| # | Fact |
|---|
| 1 | His hobbies are: golfing, fishing, praying, traveling, spending time with his family, reading, origami, sewing, photography, philanthropy, magic tricks and playing games. |
| 2 | At his 65th birthday, one of his guests was his best friend, Robert H. Schuller, who after being invited, sat in the front row of distinguished guests. [7 November 1983]. |
| 3 | Did not attend the funeral of his lifelong best friend's Robert H. Schuller, in California, due to his frailing health. |
| 4 | His son, Franklin Graham, was named after him, and his grandfather. |
| 5 | Met George Beverly Shea, in 1943, when he first sang for him on the Chicago radio hymn program, "Songs in the Night." Shea carried the Gospel in song to every continent and every state in the Union. Despite being nearly a decade apart, the two would be best friends for 70 years, until Shea's own death in 2013. |
| 6 | After one semester of Bob Jones College, he found it too legalistic in both coursework and rules. At this time, he was influenced and inspired by Pastor Charley Young from Eastport Bible Church. He was almost expelled, but Bob Jones, Sr., the founder of the college, had warned him not to throw his life away. |
| 7 | The Billy Graham Library and Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina is dedicated. Former Presidents George Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter attend. [31 May 2007]. |
| 8 | Preaching runs in his family. |
| 9 | Prior to his retirement, and with substantial vision along with hearing loss, made a rare public appearance at the re-dedication of the renovated Billy Graham Library. |
| 10 | One of his daughters, Anne Graham Lotz, found her husband drowned in their pool. He was later taken to the Intensive Care Unit in the hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her husband and his son-in-law, Danny Lotz, had suffered from diabetes, beginning in 2009, who has been undergoing dialysis, until he passed away. [19 August 2015]. |
| 11 | Was baptized at age 20, in Silver Lake, Florida. |
| 12 | Prior to his retirement, he spoke at the Metro Maryland Franklin Graham Festival, held in Baltimore, Maryland, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. [9 July 2006]. |
| 13 | Graham stated that feminism was "an echo of our overall philosophy of permissiveness", and that women did not want to be "competitive juggernauts pitted against male chauvinists." He further stated that the role of wife, mother, and homemaker was the destiny of "real womanhood" according to the Judeo-Christian ethic. He was criticized by feminists as being part of a backlash for these statements. [1970]. |
| 14 | He, along with his family, moved from about 75 yards (69 m) from their white frame house, to a newly-built red brick home in Charlotte, North Carolina, when in 1927, Graham was only 8-years-old. |
| 15 | The first non-musician and the oldest televangelist ever to be inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. |
| 16 | Between 1947 and 2005, Graham conducted more than 400 crusades in 185 countries and territories on six continents. |
| 17 | Served as the Founder of World Wide Pictures (founding dates vary from 1950-1952). To date, he has currently produced and distributed over 130 productions, translated into 46 languages. Most are short films shown in churches. |
| 18 | Was converted at age 15, during a series of revival meetings in Charlotte, North Carolina, led by Ham. |
| 19 | Was the first Protestant to receive an honorary degree from Belmont Abbey College, a Roman Catholic school. |
| 20 | Was hospitalized for 11 days for evaluation and treatment of intestinal bleeding. [18 August 2007]. |
| 21 | As of 2005, he has repeatedly been on Gallup's list of Most Admired Men and Women. He has appeared on the list 55 times since 1955 (including 49 consecutive years), more than any other individual in the world. |
| 22 | Spoke at the memorial service following the Oklahoma City bombing. [1995]. |
| 23 | During the Apartheid era, Graham consistently refused to visit South Africa until its government allowed integrated seating for audiences. During his first crusade there in 1973, he openly denounced apartheid. Graham also corresponded with imprisoned South African leader Nelson Mandela during the latter's 27-year sentence. |
| 24 | In 1924, when Billy was only 5, he focused on the outdoors, but rarely did he walk, he was running and zooming. |
| 25 | At 29, he resigned from Youth for Christ to focus on his studies at Northwestern University. |
