Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography
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Charles Nathaniel Haskell (March 13, 1860 – July 5, 1933) was an American lawyer, oilman, and statesman who served as the first Governor of Oklahoma. Haskell played a crucial role in drafting the Oklahoma Constitution as well as Oklahoma's statehood and admission into the United States as the 46th state in 1907. Haskell is also remembered as a prominent resident of Muskogee, Oklahoma and helped to bring the city to prominence throughout Oklahoma.
Throughout his administration as Governor, Haskell’s practical mind, intuitive knowledge of the law, and his insight into what the law should be enabled him to discern the underlying principles of any issue. Though firmly a Democrat, Haskell found the middle ground and usually brought the belligerent bipartisan forces and rival interests into friendly agreement.
Charles Haskell Elementary in Edmond, Oklahoma, and Charles N. Haskell Middle School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma are named in his honor. (Read more...)Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography/2
Carrie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) in Muskogee, Oklahoma is an American country music singer who won the fourth season of American Idol. She has since become a multi-platinum selling recording artist. Her debut album, Some Hearts, was certified 6x platinum and is the fastest selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history. Underwood is the first American Idol winner to sweep up honors at all three major music awards in the same awards show season (06-07), including one American Music Award, five Billboard Music Awards, and two Grammy Awards (including Best New Artist). Her critically acclaimed debut album is the best selling album of any American Idol contestant in the U.S. to date.
Her album, Some Hearts, has yielded five number one hits to date on various charts in the United States and Canada, including "Inside Your Heaven", "Jesus, Take the Wheel", and "Before He Cheats". Her second album, Carnival Ride, has already produced a top 10 hit, "So Small". (Read more...)Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography/3
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Jacobus "Jim" Thorpe born May 28, 1887 in Prague, Oklahoma, is considered one of the most versatile athletes in modern sports. He won Olympic gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon, starred in college and professional football, played Major League Baseball and also had a career in basketball. He subsequently lost his Olympic titles when it was found he had played two seasons of minor league baseball prior to competing in the games (thus violating the amateur status rules). In 1978, Thorpe was given his own national holiday, which is still celebrated on May 28.
Thorpe was named the greatest athlete of the first half of the twentieth century by the Associated Press (AP) in 1950, and ranked third on the AP list of athletes of the century in 1999. After his professional sports career ended, Thorpe lived in abject poverty. In 1983, thirty years after his death, his medals were restored. (Read more...)Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography/5
Carlos "Chuck" Norris, born March 10, 1940 in Ryan, Oklahoma, is an American martial artist, action star, and Hollywood actor who is best known for playing Cordell "Cord" Walker on Walker, Texas Ranger, his training with Bruce Lee and for his iconically tough image.
After High School Norris joined the United States Air Force as an Air Policeman in 1958 and was sent to Osan Air Base, South Korea. It was in South Korea that Norris acquired the nickname Chuck and began his training in Tang Soo Do (tangsudo), an interest that would lead to black belts in that art and the founding of the Chun Kuk Do ("Universal Way") form. He also created the education associations United Fighting Arts Federation and "KickStart" (formerly "Kick Drugs Out of America"), a middle school and high school–based program intended to give at-risk children a focus point in life through the martial arts. When he returned to the United States, he continued to act as an AP at March Air Force Base California. Norris was discharged in August of 1962. He worked for the Northrop Corporation and opened a chain of karate schools, which Chad McQueen, Steve McQueen's son, attended. (Read more...)Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography/6
James Mountain "Jim" Inhofe (born November 17, 1934) is an American politician from Oklahoma. A member of the Republican Party, he currently serves as the senior Senator from Oklahoma. He is among the most vocal skeptics of climate change (global warming) in Congress. Inhofe often cites the Bible as the source for his stances on various political issues.
