A man of many talents, Will Rogers was born in 1859 in Oklahoma. On a ranch growing up, a freed slave taught Rogers how to use a lasso. He turned his roping skills into a job as a trick roper at Wild West shows and on Vaudeville stages. As he did his rope tricks, he'd tell jokes and offer commentary on the world. He was a smart man and his ability to tell the truth while making people laugh quickly caught on with American audiences. During his lifetime, he starred on Broadway, appeared in 71 movies, was a popular broadcaster and wrote 4,000 syndicated newspaper columns. He died in a pl…