July 20

July 20 is the birthdate of Ernest Hemingway. He published seven novels, six short story collections and two non-fiction works during his lifetime. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. His experiences serving in the Italian campaigns during World War I formed the basis for his novel, A Farewell to Arms, the bleak story of a doomed romance between a soldier and a British nurse. It was first serialized in Scribner’s magazine in 1929. The success of the book made Hemingway financially independent.

July 19

July 19 is the birthday of Edgar Degas, French artist regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism. He rejected the term and preferred to be called a realist. Degas is especially identified with the subject of the dance, and more than half of his works depict dancers. He always painted indoors, preferring to work in his studio, either from memory, photographs or live models, and belittled the Impressionists’ practice of painting en plein air. Pictured: “Ballet Rehearsal” (1873-78).

July 18

July 18 is the birthday of John Glenn, former Marine Corps pilot, astronaut and U.S. senator. He was the third American in space and the first American to orbit the Earth on the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission on February 20, 1962, aboard a spacecraft named Friendship 7. The launch was postponed four times from its original date. The space capsule was built in 1960-1961 by McDonnell Aircraft on a St. Louis assembly line. In the photo, note the liberal use of what appears to be duct tape. Scott Carpenter teased Glenn by saying, “Remember John, this whole thing was built by the low bidder.”

July 17

July 17 is the birthday of Berenice Abbott, American photographer best known for her black-and-white photography of New York City architecture and urban design of the 1930s. She was part of the straight photography movement, which stressed the importance of not manipulating photographs in either the subject matter or the developing processes. Pictured is one of her most famous photographs, “Nightview, New York” (1932).

July 16

July 16 is the birthday of actress and dancer Ginger Rogers. She was born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri, in 1911. Rogers made 73 films, 10 of which were Hollywood musicals in which she was the partner of Fred Astaire. Pictured with Fred in “Swing Time” (1936).

July 15

July 15 is the birthday of Julian Bream, CBE, English classical guitarist and lutenist. His recordings range from 17th century transcriptions, many pieces by Bach arranged for guitar, popular Spanish pieces and contemporary music. In 1960 he formed the Julian Bream Consort, a period-instrument ensemble in which he was lutenist. The consort led a revival of interest in the music of the Renaissance and the Elizabethan era.

July 14

July 14 is the birthdate of Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman, who directed more than 60 films and documentaries, most of which he also wrote. “The Seventh Seal” (1957), the tale of a medieval knight confronting Death and the silence of God, is generally regarded as his masterpiece and a classic of world cinema. Key scenes have become iconic (through both parodies and homages), including the final “danse macabre” in which the knight and his followers are led away by Death. Bergman worked with Sven Nykvist, regarded as the greatest of all cinematographers.

July 13

July 13 is the birthdate of Dave Garroway, the first host/anchor of NBC’s Today Show. He was a graduate of University City High School and Washington University in St. Louis. He started at NBC as a page in 1938 and began on the Today Show in 1951. The early use of chimpanzees deserved ridicule, but at least Garroway did not live to see the even more repulsive depths to which the feckless morning program has now sunk, e.g., humiliating and firing its female co-hosts and peddling tabloid trash. Garroway shot himself in 1982.

July 12

“Read not the Times. Read the Eternities.” . . . July 12 is the birthday of Henry David Thoreau. His name is synonymous with Walden; or, Life in the Woods, one of the most provocative and influential works of American literature. Thoreau built his cabin at Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts, in 1845 and stayed there for two years, two months and two days. He spent nearly four times as long working on the manuscript as he actually spent in the woods, writing eight different drafts before the book was published in 1854. By that time, he considered his (relative) solitude at Walden strictly an experiment.

July 11

July 11 is the birthday of E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White, author and long-time contributor to The New Yorker magazine. He graduated from Cornell University in 1921. His children’s book, Stuart Little, was published in 1945, and Charlotte's Web, about a pig named Wilbur, appeared in 1952. White’s interesting short book, Here is New York (1949), is a fascinating and surprisingly timeless assessment of the great city. The final pages seem to eerily foretell the events of September 11, 2001. Pictured: cover of the reprint, 2000.