Category: Birthdays

William Clark, of Lewis and Clark, was born on this date in 1770. He died in 1838. Here is Clark’s journal entry on his 36th birthday from Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Online. He was on the Yellowstone River in what is now eastern Montana.

We Set out early as usial the wind was high and ahead which caused the water to be a little rough and delayed us very much    aded to this we had Showers of rain repeetedly all day at the intermition of only a fiew minits between them. My Situation a very disagreeable one.    in an open Canoe wet and without a possibility of keeping my Self dry.    the Country through which we passed is in every respect like that through which I passed yesterday. The brooks have all Some water in them from the rains which has fallen.    this water is excessively muddy. Several of those brooks have Some trees on their borders as far as I can See up them. I observe Some low pine an cedar on the Sides of the rugid hills on the Stard. Side, and Some ash timber in the high bottoms.    the river has more Sand bars today than usial, and more Soft mud.    the current less rapid.    at 2 P. M. I was obliged to land to let the Buffalow Cross over.    not withstanding an island of half a mile in width over which this gangue of Buffalow had to pass and the Chanel of the river on each Side nearly ¼ of a mile in width, this gangue of Buffalow was entirely across and as thick as they could Swim.    the Chanel on the Side of the island the went into the river was crouded with those animals for ½ an hour.    [NB: I was obliged to lay to for an hour] the other Side of the island for more than 3/4 of an hour. I took 4 of the men and killed 4 fat Cows for their fat and what portion of their flesh the Small Canoes Could Carry    that which we had killed a few days ago being nearly Spoiled from the wet weather.    encamped on an Island Close to the Lard Shore.    two gangues of Buffalow Crossed a little below us, as noumerous as the first.

Francis Scott Key was born on August 1st in 1779.

Richard Henry Dana was born on August 1st in 1815.

Herman Melville was born on August 1st in 1819. The Writer’s Almanac has a brief little bio that includes this:

Melville started Moby-Dick in the winter of 1850 and finished in the summer of 1851, writing all day every day without eating until four or five o’clock in the evening. When it was finally printed, he handed one of the first copies of the book to his friend Nathaniel Hawthorne in a tavern, and later said that that was the best day of his life. But Moby-Dick was a total flop. Melville’s readers wanted adventure stories, and Moby-Dick was an adventure story, but the adventure was obscured by the language. It takes more than a hundred pages before the characters even get on the boat. The book got terrible reviews, and nobody read it.

But if Moby-Dick was a financial failure, Melville’s next book, Pierre (1852), fared even worse. Melville eventually gave up on writing fiction and turned to poetry, which he had to publish himself. He spent the last 20 years of his life working as a customs inspector. It wasn’t until the 1920s that his work was rediscovered.

Robert Todd Lincoln, the first child of Abraham Lincoln and the only one to survive to adulthood, was born on this date in 1843. He died in 1926. (Lincoln’s son Eddie was born in 1846 and died in 1850. Son Willie died at age 12 in 1862. Son Tad (Thomas) died at age 18 in 1871.)

Jerry Garcia was born on this date in 1942. He died in 1995.

Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) is 42 today.

Edd “Kookie Kookie lend me your comb” Byrnes is 74.

Blues guitarist Buddy Guy is 71.

Oscar nominee (direction and co-writer, The Last Picture Show) Peter Bogdanovich is 68.

Paul Anka is 66. Anka is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is 60

Oscar best actor nominee Laurence Fishburne is 46.

Lisa Kudrow is 44.

Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank is 33.

The Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel was born on this date in 1890.

MANAGED NEW YORK YANKEES 1949-1960.
WON 10 PENNANTS AND 7 WORLD SERIES WITH
NEW YORK YANKEES. ONLY MANAGER TO WIN
5 CONSECUTIVE WORLD SERIES 1949-1953.
PLAYED OUTFIELD 1912-1925 WITH BROOKLYN,
PITTSBURGH, PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK AND
BOSTON N.L. TEAMS. MANAGED BROOKLYN
1934-1936, BOSTON BRAVES 1938-1943,
NEW YORK METS 1962-1965.

