Oprah Winfrey is an influential American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. Her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, aired for 25 years and solidified her status as the "Queen of All Media." She was the richest African-American of the 20th century and the world's only black billionaire at one point. Winfrey is known for her philanthropic efforts and is often ranked among the most influential women globally.
On April 15, 1900, Hattie Mae (Presley) Lee, Oprah Winfrey's maternal grandmother, was born.
Vernon Winfrey, Oprah Winfrey's father, was born in 1933.
Vernita Lee, Oprah Winfrey's mother, was born in 1935.
On January 29, 1954, Oprah Gail Winfrey, originally named Orpah Gail Winfrey, was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi. She is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor known for "The Oprah Winfrey Show".
By 1962, Winfrey was temporarily sent to live with Vernon in Nashville, Tennessee, because Lee was having difficulty raising both daughters.
On February 27, 1963, Hattie Mae (Presley) Lee, Oprah Winfrey's maternal grandmother, passed away.
In 1971, Oprah Winfrey met William "Bubba" Taylor at Tennessee State University, marking the start of what CBS journalist George Mair described as her "first intense, to-die-for love affair".
In June 1976, Oprah Winfrey moved to Baltimore to work at WJZ-TV, which led to the end of her relationship with William "Bubba" Taylor, who was unwilling to leave Nashville.
In 1976, Oprah Winfrey became the first black female news anchor at Nashville's WLAC-TV (now WTVF-TV).
In 1977, Oprah Winfrey was removed as co-anchor at Baltimore's WJZ-TV and worked in lower profile positions.
On August 14, 1978, Oprah Winfrey co-hosted WJZ's local talk show "People Are Talking".
On September 8, 1981, Oprah Winfrey wrote a suicide note to Gayle King due to depression from a relationship, but ultimately decided against taking her own life.
On January 2, 1984, Oprah Winfrey began hosting WLS-TV's "AM Chicago".
In 1985, Oprah Winfrey allegedly began a relationship with Haitian filmmaker Reginald Chevalier, which ended when she met Stedman Graham.
In 1985, Oprah Winfrey allegedly lived with Randolph Cook for several months and used drugs.
On September 8, 1986, the first episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" was broadcast nationwide.
In 1986, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" began its 25-year run in national syndication from Chicago.
In 1986, Oprah Winfrey began her relationship with Stedman Graham.
In 1986, Oprah Winfrey credited her father for changing the course of her life when he took her in, emphasizing education and high expectations.
In 1986, Oprah Winfrey first announced on an episode of her TV show regarding sexual abuse that she was molested by her cousin, uncle, and a family friend starting when she was nine years old.
In 1987, after becoming a successful television personality, Oprah Winfrey finally submitted her final paper and earned her degree from Tennessee State University.
In August 1988, Time magazine covered the much-publicized competition between Oprah Winfrey and Phil Donahue, highlighting Oprah's success.
In November 1988, Ms. magazine observed that Oprah Winfrey made "fat sexy, elegant" in a society that worships thinness.
In 1989, Jeffrey, Oprah Winfrey's half-brother, died of AIDS-related causes.
In 1989, Oprah Winfrey produced and co-starred in the drama miniseries "The Women of Brewster Place".
In 1989, Oprah Winfrey was accepted into the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame.
In 1990, Oprah Winfrey felt betrayed by a family member who sold the story of her deceased son to the National Enquirer.
In November 1992, Oprah Winfrey and Stedman Graham got engaged, though the ceremony never took place.
From 1992 to 1994, Oprah Winfrey moderated three ABC Afterschool Specials.
From 1992 to 1994, Oprah Winfrey moderated three ABC Afterschool Specials.
In 1994, Oprah Winfrey was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame and she also finished the Marine Corps Marathon in under four and a half hours.
Since 1994, Oprah Winfrey abandoned traditional talk-show fare for more edifying content, and her most significant role has become that of a spiritual leader.
On April 16, 1996, during a show about mad cow disease with Howard Lyman, Oprah Winfrey said she was stopped cold from eating another burger, leading to a lawsuit from Texas cattlemen.
Late in 1996, Oprah Winfrey introduced the Oprah's Book Club segment to her television show, creating "the Oprah Effect" on book sales.
