Julia Child

Julia Carolyn Mcwilliams was born on August 16, 1912 in Pasadena California. She grew up in an affluent family, and after graduating from Smith College in 1934, Julia Child moved back to California and began to volunteer with the Pasadena chapter of the American Red Cross to help prepare the country for war. She later headed the Department of Stenographic Services and worked in the Aircraft Warning Services.

In 1942, Child worked as a junior research assistant with the Secret Intelligence Branch of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and undertook a variety of positions, as well as keeping intelligence files for the OSS in India and working for the organization in China.

After the war, Child married Paul Child, whom she had met working for the OSS in India, and spent the rest of her life on her cooking career, which she started by bringing French cooking techniques to the American public and furthered by establishing organizations to share her love for food and expand others' knowledge on cooking.