Mark Spencer (computer engineer)

Mark Spencer, American computer programmer and engineer

Find birthday twins Open interactive profile

Born: April 8, 1977
Age in 2026: 49
Zodiac sign: Aries
Birth year: 1977

About Mark Spencer (computer engineer)

Mark Spencer (born April 8, 1977) is an American computer engineer and is the original author of the GTK+-based instant messaging client Gaim (which has since been renamed to Pidgin), the L2TP daemon l2tpd and the Cheops Network User Interface. Spencer is also the creator of Asterisk, a Linux-based open-sourced PBX. He is the founder, chairman and CTO of Digium, an open-source telecommunications supplier most notable for its development and sponsorship of Asterisk. Spencer shifted from CEO to chairman and CTO in early 2007. Mark founded Avilution, LLC to create Android apps including QuickWeather and AviationMaps. Unable to afford a PBX for his new company, he created the Asterisk™ Linux-based open-source PBX and founded Digium Inc, an open-source telecommunications supplier.

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

The world when Mark Spencer (computer engineer) was born

Mark Spencer (computer engineer) was born in 1977. 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 1977

#1 song"You Light Up My Life" – Debby Boone
Top movieStar Wars
Top TV showHappy Days
Best-selling bookThe Silmarillion – J.R.R. Tolkien

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentPelé retires after final match with the New York Cosmos
Top headlineStar Wars premieres and changes cinema forever
Technology milestoneApple II computer released
Defining fadStar Wars mania
Notable inventionAtari 2600 video game console
World population4.23 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderJimmy Carter
Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
Also wonPortland Trail Blazers (NBA)
U.S. population220.2M

1977 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Mark Spencer (computer engineer)'s birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1977	2026
Gas	$0.62	$3.45/gal
Average home	$49,300	$435,000
Average income	$16,009	$67,500
Minimum wage	$2.30	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$2.23	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.13	$0.73
Population	220.2M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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