Birthday profile

Toh Chin Chye

Toh Chin Chye, Singaporean academic and politician, 1st Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore (died 2012)

Born
December 10, 1921
Died
February 3, 2012
Zodiac sign
Sagittarius
Birth year
1921

About Toh Chin Chye

Toh Chin Chye (10 December 1921 – 3 February 2012) was a Singaporean statesman and academic. He was a founding member of the People's Action Party (PAP), the dominant political party in Singapore since independence. Toh played a significant role in Singapore's early political development and was instrumental in shaping the country's post-independence governance. Toh is widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of modern Singapore. Toh served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1959 to 1968, holding other key cabinet positions including Minister for Science and Technology between 1968 and 1975 and Minister for Health from 1975 to 1981. Alongside his ministerial roles, he was Chairman of the PAP from 1954 until 1981, as well as Leader of the House from 1959 to 1968. His contributions extended into academia, serving as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Singapore (now the National University of Singapore) between 1968 and 1975. Toh served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Rochore Constituency throughout his political life from 1959 to 1988. After resigning from the Cabinet in 1981, Toh continued as an MP on the backbenches. During this period, he became known for his candid criticism of his own political party.

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

The world when Toh Chin Chye was born

Toh Chin Chye was born in 1921. 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 1921

  • #1 song"My Man" – Fanny Brice
  • Top movieThe Kid (Charlie Chaplin)
  • Best-selling bookMain Street – Sinclair Lewis

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJack Dempsey vs Georges Carpentier — first million-dollar gate
  • Top headlineWarren G. Harding inaugurated as 29th President
  • Technology milestoneAlbert Einstein wins the Nobel Prize in Physics
  • Defining fadOuija boards
  • Notable inventionLie detector (polygraph)
  • World population1.88 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWarren G. Harding
  • Sports championNew York Giants (World Series)
  • U.S. population108.5M

1921 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Toh Chin Chye's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19212026
Gas$0.26$3.45/gal
Average home$5,500$435,000
Average income$3,010$67,500
Movie ticket$0.15$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population108.5M341 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.