1979: hosts first american tv special from people's republic of china

1983: performs in beirut and onboard u.s. navy ships off lebanon

1990: entertains troops stationed in the middle east during operation desert shield

1996: hosts his 296th and final television special on nbc, bob hope laughing
with the presidents

1997: becomes america's first and only honorary veteran by order of u.s. congress; u.s. navy ship bob hope christened; u.s. air force c-17 named the spirit of bob hope

1998: receives honorary knighthood, knight commander of the most excellent order of the british empire (kbe) by her majesty queen elizabeth ii

2003: celebrates 100th birthday

hope and the troops

between 1941 and 1990, during war and peacetime, bob hope and his gypsies traveled an estimated 10 million air miles to entertain america's men and women in uniform stationed around the world.

world war ii (1941-1945)
guest stars: frances langford, jerry colonna, tony romano, barney dean, patty thomas
memorable line: "i really don't think there are enough girls around this base. today i saw 26 sailors standing in line to buy tickets to see a hula dancer tattooed on a guy's chest."

korea (1950-1957)
guest stars: marilyn maxwell, jayne mansfield, les brown, jimmy wakely
memorable line: "i was surprised at the crowd jayne [mansfield] drew when she got off the plane. i didn't think a couple extra hills would be a novelty in korea."

cold war (1948-1989)
guest stars: irving berlin, anita ekberg, ginger rogers, steve mcqueen, zsa zsa gabor, jim nabors, redd foxx, brooke shields
memorable line: "the russians are overjoyed with their sputnik. i'd like to congratulate the russian scientists, but i can't speak german."