Birthday profile

Phyllis McGinley

Phyllis McGinley, American author and poet (died 1978)

Born
March 21, 1905
Died
February 22, 1978
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1905

About Phyllis McGinley

Phyllis McGinley (March 21, 1905 – February 22, 1978) was an American author of children's books and poetry. Her poetry was in the style of light verse, specializing in humor, satiric tone and the positive aspects of suburban life. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961. McGinley enjoyed a wide readership in her lifetime, publishing her work in newspapers and women's magazines such as the Ladies Home Journal, as well as in literary periodicals, including The New Yorker, The Saturday Review and The Atlantic. She also held nearly a dozen honorary degrees – "including one from the stronghold of strictly masculine pride, Dartmouth College" (from the dust jacket of Sixpence in Her Shoe). Time Magazine featured McGinley on its cover on June 18, 1965. She was the first to be awarded the poetry prize for a collection of light verse. She won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for her light verse collection, Times Three: Selected Verse from Three Decades with Seventy New Poems (1960).

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

Phyllis McGinley timeline

  1. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961.
  2. She won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for her light verse collection, Times Three: Selected Verse from Three Decades with Seventy New Poems (1960).

The world when Phyllis McGinley was born

Phyllis McGinley was born in 1905. 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 1905

  • Best-selling book"The Marriage of William Ashe" – Mrs. Humphry Ward

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentChristy Mathewson pitches 3 shutouts in the World Series
  • Top headlineEinstein publishes theory of special relativity
  • Technology milestoneEinstein's "miracle year" — E=mc²
  • World population~1.65B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderTheodore Roosevelt
  • U.S. population83.2M

1905 versus 2026

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

Measure19052026
Population83.2M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

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