Mildred Ella Didrikson was born June 26th, 1911, in Port Arthur, Texas, the sixth of an eventual seven children. Her mother, Hannah, and father, Ole, were immigrants from Norway. Mildred preferred to go by the name “Babe”, a name which she claimed was given to her after hitting five home runs in a childhood game of baseball, though her mother would have told you she’d always called her that. Babe was not exactly the best student, and would repeat the 8th grade, but was remarkable in a vast array of sports, including, basketball, golf, tennis, baseball, swimming and diving, boxing, volleyball, bowling, pool, skating, and cycling.
