Born: 29 May 1917 · Died: 22 November 1963 · Age: 46
35th US President who faced down the Soviet Union in the Cuban Missile Crisis and was assassinated in Dallas in 1963
Did you know?He won a Pulitzer Prize for his book Profiles in Courage, which examined the integrity of several American senators.
Quick facts
Date of birth29 May 1917
Date of death22 November 1963
Age at death46
Cause of deathShot to the head
NationalityAmerican
BirthplaceBrookline, Massachusetts, USA
Occupationpolitician
Editor's Take:
John F. Kennedy occupied the White House for barely a thousand days, yet his presidency still casts a long shadow over American memory. Young, witty and made for television, he embodied a sense of new beginnings after the war years. His steady handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 pulled the world back from the brink of nuclear war, and his challenge to land a man on the Moon gave a nation a goal to rally behind. His assassination in Dallas in 1963, broadcast and retold endlessly, turned him into a symbol of promise cut short. Historians still debate what he might have achieved, which is part of why he remains so fascinating.
Key Milestones
1943: Commands PT-109 in the Pacific
1953: Enters the US Senate
1960: Elected the youngest elected US President
1961: Launches the Peace Corps and the Moon programme
1962: Faces down the Soviet Union in the Cuban Missile Crisis
1963: Assassinated in Dallas
35th President of the United States, assassinated in Dallas in 1963.
“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
John F. Kennedy's birthday is May 29. He was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts, USA.
How old was John F. Kennedy when he died?
John F. Kennedy died on November 22, 1963, aged 46.
Who shares a birthday with John F. Kennedy?
Famous people who share John F. Kennedy's May 29 birthday include G. K. Chesterton, Charles II of England, Peter Higgs, Tenzing Norgay and Oswald Spengler.
