Death Anniversary Thread

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Richard McDonald died on this day 24 years ago, aged 89.

His father, Patrick, opened a food stand in Monrovia, California in 1937. In 1948, he and his brother Maurice relocated their father's business to San Bernardino, acquiring a building and reducing the menu options. This restaurant was the first of the most famous fast food chain ever- it should be obvious what it is given the last name.

 

McDonald's opened a second location in Arizona in 1953. The following year, they hired milkshake mixer salesman Ray Kroc as their franchising agent. Kroc grew frustrated that the McDonalds wanted to keep operating a small number of locations, and bought the company from the McDonalds in 1961. Richard and his brother Maurice received at least $1 million from the sale.

 

In 1984, Richard was served the 50 billionth McDonald's burger made.

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It's 10 years since the death of Roy 'Pretty Boy' Shaw, - the hardest man in Britain - a renowned 'East End' criminal and unlicensed boxer. 

 

Born in Stepney, London, he had always been involved in criminal activity, becoming an acquaintance of the Kray twins in the process. Once a schoolboy boxing champion, he began a career on the unlicensed boxing circuit after serving an 18-year prison sentence for armed robbery (spending time with Ronnie Biggs, with whom he discussed escape plans) , and is particularly remembered for his three bouts with Lenny "The Guv'nor" McLean (of which he won the first, lost the other two).

On retiring from both crime and boxing, he embarked on various ventures becoming a millionaire through his property investments. 

 

Towards the end of his life he developed alzheimers and was almost defrauded of £643,000, until his daughter, alerted by his bank, stepped in and took the perpetrator to court.

 

Shaw was 76 when he died.

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British chemist and entrepreneur William Henry Perkin died on this day 115 years ago, aged 69.

 

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American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who was twice the Democratic nominee for President of the United States Adlai Stevenson II died on this day 57 years ago, aged 65.

 

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On this day in 2012 Oscar winning american actress  Celeste Holm  died  aged 95. Some of the big films from the golden age of Hollywood she starred in include  All about Eve with Bette Davis and Anne  Baxter,  High Society with Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly and Gentlemans agreement with Gregory Peck  for which she won her best supporting actress Oscar. 

 

In 2004 on her 87th birthday Celeste  married  opera singer Frank  Basile  who was 41 years her junior.

She had  met him in 1999 att a charity fundraiser he sang at. Her   younger son Daniel  set up an irrevocable financial trust to shelter her money from taxes  but created many protocols for her to be able to access large amounts.  Her husband always contested the sons real motives  was to keep him away from her money regarding him as a user and goldigger.  A five year legal battle followed that cost millions  and left her effectively  penniless as both sides paid their legal costs  from the trust.

In 2010  an agreement was reached that meant  her widower  had to vacate Celestes home within 60 days of her death so it could be sold and the money from the sale be split between her two sons and widower equally. But the millions in her trust    however were gone. 

[Drewsky1211 4,749]

Vladimir the Great died on this day 1007 years ago, aged 57.

Vladimir (also spelt Volodymyr) was named Prince of Novgorod by his father Sviatoslav I, whose death in 972 led to a fratricidal war between him and his brothers. His brother Yaropolk I, ruler of Kyiv, killed his brother Oleg, the ruler of the Drevlians, and Vladimir went to Norway for help. He returned with an army and ended up negotiating with Yaropolk- who was killed in an ambush. Vladimir merged Novgorod into Kyiv by 980, and officially became its Grand Prince. Vladimir would expand his empire westward into modern-day Poland and eastward to the Volga River.

 

Kyiv's inhabitants followed the Slavic religion at the time- Vladimir had 800 concubines, and built a pantheon dedicated to their deities. Christians who had moved from the Byzantine Empire from the south and southwest were persecuted by Kyivan citizens, and following the murder of two of them, Vladimir began to reconsider his faith. He sent envoys to study nearby religions beginning in 987. Several religious officials came to Vladimir, and he began to eliminate options he disliked. He ruled out Islam, as he did not want to be circumcised, nor did he want to give up pork and alcohol. Judaism was also therefore ruled out (minus the alcohol), also for their loss of Jerusalem to the Romans made him feel as if they had been abandoned by their God. It was down to the two factions of Christianity- Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, and after hearing about how beautiful the Hagia Sofia was from his envoys, chose the latter. Vladimir was baptized, and soon married Anna, the daughter of then-Byzantine Emperor Basil II (they may have had at least three children out of wedlock), and introduced the Byzantine code of law to his kingdom- with a few changes, such as the abolishment of the death penalty.

