Death Anniversary Thread

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

Pope Marcellus II died on this day 469 years ago, aged 53.

- Marcellus' non-papal name was Marcello Cervini, which was obviously Latinized once he became pope (he is the most recent pope to keep his birth name). His father Ricardo was good friends with Pope Clement VII, who initially hired Marcellus to work on a project to resynchronize the Julian calendar (the Gregorian calendar was only invented later that century).

- Marcellus was appointed as a bishop in 1539, and made a cardinal by Pope Paul III in December of that year. As cardinal, Marcellus would serve as a council member of the Council of Trent (which began in 1545), and became the librarian of the Vatican Library in 1550.

- Marcellus was elected pope after the death of Pope Julius III in 1555. While he had made plans for church reform, Marcellus soon fell ill and died following a stroke, having spent only three weeks as pope. Marcellus would be succeeded by Pope Paul IV.

[DCI Frank Burnside 3,887]

Roland Ratzenberger killed in qualifying at Imola 30 yeara ago yesterday and Just a day later arguably one of the greatest motor racing drivers of all time Ayrton Senna 

 

 

 

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

Jack Kemp died on this day 15 years ago, aged 73.

- Before entering politics, Kemp was already well-known as an football quarterback, most notably for the Buffalo Bills between 1962 and 1969. He was a two-time winner of the AFL Championship (a precursor to the Super Bowl).

- Kemp was already into politics while he was still a football star, serving as a volunteer on Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign, and Ronald Reagan's successful 1966 run for California governor.

- Kemp would be elected to the US House of Representatives in 1970, serving for nine terms. He ran for president in 1988, receiving over 300,000 votes in the Republican primaries (about 3% of the primaries' votes). The winner of those primaries- George H. W. Bush- would appoint him as his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development after he won the election.

- Kemp's most well-remembered political achievement was when Bob Dole chose him as his running mate in 1996. On an incidental note, their campaign website has outlived both of them: http://www.dolekemp96.org/

- Kemp was diagnosed with skin cancer in January of 2009, and died four months later.

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

Mehmed II the Conqueror died on this day 543 years ago, aged 49.

- Mehmed was the son of Sultan Murad II, and would become sultan of the Ottoman Empire when he was 12 after his father abdicated in favor of him. Despite his young age, Mehmed was a strategic commander, managing to win the Battle of Varna in 1444. This first reign lasted only two years, and his father returned to the throne.

- Mehmed became sultan once again once his father died in 1451. As the country surrounded Constantinople, and as such Mehmed made it his target. He would besiege the city in 1453, and Constantinople (according to They Might Be Giants) "got the works". Afterwards, Mehmed would declare the Ottoman Empire the successor to the Roman Empire (as the Byzantine Empire once was), and named himself caesar.

- From there Mehmed would colonize Europe, spreading the Ottoman Empire's lands into Serbia, Bosnia, southern Greece, and Albania, and would lead expeditions into Italy. Mehmed was negatively nicknamed 'The Great Eagle' by Europeans (somehow this derogatory nickname is badass).

- Mehmed was known for his tolerance of religious freedom (as long as non-Muslims were loyal to the empire), centralizing the Ottoman government, and being a patron of the blossoming Renaissance- he would commission art from Italian artists, and had a large library at his palace with over 8,000 manuscripts.

- Mehmed would die while on campaign planning for his next conquest (either the island of Rhodes, southern Italy, or the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt). He was succeeded as sultan by his son Bayezid II.

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

Adam "MCA" Yauch died on this day 12 years ago, aged 47.

- MCA was an acronym for "Master of Ceremonies Adam".

- Yauch would create the punk band Young Aborigines alongside Michael (Mike D) Diamond, and the band would become the Beastie Boys in 1981.

- Throughout the band's history, Yauch would co-write many of their hit singles, including "You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party", "No Sleep Till Brooklyn", "Brass Monkey", "Sabotage", and "Intergalactic".

- Yauch also went under the pseudonym 'Nathaniel Hornblower' when directing some of the Beastie Boys' music videos, such as those for "Intergalactic" and "Body Movin'":

- While Yauch had a Catholic father and Jewish mother, he was a Buddhist and was a vocal proponent for Tibetan liberation from China.