In April 1997, Oprah Winfrey played the therapist in "The Puppy Episode" on the sitcom Ellen, during which Ellen DeGeneres' character came out as a lesbian.
In 1997, Oprah Winfrey played a therapist on an episode of the sitcom Ellen, leading to persistent rumors about her and Gayle King's sexuality.
In 1997, Randolph Cook tried to sue Oprah Winfrey for $20 million, allegedly blocking a tell-all book about their alleged relationship.
According to the Harris poll, in 1998, Oprah Winfrey was America's favorite television personality.
In 1998, Oprah Winfrey became the first woman and first African American to top Entertainment Weekly's list of the 101 most powerful people in the entertainment industry.
In 1998, Oprah Winfrey began 'Change Your Life TV', further solidifying her role as a spiritual leader to her audience of over 22 million viewers.
In 1998, Oprah Winfrey began an ongoing conversation with Gary Zukav, an American spiritual teacher, who appeared on her television show 35 times.
In 1998, Oprah Winfrey created Oprah's Angel Network, a charity supporting charitable projects and providing grants to nonprofit organizations, raising over $80 million.
In 1998, Oprah Winfrey hosted a week-long Caribbean cruise for Maya Angelou and 150 guests to celebrate Angelou's 70th birthday.
In early 1998, Texas cattlemen sued Oprah Winfrey and Howard Lyman for "false defamation of perishable food" and "business disparagement" due to remarks made about mad cow disease; a jury found them not liable on February 26.
According to the Harris poll, in 2000, Oprah Winfrey was America's favorite television personality.
By 2000, Oprah Winfrey was believed to have been the richest African American of the 20th century, with a net worth of $800 million.
In 2000, Oprah Winfrey was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP for her contributions.
In 2001, Lavern Chatman was found liable for her role in a scheme to defraud hundreds of District of Columbia nursing-home employees of at least $1.4 million in owed wages.
In 2001, following the September 11 attacks, Oprah Winfrey hosted a Prayer for America service at Yankee Stadium and aired a controversial show called "Islam 101" portraying Islam as a religion of peace.
According to the Harris poll, in 2002, Oprah Winfrey was America's favorite television personality.
In 2002, Christianity Today published an article called "The Church of O," which discussed Oprah Winfrey's emergence as an influential spiritual leader and her role as a "postmodern priestess".
In 2002, George W. Bush invited Oprah Winfrey to join a US delegation to Afghanistan to celebrate the return of Afghan girls to school, but she declined the invitation.
In 2002, Oprah Winfrey co-founded the women's cable television network Oxygen, which was the initial network for her "Oprah After the Show" program.
In 2002, Oprah Winfrey was the recipient of the first Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the Emmy Awards for her contributions to television and film.
In February 2003, Oprah Winfrey's series showing clips from people asking America not to go to war was interrupted in several East Coast markets by network broadcasts of a press conference by President George W. Bush and Colin Powell.
In February 2003, Patricia, Oprah Winfrey's younger half-sister, died from causes related to cocaine addiction at age 43.
In November 2003, a Gallup poll estimated that 73% of American adults had a favorable view of Oprah Winfrey.
In 2003, Oprah Winfrey became the first black woman billionaire in the world.
From 2004 to 2006, Forbes listed Oprah Winfrey as the world's only black billionaire.
From 2004 to 2011, TIME listed Oprah Winfrey as one of the most influential people.
In 2004, Oprah Winfrey and her team filmed an episode of her show, "Oprah's Christmas Kindness", in South Africa, addressing poverty and AIDS among children, and distributed Christmas presents to 50,000 children.
In 2004, Oprah Winfrey became the first black person to rank among the 50 most generous Americans.
In 2005, Forbes named Oprah Winfrey the world's most powerful celebrity.
In 2005, Kathleen Rooney described Winfrey as "a serious American intellectual who pioneered the use of electronic media" in her book Reading with Oprah: The Book Club that Changed America.
In 2005, Oprah Winfrey was named the greatest woman in American history as part of a public poll for The Greatest American.
In the August 2006 issue of O, the Oprah Magazine, Oprah Winfrey addressed persistent rumors about her and Gayle King being gay, discussing the nature of their close bond.
From 2004 to 2006, Forbes listed Oprah Winfrey as the world's only black billionaire.
