Death Anniversary Thread

[The Immortal 634]

Yesterday, Italian F1 driver Michele Alboreto was killed in an accident while testing an Audi Le Mans Car 21 years ago.

 

  

 

And on this day 13 years ago, Indy 500 racer Danny Kladis passed away and though he never found success in Indianapolis, he became notable for an unexpected reason later in his life, his longevity and status as Indy 500's oldest living racer at a point of time, having lived to the age of 92 at a time where most Indy drivers were lucky enough to have reached their 40's and 50's.

 

[The Ashes Urn 1,355]

American actor John Beal died on this day 25 years ago, aged 87.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,732]

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.

 

 

[arghton 6,707]

Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana 1960-1966, died on this day 50 years ago, aged 62 from cancer.

[Hell 1,334]

British investigator Peter Wright died on this day 27 years ago, aged 78.

 

[The Ashes Urn 1,355]

American science fiction author George Alec Effinger died on this day 20 years ago, aged 55.

 

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,337]

On this day in 1605 Pope Leo XI died just 27 days into his papacy  aged 70.

He was born in Florence and was part of the powerful  banking family the Medicis. 

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,337]

@Drewsky1211 Love your choices and the level of detail and effort you put into them on this thread.  Appreciated. 

[Clorox Bleachman 2,410]

3 hours ago, Gooseberry Crumble said:

@Drewsky1211 Love your choices and the level of detail and effort you put into them on this thread.  Appreciated. 

Yes, good work! Thread overall is looking a lot more meaty than it was a few pages ago. I feel vindicated, maybe I should complain more 

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,337]

3 minutes ago, Clorox Bleachman said:

Yes, good work! Thread overall is looking a lot more meaty than it was a few pages ago. I feel vindicated, maybe I should complain more 

Vindicated?

[time 8,597]

No more tomorrows for broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, who died 57 years ago today, aged 57. A lifelong chain-smoker, he died of lung cancer despite having his left lung removed two years previously.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,732]

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.

[Hell 1,334]

Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party Benito Mussolini died on this day 77 years ago, aged 61.

 

 

American astronaut who flew the Apollo 11 command module Columbia around the Moon in 1969 while his crewmates made the first crewed landing on the surface Michael Collins died on this day a year ago, aged 90.

 

 

American basketball coach, commonly known as “Dr. Jack” Jack Ramsay died on this day 8 years ago, aged 89.

 

[The Ashes Urn 1,355]

American professional wrestler Lou Thesz died on this day 20 years ago, aged 86.

 

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,337]

On this day in 1936 King  Fuad  I of Egypt- the ninth ruler of Egypt and Sudan  died aged 68.

He was part of the Muhammad Ali  ruling dynasty  and succeeded his brother to the throne after his nephew declined the position.

From 1917 to 1922 his title was Sultan but after the 1919 Egyptian revolution for independence and the unilaterally  declaring of Egypts independence by the United Kingdom in 1922  he then changed his title from Sultan to King. 

In 1923 he enacted a new constitution for Egypt that significantly  restricted and cut back the powers of Parliament in favour of rule by monarch.  King Fuad the first dismissed and dissolved  parliaments , governments and political leaders when they displeased  him. A rather autocratic leader.

However in 1935 the constitution was changed again to strengthen parliament and government and weaken the powers  of the monarch after public levels of dissatisfaction and anger rose considerably. 

His widow was estranged from her son who succeeded his father King Fuad and exiled herself in the United States and converted to Catholicism. 

[Drewsky1211 4,732]

Albert Hofmann died on this day 14 years ago, aged 102.

In November 1938, Hofmann, while studying the medical uses of chemicals in the squill plant and ergot fungus, synthesized lysergic acid diethylamide. While re-researching the chemical in April 1943, he accidentally absorbed some through his skin, causing him to hallucinate- "an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors". Three days after the incident, Hofmann then intentionally decided to ingest the substance, and asked his lab assistant to escort him home- it was via bicycle, as was customary in Basel. Hofmann began to suffer an anxiety attack, people and furniture distorted into demonic figures in his view, and came to the conclusion that LSD was poisonous. This was not the case- all his doctor noted were Hofmann's dilated pupils.

 

Later, in 1958, Hofmann began to study the psychedelic effects of mushrooms, and discovered the chemical ethacetin- this eventually led to the synthesis of the "magic mushrooms"' psychedelic ingredient: psilocybin.

 

In later years, Hofmann was a staple on the DeathList. He made seven consecutive appearances from his debut in 2002 to his death, all of which were in position 12 or above- he was #3 on the list when he died.

 

 

[Hell 1,334]

English filmmaker widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema Alfred Hitchcock died on this day 42 years ago, aged 80.

 

 

American Founding Father, lawyer, politician, and diplomat Rufus King died on this day 195 years ago, aged 72.