A few Casey-isms:

“Can’t anybody here play this game?”

“Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa.”

“He’d (Yogi Berra) fall in a sewer and come up with a gold watch.”

One of the most remarkable Americans, Henry Ford, was born on this date in 1863. The following is and excerpt from Mr. Ford’s New York Times obituary in 1947:

Renting a one-story brick shed in Detroit, Mr. Ford spent the year 1902 experimenting with two- cylinder and four-cylinder motors. By that time the public had become interested in the speed possibilities of the automobile, which was no longer regarded as a freak. To capitalize on this interest, he built two racing cars, the “999” and the “Arrow,” each with a four-cylinder engine developing eighty horsepower. The “999,” with the celebrated Barney Oldfield at its wheel, won every race in which it was entered.

The resulting publicity helped Mr. Ford to organize the Ford Motor Company, which was capitalized at $100,000, although actually only $28,000 in stock was subscribed. From the beginning Mr. Ford held majority control of this company. In 1919 he and his son, Edsel, became its sole owners, when they bought out the minority stockholders for $70,000,000.

In 1903 the Ford Motor Company sold 1,708 two-cylinder, eight horsepower automobiles. …

With this material he began the new era of mass production. He concentrated on a single type of chassis, the celebrated Model T, and specified that “any customer can have a car painted any color he wants, so long as it is black.” On Oct. 1, 1908, he began the production of Model T, which sold for $850. The next year he sold 10,600 cars of this model. Cheap and reliable, the car had a tremendous success. In seven years he built and sold 1,000,000 Fords; by 1925 he was producing them at the rate of almost 2,000,000 a year.

He established two cardinal economic policies during this tremendous expansion: the continued cutting of the cost of the product as improved methods of production made it possible, and the payment of higher wages to his employes. By 1926 the cost of the Model T had been cut to $310, although it was vastly superior to the 1908 model. In January, 1914, he established a minimum pay rate of $5 a day for an eight-hour day, thereby creating a national sensation. Up to that time the average wage throughout his works had been $2.40 a nine-hour day.

The entire obituary is really rather fascinating reading.

Douglas Brinkley’s Wheels for the World (2003) is considered a good biography of Ford and the Ford Motor Company.

… of television producer Norman Lear. He’s 85. Lear brought a revolution to TV when he introduced All in the Family in 1971. Sanford and Son, Good Times, The Jeffersons, Maude, One Day At a Time and other shows were also his.

… of Bugs Bunny, who made his first featured appearance in a cartoon released on this date in 1940, A Wild Hare. Bugs was modeled on Groucho Marx with a carrot instead of a cigar — and with a Brooklyn accent.

… of Bobbie Gentry; she is 63. No word yet on what it was she and Billy Joe threw off the Tallahatchee bridge.

… of Peggy Fleming, 59 today. Miss Fleming won her gold medal for figure skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics.

… of A-Rod. Alex Rodriguez is 32.

Baseball manager Leo Durocher was born 102 years ago today. His Hall-of-Fame bio reads:

Leo Durocher was a good-field, no-hit shortstop for 17 years, but gained his greatest notoriety for accomplishments after his playing days. His combative and swashbuckling style, brilliant baseball mind, uncanny memory and fiery disposition became “The Lip’s” trademarks as a colorful and controversial manager for 24 seasons with the Dodgers, Giants, Cubs and Astros. He compiled 2,009 wins in 3,740 games, captured three pennants and won the World Series in 1954. He was named Manager of the Year three times by the “Sporting News.”

The truce ending the Korean War was signed on this date in 1953. Read the report from The New York Times.

The first U.S. government agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs (which became the Department of State), was established on this date in 1789.

… of Mick Jagger. He’s still can’t get no satisfaction, even at 64.

… of Oscar-winner Helen Mirren, 62.

