Portrait of Billy Shaw

Birthday profile

Billy Shaw

Billy Shaw, American football player (died 2024)

Born
December 15, 1938
Died
October 4, 2024
Zodiac sign
Sagittarius
Birth year
1938

About Billy Shaw

William Lewis Shaw (December 15, 1938 – October 4, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a guard for the Buffalo Bills in the American Football League (AFL). After playing college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, he was selected by the Bills in the second round of the 1961 AFL draft. Shaw was the prototypical "pulling guard" who despite his size held his own against much bigger defensive linemen like Ernie Ladd, Earl Faison and Buck Buchanan. He won three straight Eastern Division titles and two AFL championships in 1964 and 1965 with Buffalo. Shaw was a first-team All-AFL selection five times (1962–1966) and second-team All-AFL in 1968 and 1969. He played in eight AFL All-Star Games and was named to the All-Time All-AFL Team. He made the All-Decade All-Pro football team of the 1960s. Shaw played his entire career in the AFL, and retired after the 1969 season. He is the only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who never played in the National Football League (NFL).

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

Billy Shaw timeline

  1. Shaw was a first-team All-AFL selection five times (1962–1966) and second-team All-AFL in 1968 and 1969.
  2. He won three straight Eastern Division titles and two AFL championships in 1964 and 1965 with Buffalo.

The world when Billy Shaw was born

Billy Shaw was born in 1938. 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 1938

  • #1 song"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" – Ella Fitzgerald
  • Top movieThe Adventures of Robin Hood
  • Best-selling bookRebecca – Daphne du Maurier

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJoe Louis knocks out Max Schmeling in round 1
  • Top headlineWar of the Worlds broadcast causes nationwide panic
  • Technology milestoneNuclear fission discovered
  • Defining fadSuperman debuts in Action Comics #1
  • Notable inventionInstant coffee (Nescafé)
  • World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population129.8M

1938 versus 2026

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

Measure19382026
Gas$0.20$3.45/gal
Average home$5,100$435,000
Average income$2,800$67,500
Minimum wage$0.25$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population129.8M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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