Kathy Kirby

Kathy Kirby, English singer (died 2011)

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Born: October 20, 1940
Died: May 19, 2011
Zodiac sign: Libra
Birth year: 1940

About Kathy Kirby

Kathy Kirby was an English singer, best known for her cover version of Doris Day's "Secret Love" and for representing the United Kingdom in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest, where she finished in second place. Her popularity peaked in the 1960s, when she was one of the best-known and most-recognised personalities in British show business. In 1962, Kirby signed a contract with Decca Records, for whom her first single was "(He's a) Big Man", released in October 1962. Kirby's vocal talent became apparent early in life, and she took singing lessons with a view to becoming an opera singer.

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

The world when Kathy Kirby was born

Kathy Kirby 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 Kathy Kirby's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1940	2026
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
Population	132.2M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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