… of two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey. He’s 48. Spacey won for best supporting actor for The Usual Suspects and leading actor for American Beauty.

… of Sandra Bullock. From Arlington, Virginia, she’s 43. Ms. Bullock has been an Academy Award presenter.

Two great comediennes were born on this date — Gracie Allen in 1895, 1897 or 1902 (her birth certificate was destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake) and Vivian Vance in 1909.

Because George Burns lived to be 100 and managed to stay in show business nearly until then (playing God in one film, no less), Gracie, who died in 1964 has been largely forgotten. She was the true comedic talent of the two, however. On their radio and television programs George was the straight man, Gracie had the good lines.

At the end of their show, George Burns would say, “Say goodnight, Gracie.” Urban myth has it that she said, “Good night Gracie,” but, in fact, she always just said “Goodnight.”

“Were you the oldest one in the family?” “No, no, my mother and father were much older.” — Gracie Allen

“They laughed at Joan of Arc, but she went right ahead and built it.” — Gracie Allen

“When I was born I was so surprised I didn’t talk for a year and a half.” — Gracie Allen

Vivian Vance was two years older than her long-time co-star Lucille Ball, though many thought Vance to be much older because her I Love Lucy character Ethel Mertz was married to Fred, played by actor William Frawley, who was 18 years older. Miss Vance died of cancer in 1979.

Humorist Jean Shepherd was born on this date in 1925. As they so often do, The Writer’s Almanac had a nice, succinct essay (from 2004):

It’s the birthday of humorist Jean Shepherd, born in Chicago, Illinois (1925). He’s remembered for the autobiographical stories he told on the radio about a boy named Ralph Parker growing up in Hohman, Indiana. One of his stories was made into the movie A Christmas Story (1983), which he narrated. It’s about a boy who wants a BB gun for Christmas, even though every adult in his life says that he’ll shoot his eye out. The stories Shepherd told on-air were always improvised, but he later wrote them down and published them in collections like In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash (1967) and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters (1972).

Shepherd said, “Some men are Baptists, others Catholics. My father was an Oldsmobile man.”

… 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.

… of Cosmo Kramer. Michael Richards is 58 today. Older, let’s hope wiser.

… of Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter is 56.

… of Barry Bonds. He’s 43.

… of Kristin Chenoweth. The Tony award-winner is 39.

… of J Lo. Jennifer Lopez is 37.

… of Anna Paquin. An Oscar winner at age 11, she’s now 25.

Amelia Earhart was born on July 24th in 1897. She disappeared at age 40.

It was on this date in 1847 that Brigham Young gazed at Utah’s Valley of the Great Salt Lake and made his famous declaration: “This is the place.”

The federal minimum wage increases by 70 cents today to $5.85. It’s been a decade since the last increase.

Emily and Rob celebrate their 8th anniversary today. Congratulations!

Daniel Radcliffe is 18 today. That’s Harry Potter to you.

At the other end of the acting spectrum, Gloria DeHaven is 82.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is 71. Kennedy is the swing vote on the Court, though he has seldom swung the right direction of late.

Actor Ronny Cox is 69. Cox, a New Mexican, is perhaps most famous as Lt. Andrew Bogomil of the Beverly Hills Police Department, but he has more than 100 credits listed at IMDB.

The unemployed Don Imus is 67 today.

Woody Harrelson is 46. Harrelson was nominated for best actor for The People vs. Larry Flynt and won one Emmy for playing Woody on Cheers.

Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman is 40.

Alison Krauss is 36.

… of Janet Reno, the first woman attorney general of the United States. She is 69.

… of actor Edward Herrmann. He is 64.

… of Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau. He’s 59.

… of Mork. Robin Williams is 56. Williams has been nominated for the best actor Oscar three times without winning. He did win the best supporting actor Oscar for Good Will Hunting.

… of Jon Lovitz. He’s 50. Fresh!

… of Brandi Chastain. She’s 39.

