Portrait of Ken Dryden

Birthday profile

Ken Dryden

Ken Dryden, Canadian ice hockey player, lawyer, and politician (died 2025)

Born
August 8, 1947
Died
September 5, 2025
Zodiac sign
Leo
Birth year
1947

About Ken Dryden

Kenneth Wayne Dryden was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender, politician, lawyer, businessman and author. He played for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1971 to 1979, winning the Stanley Cup six times, the Vezina Trophy as the goaltender on the team allowing the fewest goals five times, and the Conn Smythe Trophy along with the Calder Memorial Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs and rookie of the year respectively over the course of his rookie campaign. He was elected as member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983. Thereafter, Dryden served as a Liberal Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2011 and was appointed Minister of Social Development from 2004 to 2006 for which he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2017, the NHL commemorated him as one of the league's 100 Greatest Players. He received the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2020. The Canadiens won the game 5–1, with Dryden stopping 35 of 36 shots. He also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.

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

The world when Ken Dryden was born

Ken Dryden 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 Ken Dryden'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, NHL, 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.