Portrait of Jean Shiley

Birthday profile

Jean Shiley

Jean Shiley, American high jumper (died 1998)

Born
November 20, 1911
Died
March 11, 1998
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
Birth year
1911

About Jean Shiley

Jean Shiley Newhouse (November 20, 1911 – March 11, 1998) was an American high jumper. She was born Jean Shiley in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and later moved to Havertown, a Philadelphia suburb, where she joined the team at Haverford High School. Shiley tied with Babe Didrikson in the trials for the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In the games, both cleared 5 ft 5+1⁄4 in (1.657 m) and failed at 5 ft 6 in (1.676 m). In the jump-off, they tied again at a world record height of 5 ft 5+3⁄4 in (1.670 m); however, Shiley was awarded the gold medal, as Didrikson's Western roll technique was deemed "diving". Didrikson was also given a share in the world record and this, though equalled a few times, stood until 1939. Shiley was ruled ineligible for the 1936 Games as she had worked as a swimming instructor.

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

Jean Shiley timeline

  1. Shiley tied with Babe Didrikson in the trials for the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
  2. Didrikson was also given a share in the world record and this, though equalled a few times, stood until 1939.

The world when Jean Shiley was born

Jean Shiley was born in 1911. 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 1911

  • Best-selling book"The Broad Highway" – Jeffery Farnol

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst Indianapolis 500 race
  • Top headlineTriangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 workers
  • Technology milestoneFirst transcontinental airplane flight (49 days)
  • World population~1.71B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWilliam Howard Taft
  • U.S. population93.4M

1911 versus 2026

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

Measure19112026
Population93.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, International Olympic Committee, Olympedia, 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.