Birthday profile

Jumbo Elliott (coach)

James Elliott, American runner and coach (died 1981)

Born
August 8, 1915
Died
March 22, 1981
Zodiac sign
Leo
Birth year
1915

About Jumbo Elliott (coach)

James F. "Jumbo" Elliott (August 8, 1915 – March 22, 1981) was an American track and field coach, often considered to be one of the greatest of all time. His achievements include producing five Olympic gold medal winners between 1956 and 1968. Elliott, a college track runner of short and middle distances, graduated from Villanova University in 1935 and returned to coach the track team in 1949 until his death in 1981. In that period, his teams won eight national collegiate team titles, while his athletes won 82 NCAA crowns and set 66 world records. He produced a total of 28 Olympic competitors, five of whom won gold medals: Ron Delany (1956, 1500 m), Charles Jenkins (1956, 400 m), Don Bragg (1960, pole vault), Paul Drayton (1964, 4 × 100 m relay), and Larry James (1968, 4 × 400 m relay). He was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1981. Elliot had a stammer. He died in 1981, and is buried in the Calvary Cemetery in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

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

The world when Jumbo Elliott (coach) was born

Jumbo Elliott (coach) was born in 1915. 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 1915

  • Top movieThe Birth of a Nation
  • Best-selling book"The Turmoil" – Booth Tarkington

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJess Willard defeats Jack Johnson for heavyweight title in Havana
  • Top headlineLusitania sunk by German submarine — 1,198 die
  • Technology milestoneFirst transcontinental telephone call (Bell to Watson)
  • World population~1.75B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWoodrow Wilson
  • U.S. population98.4M

1915 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Jumbo Elliott (coach)'s birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19152026
Gas$0.25$3.45/gal
Movie ticket$0.10$11.95
Population98.4M341 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.