Babe Ruth

On April 27, 1947, baseball legend Babe Ruth, diagnosed with a terminal case of throat cancer, attended "Babe Ruth Day" at Yankee Stadium. "The Bambino," as he was known to his millions of fans, spoke that day of his love of baseball and his new position as director of baseball for the American Legion. Ruth, who had a colorful personality and an unmistakable physical presence, began his major league career in Baltimore in 1914. That same year he …

…doctors could do little. Early the next year, treatment ended. On April 27, 1947, Babe Ruth Day was held at Yankee Stadium, and on June 13, 1948, a uniformed Ruth appeared there one last time to retire his number. On August 16, 1948, he died. For two days, his body lay in state at the main entrance to Yankee Stadium, and tens of thousands of people stood in line to pay their last respects. He was buried in Hawthorne, New York.