 

For his conversion, he was made into a saint.

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American businessman and politician James M. Cox died on this day 65 years ago, aged 87.

 

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Twenty-One years since the death of Tom Chantrell, aged 84 from a heart attack.

 

 

He was a British artist known for his movie posters. After leaving school in Manchester Chantrell had a couple of jobs with local advertising agencies; when he was wrongly dismissed from the second, unable to find work locally he moved to London and after a couple of years working in printing, began working for design agency, Bateman's, who had the unglamourous job of producing movie posters. His first such work was for The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938):

Following wartime service disposing of unexploded bombs (he was a conscientious objector) he returned to the design agency and continued producing movie posters, including for Brighton Rock, featuring the likeness of Richard Attenbrough.

 

He designed many posters for Carry On... films, including ...Spying and ...Cleo, both of which brought copyright objections from big studios for being too similar to From Russia With Love & Cleopatra respectively, and all of Hammer's film posters from 1965 to 70, including Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, which is a painting of himself as no reference photo ofChristopher Lee was available.

 

In 1977 he was commissioned to produce a poster for the UK release of Star Wars, which became one of his most recognised works. It was based on the poster for the Dirty Dozen:

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American giant Robert Wadlow died on this day 82 years ago, aged 22.

 

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On this day in 1999 John F Kennedy Jnr  , son of assainated  US President John F Kennedy,  died along with his wife Carolyn  when the plane he was piloting  crashed into the sea near Marthas Vineyard. 

He was aged just 38.

[Drewsky1211 4,749]

Biz Markie died on this day a year ago, aged 57.

Biz's rap name originated from the first hip-hop record he listened to- one of the rappers' names was Busy Bee Starsky, and Biz started going by Bizzy B Markie- he later truncated it. His first album was released in 1988, and it wasn't until his second album, The Biz Never Sleeps, that Biz hit the mainstream with his single "Just a Friend", which peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

 

In 1991, Markie was sued by Gilbert O'Sullivan for sampling "Alone Again (Naturally)" in one of his songs, "Alone Again", without his permission. The court ruled in favor of O'Sullivan, and required that samples in music going forward must be approved by the copyright holders. Throughout the '90s, Biz would collaborate heavily with the Beastie Boys, and even got some vocals on some of their tracks (this includes the remastered version of their hit single "Intergalactic").

 

Markie would also make screen appearances. He cameoed in 2002's Men in Black II as an alien version of himself whose language consisted entirely of beatboxing. Starting in 2007, Biz would host a segment on the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba! called Biz's Beat of the Day, encouraging the viewer to repeat after him.

Markie would also endeavor into voice acting, by voicing one-off characters in Adventure Time and SpongeBob SquarePants.

 

Markie suffered from type 2 diabetes, which left him in a coma in 2020 that caused a stroke. Rumors of his death circulated online two weeks before his actual death.

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Its 21 years since the death of Beate Uhse-Rotermund, from pneumonia, aged 81.

 

An early interest in flying, from hearing the story of Icarus, led to her obtaining a pilot's licence on her 18th birthday, and her stunt pilot licence the following year. Wprk as a test pilot and delivery pilot for aircraft firms lead to her being asked to fly as a stunt pilot in films.

 

She later married her stunt trainer , Hans-Jurgen Uhse, and they had a son together'. The wedding they had planned had to be cancelled owing to the outbreak of WW2, so a quiet wedding was held hours before Hans Jurgen was posted. He was killed in a plane crash in 1945, leaving her a widow with a small child  at 24. With the outbreak of war, film work was stopped, so Beate began a new role, ferrying aircraft for the Luftwaffe. She escaped with her son and his nanny at the fall of Berlin, but was captured by British forces in Leck, North Friesland.

