Birthday profile

Harley Hotchkiss

Harley Hotchkiss, Canadian businessman (died 2011)

Born
July 12, 1927
Died
June 22, 2011
Zodiac sign
Cancer
Birth year
1927

About Harley Hotchkiss

Harley Norman Hotchkiss (July 12, 1927 – June 22, 2011) was a Canadian business and community leader who was best known for his contributions to health and sports development in Canada. He was part of the consortium that brought the Atlanta Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL) to Calgary in 1980, and remained a part-owner of the Calgary Flames until shortly before his death. For much of that time, he was the team's governor, and hence the public face of the ownership group. He served as chairman of the board of the NHL between 1995 and 2007, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 2006. A graduate of Michigan State University in 1951 and a geologist by trade, Hotchkiss moved to Calgary in 1951 and began a long career in the oil and gas industry. He served as president of Alcon Petroleum into the 1960s, and started up his own companies, including Sabre Petroleum with long-time business partners Byron and Doc Seaman. His peers remembered him as an "icon" in the industry. In 1980, he joined with Ralph T. Scurfield, Norman Green, Norman Kwong and the Seaman brothers to buy the Flames and move them to Calgary. A noted philanthropist, the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute is named in honour of his contributions. He also supported Hockey Canada, investing in the growth of the sport across the country. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1997, elevated to Companion in 2009, and named to the Alberta Order of Excellence in 1998. In May 2012, it was announced that a new neighbourhood in southeast Calgary, Hotchkiss, would be named after him. In 2009, Harley Hotchkiss along with Paul Grescoe wrote a memoir, Hat Trick - A Life in the Hockey Rink, Oil Patch and Community.

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

Career and life highlights

The world when Harley Hotchkiss was born

Harley Hotchkiss was born in 1927. 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 1927

  • #1 song"My Blue Heaven" – Gene Austin
  • Top movieThe Jazz Singer (first talking picture)
  • Best-selling bookElmer Gantry – Sinclair Lewis

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentBabe Ruth hits 60 home runs
  • Top headlineLindbergh completes first solo transatlantic flight
  • Technology milestoneThe Jazz Singer — first feature-length talking film
  • Defining fadDance marathons peak
  • Notable inventionPEZ candy dispensers
  • World population2.04 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderCalvin Coolidge
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population119.0M

1927 versus 2026

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

Measure19272026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$6,100$435,000
Average income$3,700$67,500
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population119.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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