Portrait of Lee Jong-wook

Birthday profile

Lee Jong-wook

Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (died 2006)

Born
April 12, 1945
Died
May 22, 2006
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1945

About Lee Jong-wook

Lee Jong-wook (Korean: 이종욱; 12 April 1945 – 22 May 2006) was a South Korean physician. He was the director-general of the World Health Organization for three years. Lee joined the WHO in 1983, working on a variety of projects including the Global Programme for Vaccines and Immunizations and Stop Tuberculosis. He began his term as director-general in 2004, and was the first figure from Korea to lead an international agency. In 2004, Lee was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. == Early life == Born on 12 April 1945 in Keijō, Keiki-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan (now Seoul, South Korea). Lee received a Bachelors in Engineering from Hanyang University, followed by a medical degree at Seoul National University, and a Master of Medicine at the University of Hawaiʻi in public health. He is the third son in a family of six children; he has three brothers and two sisters. Two of his brothers are professors. Lee took care of leprosy patients in Anyang, South Korea when he was studying medicine.

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

Career and life highlights

The world when Lee Jong-wook was born

Lee Jong-wook was born in 1945. 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 1945

  • #1 song"Sentimental Journey" – Les Brown & Doris Day
  • Top movieThe Lost Weekend
  • Best-selling bookAnimal Farm – George Orwell

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentDetroit Tigers win the World Series
  • Top headlineWorld War II ends after atomic bombs dropped on Japan
  • Technology milestoneAtomic bomb developed and detonated (Manhattan Project)
  • Defining fadV-J Day celebrations
  • Notable inventionMicrowave oven (accidental discovery)
  • World population2.40 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt / Harry S. Truman
  • Sports championDetroit Tigers (World Series)
  • U.S. population139.9M

1945 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Lee Jong-wook's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19452026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$5,900$435,000
Average income$4,100$67,500
Minimum wage$0.40$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.30$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population139.9M341 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, 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.