worked with a select group of officers who developed the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine. While Carter was president a treaty was signed with Panama giving them control of the Panama Canal in 1999, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Iranians took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held a group of Americans hostage for 444 days, an accident at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania caused concern about the safety of such plants, and the U.S. boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. After serving one term Carter failed in his effort to be re-elected and returned to his peanut business in Georgia .

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  George W. Bush

  US President

  43 rd President of the Unites States of America from 2001 - 2009 George W. Bush was born on July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut. His father was George Herbert Walker Bush, the nation’s 41st president. Growing up, George liked being the family’s eldest son. He had three brothers and one sister. He graduated from Yale in 1968. At the time, the nation was deeply involved in the Vietnam War. George joined the Texas National Guard and learned to fly a combat aircraft. After attending Harvard Business School, bush returned to Texas in 1975 to set up an oil-drilling company in Midland. In 1977 Bush married Laura Welch, a Midland school librarian. They are the parents of twin girls, Barbra and Jenna. After his father’s 1988 election victory, Bush and his family settled in Dallas. Bush soon tried a new business venture – baseball. He organized a group of investors to bring the American League’s Texas Rangers to Dallas. In 1993, Bush announced his intention to become governor of Texas. With a surprising victory, Bush became the first presidential offspring to be elected governor of a state. Bush was reelected in 1998. People were saying he ought to think about a run for presidency. Bush marched quickly to the republican nomination. As a presidential candidate he promised more aid to schools and visited more than 100 classrooms. George W. lost the popular vote, but won the Electoral College. His victory over Al Gore had a great meaning for Republicans. It enabled the party to reclaim the White House after 8 years of Democratic rule.

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  Barack H. Obama

  US President

  Barack H. Obama is the 44th President of the United States. With a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, President Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton’s army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank. After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, President Obama moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants. He went on to attend law school, where he became the first African—American president of the Harvard Law Review . Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community. President Obama’s years of public service are based around his unwavering belief in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose. In the Illinois State Senate, he passed the first major ethics reform in 25 years, cut taxes for working families, and expanded health care for children and their parents. As a United States Senator, he reached across the aisle to pass groundbreaking lobbying reform, lock up the world’s most dangerous weapons, and bring transparency to government by putting federal spending online. He was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20, 2009.

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  Benjamin Franklin

  Statesman · 1706–1790

  Benjamn Franklin was a diplomat, politician, printer, and scientist. He invented bifocals, the Franklin stove, and experimented with electricity. Franklin was born in 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. He showed his intelligence and interest early on in reading and writing. At the age of ten though, he was taken out of school to learn his father’s trade of candle making. Young Benjamin hated this work and two years later became an apprentice in his brother James’ print shop. After five years Franklin left his brother’s shop and went to New York. There was no work in New York so he moved to Philadelphia. Philadelphia was a much bigger city at the time. Franklin became very successful as a printer. Wealth brought him time to work on his inventions and interests. Franklin recognized that common fireplaces were inefficient. He designed the Franklin stove to use heat better. His stove drew in cool air, heated the air, and then circulated the heated air. These stoves became very popular in American and Europe. Electricity had recently been discovered in Europe. Franklin became extremely interested in it and spent six years trying to generate electricity. Franklin began to focus on lightning and the idea that it was caused by electric charges. Franklin suggested the use of lightning rods to redirect electricity away from buildings to keep them from burning down. By tying an iron key to a kite string during a storm, he was able to identify the electrical charge as being the same as in a Leyden Jar. This proved lightning was electricity. Benjamin Franklin spent the later part of his life pursuing his interests and working for the colonies and the creation for the United States. Franklin died in 1790 in the country he helped form and improve

• Alexander Hamilton

  Government Leader · 1755

  Alexander Hamilton, patriot, first secretary of the U. S. Treasury. Born in Nevis, British West Indies on Jan. 11, 1755.

