Portrait of Pete Maravich

Birthday profile

Pete Maravich

Pete Maravich, American basketball player (died 1988)

Born
June 22, 1947
Died
January 5, 1988
Zodiac sign
Cancer
Birth year
1947

About Pete Maravich

Peter Press Maravich ( MAIR-ə-vitch; June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), also known by his nickname "Pistol Pete", was an American professional basketball player. Maravich starred in college for Louisiana State University's Tigers basketball team, which was coached by his father, Press Maravich. He is the all-time top scorer in NCAA Division I men's basketball, having scored 3,667 points at an average of 44.2 per game. He accomplished this before the adoption of the three-point line and shot clock, and before freshmen were allowed to play varsity by the NCAA. Maravich was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1970 NBA draft. He played four seasons in Atlanta, then was traded to the expansion New Orleans Jazz, where he spent five seasons and part of a sixth. He played his final part-season for the Boston Celtics, then retired due to injuries. During his 10-year career, he was named an All-Star five times and All-NBA four times. One of the youngest players inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Maravich was considered among the best ball handlers and creative offensive talents ever to play. He died suddenly at age 40 during a pick-up game in 1988 because of an undetected heart defect. Maravich was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary team in 1996 and 75th Anniversary team in 2021. While at Daniel from 1961 to 1963, Maravich participated in the school's first-ever game against a team from an all-black school. At that time, NCAA rules prohibited first-year students from playing at varsity level, which required Maravich to play on the freshman team. In his first game, Maravich put up 50 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists against Southeastern Louisiana College.

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

The world when Pete Maravich was born

Pete Maravich was born in 1947. 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 1947

  • #1 song"Near You" – Francis Craig
  • Top movieMiracle on 34th Street
  • Top TV showHowdy Doody
  • Best-selling bookThe Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJackie Robinson breaks baseball's color barrier
  • Top headlineJackie Robinson breaks Major League Baseball's color barrier
  • Technology milestoneTransistor invented at Bell Labs
  • Defining fadFlying saucer mania
  • Notable inventionPolaroid instant camera
  • World population2.47 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonPhiladelphia Warriors (BAA)
  • U.S. population144.1M

1947 versus 2026

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

Measure19472026
Gas$0.23$3.45/gal
Average home$7,800$435,000
Average income$4,700$67,500
Minimum wage$0.40$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.40$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population144.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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