Death Anniversary Thread

[John "요한" Sulu 429]

Two years ago from yesterday, Filipino president Fidel Ramos, who served his term from 1992 to 1998, passed away at the age of 94.

[Drewsky1211 4,822]

Horace Mann died on this day 165 years ago, aged 63.

- One of Mann's distant direct ancestors was John Man, who served as England's ambassador to Spain from 1567 to 1568.

- Mann had little schooling, but learned by borrowing books from his local library, and would graduate from Brown University as a valedictorian. From there, he would study law.

- Mann would be elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1827, serving there until 1833, and would be elected to the state Senate in 1835. His platform consisted of charity works, school reform, and the prohibition of alcohol. He was best known for the second part of that, inaugurating a system to educate soon-to-be teachers on what curriculum should be taught, stating how schools should be paid for by taxes, and also believing they should be nonreligious in nature. He did, however, believe that learning the letters of the alphabet and their phonics should have been eliminated.

- Mann was elected to the US House of Representatives in a special 1848 election to replace John Quincy Adams after he died in office. He would quickly make a name for himself as an abolitionist, believing that enslaved Blacks could rise up, and then create their own settlements in the west. Mann would serve until 1853, having given up his seat to run as the Free Soil party candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 1852. Mann died of typhoid fever six years later.

[Drewsky1211 4,822]

Mark Margolis died on this day a year ago, aged 83.

- Margolis started out on Broadway, and he would have roles in films that included Short Eyes, Scarface, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. He would often collaborate with director Darren Aronofsky, which included Pi, Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, and Noah.

- On TV, Margolis acted in select episodes of Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and several episodes of Oz, but was most famous for his role as Hector Salamanca on Breaking Bad:

He would reprise his role for the prequel series Better Call Saul, appearing in more episodes there than in the sequel show (15 compared to 8).

 

 

...That's about it (not much else to say about him)- so here's a fun fact: he and Tina Turner were born on the same day, and died within 3 months of each other.

[John "요한" Sulu 429]

On this day 2 years ago, American sportscaster Vin Scully passed away at the age of 94.

 

Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea per Creative Commons license

[Drewsky1211 4,822]

Henry I of France died on this day 964 years ago, aged 52.

- Henry was the son of king Robert II, who would crown him as co-ruler in 1027. Henry would become the sole king upon Robert's death in 1031.

- Among Henry's actions as king were giving the Duchy of Burgundy to his brother Robert in 1032, and assist William of Normandy when his vassals revolted against him- said William later became William the Conqueror.

- Henry was known to have committed simony by selling bishop appointments, but was not excommunicated- likely due to his actions in helping build monasteries.

- Henry had four children with his third wife, Anne of Kyiv- Philip, Emma/Edigna, Robert, and Hugh. Philip would succeed him as king in 1060 after he died after a 29-year reign.

[Drewsky1211 4,822]

Lord (Frederick) North died on this day 232 years ago, aged 60.

- North was the son of the Earl of Guilford, and was elected to the House of Commons in 1754- just 22 years old. He was originally a member of the Whigs, but his ideology (such as a speech that caused the expulsion of progressive MP John Wilkes in 1764) caused him to defect to the Tory party in 1770.

- North would see several cabinet positions during his ascent; he was a junior Lord of the Treasury during the Newcastle administration, and became the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1767.

- North became Prime Minister in 1770, and he would see an early success by preventing a war against Spain breaking out when they tried to seize the Falkland Islands that year. However, his administration is far more known for overseeing the American Revolution, which included North introducing the Intolerable Acts following the Boston Tea Party. While the Tories would see gains in Parliament during the war, North would be removed as PM in a vote of no confidence in 1782 after the British surrender at Yorktown.

- North remained in Parliament after his ousting, becoming Home Secretary in 1783. He would accede to the House of Lords in 1790 after his father died (aged 86), before dying two years later, having gone completely blind by the time of his death.

[Drewsky1211 4,822]

Rick James died on this day 20 years ago, aged 56.

- Rick James' actual name was James Johnson, and was part of a criminal gang as a teen. He would flee to Canada to evade authorities, taking the alias "Ricky James Matthews" (quickly dropping the last name and the Y).

- James would create a band in 1964 called The Mynah Birds, with Nick St. Nicholas (of later Steppenwolf fame) being a member at one point. After the band broke up during a record dispute in 1966, James would then become a songwriter for Motown Records.

