Birthday profile

Ralph Wilson

Ralph Wilson, American businessman, founded the Buffalo Bills (died 2014)

Born
October 17, 1918
Died
March 25, 2014
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1918

About Ralph Wilson

Ralph Cookerly Wilson Jr. was an American businessman and sports executive. He was best known as the founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills, a team in the National Football League (NFL). He was one of the founding owners of the American Football League (AFL), the league with which the NFL merged in 1970, and was the last of the original AFL owners to own his team. At the time of his death he was the oldest owner in the NFL, at age 95. His 54 years of ownership was the third longest tenure by one owner in league history behind George Halas and Art Rooney. Wilson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009. He eventually purchased several manufacturing outlets, construction firms, television and radio stations, and founded Ralph Wilson Industries. He had three daughters from his first marriage to Janet McGregor Wilson, two of whom became involved in team business: Linda Wilson Bogdan (1948–2009), Pro Football's first female scout, was the franchise's Corporate Vice President until her death.

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

Ralph Wilson timeline

  1. He had three daughters from his first marriage to Janet McGregor Wilson, two of whom became involved in team business: Linda Wilson Bogdan (1948–2009), Pro Football's first female scout, was the franchise's Corporate Vice President until her death.
  2. Wilson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

The world when Ralph Wilson was born

Ralph Wilson was born in 1918. 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 1918

  • Best-selling book"The U.P. Trail" – Zane Grey

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentWorld Series played in September due to WWI
  • Top headlineWorld War I ends — Spanish Flu pandemic begins
  • Technology milestoneFirst regular airmail service
  • World population~1.78B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWoodrow Wilson
  • U.S. population102.0M

1918 versus 2026

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

Measure19182026
Gas$0.25$3.45/gal
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population102.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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