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Howard Hughes

Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes 1938.jpg
Howard Hughes in February 1938
Born Howard Robard Hughes Jr.
(1905-12-24)December 24, 1905
Humble, Texas, U.S.
Died April 5, 1976(1976-04-05) (aged 70)
en route to Houston, Texas, U.S.
Cause of death Kidney failure
Resting place Glenwood Cemetery, Houston, Texas
Residence Houston, Texas
Nationality United States
Education Thacher School
Alma mater California Institute of Technology
Rice University (dropped out in 1924)
Occupation Chairman and CEO of Summa Corporation
Founder of The Howard Hughes Corporation
Founder of the Hughes Aircraft Company
Founder and benefactor of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Years active 1926–76
Home town Houston, Texas
Net worth $1.5 billion (equivalent to $6.31 billion in today's dollars). at the time of his death (approximately 1/1190th of U.S. GNP)
Board member of Hughes Aircraft Company,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Spouse(s) Ella Botts Rice
(m. 1925; div. 1929)

Jean Peters
(m. 1957; div. 1971)
Parent(s) Howard R. Hughes Sr.
Allene Stone Gano
Aviation career
Known for Hughes Aircraft Company; Films.
Famous flights Hughes H-4 Hercules (Spruce Goose), Transcontinental airspeed record from Los Angeles to Newark NJ (1937), round the world airspeed record (1938)
Awards Harmon Trophy (1936 and 1938)
Collier Trophy (1938)
Congressional Gold Medal (1939)
Octave Chanute Award (1940)
National Aviation Hall of Fame (1973)
Signature
Howard Hughes signature.svg

Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist known during his lifetime as one of the most financially successful individuals in the world. He first made a name for himself as a film producer, and then became an influential figure in the aviation industry. Later in life, he became known for his eccentric behavior and reclusive lifestyle, oddities that were caused in part by a worsening obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and chronic pain from a plane crash.

As a maverick film tycoon, Hughes gained prominence in Hollywood beginning in the late 1920s, when he made big-budget and often controversial films like The Racket (1928), Hell's Angels (1930), and Scarface (1932). Later he controlled the RKO film studio.

Hughes formed the Hughes Aircraft Company in 1932, hiring numerous engineers and designers. He spent the rest of the 1930s setting multiple world air speed records and building the Hughes H-1 Racer and H-4 Hercules (the "Spruce Goose"). He acquired and expanded Trans World Airlines and later acquired Air West, renaming it Hughes Airwest. Hughes was included in Flying Magazine's list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation, ranked at No. 25. Today, his legacy is maintained through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The birthplace of Howard Hughes is recorded as either Humble or Houston, Texas. The date remains uncertain due to conflicting dates from various sources. He repeatedly claimed that his birthday was on Christmas Eve. A 1941 affidavit birth certificate of Hughes that was signed by his aunt Annette Gano Lummis and Estelle Boughton Sharp states that he was born on December 24, 1905, in Harris County, Texas. However, his certificate of baptism recorded on October 7, 1906, in the parish register of St. John's Episcopal Church in Keokuk, Iowa, listed his birth as September 24, 1905 without any reference to the place of birth.


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