David McCullough, in full David Gaub McCullough, (born July 7, 1933, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. died August 7, 2022, Hingham, Massachusetts), American historian whose exhaustively researched biographies were both popular and praised by critics. McCullough earned a B.A. (1955) in English literature from Yale University. After graduation he went to New York City, where he took a job at Time-Life’s Sports Illustrated magazine. In 1961 McCullough moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the United States Information Agency. He left that post in 1963 and became an editor for the American Heritage Publishing Co. While there he began work on The Johnstown