The year was 1938. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party had just annexed Austria. Humanity held its breath as the world teetered ...

Joe Louis was the 10-to-1 favorite over the German boxer Max Schmeling before their first bout on June 19, 1936. Each man was fighting for a shot at the world heavyweight boxing championship.

"Even white folks on the job that would say nigger 50 times a day, that would say boy this and boy that, would light up when they talked about Joe," says civil rights activist Dick Gregory about ...