John C. Allen

John C. Allen was a roller coaster designer who was responsible for the revival of wooden roller coasters which began in the 1960s. He attended Drexel University. He started working for the Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1934 as a coaster operator and rose to become president of the company by 1954. He designed more than 25 coasters and made significant contributions to roller coaster technology. He once said, "You don't need a degree in engineering to design roller coasters, you need a degree in psychology." ^{John C. Allen, American roller coaster designer (d. 1979)}

21 May 1907

Born on the same birth day (21 May): Anna Rogowska • Ara Parseghian • Bengt I. Samuelsson • Bobby Cox • Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan • Claire Cashmore • Dorsey Levens • Fats Waller • Hans Berger • Heath L'Estrange • Ilmar Raag • Kaire Leibak • Kent Hrbek • Kevin Quinn (actor) • Lázaro Cárdenas • Marc Ribot • Pauline Menczer • Rosalind Plowright • Tom Donahue (DJ)

Born in the same month (May 1907): Bob Tisdall • Hartland Molson • Hergé • Irene Hunt • Jackie Grant • Jean Bernard (physician) • Laurence Olivier • Leslie Charteris • Muhammad Ayub Khan • Rachel Carson • Sukhdev Thapar • Weeb Ewbank