Portrait of Frank Dobson

Birthday profile

Frank Dobson

Frank Dobson, English politician, Secretary of State for Health (died 2019)

Born
March 15, 1940
Died
November 11, 2019
Zodiac sign
Pisces
Birth year
1940

About Frank Dobson

Frank Gordon Dobson was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St. Pancras from 1979 to 2015. A member of the Labour Party he served in the First Blair ministry as Secretary of State for Health from 1997 to 1999, and was the Labour Party nominee for Mayor of London in 2000, finishing third in the election behind Conservative Steven Norris and the winner, Labour-turned-Independent Ken Livingstone. Dobson stood down from his Parliament seat at the 2015 general election. His liking for dirty jokes and conviviality won him many friends. In May 2000, Livingstone won the mayoral election as an independent candidate. Dobson wrote a memo to Blair saying, "If you want a first-class service, you have to pay a first-class fare – and we're not doing it." When money was finally diverted to the NHS, Blair credited Dobson for kickstarting it.

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

Frank Dobson timeline

  1. In May 2000, Livingstone won the mayoral election as an independent candidate.
  2. Dobson stood down from his Parliament seat at the 2015 general election.

The world when Frank Dobson was born

Frank Dobson was born in 1940. 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 1940

  • #1 song"In the Mood" – Glenn Miller
  • Top movieRebecca
  • Best-selling bookFor Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst televised college basketball game
  • Top headlineWinston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister
  • Technology milestoneFirst McDonald's restaurant opens
  • Defining fadSwing music hits its peak
  • Notable inventionJeep (military vehicle)
  • World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championCincinnati Reds (World Series)
  • U.S. population132.2M

1940 versus 2026

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

Measure19402026
Gas$0.18$3.45/gal
Average home$5,300$435,000
Average income$3,100$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population132.2M341 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.