Do You Know the Youngest People to Accomplish These Milestones?

Tom Gregory began swimming at the age of six after joining a local club in south London. In September 1988, after several years of dedicated training, Gregory swam the 32-mile path from Cap Gris Nez in France to Dover, England, finishing in just under 12 hours. Gregory’s record will likely remain secure, since the Channel Swimming Association later set the age limit for official crossings at 16 years old.

As a preteen, gymnast Dimitrios Loundras competed in the parallel bars for the Greek athletic club that captured the team bronze in 1896, at the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens. It was Loundras’ only Olympics, but he later became a member of Greece’s Olympic Committee. The youngest Olympic gold medalist on record is Marjorie Gestring, who won the springboard diving event in 1936 at age 13.

William Pitt the Younger (used to distinguish him from his father William, who also served as Prime Minister) was elected to Parliament at age 21 and became Prime Minister in 1783 at age 24. During his three terms he greatly strengthened the powers of the Prime Minister and led Britain during the early Napoleonic Wars. Poor health forced Pitt to leave office in 1806, months before his death at age 46.

In January 1997, Swiss phenom Martina Hingis won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, supplanting Monica Seles as the youngest ever champion, at age 16. It was a stellar year for Hingis, who also captured the #1 WTA ranking and won both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Hingis would go on to collect 25 more Grand Slam titles in singles and doubles in her career.

Stevland Hardaway Judkins, better known as Stevie Wonder, was a musical wunderkind. Signed by Motown Records at age 11, the multi-instrumentalist topped the Billboard Top 100 singles chart in August 1963 with his fourth single, “Fingertips – Part 2,” when he was just 13. Wonder went on to sell over 100 million records, win 25 Grammy Awards, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.

In 2019, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg became the youngest recipient of “TIME” magazine’s Person of the Year honor, which was created in 1927. The Swedish climate change activist first captured the world’s attention in 2018 with her calls for children to skip school for environmental protests, known as “Fridays for the Future.” Thunberg continues her advocacy work, meeting with political figures and governmental leaders in her campaign to address the growing climate crisis.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed Symphony No. 1 in E-flat major in 1764. The eight-year-old was in London as part of a Grand Tour meant to promote the Austrian musical prodigy to audiences and royal courts around Europe. Mozart was a prodigious composer, completing over 600 musical works — including more than 50 additional symphonies — before his death in 1791 at age 35.

Malala Yousafzai won the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, at the age of 17. Born in Pakistan, Yousafzai began her work as an advocate for girls’ education at a young age and survived an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen in 2012. She continued her work, appearing before the United Nations, publishing several books, and founding the Malala Fund to ensure women’s access to safe education.

In September 1901, 42-year-old Vice President Theodore Roosevelt became the youngest President in American history, when he assumed the office following the assassination of President William McKinley. The energetic “TR” served two eventful terms, leaving office in 1909 at age 50. More than 50 years later, in November 1960, John F. Kennedy became the youngest elected President, at age 43.

In 1935, the Academy’s Board of Governors created a special Juvenile Award to honor the work of six-year-old Shirley Temple, one of the biggest box office stars of the era. Several other child stars received this honorary award before it was discontinued in 1960. In 1974, 10-year-old Tatum O’Neal made history as the youngest person to win a competitive Oscar, for her role in “Paper Moon.”