Terrel Bell

Terrel Bell, American sergeant, academic, and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of Education (died 1996)

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Born: November 11, 1921
Died: June 22, 1996
Zodiac sign: Scorpio
Birth year: 1921

About Terrel Bell

Terrel Howard Bell (November 11, 1921 – June 22, 1996) was the secretary of education in the cabinet of President Ronald Reagan. He was the second secretary of education, following Shirley Hufstedler. == Early life and career == Bell was born in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, on November 11, 1921; at age eight, his father died. Bell graduated from Lava Hot Springs High School in 1940, and the Albion State Normal School in 1946. After this he served as a school superintendent of various schools in Idaho and Wyoming. He was the superintendent of schools in Rockland, Idaho. Bell spent much of his professional career in Utah. He served as a sergeant in the Marine Corps during World War II and returned to Idaho to get his education. After earning a B.A. in Albion in 1946, Bell started a career as a high school teacher and bus driver. He earned an MA from the University of Idaho in Moscow in 1954, and a PhD in education from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City in 1961.

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

Career and life highlights

Bell served for Reagan's first term, resigning effective December 31, 1984.
He believed that, "there are three things to emphasize in teaching: The first is motivation, the second is motivation, and the third is (you guessed it) motivation." Bell was inducted into Idaho's Hall of Fame in 1987.

Terrel Bell timeline

1940Bell graduated from Lava Hot Springs High School in 1940, and the Albion State Normal School in 1946.
1984Bell served for Reagan's first term, resigning effective December 31, 1984.
1987He believed that, "there are three things to emphasize in teaching: The first is motivation, the second is motivation, and the third is (you guessed it) motivation." Bell was inducted into Idaho's Hall of Fame in 1987.

The world when Terrel Bell was born

Terrel Bell was born in 1921. 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 1921

#1 song"My Man" – Fanny Brice
Top movieThe Kid (Charlie Chaplin)
Best-selling bookMain Street – Sinclair Lewis

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentJack Dempsey vs Georges Carpentier — first million-dollar gate
Top headlineWarren G. Harding inaugurated as 29th President
Technology milestoneAlbert Einstein wins the Nobel Prize in Physics
Defining fadOuija boards
Notable inventionLie detector (polygraph)
World population1.88 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderWarren G. Harding
Sports championNew York Giants (World Series)
U.S. population108.5M

1921 versus 2026

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

Measure	1921	2026
Gas	$0.26	$3.45/gal
Average home	$5,500	$435,000
Average income	$3,010	$67,500
Movie ticket	$0.15	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.02	$0.73
Population	108.5M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, 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.