Portrait of Ralph Metcalfe

Birthday profile

Ralph Metcalfe

Ralph Metcalfe, American sprinter and politician (died 1978)

Born
May 29, 1910
Died
October 10, 1978
Zodiac sign
Gemini
Birth year
1910

About Ralph Metcalfe

Ralph Harold Metcalfe Sr. was an American track and field sprinter and politician. He jointly held the world record in the 100-meter dash and placed second in that event in two Olympics, first to Eddie Tolan in 1932 at Los Angeles and then to Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Metcalfe won four Olympic medals and was regarded as the world's fastest human in 1934 and 1935. He accepted a track scholarship to Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and equaled the record of 10.3 seconds in the 100 m on a number of occasions, as well as equaling the 200 m record of 20.6 seconds. He became the first man to win the NCAA 200 m title three times consecutively.

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

Ralph Metcalfe timeline

  1. He jointly held the world record in the 100-meter dash and placed second in that event in two Olympics, first to Eddie Tolan in 1932 at Los Angeles and then to Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany.
  2. Metcalfe won four Olympic medals and was regarded as the world's fastest human in 1934 and 1935.

The world when Ralph Metcalfe was born

Ralph Metcalfe was born in 1910. 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 1910

  • Best-selling book"The Rosary" – Florence L. Barclay

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJack Johnson defends heavyweight title, sparking nationwide debate
  • Top headlineBoy Scouts of America founded
  • Technology milestoneFirst neon lighting demonstrated in Paris
  • World population~1.7B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWilliam Howard Taft
  • U.S. population92.2M

1910 versus 2026

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

Measure19102026
Average home$3,395$435,000
Average income$574$67,500
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population92.2M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, 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.