Ernest Hemingway was born on this date in 1899. He died a few weeks before his 62nd birthday in 1961. Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 “for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style.” The New York Times has an extraordinary wealth of reviews, articles, interviews and other material collected on Hemingway.

Marshall McLuhan was born on this date in 1911.

Ed Ames, the singer and actor, is 80. Ames, whose parents were Ukrainian Jews played the Indian Mingo on “Daniel Boone.” He was responsible for the classic incident with Johnny Carson throwing a tomahawk. Ames threw at a two-dimensional silhouette and managed to add some three-dimensional anatomy.

Lee Hazelwood, writer of “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” and “Houston,” is 78.

Donald Rumsfeld is 75.

Doctor and author Oliver Sacks is 74 today.

Brian Dennehy is 69 — guess he’ll be playing one of the old folks in any re-make of Cocoon. Dennehy won a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award for his portrayal of Willy Loman in the 2000 made-for-TV presentation of Death of a Salesman.

Chris Cooper is 56. Cooper has appeared in over 50 films and television productions, winning a best supporting actor Oscar for Adaptation.

Jimmy Smits is 52. Smits was nominated six times for an Emmy for supporting actor for L.A. Law. He won once. He was nominated five times for best actor for NYPD Blue. No nominations for his work as Senator Bail Organa in Star Wars. But then, he was elected President on West Wing.

Tom Hanks is 51 today. Hanks has been nominated for the Academy Award for best actor five times, winning for Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994). His other nominations were for Big, Saving Private Ryan and Cast Away.

Kelly McGillis is 50, Courtney Love is 43, and Fred Savage is 31.

And Orenthal James Simpson is 60 today.

(Gonna find ’em)
(Gonna find ’em)
(Gonna find ’em)
(Gonna find ’em)

Yeah, I’ve been searchin’
A-a searchin’
Oh, yeah, searchin’ every which a-way
Yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah, searchin’
I’m searchin’
Searchin’ every which a-way
Yeah, yeah
But I’m like the Northwest Mounties
You know I’ll bring ’em in someday
(Gonna find ’em)
(Gonna find ’em)

Well, now, if I have to swim a river
You know I will
And a if I have to climb a mountain
You know I will
And a if he’s a hiding up
On a blueberry hill
Am I gonna find ’em, child
You know I will
‘Cause I’ve been searchin’
Oh, yeah, searchin’
My goodness, searchin’ every which a-way
Yeah, yeah
But I’m like the Northwest Mounties
You know I’ll bring ’em in some day
(Gonna find ’em)
(Gonna find ’em)

Well, Sherlock Holmes
Sam Spade got nothin’, child, on me
Sergeant Friday, Charlie Chan
And Boston Blackie
No matter where he’s a hiding
He’s gonna hear me a comin’
Gonna walk right down that street
Like Bulldog Drummond
‘Cause I’ve been searchin’
Oooh, Lord, searchin’, mm child
Searchin’ every which a-way
Yeah, yeah
But I’m like the Northwest Mounties
You know I’ll bring ’em in some day
(Gonna find ’em)
(Gonna find ’em)

Lyrics and Music by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

… of Anjelica Huston. The third generation Oscar winner is 56. Anjelica won the best supporting actress Oscar for Prizzi’s Honor; she has two other nominations. Her father John was nominated for 15 writing, directing or acting Oscars, winning director and writing for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Grandfather Walter was nominated four times for acting Oscars, winning the supporting award for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

… of journalist and author Anna Quindlen, 54. Three years ago The Writer’s Almanac had this:

She eventually got a job as a reporter for the New York Times.

Quindlen started writing a weekly column called “Life in the ’30s,” in which she talked about marriage, motherhood, religion, and other personal issues. She wrote about being raised as a Catholic, about the death of her father, and about the birth of her children. The columns were incredibly popular: they were syndicated in more than sixty newspapers, and Quindlen became known as a voice for the baby boom generation. Some people accused her of writing about trivial issues, but Quindlen once said, “Anybody who tries to convince me that foreign policy is more important than child rearing is doomed to failure.”