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  Edwin Laurentine Drake

  Entrepreneur · 1819

  Edwin Laurentine Drake was born in 1819 in Greenville, New York. Drake is considered the petroleum entrepreneur of the oil industry. A former railroad conductor, his success was based on his belief that drilling was the best way to obtain petroleum from the earth. He organized Seneca Oil Co., leased land, and on August 27, 1859, struck oil at a depth of 69 feet near Titusville, Pennsylvania. Most historians trace the start of the oil industry on a large scale to this first venture. Drake used an old steam engine to power the drill. After his well began to produce oil, other prospectors drilled wells nearby. Oil created riches for many people and for many countries, but not for Drake. His poor business sense eventually impoverished him. In 1876, he was granted an annuity by the State of Pennsylvania, where he remained until his death in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. An industry which brought great riches to so many, finally honored him by bringing his body back to Titusville and interring it in a fine tomb replete with symbolic bronze sculpture. The oil industry honors its birthplace with a museum and memorial park at the site where Drake struck oil in his pioneer well.

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  Thomas A. Edison

  Inventor · 1847–1931

  Thomas Alva Edison was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio. Young Tom didn’t do very well in school, so his mother decided to teach him at home. She gave him lots of books to read. Tom was a curious boy. He always wanted to know how things worked. He liked to see if he could make them work better. His mother let him set up a laboratory in the house where he could experiment with things. As a young man, Tom set up a lab of his own, where he could try out his ideas. He invented lots of things in his laboratory. Guess what his favorite invention was? It was the phonograph. Before the phonograph, if you wanted to hear music, you had to play it yourself or go to a concert. Edison’s most famous invention was the light bulb. At the time, people used gas or oil lamps to light their homes. Edison knew it would be cheaper and easier to use electricity. The trouble was, nobody knew how to do it. Edison worked on his idea a long time . He tried lots of things that didn’t work. But he didn’t give up. He kept trying until one day it worked! Today, you can flip a switch and have light any time you want it. Edison also built the first power plant. Edison’s Pearl Street Power Station opened in 1882 in New York City. It sent electricity to 85 customers and made enough power to light 5,000 lamps. Edison also invented the movie camera. When you go to the movies or watch TV, you can thank him for his ideas and hard work. Many of the electric machines you see at home or at school came from his ideas. Inventing things was what Edison liked best. He thought about how things worked. Then he thought about how he could do it better. That is called inspiration. The hard part came next. Edison had to make his ideas work. He tried all kinds of things until he found exactly what would work. He called that perspiration. He said that invention was "one percent inspiration

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  Lewis Latimer

  Inventor · 1848

  Lewis Howard Latimer was born in 1848 in Chelsea, Massachusetts. As a young man, Latimer learned mechanical drawing while working for a Boston patent office. In 1880, he was hired by Hiram Maxim of the U.S. Electric Lighting Company to help develop a commercially viable electric lamp. In 1882, Latimer invented a device for efficiently manufacturing the carbon filaments used in electric lamps and shared a patent for the "Maxim electric lamp". He also patented a threaded wooden socket for light bulbs and supervised the installation of electric streetlights in New York City, Philadelphia, Montreal, and London. In 1884, Latimer became an engineer at the Edison Electric Light Company where he had the distinction of being the only African American member of "Edison’s Pioneers" - Thomas Edison’s team of inventors. While working for Edison, Latimer wrote Incandescent Electric Lighting, the first engineering handbook on lighting systems. Although today’s incandescent light bulbs use filaments made of tungsten rather than carbon, Latimer’s work helped to make possible the widespread use of electric lights.

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  Granville Woods

  Inventor · 1856

  Born in Columbus, Ohio in 1856, Granville Woods literally learned his skills on the job. Attending school in Columbus until age 10, he served an apprenticeship in a machine shop and learned the trades of machinist and blacksmith. During his youth he also went to night school and took private lessons. Although he had to leave formal school at age ten, Granville Woods realized that learning and education were essential to developing critical skills that would allow him to express his creativity with machinery. In 1872, he obtained a job as a fireman on the Danville and Southern railroad in Missouri, eventually becoming an engineer. He invested his spare time in studying electronics. In 1874, Woods moved to Springfield, Illinois, and worked in a rolling mill. In 1878, he took a job aboard the Ironsides, a British steamer, and, within two years, became Chief Engineer of the steamer. Finally, his travels and experiences led him to settle in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he became the person most responsible for modernizing the railroad. In 1888, Woods developed a system for overhead electric conducting lines for railroads, which aided in the development of the overhead railroad system found in cities such as Chicago, St. Louis, and New York City. In his early thirties, he became interested in thermal power and steam-driven engines. And, in 1889, he filed his first patent for an improved steam-boiler furnace. In 1892, a complete Electric Railway System was operated at Coney Island, NY. In 1887, he patented the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph, which allowed communications between train stations from moving trains. Woods’ invention made it possible for trains to communicate with the station and with other trains so they knew exactly where they were at all times. This invention made train movements quicker and prevented countless accidents and collisions.

