Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother was Mary Albert and his father was William Armstrong. He was born into a poor family and his father left the family when Louis was a baby. Later in life, Louis attended the Fisk School for Boys. He did many things to earn money, including working as a paperboy, finding food and selling it to restaurants, and hauling coal to Storyville (which introduced him to the music he would play more late). Armstrong eventually dropped out of Fisk's all-boys school at age 11 and joined a quartet of boys. He often worked for a Jewish family, the Karnofskys, who also helped provide him with food and other necessities. Louis Armstrong began playing the cornet seriously after being sent to the Home for Colored Waifs in New Orleans. After being named school conductor, Armstrong was eventually released and ended up returning to the streets until he got his first job at Henry Ponce. He perfected his playing by learning from older musicians like Joe Oliver. According to biography.com, “In 1918, h...