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Factsheet

• A heavy cigarette smoker who died of lung cancer, he grew up in a Quaker family in which smoking was prohibited.
• Originally hired by CBS in 1935 not as a journalist, but as Director of Talks and Education, a job that involved developing cultural and discussion shows.
• Assembled a team of reporters, known as "Murrow's Boys," to offer firsthand accounts of the events in Europe during World War II.
• Began using the phrase "Good night and good luck" shortly after a 14-year-old Princess Elizabeth closed an October 1940 broadcast to British children by saying: "Good night and good luck to you all."
• Delivered a scathing 1954 report on Sen. Joseph McCarthy on his TV show See It Now that is widely credited with changing public opinion on the controversial senator.
• Appointed head of the United States Information Agency by John F. Kennedy in 1961.
• Was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 and an honorary knighthood by the British government in 1965.