Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong was born August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His mom’s name was Mayanne Armstrong and his dad’s name was William Armstrong. William left his family in 1901, after Louis was born. Louis lived with his grandmother, Josephine Armstrong, until he was five years old, then he moved back with his mom and his sister, Beatrice.They were very poor. In 1907, Louis and three other boys put together a vocal quartet. They did performances on street corners for money. A Russian, Jewish settler family (the Karnofskys) hired Louis to do some work on their junk cart. Louis got his first cornet with the money he got from the Karnofskys. On New Year’s Eve, 1912, Louis fired a gun in the street to celebrate the New Year. A policeman arrested him, and the next day he was sent to the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys. While he was there, he got a musical instrument from Peter Davis, the band director, and in the long run became the head of the Waif’s Home Band.

Louis was freed from the Waif’s Home on June 16, 1914. He lived with his father for a short time, and then moved back in with his mother and sister. One of the greatest trumpet players in New Orleans, named Joe Oliver, became a teacher to Louis. Louis had many jobs; he delivered coal, sold newspapers, and performed with local groups at honky-tonks in New Orleans to feed his mom and sister.

In 1918, Louis married a prosper from Gretna, Louisiana, named Daisy Parker.

Joe Oliver moved to Chicago, Illinois, so Louis took his place in the Kid Ory Band, which was a major group in New Orleans. In May of 1919, a bandleader, Fate Marble, hired Louis to perform on riverboats that traveled on the Mississippi River. In August of 1922, Louis started to play the second cornet. Joe Oliver’s band was nicknamed, "King Oliver". Louis also separated from his wife in 1922. On April 5, 1923 Louis made his first recordings at Gennet Studios, which is in Richmond, Indiana, while he was a part of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band.

In February of 1924, Louis married Lil Hardin, who was the pianist of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band. In September, he moved to New York, where he became part of the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra at the Roseland Ballroom, and made his first recordings with Henderson. He also recorded with Sidney Bechet and two blues singers, Sippie Wallace and Clara Smith. In 1925, Louis recorded with two other blues singers, Bessie Smith and Clarence Williams. In November, Louis quit the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra and went back to Chicago. On November 12, 1925, Louis made his first recordings as the leader of his new band, called Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five.

From 1925 to1928, Louis performed with Erskine Tate at the Vendome Theater. He also continued to record with the Hot Five. Louis performed at the Sunset Café with the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra. On June 28, 1928, Louis recorded "West End Blues", which is an album that was very famous in early jazz.

In 1929, Louis moved to New York City and performed at Connie’s Inn with the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra, and also performed in the Broadway show, "Hot Chocolates". Tommy Rockwell became Louis’s Manager in 1929. In 1930, Louis performed in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. He was at Frank Sebastian’s Cotton Club in California. Louis also recorded "Blue Yodel Number 9" with Jimmie Rodgers (the "Father of Country Music").

In 1931, Louis and Lil Harden separated. He decided to now hire Johney Collins as his manager. Louis took a tour of the Midwest and the Southwest. "When It’s Sleepy Time Down South" was Louis’s theme song.

In 1932, Louis traveled to London and rode on the SS Majestic (a ship) to get there. He toured Great Britain for three months. 

In 1933, Louis performed in Kentucky, Indiana and Nebraska. In July, he went back to London and toured Britain, Denmark, Norway and Holland. More than 10,000 people met him at the railroad station in Denmark.

In 1934, Louis moved to Paris, and in 1935, he came back to the United States. In 1995, Louis hired Joe Glaser as his new manager, who was his manager until Glaser died.

In 1936, Louis recorded, "Swing That Music". People loved the way Louis hit 42 high C’s with a high E-flat after it. In 1937, Louis was the host of the Fleischmann’s Yeast Show, a national network program, was in the motion picture, "Artists and Models", and filmed, "Every Day’s a Holiday with Mae West".

In October of 1938, Louis married Alpha Smith, but soon divorced. He performed in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and his hometown, New Orleans. He also filmed, "Going Places".

In 1940, Louis recorded with the Mills Brothers, and performed in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Chicago and Canada. On October 12, 1942, Louis married Lucille Wilson. Lucille bought a house in Corona, New York in 1943.

