Portrait of Maria Bueno

Birthday profile

Maria Bueno

Maria Bueno, Brazilian tennis player (died 2018)

Born
October 11, 1939
Died
June 8, 2018
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1939

About Maria Bueno

Maria Esther Andion Bueno, also known as Maria Bueno or MEB for short, was a Brazilian professional tennis player. During her 11-year career in the 1950s and 1960s, she won 19 major titles, making her the most successful South American tennis player in history, and the only one to ever win Wimbledon in singles. Bueno was the year-end No. 1 female player in 1959 and 1960 and was known for her graceful style of play, that earned her the nickname "tennis ballerina", or "bailarina do tênis" in Portuguese”. In 1960, Bueno became the first woman to win the Grand Slam in doubles (all four majors in a year), three of them partnering Darlene Hard and one with Christine Truman. For 65 years, Bueno remained as the first and only Brazilian woman to have won a Grand Slam title, until Luisa Stefani won the mixed doubles title alongside fellow Brazilian Rafael Matos at the Australian Open in 2023. She began playing tennis aged six at the Clube de Regatas Tiete in São Paulo and, without having received any formal training, won her first tournament at age 12.

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

Maria Bueno timeline

  1. Bueno was the year-end No. 1 female player in 1959 and 1960 and was known for her graceful style of play, that earned her the nickname "tennis ballerina", or "bailarina do tênis" in Portuguese”.
  2. In 1960, Bueno became the first woman to win the Grand Slam in doubles (all four majors in a year), three of them partnering Darlene Hard and one with Christine Truman.
  3. For 65 years, Bueno remained as the first and only Brazilian woman to have won a Grand Slam title, until Luisa Stefani won the mixed doubles title alongside fellow Brazilian Rafael Matos at the Australian Open in 2023.

The world when Maria Bueno was born

Maria Bueno 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 Maria Bueno'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, WTA, 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.