| 26 | Was hospitalized for six days to replace a valve in a shunt designed to regulate brain pressure. [13 February 2008]. |
| 27 | Graham is the first televangelist ever to become friends of the many U.S. Presidents, the second was his best friend Robert Schuller. |
| 28 | Founder of the magazine Christianity Today. |
| 29 | Founder of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which first headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, then relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1999. |
| 30 | Has preached to over 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories. |
| 31 | He attended Sharon Grammar School. |
| 32 | His lifelong best friend Dr. Robert H. Schuller's television show, The Hour of Power (1970), was based on 'The Hour of Decision,' a radio show that was hosted by Graham, himself. |
| 33 | His sister, Catherine Graham McElroy, passed away on October 14, 2006, and lived to be 86. |
| 34 | He visited fellow pastor, Dr. Robert H. Schuller, in Anaheim, California, for a meeting to do a proposed Sunday Morning religious show for Graham's best buddy, which would eventually be called: The Hour of Power (1970), a show Schuller had hosted for 40 years, until his retirement in 2010. |
| 35 | Is the best-selling author of over 35 books. |
| 36 | Granduncle of Jeff, Kristi and Jamie. |
| 37 | Son of strict Presbyterians, William Franklin Graham, Sr., and Morrow Coffey Graham. |
| 38 | Before he was a successful televangelist, he worked briefly as a pastor of First Baptist Church in Western Springs, Illinois. |
| 39 | His lifelong best friend's, Robert H. Schuller's son, Robert A. Schuller, attended Billy's 95th Birthday, at Graham's Evangelist Association, in Charlotte, North Carolina. [7 November 2013]. |
| 40 | He came down very sick with mumps and went to Florida to recuperate. While there, his friend Torrey Johnson told him that he wanted to create Youth for Christ International, and wanted Graham to take a leading role. The Village Church accepted his resignation. He began preaching extensively, apparently mostly in the eastern half of the United States. |
| 41 | Uncle of John and Cathie. |
| 42 | During the Cold War, Graham became the first evangelist of note to speak behind the Iron Curtain, addressing large crowds in countries throughout Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union, calling for peace. |
| 43 | Became a minister since he was 19. |
| 44 | He is known to be a very private person. |
| 45 | Before he was a successful televangelist, he used to work for Mr. Corwin, as a preacher and a speaker in Tampa, Florida. |
| 46 | His wife, Ruth Bell Graham, died on June 14, 2007, just 4 days after her 87th Birthday. |
| 47 | Retired as the presenter of The Billy Graham Crusades, in 2005, at age 86. |
| 48 | Was offered a five-year, $1 million contract from NBC to appear on television opposite Arthur Godfrey, but he turned it down in favor of continuing his touring revivals because of his prearranged commitments. |
| 49 | Between 1948 and 1987, Graham was the speaker at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's Urbana Student Missions Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. |
| 50 | Had developed a close friendship with Martin Luther King, and that he was eventually one of the few people who referred to King as "Mike," a nickname which King asked only his closest friends to call him. |
| 51 | Of Scottish descent. |
| 52 | His very first evangelistic crusade took place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. |
| 53 | Grandfather of Jonathan, Tullian, Murrow, Rachel-Ruth, William Franklin, Roy, Edward and Jane. |
| 54 | Had lost his grandmother, Lucinda Coffey, when Graham was in elementary school, along with her sister. At that time, they were both called out of school. |
| 55 | Was born only 4 days before the armistice of World War I, and one year to the day after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. |
| 56 | Graduated from Sharon High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1936. |
| 57 | By him, one of his grandsons, Tulian married his wife, Kim. |
| 58 | Long lives run in his family. |
| 59 | The eldest of four children. |
| 60 | According to the biography "The Presidents and the Preacher," legendary producer Cecil D. DeMille originally offered the role of Samson in the epic Biblical classic Samson and Delilah to a young Billy Graham, then experiencing his first national fame as an evangelist. Graham turned the offer down flat, telling DeMille that he had no ambitions beyond his calling to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The director told Graham that he'd been certain that the young evangelist would refuse the offer, but that in actually doing so Graham had restored DeMille's faith. |
