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Alain de Botton

Alain de Botton, Swiss-English philosopher and author

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Born
December 20, 1969
Age in 2026
57
Zodiac sign
Sagittarius
Birth year
1969

About Alain de Botton

Alain de Botton (; born 20 December 1969) is a British author and public speaker. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published Essays in Love (1993), which went on to sell two million copies. Other bestsellers include How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997), Status Anxiety (2004), and The Architecture of Happiness (2006). He co-founded The School of Life in 2008 and Living Architecture in 2009. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2011. In 2015, he was awarded "The Fellowship of Schopenhauer", an annual writers' award from the Melbourne Writers Festival, for that work.

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

Alain de Botton timeline

  1. He published Essays in Love (1993), which went on to sell two million copies.
  2. He co-founded The School of Life in 2008 and Living Architecture in 2009.
  3. In 2015, he was awarded "The Fellowship of Schopenhauer", an annual writers' award from the Melbourne Writers Festival, for that work.

The world when Alain de Botton was born

Alain de Botton was born in 1969. 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 1969

  • #1 song"Sugar, Sugar" – The Archies
  • Top movieMidnight Cowboy
  • Top TV showRowan & Martin's Laugh-In
  • Best-selling bookThe Godfather – Mario Puzo

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentNew York Mets "Miracle Mets" win the World Series
  • Top headlineNeil Armstrong walks on the Moon: "One small step for man"
  • Technology milestoneApollo 11 — first humans walk on the Moon
  • Defining fadWoodstock festival
  • Notable inventionARPANET (precursor to the internet)
  • World population3.63 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderRichard Nixon
  • Sports championNew York Mets (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population202.7M

1969 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Alain de Botton's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19692026
Gas$0.35$3.45/gal
Average home$16,400$435,000
Average income$10,900$67,500
Minimum wage$1.60$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$1.42$11.95
Postage stamp$0.06$0.73
Population202.7M341 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.