Born in 1945
Turns 81 in 2026
Gifts for someone born in 1945
1945 Front PageTheir name. The news from their year.Unframed from $50.50Add their name
Their birth chartThe sky as astrology reads it, cast for one birth.Unframed from $50.50
The Years We Were BornThe whole family, together in years.Unframed from $50.50
Our Story timelineTheir life, told in your words.Unframed from $50.50
Front Page: Australia edition. The year is filled in; add their name in the editor. “Your name” is a placeholder. Light news is selected. A new keepsake, not an original newspaper.
BACK TO 1945 · Australia
A little history to go with their gift.
VE Day marked the end of war in Europe, penicillin’s developers received the Nobel Prize, and Vannevar Bush proposed a machine for linking recorded knowledge. These records reflect celebration, medical progress and new thinking about how people might find information.
What happened in 1945?
Migration drive
The government announced a postwar immigration drive in August 1945, citing population growth and national defence.
The FA Cup returned after wartime suspension
The FA Cup reopened after wartime interruption, with first-round proper matches beginning November 17, 1945, and return legs the following week.
The Victory Tests revived a famous rivalry
England and an Australian Services side played the 1945 Victory Tests, restarting a famous cricket contest after wartime interruption.
Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians · CricJudge
Gabriela Mistral won the 1945 Nobel Prize
The Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945.
Nobel Prize Outreach · Memoria Chilena, Biblioteca Nacional de Chile
Firsts and new ideas
Bush imagines the future of knowledge
In The Atlantic, Vannevar Bush proposed the memex as a future machine for linking and consulting a person's recorded knowledge.
The ENIAC began running test calculations
In November 1945, ENIAC at the University of Pennsylvania began its first calculations.
Number ones and music in 1945
Chart positions belong to the country and chart named in each record.
Rod Stewart starts in north London
Rod Stewart was born in London in 1945, years before his gravelly voice led solo hits and celebrated bands.
Bob Marley was born in Nine Mile
Marley became reggae's most internationally recognisable ambassador, carrying Jamaican rhythm, Rastafari and anti-colonial themes across popular music and political independence.
Prices and everyday money in 1945
Australia figures in the money of the time. Units and sources matter: these are not today's prices.
| Item or measure | Then | Unit and source |
|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth basic wage, adult male | 99 shillings 0 pence per week | shillings and pence per week (pre-decimal) Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics |
| Ordinary domestic letter postage | 2½d | per letter up to 1 oz. Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria, Philately from Australia, September 2019 |
| Bread | 6.00d | 2 lb Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics |
| milk | 7d | 1 quart (retail selling price; source does not specify imperial or other quart) Queensland Times (Ipswich, Qld.), p. 2, 8 August 1945 |
Planning the birthday
Someone born in 1945 turns 81 in 2026. Before their birthday they are one year younger. Choose the birth year for the print; add the full date in the editor if you know it.
See milestone birthdays this year