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  William Stanley

  Inventor · 1858

  William Stanley was born in 1858. During his lifetime he was granted 129 patents covering a wide range of electric devices. The most notable of these is the induction coil, a transformer that creates alternating current electricity. In the 1880s every electricity distribution system used direct current (DC). The problem is that DC transmission over long distances is impractical, requires thick wires, is dangerous and could not be used for lighting. On the other hand, alternating current (AC) systems did not have these drawbacks. AC voltage systems could be varied by use of induction coils, but no practical coil system had been invented. Stanley’s patent #349,611 changed all this and became the prototype for all future transformers. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Stanley attended private schools before enrolling at Yale University. He began to study law at age 21 but less than a semester later left school to look for a job in the emerging field of electricity. Stanley’s first job was as an electrician with one of the early manufacturers of telegraph keys and fire alarms. He designed one of the country’s first electrical installations for a store on New York’s Fifth Avenue. After inventor and industrialist George Westinghouse learned of Stanley’s accomplishments, he hired Stanley as his chief engineer at his Pittsburgh factory. It was during this time that Stanley began work on the transformer. After Stanley left Pittsburgh, in 1886 he built the first AC system, providing lighting for offices and stores on the Main Street of Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He made transformers, auxiliary electrical equipment, and electrical appliances. The Stanley Electric Manufacturing Company was purchased by General Electric in 1903.

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  Henry Ford

  Entrepreneur · 1863

  Henry Ford is often incorrectly thought of as the inventor of the automobile. (That distinction belongs to Karl Benz of Germany.) Henry Ford was an innovative man who revolutionized the automobile industry. Ford was born on July 30, 1863 in Dearborn, Michigan. As a child he worked on the family farm. In his spare time, he experimented in the farm’s machine shop. At the age of 17, Ford left the family farm and moved to Detroit where he worked in continued his work in machine shops, specifically with steam engines. In 1882 Henry Ford became a certified machinist and was hired by Westinghouse Company to set up and repair steam engines. In 1891 Ford designed a small engine that burned gasoline. Thomas Edison then offered Henry Ford a job and Ford became the chief engineer for Edison Illuminating Company. Three years later, Ford built a gasoline-powered car known as the "horseless carriage". He quit his job with Edison to pursue interests with cars. Over the next few years, Henry Ford continued to develop his car designs, including the Model A and the Model T. He increased both speed and fuel efficiency. Efficiency was a trademark of Ford. He developed the assembly line to help produce cars quickly and economically. It was Ford’s goal to make cars available to average Americans. During both World War I and World War II, the Ford plant was used in the war effort to build equipment. During the last portion of Henry Ford’s life, he served as chairman of the Ford Foundation, a charitable organization. Henry Ford died on April 7, 1947.

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  Robert Goddard

  Scientist · 1882

  Robert Goddard is given credit as being one of the fathers of modern rocketry. Though not given credit during his lifetime, he is now recognized as a significant modern scientist. Robert Goddard was born on October 5, 1882 in Worcester, Massachusetts. As a young boy he displayed an interest and ability in science. He experimented with electricity. He became fascinated with fireworks, the beginning of his interest in rockets. Goddard attended public school in both Boston and Worcester. He attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a practical engineering school. He regularly journaled new ideas and inventions. After earning his degree, he taught at the institute and later at Clark University. In 1920 Goddard wrote a paper describing sending an unmanned rocket to the moon. He was ridiculed by the press for this idea. Charles Lindberg became interested though and began to finance Goddard’s work. Goddard moved his operation to New Mexico. During this time, he worked with parachute systems, stabilizing fins, and gyroscopes. Though his work was not widely known in the United States, Goddard’s work was taken very seriously in Germany. During World War II, the Germans developed Goddard’s theories further. Goddard was a faithful American and worked with the U.S. military to create and build the bazooka, an antitank weapon. He worked with the U.S. Navy to develop jet takeoff devices. Goddard died on August 10, 1945. After his death the U.S. Patent Office recognized Goddard for 214 patents regarding rocket designs. Today’s rockets are based on Robert Goddard’s designs and theories.

