Lindbergh was born on August 16, 1932, five months after the kidnapping and death of his older brother, Charles Lindbergh Jr. Jon's parents had discovered the name "Jon" in a book about Scandinavian history. During his mother's pregnancy with him, his parents received large numbers of letters and phone calls threatening his life. In 1935, photographers forced a car in which one of Jon's teachers was driving him home off the road in order to take pictures of him. Jon then began to be protected by a detective with a sawed-off shotgun. The Lindberghs soon decided to leave the United States and traveled to the United Kingdom.