Louis Armstrong timeline

Louis Armstrong is born

Armstrong often stated in public interviews that he was born on July 4, 1900, a date that has been noted in many biographies. Although he died in... Read more

Louis Armstrong drops out of school

After dropping out of the Fisk School at eleven, Armstrong joined a quartet of boys that sang in the streets for money. But he also started to get... Read more

Louis Armstrong arrested for firing a gun

Armstrong developed his cornet playing seriously in the band of the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs, where he had been sent multiple times for... Read more

Dizzy Gillespie is born

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and composer. He was born in... Read more

Louis Armstrong marries Daisy Parker

On March 19, 1918, Louis married Daisy Parker from Gretna, Louisiana. They adopted a 3-year-old boy, Clarence Armstrong, whose mother, Louis's... Read more

Louis Armstrong joins Creole Jazz Band in Chicago

Through all his riverboat experience Armstrong’s musicianship began to mature and expand. At twenty, he could now read music and he started to be... Read more

Louis Armstrong joins Fletcher Henderson band in Harlem

Armstrong enjoyed working with Oliver, but Louis's second wife, pianist Lil Hardin Armstrong, urged him to seek more prominent billing and develop... Read more

Louis Armstrong forms Hot Five and makes first records

Armstrong returned to Chicago in 1925 due mostly to the urging of his wife, who wanted to pump up Armstrong’s career and income. He was content in... Read more

Louis Armstrong tours with the musical Hot Chocolate

After separating from Lil, Armstrong started to play at the Sunset Café for Al Capone's associate Joe Glaser in the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra,... Read more

Louis Armstrong forms six piece group called the All Stars

Following a highly successful small-group jazz concert at New York Town Hall on May 17, 1947, featuring Armstrong with trombonist/singer Jack... Read more

Louis Armstrong Dies

Armstrong died just after a heart attack on July 6, 1971, a month before his 70th birthday, and 11 months after playing a famous show at the... Read more

Louis Armstrong inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees fall into three categories: artists (eligible 25 years after the release of their first recording), early... Read more

New Orleans Airport renamed Louis Armstrong International Airport

MSY opened after World War II, replacing the older New Orleans Lakefront Airport (which kept the NEW and KNEW airport codes and now serves general... Read more

Louis Armstrong House Museum opens to the public

The house where Louis Armstrong lived for close to 28 years was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and is now a museum. The Louis... Read more