Death Anniversary Thread

[Drewsky1211 4,748]

King George III died on this day 203 years ago, aged 81.

George was the grandson of King George II and became heir apparent at the age of 12, when his father Frederick died. George ascended to the throne in 1760 at the age of 22- during the midst of the Seven Years' War.

 

After defeating the French in the North American front, the empire was now in massive debt, and so George and the legislature began imposing taxes on basic items such as sugar, paper, and tea on American colonists. George also restricted settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains as part of an agreement with the native tribes. These factors, along with the fact that they were not represented in Parliament, led to worsening relations, and the American Revolution began in 1775, leading to the end of the monarchy there. Another major war George would oversee during his reign were the Napoleonic Wars- closer to home.

 

George likely suffered from bipolar disorder throughout his life. The deaths of three of his children affected him deeply- Alfred in 1782, Octavius in 1783, and Amelia in 1810, with the latter's death causing him to fall into a deep depression. George may have also developed schizophrenia, as he was said to have had imaginary conversations with his deceased sons. In 1811, his son George was made his regent. By 1814, he had dementia, and was unable to understand that he had been declared the King of Hanover in 1814. This progressed to the point where he did not know that his wife, Queen Consort Charlotte, died in 1818. By Christmas 1819, he was unable to form coherent sentences, and was bedridden for the last few weeks of his life.

(a portrait of George from 1817)

George reigned for 59 years, and was the longest-reigning British monarch until his granddaughter Victoria surpassed this record in 1896.

[Hell 1,334]

President of Italy from 1992 to 1999 Oscar Luigi Scalfaro died on this day 11 years ago, aged 93.

 

 

American actor and film producer Alan Ladd died on this day 59 years ago, aged 50.

 

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,346]

 

 

 

Australian author  Colleen Mccullough died on this day 8 years ago in 2015 aged 77.

 

Her most famous and widely known novel was The Thorn Birds.

[Drewsky1211 4,748]

Patty Andrews died on this day 10 years ago, aged 94.

Patty was the youngest of the Andrews Sisters, with the child band being formed in 1925 with her older sisters LaVerne and Maxene. Patty was the lead singer. Their first hit came in 1937 with their version of the Yiddish-originated song "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon". 

 

The group was at its peak in World War II, with "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" being released months before Pearl Harbor, and would often entertain Allied forces overseas. This song would later be made into a notable cover by Bette Midler in 1973, and would be interpolated by Christina Aguilera for her 2007 song "Candyman".

 

They would continue to see success into the 1950s, but declined during the '60s. During that time, they would make covers of popular songs (such as Tony Bennett's "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and Peter, Paul and Mary's "Puff, The Magic Dragon"). LaVerne died in 1967, and the group disbanded the following year when Maxene began to teach acting at Tahoe College. They would regroup one more time for the 1974 Broadway musical Over Here! (with John Travolta). The tour ended up being cancelled due to a pay dispute between the Andrews Sisters and the producers. Patty and Maxene then grew further apart from each other, only seldomly seeing each other, before Maxene died in 1995- Patty was unable to attend her memorial services because her husband had suffered a fall around that time.

 

Patty appeared on the DeathList three consecutive times, from 2011 to 2013.

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Mahatma Gandhi died 75 years ago (78).

America understood his importance and honoured him appropriately.

 

 

 

 

[Sir Creep 7,070]

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[Hell 1,334]

American actor and musician known for his role as Noah “Puck” Puckerman on the television series Glee Mark Salling died on this day 5 years ago, aged 35.

 

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On this day 14 years ago in 2009, former Swedish boxer IngemarJohansson ,who was world heavyweight champion 1959-1960, died aged 76.

[John "요한" Sulu 419]

On this day 75 years ago, Orville Wright who was best remembered as one half of making the first successful powered airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, NC, passed away at the age of 76.

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,346]

On this day 7 years ago in 2016, legendary British Irish radio and television presenter  Terry Wogan died aged 77.

Loved his Wogan chatshow,  probably because he interviewed  nearly all the major  cast members of my favourite soap Dallas.

His eurovision snark each year was also strangely satisfying and enjoyable- and that  is coming from me someone who takes Eurovision a bit more seriously and believe this festival of fun deserves more respect!

