Neil Armstrong
Born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, Neil Armstrong was the first astronaut to walk on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. A Naval aviator, test pilot and aerospace engineer, Armstrong made the famous statement, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Thomas Edison
Born in Milan, Ohio, Thomas Edison is the only American inventor with more than 1,000 patents. Some of his most famous inventions include the light bulb, the phonograph and the stock ticker.
James A. Garfield
James Garfield was born on a frontier farm in Cuyahoga County, Ohio in 1831.
While President of Hiram College, Garfield was elected to Ohio senate in 1859 and served as an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War.
At the 1880 Republican Nation Convention, Garfield became a "dark horse" nominee on the thirty-sixth ballot. He went on to win the election by a margin of only 10,000 popular vote and became the twentieth president. Less than 4 months after his inauguration, Garfield was shot by a disgruntled office-seeker while waiting for a train in Washington, DC. He never recovered from the wound and died on September 19, 1881, at the age of 49.
Ulysses Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio. He entered the military academy at West Point in 1839. When the Mexican War began in 1844, Grant was sent to the southwestern frontier and fought under General Zachary Taylor. He won praise and promotions for his skill and bravery but he resigned from the Army in 1854 when he found it nearly impossible to support his wife and family on a military salary. When the Civil War began in 1861, Grant accepted command of the 21st Illinois Regiment. Within five years, he had become the most celebrated general in the nation's history. At the Republican Convention in 1868, he was unanimously nominated as their presidential candidate and became the nation's eighteenth president in 1869. He was reelected for a second term in 1873.
Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding was born on his family's farm near Marion, Ohio. After working as a reporter for the Marion Star, Harding purchased the newspaper and became its owner, publisher, and editor. At the age of 35 Harding began his political career. He served in the Ohio State Senate from 1900-1904, was lieutenant governor from 1904-1906, and even made an unsuccessful bid for governor. In 1914, he was elected to the US Senate.
At the Republican National Convention in 1920, Harding was nominated on the tenth ballot with Calvin Coolidge as his running mate. He won the election by an unprecedented 60% of the popular vote. But his presidency was marred by a long series of bribery scandals involving members of his cabinet.
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison, the twenty-third President of the United States, was born on a farm at North Bend Ohio. His grandfather William Henry Harrison was the ninth president of the United States.
Harrison was defeated in his run for governor of Indiana in 1876, but was elected to one term in the US Senate in 1881. At the 1888 Republican Convention in Chicago, he was selected to run against Grover Cleveland. Cleveland won the popular vote, but Harrison won the election with a majority of electoral votes.
As president, Harrison signed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, a piece of legislation designed to limit the growth of monopolies and trusts. During his administration, Congress adopted the first billion-dollar budget in American history.
Rutherford B. Hayes
Born in Delaware, Ohio, Rutherford B. Hayes fought in the Civil War, was wounded in action, rose to the rank of brigadier general in 1864, and received a promotion to major general a year later. While he was still in the Army, Cincinnati Republicans nominated him for the House of Representatives. Between 1867 and 1876 he served three terms as Governor of Ohio.
Hayes was nominated as the Republican candidate for President in 1876 against Samuel Tilden, governor of New York, and was elected the 19th President of the United States.
William McKinley
William McKinley was born in Niles, Ohio. McKinley's political career began at age 34 when he won a seat in Congress. The Republican Party needed a strong candidate to run against William Jennings Bryan in 1896. McKinley was nominated and won the election, becoming the twenty-fifth president of the United States.
In February of 1898, McKinley sent a single battleship, The Maine, to Cuba to protect Americans living there. The ship was destroyed by a submarine mine and 266 American lives were lost. On April 11, 1898, McKinley asked congress to declare war for the liberation and independence of Cuba.
The conflict came to end on December 10, 1898 with a peace treaty signed in Paris. Cuba was granted independence from Spain, and Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines were given to the United States.
In 1900, McKinley won a second presidential election against William Jennings Bryan. But his second term came to a tragic end in September 1901. He was standing in a receiving line at the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition when an assassin fired two bullets into him. He died eight days later.
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father had served as secretary of war and as attorney general during President Grant's administration. At the end of the Spanish-American War when the Philippines were given up to the United States, President McKinley appointed Taft governor of the islands. Taft ran against Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan and was elected twenty-seventh president of the Unites States in 1908. At 6'2'' and more than 300 pounds, Taft was the largest man to ever serve as president.
After leaving the While House, Taft served as Professor of Law at Yale. In 1921, President Harding appointed him Chief Justice of the United States. He resigned his position in February of 1930 because of illness and died one month later.
Wilbur and Orville Wright
Born in Indiana and Dayton, Ohio. The Wright brothers operated a bicycle shop in Dayton, but they earned fame when their airplane was the first to sustain flight.