Inhofe became active in Oklahoma Republican politics in the mid-1960s. He was a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1967 to 1969, and a member of the Oklahoma Senate from 1969 until 1977, the last four of those years as minority leader. During his time in the state senate, he ran twice for election to other positions: for Governor of Oklahoma in 1974, losing to Democrat David Boren, and in 1976, losing a race to represent Oklahoma's First Congressional District (which was based in Tulsa) to incumbent Democrat James R. Jones. Inhofe's political career was revived in 1978 when he was elected mayor of Tulsa, a position he held until 1984. (Read more...)Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography/7
Mickey Charles Mantle was born October 20, 1931 in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, Mantle was a American baseball player who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. He played his entire 18-year major-league professional career for the New York Yankees, winning 3 American League MVP titles and playing for 16 All-Star teams. Mantle played on 12 pennant winners and 7 World Championship clubs. He still holds the records for most World Series home runs (18), RBIs (40), runs (42), walks (43), extra-base hits (26), and total bases (123).
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Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992), was an American businessman and entrepreneur born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma who founded two American retailers Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. He was the patriarch of the Walton family, one of the richest families in the world.
In 1945, after leaving the military, Walton decided he wanted to own a department store but would settle for a variety store. With some help from his father-in-law with a loan of $20,000, plus $5000 he had saved from his time in the Army, Walton purchased a Ben Franklin variety store in Newport, Arkansas. The store was a franchise of the Butler Brothers chain.
It was here that Walton pioneered many concepts that would prove to be crucial to his success. Walton made sure the shelves were consistently stocked with a wide range of goods at low prices. His store also stayed open later than most other stores, especially during the Christmas season. He also pioneered the practice of discount merchandising by buying wholesale goods from the lowest priced supplier. This allowed him to pass on savings to his customers, which drove up his sales volume. Higher volumes allowed him to negotiate even lower purchase prices with the wholesaler on subsequent purchases. Walton's store led in sales and profits in the Butler Brothers' six-state region. (Read more...)Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography/9
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Reba Nell McEntire, born March 28, 1955 in McAlester, Oklahoma, is a Grammy award winning American country music singer and performer, and actress. Sometimes referred to as The Queen of Country Music, she is known for her lively stage-shows and pop-tinged ballads. She has issued 31 albums, with over 50 million records sold worldwide.
Reba McEntire was the most successful female recording artist in country music in the 1980s and 1990s, during which time she scored 22 number one hits and released five gold albums, six platinum albums, two double-platinum albums, four triple-platinum albums, a quadruple-platinum album, and a quintuple-platinum album, for certified album sales of 33.5 million over the 20-year period. She expanded her activities as an actress in film and on the legitimate stage, and particularly on television, where she starred in a situation comedy, Reba, which lasted from 2001 to 2007. (Read more...)Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography/11
Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., also noted as Gordo Cooper, was born 6 March 1927 in Shawnee, Oklahoma and was a American astronaut. Cooper was one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first manned-space effort by the United States.
Each of the Mercury astronauts was assigned to a different portion of the project along with other special assignments. Cooper specialized in the Redstone rocket (and developed a personal survival knife for astronauts to carry). He also chaired the Emergency Egress Committee, responsible for working out emergency launch pad procedures for escape. Cooper served as capsule communicator (CAPCOM) for John Glenn's first orbital spaceflight in Mercury-Atlas 6 (Friendship 7) and Scott Carpenter's flight on Mercury-Atlas 7 (Aurora 7). He was backup pilot for Wally Schirra in Mercury-Atlas 8 (Sigma 7).
Cooper was launched into space on 15 May 1963 aboard the Mercury-Atlas 9 (Faith 7) spacecraft, the last Mercury mission. He orbited the earth 22 times and logged more time in space than all five previous Mercury astronauts combined – 34 hours, 19 minutes and 49 seconds, traveling 546,167 miles (878,971 km) at 17,547 mph (28,239 km/h), pulling a maximum of 7.6 g (74.48 m/s²). Cooper achieved an altitude of 165.9 statute miles (267 km) at apogee. He was the first American astronaut to sleep not only in orbit but on the launch pad during a countdown. (Read more...)Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography/12
William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was a Cherokee-American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer and actor.
