Portrait of William B. Lenoir

Birthday profile

William B. Lenoir

American astronaut (1939–2010)

Born
March 14, 1939
Died
August 26, 2010
Zodiac sign
Pisces
Birth year
1939

About William B. Lenoir

William Benjamin Lenoir (March 14, 1939 – August 26, 2010) was an American electrical engineer and NASA astronaut. == Early life and education == William Benjamin Lenoir was born on March 14, 1939, in Miami, Florida, as a son of Samuel Staples Lenoir (1910–1989) and Iona Catherine Lenoir (née Yann; 1915–1977). He attended Coral Gables Elementary School, Ponce de Leon Junior High School, and graduated from Coral Gables Senior High School in 1957. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961, where he was an active member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE). Lenoir continued at MIT, earning a Master of Science degree in 1962, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in EECS in 1965. While working for his doctoral degree, Lenoir received an award for excelling at teaching undergraduate courses. From 1964 to 1965, Lenoir was an instructor at MIT; and in 1965, he was named associate professor of electrical engineering. His work at MIT included teaching electromagnetic theory and systems theory, as well as performing research in remote sensing. He was an investigator in several satellite experiments and continued research in this area while fulfilling his astronaut assignments. == NASA career == Lenoir was working on Apollo Applications experiments at MIT when he saw an advertisement in a science magazine recruiting NASA astronauts.

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

Career and life highlights

The world when William B. Lenoir was born

William B. Lenoir was born in 1939. 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 1939

  • #1 song"Over the Rainbow" – Judy Garland
  • Top movieGone with the Wind
  • Best-selling bookThe Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentLou Gehrig delivers his "Luckiest Man" farewell speech
  • Top headlineGermany invades Poland — World War II begins
  • Technology milestoneFirst regular television broadcasts in the US (NBC)
  • Defining fadThe Wizard of Oz mania
  • Notable inventionNylon stockings
  • World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population130.9M

1939 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in William B. Lenoir's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19392026
Gas$0.19$3.45/gal
Average home$5,200$435,000
Average income$2,900$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population130.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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