Billy Smith (rugby league, born 1942)

Billy Smith, Australian rugby league footballer and coach

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Born: July 12, 1942
Age in 2026: 84
Zodiac sign: Cancer
Birth year: 1942

About Billy Smith (rugby league, born 1942)

William John Smith is an Australian former rugby league footballer. He was the leading halfback in Australian rugby league during the late 1960s, and a keystone of the latter part of the St. George Dragons' eleven consecutive premiership victories between 1956 and 1966. He represented Australia in eighteen Tests and eight World Cup games between 1964 and 1970. He captained Australia in a World Cup game against Great Britain in 1970. In 1966 he was named New South Wales Player of the year and won The Sun-Herald's Best and Fairest Player award.

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

The world when Billy Smith (rugby league, born 1942) was born

Billy Smith (rugby league, born 1942) was born in 1942. 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 1942

#1 song"White Christmas" – Bing Crosby
Top movieCasablanca
Best-selling bookThe Song of Bernadette – Franz Werfel

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentFirst Negro League World Series
Top headlineBattle of Midway becomes turning point of WWII in the Pacific
Technology milestoneEnrico Fermi achieves first nuclear chain reaction
Defining fadRationing and war bonds
Notable inventionNapalm
World population2.35 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
U.S. population134.9M

1942 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Billy Smith (rugby league, born 1942)'s birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1942	2026
Gas	$0.20	$3.45/gal
Average home	$5,600	$435,000
Average income	$3,800	$67,500
Minimum wage	$0.30	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.27	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.03	$0.73
Population	134.9M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Rugby League Project, Rugby League Record Keepers Club. 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.