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Irving Berlin died on this day 33 years ago, aged 101. Berlin came to fame in 1911 with the song "Alexander's Ragtime Band"- this song revitalized the ragtime genre of music which peaked in the 1890s, and started a dancing craze. Berlin continued to see success throughout the 1920s, and wrote "Puttin' On the Ritz" in 1928, most famously recorded by Fred Astaire: In 1938, Berlin wrote "God Bless America" to mark the twentieth anniversary of Armistice Day. This song is now considered an unofficial national anthem of the United States. Below is an 80-year old Berlin performing it on The Ed Sullivan Show: Berlin's most successful song came in 1942 with "White Christmas", which he wrote for the film Holiday Inn. The version sung by Bing Crosby is the world's best-selling single of all time, with over 50 million records sold, and is among the most-played songs during the holiday season. Berlin retired in 1971 and would live for another eighteen years. The man that caused the ragtime craze lived long enough to listen to "Straight Outta Compton" if he so chose.

Toni Basil is 79.

Eliminated on the season premiere of The Masked Singer.

Haakon VII of Norway died on this day 65 years ago, aged 85. Haakon was born as prince Carl of Denmark to the future Frederick VIII. In 1905, after Sweden and Norway broke away from each other, Carl was offered the Norwegian throne- his great-uncle was Oscar II, the king at the time, who decided to rule Sweden. Carl accepted and took the regnal name Haakon VII, and was the first monarch of an independent Norway since 1387. During his reign, Haakon was known for not interfering in parliamentary affairs. In 1940, Nazi Germany invaded, and Haakon denied their attempt to make sympathizer Vidkun Quisling the prime minister. Haakon and his family fled to the UK- attempts by the puppet government to depose Haakon were vetoed by parliament, and Haakon became a symbol of Norwegian resistance by broadcasting speeches to Norway. Haakon returned to Norway after the war's end in 1945. For his efforts, he was gifted a royal yacht in 1947. Haakon suffered a fall that fractured his femur in 1955, and it left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Haakon grew depressed due to the fact that he was no longer able to do some of the things he was once able to, and his health started to fail. By 1957, crown prince Olav (soon to be king Olav V) began to partake in ceremonial and state affairs- Haakon died a few months later.

Bill Murray is 72.

Man dies after a slap to the ear causes internal bleeding.

Fletcher Christian died on this day 229 years ago, aged 28. Christian joined the Royal Navy in 1782 at the age of 17. In 1787, naval lieutenant William Bligh asked Christian to come along on the HMS Bounty, on a mission to transport breadfruit from Tahiti to the Caribbean. He accepted, though he was not given the navigator role like Bligh promised (Christian was not considered skilled enough at the time), and was made the assistant of the navigator John Fryer. The Bounty arrived in Tahiti in 1788, and Christian and several other crewmates became accustomed to the island life- they also had sexual relations with Tahitian women. Bounty left Tahiti in April of 1789, and after a stop in what is now Tonga, they began to head back towards the Americas. Bligh would soon become more irritable and paranoid, and often targeted Christian during fits of rage. Christian grew depressed. On April 28, 1789, Christian and several of his crewmates that he got support from tied up Bligh, and then set him and eighteen others (including Fryer) adrift. They soon arrived on the island of Tofua, and sailed to what is now East Timor six weeks later to report the mutiny. Christian and the other members of the Bounty attempted to settle on the island of Tubuai, but were greeted by hostile natives. They returned to Tahiti, and after gathering several Tahitians for a social gathering on the ship, he cut the anchor and sailed off with them (this included Mauatua, the woman he had relations with). Sixteen Bounty crew members were left on Tahiti. Bounty sailed eastward, and at Pitcairn Island in January 1790. They decided to settle there, and scrapped the ship for wood, and then burned the rest of it. Christian and his now-wife Mauatua- anglicized as "Isabella" had three children: Thursday, Charles, and Mary. Racial tensions grew between the English and the Tahitians, and the remaining Tahitian men murdered several of the Bounty crewmates on September 20, 1793- including Christian. Fletcher Christian and Mauatua are ancestors of virtually almost everyone that lives on Pitcairn Island today- all 47 of them.

George RR Martin is 74.

Candle in the Wind 2022?

