Home / Birthday profiles / Josh Kirby

Birthday profile

Josh Kirby

Josh Kirby, English painter and illustrator (died 2001)

Find birthday twinsOpen interactive profile
Born
November 27, 1928
Died
October 23, 2001
Zodiac sign
Sagittarius
Birth year
1928

About Josh Kirby

Ronald William "Josh" Kirby (27 November 1928 – 23 October 2001) was a British commercial artist. Over a career spanning 60 years, he was the artist for the covers of many science fiction books including Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. His parents were Charles William and Ellen (née Marsh) Kirby who ran a grocery shop together, although his father was also a ship owner's freight clerk. They named him Ronald William Kirby. Kirby dreamed of a career in art from a young age.

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

The world when Josh Kirby was born

Josh Kirby was born in 1928. 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 1928

  • #1 song"Makin' Whoopee" – Eddie Cantor
  • Top movieSteamboat Willie (first Mickey Mouse)
  • Best-selling bookLady Chatterley's Lover – D.H. Lawrence

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentKnute Rockne's "Win one for the Gipper" speech
  • Top headlineHerbert Hoover elected president
  • Technology milestonePenicillin discovered by Alexander Fleming
  • Defining fadMickey Mouse mania
  • Notable inventionSliced bread
  • World population2.07 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderCalvin Coolidge
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population120.5M

1928 versus 2026

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

Measure19282026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$6,200$435,000
Average income$3,800$67,500
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population120.5M341 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, Wikidata. 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.