William Ashley Sunday, the religious leader whose fiery sermons were popular in early 20th century America, died November 6, 1935. He was 72.

Sunday was born November 19, 1862 in Ames, Iowa. The son of a Civil War veteran, Sunday was raised in an orphanage after his father died.

He turned to baseball in 1883 when he was offered a contract by the Chicago White Sox, a major league team. Sunday played for seven seasons.

During his tenure as a ballplayer, Sunday experienced a religious conversion at a revival meeting in 1886 at the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. He quit baseball in 1891 to pursue a career in the ministry.

After working for three years with the YMCA, Sunday began traveling the country giving sermons. He became an ordained minister in 1903. Much like Billy Graham would do several years later, he held camp meetings in large towns and spoke to men in uniform.

Sunday was a fire and brimstone preacher, exciting his crowds to a religious frenzy in which they would respond by the hundreds when he extended the invitation for them to be saved. At one meeting in Philadelphia, 2.3 million people attended his crusade over an eight-week period.

Sunday targeted the common man, especially those who were homeless or had alcohol problems. It’s reported that Sunday’s fiery sermons helped in the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition) in 1918.

His sermons began to be less popular after 1920, but he continued to preach the remainder of his life.

Sunday died November 6, 1935 in Chicago. A crowd of 4,400 was present at his funeral.