… of Kevin Bacon. He’s 49. And no, Kevin Bacon has never been nominated for an Oscar. He’s only a few degrees of separation however, from many who have.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, was born in Zurich, Switzerland on this date in 1926. The Writer’s Almanac informs us:

She was the first medical professional to argue that dying is a natural process, and that patients who are terminally ill should not be forced to fight the dying process every step of the way. …

Her book On Death and Dying (1969) helped start the hospice movement, which has since spread around the world. She also introduced the now-famous concept of the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Louis Jordan was born on this date in 1908.

“In the Forties, bandleader Louis Jordan pioneered a wild – and wildly popular – amalgam of jazz and blues with salty, jive-talking humor. The music played by singer/saxophonist Jordan and his Tympany Five got called “jump blues” or “jumpin’ jive,” and it served as a precursor to the rhythm & blues and rock and roll of the Fifties.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

John D. Rockefeller was born on this date in 1839. The world’s first billionaire, Rockefeller essentially retired from Standard Oil in 1911. Even so, his taxable income in 1918 was $33,000,000 and his personal worth was estimated at more than $800,000,000. By then, he had already donated about $500 million to charitable causes. Rockefeller died in 1937 at age 97. Ron Chernow has written a recent highly-regarded biography, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.. The New York Times has posted Rockefeller’s obituary.

Nelson Rockefeller, grandson of John D., was born on his grandfather’s birthday in 1908. Rockefeller was governor of New York 1959-1973 and vice president 1974-1977. He died in 1979. NewMexiKen once witnessed Rockefeller stirring his coffee with the temple of his eyeglasses. It was kind of endearing.

… of President Bush, 61 today.

… of Sylvester Enzio Stallone, also 61 today. Stallone is one of three people to be nominated for a writing Oscar and an acting Oscar for the same movie. The others are Chaplin and Welles.

… of Nancy Reagan (86), Merv Griffin (82) and William Schallert, Patty Duke’s TV father, (85).

… of Ned Beatty. Beatty, who is 70 today, was nominated for the supporting actor Oscar for Network.

Bill Haley (“Rock Around the Clock”) was born on this date in 1925; he died in 1981.

The Mexican artist Frida Kahlo was born on this date in 1907 [she claimed 1910]. Ms. Kahlo died in 1954.

… of Olivia de Havilland, 91 today. Miss de Havilland was nominated for an acting Oscar five times, winning for To Each His Own and The Heiress. She lost the best supporting actress Oscar for Gone With the Wind to Hattie McDaniel.

… of actor-director-producer Sydney Pollack. The five time Oscar nominee is 73. Pollack won best picture and best director for Out of Africa and received the same nominations for Tootsie and the best director nomination for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?. The ultimate chick flick The Way We Were is his, too.

… of Cpl. Klinger. Jamie Farr is 73.

… of Famous Amos. Wally Amos is 71.

… of Twyla Tharp. The choreographer is 66.

… of one-time Oscar nominee for best actress Geneviève Bujold. She’s 65. The nomination was for Anne of the Thousand Days.

… of Deborah Harry of Blondie. She’s 62.

… of Louis Winthorpe III. Canadian-born Dan Aykroyd is 55. Aykroyd was nominated for the best supporting actor Oscar for Driving Miss Daisy.

… of Arwen. Liv Tyler is 30.

Diana, Princess of Wales, would have been 46 today.

Today is Canada Day, a holiday celebrating its independence from Britain on this date in 1867. The holiday was called Dominion Day until 1982 (in Quebec Le Jour de la Confédération). Three British colonies were joined to form Canada — Canada (which included Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

NewMexiKen — I was just Ken then — was married 40 years ago today. We’ve been divorced for many years, but a lot of wonderful things came out of our time together — including especially our four official children and The Sweeties whose photos are on this and every page of NewMexiKen.

