Portrait of Jay Kim

Birthday profile

Jay Kim

Jay Kim, South Korean-American engineer and politician

Born
March 27, 1939
Age in 2026
87
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1939

About Jay Kim

Jay Chang Joon Kim (Korean: 김창준; born March 27, 1939) is a Korean-American politician and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California. He was the first Korean American to be elected to the United States Congress. == Early life, education, and business career == Jay Kim was born in 1939 in Keijō, Korea, Empire of Japan (now Seoul, South Korea). His Korean name, Kim Chang Joon, roughly translates to "golden splendid law." During the Korean War, his home was destroyed. He immigrated to the United States in 1961. After attending a community college, Kim transferred to the University of Southern California, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering. He later earned a doctorate in political science from Hanyang University. In 1976, Kim started JAYKIM Engineers, a firm that specializes in designing highways and water reclamation projects. He built the business into a firm of 130 employees, with offices in three western states. Kim is an engineer, registered in five western states.

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

Career and life highlights

Jay Kim timeline

  1. Kim was elected to the House of Representatives in 1992 as a Republican from the newly created 41st District, making him the first Korean American elected to the United States Congress.
  2. Miller also won the general election and held the seat until he was elected to the 31st Congressional District in 2012.

The world when Jay Kim was born

Jay Kim was born in 1939. 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 1939

  • #1 song"Over the Rainbow" – Judy Garland
  • Top movieGone with the Wind
  • Best-selling bookThe Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentLou Gehrig delivers his "Luckiest Man" farewell speech
  • Top headlineGermany invades Poland — World War II begins
  • Technology milestoneFirst regular television broadcasts in the US (NBC)
  • Defining fadThe Wizard of Oz mania
  • Notable inventionNylon stockings
  • World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population130.9M

1939 versus 2026

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

Measure19392026
Gas$0.19$3.45/gal
Average home$5,200$435,000
Average income$2,900$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population130.9M341 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. 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.