 

Post war, as an ex-Luftwaffe pilot she was banned from flying, so she began a job selling door-to-door, where she met many housewives and learned of their problems, many concerning unwanted pregnancies. This lead her to research fertility and she produced a leaflet to help women identify their fertile vs non-fertile days. This progressed to selling Condoms and "marriage guides" via mail order and eventaully a "marital hygiene" shop in Flensburg - the world's first "sex-shop".

 

In 1999 Beate Uhse AG became a public company, which is now Germany's biggest pornography retailer, despite filing for bankruptcy in 2017.

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American professional football player Buck Buchanan died on this day 30 years ago, aged 51.

 

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American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1975 to 2010 John Paul Stevens died on this day 3 years ago, aged 99.

 

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On this day 21 years ago in 2001,  American newspaper publisher  Katherine Graham  died aged 84. She was at the helm of The Washington Post newspaper during the watergate scandal that brought down President  Richard Nixon- with the papers role in forcing his resignation and resisting immense pressure  to bury the story being crucial. 

[Drewsky1211 4,749]

Walter Cronkite died on this day 13 years ago, aged 92.

Cronkite got his start in reporting during World War II, and even saw combat as a journalist by flying a bomber over Germany. Following the war, he delivered news about the Nuremberg trials.

 

In 1950, Cronkite joined CBS's television division, and delivered coverage from both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. He would host the TV version of You Are There, a recreation of historical events if live news coverage existed during their respective times. These included reporters in modern-day clothing interviewing actors dressed as historical figures related to the event.

 

In 1962, Cronkite became the host of CBS's nightly news block, which was extended from 15 to 30 minutes the following year. Cronkite would interrupt the Thanksgiving special of As The World Turns to bring live coverage of the Kennedy assassination- the full footage is below.

 

Following this, CBS Evening News began to compete with the then-leading news program at the time, The Huntley-Brinkley Report, and surpassed them in ratings for the first time in 1967. Cronkite would cover more historic events such as the US involvement in the Vietnam War and the Apollo 11 moon landing, and was the person who introduced the Beatles to an American audience (via a four-minute news story) and the first person to announce the death of former president Lyndon B. Johnson.

 

CBS had a mandatory retirement age of 65, so Cronkite was forced to retire in 1981 (he was replaced by then 49-year old Dan Rather as the lead newscaster). Cronkite would remain in journalism until his death, and from 1981 to 2002, he hosted the Kennedy Center Honors.

 

Cronkite prematurely made his first DeathList appearance in 1992, and was chosen again in 2003 and 2005- he became 2009's fifth death of the year.

 

And that's the way it is, July 17, 2022.

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American politician and civil rights activist who served un the United States House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020 John Lewis died on this day 2 years ago, aged 80.

 

 

British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975 Edward Heath died on this day 17 years ago, aged 89.

 

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Its 28 years since the death of Jean Borotra, one of the four musketeers* of French tennis of the 1920s & 30s, at the age of 95 "following a short illness".

 

Known as The Bounding Basque, he won four Grand Slam singles titles, one French, one Australian and two Wimbledon, missing out on the US when he was beaten by his countryman René Lacoste, as well as nine doubles and 5 mixed doubles.

 

Arrested by the Gestapo in 1942, he was imprisoned in Itter Castle, which was being used as a PoW camp for French VIPs, playing a part in the Battle for Itter Castle (where the US Army, French POWs, & soldiers from the Wehrmacht defended the castle from the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division) by leaving the castle, evading attackers and summoning US infantry reinforcements.

 

In 1963 he founded the International Fair Play Committee, which recognises sportsmen who have excelled themselves in this regard, and the Jean Borotra World Fair Play Trophy is awarded to athletes who have displayed good sportsmanship throughout their career.  Additioanlly, the International Club established the Jean Borotra Sportsmanship Award in 1996 to honour tennis players who have excelled similarly. In 1974 he was awarded the Olympic Diploma of Merit (the last time the award was made). He (simultaneously with the other musketeers) was inducted into the International Tennis HoF in 1976.