In 2006, Oprah Winfrey recalled past controversies, including hate mail she received for a show titled "Is War the Only Answer?", where she was accused of being un-American for even raising the question.
In 2006, Oprah Winfrey sold her stake in Oxygen network and moved her "Oprah After the Show" program to Oprah.com.
In 2006, Oprah Winfrey was the highest-paid television entertainer in the United States, earning an estimated $260 million.
In 2006, a genetic test revealed that Oprah Winfrey's matrilineal line originated from the Kpelle ethnic group in Liberia, with a genetic makeup of 89% Sub-Saharan African, 8% Native American, and 3% East Asian.
In 2006, after James Frey's A Million Little Pieces was found to contain fabrications, Oprah Winfrey confronted him on her show over the breach of trust.
In 2006, columnist Maureen Dowd described Oprah Winfrey as the "top alpha female" in the country, noting her credibility surpasses even the president's.
In the summer of 2006, Oprah Winfrey celebrated two decades on national TV by taking her staff and their families (1,065 people) on vacation to Hawaii.
In January 2007, a Gallup poll estimated that 74% of American adults had a favorable view of Oprah Winfrey.
In January 2007, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls opened in Henley on Klip, South Africa, with 150 pupils, featuring state-of-the-art facilities.
On September 8, 2007, Oprah Winfrey held a fundraiser for Barack Obama at her Santa Barbara estate during his presidential campaign.
In October 2007, a Gallup poll showed that 66% of American adults had a favorable view of Oprah Winfrey.
On December 9, 2007, Oprah Winfrey joined Barack Obama for a rally in Columbia, South Carolina, which drew a crowd of nearly 30,000 people, the largest for any political event of that year.
In December 2007, Oprah Winfrey joined Barack Obama for a series of rallies in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina during his presidential campaign.
In December 2007, a Fox News poll put the figure at 55% of American adults had a favorable view of Oprah Winfrey.
By 2007, Oprah Winfrey was frequently ranked as the most influential woman in the world.
In 2007, Oprah Winfrey began endorsing the self-help program 'The Secret', leading to criticism about promoting pseudoscience and irresponsible influence.
In 2007, The Wall Street Journal reported that MBC 4, an Arab satellite channel, centered its entire programming around reruns of Oprah Winfrey's show because it was drawing record numbers of female viewers in Saudi Arabia.
On January 15, 2008, Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications announced plans to transform Discovery Health Channel into OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
By 2008, Oprah Winfrey's yearly income had increased to $275 million.
By 2008, The Oprah Winfrey Show's viewership had declined to around 7.3 million viewers, though it remained the highest-rated talk show.
In 2008, Forbes named Oprah Winfrey the world's most powerful celebrity.
In 2008, Oprah Winfrey endorsed Barack Obama, potentially influencing one million votes during the Democratic primaries. In the same year, she also formed the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
In 2008, Oprah Winfrey endorsed author Eckhart Tolle and his book, 'A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose', which sold several million extra copies after being selected for her book club, leading to controversy for her spiritual views.
In 2008, Oprah Winfrey threw an extravagant 80th birthday celebration for Maya Angelou at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
In 2008, Oprah Winfrey was named Person of the Year by PETA for her work in using her platform to help animals and uncover cases of animal cruelty.
In 2008, The New York Times reported that The Oprah Winfrey Show, with Arabic subtitles, was broadcast twice each weekday on MBC 4, highlighting her growing popularity in the Arab world.
In 2008, The Oprah Winfrey Show was airing in 140 countries internationally and seen by an estimated 46 million people in the US weekly.
In 2008, as chairman of Harpo Inc., Oprah Winfrey was named the most powerful woman in entertainment by The Hollywood Reporter.
In 2008, economists estimated that Oprah Winfrey's endorsement of Barack Obama was worth over a million votes in the Democratic primary, and her involvement was memorialized on a Topps trading card.
According to the Harris poll, in 2009, Oprah Winfrey was America's favorite television personality.
In 2009, Oprah Winfrey apologized to James Frey for the public confrontation regarding fabrications in his book.
In 2009, Oprah Winfrey filmed a series of interviews in Denmark, highlighting its citizens as the happiest people in the world.
In 2009, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) was originally scheduled to launch, but it was delayed.
