Born February 6, 1895 (Baltimore, Maryland)
Died August 17, 1948 (New York, New York)

Baseball player

The Roaring Twenties was a decade of heroes. In search of proof that human effort still mattered in a time of great change and technological advances, the U.S. public was eager for celebrities. Aviator Charles Lindbergh (1902–1974; see entry) earned the public's admiration for flying solo over the Atlantic Ocean, and movie stars like Douglas Fairbanks (1883–1939) and Rudolph Valentino (1895–1926) caused women to swoon. But in a decade that many called the "Golden Age of Sports," it was George Herman "Babe" Ruth who captured the imagination of sports fans. He is credited with having transformed baseball from a game of bunts, pitching, and base running to a more exciting realm of long balls and spectacular home runs. An athlete of dazzling talent and a man...