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Studs Terkel

Studs Terkel, American historian and author (died 2008)

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Born
May 16, 1912
Died
October 31, 2008
Zodiac sign
Taurus
Birth year
1912

About Studs Terkel

Louis "Studs" Terkel was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1985 for The Good War and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago. Terkel published his first book, Giants of Jazz, in 1956. In 1982, Terkel was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Illinois at Chicago. His 1985 book "The Good War": An Oral History of World War Two, which detailed ordinary peoples' accounts of the country's involvement in World War II, won the Pulitzer Prize.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Studs Terkel timeline

  1. Terkel published his first book, Giants of Jazz, in 1956.
  2. In 1982, Terkel was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
  3. His 1985 book "The Good War": An Oral History of World War Two, which detailed ordinary peoples' accounts of the country's involvement in World War II, won the Pulitzer Prize.

The world when Studs Terkel was born

Studs Terkel was born in 1912. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1912

  • Best-selling book"The Harvester" – Gene Stratton-Porter

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJim Thorpe wins two gold medals at the Stockholm Olympics
  • Top headlineRMS Titanic sinks on maiden voyage — 1,500+ die
  • Technology milestoneFirst parachute jump from an airplane
  • World population~1.72B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWilliam Howard Taft
  • U.S. population94.6M

1912 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Studs Terkel's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19122026
Population94.6M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.