Portrait of Michalis Dorizas

Birthday profile

Michalis Dorizas

Michalis Dorizas, Greek-American football player and javelin thrower (died 1957)

Born
April 16, 1886
Died
October 21, 1957
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1886

About Michalis Dorizas

Michális Dórizas (Greek: Μιχάλης Δώριζας; 16 April 1886 – 21 October 1957) was a Greek athlete who competed in throwing events at the 1906, 1908 and 1912 Summer Olympics. He won a silver medal in the javelin throw in 1908 and a bronze in the stone throw in 1906. In the discus throw, his best achievement was fifth place in 1908; in the shot put, he placed 11th in 1912. Dorizas was born to Greek parents in Constantinople, where he graduated from the Robert College. In 1913, he moved to the United States to study at the University of Pennsylvania. In the U.S., he soon became one of the best heavyweight wrestlers, winning the intercollegiate championships in 1914-1916. He also played as an American football guard for two years and continued to compete in throwing events. During World War I, he served as a U.S. Army Sergeant in France, and after the war as a Greek-Turkish-English interpreter at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, and as a geographer with the American Section of the International Commission on Mandates. In 1915, he received a master's degree in philosophy and began teaching geography and working on his PhD (which he received in 1924). He was voted as the most popular Penn professor for several years. In 1943, the Friars Senior Society called him "the faculty member who the greatest service to the University during the course of the year." He continued teaching at Penn until his death in 1957.

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

The world when Michalis Dorizas was born

Michalis Dorizas was born in 1886. 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.

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst professional baseball game under electric lights
  • Top headlineStatue of Liberty dedicated in New York Harbor
  • Technology milestoneCoca-Cola invented in Atlanta
  • Notable inventionCoca-Cola (originally contained cocaine)
  • World population~1.46B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderGrover Cleveland
  • U.S. population55.6M

1886 versus 2026

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

Measure18862026
Population55.6M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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