Billy Graham’s first Crusade, the Greater Los Angeles Campaign in 1949, was supposed to last only three weeks but was extended five times. It ultimately ran into Billy Graham’s 31st birthday. Ruth Graham wanted to join her husband and made plans to visit, but arrived on Oct. 7 instead of Nov. 7. “I’ve never felt so foolish in my life, and got ribbed good and properly,” she was quoted as saying in Billy Graham’s autobiography “Just As I Am.” This photo, taken by the Los Angeles Examiner, features Cliff and Billie Barrows alongside Billy and Ruth Graham.Billy Graham was born on Nov. 7, 1918, and had some memorable birthdays throughout his lifetime. Of course, in a time that predated smart phones and social media, many images are hard to find. These snapshots were collected by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association archives team.It was around Billy Graham’s 16th birthday when he made a decision that would change the entire trajectory of his life. It was then that he was born again.Billy and Ruth Graham cut the cake for his 60th birthday party. The event was held days ahead of his actual Nov. 7 birth date because he was getting ready to travel to a Crusade in Singapore.Family and friends were a part of Billy Graham’s 60th birthday celebration held in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. Here, he hands his mother, Morrow Graham, the first piece of cake.A beautifully decorated cake awaited Billy Graham during a family trip to Orlando in 1988. The cake, signed by the kitchen crew, included a note and quoted Proverbs 3:5-6.An up-close look at the cake Billy Graham was given for his 70th birthday.Billy Graham’s family surprised him with a cake during a dinner for his 77th birthday in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.In 2001, President and Mrs. George W. Bush invited Billy and Ruth Graham to the White House for Billy Graham’s birthday dinner. It was two months after the September 11th terror attacks, during which time the president had called on Mr. Graham to offer hope and comfort to a devastated nation. Those those who attended the small birthday gathering said it was a simple, quiet event. President Bush offered the dinner prayer.This is the cake Billy Graham was presented during the 2001 dinner at the White House.Billy Graham and family during his 2001 birthday dinner with President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush.Franklin Graham presents his father with his 90th birthday cake during a party in West Virginia in 2008.During his 95th birthday, Billy Graham put the spotlight on the Gospel message of Jesus Christ, as he did throughout his life.Billy Graham’s 95th birthday party, which was held at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, was his last birthday in public. He went home to be with Jesus on Feb. 21, 2018, at the age of 99. His legacy of sharing Christ is continuing through his family and the ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Associaton.
