Winston Churchill

Pictured on a set of three postage stamps issued by the Isle of Guernsey 22 January 2015. Stamps were in a single souvenir sheet; each stamp had a denomination of £1.

Pictured on one of a set of eight British commemorative postage stamps honoring Prime Ministers, issued 14 October 2014. Other prime ministers featured in the set were William Pitt the Younger, Charles Grey, Robert Peel, William Gladstone, Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson, and Margaret Thatcher. Price of the Churchill, Attlee, Wilson, and Thatcher stamps on day of issue was 97p each.

He was portrayed by Ian McNeice in the original production of the play "Never So Good", by Howard Brenton , which premiered at the National Theatre, London, UK in March 2008.

In 2004 he came in first place in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. This followed a telephone vote campaign by the Churchill Society.

The first American combat ship named after a foreigner, the guided-missile cruiser USS Winston S. Churchill, was launched on 17 April 1999.

He died at Hyde Park Gate, London, on January 24, 1965 at the age of 90. He had succeeded in the uniting of thought and deed. He had succeeded in uniting everyone in the common purpose, inspiring them with fortitude and strength to face whatever hardships that would have to be incurred in the process of first surviving and ultimately winning the war. His daughter Mary wrote to him on his death bed: "I owe you what every Englishman, woman, and child owes you - liberty itself. "As one of the most significant British politicians of the 20th century, Churchill remains one of the country's most widely recognized figures.

In 1963, by Act of Congress, he was granted honorary US citizenship, the first recipient since Lafayette. He was too infirm to travel to Washington, DC, to receive the honor in person, which was collected by his son and grandson.

By a decree of 18 June 1958 (anniversary of the famous BBC-broadcasted speech to France in 1940), he was named "Compagnon de la Libération", the prestigious Order initiated by Charles de Gaulle during World War II.

Due to deteriorating health he retired in 1955.

He was created a Knight of the Most Noble Order of Garter on 24 April 1953. The award was not made in any of the usual Honours Lists. Both he and his Foreign Secretary Sir Anthony Eden had declined this honor in 1945, feeling it inappropriate following the landslide General Election defeat.

May have had Alzheimer's disease in later life. Although the Churchill Museum maintains his reduced mental capacity was the result of multiple minor strokes since 1949, his symptoms were consistent with the illness.

He lost the 1945 General Election by a landslide, lost again in 1950, but was re-elected as Prime Minister in 1951 despite receiving fewer votes than Labour.

That Hamilton Woman (1941) is reported to have been his favorite movie.

On May 10, 1940 Hitler's forces invaded Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg in order to invade France. Chamberlain was seen by many as a weak leader and they longed for a more forceful leader with whom Britain could feel safe. Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, was chosen to become Prime Minister (at the age of 65). It could be said that Churchill's fiery energy had never been experienced before in British politics and suddenly it seemed as though Britain could face the Nazis and the fascists. He made a speech on 13 May: "You ask: 'What is our policy?' I will say: 'It is to wage war by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalog of human crime. ' That is our policy. You ask: 'What is our aim?' I can answer in one word: 'Victory! Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival. '"The United States officially entered the war after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The US's participation was excellent news to Churchill and after success on D-Day and as the Nazi forces were gradually forced back, the war in Europe gradually drew to a close.

When the UK and France declared war on Germany in 1939, Neville Chamberlain was British Prime Minister.

The 1930s saw fascism grow in strength throughout Europe with dictators such as Italy's Benito Mussolini, Germany's Adolf Hitler and Spain's Francisco Franco.

From here until 1929 he held various offices in British Parliament.

When Churchill was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1924, his robes of office were the same ones his father had used a generation earlier.

Father of Diana Churchill; Randolph Churchill; Sarah Churchill; Marigold Frances (15 November 1918 - 23 August 1921) and Lady Mary Soames.

Born in Blenheim Palace, the residence of his grandfather, the 7th Duke of Marlborough. His father was the Duke's third son, Lord Randolph Churchill. His mother, Jennie Jerome, was the daughter of an American financier. After passing through famous English public schools such as Harrow, he went on to fulfill his ambition for a life in the army. He fought in various parts of the British Empire until in 1900 when he won the Conservative seat in Oldham in the general election.

First gained fame in England as a war correspondent during the Boer War in 1899-1900. While covering the conflict (as what amounted to an "embedded" journalist, long before the term was coined) he was captured by Boer guerrillas and taken as a prisoner of war. Along with a few other prisoners, Churchill hatched a bold scheme to escape. The success of this plan catapulted him to fame and helped him along on his political career.

His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, died on 24 January 1895, exactly 70 years to the day before Winston himself passed away.

His mother, Jennie Jerome, was born in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn, NY. Her father, Leonard Jerome, was a financier and business partner of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Jennie and Lord Randolph Churchill, son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough, were introduced by the future King Edward VII in August 1873 (the prince was reportedly one of her lovers; she and his consort, Queen Alexandra, later became good friends). Engaged three days after meeting, the wedding was delayed for months while the Duke and Jerome hammered out financial terms. Jennie and Lord Randolph were married on April 15, 1874, at the British Embassy in Paris. As was the custom of the day, Jennie played a limited role in the upbringing of Winston and his brother John (1880-1947). Winston worshiped his mother, but she rarely visited him at school, despite his numerous letters begging her to. After he became an adult, they forged a strong friendship to the point where he regarded her as more of a big sister than his mother. Well-respected and influential in the highest circles, Jennie was instrumental in launching Winston's career. Five years after Randolph's death, she married George Cornwallis-West, a captain in the Scots Guards, who was 26 days older than Winston. Contrary to popular belief, she did not have a tattoo of a snake around her left wrist. She has been played by Anne Bancroft, Hilde Krahl, Georgie Glen, and Lee Remick.