Known as Oklahoma's favorite son, Rogers was born to a prominent Indian Territory family and learned to ride horses and use a lariat so well that he was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for throwing three ropes at once—one around the neck of a horse, another around the horse's rider, and a third around all four legs of the horse. He ultimately traveled around the world three times, made 71 movies (50 silent films and 21 "talkies"), wrote more than 4,000 nationally-syndicated newspaper columns, and became a world-famous figure.
By the mid-1930s, Rogers was adored by the American people, and was the top-paid movie star in Hollywood at the time. On an around-the-world trip with aviator Wiley Post, Rogers died when their small airplane crashed near Barrow, Alaska Territory in 1935. (Read more...)Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography/13
Francis Clement Kelley (October 23, 1870 - February 1, 1948) was the second Roman Catholic Bishop of Oklahoma. He was a Catholic Priest for 54 years, and Bishop for 23 years.
Kelley was consecrated Bishop of Oklahoma in 1924. During his years as Bishop, he successfully resisted the agitation of the KKK and continued his work as the "Extension Bishop." Like other missionary dioceses in the country, Oklahoma received funds from the Extension Society to build and to furnish churches. In 1932 Bishop Kelley succeeded Bishop Joseph H. Conroy of Ogdensburg as Chairman of the Bishops Catholic Committee on Scouting. Under his leadership the Catholic Committee expanded to include 22 Archbishops and Bishops, one from each Ecclesiastical Province in the United States.
In 1934 the American hierarchy approved a "Plan of Cooperation" recognizing Scouting as serving the church's interest in the spiritual welfare of Catholic youth, and approving it as an approved youth program in the Church. Bishop Kelly was recognized by the Boy Scouts of America with the Silver Buffalo Award in 1939, the first member of the catholic clergy to be so recognized. (Read more...)Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography/14
Charles Francis Colcord (August 18, 1859 – December 10, 1934), also known as Charlie and even Chuck by some, was a successful rancher, U.S. Marshal, Chief of Police, businessman, and pioneer of the Old West.
In 1889 the cattle market collapsed, and the Oklahoma land run was announced. On April 22, 1889 Charles made the run that day and traded his team, wagon and gear for a shack and lot. By the end of the excitement, a noisy tent city had sprung up, and Colcord was its leading citizen, with his lot becoming Lot Number 1, Block Number 1, Oklahoma City. As Oklahoma boomed he served as Chief of Police, then Oklahoma City's first Sheriff (essentially the army left what was a territory, declared it a state, and gave Charlie the stockade and a gun.) He later became a US Marshal (appointed by President Grover Cleveland), serving with Bill Tilghman. He worked hard to control a lawless, wild area, fighting Bill Doolin, Tulsa Jack, the Dalton Gang, Little Dick West, and others. He personally rounded up five members of the Dalton Gang and supervised their hanging.
When he died Oklahoma City named the Civic Center after him. His dedication to the city and his humble origins landed him in the Cowboy Hall of Fame. (Read more...)Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography/15
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt, born December 18, 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, is an American actor, film producer, and social activist. He became famous during the mid 1990s after starring in several major Hollywood films. Pitt received a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for his role in the 1995 film Twelve Monkeys. Pitt is consistently cited by popular media as one of the most attractive men alive and is regarded as a Hollywood A-lister. His former marriage to actress Jennifer Aniston and current relationship with actress Angelina Jolie have been widely covered in the world media. He is the father of four children with Jolie, one biological, all of whom have also received media coverage. Since his connection with Jolie, he has become increasingly involved in social issues, both domestically and internationally.
In 1988, Pitt had his first starring role, in The Dark Side of the Sun, where he played a young American taken by his family to the Adriatic to find a remedy for a skin condition. The movie was shot in Yugoslavia in the summer of '88 with Pitt being paid $1,523 per week for seven weeks. However, with editing nearly complete, war broke out and much of the footage was lost; the film was released years later. Pitt won a part in the TV movie Too Young to Die?, about an abused teenager given the death penalty for murder. Pitt played the part of a drug addict, Billy Canton, who took advantage of a runaway played by Juliette Lewis. (Read more...)Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography/16
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