Can't wait for a glorious  multitude of European singers, musicians, dancers , TV presenters and wealthy gays from around the world to visit  Liverpool in May!

I will be waiting with special welcoming open arms and perhaps some stretched open legs too!!

 

 

PS I'm sure Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands is relieved to find out she is still alive!

[Drewsky1211 4,748]

AA Milne died on this day 67 years ago, aged 74.

Milne was a playwright and novelist early in his career. When his son Christopher was born in 1920, he began to make children's books for him to read. One of these was 1924's When We Were Very Young, a collection of poems- one of them, "Teddy Bear", featured a teddy bear called Edward. In 1926, Milne took the character, and renamed him Winnie-the-Pooh, after a black bear in the London Zoo and a friend's pet swan.

Supporting characters consisted of Christopher's other plushies, such as a tiger (Tigger), a donkey (Eeyore) and a kangaroo (Kanga), and the only human character, Christopher Robin- obviously an insertion of Christopher himself. Disney would buy film rights to the books in 1961.

 

Christopher would eventually grow up to believe that his father exploited his childhood for money, and became estranged from his parents.

[Sir Creep 7,070]

It’s the 100th anniversary of assassin and occasional artist Eligiusz Niewiadomski (53) meeting the firing squad.

 

[One shot Paddy 1,206]

Member of parliament for North Down and Great-grandfather of adventurer, presenter and current Chief Scout Bear Grylls, Sir Walter Smiles was not all smiles 70 years ago today as he, Maynard Sinclair deputy Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and 133 other men women and children perished in the sinking of the MV Princess Victoria.

One of the first ro-ro ferries built the Princess Victoria sank during the Great European Windstorm of 1953 accounting for almost 1/3 of UK fatalities. The true danger of a flooded car deck was masked by the worst storm of the 20th century and would only come to light 34 years later when the Herald of Free Enterprise capsized in calm waters minutes after leaving Zeebrugge harbour with it's bow doors open. 

Grylls spent his early childhood living in Donaghadee just a few miles from the wreck and home of the lifeboat that   rescued the survivors.

[John "요한" Sulu 419]

On this day 1 year ago, American actor Carleton Carpenter, who starred in the movies "Three Little Words", "Summer Stock", and "Two Weeks with Love", passed away at the age of 95.

[Hell 1,334]

American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades George Abbott died on this day 28 years ago, aged 107.

 

 

American actress, singer and model for the Walter Thornton Model Agency Lizabeth Scott died on this day 8 years ago, aged 93.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,748]

John Vernon died on this day 18 years ago, aged 72.

Vernon was born with the name Adolphus Agopsowicz. In 1956, he made his acting debut as the voice of Big Brother in Michael Anderson's version of 1984, and would star on Broadway during the 1960s.

 

In 1971, Vernon made his breakout role as the mayor in the first Dirty Harry movie, and would star as Dean Wormer in Animal House in 1978. Vernon would often be typecast as school authority figures, ranging from principals (ex. Fuzz Bucket, Duckman, and Baby Huey's Great Easter Adventure) to another dean- that being Dean Toadblatt (a Dumbledore parody) in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy... who starred in a very progressive scene for a kid's show in 2005:

 

As mentioned with the Duckman and Billy and Mandy examples, Vernon was also a voice actor, with one of his first roles being Iron Man in the 1966 Marvel Super Heroes show. Other shows he did work for included Batman: The Animated Series and Pinky and the Brain, and his final posthumous role was in the box-office nuke Delgo.

 

[Summer in Transylvania 2,187]

The Space Shuttle Columbia crashed on this day, 20 years ago, killing all 7 crew members on board at the time.

 

They were:

 

Rick Husband, 45.

William Cameron McCool, 41.

Michael Philip Anderson, 43.

Kalpana Chawla, 40.

David McDowell Brown, 46. 

Laurel Clark, 41.

Ilam Ramon, 48. 

 

Below is the NASA Orbiter Tribute to Space Shuttle Columbia and the above mentioned lives lost in the crash.

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On this day 57 years ago in 1966,  american actor,  comedian and filmmaker  Buster Keaton died aged 70.

