On this day in 1906,  legendary African American dancer and actress Josephine Baker was born on this day in St. Louis. The daughter of a single mother who worked as a domestic laborer, Josephine was singing in nightclubs by the time she was eight. By age 16, she was touring with a dance troupe. Later, she became a Broadway chorus girl. In 1925, Baker traveled to Paris with a show called La Revue Negre, featuring an all-black cast, including jazz great Sydney Bechet. Baker’s sinuous, flamboyant style infatuated the French, who called her the “black Venus.” She joined the Folies Bergere, dancing in a G-string decorated with bananas. To French audiences, Baker epitomized the Jazz Age. Baker became the most highly paid performer in Europe and began appearing in European films in the 1930s. She became a French citizen in 1937.

When World War II erupted, Baker worked with the French Resistance, driving an ambulance and entertaining the troops. The French government later awarded her the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor.

After the war, Baker purchased a large estate in southwest France and adopted 12 orphans of different nationalities, retiring in 1956 to care for her brood. However, keeping up such a large household was costly, and she began performing again to earn more money. She returned to the United States to take part in civil rights demonstrations in the 1960s. She continued to perform occasionally until her death in 1975.