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Corazon Aquino died on this day 13 years ago, aged 76. She married Ninoy Aquino in 1952. During the "presidency" of Ferdinand Marcos, the Aquinos became fierce critics of him, resulting in Ninoy being taken as a political prisoner in 1972. In 1978, while imprisoned, Ninoy ran for president, coming in a distant second. The Aquinos went to the US for medical treatment in 1980 after Ninoy suffered a heart attack. When they returned to the Philippines in 1983, Ninoy was assassinated at the airport, presumably by Marcos government officials. Following this, Aquino became the voice of resistance, running for president in 1986- she lost, and urged her supporters to engage in civil disobedience. Scuffles soon occurred between defected military personnel and government officials, and the Marcoses fled the country. Aquino was sworn in as the Philippines' first female president that day. Among her achievements as president were the adoption of the Filipino Constitution in 1987 and the closure of American military bases in the country. Numerous unsuccessful coup attempts were made against her, and she also oversaw the sinking of the Dona Paz and the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo. As the new constitution limited her to a single term, Aquino supported Ramon Mitra, then (the very recently deceased) Fidel Ramos as her successor. Ramos won the 1992 election, and the first peaceful transition of power in the country since 1965 occurred. Aquino appeared on the 1990 DeathList for reasons unknown (for some reason listed as "ex-Philippines leader" while she was still in office). Aquino was diagnosed with terminal colorectal cancer in 2008, and after a serious downturn in her health in July 2009, she and her family decided to stop treatment. Aquino's son Benigno III also served as president, from 2010 to 2016.

Coolio is 59 now, but will he live to see 60? The way things are goin', I don't know.

King Baudouin of Belgium died on this day 29 years ago, aged 62. In 1951, Baudouin's father Leopold III abdicated in favor of him, due to accusations of him being pro-Nazi during World War II. During Baudouin's reign, the Belgian Congo became independent. During its independence ceremony, Baudoin delivered a speech, to which independence leader Patrice Lumumba gave a scathing response to. Baudouin was informed of the assassination plot against Lumumba, yet did nothing to prevent Lumumba's assassination in January of 1961. Baudouin died after a 42-year reign- the 1993 Spa 24 Hours race was being held, and it had to be stopped 15 hours in, when the news broke. Baudouin had no children, so the crown passed onto his younger brother, Albert II.

Fatboy Slim is 59.

Tom Green is 51.

Buffalo Bob Smith died on this day 24 years ago, aged 80. Smith created the character of Howdy Doody during his time as a radio host, and voiced the character. The Howdy Doody show debuted in December of 1947, and was among the first children's programs on television. The show was a pioneer in audience participation, and beginning in 1956, began broadcasting in color- to promote the sales of color television (revolutionary for the time). The show was also known for coining the term "cowabunga" (the greeting word of the Chief Thunderthud character), and started the television career of Bob Keeshan (who played Clarabell the Clown), who eventually became Captain Kangaroo after being fired over a salary dispute. In 1954, Smith suffered a heart attack, and guest hosts explained that Bob was "vacationing at Pioneer Village". The show's sponsors were upset by this, wanting Smith himself to advertise their products (this Twinkies ad below is an example). Howdy Doody ended in 1960 with a clip show episode (that featured Clarabell's only line of dialogue as the final line spoken), and its timeslot was taken by The Shari Lewis Show (coincidentally, Lewis would die three days after Smith). Afterwards, Smith would tour college campuses with his comedy routine, and made cameo appearances on episodes of shows such as Happy Days, and among his later roles was as Father Flanagan in the 1991 film Problem Child 2.

Paul Anka is 81.

Should also be noted that he worked on several Rankin-Bass Christmas specials, including character design for Frosty the Snowman.