The father of cactress Diane Keaton, Buster is best known for his early work in the silent movie era although the most famous film  he starred in was  not a silent movie but iconic 1950s Hollywood film Sunset Boulevard .

His other film credits include Steamboat Bill jnr, The General (1926), and Seven Chances.

 

 

[Hell 1,334]

Austrian-born Swiss actor, who also wrote, directed and produced some of his own films Maxmilian Schell died on this day 9 years ago, aged 83.

 

 

American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality Ed Koch died on this day 10 years ago, aged 88.

 

[MariNisia 4,198]

3 hours ago, Gooseberry Crumble said:

 

 

On this day 57 years ago in 1966,  american actor,  comedian and filmmaker  Buster Keaton died aged 70.

The father of cactress Diane Keaton, Buster is best known for his early work in the silent movie era although the most famous film  he starred in was  not a silent movie but iconic 1950s Hollywood film Sunset Boulevard .

His other film credits include Steamboat Bill jnr, The General (1926), and Seven Chances.

 

 

 

Thanks for this post, @Gooseberry Crumble.

I'm a very big fan of Buster Keaton, "Steamboat Bill, Jr" is one of my favourite films of all time.

But... Buster Keaton is not related to Diane Keaton.

Diane Keaton's real surname is Hall, as her famous role in "Annie Hall".

Diane Keaton had to change her name from Diane Hall to Diane Keaton because there was already a Diane Hall that belonged to the Actor's Equity Association.

Keaton is her mother's maiden name. 

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,346]

54 minutes ago, MariNisia said:

 

Thanks for this post, @Gooseberry Crumble.

I'm a very big fan of Buster Keaton, "Steamboat Bill, Jr" is one of my favourite films of all time.

But... Buster Keaton is not related to Diane Keaton.

Diane Keaton's real surname is Hall, as her famous role in "Annie Hall".

Diane Keaton had to change her name from Diane Hall to Diane Keaton because there was already a Diane Hall that belonged to the Actor's Equity Association.

Keaton is her mother's maiden name. 

Gosh I never realised about Diane.  I stand corrected and educated. Thank you. 

[Drewsky1211 4,748]

Dmitri Mendeleev died on this day 116 years ago, aged 72.

In 1869, Mendeleev attempted to organize the chemical elements by arranging them in increasing atomic weight, with those with recurrent properties being placed horizontally next to each other.

At the time, 63 elements had been discovered (this has since risen to 118, and there may be many others but they haven't been synthesized). Mendeleev hypothesized that some inconsistencies were the result of said undiscovered elements, and through the next two years, made revised versions that added some hypothetical elements. Mendeleev was very close with some of his predictions- for example, "eka-silicon" had an atomic weight of 72, and when germanium (the element below silicon) was discovered in 1886, it was found to have an atomic weight of 72.63.

 

There exists a myth that in 1894, Mendeleev was responsible for the 40% alcohol standard in vodka- this has been disproven, and it was actually the Russian government who introduced it in 1843.

 

Mendeleev died six days before his 73rd birthday from the flu. In 1955, an atom with 101 protons was successfully synthesized for the first time, and the new element was named "mendelevium" in his honor.

[Summer in Transylvania 2,187]

Captain Sir Tom Moore passed away as a result of Pneumonia and a COVID-19 infection on this day two years ago, aged 100. He marked that year's DeathList's first hit, and was making his debut. 

[John "요한" Sulu 419]

On this day 1 year ago, Italian actress Monica Vitti, who starred in the movies "L'Avventura" and "Modesty Blaise", passed away at the age of 90.

 

Photo Credit: Georges Biard per Creative Commons license

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,346]

 

 

On this day 23 years ago in 1996, legendary American actor,  dancer and singer  Gene Kelly,died aged 83.

An iconic big name star from the golden age of Hollywood.  Undoubtedly his most famous film is  musical Singin in the rain opposite  Debbie Reynolds  but he had many other film credits to his name including,  Hello Dolly, Summer Stock alongside  leading lady Judy Garland,  The Pirate (1948)- again with Judy Garland co-starring, On the town-with Frank Sinatra and Betty Garrett and An American in Paris.

The onscreen combination of Kelly and Debbie Reynolds in Singin in the rain made movie magic but it does appear that behind the scenes the two did not really get on all that well!