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Although the family was desperately poor this didn't stop Josip from embarking on a great adventure that would arguably culminate symbolically in his election for life to the post of President of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on May 16th - nine days before his 'official' birthday which he had celebrated since World War Two on May 25th. His early years were very vivid. He finished school, had different jobs, and did military service. In May 1914 he won second place and a silver medal at a fencing competition in the Austro-Hungarian Army in Budapest. After finishing junior officer school, he became the youngest-ever sergeant major. He led Yugoslavia through the struggle for national liberation during the Second World War and after the war, he took over the leadership of Yugoslavia. From local hero, he became a world leader, and respected statesman. He travelled frequently meeting Kennedy, Indira Gandhi, Kurt Waldheim, Queen Elizabeth II, Willy Brandt, Jimmy Carter and many others. Along with Naser and Nehru he was the founder of the movement of Nonaligned Nations. On May 17th 1967 Tito was elected for the fifth consecutive time as President of the Republic. At the festive session of the federal assembly on May 24th 1972 he was presented with the Order of National Hero. The same day the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR honoured Tito with the highest Soviet order - the Order of Lenin. Between May 27th and 30th 1974, Tito headed the work of the 10th Congress of Yugoslav Communists. At the congress he was elected President of Yugoslav Comunists for life. At the beginning of 1980 his health changed for the worse, and he was admitted to the Clinical Center in Ljubljana where surgeons amputated his left leg because of severe arterial damage. Despite a successful operation his general medical state remained very complicated. After a slight improvement in his health Tito's condition worsened and on May 4th the President of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, President of the Association of Communists of Yugoslavia and the Supreme Commander of the SFRY armed forces, the Marshal of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito died at 15.05. His death marked the end of an era, and arguably signalled the death-knell for Yugoslavia as well. Slovene and Croat demands for independence emerged, and after the horrors of war Yugoslavia finally fell to pieces at the beginning of the 1990s, only a decade after the death of its once leader.