Birthday profile

John Knowles

John Knowles, American novelist (died 2001)

Born
September 16, 1926
Died
November 29, 2001
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Birth year
1926

About John Knowles

John Knowles was an American novelist best known for A Separate Peace (1959). John Knowles (; September 16, 1926 – November 29, 2001) was an American novelist best known for A Separate Peace (1959). He was a record-holding varsity swimmer during his sophomore year. A Separate Peace was first published in London by Secker and Warburg in 1959. At Yale, Knowles contributed stories to campus humor magazine The Yale Record and served on the board of the Yale Daily News during his sophomore, junior, and senior years, notably as editorial secretary during his senior year.

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

John Knowles timeline

  1. John Knowles (; September 16, 1926 – November 29, 2001) was an American novelist best known for A Separate Peace (1959).
  2. A Separate Peace was first published in London by Secker and Warburg in 1959.

The world when John Knowles was born

John Knowles was born in 1926. 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 1926

  • #1 song"Bye Bye Blackbird"
  • Top movieThe General (Buster Keaton)
  • Best-selling bookThe Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentGertrude Ederle swims the English Channel
  • Top headlineA.A. Milne publishes Winnie-the-Pooh
  • Technology milestoneFirst demonstration of television
  • Defining fadFlagpole sitting
  • Notable inventionPop-up toaster
  • World population2.01 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderCalvin Coolidge
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • U.S. population117.4M

1926 versus 2026

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

Measure19262026
Gas$0.23$3.45/gal
Average home$6,000$435,000
Average income$3,620$67,500
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population117.4M341 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.