- Yauch was the only one of the Beastie Boys unable to record voice cameos for the Futurama episode "Hell is Other Robots", so Adam (Ad-Rock) Horowitz would voice him. Recordings of "Intergalactic" and "Super Disco Breakin'" at the concert the characters attended would still use his voice, however:

- Yauch was diagnosed with salivary gland cancer in 2009, and died after a 3-year battle with the disease.

[YoungWillz 21,086]

40 years ago today Willie Ormond managed his way out of life aged 57.

 

 

Played for Stenhousemuir, Hibernian and Falkirk and Scotland, appearing for Scotland in the 1954 World Cup Finals.

 

Managed Scotland to the 1974 World Cup where Scotland were unbeaten - and still were eliminated at the group stage.

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

Violet Jessop died on this day 53 years ago, aged 83.

- Jessop became a stewardess in 1908, first serving for the Royal Mail Line's Orinoco.

- In 1911, Jessop would begin working on the White Star Line's Olympic, and was aboard the ship when it collided with the HMS Hawke in September of that year.

- Jessop would be transferred by White Star in April of 1912 to their next (and most famous/infamous) ship- the Titanic. Jessop would get aboard lifeboat #16, launched an hour before the ship sunk below the surface of the Atlantic. She was given a baby by an officer, and fortunately reunited it with their mother once aboard the Carpathia:

(an interview from her late in her life)

- In World War I, Jessop would become a stewardess for British Red Cross ships. She was aboard the Britannic when it hit a sea mine in November 1916, and was in the lifeboat that ended up getting destroyed by the ship's rising propellers- she only survived by jumping out of the lifeboat (causing her to injure her head). All three of these experiences make Jessop the only passenger of all three of White Star Line's major ship incidents, with her being given the nickname "Ms. Unsinkable".

- After serving on the Britannic, Jessop would continue to work as a stewardess for other ship companies, before retiring in 1950.

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

 

L. Frank Baum died on this day 105 years ago, aged 62.

- The L stood for Lyman- he was named after his uncle, but he disliked his name and went by his middle name instead.

- Baum's earliest works were amateur journals. He had an interest in philately, and made a journal named The Stamp Collector. In the late 1870s, breeding fancy chickens had become a fad in the US, and he bred the Hamburg variety- again making a journal about this field, known as The Poultry Record.

- Baum would soon become interested in becoming an actor, and starred in a few plays. One of his stage names was "George Brooks".

- Baum wrote "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" in 1900, writing 14 books over the next 19 years- up to Glinda of Oz:

- Here's a potentially childhood-ruining fact: Baum endorsed genocide against Native Americans, which were the complete opposite views of his mother in-law, noted social activist Matilda Joslyn Gage.

- Baum's last words were to his wife, in reference to the world of his books- "Now we can cross the Shifting Sands".

[John "요한" Sulu 423]

On this day 1 year ago, American government official and FCC Chairman Newton Minow, who called television a "vast wasteland", passes away at the age of 97.

 

Photo Credit: Nminow per Creative Commons license

[John "요한" Sulu 423]

On this day 1 year ago, German-born Israeli/American pianist Menahem Pressler, who co-founded the Beaux Arts Trio, passed away at the age of 99.

 

Photo Credit: Leeds Piano Competition 2015 per Creative Commons license

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

Eddie Rabbitt died on this day 26 years ago, aged 56.

- Rabbitt got his start in music by performing in bars and clubs, and signed on to 20th Century Records in 1964.

- Rabbitt would become a songwriter, and Elvis Presley would sing several songs written by him, such as "Kentucky Rain" and "Patch it Up".

- Rabbitt became a breakout star in country music in 1975, releasing such singles such as "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You". His first Country Chart topper was 1976's "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)":

 

- In 1981, Rabbitt would have his first and only Billboard Hot 100 number one, with "I Love a Rainy Night":

- Rabbitt was also known for his 1990 single "American Boy", which became popular among troops during the Gulf War, and was used by Bob Dole for his 1996 campaign.

- In March of 1997, Rabbitt was diagnosed with lung cancer; he died after a 14-month-long battle.

[John "요한" Sulu 423]

On this day 1 year ago, American golfer Don January passed away at the age of 93.

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

King Kamehameha I of Hawaii died on this day 205 years ago, aged ~65.

