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Count Basie died on this day 40 years ago, aged 79. - Basie's actual first name was William, and he began using his stage name sometime around 1928. His parents were instrument players, and they taught him how to play the piano- albeit he preferred drums. - Basie would get his start in Harlem (during its eponymous 'Renaissance' in the 1920s), before moving to Kansas City in 1929. He would play for the Bennie Moten Band, and he would soon take over the band when they kicked Moten out. He would rename it 'Count Basie and His Cherry Blossoms', before later renaming it to 'Count Basie and His Barons of Rhythm'. Among his biggest hits included "One O'Clock Jump" and "Boogie Woogie": - Basie's band would break up once the big band era ended following World War II, but he would make a new orchestral band in 1952, called "The New Testament Band", moving from swing and blues to jazz at this time. - Basie would make a few cameos in movies in his later years, most notably in Blazing Saddles: - Basie was one of the musicians mentioned in Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke", and one of two alive at the time of the song's release in 1977 (the other being Ella Fitzgerald). Basie was specifically the first one mentioned in the second verse's lyrics. - Basie died from pancreatic cancer.

Kevin James is 59.

4/25/2024 28 Sophie Ellis-Bextor — Murder On The Dancefloor 26 Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse — Valerie 25 Kylie Minogue — Love At First Sight 24 Kylie Minogue — On A Night Like This 24 Manic Street Preachers — The Love Of Richard Nixon 23 Gorillaz — Feel Good Inc. +3 23 Wheatus — Teenage Dirtbag 22 Coldplay — In My Place 22 Busted — Year 3000 +1 20 Coldplay — Speed Of Sound 20 Plain White T’s — Hey There Delilah 20 Kelis — Trick Me 20 Oasis — Stop Crying Your Heart Out 20 Pink — Get The Party Started 20 Razorlight — Somewhere Else 20 Adele — Chasing Pavements 20 Manic Street Preachers — Your Love Alone Is Not Enough 18 Daft Punk — One More Time 14 Taylor Swift — Love Story 14 James Morrison ft. Nelly Furtado — Broken Strings 14 Corinne Bailey Rae — Put Your Records On 13 Justin Timberlake — Cry Me A River 10 Dido — White Flag 8 Jeff Buckley — Hallelujah (a song from 1994) -6 6 Kate Nash — Foundations

Anders Celsius died on this day 280 years ago, aged 42. - Celsius' family was full of scientists- his uncle Olof was a botanist, his paternal grandfather Magnus was a mathematician, and his maternal grandfather Anders Spole was an astronomer. His father Nils was also a professor of astronomy at Uppsala University, which he would attend- and also became an astronomy professor there in 1730. - Celsius had several feats in the realm of astronomy: he was the first person to link auroras with changes in the Earth's magnetic field (based on observations within a compass), and he participated in an expedition that proved the world was an ellipsoid and not a perfect sphere. - Celsius was most famous for his temperature scale, centigrade, which he proposed in 1742. It is now the dominant temperature scale in the world (three countries use Fahrenheit instead), and Celsius' name has been used interchangeably with 'centigrade'. - Celsius' young death was caused by a bout of tuberculosis.

Al Pacino is 84.

4/24/2024 86 Jeff Buckley — Hallelujah +2 43 Adele — Chasing Pavements 31 Taylor Swift — Love Story +2 10 Rihanna — Russian Roulette -1 6 James Morrison ft. Nelly Furtado — Broken Strings -5

Estee Lauder died on this day 20 years ago, aged 95. - Lauder's real name was Josephine. Her nickname "Estee" was derived from her middle name Esther; her parents were Hungarian Jewish immigrants, and originally wanted to name her "Eszti"- the same pronunciation. - Lauder got her start by helping her uncle with his business, which included lotions and fragrances. She would come up with her first fragrance in 1953, called "Youth-Dew". - The Estee Lauder company was founded in 1946; Lauder founded it with her husband Joseph. Her company would become the first female-focused cosmetic company to introduce a line for men in 1976, specifically skincare products. While in her 80s, her company would see massive growth due to brand acquisitions and going public. - Lauder would appear on the DeathList four times (all consecutively, from 2001 to 2004). She was the fourth (of 12) death on the 2004 list. At the time of her death, her age was believed to have been 97 instead of 95.

Shirley MacLaine is 90.

