Meetings that made history…From Steve Jobs to Elvis Presley
Meetings between iconic figures in technology, politics, sport and music have changed the course of history and shaped the world as we know it today. Had these meetings not taken place, events may have taken a very different direction.
Here’s a rundown of five of the most significant meetings in recent history and what they achieved:
1. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
One of the most influential brands in technology, Apple Inc was formed as a result of its founders, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, meeting in 1971. Jobs was still in high school and Wozniak at college when a mutual friend, Bill Fernandez, thought they should get together because of their mutual love of electronics. He introduced them and at their first meeting, they discovered they had a lot in common. They went on to found Apple in 1976.
2. NFL
On 20th August 1920, representatives of various American football teams including the Akron Pros, Cleveland Indians, Canton Bulldogs, Dayton Triangles and Rock Island Independents met in Canton, Ohio to discuss setting up a league. The American Professional Football Conference was formed, becoming the National Football League in 1922. Football went on to become one of America’s most popular sports, with the Super Bowl 50 being the most-watched programme in US television history.
3. Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt
During World War II, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt – the leaders of the USSR, Great Britain and America respectively – met in Iran in 1943 at the Tehran Conference. Many important discussions took place. Decisions were made regarding the combined military strategy against Germany and Japan, including the USA’s commitment to launching Operation Overlord in May 1944 to invade northern France.
4. The Million Dollar Quartet
Four of the biggest stars of rock ‘n’ roll, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins met in Memphis on 4th December 1956 for a jam session. Although it didn’t change the world, it changed the shape of music to come. The recording, including casual chat between the four friends, was released on a record called The Million Dollar Quartet in 1981. It continues to inspire musicians today and has spawned a musical which has played in Broadway, Las Vegas and the West End.
5. Philippe Cozette and Robert Graham Fagg
A symbolic meeting took place on 2nd December 1990, at 11.21am precisely. One hundred and thirty feet below the English Channel, Cozette and Fagg shook hands to celebrate the breakthrough of the Channel Tunnel. The two workers met in a hole measuring 3ft by 4ft and shook hands as the tunnelling from France and England finally met in the middle, marking the long-awaited breakthrough in the building of the Channel Tunnel which connected Great Britain to the rest of Europe.
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Posted by Lucy Stewart
