Portrait of Paul Sarbanes

Birthday profile

Paul Sarbanes

Paul Sarbanes, American lawyer and politician (died 2020)

Born
February 3, 1933
Died
December 6, 2020
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
Birth year
1933

About Paul Sarbanes

Paul Spyros Sarbanes (; February 3, 1933 – December 6, 2020) was an American politician and attorney from Maryland. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in both chambers of the United States Congress as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977 and as a member of the United States Senate from 1977 to 2007. Sarbanes was the longest-serving senator in the history of Maryland until he was surpassed by Barbara Mikulski by a single day when her term ended on January 3, 2017. He was the first Greek American senator. Born in Salisbury, Maryland, Sarbanes was a graduate of Princeton University; Balliol College, Oxford; and Harvard Law School. Elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1966, he went on to serve two terms in the Maryland House from 1967 to 1971. In 1970 he won a seat in the United States House of Representatives, representing Maryland's 4th congressional district and later Maryland's 3rd congressional district from 1971 to 1977. In 1976 he ran for the United States Senate, defeating Republican incumbent J. Glenn Beall Jr. with 59% of the vote. Sarbanes was re-elected four times, each time receiving no less than 59% of the vote. He did not seek re-election in 2006, when he was succeeded by fellow Democrat Ben Cardin. Sarbanes was known for his low-key style, often shunning the limelight over his thirty-year Senate career. He was a coauthor of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, which is generally noted as his most noteworthy piece of legislation. He also was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship that brought him to Balliol College of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England.

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

Paul Sarbanes timeline

  1. In 1970 he won a seat in the United States House of Representatives, representing Maryland's 4th congressional district and later Maryland's 3rd congressional district from 1971 to 1977.
  2. Sarbanes was the longest-serving senator in the history of Maryland until he was surpassed by Barbara Mikulski by a single day when her term ended on January 3, 2017.

The world when Paul Sarbanes was born

Paul Sarbanes was born in 1933. 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 1933

  • #1 song"Stormy Weather" – Ethel Waters
  • Top movieKing Kong
  • Best-selling bookLost Horizon – James Hilton

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst MLB All-Star Game played at Comiskey Park
  • Top headlineAdolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
  • Technology milestoneFM radio patented by Edwin Armstrong
  • Defining fadChain letters
  • Notable inventionFM radio
  • World population2.17 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Giants (World Series)
  • U.S. population125.6M

1933 versus 2026

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

Measure19332026
Gas$0.18$3.45/gal
Average home$4,800$435,000
Average income$2,300$67,500
Minimum wage$0.25$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.20$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population125.6M341 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.