| 61 | Born on and raised on a dairy farm in Charlotte, North Carolina. |
| 62 | Friends with: Robert H. Schuller, George Beverly Shea, Oral Roberts, Jim Bakker, Tammy Faye Bakker, Rex Humbard, Jimmy Swaggart, Kenneth Copeland, Pat Robertson, Charles Stanley, Charles Swindoll, James Dobson, James Robison, Jack Van Impe, Joyce Meyer, Marilyn Hickey, Morris Cerullo, John Osteen, Roger Williams, Frank Sinatra, Amy Grant, Sandi Patty, Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan, Gene Autry, Evil Knievel, Phil McGraw, Mickey Rooney, Ruta Lee, Andy Williams, Chuck Norris and Della Reese. |
| 63 | Expressed a belief that William Friedkin's film "The Exorcist" was infused with evil. |
| 64 | Future Christian popular singers Michele Pillar and Michael O'Brien were childhood television heroes of Graham. |
| 65 | Lifelong friend of Robert H. Schuller for 69 years, from 1946 until his comrade's death in 2015. Despite being eight years Graham's junior, Schuller met him, when Graham came as a preacher from Minnesota, to deliver an evangelistic message at the Hope College Chapel in Holland, Michigan. |
| 66 | Release of his book, "Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham". [1997] |
| 67 | Lives in Montreat, North Carolina, in the same house he and his wife have lived in for over 50 years. Currently in the process of turning over his ministry to his son, Rev. Franklin Graham. [2006] |
| 68 | He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. |
| 69 | Has never allowed himself to be seen in public with any other woman, including his daughters, without wife Ruth Graham present. |
| 70 | Revealed in his autobiography the conversations he had with Mickey Cohen during the 1949 Graham crusade in Los Angeles. Cohen was a notorious Los Angeles-based racketeer who died of natural causes in 1976. At the time of the JFK assassination in 1963, Cohen was the boyfriend of a Texas-based stripper named Juanita Sahakian who knew Jack Ruby. |
| 71 | When briefly hospitalized late in 1976, President Gerald Ford, former President Richard Nixon and President-elect Jimmy Carter all visited him. |
| 72 | He and his wife were jointly awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bill Clinton in 1996. |
| 73 | Is a registered Democrat, although he was considered politically conservative and was a close friend of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. |
| 74 | Awarded an honorary knighthood by the British government in the New Years Honours List of 2002. |
| 75 | Apologized for his opinions on Jewish people and the news media, recorded on tape during conversations with President Richard Nixon at the White House thirty years ago. (3 March 2002). |
| 76 | He was close friends with Johnny Cash. |
| 77 | Has Parkinson's disease, prostate cancer, fluid on the brain and uses a walker due to a pelvic fracture in 2004. He has also been hospitalized with pneumonia, which has damaged his lungs. |
| 78 | Harry S. Truman called him a "counterfeit" and publicity seeker. Singer Pat Boone considers him "the greatest man since Jesus". |
| 79 | When he was a young boy, his father cured him of drinking alcohol by bringing home a bottle of beer and making him drink every drop. His father then told him, "If anyone ever tries to make you drink, tell them you've already tried it and you didn't like it!" |
| 80 | Served as president of Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota, from 1946 to 1949. To this day, he is the youngest person in U.S. history to serve as a sitting president of any U.S. college or university. |
| 81 | Met his wife, Ruth Graham, during seminary training at Wheaton College. |
| 82 | Has given prayer at inauguration of every U. S. President since Harry S. Truman. However, due to ill health he was unable to attend George W. Bush's first inauguration in 2001. |
| 83 | Father of: Franklin Graham, Ned, Bunny, Gigi and Anne Graham Lotz. |
| 84 | Before he was a successful televangelist, he used to worked as a Fuller Brush salesman to pay his way through college. |
| 85 | Attended Bob Jones University in South Carolina for one year, then transferred to Florida Bible Institute. |
| 86 | One of the most well-known Christian evangelists of the 20th century. |
$25 Million
