Benjamin Mkapa

Benjamin Mkapa, Tanzanian journalist and politician, 3rd President of Tanzania (died 2020)

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Born: November 12, 1938
Died: July 24, 2020
Zodiac sign: Scorpio
Birth year: 1938

About Benjamin Mkapa

Benjamin William Mkapa was the third president of Tanzania, in office from 1995 to 2005. He was Chairman of the Revolutionary State Political Party. His policies won the support of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and resulted in the cancellation of some of Tanzania's foreign debts. He spent £15 million on a private presidential jet, as well as almost £30 million on military aviation equipment from BAE Systems, which experts deemed beyond the limited needs of the country's armed forces.

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

The world when Benjamin Mkapa was born

Benjamin Mkapa was born in 1938. 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 1938

#1 song"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" – Ella Fitzgerald
Top movieThe Adventures of Robin Hood
Best-selling bookRebecca – Daphne du Maurier

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentJoe Louis knocks out Max Schmeling in round 1
Top headlineWar of the Worlds broadcast causes nationwide panic
Technology milestoneNuclear fission discovered
Defining fadSuperman debuts in Action Comics #1
Notable inventionInstant coffee (Nescafé)
World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
U.S. population129.8M

1938 versus 2026

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

Measure	1938	2026
Gas	$0.20	$3.45/gal
Average home	$5,100	$435,000
Average income	$2,800	$67,500
Minimum wage	$0.25	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.25	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.03	$0.73
Population	129.8M	341 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.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.