Birthday profile

Fred Housego

Fred Housego, Scottish-English taxi driver and game show host

Born
October 25, 1944
Age in 2026
82
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
Birth year
1944

About Fred Housego

Fred Housego (born 25 October 1944 in Dundee, Scotland) is a former London taxi driver and tour guide who became a television and radio personality and presenter after winning the BBC television quiz Mastermind in 1980. Notwithstanding his fame and success, he retained his taxi licence upon commencing his media career and continued his taxi-driving career as late as 2007. == Early life and career == Housego was educated at Kynaston Comprehensive School, where he passed one GCE O-level, in British Constitution. In addition to driving a taxi he has worked as a messenger for an advertising agency, a postman and a registered London Tourist Board tour guide. == Mastermind == In 1980 Housego won a series of Mastermind in front of 18 million viewers. In an interview with Bradley Walsh for Come on Down! The Game Show Story, he said that his knowledge came from being a London Tourist Board-registered tour guide. In 1981 Housego took part in the international version of Mastermind in Sydney, Australia. He again used The Tower of London as his subject in the competition, having previously used it as his subject in the Mastermind final. He came fourth with 16 points.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

The world when Fred Housego was born

Fred Housego was born in 1944. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1944

  • #1 song"Swinging on a Star" – Bing Crosby
  • Top movieGoing My Way
  • Best-selling bookStrange Fruit – Lillian Smith

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentGreen Bay Packers win NFL Championship
  • Top headlineD-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6
  • Technology milestoneHarvard Mark I computer begins operations
  • Defining fadBobby socks
  • Notable inventionKidney dialysis machine
  • World population2.39 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • U.S. population138.4M

1944 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Fred Housego's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19442026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$5,800$435,000
Average income$4,200$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.27$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population138.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.