American runner (died 1994)

Wilma Rudolph

Wilma Glodean Rudolph was an American sprinter who overcame polio as a child and went on to become a world-record-holding Olympic champion and international sports icon in track and field following her successes in the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games. Rudolph competed in the 200-meter dash and won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100-meter relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics at Melbourne, Australia. She also won three gold medals, in the 100- and 200-meter individual events and the 4 × 100-meter relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. Rudolph was acclaimed as the fastest woman in the world in the 1960s; she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games.

Born

1940

June 23

Died

1994

Era

1940s

Country

—

About

Wilma, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1940 Born
1994 Died

Also on June 23

What else happened on this day, through history

229 Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
1266 War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
1280 The Spanish Reconquista: In the Battle of Moclín the Emirate of Granada ambush a superior pursuing force, killing most of them in a military disaster for the Kingdom of Castile.
1305 A peace treaty between the Flemish and the French is signed at Athis-sur-Orge.

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The world in 1940

When Wilma arrived

april 14 World War II: Royal Marines land in Namsos, Norway, preceding a larger force which will arrive two days later.
april 23 The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people.
april 7 Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
april 8 The Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party elects Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal as General Secretary, marking the beginning of his 44-year-long tenure as de facto leader of Mongolia.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on June 23

Alfred Kinsey 1894–1956 American biologist and academic (born 1894) Bryan Brown 1947– Australian actor and producer Cyclone Taylor 1884–1979 Canadian ice hockey player and politician (died 1979) Frederic Leclercq 1978– French heavy metal musician Giambattista Vico 1668–1744 Italian historian and philosopher (born 1668) Hal Laycoe 1922– Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 1998) Jean Anouilh 1910–1987 French playwright and screenwriter (died 1987) LaDainian Tomlinson 1979– American football player Lisa Carrington 1989– New Zealand flatwater canoeist

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1940

Abbas Kiarostami 1940–2016 Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, and photographer (born 1940) Abdurrahman Wahid 1940–2009 Indonesian journalist and politician, fourth President of Indonesia (born 1940) Bruce Chatwin 1940–1989 English-French author (born 1940) Bruce Lee 1940–1973 American actor and martial artist (born 1940) David Jason 1940– English actor, director, and producer Edmund White 1940–2025 American novelist, memoirist, and essayist (died 2025) Fabrizio De André 1940–1999 Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1999) Fran Tarkenton 1940– American football player and sportscaster Frank Zappa 1940–1993 American singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer and producer (died 1993)

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Keep going

More to explore

Wilma's birthday June 23 Wilma's zodiac Cancer When Wilma arrived 1940