Lee Jong-wook

Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (died 2006)

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Born: April 12, 1945
Died: May 22, 2006
Zodiac sign: Aries
Birth year: 1945

About Lee Jong-wook

Lee Jong-wook was a South Korean physician. He was the director-general of the World Health Organization for three years. Lee joined the WHO in 1983, working on a variety of projects including the Global Programme for Vaccines and Immunizations and Stop Tuberculosis. He began his term as director-general in 2004, and was the first figure from Korea to lead an international agency. He was posthumously awarded the Hibiscus Cordon (Grand Cross) of the Order of Civil Merit by the South Korean government.

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

The world when Lee Jong-wook was born

Lee Jong-wook was born in 1945. 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 1945

#1 song"Sentimental Journey" – Les Brown & Doris Day
Top movieThe Lost Weekend
Best-selling bookAnimal Farm – George Orwell

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentDetroit Tigers win the World Series
Top headlineWorld War II ends after atomic bombs dropped on Japan
Technology milestoneAtomic bomb developed and detonated (Manhattan Project)
Defining fadV-J Day celebrations
Notable inventionMicrowave oven (accidental discovery)
World population2.40 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt / Harry S. Truman
Sports championDetroit Tigers (World Series)
U.S. population139.9M

1945 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Lee Jong-wook's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1945	2026
Gas	$0.21	$3.45/gal
Average home	$5,900	$435,000
Average income	$4,100	$67,500
Minimum wage	$0.40	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.30	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.03	$0.73
Population	139.9M	341 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.