1895 George Raft - Actor (Scarface, Eighty Days, Some Like It Hot, Casino Royale)

I loved him in Some Like It Hot. His character was named Spats because of the spats he always wore. He was such an original and unique actor.

1937 Bessie Smith, age 43 – US blues singer known as the Empress of the Blues. Smith, an African-American, bled to death when she was denied admission to a segregated white hospital following a car accident in Mississippi

Shameful.

1957 The musical, West Side Story, opened on Broadway

I've probably mentioned this before, but I'm old so please forgive. The movie was playing at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, and it was my first date with my first husband. It was so romantic. A lady was selling gardenias outside the theatre, and he bought one for me.*sigh* In that era we dressed up. He in a suit and tie and I in a cute outfit and white pumps.