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  Frederick M. Jones

  Inventor · 1892

  Frederick M. Jones was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1892. After returning from France after serving in World War I, Mr. Jones worked as a garage mechanic. His mastery of electronic devices was largely self-taught, through work experience and the inventing process. With his experience as a mechanic he developed a self-starting gasoline motor. In the late 1920’s Frederick Jones designed a series of devices for the developing movie industry, which adapted silent movie projectors to use talking movie stock. He also developed an apparatus for the movie box-office that delivers tickets and returns change to customers. Frederick M. Jones was granted more than 40 patents in the field of refrigeration. In 1935 he invented the first automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks. The system was, in turn, adapted to a variety of other common carriers, including ships and railway cars. The invention eliminated the problem of food spoilage during long shipping times. The ability to provide fresh produce across the United States during the middle of summer or winter changed the American consumer’s eating habits. Jones’ inspiration for the refrigeration unit was a conversation with a truck driver who had lost a shipment of chickens because the trip took too long and the truck’s storage compartment overheated. Frederick Jones also developed an air-conditioning unit for military field hospitals and a refrigerator for military field kitchens. Frederick Jones received over 60 patents in his career.

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  David Crosthwait

  Inventor · 1898

  David Crosthwait was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1898. He received a B.S. from Purdue University (1913) and a Masters of Engineering in 1920. Mr. Crosthwait was considered an authority on heat transfer, ventilation and air conditioning. He was a Research Engineer, Director of Research Laboratories for C.A. Dunham Company in Marshalltown, Iowa, from 1925 to 1930. He was the Technical Advisor of Dunham-Bush, Inc. from 1930 to 1971. He served as the past president of the Michigan City Redevelopment. Mr. Crosthwait was responsible for designing the heating system for Radio City Music Hall at Rockefeller Center in New York City. Mr. Crosthwait was the author of a manual on heating and cooling with water and guides, standards, and codes that dealt with heating, ventilation, refrigeration, and air conditioning systems. David Crosthwait received 39 patents relating to the design, installing, testing, and service of HVAC power plants, heating, and ventilating systems. After retiring from industry in 1969, Mr. Crosthwait taught a course on steam heating theory and control systems at Purdue University.

• Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong

  Musician · 1901

  Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong, jazz musician, was born on Aug. 4, 1901 in New Orleans.

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  J. Robert Oppenheimer

  Scientist · 1908–1967

  J. Robert Oppenheimer is considered the father of the atomic bomb. He was the director of the team who designed and built the first atomic bomb. Oppenheimer was born in 1908 in New York City. In 1925 he graduated from Harvard University. In 1927 Oppenheimer earned his doctorate degree from the University of Gottingen in Germany. Two years later he became a professor at the University of California at Berkley and worked on theoretical physics. From 1943-1945, Oppenheimer led a team of scientists who designed and built the first atomic bomb. Over several of the following years, Oppenheimer headed the advisory committee of the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). He worked with the U.S. Department of Defense and worked internationally for control of atomic energy. Oppenheimer’s loyalty to the United States was questioned in 1953. He held opposition to the hydrogen bomb and had some connections with Communists. This led to an investigation by the AEC security panel. He was cleared of all charges but the allegations caused him to be denied further access to secret information. Oppenheimer was awarded the Enrico Fermi Award for contributions to theoretical physics. J. Robert Oppenheimer spent the last years of his life as the director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He died in 1967.

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  Louis W. Roberts

  Inventor · 1913

  Louis W. Roberts was born in Jamestown, New York, in 1913. He was educated at Fisk University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1935, and a Master of Science from the University of Michigan in 1937. Roberts served as a research assistant for Standard Oil of New Jersey from 1935 to 1936. He was a graduate assistant from 1936-37 while at the University of Michigan. He served as Instructor of Physics at St. Augustine’s College from 1937-39. Roberts was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Physics at St. Augustine’s College from 1941 to 1943 and Associate Professor of Physics at Howard University, 1943-44. Roberts holds eleven patents for electronic devices and is the author of papers on electromagnetism, optics, and microwaves. Roberts served as Director of Research for Microwave Associates from 1950 to the present. He is also the Director of Energy and Environment at the Transportation System Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1977 to the present. The Transportation System Center, as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, develops energy conservation practices for the transportation industries. Currently, transportation accounts for over half of the United States’ consumption of petroleum. However, the Energy Conservation Policy Act requires the transportation sector to reduce fuel consumption in all types of vehicles. During Roberts’ career, he has served as chief of the Optics and Microwave Laboratory in the Electronics Research Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He founded and was president of a microwave company. His research interests focus on microwave and optical techniques and components, plasma research, solid state component and circuit development.