In 1944, Louis was in the motion pictures "Atlantic City", "Pillow to Post" and "New Orleans". He also recorded with Billie Holiday in 1944. In 1947, Louis left his band and formed a new one called, "Louis Armstrong and the All Stars". On August 13, 1947, the All Stars had their first performance at Billy Berg’s Club in Hollywood, California. In 1948, Louis went to a jazz festival called, "The Nice Jazz Festival", which was the first ever, international, jazz festival.

From 1949 to about 1951, Louis performed in Switzerland and Italy, and was on "The Big Show" with Tallulah Bankhead, a famous actress. He also filmed "Glory Alley", and recorded with Louis Jordan, as well as Sy Oliver. In 1952, Louis toured Canada, Colorado, Hawaii, Germany and Belgium. In 1953, he took a six-week concert tour with Benny Goodman, but not for as long as they planned, because Benny became very ill. Louis also filmed the movie, "The Glen Miller Story", and took his first tour of Japan. In 1954, Louis published an autobiography called, "My Life in New Orleans", which tells all about his life until 1922. He also took a tour of Japan and Australia.

In 1955, Louis performed in Los Angeles, New Orleans, Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy, and was on "The Ed Sullivan Show". Louis also recorded "Mack the Knife" and "Satch Plays Fats" for Columbia Records. In 1956, Louis was in the motion picture, "High Society", with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly. He also had his first tour of Africa, and performed for over 100,000 people at the polo grounds in Accra. Louis toured Australia and Japan again, and recorded with Ella Fitzgerald for Verve Records.

In 1957, Louis toured South America and Europe. He also fought against racial unfairness; especially the way Little Rock, Arkansas refused to integrate their schools, so he canceled his tour of Russia. He again recorded with Ella Fitzgerald for Verve Records.

In 1958, Louis was on the "Timex Show", and filmed the movie, "The Five Pennies", with Danny Kaye and Beat Generation. In 1959, Louis performed in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. He had a heart attack in Spoleto, Italy, and had to go to the hospital. After he got out of the hospital, Louis went on "The Ed Sullivan Show". After that, Louis went on "The Bing Crosby Oldsmobile Show".

In 1960, Louis toured Africa, and then went on to Paris to film the movie, "Paris Blues". Each July from 1960 to 1963, Louis went to the Newport Jazz Festival, and in 1963, he performed in front of President John F. Kennedy. In 1964, Louis’s single, "Hello Dolly", became the number one hit. Louis performed in Las Vegas, toured Puerto Rico, and was on the television show, "What’s My Line", as a Mystery Guest.

In 1965, Louis toured Eastern Europe, was given the "Key to the City" of New Orleans, and had tons of fun at sold out performances in Montreal, Toronto and Las Vegas. He filmed, "When the Boys Meet the Girls", "A Man Called Adam", and was on "The Dean Martin Show" and "Shindig".

In 1966, Louis performed, "The Summer Season", from July-September at Jones Beach Marine Theater in Long Island. He was also on "The Dean Martin Show" and "The Danny Kaye Show".

In 1967, Louis performed in Dublin, Antibes, St. Tropez and Majorca. He was on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson, "The Kraft Music Hall Show" and "The Jackie Gleason Show". He was on "Operation Entertainment", which was a broadcast from Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, which is the U.S, Army’s largest base. Louis also recorded, "What a Wonderful World", for ABC records.

In 1968, "What a Wonderful World" was a big hit in Great Britain. Louis performed in Las Vegas, Pennsylvania, Maine, New York and Mexico. He filmed a scene from "Hello Dolly" with Barbra Streisand, and recorded some Disney songs in the way he called, "The Satchmo Way". In 1969, from February to April, Louis was in Beth Israel Hospital because he had some heart problems, and Joe Glaser, who was Louis’s manager since 1935, died. After Louis came out of the hospital, he went to London and recorded a soundtrack for the James Bond film, "On Her Majesty’s Secret Service". In 1970, the Newport Jazz Festival presented an Appreciation Award to Louis Armstrong, along with Mahalia Jackson, Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby Hackett and the Eureka Brass Band. Louis was on "The Dick Cavett Show", "The David Frost Show", "The Tonight Show" and "The Flip Wilson Show". In 1971, Louis went on the same television shows he was on in 1970, plus a television special with Pearl Bailey, recorded a poem called, "The Night Before Christmas", at his own house, in his own den (which was his last recording), and performed for two weeks in the Empire Room of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. Louis Armstrong died in his sleep on July 6, 1971, at his home in Corona, New York.