November 30, 1874 -- January 24, 1965

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace on St Andrew's Day, 30 November 1874. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a younger son of the Duke of Marlborough. His mother, Jennie Jerome, was the daughter of an American business tycoon.

Winston's childhood was privileged but not particularly happy. Like many Victorian parents, Lord and Lady Randolph Churchill were distant figures. Letters from his schooldays reveal a wilful and somewhat rebellious little boy.

A brief timeline of his life:

• 1901 -- Enters House of Commons

• 1911-15, 1939-40 -- Serves as First Lord of the Admiralty

• 1940-45, 1951-55 -- Prime Minister of Great Britain

• 1953 -- Knighted; wins Nobel Prize for literature

• April 9, 1963 -- Honorary Citizen of U.S. by Act of Congress.
  Only 2nd person so honored: [1st was Marquis de Lafayette for assistance during War of Revolution.]

• 1964 -- Retires from House of Commons

• 1965 -- Dies in London

Churchill with Eisenhower at the White House, 1954. John Foster Dulles on left, Sir Anthony Eden on right.

"I am ready to meet my Maker, whether my Maker is prepared for the ordeal of meeting me is another matter."

Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Sir Winston S. Churchill Photo, 2002.

Perhaps Churchill's most famous speech was that made at the height of the Battle of Britain. Praising the RAF for effectively preventing an invasion by stopping the Luftwaffe from gaining the control of the skies, he said, 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.'

One of the most bizarre incidents of the war was the arrival in Scotland of Hitler's deputy, Rudolph Hess. Secret messages released after the war show that President Roosevelt was keen to exploit the propaganda value to help get American public opinion behind the British cause.

The war in Europe entered its final decisive phase on D-Day (6 June 1944) when Allied troops successfully landed in Normandy and began the liberation of the continent. Churchill found it difficult to stay away from action. It fell to King George VI to explain to his Prime Minister why he could not accompany the troops on D-Day.

Churchill's love of fine drink and cigars left him vulnerable to assassination by poisoning. M.I.5 took the threat seriously and as part of their arduous duties even inspected gifts.

The Churchill / Clementine Hozier union was the result of a lightning romance. They were engaged in August, 1908, after Winston proposed at Blenheim Palace, and married just over a month later.

Winston and Clementine had five children, four of whom survived into adulthood. The photograph above of Winston with his youngest daughter Mary was taken on the steps of his beloved house at Chartwell in Kent.

Churchill joined the British Army as a second lieutenant in the Fourth Hussars. He was posted to Bangalore in India where the only action he saw was on the polo field.

Churchill did not allow his shock defeat in the 1945 General Election to silence him for very long. He remained a hugely important international figure, and used his status to speak out about the new threats posed by the Cold War and the need for reconciliation in Western Europe. In October 1951 the Conservative Party achieved a narrow victory at the polls and Churchill became Prime Minister once again. Failing health forced him to resign the premiership in April 1955, but he remained an MP until 1964, having served 64 years in the House of Commons..