- Kamehameha was born on the island of Hawaii; the Hawaiian Islands were separate entities to each other at the time. His birth name was "Pai'ea".

- Kamehameha became Aliʻi nui of Hawaii in 1782. With English aid, Kamehameha would begin conquering the rest of the Hawaiian islands in 1790, starting with Maui, then Molokai and Oahu in 1795, and would peacefully annex Kauai and Niihau in 1810.

- Kamehameha would reform the Hawaiian government to ensure the islands remained unified, and increased trade with the United Kingdom and United States.

- Kamehameha had at least 20 wives, and 35 children. After his death (also debated to have been on May 14, 1819), he was succeeded by his son Kamehameha II.

- Kamehameha's name was indeed the inspiration for the iconic energy blast attack in the Dragon Ball series; Akira Toriyama wanted to include "kame" (turtle) into the name and his wife suggested that he use it- albeit they are not pronounced the same way (king: kuh-may-huh-may-uh; DBZ: kaw-may-haw-may-ha).

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

American actor George Peppard died on this day 30 years ago, aged 65.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

Harold Gray died on this day 56 years ago, aged 74.

- Gray was a comic cartoonist, beginning to work for newspapers in 1913. He would initially do the lettering for comic strips such as The Gumps.

- In 1924, Gray came up with a comic called Little Orphan Otto for the Chicago Tribune- the editor decided to genderbend Otto during production, leading to Gray's most famous work- Little Orphan Annie:

The comic ran for 86 years (with different cartoonists continuing the strip for another 44 years after Gray's death in 1968), and would spawn a radio show (famously featured in A Christmas Story) and several movies (most notably the 1982 film).

- Outside of Little Orphan Annie, Gray would occasionally ghostwrite the comic strip Little Joe, and made a spinoff of Annie called Maw Green.

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

Shel Silverstein died on this day 25 years ago, aged 68.

- Silverstein's first major job was as a cartoonist for Playboy, beginning in 1957.

- Silverstein was also a songwriter who wrote Loretta Lynn's "One's on the Way", Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue", "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan", which had multiple successful artists sing it, and he would also make his own songs:

Other songs of his, such as "The Smoke-Off" and "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout (Would Not Take the Garbage Out)" would receive regular radio play on Dr. Demento's radio show.

- Silverstein is best known for his children's books, specifically 1964's The Giving Tree, and his poetry collections Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974) and A Light in the Attic (1981). He also made a children's-style book for older readers- Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book, written in 1960:

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

American stage, film and television director and actor Robert Moore died on this day 40 years ago, aged 57.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

Karl Schwarzschild died on this day 106 years ago, aged 42.

- Schwarzschild was an astronomer, with his first job in the field being an assistant at Vienna's Kuffner Observatory beginning in 1897. In 1901, he became a professor at the University of Gottingen, and became its observatory's director.

- Schwarzschild was known for his work in the study of photography (specifically density of photographic emulsions) and the dynamics of electric fields.

- In 1914, Schwarzschild volunteered to serve in World War I, specifically for the German Army's Russian front. Even during his service, he would work on scientific research, most famously building off of Einstein's theory of relativity. These included calculating the sizes of celestial objects' gravitational fields (the Schwarzschild metric) and the diameter of a black hole's event horizon (the Schwarzschild radius):

- During the war, Schwarzschild began suffering from the autoimmune disease pemphigus, which likely led to his early demise.

- Schwarzschild and his family were Jewish- his youngest son Alfred was murdered in the Holocaust in 1944 (his other two children fled Germany in the 1930s and survived). His older son, Martin, was also an astrophysicist.

[John "요한" Sulu 423]

On this day 1 year ago, American experimental filmmaker Kenneth Anger passed away at the age of 96.

 

Photo Credit: Fashion Film Festival Milano per Creative Commons license

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

John Smith died on this day 30 years ago, aged 55.

- Smith would first run for Parliament in a 1961 by-election and came in second place- the same thing happened when he ran again in 1964. He would end up winning a seat in the election of 1970.

- Smith would quickly rise through the Labour Party's ranks, and was chosen as the Secretary of State for Trade in 1978 under the Callaghan administration. From 1979 until 1992, he would also serve in various roles of the party's opposition shadow cabinet.

