#13: Louis Armstrong (July 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971)
Born into poverty in New Orleans, Louis Armstrong learned to play the cornet in a juvenile detention home. He moved to Chicago in 1922 to play with King Oliver’s band, where the brilliant solos of Louis Armstrong changed jazz music forever. His gravelly voice turned a 1967 track called “What a Wonderful World” into a massive international hit. He spent five decades touring the globe, establishing himself as America’s first true pop star and cultural ambassador.
