Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope was born on May 29, 1903, in London, England to a Welsh mother and English father. In 1908, the Hopes migrated to Cleveland, Ohio. From the age of 12, he entered many dancing and amateur talent contests (as Lester Hope) and won a prize in for his impersonation of Charlie Chaplin. He changed his name from Leslie to Bob, because in school they would call the roll as 'Hope, Leslie' and classmates shortened it to hopeless.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born May 29, 1917, at 83 Beals Street in Brookline, Massachusetts to businessman/politician Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. (1888–1969) and philanthropist/socialite Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald-Kennedy (1890–1995).
According to the Miller Center, John F. Kennedy enjoyed a "privileged childhood of elite private schools, sailboats, servants and summer homes" during the Great Depression. He later claimed that he only learned about the Great Depression in the books he read at college.
On November 8, 1960, John F Kennedy was elected President of the United States, beating Richard Nixon by the narrowest of margins - 113,000 votes out of the 69 million cast. Kennedy was just 43, the youngest President ever to be elected. The first Roman Catholic to become president, Kennedy made a great impact on the nation before he was assassinated in 1963.
For more May 29 anniversaries, including the overthrow of the Byzantine Empire, the marriage of Oscar Wilde to Constance Lloyd, and the premiere of Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring", check out
OnThatDay.
