Today in American history…Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 to Jack and Nelle Reagan in the small town of Tampico, Illinois.

In his early years, he moved to Iowa and was a radio announcer for the Chicago Cubs basebal games. It was while he was traveling with the Chicago Cubs in 1937 to California that he did a screen test for Warner Brothers movie studio and was signed to a seven year contract. One of his most popular roles was the role of George Gipp in the film Knute Rockne: All American. From then on, he would be forever coined with the nickname “The Gipper.”

Some of the few highlights of Ronald Reagan’s life were:

President of the Screen Actors Guild from 1947 – 1952 and also served as President 1959-60.

Governor of California from 1967-1975

Elected as our Nation’s 40th U.S. President on November 4, 1980. He was re-elected to serve a second term on November 4, 1984.