4/23/2024 84 Jeff Buckley — Hallelujah 41 Adele — Chasing Pavements 29 Taylor Swift — Love Story 25 Rihanna — Russian Roulette 14 James Morrison ft. Nelly Furtado — Broken Strings -6 8 Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys — Empire State Of Mind 7 Kings Of Leon — Use Somebody +4

Silas Soule died on this day 159 years ago, aged 26. - Soule was a direct descendant of Mayflower passenger George Soule; his 5x-great-grandfather. - Soule would move to Kansas in 1855; his family (particularly his father Amasa) were abolitionists who came to assist Underground Railroad efforts in Bleeding Kansas. Silas himself would help bring escaped slaves from Missouri to the north (possibly towards Iowa). - Following John Brown's arrest in 1859 following the Harper's Ferry raid, Soule would plan to break him out of jail- Brown refused due to wanting to be a martyr for the antislavery cause, and remained in his cell when Soule did manage to convince the jailer to let him out of his cell for a bit. - Soule would move to Colorado in 1860, and would join the Colorado Cavalry upon the outbreak of the Civil War. He would remain within the group after the Confederates retreated from New Mexico (where he fought). - Soule was one of the American soldiers who participated in the Sand Creek massacre of 1864- but refused his superior's orders to kill any Native Americans and told his unit to hold their fire. Soule would whistleblow details of the attack, and testified against said superior in the federal investigation of the event. - Soule was killed by a gunman a few months after his testimony (while working as a provost marshal), and his death is believed to have been an assassination.

George Lopez is 63. Here's his weirdest role:

4/22/2024 84 Jeff Buckley — Hallelujah 40 Adele — Chasing Pavements 29 Taylor Swift — Love Story  27 Rihanna — Russian Roulette 23 James Morrison ft. Nelly Furtado — Broken Strings -3 21 Kings Of Leon — Use Somebody +4 12 Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys — Empire State Of Mind 4 La Roux — In For The Kill -3

Shock G (AKA Humpty Hump) died on this day 3 years ago, aged 57. (just let me introduce himself) - Shock's real name was Gregory Jacobs. He initially wanted to become a drummer, but got a turntable once he got into hip hop. He would be mentored by his cousin, nicknamed DJ Stretch, and his friend in their group suggested the stage name "Shah-G". - Shock's first group was called "Master Blasters", and he would eventually found Digital Underground in 1987. The group's first major successful single was the 1989 song "Doowutchyalike", which became a cult hit in the rap community: (if you missed it, he's the one who said "just grab 'em in the biscuits") - 1990 saw the release of the group's signature song, "The Humpty Dance": The song peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, but spent five weeks atop Billboard's Rap Chart. Humpty Hump was considered an alter ego; the character's backstory was that his name was 'Edward Ellington Humphrey III', and his big (like a pickle) nose was the result of it getting burned in a deep fryer while he was working as a fry cook. - Shock would be instrumental in the career of 2Pac, who joined Digital Underground in 1991. He would later act as the producer for some of his songs, such as "I Get Around" and "So Many Tears". - Shock died from an accidental fentanyl, meth and alcohol overdose.

Jack Nicholson is 87.

4/21/2024 80 Jeff Buckley — Hallelujah 39 Adele — Chasing Pavements 35 Taylor Swift — Love Story 31 Rihanna — Russian Roulette 29 Kings Of Leon — Use Somebody +4 24 La Roux — In For The Kill 20 James Morrison ft. Nelly Furtado — Broken Strings -6 16 Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys — Empire State Of Mind

(The artist formerly known as) Prince died on this day 8 years ago, aged 57. - Prince was indeed his real first name- he was named after his father John's stage name 'Prince Rogers'. Prince did not like his name- and preferred the nickname 'Skipper'. - Prince's first musical act was in the band of his cousin's husband, called 94 East: - Prince's debut single was 1978's "Soft and Wet", and he would immediately end up on the charts- number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100. - Prince's song "Darling Nikki" inadvertently led to the creation of the Parental Advisory label on albums, when Al Gore's wife saw their daughter dancing to the song. - Prince was the original singer of "Nothing Compares 2 U", composed in 1985: - Prince was one of the few musicians to outright deny Weird Al permission to parody their songs, and Weird Al stated Prince was the only one to not give an explanation as to why. - Despite being associated with the color purple, Prince's favorite color was actually orange. - Prince's cremated remains were put into a custom 3D-printed urn shaped like his mansion, Paisley Park:

Tony Romo is 44.

