Home / Birthday profiles / Roland Matthes
Portrait of Roland Matthes

Birthday profile

Roland Matthes

Roland Matthes, German swimmer (died 2019)

Find birthday twinsOpen interactive profile
Born
November 17, 1950
Died
December 20, 2019
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
Birth year
1950

About Roland Matthes

Roland Matthes was a German swimmer and the most successful backstroke swimmer of all time. Between April 1967 and August 1974 he won all backstroke competitions he entered. He won four European championships and three world championships in a row, and swam 19 world and 28 European records in various backstroke, butterfly and medley events. He was trained by Marlies Grohe. In addition to these individual events, he won the 4 × 100 m team medley silver in 1968 and 1972, and a bronze medal for the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay in 1972. In 1973 in Belgrade he became the first world champion holding the titles in both the 100 m and 200 m backstroke.

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

Roland Matthes timeline

  1. Between April 1967 and August 1974 he won all backstroke competitions he entered.
  2. In addition to these individual events, he won the 4 × 100 m team medley silver in 1968 and 1972, and a bronze medal for the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay in 1972.
  3. In 1973 in Belgrade he became the first world champion holding the titles in both the 100 m and 200 m backstroke.

The world when Roland Matthes was born

Roland Matthes was born in 1950. 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 1950

  • #1 song"Goodnight, Irene" – The Weavers
  • Top movieAll About Eve
  • Top TV showTexaco Star Theater
  • Best-selling bookThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentUSA beats England 1-0 in the FIFA World Cup
  • Top headlineKorean War begins as North Korea invades the South
  • Technology milestoneFirst credit card introduced (Diners Club)
  • Defining fadPoodle skirts
  • Notable inventionCredit card (Diners Club)
  • World population2.56 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonMinneapolis Lakers (NBA)
  • U.S. population151.3M

1950 versus 2026

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

Measure19502026
Gas$0.27$3.45/gal
Average home$8,450$435,000
Average income$5,200$67,500
Minimum wage$0.75$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.46$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population151.3M341 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.