 

[The Immortal 634]

American race car driver Chuck Daigh died on this day 14 years ago, aged 84. He started off as an engineer, before he moved to driving race cars. He did enter a couple of F1 races in 1960 for Lance Reventlow's Scarab team which was highly uncompetitive, but Daigh found bigger success in endurance racing, winning the 12 hours of Sebring in 1959.

[time 8,597]

Its 29 years since council groudsman, guitarist & producer Mick Ronson died aged 46, from liver cancer. He played with everybody who was anybody but is mostly noted for his collaborations' with David Bowie, as one of The Spiders from Mars for a number of albums. 

 

[The Ashes Urn 1,355]

American bass guitarist Keith Ferguson died on this day 25 years ago, aged 50.

 

 

 

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,337]

On this day in 2015 French businessman and industrialist Francois Michelin died aged 88.

He was formerly the CEO of Michelin the global tyre manufacturer- a company founded by his grandfather. 

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,337]

On this day in 1943 british sociologist,economist, socialist and social reformer  Beatrice Webb died aged 85.

She was the eighth daughter of a Gloucestershire  businessman  and Liverpool merchants daughter as well as being the  of Liberal party MP   Richard Potter.

Beatrice Webb is credited with coining the term collective bargaining  and played key roles in founding and forming the London School of Economics  and The Fabian society. 

She is regarded as a pioneer in social research and policy making. She was a member of the royal commission on the poor laws and relief of distress between 1905 and 1909  but in end was the lead author in a dissenting minority report on  the issue were she outlined details of a possible welfare state- something more radical than the non dissecting report. 

William Beveridge who famously  authored the Beveridge  report in the 1940s that lead to the setting up of the welfare state  worked as a researcher  for Beatrice and her husband on the dissenting minority report. 

She did  however become disillusioned with the british left and some say as a result  became  too sympathetic  towards the notion of her ideas being used and applied to the soviet union resulting  in allegations of naivity and a place in the german authorities  black book on a list of names of people to be arrrested if the Germans managed to successfully conquer  Britain.

 

 

On this day in 2007  american actor  Gordon Scott died aged 80. He was best known for playing the role of Tarzan in the film franchise/series in six films between 1955 and 1960. His huge height and muscular  physique  was perfect  for the role and for many similar acting roles that required great physicality and action . He appeared in a number of roman epic/saga films in a loincloth  

He was also one of Hollywood actress and 'Hitchcock blonde' Vera Miles husbands.

[Drewsky1211 4,732]

American politician Alben W. Barkley died on this day 66 years ago, aged 78.

Barkley was first elected into Congress in 1912. In 1923, he ran in the Kentucky gubernatorial election, losing the primary to J. Campbell Cantrill (who died before the election, and the Democratic State Committee had to chose a replacement (the replacement, William J. Fields ended up winning)). In 1926, Barkley was elected to the Senate, and was the Majority Leader from 1937 to 1947.

 

In 1948, President Harry S. Truman was re-nominated for president, and had attempted to get Supreme Court Associate Justice William O. Douglas to be his running mate- Douglas declined. At the Democratic National Convention that July, Barkley gave a speech promoting New Deal policies, and criticizing the Republican Party as a "do-nothing" party. This pleased the delegates, and Truman asked Barkley to be his running mate, to which he accepted. They won the election, and on January 20, 1949, Barkley was sworn in as the 35th Vice President (at the age of 71, he is currently the oldest elected VP).

 

Following Truman's decision to not seek re-election in 1952, Barkley entered the Democratic primaries, but concerns about his age (then 74) and that he was a segregationist (this would alienate northern voters) caused him to withdraw. Barkley then decided to reclaim his Senate seat in 1954, defeating incumbent John Sherman Cooper. Barkley died of a heart attack while giving a speech at the Washington and Lee Mock Convention. His last words were "I'm glad to sit on the back row, for I would rather be a servant in the House of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty", alluding to Psalm 84:10.

[Hell 1,334]

German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler Eva Braun died on this day 77 years ago, aged 33.

 

 

American soul and R&B singer and record producer Ben E. King died on this day 7 years ago, aged 76.

 

 

British-American actor who was best known for portraying Chewbacca in the Star Wars film series Peter Mayhew died on this day 3 years ago, aged 74.

 

 

English actor Bob Hoskins died on this day 8 years ago, aged 71.

 

 

American actress Agnes Moorehead died on this day 48 years ago, aged 73.

 

 

Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945 Adolf Hitler died on this day 77 years ago, aged 56.

 

[The Immortal 634]

F1 Driver Roland Ratzenberger died on this day 28 years ago, at the age of 33 in a qualifying accident during the infamous and tragic San Marino Grand Prix in 1994 which was his rookie season. Even if you have only a little knowledge on motorsports, I am sure most of you will know exactly which driver death anniversary of the day is going to come tomorrow.