Portrait of Dhyan Chand

Birthday profile

Dhyan Chand

Dhyan Chand, Indian field hockey player (died 1979)

Born
August 29, 1905
Died
December 3, 1979
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Birth year
1905

About Dhyan Chand

Major Dhyan Chand (29 August 1905 – 3 December 1979) was an Indian field hockey player. He is widely regarded as the greatest field hockey player in history. He was known for his extraordinary ball control and goal-scoring feats, in addition to earning three Olympic gold medals, in 1928, 1932 and 1936, during an era where India dominated field hockey. Dhyan Chand's influence extended beyond these victories, as India won the field hockey event in seven out of eight Olympics from 1928 to 1964. Known as The Wizard or The Magician of hockey for his superb ball control, Chand played internationally from 1926 to 1949, where he scored 570 goals in 185 matches according to his autobiography, Goal, and over 1,000 goals in his entire domestic and international career. BBC called him the "hockey's equivalent of Muhammad Ali". The Government of India awarded Chand India's third highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan in 1956. His birthday, 29 August, is celebrated as National Sports Day in India every year. India's highest sporting honour, Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award is named after him. The team won 18 matches, drew two and lost only one, receiving praise from all spectators.

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

Dhyan Chand timeline

  1. Dhyan Chand's influence extended beyond these victories, as India won the field hockey event in seven out of eight Olympics from 1928 to 1964.
  2. The Government of India awarded Chand India's third highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan in 1956.

The world when Dhyan Chand was born

Dhyan Chand was born in 1905. 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 1905

  • Best-selling book"The Marriage of William Ashe" – Mrs. Humphry Ward

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentChristy Mathewson pitches 3 shutouts in the World Series
  • Top headlineEinstein publishes theory of special relativity
  • Technology milestoneEinstein's "miracle year" — E=mc²
  • World population~1.65B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderTheodore Roosevelt
  • U.S. population83.2M

1905 versus 2026

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

Measure19052026
Population83.2M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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