In May 2010, with Oprah Winfrey's show ending, Oprah's Angel Network stopped accepting donations and was shut down.
In September 2010, the British magazine New Statesman voted Oprah Winfrey 38th in the list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".
In 2010, Bill O'Reilly of Fox News criticized Oprah Winfrey's shows filmed in Denmark for promoting a left-wing society.
In 2010, Forbes named Oprah Winfrey the world's most powerful celebrity.
In 2010, Life magazine named Oprah Winfrey one of the 100 people who changed the world.
In 2010, Oprah Winfrey learned that she had a second half-sister, Patricia.
In 2010, Oprah Winfrey remained among the top 50 most generous Americans, a position she held since 2004.
On January 1, 2011, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) officially launched.
On May 25, 2011, the series finale of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" aired.
From 2004 to 2011, TIME listed Oprah Winfrey as one of the most influential people.
In 2011, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" concluded its 25-year run in national syndication.
As of 2012, Oprah Winfrey had given over 400 scholarships to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.
By 2012, Oprah Winfrey had given away approximately $400 million to educational causes.
In 2013, Forbes named Oprah Winfrey the world's most powerful celebrity.
In 2013, Oprah Winfrey donated $12 million to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
In 2013, Oprah Winfrey was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
In April 2014, Oprah Winfrey spoke at a fundraiser in Arlington, Virginia, for Lavern Chatman, a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, despite prior reports of Chatman's liability in a fraud scheme.
As of 2014, Oprah Winfrey had a net worth in excess of 2.9 billion dollars, overtaking Meg Whitman as the richest self-made woman in America.
In 2014, Forbes listed Oprah Winfrey as one of the world's 100 most powerful women, ranking her 14th.
In 2016, Oprah Winfrey endorsed Hillary Clinton in the presidential election and referred to Donald Trump as a "demagogue".
In 2016, Oprah Winfrey selected 100 people for the SuperSoul 100 list of "innovators and visionaries who are aligned on a mission to move humanity forward" on Harpo Productions' SuperSoul TV.
In January 2017, CBS announced that Oprah Winfrey would join 60 Minutes as a special contributor.
In September 2017, Oprah Winfrey started as a special contributor on 60 Minutes.
In a 2017 interview with Vanity Fair, Oprah Winfrey explained that she did not want children due to lack of patience.
By the end of 2018, Oprah Winfrey left 60 Minutes. Also in 2018, The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened a special exhibit on Oprah Winfrey's cultural influence through television.
In 2018, Oprah Winfrey canvassed door-to-door for Stacey Abrams in Georgia and donated $500,000 to the March for Our Lives student demonstration.
In 2018, Oprah Winfrey stated that while she was humbled by the idea of people thinking she could run the country, she would not be able to do it due to the nature of the business.
In 2018, Vernita Lee, Oprah Winfrey's mother, passed away.
In early 2018, Oprah Winfrey met with Mohammad bin Salman, the crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, when he visited the United States.
On March 21, 2020, "Oprah Talks COVID-19" debuted on Apple TV+ during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On July 30, 2020, "The Oprah Conversation" debuted, featuring Oprah Winfrey exploring relevant topics with thought leaders from around the world.
In 2020 there were calls for Oprah Winfrey to denounce Dr. Oz in reaction to his comments about coronavirus and his promotion of a poorly vetted drug as a cure.
In 2020, there was media speculation that Oprah Winfrey might run for president, but she ultimately denied any plans to do so and later campaigned for Joe Biden.
In 2021, Oprah Winfrey was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 2022, Oprah Winfrey endorsed John Fetterman in the Pennsylvania Senate election and Wes Moore in the Maryland gubernatorial election, co-hosting a virtual fundraiser for Moore in June.
In 2022, Oprah Winfrey established OWN Your Vote, a nonpartisan group focused on voter registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns, specifically targeting Black women with tools and resources for the November election.
In 2022, Vernon Winfrey, Oprah Winfrey's father, passed away.
On January 18, 2023, Oprah Winfrey attended and spoke at Wes Moore's gubernatorial inauguration.
In 2023, Forbes listed Oprah Winfrey as one of the world's 100 most powerful women, ranking her 31st.
On August 21, 2024, Oprah Winfrey endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 United States presidential election at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
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