1948In New York, the world of baseball loses a larger-than-life icon, hall of famer Babe Ruth. The Yankee slugger dies of throat cancer at age 53, a year after thanking fans paying him tribute. “And I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to thank everybody, thank you.” 2003Idi Amin, considered one of Africa's most brutal leaders, dies in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia at age 78. Amin's rule as dictator of Uganda oversaw the killing and torture of hundreds of thousands of people during the 1970s. 1954Sports Illustrated, the weekly sports magazine created by Time and Life publisher Henry Luce, hits newsstands for the first time. And 1958" Like a virgin, hey, touched for the very first time."Madonna, the singer known as “The Material Girl”, is born in Bay City, Michigan. Her provocative persona has delivered both pop hits and media headlines since she first gain fame in the 1980s.

Today in History, August 16th, Camille Bohannon, the Associated Press.