Beaverbrook, Lord (1879-1964), created a great British press empire, acquired a fortune, and became a political power in the United Kingdom. He made the Daily Express, his London newspaper, one of the most lively and widely read daily papers in the world. William Maxwell Aitken was born on May 25, 1879, in Canada, in Maple, Ontario. He settled in London in 1910 and was a member of Parliament from 1910 to 1916. He was made Lord Beaverbrook in 1917. In 1918, he served as minister of information. Beaverbrook supported free trade among members of the British Empire. During World War II (1939-1945), he was minister of aircraft production. He died on June 9, 1964.