Denis Norden died on this day 4 years ago, aged 96. Norden was born as Denis Cohen, with his family changing their surname when he was a child (likely due to antisemitism). During World War II, Norden would write for troop variety shows, and it is during this war he would meet longtime collaborator Eric Sykes. In 1948, Norden was put alongside Frank Muir as the co-writer of the radio comedy show Take It From Here, which lasted for twelve years. Norden and Muir would frequently appear together on game shows after it ended. Throughout the 1960s, Norden would write the scripts for several films. Norden began hosting the show It'll Be Alright on the Night in 1977, and was usually seen on screen holding a clipboard in his hand. The show was somewhat like an annual America's Funniest Home Videos- if the videos were entirely made of TV and movie outtakes throughout the year. Norden would also host the popular show Laughter File, which began in 1991, and announced in 2006 that he would be retiring due to failing eyesight. Norden debuted on the DeathList in 2010 and would become a bedblocker beginning in 2014, making a total of six appearances- usually staying around the #40 mark, he peaked at #7 in 2017.

Tony-winning actress Rosemary Harris, known in recent years as Aunt May in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, is 95.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on this day 2 years ago, aged 87. Ginsburg graduated at the top of her class at Columbia Law School in 1959. She then worked as a volunteer attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, helping settle hundreds of gender discrimination cases, and sought to further women's' rights. In 1980, then-president Jimmy Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, DC circuit. Associate Supreme Court justice Byron White retired in 1993, and Bill Clinton chose Ginsburg as his replacement. She was confirmed to the court by a 96-3 Senate vote, becoming the second woman to serve on it (after Sandra Day O'Connor). Throughout her tenure, Ginsburg would continue to champion for gender equality and reproductive rights. Her very liberal stances earned her the nickname "Notorious RBG" from her supporters ("notorious" in this case was an allusion to Biggie Smalls- The Notorious BIG). Ginsburg had a long history with cancer. She was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1999, which was successfully treated. In 2009, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer- it was caught early, and the tumor was surgically removed. In 2018, an X-ray scan after she fell and fractured her ribs detected malignant lung cancer nodules having one of the lobes of her left lung removed. By August 2019, RBG's pancreatic cancer had returned, which is the reason she was chosen for the 2020 DeathList. She was reportedly cancer-free by January; however it returned, and eventually killed her. One of her last recorded statements before her death was "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed"- this did not happen, as president Donald Trump appointed Amy Coney Barrett as her successor, and she was confirmed 52-48 just one month later, and just eight days before the presidential election.

DeathList 1994 survivor Peter Shilton is 73.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika died on this day 1 year ago, aged 84. Bouteflika served in Algeria's war of independence, and after it gained it in 1962, he entered politics- becoming the Minister of Foreign Affairs one year later, holding office until 1979. In 1981, Bouteflika was convicted of misappropriating 60 million Algerian dinars during his time in that post, but was pardoned by president Chadli Bendjedid. In 1999, president Liamine Zéroual resigned, calling for early elections. Bouteflika ran, and was supported by the Algerian military. He won with 81% of the vote- though all of his opponents withdrew from the race citing concerns of voter fraud before then. Bouteflika would be re-elected in 2004, 2009, and 2014, receiving over 80% of the vote each time. When Bouteflika announced he planned to run for a fifth term in 2019, citizens began mass protests. These led to several of Bouteflika's cabinet members resigning. Bouteflika soon announced that he decided not to run again, and on April 2, he resigned due to continued protests. These protests were caused in part due to Bouteflika's failing health. In 2005, rumors of Bouteflika having stomach cancer began to surface, though it was actually an ulcer. Rumors of stomach cancer recurred in 2008 as well. Bouteflika had a stroke in 2013, and spent a lot of time receiving treatment in Switzerland. He was also subject to numerous death hoaxes over the years, and by late 2020, was reportedly in a "vegetative state". Bouteflika appeared three times on the DeathList: in 2006, 2020, and 2021- he was the last survivor of the 2006 list.

Charles Martinet is 67.

...This didn't age well. In fact, it was poorly-aged to begin with.

