Portrait of Alvin Kraenzlein

Birthday profile

Alvin Kraenzlein

Alvin Kraenzlein, American hurdler and runner (died 1928)

Born
December 12, 1876
Died
January 6, 1928
Zodiac sign
Sagittarius
Birth year
1876

About Alvin Kraenzlein

Alvin Christian "Al" Kraenzlein (December 12, 1876 – January 6, 1928) was an American track-and-field athlete known as "the father of the modern hurdling technique". He was the first sportsman in the history of the Olympic games to win four individual gold medals in a single discipline at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. As of 2016, Alvin Kraenzlein is the only track-and-field athlete who has won four individual titles at one Olympics. Kraenzlein is also known for developing a pioneering technique of straight-leg hurdling, which allowed him to set two world hurdle records. In 1895, during the Wisconsin Interscholastic Championships, he won first places in the 100-yard dash, 120-yard high hurdles, 220-yard low hurdles, high jump, and shot put.

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

Career and life highlights

The world when Alvin Kraenzlein was born

Alvin Kraenzlein was born in 1876. 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.

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst National League baseball season
  • Top headlineBattle of Little Bighorn — Custer's Last Stand
  • Technology milestoneAlexander Graham Bell patents the telephone
  • Notable inventionTelephone
  • World population~1.56B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderUlysses S. Grant
  • U.S. population43.4M

1876 versus 2026

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

Measure18762026
Population43.4M341 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.