On this day in 1960, Oscar Hammerstein II, lyricist for many of the most popular musicals of the 1930s and ’40s, dies. Born on July 12, 1895, Hammerstein helped set the direction of American musical theater in 1927 with Show Boat, written with composer Jerome Kern, which included the song “Old Man River.” Hammerstein’s best-known works were created with composer Richard Rodgers, including Oklahoma!(1943), South Pacific (1949), and The Sound of Music(1959).

(With thanks to History.com)