Born in 1933

Turns 93 in 2026

Gifts for someone born in 1933

Front Page: Canada 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 1933 · Canada

A little history to go with their gift.

Edwin Armstrong developed wide-band FM at Columbia University, England’s Ashes victory brought controversy over Bodyline bowling, and Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? escaped from a Disney film. Radio, sport and popular music all found new audiences.

What happened in 1933?

Regina Manifesto sets out CCF platform

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation adopted the Regina Manifesto in 1933, setting out a democratic socialist programme during the Depression.

Canadian Museum of History

Radio Luxembourg sends a signal across Europe

Radio Luxembourg put a powerful long-wave signal on air on March 15, 1933, carrying broadcasts beyond the Grand Duchy's borders.

RTL Group · Richard Nichols; W.H. Allen & Co.

Bodyline Turns Cricket Into A Diplomatic Row

England won the 1932–33 Ashes series 4–1 as its fast leg-theory bowling, known as Bodyline, provoked Australian protest.

National Museum of Australia · Cricket Australia

Crawford And Moody Win Wimbledon Singles

Jack Crawford of Australia and Helen Wills Moody of the United States won Wimbledon’s 1933 singles titles.

Wimbledon · Wimbledon

Firsts and new ideas

Armstrong advances wide-band FM radio

At Columbia University in New York, Edwin Armstrong developed wide-band FM in 1933 to reduce static.

Columbia University Department of Electrical Engineering · IEEE Communications Society

Zworykin introduces the Iconoscope

Vladimir Zworykin introduced RCA's Iconoscope at an engineering meeting in Chicago in 1933.

IEEE History Center · TIME

Number ones and music in 1933

Chart positions belong to the country and chart named in each record.

Tango brings Argentine music into sound film

Tango!, released in Buenos Aires in 1933, brought Argentine talk and song into a feature film.

Ministry of Culture, Argentina · La Nacion

Nina Simone is born

Nina Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina, on February 21, 1933. She later became a singer, pianist and songwriter.

North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources · Congressional Record, U.S. Congress

Prices and everyday money in 1933

Canada figures in the money of the time. Units and sources matter: these are not today's prices.

Recorded prices and earnings, 1933
Item or measureThenUnit and source
Sugar (city average)$0.0731 lb
Statistics Canada
Milk (city average)$0.0951 quart
Statistics Canada
Manufacturing earningsC$777per worker/year
Statistics Canada
Eggs, fresh (60-city average)$0.2811 dozen
Statistics Canada

Planning the birthday

Someone born in 1933 turns 93 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.

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