Olaf II of Norway died on this day 992 years ago, aged 35. By the age of 13, Olaf was already participating in battles. In 1014, at the age of 19, Olaf decided it was his mission to unite Norway's petty kingdoms into a single state- but before doing that, he got baptized. Olaf then proclaimed himself king, as the late Sweyn Forkbeard's sons had taken residence in Denmark and England. While Olaf had the support of the former petty kings, his loss at the Battle of Helgeå in 1026 caused a schism between him and the nobility- who in 1028, supported the invasion of English king Cnut the Great (one of Sweyn's aforementioned sons). Olaf was exiled to the Kyivan Rus, but in 1030, returned to reclaim the throne- he was killed in battle. Olaf has been seen as being crucial for the Christianization of Norway, reportedly baptizing many people while exiled. After his death, miracles began to be attributed to him, and his corpse's hair and nails growing was taken as a sign (we now know that it's due to the skin drying out). Olaf was soon given saint status. One legend regarding Olaf was the construction of Avaldsnes Church in 1024: as Olaf was too busy converting people to Christianity to build it, Olaf made an agreement with a troll named Sigge to construct it, paying with the sun, the moon, and his soul. The troll quickly constructed it, and Olaf needed to save his soul. After finding out the troll's name by eavesdropping on his family, Olaf mentioned the troll's name as it placed the final stone on the chuch tower, turning it into stone. This is one origin story for Mary's Needle, the only remaining monumental stone surrounding the church.

Wil Wheaton is 50.

Otto Hahn died on this day 54 years ago, aged 89. In 1905, while working at the radiochemistry department of University College London, Hahn believed that he had discovered a new element, which he dubbed "radiothorium"- this was in actuality an isotope of thorium, thorium-228. Hahn would soon return to Germany, where he would begin working with lifelong collaborator Lise Meitner, and they discovered more isotopes together- "mesothorium I" (radium-228), "mesothorium II" (actinium-228), and ionium (thorium-230). In 1913, Kazimierz Fajans and Oswald Gohring claimed to have discovered a new element that was a beta decay product of thorium, which they called "brevium". Hahn and Meitner would later isolate a more stable isotope, and would dub it "protoactinmium"- this would eventually be shortened to protactinium. Hahn would later become a pioneer of the rubidium-stronitum dating method for determining the ages of rocks, and in 1938, was among the group of scientists that discovered nuclear fission- the event when a nucleus of an atom splits into two smaller nuclei. Hahn was sought after by Allied forces during World War II, as they believed he could potentially be a part of Germany's nuclear program. His office was destroyed by a bombing plane in 1944- later that year, Hahn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, at which point, his location was unknown. Hahn would later be captured by the Allies, and was allowed to return to Germany six months after his capture. After the war, Hahn rallied against the use of nuclear weapons.

Jim Davis, creator of Garfield, is 77.

Video from yesterday.

King James I of Aragon died on this day 746 years ago, aged 68. James became king at the age of 5 upon the death of his father, Peter II. When he was 13, James married Eleanor, the daughter of the King of Aragon- their marriage was annulled in 1229 (though their son Alfonso was declared legitimate, though he predeceased James). Also in 1229, James began to conquer the Balearic Islands from the Almohad Caliphate, which he achieved in 1235. In 1238, James established the autonomous state of Valencia in eastern Aragon. James began to rally for a Crusade in 1267, when Abaqa, the khan of the Ilkhanate (and a great-grandson of Genghis Khan) sent a letter to him- this resulted in James sending an envoy to the khanate, and he returned with a diplomat two years later. James began to sail east, but a storm drove him off-course into France. James took this as a sign to call the crusade off, and he returned home. James was also a patron of education, funding the University of Montpellier, and was among the most prolific Catalan authors of his day. In 1274, he wrote his autobiography, Llibre dels fets (Book of Deeds), and wrote a collection of proverbs from various authors, the Libre de la Saviesa (Book of Wisdom). Upon his death, James split his kingdom between his sons Peter III (Aragon) and James II (Majorca).

Maya Rudolph is 50.

Winsor McCay died on this day 88 years ago, aged about 63. In 1905, McCay created Little Nemo, regarded as one of the earliest fantastical comic strips. In 1911, Windsor adapted it into one of the earliest animated films, and the comic ran until 1927. McCay was also a vaudevillian, and he employed animation in his act- 1914 saw him create Gertie the Dinosaur, which he would give a command to- the illusion of Gertie obeying McCay was done by McCay acting in real-time. McCay's 1918 The Sinking of the Lusitania was considered the longest animated feature when released- the wartime propaganda film was 12 minutes long. McCay is considered the pioneer of animation loops and in-between frames, and his work would inspire animators such as Dave and Max Fleischer and Walt Disney in the 1920s.

Another Queen birthday within a week- Roger Taylor is 73.

