LITTLE KNOWN AMERICAN HISTORY! Trivia: How many Honorary Citizens of the United States are there?! ANSWER: Only seven people have been made Honorary Citizens of the United States. This is a special award that can be made either by an Act of Congress, or by Proclamation by the US President, after being authorized by Congress. THE SEVEN HONORARY CITIZENS ARE: WINSTON CHURCHILL: The first time this honor was awarded was in 1963, to Winston Churchill. Churchill is generally regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of all time. As Prime Minister of Great Britain, he led the country during the troubled times of WWII. He was also known as an historian, artist and writer - in fact, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature for his writings, including his 6-volume history, The Second World War. RAOUL WALLENBERG: Raoul Wallenberg was named an Honorary Citizen in 1981. Wallenberg was a Swedish citizen who saved thousands of Jewish lives during WWII by issuing protective passports, and by transferring them to Swedish-owned housing. The United States also honored Wallenberg by naming a portion of the street outside of the United States Holocaust Museum after him, and by issuing a stamp in his honor in 1997. There is also a monument in his honor across from the United Nations Headquarters. Wallenberg was detained by the Soviet Red Army in 1945 for suspicion of being a spy for the United States. There have been various conflicting stories since that time, but no one knows definitively exactly what happened to him. WILLIAM PENN AND HANNAH PENN: William Penn and his second wife, Hannah, were both given posthumous Honorary Citizenship in 1984. Penn was the founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, which later became the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Hannah was the Provinces administrator. Penn was known for his devotion to democracy and religious freedom. Hannah administered the Province, first, during a period of six years when her husband was incapacitated by strokes, and later for eight years after his death. MOTHER TERESA: In 1996 Mother Teresa began an Honorary Citizen of the United States. She was a great humanitarian and the founder of the Missionaries of Charity. She has also received the Nobel Peace Prize (1997) and the Bharat Ratna, Indias highest civilian honor. After her death in 1997 she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and was given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. MARIE JOSEPH PAUL YVES ROCH GILBERT DU MOTIER: You probably know him better by his title, the Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette was a French aristocrat and military offer who served admirably during the American Revolution. He also took part in the French Revolution. Actually, his Honorary Citizenship is a trifle redundant, since he was already a United States citizen. Maryland had made Lafayette and his heirs natural born Citizens of the state; after the national Constitution was ratified, that automatically made him a United States citizen. CASIMIR PULASKI: Casimir Pulaski was the most recent individual to be awarded Honorary Citizenship by the United States in 2009. Pulaski was a Polish nobleman who also assisted in the American Revolution. He had charge of, and often personally financed, a special unit of infantry and cavalry. In fact, he is known as the Father of American Cavalry.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 00:20:34 +0000
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