Sheb Wooley died on this day 19 years ago, aged 82. Wooley started out as an actor- in one of his earliest roles, 1951's Distant Drums, Wooley played the uncredited Private Jessup. Wooley was also a voice extra for the movie, and produced this sound: This is known as the Wilhelm scream, after the character Private Wilhelm is attacked by an alligator. It is also commonly referred to as the "Stormtrooper scream" after its extensive use in the Star Wars films. From there, Wooley would act in plenty of Westerns. Wooley was also a musician, forming his first band at the age of 15, and in 1958 made his most well-known single, the novelty song "The Purple People Eater", which topped the charts. You may hear this in the coming weeks, as it is a Halloween favorite. The song would later be adapted into a movie in 1988, with the film being Wooley's final acting role in a cameo as the character Harry Skinner. Wooley would be diagnosed with leukemia in 1996, forcing him to retire in 1999, and then die after a seven-year battle.

Jules Bass, one half of Rankin-Bass, is 87. You may recognize Rankin-Bass from nearly every single Christmas special- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, The Year Without a Santa Claus- they also made the 1977 Hobbit film, The Last Unicorn, and were the executive producers of ThunderCats.

King Gustaf VI (Adolf) of Sweden died on this day 49 years ago, aged 90. Born with the name Oscar, he became king in 1950, after the death of his nonagenarian father Gustaf V. Gustaf was a reformist, and approved a new constitution for Sweden shortly before he died- it hadn't been changed since 1809. Gustaf was known for his interest in science, particularly the fields of archaeology and botany- he participated in several archaeological expeditions, and was especially knowledgeable of rhododendron flowers. Gustaf also had a library of 80,000 books, and read almost all of them. He also loved sports such as tennis and golf, and ran the Swedish Olympic Committee from its founding in 1913 until 1933. Gustaf was considered popular among the general public, though I'm pretty sure his interests weren't why he was well-liked. After Gustaf died a day before the 1973 parliamentary elections, the crown went to his grandson, the current monarch Carl XVI (Gustaf)- his eldest son, Gustaf Adolf, had been killed in a plane crash in 1947.

Prince Harry- who was sixth in the line of succession a week ago, and is now fifth in line- is 38.

NOT DEAD I managed to find a picture of him on his 93rd birthday last year:

Dante Alighieri died on this day 701 years ago, aged 56. A member of the Guelph party, and exiled from Florence as a political opponent of the Gherardini noble family, Dante began writing the Divine Comedy in 1308, and completed it in 1320. It is a collection of three books- Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, which can be modernly summarized as a self-insert fanfiction chronicling Dante's adventures through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven- his favorite author, Virgil, is the one who guides him through the first two books, while his dead girlfriend guides him in the third. Inferno is the best known of the three, and has largely inspired modern depictions of Hell (you know, full of fire and whatnot- this is mostly based on the sixth circle, with the burning tombs). Dante died from malaria in 1321.

Morten Harket, lead singer of A-ha, is 63.

Reported that he died through assisted suicide. From the article: "He was not sick, he was simply exhausted. So he had made the decision to end it. It was his decision and it was important for him that it be known".

Former Texas governor Ann Richards died on this day 16 years ago, aged 73. Richards first came to national attention during the 1988 Democratic National Convention, while she was still state treasurer, with a speech criticizing the Reagan administration and Republican presidential nominee George H. W. Bush (also a Texas resident), which utilized humor with quotes such as "after listening to George Bush all these years, I figured you needed to know what a real Texas accent sounds like", and "Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels". Richards then ran for governor in 1990 when incumbent Bill Clements declined reelection. Richards won against republican nominee Clayton Williams by a slim margin of 100,000 votes. During her tenure, Richards reformed prisons by establishing a substance abuse rehabilitation program for inmates, successfully revitalized Texas' economy (it grew 2% in 1991 while the rest of the US's shrank), and supported the restriction of semi-automatic rifles and Teflon-covered bullets (AKA "cop-killing bullets"). Richards ran for a second term in 1994, but was defeated by George W. Bush. To this date, she remains the most recent Democrat to have served as governor of Texas. While becoming a university professor after her tenure, Richards would also appear on TV in a Super Bowl commercial for Doritos with fellow defeated governor Mario Cuomo. In 2001, Richards voiced herself in the King of the Hill episode "Hank and the Great Glass Elevator". Richards announced she was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in March of 2006 and died six months later.