My eponymous grandfather, the first NewMexiKen, was born on October 14, 1899. (I’m III. My oldest son is IV. Luckily he only has a daughter.)
Pop, as he was called by his children, served in the U.S. Army Cavalry in New Mexico during World War I. My cousin has photos taken by Pop while stationed at Columbus, New Mexico. I’m hoping to display some of them here soon.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe during World War II and the 34th president of the United States, was born in Denison, Texas, on October 14th in 1890. His family moved to Abilene, Kansas, in 1892 and he graduated from Abilene High School in 1909. Eisenhower attended the U.S. Military Academy, class of 1915, the class the stars fell on — of 164 graduates, 59 attained the rank of general, led by Eisenhower and Omar Bradley. Eisenhower never saw combat first hand during his 37 year army career.
Military leadership of the victorious Allied forces in Western Europe during World War II invested Dwight David Eisenhower with an immense popularity, almost amounting to devotion, that twice elected him President of the United States. His enormous political success was largely personal, for he was not basically a politician dealing in partisan issues and party maneuvers. What he possessed was a superb talent for gaining the respect and affection of the voters as the man suited to guide the nation through cold war confrontations with Soviet power around the world and to lead the country to domestic prosperity.
Eisenhower’s gift for inspiring confidence in himself perplexed some analysts because he was not a dashing battlefield general nor a masterly military tactician; apparently what counted most in his generalship also impressed the voters most: an ability to harmonize diverse groups and disparate personalities into a smoothly functioning coalition.
John Wooden, the Wizard of Westwood, would have been 101 this October 14th. Ten national championships in 12 years.
October 14th is the birthday
… of former surgeon general C. Everett Koop. Guess he knew what he was talking about because he’s 95.
… of Roger Moore. The oldest of the James Bonds is 84.
… of former Nixon White House Counsel and convicted multiple felon John Dean, 73.
… of Ralph Lauren. The founder of Polo is 72.
… of the judge of Night Court, Harry Anderson, who is 59.
… of Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks. She’s 37.
… of Usher. Usher Terry Raymond IV is 33.
Lillian Gish (her real name) was born on October 14th in 1893. Her career on stage, screen and television ran from 1912-1987. She lived to be 99, but never married or had children.
Edward Estlin Cummings was born October 14, 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We know him as e.e. cummings.
In his verse, Cummings tended to substitute verbs for nouns, he used patently eccentric punctuation, and he disregarded norms of capitalization. But despite unconventional style, he wrote about traditional themes, stuff like love and nature.
my girl’s tall with hard long eyes
as she stands, with her long hard hands keeping
silence on her dress, good for sleeping
is her long hard body filled with surprise
like a white shocking wire, when she smiles
a hard long smile it sometimes makes
gaily go clean through me tickling aches,
and the weak noise of her eyes easily files
my impatience to an edge–my girl’s tall
and taut, with thin legs just like a vine
that’s spent all of its life on a garden-wall,
and is going to die. When we grimly go to bed
with these legs she begins to heave and twine
about me, and to kiss my face and head.
William Penn was born on October 14th, 1644. He was given 45,000 square miles of what is now eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware by the Duke of York in 1682 (anti-Quaker Delaware split off in 1704). In the 18th century, Pennsylvania, based on what Penn established, was the most tolerant and democratic of the colonies.