Portrait of Chris Gardner

Birthday profile

Chris Gardner

Chris Gardner, American businessman and philanthropist

Born
February 9, 1954
Age in 2026
72
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
Birth year
1954

About Chris Gardner

Christopher Paul Gardner, Sr. is an American businessman and motivational speaker. He became a stockbroker in the mid-1980s and eventually founded his own brokerage firm, Gardner Rich & Co, in 1987. In 2006, Gardner sold his minority stake in the firm and published a memoir. The book was later made into the motion picture The Pursuit of Happyness. While in foster care, Gardner first became acquainted with his three maternal uncles: Archibald, Willie, and Henry. With a higher income from his new job, Gardner was able to save enough money to travel to Monroe, Louisiana, where he and his son met his father, Turner, for the first time.

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

Chris Gardner timeline

  1. He became a stockbroker in the mid-1980s and eventually founded his own brokerage firm, Gardner Rich & Co, in 1987.
  2. In 2006, Gardner sold his minority stake in the firm and published a memoir.

The world when Chris Gardner was born

Chris Gardner was born in 1954. 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 1954

  • #1 song"Sh-Boom" – The Crew-Cuts
  • Top movieOn the Waterfront
  • Top TV showI Love Lucy
  • Best-selling bookLord of the Flies – William Golding

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentRoger Bannister breaks the 4-minute mile
  • Top headlineSupreme Court rules school segregation unconstitutional
  • Technology milestoneFirst nuclear power plant begins operation (USSR)
  • Defining fadRock and roll emerges
  • Notable inventionNonstick pan (Tefal)
  • World population2.72 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
  • Sports championNew York Giants (World Series)
  • Also wonMinneapolis Lakers (NBA)
  • U.S. population162.0M

1954 versus 2026

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

Measure19542026
Gas$0.29$3.45/gal
Average home$10,250$435,000
Average income$5,800$67,500
Minimum wage$0.75$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.49$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population162.0M341 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.