1. Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias Born: 1914 In Port Arthur, Texas Exact Date Unknown Died: September 27, 1956 in Galveston, Texas

2. Family Mother: Hannah Didrikson Father: Ole Didrikson Brothers: Ole Jr., Luis, and Arthur Sisters: Dora, Nancy, and Lillie Husband: George Zaharias

3. Early Life She was not the best in school, but she had a great work ethic and her parents always tried to help her. In school she earned the reputation of bully because she would challenge anyone who annoyed her to a fistfight. She earned the nickname Babe because she hit so many homeruns when she played baseball. When she wasn’t playing sports she loved to dance and play the harmonica.

4. High School She played fifteen different sports well in high school. For her basketball team she was an All- American basketball player three different times. Later in high school she decided to play for a semi professional basketball team and she led them to a national championship.

5. Track and Field In nineteen thirty-two she won two gold medals and a silver medal in track and field at the age of eighteen. In one track and field meet she set four records in three hours. For another track meet she scored thirty points and in second place was a whole athletic club with twenty-two points.

6. Other Sports Accomplishments Most sports experts consider her the best female athlete of all time. Babe was also known for her great sportsmanship. In a baseball exhibition game she struck out Joe DiMaggio and he is in the Hall of Fame.

7. Last Years Two years before she died she underwent cancer surgery. It worked at the time but the cancer came back two years later. In nineteen fifty-six she died of colon cancer in John Sealy Hospital in Galveston, Texas.