 

 

*The others being Jacques Brugnon, Henri Cochet & René Lacoste. The French Open Mens' Singles trophy is named the Coupe des Mousquetaires in their honour.

[The Ashes Urn 1,357]

American jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane died on this day 55 years ago, aged 40.

 

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On this day in 2003 british  scientist and government weapons inspector Dr David Kelly died aged 59.

He was found dead  in Harrowdown Hill in Oxfordshire.  He was the source for a BBC journalist  regarding claims the Blair government had  exaggerated intelligence information regarding iraqs weapons of mass destruction and had sexed up the dossier that was presented to parliament  in order to build  political support  for the war.

  His death led to the Hutton Inquiry.

 

While his death has been ruled as suicide  to this day numerous suspicions  and conspiracy theories rightly or wrongly linger.

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On this day in 2021 Bootle born British  stand up comedian and television presenter  Tom O'Connor  died aged 81.

Notable tv appearances include  on The Comedians  in which he had his big break , and latterly hosting ITVs  Crosswits after Barry Cryer left , The Tom O'Connor  show and Name that tune.

His daughter in law was british  athlete and Olympic gold medallist  Denise Lewis- who he once appeared on the BBC quiz show Pointless  Celebrities with to win money for charity. 

[Drewsky1211 4,749]

John Paul Jones died on this day 230 years ago, aged 45.

Jones was born in Scotland as just "John Paul"- he added a second surname later in life. John Paul Jones emigrated to the Thirteen Colonies in 1774, and once the American Revolution began, Jones was appointed as first lieutenant on the USS Alfred. 

 

Jones became the captain of the USS Ranger in 1777, and then sailed to France on a diplomatic mission. From there, he attacked British merchant ships in the Irish Sea, and after a four-day chase, captured the HMS Drake. This led to the British considering him a pirate.

 

In 1779, he became captain of the USS Bonhomme Richard- which was sunk in the Battle of Flamborough Head in September of that year. Jones survived thanks to a reinforcement ship arriving, forcing the captain of HMS Serapis to surrender.

 

After the war ended, Jones was assigned to Europe to collect prize money. Once this mission was over, Jones was effectively unemployed. He decided to join the Russian Navy, to Catherine the Great's delight. Jones served on the warship Vladimir during the Russo-Turkish War- however, other naval captains disliked him due to either jealousy, or that they fought against him in the American Revolution (several ex-British naval officers also worked for Russia). This led to a court-martial following an accusation of child molestation, to which the French envoy concluded that Jones was accused by the prince of Nassau-Siegen for his own political gain- however, Jones admitted that he had  "often frolicked with her for a small cash payment". Jones left Russia in 1788, and eventually settled in Paris.

 

Jones died of inflammation of one of his kidneys. Four years after his death, the new Napoleonic government sold the cemetery property. His remains would not be rediscovered until 1905, and his corpse was returned to the United States. Jones was posthumously pardoned by the English town of Whitehaven in 1999, 221 years after his raid on it.

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American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for “Let Her Dance” and his cover of the Crickets' “I Fought the Law”, recorded with his group The Bobby Fuller Four Bobby Fuller died on this day 56 years ago, aged 23.
 

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American geologist Eugene Merle Shoemaker died on this day 25 years ago, aged 69.

 

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Comedy actress Betty Marsden died on this day 24 years ago, aged 79.

 

Born in Liverpool, she was a member of ENSA during the war, had been a stage actress before turning to comedy, and is particularly remembered for playing most of the female characters in Beyond Our Ken & Round The Horne.

 

She appeared in two Carry On.. films, Regardless (1961), playing Mata Hari & Camping (1969) playing Harriet Potter (wife of Terry Scott's character, Peter), as well as a host of other film, TV and radio roles in a career spanning almost 60 years up to 10 days before her death.

 

She had been suffering with heart problems and pneumonia but was thought to be recovering well when she died suddenly, at the bar of Denville Hall, while she was socialising with friends..