• Roscoe L. Koontz

  Scientist · 1922

  Roscoe L. Koontz was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1922. He graduated from Vashon High School in St. Louis. His college education at Stowes Teachers College was interrupted by a three-year hitch in the U.S. Army during World War II. While in the army, he received technical training through a special pre-engineering army training program at West Virginia State College. Upon discharge from the army in 1946, he returned to Tennessee State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. Roscoe Koontz was among the first formally trained health physicists through his participation in the first Atomic Energy Health Physics Fellowship Training Program, sponsored at the University of Rochester in 1948. He designed a pinhole gamma ray camera and collimator and helped to design and fabricate automatic air and water sampling equipment and radiation activity measuring devices. Health physics became a recognized profession around 1942. When Koontz entered the field, there were few rules and guidelines and procedures for health physicists to follow. Together with their instructors, the early students, like Koontz, originated many of today’s practices, instrumentation and techniques to protect people from the hazards of ionizing radiation.

• Rufus Stokes

  Inventor · 1924

  Rufus Stokes was born in Alabama in 1924. He later moved to Illinois, where he worked as a machinist for an incinerator company. In 1968, he was granted a patent on an air-purification device to reduce the gas and ash emissions of furnace and powerplant smokestack emissions. The filtered output from the stacks became almost transparent. Stokes tested and demonstrated several models of stack filters, termed the "clean air machine", in Chicago and elsewhere to show its versatility. The system benefited the respiratory health of people, but also eased the health risksto plants and animals. A side-effect of reduced industrial stack emissions was the improved appearance and durability of buildings, cars, and objects exposed to outdoor pollution for lengthy periods.

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  Meredith C. Gourdine

  Inventor · 1929

  Meredith C. Gourdine was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1929. He received a B.S. in Engineering Physics from Cornell University in 1953 and a Ph.D. in Engineering Physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1960. Dr. Gourdine pioneered the research of electrogasdynamics. He was responsible for the engineering technique termed Incineraid for aiding in the removal of smoke from buildings. His work on gas dispersion developed techniques for dispersing fog from airport runways. Dr. Gourdine served on the technical staff of the Ramo-Woolridge Corporation from 1957-58. He then became a Senior Research Scientist at the Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1958-60. He became a Lab Director of the Plasmodyne Corporation from 1960-62 and Chief Scientist of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation from 1962 to 1964. Dr. Gourdine established a research laboratory, Gourdine Laboratories, in Livingston, New Jersey, with a staff of over 150. Dr. Gourdine has been issued several patents on gasdynamic products as a result of his work. He received patent #5,548,907 for a method and apparatus for transferring heat, mass, and momentum between a fluid and a surface. Dr. Gourdine served as president of Energy Innovation, Inc. of Houston, Texas.

• Neil Alden Armstrong

  Explorer · 1930

  Neil Alden Armstrong was born on Aug. 5, 1930. On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human being to set foot on the moon.

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  George Edward Alcorn Jr.

  Scientist · 1940

  George Edward Alcorn, Jr. was born in 1940. He received a four-year academic scholarship to Occidental College in Los Angeles, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physics. He received his degree with honors while earning eight letters in basketball and football. George Alcorn earned a Master of Science in Nuclear Physics in 1963 from Howard University, after nine months of study. During the summers of 1962 and 1963, George Alcorn worked as a research engineer for the Space Division of North America Rockwell. He was involved with the computer analysis of launch trajectories and orbital mechanics for Rockwell missiles, including the Titan I and II, Saturn IV, and the Nova. In 1967 George Alcorn earned a Ph.D. in Atomic and Molecular Physics from Howard University. Between 1965-67 Alcorn conducted research on negative ion formation under a NASA-sponsored grant. Dr. Alcorn holds eight patents in the United States and Europe on semiconductor technology, one of which is a method of fabricating an imaging X-ray spectrometer. His area of research includes: adaptation of chemical ionization mass spectrometers for the detection of amino acids and development of other experimental methods for planetary life detection; classified research involved with missile reentry and missile defense; design and building of space instrumentation, atmospheric contaminant sensors, magnetic mass spectrometers, mass analyzers; and development of new concepts of magnet design and the invention of a new type of x-ray spectrometer.