Today In History

Josh Gibson is referred to as the "Black Babe Ruth". During his career, he was as much a force in the Negro Baseball League as the Bambino was in the major leagues. From the late 1930s thru the early 1940s Gibson's bat powered the Grays to nine consecutive Negro National League championships.

Humphrey DeForest Bogart December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957 was an American screen and stage actor whose performances in 1940s films noir such as The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and The Big Sleep earned him status as a cultural icon. Bogart began acting in 1921 after a hitch in the U.S. Navy in World War I and little success in various jobs in finance and the production side of the theater. Gradually he became a regular in Broadway shows in the 1920s and 1930s. When the stock market crash of 1929 reduced the demand for plays, Bogart turned to film. His first great success was as Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest 1936, and this led to a period of typecasting as a gangster with films such as Angels with Dirty Faces 1938 and B-movies like The Return of Doctor X 1939. Bogart's breakthrough as a leading man came in 1941 with High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon. The next year, his performance in Casablanca 1943 Oscar nomination raised him to the peak of his profession and, at the same time, cemented his trademark film persona, that of the hard-boiled cynic who ultimately shows his noble side. Other successes followed, including To Have and Have Not 1944, The Big Sleep 1946, Dark Passage 1947, and Key Largo 1948, all four with his wife Lauren Bacall; The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948; In a Lonely Place 1950; The African Queen 1951; Oscar winner; Sabrina 1954; and The Caine Mutiny 1954; Oscar nomination. We're No Angels 1955. His last film was The Harder They Fall 1956. During a film career of almost 30 years, Bogart appeared in more than 75 feature films. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star of Classic American cinema. Over his career, he received three Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, winning one for The African Queen.