Portrait of Tom Van Arsdale

Birthday profile

Tom Van Arsdale

Tom Van Arsdale, American basketball player

Born
February 22, 1943
Age in 2026
83
Zodiac sign
Pisces
Birth year
1943

About Tom Van Arsdale

Thomas Arthur Van Arsdale (born February 22, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player. The 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) guard and small forward played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Detroit Pistons, Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City–Omaha Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, and Phoenix Suns. In 1966, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. Van Arsdale was selected to play in the NBA All-Star Game three consecutive seasons (1970 to 1972) while with the Royals. He and his identical twin brother Dick Van Arsdale became the first brothers to play in the same NBA All-Star Game. Van Arsdale had six seasons where his scoring average ranged from 18.4 to 22.9 points per game. A graduate of Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis, Van Arsdale played collegiately at Indiana University in the Big Ten Conference under longtime head coach Branch McCracken. Van Arsdale and his brother were jointly named Indiana Mr. Basketball in 1961 during their senior year in high school. He was a first-team Academic All-American in 1965 at Indiana, and second-team All-Big Ten Conference as a junior and senior. Van Arsdale was a member of the U.S. team that won the gold medal in the 1965 Summer Universiade. He still holds the NBA record for most career games played (929) and most career points scored (14,232) without a playoff appearance. Van Arsdale idolized future hall of fame player Oscar Robertson when Robertson was an Indianapolis high school player, and later became Robertson's teammate in the NBA.

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

The world when Tom Van Arsdale was born

Tom Van Arsdale was born in 1943. 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 1943

  • #1 song"As Time Goes By" – Dooley Wilson
  • Top movieFor Whom the Bell Tolls
  • Best-selling bookThe Robe – Lloyd C. Douglas

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentAll-American Girls Professional Baseball League founded
  • Top headlineAllies invade Italy
  • Technology milestoneLSD accidentally discovered by Albert Hofmann
  • Defining fadZoot suits
  • Notable inventionSlinky
  • World population2.38 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population136.7M

1943 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Tom Van Arsdale's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19432026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$5,700$435,000
Average income$4,100$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.27$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population136.7M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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