Drewsky1211

Alf Ramsey, manager of the English national football team during the 1966 World Cup, died on this day 23 years ago, aged 79. Ramsey began his career playing for Southampton FC from 1943 to 1949, and then Tottenham Hotspur from 1949 to 1955. He was also on England's national team from 1948 to 1953, and played as a defender in the 1950 World Cup. Ramsey would then begin his managing career in 1955, until retiring in 1980. Ramsey made his DeathList debut on the 1993 list (the largest ever, with 56 people) in 49th position. In 1998, he suffered a stroke just before that year's World Cup began, securing him for a second appearance in 1999, at 34th place. It was reported at the time of his death that he also suffered from Alzheimer's disease and prostate cancer- news that likely would've put him much higher on the list had it been known at the time. His DeathList obituary was only two sentences long: "News just in the Alf Ramsey, celebrated England Football manager has died. Unfortunately other new stories in London have obscured Alf's death but its still a success for the No.34 entry on this year's list"- I assume that the "other news story" was about the murder of Jill Dando two days prior.

Jay Leno is 72.

Ferdinand Magellan was killed on this day 501 years ago, aged 41. Magellan began his trip around the world in September 1519, when he and a flotilla of five ships set sail from Spain. He reached Brazil in December, and sailed southwards along the South American coast. During that time, a mutiny was attempted against Magellan- one leader was killed in the conflict, and Magellan beheaded and marooned the two others. In October 1520, the flotilla (down to four ships after one was lost in a storm) began sailing through the Southern Ocean, and entered the Pacific in late November (one ship deserted and returned to Spain). After nearly four months of crossing of the Pacific, Magellan made landfall on Guam, where the native Chamorro people (who believed that they were engaged in trade) began taking items from the ship- Magellan then burned the village and killed some of them to recover his stolen property. Ten days later, Magellan arrived in the Philippines, where he travelled from island to island, engaging in trade. Magellan attempted to convert the people of the Philippines to Christianity. He erected a cross on the island of Limasawa on Easter Sunday (March 31, 1521). Many of them accepted the religion, but the people of the island of Mactan denied. Magellan then attempted to convert them by force (in an attempt to gain the trust of the recently-converted King of Cebu), where he and his crew fought a battle with them- Magellan was shot by a poisoned arrow, and then overwhelmed by the natives (who killed him with either a sword or a spear). The remaining survivors, now led by Juan Elcano, sailed south and acquired cloves and nutmeg in the Moluccas (Spice Islands), and then began the journey home. They finally arrived in southwestern Spain on September 6, 1522- a journey that lasted just under three years and over 50,000 miles/80,000 kilometers.

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands is 55.

The person above my post created a duplicate thread, so I redirected them in that one before it got merged. What's so "cringe" about that?

On this day 157 years ago, John Wilkes Booth was fatally shot in a burning barn after an 12-day manhunt, at the age of 26. Booth was from a family of theater actors, which included his father Junius, and brothers Edwin and Junius Jr. How did he go from a famous actor to an infamous assassin? Booth was a staunch anti-abolitionist, and he was in attendance of the hanging of John Brown- in disguise as a militia man to prevent protestors from saving Brown's life. He despised his brother Edwin's pro-Union stances (coincidentally, Edwin Booth rescued Abraham Lincoln's son Robert after he fell from a train platform). While on tour, he wished that Lincoln and the government "would go to Hell", and was charged and fined for "treasonous remarks". Nearing the 1864 presidential election, Booth began a plot to kidnap Abraham Lincoln, which is where he met some of the other co-conspirators in the assassination. On March 17, 1865, they learned that Lincoln would be attending a performance of the play Still Waters Run Deep at a hospital- they waited on a stretch of road near the hospital in hopes of kidnapping Lincoln, who did not show up (he changed his plans and was at a reception at the National Hotel- where Booth was staying). Finally, on April 14, 1865, Booth became aware that Lincoln would attend the comedic play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre. As he was a popular actor, he had free entry. He entered the theatre at 10:10 PM, and snuck into Lincoln's theater box four minutes later. Once the line "you sockdologizing old man-trap" generated loud laughter from the audience, Booth shot Lincoln in the back of the head, and the rest is history.

Carol Burnett is 89.

Novelty singer and one-hit wonder Bobby Pickett died on this day 15 years ago, aged 69. Pickett's only charting hit was 1962's "Monster Mash"- a perennial Halloween classic. Pickett also went by the name Boris Pickett, after horror actor Boris Karloff, whose voice he emulated in the song. Pickett would later create sequels to his song, which included 1985's "Monster Rap", and 1993's "It's Alive". Another song Pickett made was a Star Trek parody called "Star Drek" in 1975, which was frequently featured on Dr. Demento's radio show.

