Wil McCarthy

Wil McCarthy, American author and playwright

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Born: September 16, 1966
Age in 2026: 60
Zodiac sign: Virgo
Birth year: 1966

About Wil McCarthy

Wil McCarthy (born September 16, 1966) is an American science fiction novelist, president and co-founder of RavenBrick (a solar technology company), and the science columnist for Syfy. He currently resides in Colorado. Rich Man's Sky won the 2022 Prometheus Award. Beggar's Sky is a finalist for the 2025 Prometheus Award. Wil McCarthy popularized the concept of programmable matter, which he calls wellstone.

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

Wil McCarthy timeline

2022Rich Man's Sky won the 2022 Prometheus Award.
2025Beggar's Sky is a finalist for the 2025 Prometheus Award.

The world when Wil McCarthy was born

Wil McCarthy was born in 1966. 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 1966

#1 song"The Ballad of the Green Berets" – SSgt Barry Sadler
Top movieA Man for All Seasons
Top TV showBonanza
Best-selling bookIn Cold Blood – Truman Capote

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentEngland wins the FIFA World Cup at Wembley
Top headlineCultural Revolution begins in China
Technology milestoneStar Trek premieres, inspiring future technologists
Defining fadBatman TV show craze
Notable inventionElectronic fuel injection
World population3.41 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderLyndon B. Johnson
Sports championBaltimore Orioles (World Series)
Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
U.S. population196.6M

1966 versus 2026

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

Measure	1966	2026
Gas	$0.32	$3.45/gal
Average home	$14,200	$435,000
Average income	$9,400	$67,500
Minimum wage	$1.25	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$1.09	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.05	$0.73
Population	196.6M	341 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. 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.