… of Harmon Killebrew, 71. Not only is Killebrew in the Hall of Fame, but his is the profile on the Major League Baseball logo.

… of Oscar best actor nominee Gary Busey. He’s 63. The nomination was for The Buddy Holly Story.

… of Football Hall of Famer Dan Dierdorf, 58.

… of Maria Conchita Alonso, 50.

Actress Jayne Mansfield, just 34, was killed 40 years ago today when her car struck a trailer truck near Slidell, Louisiana. The driver and Ms. Mansfield’s companion, Sam Brody, were also killed. Three of her children asleep in the backseat survived.

The Writer’s Almanac has some interesting background on the Globe Theater in London, which was destroyed on this date in 1613 when “a cannon was fired during a performance of Henry VIII to mark the King’s entrance, the thatched roof caught fire, and the whole theater was lost in an hour.”

… of Ross Perot. He’s 77.

… of Margo Timmins of Cowboy Junkies. She’s 46. The group includes her two brothers, Michael and Peter, and bassist Alan Anton. All are from Montreal.

… of Tobey Maguire. He’s 32.

Helen Keller was born on June 27 in 1880. The following is from her obituary in The New York Times when she died in 1968.

For the first 18 months of her life Helen Keller was a normal infant who cooed and cried, learned to recognize the voices of her father and mother and took joy in looking at their faces and at objects about her home. “Then” as she recalled later, “came the illness which closed my eyes and ears and plunged me into the unconsciousness of a newborn baby.”

The illness, perhaps scarlet fever, vanished as quickly as it struck, but it erased not only the child’s vision and hearing but also, as a result, her powers of articulate speech.

Her life thereafter, as a girl and as a woman, became a triumph over crushing adversity and shattering affliction. In time, Miss Keller learned to circumvent her blindness, deafness and muteness; she could “see” and “hear” with exceptional acuity; she even learned to talk passably and to dance in time to a fox trot or a waltz. Her remarkable mind unfolded, and she was in and of the world, a full and happy participant in life.

What set Miss Keller apart was that no similarly afflicted person before had done more than acquire the simplest skills.

But she was graduated from Radcliffe; she became an artful and subtle writer; she led a vigorous life; she developed into a crusading humanitarian who espoused Socialism; and she energized movements that revolutionized help for the blind and the deaf.

… of three-time Oscar nominee for best actress Eleanor Parker. She’s 85 today.

… of Derek Jeter, 33.

… of Michael Vick, 27.

Author Walter Farley was born on June 26, 1916.

He grew up loving horses and went on to write the novel The Black Stallion (1941). It’s the story of a boy and a wild stallion who survive a shipwreck and become friends on a deserted island. The book was so popular that Farley went on to write twenty novels about the horse, including The Black Stallion Returns (1945), The Black Stallion Revolts (1953), and The Black Stallion’s Ghost (1969).

The Writer’s Almanac from American Public Media

NewMexiKen’s favorite was always The Island Stallion.

Mildred (Babe) Didrikson Zaharias was born on June 26, 1914. Ms. Zaharias was named the top female athlete of the first half of the 20th century. She excelled in track and field, then took up golf at age 21, often hitting more than 1,000 golf balls a day as she learned the game. Eventually she won every important championship. Babe Zaharias died of cancer at age 42.

Pearl Buck was born on June 26, 1892. Ms. Buck won the Noble Prize for literature in 1938 “for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces.”

… of June Lockhart. The mom on Lassie (104 episodes) and Lost in Space is 82.

… of Willis Reed. The basketball hall-of-famer is 65.

… of Carly Simon. She’s 62. NewMexiKen was just reminded the other day that Simon and James Taylor have two children, Sarah and Ben. Ben is a singer, sounding much (much!) like his dad. IMDb says Simon’s “You’re So Vain” is about Warren Beatty.

… of Jimmie Walker. He’s 60. Dyno-mite!

… of Ricky Gervais, 46.

… of George Michael, the singer not the deejay turned sportscaster. He’s 44.

