Hồ Chí Minh, born on this day in 1890, was a communist revolutionary and author who led the Việt Minh independence movement, serving as President of North Vietnam from 1945 to 1969. He also served as Chairman and First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Vietnam.

Because he spent 30 years traveling the world in his youth, Hồ could speak fluently as well as read and write in Vietnamese, French, English, Russian, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

In the 1920s, he was bureau chief/editor of many newspapers which he established to criticize French Colonial Government of Indochina and promote communist propaganda. Publications included "Le Paria" (The Pariah), published in Paris, and "Thanh Nien" (Youth).

Hồ Chí Minh led the Việt Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing the Communist-ruled Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) in 1945, and defeating the French Union in 1954 at the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ, ending the First Indochina War.

He was a key figure in the People's Army of Vietnam and the Việt Cộng during the Vietnam War, which lasted from 1955 to 1975. North Vietnam was victorious and was reunified with the Republic of South Vietnam (South Vietnam) a few years after Hồ's death, in 1976.

"To reap a return in 10 years, plant trees. To reap a return in 100, cultivate the people."

- Hồ Chí Minh