In 1954: Sports Illustrated appeared on newsstands for the first time. The first issue was titled “Night Baseball” and it featured Milwaukee Braves slugger Eddie Mathews on the cover. There were 146 pages and it also featured trading cards of baseball All-Stars including Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays and Ted Williams. The first swimsuit model would appear on the cover two weeks later. Many subsequent issues in those early days featured yachting, hunting, golf and rodeo.
In 1948: Baseball legend and Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth died at the age of 53 of throat cancer. Ruth is considered by many the greatest player of all time. The one-time orphan hit 714 career home runs, fashioned a .342 lifetime average, was a dominant pitcher early in his career and reached almost mythical status worldwide. His body would lay in state at Yankee Stadium for the next two days, and more than 100,000 people passed by to pay their respects.