4/20/2024 80 Jeff Buckley — Hallelujah -3 35 Adele — Chasing Pavements 35 Taylor Swift — Love Story +1 34 Kings Of Leon — Use Somebody +3 30 James Morrison ft. Nelly Furtado — Broken Strings 29 Rihanna — Russian Roulette 27 La Roux — In For The Kill 26 Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys — Empire State Of Mind 10 Sam Sparro — Black & Gold -3

Bram Stoker died on this day 112 years ago, aged 64. - "Bram" was a nickname for his real name, Abraham. His older brother Thornley was the first and only Baron of Hatch Street. - Stoker was initially a theater critic who reviewed plays, and he became known for the quality of his articles. Stoker ended up becoming the manager of the Lyceum Theatre and would often collaborate with the actor Henry Irving. - Stoker's literary career began with short stories that were published in periodicals- among their titles were "Crystal Cup" and "The Chain of Destiny". His first novel was 1875's The Primrose Path, though it was not until 1890 that he became a full-time writer. - Dracula was released in 1897, and Stoker did not name him after Vlad "Dracul" the Impaler- he saw the word in a book while on vacation in Romania, and believed it meant 'devil' (it actually means 'dragon'- his final novel was 1911's The Lair of the White Worm, actually about a dragon). - Stoker died from 'locomotive ataxia' that was likely a result of untreated syphilis. His death, however, was overshadowed by the sinking of the Titanic less than a week prior (the inquiry into the sinking began the day he died).

Johnny Tillotson is 86.

4/19/2024 77 Jeff Buckley — Hallelujah -2 35 Kings Of Leon — Use Somebody +3 33 James Morrison ft. Nelly Furtado — Broken Strings 32 Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys — Empire State Of Mind 32 Taylor Swift — Love Story +1 31 Adele — Chasing Pavements 30 Rihanna — Russian Roulette 29 La Roux — In For The Kill 22 Britney Spears — Piece Of Me 19 Sam Sparro — Black & Gold -4

Lord Byron died on this day 200 years ago, aged 36. - Byron's first name was George. He gained his "lord" title when he was 10 upon the death of his great-uncle William Byron- specifically, he was a baron. - One of Byron's earlier works, his poetry book Hours of Idleness, received scathing reviews from the Edinburgh Review; as such Byron would write the satirical piece English Bards and Scotch Reviewers anonymously in 1809, the same year he entered the House of Lords. - Byron's breakout book was 1812's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, which Byron personally did not believe would sell well. From there, he became a star of Romantic era novels, which included The Giaour, The Bride of Abydos, and The Siege of Corinth. Equally successful was his Hebrew Melodies collection of poems from 1815, which were lyrics Byron wrote to accompany music composed by Jewish composer Isaac Nathan. - Byron would leave England in 1816 due to his split from his wife, and rumors that he had an incestuous affair with his half-sister. He first went to Switzerland (where he befriended Percy and Mary Shelley), then to Italy the following year. - In 1823, he decided to assist Greece in their war of independence against the Ottoman Empire, because he wanted a life of adventure. He would use his own money to supply his own legion of troops. Byron did not die in battle- rather, he fell sick, and his condition was exacerbated due to how much blood was drained from his body (due to bloodletting). - Byron's daughter and only legitimate child was Ada Lovelace.

Tim Curry is 78.

4/18/2024 71 Jeff Buckley — Hallelujah 39 Adele — Chasing Pavements 35 La Roux — In For The Kill 35 James Morrison ft. Nelly Furtado — Broken Strings 33 Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys — Empire State Of Mind 32 Kings Of Leon — Use Somebody 32 Rihanna — Russian Roulette 30 Taylor Swift — Love Story 26 Sam Sparro — Black & Gold -2 19 The Script — The Man Who Can’t Be Moved -2 17 Kid Cudi vs. Crookers — Day ’n’ Nite +4 10 Britney Spears — Piece Of Me 5 The Saturdays — Just Can’t Get Enough -2 I think most people are downvoting Day 'n' Nite because of Crookers. I'm upvoting on virtue of the original song:

Erasmus Darwin died on this day 222 years ago, aged 70. - Darwin started off as a doctor, and managed to be such a success that king George III invited him to become the Royal Physician- which he declined. - Darwin was much more famous for his biology studies, with his first publications being translations of Carl Linnaeus works into English- Darwin would coin several plant names. In 1791, he would write The Botanic Garden, a compilation of two long poems that incorporated lurid vocabulary and anthropomorphizing the plants in the book to pique readers' interests in botany. - Darwin's most famous work is 1796's Zoonomia, which focused on the study of bacteria and viruses, wheree would categorize diseases into four different groups (irritation, sensation, volition and association). However, what was the lasting impact of the book was his ideas that supported the theory of evolution- namely a common ancestor to life, and inheritance of characteristics with each passing generation. - Darwin was also an inventor- his inventions included a carriage designed to not tip over while riding, a machine that was used to produce sounds similar to human speech, and meteorological devices. - Darwin's ideas in Zoonomia would later be further developed by his more famous grandson- none other than Charles Darwin.