Eric Arthur Blair was born on June 25th in 1903.

The experience persuaded him that it wasn’t Fascism or Communism that was evil, but simply idealism taken to any extreme. And as World War II broke out, he began to worry that idealism was about to conquer Europe and stamp out any kind of freedom. He was so pessimistic about the future of the world that he found it impossible to write fiction. He took a job with the BBC, and got a chance to witness how governments on all sides of the war were using propaganda to rewrite the history what was happening. So in 1943, Orwell resigned his position at the BBC. He had wanted for years to write a book about his idea that utopias so easily turn into nightmares, so he finally did.

The book was only about 100 pages long, and most of the main characters were talking animals. When he submitted it to publishers in London, they all turned him down. Orwell considered publishing the book himself as a pamphlet, but finally a small publisher picked it up, and when Animal Farm came out in 1945, the book made Orwell famous.

The Writer’s Almanac from American Public Media

… of Justice Clarence Thomas. He’s 59.

… of American Idol’s Randy Jackson. He’s 51.

… of Oscar-winner Frances McDormand. She’s 50. Miss McDormand has had three Oscar nominations for best supporting actress in addition to her winning best actress performance in Fargo.

… of K.T. Tunstall. Kate is 32.

Her face is a map of the world
Is a map of the world
You can see she’s a beautiful girl
She’s a beautiful girl
And everything around her is a silver pool of light
The people who surround her feel the benefit of it
It makes you calm
She holds you captivated in her palm

Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see)
This is what I wanna be
Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see)
Why the hell it means so much to me

… of LaDainian Tomlinson. He’s 28.

Choreographer Bob Fosse was born on this date in 1927.

According to many sources, Killer Angels author Michael Shaara was born on this date in 1929. According to his biography at son Jeff Shaara’s web site, the father was born in 1928. The Killer Angels, which won the Pulitzer Prize and is regarded by many as the best Civil War novel, “was rejected by the first fifteen publishers who saw the manuscript.”

Alfred Charles Kinsey was born on this date in 1894. And so was Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who, at age 42, gave up his throne for the woman he loved. After just 10 months as king, Edward VIII defied the British establishment to marry Mrs. Bessie Wallis Warfield Simpson, a twice-divorced American. One wonders what Henry VIII would have thought of the fuss. (The House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was renamed the House of Windsor in 1917.)

Tonight is Midsummer Night’s Eve.

… of Ralph Waite. Papa Walton is 79.

… of Kris Kristofferson, 71.

… of Meryl Streep. The 14-time Oscar nominee is 58. She has been nominated 11 times for leading actress, winning for Sophie’s Choice, and three times for supporting actress, winning for Kramer vs. Kramer. She’s been married nearly 29 years and has four children.

… of Graham Greene. He’s 55. Greene was nominated for the best supporting actor Oscar for Dances with Wolves.

… of Cyndi Lauper. A girl of 54, just wanting to have fun.

… of Dan Brown. The author of The Da Vinci Code is 43. The book has sold an estimated 60 million copies.

Summer began today at 12:06 PM MDT. NewMexiKen was at about 12,000 feet on a short hike in Rocky Mountain National Park around then. It was in the low 60s and blustery, with snow fields still all about.

Jane Russell is 86 today. She was 36D when she made The Outlaw for Howard Hughes. He discovered her at his dentist, where she was a receptionist.

Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross, the wife and husband on the TV sitcom Family Ties, are both 60 today. Alex, their son on the show, was played by Michael J. Fox, who was 45 on June 9th.

Novelist Ian McEwan is 59.

Juliette Lewis is 34 today. She was 18 when she played the daughter in Cape Fear, and received a best supporting actress Oscar nomination.

Prince William is 25.

It doesn’t really matter but existentialist philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre was born on this date in 1905.

New Hampshire ratified the U.S. Constitution on this date in 1788, thereby becoming the ninth state. Nine was the necessary number to put the Constitution into effect. Live Free or Die.