- In 1992, Smith would be elected the leader of the opposition (succeeding Neil Kinnock), and was known to make jokes at the Conservative Party's expense- these included calling John Major "the man with the non-Midas touch", and his personality appealed to voters- polling for the Labour Party skyrocketed, often 20 points above the Conservatives on average.

- Smith had a heart attack in 1988, and a second one did him in six years later. His successor as party leader was Tony Blair- who would end up leading the party to victory in the 1997 election.

- Smith appeared once on the DeathList, in 1991 (spot number 39- of the 40 on the list that year).

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

Johan van Oldenbarnevelt died on this day 405 years ago, aged 71.

- Van Oldenbarnevelt would enter Dutch politics in the 1570s, and would become the Lands' Advocate of Holland in 1586 (effectively a high-ranking diplomatic position). Among the diplomatic trips he took during his time as Lands' Advocate included meeting Henry IV of France, and both Elizabeth I and James I/VI of England.

- In 1602, Van Oldenbarnevelt became the leading founder of the Dutch East India Company, a monopoly over Holland's spice trade in Indonesia (specifically nutmeg and cloves).

- A major highlight of Van Oldenbarnevelt's career was his meeting with Philip III of Spain in 1609, which led to a 12-year truce in the Eighty Years' War.

- Van Oldenbarnevelt was a supporter of religious tolerance, and therefore supported the emerging Remonstrant movement in the 1610s. Riots between the Remonstrants and their opponents (the Gomarists), and Van Oldenbarnevelt would be deemed a political enemy for his support of the Remonstants.

- Van Oldenbarnevelt would be arrested for "treason" in 1618, and was deemed guilty in what historians deem an unfair trial. He would be beheaded two days after the verdict, and his last words- to the executioner- were "make it short":

Following this, his sons Willem and Reinier would lead a conspiracy to assassinate prince Maurice of Orange in 1623- they were found out. Reinier was captured and executed, while Willem would escape to Spanish-controlled Brussels with his family.

- I've mentioned this before- Van Oldenbarnevelt is a distant ancestor of mine:

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

American actress and singer Doris Day died on this day 5 years ago, aged 97.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

Billie Burke died on this day 54 years ago, aged 85.

- Burke's father was a circus clown, and she would follow him- into entertainment, that is. Burke's family moved to London in her childhood, and she debuted on stage in 1903, before moving back in the 1900s decade to star in Broadway musicals.

- Burke's first movie was the 1916 silent film Peggy, in which she played the titular character, and she would see further success that year when she starred in Gloria's Romance. She was considered one of the biggest names in 1910s film.

- Burke also had a successful career in sound films beginning in the 1930s, including A Bill of Divorcement (1932), Dinner at Eight (1933), Merrily We Live (1938), and most notably in The Wizard of Oz in the role of Glinda, the Good Witch of the North:

Burke would also decline taking a role in Gone With the Wind.

- With the advent of television, Burke hosted her own talk show, At Home with Billie Burke, from 1951 to 1952.

- Burke's final acting role was as Cordelia Fosgate in the 1960 film Sergeant Rutledge, while her final screen role was a cameo appearance in the Cantinflas film Pepe later that year.

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

British actress Anna Lee died on this day 20 years ago, aged 91.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,767]

Louisa Adams died on this day 172 years ago, aged 77.

- Adams' maiden name was Johnson. She was born in London, where her American father was working as a merchant; her uncle Thomas was the first governor of Maryland following the Declaration of Independence. Adams was the only foreign-born US First Lady until Melania Trump became FLOTUS in 2017.

- Louisa married John Quincy Adams in 1797, and would often accompany him on his diplomatic missions to Prussia, Russia, and the UK. The two of them had four children together- but they outlived three of them.

- Adams became First Lady in 1825, but she was often separated from John Quincy, who grew bitter towards her due to the stress of his job. This, along with the fact that her detractors deemed her a wannabe aristocrat, made her miserable. She did, however, find joy in playing the harp, spinning silk from her pet silkworms, and writing things such as plays, an autobiography, and a critique on gender inequality.

- The Adamses left the White House in 1829, and Louisa's mental state improved. She became a very vocal abolitionist, going to the point where she bought an enslaved African-American woman just to free her. She would also challenge the Biblical view that women should be subservient to men.

- After Adams' death in 1852, she became the first US woman to be honored by an adjournment of the US Congress.