Hank Azaria is 58.

Estee Lauder, founder of the cosmetics company of the same name, died on this day 18 years ago, aged 95. I honestly can't think of anything interesting to say about her- except for her history on the list. Lauder first appeared on DeathList in 2001 in the number 11 spot, and made four consecutive appearances before her death, caused by "the extravagantly described" cardiopulmonary arrest. Her age was also mistaken to have been 97 at the time. Her obituary headline was "Estee Lauder: Fashion Victim"- in 2020, Pierre Cardin's was "Another Fashion Victim", making some sort of continuity between the two.

Barbra Streisand is 80.

Ethelred II "the Unready", Anglo-Saxon king of England, died on this day 1006 years ago, aged 49. Ethelred reportedly earned his epithet (based on the old English word "Unraed"- "ill-advised) due to either urinating or defecating in the holy water during his baptism. Ethelred became king at the age of 12 following the assassination of his teen brother Edward the Martyr. The Danish began to raid England more and more frequently- this came to a climax in 1002, when Ethelred ordered genocide on all Danish settlers in his kingdom. Enraged, King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark invaded England the following year, though was driven out by 1005. Sweyn eventually led a successful invasion in 1013, forcing Ethelred to abdicate, and he was exiled to Normandy in what is now France. After Sweyn died in 1014, Ethelred saw this as a chance to regain the throne- he managed to get Sweyn's heir Cnut to leave, without much opposition. Cnut returned in 1016, and Ethelred died soon after. His younger brother Edmund Ironside became king, was assassinated (while on the toilet) in November of that year, leaving Cnut to become king (he would reign until his death in 1035, and it wouldn't be until 1042 that an Anglo-Saxon (Edward the Confessor) would be crowned king again).

A famous actor, wrestler, and internet meme is 45 today... and his name is John Cena.

Richard Nixon died on this day 28 years ago, aged 81. Today's interesting subject fact: Nixon considered having a domestic political opponent killed while he was in office. In 1972, investigative journalist Jack Anderson was targeted for assassination by senior White House officials (these were Watergate's E. Howard Hunt and the late G. Gordon Liddy). Anderson consistently wrote negative articles focusing on White House-related scandals, and Nixon stated "we've got to do something with this son of a bitch". A mole was sent to Anderson's office, but Anderson's secretary removed them from the premises due to suspicious activity. The CIA also surveilled Anderson, but were chased away by his children, and mocked the agency's incompetence. As these didn't work, the officials decided assassination was their last option. They decided to either smear a lethal dose of LSD on the steering wheel of Anderson's car, place poisoned drugs in his medicine cabinet, kill him in a car crash, or stage a mugging... then spying on the Democratic Party's HQ became the top priority, and the idea was aborted. Anderson died in December 2005 at the age of 83, 11 years after Nixon.

Peter Frampton is 72.

Queen Elizabeth II is 96. Her reign throughout the years:

Ƭ̵̬̊ Prince died on this day 6 years ago, aged 57. Ƭ̵̬̊ He released "1999" 17 years before 1999, and died 17 years after 1999. "Life is just a party, and parties weren't meant to last."

Finally unmasked.

Pontiac, chief of the Odawa tribe, died on this day 253 years ago, aged about 48. Pontiac is best remembered for the war named after him, which lasted from 1763 to 1766. It was the result of growing animosity between the Odawa and the British, who had captured Fort Detroit during the Seven Years' War and refused to leave following France's defeat. Some notable consequences of the war included an early case of biological warfare (Jeffrey Amherst, a British general, despised Native Americans, and gifted blankets laced with smallpox to native diplomats in hopes of spreading the disease), and the Proclamation of 1763 (American colonists resented this, as they felt that they had earned western lands ceded from France- this was one of the first British policies that sparked the American Revolution). He was assassinated by a Peoria warrior, in retaliation for stabbing his uncle.

Perpetual bedblocker Leslie Phillips is 98.

Hayden Christensen is 41.

Benjamin Disraeli, 2-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, died on this day 141 years ago, aged 76. Disraeli is (so far) the only Jewish Prime Minister, and was also known for his close friendship with Queen Victoria. He was also the subject of a Family Guy cutaway gag (S3, E4: "One if by Clam, Two if by Sea"):

Biologist Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin, died on this day 220 years ago, aged 70. Some of his work may have influenced his grandson, particularly from his 1794 thesis Zoonomia: "...All animals undergo perpetual transformations; which are in part produced by their own exertions in consequence of their desires and aversions, of their pleasures and their pains, or of irritations, or of associations; and many of these acquired forms or propensities are transmitted to their posterity".

FTFY