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Don Cornelius

Don Cornelius, American television host and producer (died 2012)

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Born
September 27, 1936
Died
February 1, 2012
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1936

About Don Cornelius

Donald Cortez Cornelius was an American television show host and producer widely known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance and music show Soul Train, which he hosted from 1970 until 1993. Cornelius sold the show to MadVision Entertainment in 2008. On November 3, 2023, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Ahmet Ertegun Award. Cornelius joined Chicago television station WCIU-TV in 1967 and hosted a news program called A Black.

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

Don Cornelius timeline

  1. Cornelius joined Chicago television station WCIU-TV in 1967 and hosted a news program called A Black.
  2. Cornelius sold the show to MadVision Entertainment in 2008.
  3. On November 3, 2023, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

The world when Don Cornelius was born

Don Cornelius was born in 1936. 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 1936

  • #1 song"The Way You Look Tonight" – Fred Astaire
  • Top movieModern Times (Charlie Chaplin)
  • Top TV showBBC Television Service launches
  • Best-selling bookGone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJesse Owens wins 4 gold medals at Berlin Olympics
  • Top headlineJesse Owens dominates the Berlin Olympics
  • Technology milestoneBBC launches the world's first regular television service
  • Defining fadSwing dancing
  • Notable inventionSun glasses (mass-produced)
  • World population2.26 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population128.1M

1936 versus 2026

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

Measure19362026
Gas$0.19$3.45/gal
Average home$5,100$435,000
Average income$2,900$67,500
Minimum wage$0.25$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population128.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, 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.