Editing Howard Hughes (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Howard Hughes as child (4729132038).jpg|thumb|upright|Hughes in April 1912]]
[[File:Howard Hughes House.jpg|thumb|Hughes' house]]

Howard Robard Hughes Jr. was the only child of Allene Stone Gano (1883–1922) and of [[Howard R. Hughes Sr.]] (1869–1924), a successful inventor and businessman from Missouri. He had [[English American|English]], [[Welsh American|Welsh]] and some French [[Huguenot]] ancestry,<ref>Barlett and Steele 2004, p. 15.</ref> and was a descendant of [[John Gano]] (1727–1804), the minister who allegedly baptized [[George Washington]].<ref>Barlett, Donald L. and Steele, James B. ''Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness'' Norton, 2011, page 29.</ref> Through John Gano's sister Sussanah, Hughes was a [[5th cousin once removed|5th cousin once-removed]] of the [[Wright brothers]], Orville and Wilbur, who invented the first successful airplane.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Family relationship of Howard Hughes and Orville Wright via Daniel Gano. |url=https://famouskin.com/famous-kin-chart.php?name=44066+howard+hughes&kin=14610+orville+wright&via=23144+daniel+gano |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=famouskin.com}}</ref>

Hughes Sr. patented the [[Well drilling#History|two-cone roller bit]] in 1909, which allowed rotary [[Oil well#Drilling|drilling]] for petroleum in previously inaccessible places. The senior Hughes made the shrewd and lucrative decision to commercialize the invention by leasing the bits instead of selling them, obtaining several early patents, and founding the [[Hughes Tool Company]] in 1909.

Hughes' uncle was the famed novelist, screenwriter, and film director [[Rupert Hughes]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.anb.org/articles/10/10-01809.html |title=American National Biography Online: Hughes, Howard |website=www.anb.org |access-date=August 15, 2017}}</ref>

A 1941 [[affidavit]] [[birth certificate]] of Hughes, signed by his aunt Annette Gano Lummis and by Estelle Boughton Sharp, states that he was born on December 24, 1905, in [[Harris County, Texas]].{{#tag:ref|No time of birth is listed. Record nr. 234358, of December 29, 1941, filed January 5, 1942, Bureau of Vital Statistics of Texas Department of Health.|group=N}} However, his certificate of [[Infant baptism|baptism]], recorded on October 7, 1906, in the parish register of St. John's Episcopal Church in [[Keokuk, Iowa]], listed his date of birth as September 24, 1905, without any reference to the place of birth.{{#tag:ref|The handwriting of the baptismal record is a rather trembling one. The clerk was an aged person and there is a chance that, supposedly being hard of hearing, they misheard "December 24" as "September 24" instead. This is speculative. |group=N}}

At a young age, Hughes Jr. showed interest in science and technology. In particular, he had a great engineering aptitude, and built Houston's first "wireless" radio [[transmitter]] at age 11.<ref name=encarta>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761553204/Howard_Hughes.html "Howard Hughes."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060103075357/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761553204/howard_hughes.html |date=January 3, 2006}} ''MSN Encarta online,'' October 21, 2009. Retrieved: January 5, 2008.</ref> He went on to be one of the first licensed [[ham radio|ham-radio]] operators in Houston, having the assigned callsign W5CY (originally 5CY).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://users.tellurian.com/gjurrens/famous_hams.html |title=The Original Famous Hams and ex-Hams List |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519025753/http://users.tellurian.com/gjurrens/famous_hams.html |archive-date=May 19, 2014}}</ref> At 12, Hughes was photographed for the local newspaper, which identified him as the first boy in Houston to have a [[Motorcycle|"motorized"]] bicycle, which he had built from parts of his father's [[steam engine]].<ref name="cof.net">[http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/pathfinders/Howard%20Hughes.htm "Howard Hughes."] ''U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission,'' 2003. Retrieved: January 5, 2008.</ref> He was an indifferent student, with a liking for mathematics, flying, and mechanics. He took his first flying lesson at 14, and attended [[Fessenden School]] in Massachusetts in 1921.

