Portrait of Jonathan Fenby

Birthday profile

Jonathan Fenby

Jonathan Fenby, English journalist and businessman

Born
November 11, 1942
Age in 2026
84
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
Birth year
1942

About Jonathan Fenby

Jonathan Fenby CBE (born 11 November 1942) is a British writer, analyst, historian and journalist who edited newspapers in Britain and Asia. He was Editor of Reuters World Service from 1973 to 1977 and then held senior editorial posts at major news organisations in Britain, Europe and Hong Kong. He headed the China Team at the research service Trusted Sources from 2006 to 2022 where he was also a founding partner and a managing director at Trusted Sources an emerging markets research and consultancy firm headquartered in London which merged with Lombard Street Research in 2016. His investment and strategy research was focused towards policy interpretation, politics and the broader political economy including East Asian politics and strategy. He has written twenty books, including The General: Charles de Gaulle and the France He Saved and Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the China he lost. His books predicted the slowing of China's economy and the concentration of political power by Xi Jinping as well as the rise of the far right in France. He has worked as an editor and foreign correspondent at publications including The Observer and the South China Morning Post. He was made a CBE by Britain for services to journalism in 2000. In 2013, the government of France awarded Fenby the status of a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur for his contributions promoting Anglo-French understanding. Alliance: The Inside Story of How Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill Won One War and Began Another.

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

The world when Jonathan Fenby was born

Jonathan Fenby was born in 1942. 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 1942

  • #1 song"White Christmas" – Bing Crosby
  • Top movieCasablanca
  • Best-selling bookThe Song of Bernadette – Franz Werfel

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst Negro League World Series
  • Top headlineBattle of Midway becomes turning point of WWII in the Pacific
  • Technology milestoneEnrico Fermi achieves first nuclear chain reaction
  • Defining fadRationing and war bonds
  • Notable inventionNapalm
  • World population2.35 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • U.S. population134.9M

1942 versus 2026

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

Measure19422026
Gas$0.20$3.45/gal
Average home$5,600$435,000
Average income$3,800$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.27$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population134.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress. 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.