Portrait of Ronnie Bucknum

Birthday profile

Ronnie Bucknum

Ronnie Bucknum, American race car driver (died 1992)

Born
April 5, 1936
Died
April 23, 1992
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1936

About Ronnie Bucknum

Ronald James Bucknum (April 5, 1936 – April 23, 1992) was an American race car driver, born in Alhambra, California. Bucknum participated in 11 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on August 2, 1964. He scored a total of two championship points. At the 1964 German Grand Prix, he became the first person to drive a Honda-engined car in Formula One. After Formula One, Bucknum drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1967–1970 seasons with 23 starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1968–1970. He finished in the top-ten ten times, with his one victory coming at Michigan International Speedway in 1968. Bucknum was the father of Jeff Bucknum, an Indy Racing League and American Le Mans Series driver. Ronnie Bucknum died in San Luis Obispo, California following complications from diabetes.

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

The world when Ronnie Bucknum was born

Ronnie Bucknum was born in 1936. 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 1936

  • #1 song"The Way You Look Tonight" – Fred Astaire
  • Top movieModern Times (Charlie Chaplin)
  • Top TV showBBC Television Service launches
  • Best-selling bookGone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJesse Owens wins 4 gold medals at Berlin Olympics
  • Top headlineJesse Owens dominates the Berlin Olympics
  • Technology milestoneBBC launches the world's first regular television service
  • Defining fadSwing dancing
  • Notable inventionSun glasses (mass-produced)
  • World population2.26 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population128.1M

1936 versus 2026

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

Measure19362026
Gas$0.19$3.45/gal
Average home$5,100$435,000
Average income$2,900$67,500
Minimum wage$0.25$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population128.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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