41 years ago today, July 27, 1984 (June 29, 1984 in the lunar calendar), the founder of the Gallup poll passed away. George Gallup was an inquisitive Iowa man. It was he who pioneered the technology of public opinion polls and made it an important tool in politics and economics. He died in his summer villa in Switzerland at the age of 82. Dr. Gallup was a former journalism teacher who became famous for his accurate predictions of the 1936 election. He predicted that Roosevelt would defeat Landon. Since then, Gallup polls have been accurate, except for the 1948 prediction that Dewey would defeat Truman.