Trivia

The slang terms "cat" meaning a man about town and "chops" meaning a musician's playing ability were first coined by him.

For most of his life, Louis Armstrong always gave July 4, 1900, as his birthdate, possibly because it was easy to remember. In all likelihood, he probably believed it himself. It wasn't until many years after his death that a birth record was found confirming the correct date as August 4, 1901.

He was laid to rest at the Flushing Cemetery, Section 9 in Flushing, Queens, New York City not too far from his home in Corona, Queens. His tombstone is a red granite, emblazoned simply "Satchmo" Louis Armstrong with a beautiful white trumpet figure laden on top. Buried with him is his last of four wives, Lucille Armstrong who died in 1983.

Posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1990) (under the category Early Influence).

Refused to go a State Department-sponsored concert tour of the Soviet Union in 1959 because he felt the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower wasn't doing enough to promote civil rights legislation.

Although his career as a recording artist dates back to the 1920s, when he made now-classic recordings with Joe 'King' Oliver, Bessie Smith and the legendary Jimmie Rodgers, as well as his own Hot Five and Hot Seven groups, his biggest hits as a recording artist came comparatively late in his life: "Mack the Knife" (1956), "Hello, Dolly!" (a #1 hit in 1964), "What a Wonderful World" (1968) and "We Have All the Time in the World" (over 20 years after his death).

Embittered by the treatment of blacks in his hometown of New Orleans, he chose to be buried in New York City.

When he died, his home was in the Corona section of Queens County, New York City. Today, it remains a museum where fans can check out his residence and its belongings as a citizen of New York City.

Pictured on a 32¢ US commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of American Music series, issued 1 September 1995.

Was good friends with Ella Fitzgerald.

Interestingly enough, Armstrong had never heard of either the song or show "Hello, Dolly!" when he recorded it. To him, it was just the lead song on an album of show tunes, and he was more surprised than anyone when both the single and the album (Kapp 1964) went to #1 on the Billboard charts. What makes this accomplishment all the more remarkable is that it happened at the height of the so-called "British Invasion", when The Beatles and other British rock groups seemed to be dominating every aspect of the pop music charts. Armstrong later repeated his hit in the show's film version (Hello, Dolly! (1969)), singing it to Barbra Streisand.

He was nicknamed "Pops" because that is the name he addressed everyone by. Later on in his career, he picked up the sobriquet "America's Jazz Ambassador" because of his frequent jazz concerts around the world.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7018 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

On June 26, 1950, he recorded the American version of the French songs "La Vie en Rose" and "C'est si Bon". "La Vie en Rose" was written by Louiguy (music) and Édith Piaf (lyrics) in 1946 and "C'est si Bon" was written by Henri Betti (music) and André Hornez (lyrics) in 1947. The English lyrics of "La Vie en Rose" were written by Mack David and the English lyrics of "C'est si Bon" were written by Jerry Seelen. The recording took place in New York with Sy Oliver and his Orchestra.

Posthumously inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame (1978) (charter member).

Although the term didn't exist during his lifetime, there is much evidence to indicate that he may have been bulimic. He believed that it didn't matter what you ate, as long as you purged yourself regularly afterwards. He would do that with the help of an herbal laxative called Swiss Kriss, and even handed out mimeographed sheets on his diet regimen to acquaintances. In all probability, this contributed to the health problems he suffered in the last years of his life.

Satchmo became Armstrong's nickname after his 1932 Grand Tour of Europe. A London music magazine editor wrote "Satchmo" in an article -- probably because he could not read his garbled notes. Up until that time, Armstrong's nickname was Satchelmouth.

Although he is often referred to with his first name given the French pronunciation of "Louie", he always used the "Lewis" pronunciation although he didn't mind people using the former. To people who pointed out that Louis is originally a French name that would be pronounced "Louie" in that language, he used to reply "I ain't French.".

In 1964, he performed a feat many considered impossible when he knocked The Beatles off the top spot in the charts with "Hello Dolly". Even more impressive is that he did so at the age of sixty-three.

Louis Armstrong passed away on July 6, 1971, a month away from what would have been his 70th birthday on August 4.

Posthumously inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame (2007).

Posthumously inducted into the Long Island Hall of Fame (2008).

Entertained on the Mississippi river boats in his early days.

He is one of the musical legends referred to in Stevie Wonder's hit song "Sir Duke" along with Ella Fitzgerald, Glenn Miller, Count Basie and, of course, Duke Ellington.

He was a lifelong reader and talented, idiosyncratic writer who carried a dictionary with him on tour.

On August 4, 2021, he was honored with a day of his filmography during the Turner Classic Movies Summer Under the Stars.

Armstrong's lips were heavily scarred. Constant trumpet playing and a less-than-orthodox technique caused him to grow calluses on his lips that would interfere with his playing, so to deal with them, he'd cut the calluses off with a razor blade, leaving scars. Eventually he had to stop playing altogether.

Doc Louis, the trainer character in the boxing video game Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (1987), is based on his likeness.

Main inspiration for the late musician Scatman John.

Jack Bradley, fan, friend and photographer of Louis Armstrong, born Cotuit, Massachusetts, on 3 January, 1934 died March 21 2021 in Brewster, Massachusetts.

He represented USA with his orchestra at the world's first jazz festival which took place in Nice (France) from February 22 to 28, 1948.