Child actress Judith Barsi died on this day 34 years ago, aged 10. Barsi's mother Maria was the person who got Judith into acting, when she was five years old. She would appear in episodes of shows such as Punky Brewster and The Tracey Ullman Show. Famed animation director Don Bluth soon heard about Barsi's acting talent, and got her to voice characters in two of his films: Ducky, the "Bigmouth" dinosaur in The Land Before Time, and Anne-Marie, an orphan girl who can speak to animals in All Dogs Go to Heaven, with the latter's end credits song, "Love Survives", being dedicated in her memory. Bluth would later state that Barsi was "absolutely astonishing. She understood verbal direction, even for the most sophisticated situations". Success can lead to envy- and here's where the story takes a tragic turn. Judith's alcoholic father Jozsef became increasingly violent towards his family, throwing objects at them, hiding a letter that one of Maria Barsi's relatives in Hungary had died to prevent her from leaving the country, and threatening to kill Maria and Judith many times. Judith would soon begin to binge-eat and pluck her eyelashes out. After a breakdown in front of her agent, her mother took her to a child psychologist, who reported their findings to CPS- this was dropped when Maria intended to divorce Jozsef. On July 27, 1988, their neighbor heard a gunshot from the home and called the authorities- Jozsef had killed himself from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and it was reported that he had shot Judith and Maria approximately two days prior, then doused their bodies with gasoline.

Iman, fashion model and the widow of David Bowie, is 67.

Peter Sellers died on this day 42 years ago, aged 54. Sellers first rose to prominence in 1948 as a cast member of Third Division, co-starring with eventual DeathList hits Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan. In 1952, the trio starred in The Goon Show, and had their theatrical debut in 1951's Penny Points to Paradise. Sellers would soon star in several films with Terry-Thomas (yet another DL hit) in the late '50s, and would soon gain worldwide recognition in the next decade, with roles such as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther, the eponymous Dr. Strangelove, and one of the impostor James Bonds in the 1967 version of Casino Royale. Sellers was notoriously difficult to work with, with Sellers himself claiming that he had "no identity outside the roles he played". In 1979, after he and his daughter Victoria saw his film Being There, Victoria stated that her father "looked like a little fat old man"- Sellers then proceeded to throw his drink at her. Sellers died of a heart attack. At his funeral, with Secombe and Milligan in attendance, Sellers had ordered Glenn Miller's "In The Mood" to be played. This was a song all three of them hated, and was his final joke on them. ...In an odd coincidence, his son Michael also died of a heart attack, aged 52- 16 years ago today.

Bindi Irwin is 24.

Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States, died on this day 137 years ago, aged 63. Here's a list of interesting facts about Grant: - Like Harry S. Truman, the "S" in his name stood for nothing. He added it because his original initials were H.U.G. (Hiram Ulysses Grant). - Grant loved horses since a young age, and it was during his childhood that he became a pro at horseback riding- one circus horse that was trained to buck everyone off it could not get an 11-year-old Grant off of it. During the Civil War, he ordered one of his soldiers tied to a tree for six hours for whipping their horse. - During his presidency, Grant was given a speeding ticket while driving a horse-drawn carriage. - Despite his reputation as a fearless general, Grant was known to have hemophobia (fear of blood), and ordered meat that he ate charred. - The photo above of Grant wearing a beanie was one of the last ones taken of him, three and a half weeks before his death of throat cancer (Grant was a lifelong smoker). He was largely in debt, though his widow Julia received compensation from his posthumous memoir sales (the memoirs were published by his friend, Mark Twain). - Despite Groucho Marx's famous You Bet Your Life question, Grant is technically not buried in Grant's tomb- his sarcophagus is above ground.

Slash is 57.

Giuseppe Piazzi died on this day 196 years ago, aged 80. On New Year's Day in 1801, Piazzi observed a previously-unidentified object that moved across the stars. Initially announcing it to be a comet, Piazzi had suspicions that he discovered a "new star"- that being a planet: "since its movement is so slow and rather uniform, it has occurred to me several times that it might be something better than a comet". Piazzi named his celestial discovery "Ceres Ferdinandea"- the first part being the Roman goddess of agriculture, and the second being named after his monarch, Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. Eventually, this "planet" was discovered to be part of a large group of previously-unnamed objects- asteroids- and was demoted from its planetary status in 1867. In 2006, Ceres (which Ferdinandea was dropped from due to political reasons) was promoted to a dwarf planet, and was visited by a spacecraft for the first time in 2015.

Willem Dafoe is 67.