After a brief stint at [[The Thacher School]], Hughes attended math and aeronautical engineering courses at [[Caltech]].<ref name=encarta/><ref name="cof.net"/> The house where Hughes lived as a teenager at 3921 Yoakum Blvd., Houston, still stands, now known as Hughes House on the grounds of the [[University of St. Thomas (Texas)|University of St. Thomas]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The Mail Goes Through But Flavor Is Gone |date=March 8, 1972 |last=Beeney |first=Bill |work=The Democrat Chronicle|location= Rochester, New York|page= 31|quote= Our facility residence is in the 4000 block on Yoakum Blvd. The building next to it at 3900 is the Modern Language Department, It is the former Howard Hughes home. We paid $82,000 cash for it about 10 years ago. |publisher=[[Ancestry.com#Newspapers.com|Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://alumni.stthom.edu/s/1733/alumni/index.aspx?sid=1733&gid=2&pgid=252&cid=1526&ecid=1526&ciid=1697&crid=0 |title=1952 Purchase of Hughes House |publisher=alumni.stthom.edu |access-date=April 21, 2018}}</ref>

His mother Allene died in March 1922 from complications of an [[ectopic pregnancy]]. Howard Hughes Sr. died of a heart attack in 1924. Their deaths apparently inspired Hughes to include the establishment of a [[Howard Hughes Medical Institute|medical research laboratory]] in the will that he signed in 1925 at age 19. Howard Sr.'s will had not been updated since Allene's death, and Hughes Jr. inherited 75% of the family fortune.<ref>[http://history1900s.about.com/od/peoplewhomadeanimpact/p/howardhughes.htm "Howard Hughes."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823115531/http://history1900s.about.com/od/peoplewhomadeanimpact/p/howardhughes.htm |date=August 23, 2006 }} ''about.com''. Retrieved: January 5, 2008.</ref> On his 19th birthday, Hughes was declared an [[Emancipation of minors|emancipated minor]], enabling him to take full control of his life.<ref>[http://www.golfonline.com/golfonline/features/features/article/0,17742,1013633-2,00.html "Golf's Bizarre Billionaire."] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071014014020/http://www.golfonline.com/golfonline/features/features/article/0,17742,1013633-2,00.html |date=October 14, 2007}} ''golfonline.com''. Retrieved: September 4, 2007.</ref>

From a young age, Hughes became a proficient and enthusiastic golfer. He often scored near-par figures, playing the game to a two-three handicap during his 20s, and for a time aimed for a professional golf career. He golfed frequently with top players, including [[Gene Sarazen]]. Hughes rarely played competitively and gradually gave up his passion for the sport to pursue other interests.<ref>Barkow 1986, p. 13.</ref>

Hughes played golf every afternoon at Los Angeles courses including the Lakeside Golf Club, [[Wilshire Country Club]], or the [[Bel-Air Country Club]]. Partners included [[George Von Elm]] or Ozzie Carlton. After Hughes hurt himself in the late 1920s, his golfing tapered off, and after his [[XF-11]] crash, Hughes was unable to play at all.<ref name="Noah" />{{rp|56–57,73,196}}

Hughes withdrew from [[Rice University]] shortly after his father's death. On June 1, 1925, he married Ella Botts Rice, daughter of David Rice and Martha Lawson Botts of Houston, and great-niece of [[William Marsh Rice]], for whom Rice University was named. They moved to Los Angeles, where he hoped to make a name for himself as a filmmaker.

They moved into the [[Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles)|Ambassador Hotel]], and Hughes proceeded to learn to fly a [[Waco Aircraft Company|Waco]], while simultaneously producing his first motion picture, ''[[Swell Hogan]]''.<ref name="Noah">{{cite book |last1=Dietrich |first1=Noah |last2=Thomas |first2=Bob |title=Howard, The Amazing Mr. Hughes |date=1972 |publisher=Fawcett Publications, Inc. |location=Greenwich |pages=34, 69}}</ref>
In 1929, after four years of marriage, Ella returned to Houston and filed for divorce.