July 25th is the birthday

… of Estelle Getty. The “Golden Girl” is 84. Ms. Getty won both a Golden Globe and an Emmy for her portrayal as Bea Arthur’s mother. (Bea Arthur is actually two months older than Estelle Getty.)

… of Academy Award nominee Barbara Harris. The actress is 72. Ms. Harris was nominated for best supporting actress for Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?

… of basketball hall-of-famer Nate Thurmond, 66 today.

… of Joey. Matt LeBlanc is 40.

And …

Henry Knox was born on July 25th in 1750. He is one of the most enjoyable of the Founding Fathers. The following is taken from a longer profile at The General Henry Knox Museum:

Henry Knox was an ordinary man who rose to face extraordinary circumstances. He was born into poverty in Boston in 1750. He left Boston Latin Grammar School at a young age to apprentice to a bookbinder, helping to support his widowed mother and younger brother. He eventually worked his way to opening his own bookshop in Boston at the age of 21, little suspecting the important role that he would play in the birth of our nation. His keen interest in military strategy led him to do a lot of reading on the subject, and when he joined the local militia, his talent was noticed.

In 1775, as the situation between Great Britain and the American colonies was heating up, General George Washington inspected a rampart at Roxbury designed by Knox and was instantly taken with the young man’s abilities. Knox soon became Washington’s Chief of Artillery, and earned a place in history in the winter of 1776 by carting sixty tons of captured cannon from Fort Ticonderoga in New York to Dorchester Heights, driving the British from Boston Harbor. Throughout most of the war he was by Washington’s side, and eventually rose to Major-General. Following the war he was Washington’s choice for the first Secretary at War. They remained life-long friends.

It’s the birthdate of painter and photographer Thomas Eakins, born on this date in 1844. “Esteemed for his powers of characterization and mastery of technique, Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) is recognized as one of America’s foremost painters, a master draftsman and watercolorist, and an especially gifted photographer.” The Metropolitan Musuem of Art (source of the preceding quote) had an exhibition of Eakins’s work in 2002, which fortunately remains on line. Click the painting to see the exhibition.

The longshoreman philosopher Eric Hoffer was born on this date in 1902.

It’s the birthday of writer and philosopher Eric Hoffer…, born in New York City (1902). He spent most of his life working on the docks as a longshoreman, and he wrote philosophy in his spare time, including The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951). Eric Hoffer said, “When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.” (The Writer’s Almanac)

The alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges was born on this date in 1907.

One of the most distinctive solo voices in jazz, Hodges was inextricably bound up with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, which he first joined in [M]ay 1928, remaining for most of the rest of his life, apart from a brief venture into bandleading from 1951-5. His plaintive blues playing was as memorable as his haunting ballad playing, and although he was capable of producing a tone of incredible beauty and intensity, he could also add a jazzy edge to his sound, and play in a jumping swing style. (BBC – Radio 3 Jazz Profiles)

Here’s a too brief but lovely sample of Hodges from iTunes. And another.

Sweetness, the great Walter Payton, was born on July 25th in 1954. He died at age 45 of a liver disease.

It’s also the birthday of NewMexiKen’s dad, born on this date in 1923. Miss you every day, Dad.