- James became a solo artist in 1973, which saw him create song such as "Mary Jane", "Give It to Me Baby", and of course "Super Freak":

MTV notably refused to air this music video due to its sexual nature, and James would accuse the channel of racism due to Michael Jackson and Prince seemingly being the only two Black singers whose music videos they aired. He would organize a boycott (where artists would pull their videos from the channel), which was cosigned by David Bowie (who agreed in the scarcity of music videos from Black singers).

- After "U Can't Touch This" achieved worldwide success in 1990, James would sue MC Hammer for a shared songwriting credit (which he won), earning him a Grammy Award due to this.

- James would be convicted for kidnapping, rape and assault in 1991, and received a five-year sentence in 1993- he got out in 1996. James was on cocaine while doing this, and reminisced about it on an episode of Chappelle's Show in 2004:

His heavy drug use ended up hastening his death from heart failure.

[John "요한" Sulu 429]

On this day 2 years ago, Clu Gulager passed away at the age of 93.

 

Photo Credit: Michael Bugard per Creative Commons license

[Drewsky1211 4,822]

Red Adair died on this day 20 years ago, aged 89.

- Adair served in a bomb disposal unit during World War II before getting a job in the oil industry. Specifically, he was hired to create shaped explosive charges to put out fires at oil wells- the explosives were used in order to displace the oxygen fire needs to burn.

- In 1962, Adair went to Algeria to put out the Devil's Cigarette Fire, a natural gas fire which had been burning for nearly six months. He would use a modified bulldozer to drop the charge, followed by using reservoir water and mud to cool the area and control the flow of natural gas to prevent it from reigniting. This exploit made Adair a celebrity, and it would inspire the 1968 film Hellfighters (starring John Wayne as a character loosely based on Adair).

- In 1991, Adair would go to Kuwait to help extinguish oil fires set by retreating Iraqi soldiers in the Gulf War- he was 75 years old when he did this. Adair would retire from firefighting in 1993.

- Adair would appear on the DeathList eight times between 1992 and 2004, and was the seventh hit (of 12) on the 2004 list.

[The Unknown Man 593]

Singer and actress Olivia Newton-John died on this day 2 years ago, aged 73.

[Drewsky1211 4,822]

Johnny Hardwick died on this day a year ago, aged 64.

- Hardwick majored in journalism, but became a stand-up comedian. He was the first comedian to appear on The Jon Stewart Show when it premiered in 1993.

- After a performance at The Laugh Factory, Hardwick was approached by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, who wanted him to help write the show. He would soon be hired to voice Dale Gribble:

Initially, Daniel Stern was supposed to voice the character, but Hardwick was chosen due to the producers agreeing with his salary. Hardwick appeared as Dale in all but one episode of the show (season 7's "An Officer and a Gentle Boy"), and was planned to reprise his role for the upcoming revival series.

- Hardwick would create a YouTube channel in 2012, and would often perform songs and skits in Dale's voice:

- Hardwick suddenly died while taking a bath.

[Drewsky1211 4,822]

Hieronymus Bosch died on this day 508 years ago, aged 66.

- Bosch's surname was originally "van Aken", but took 'Bosch' as a toponym from his hometown of 's'-Hertogenbosch. His grandfather and uncle were also painters.

- Bosch was most well known for his triptychs (paintings with three scenes in them, kind of like a comic), often basing them on religious scenes, such as the life of 3rd century St. Anthony, the martyrdom of St. Wilgefortis, and most notably his own 1505 work The Garden of Earthly Delights, named after the second panel:

The vividly surreal imagery in this painting (centuries before the surrealist movement) led some to believe Bosch may have been on some sort of psychedelic substance while creating it- some go further by hypothesizing that he inadvertently and continuously ate rye tainted with the ergot fungus, known to have caused hallucinations.

[Sly Ronnie 926]

Elvis Presley died today in 1977 aged 42.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,822]

Richard Williams died on this day 5 years ago, aged 86.

- Williams became inspired to become an animator after seeing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs when he was five years old. He would get his first job as an advertisement artist.

- In 1958, Williams would produce his first film, The Little Island:

He would soon become an animator for other films' title sequences, such as What's New Pussycat? and A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum.

- Williams began work on his magnum opus The Thief and the Cobbler in 1964- the film was notorious for its extremely lengthy period of development hell, and it ended up being released by Miramax in 1993 (under the name Arabian Knight). The finished product had an extreme amount of studio meddling (such as originally mute characters having speaking voices, and added musical numbers)- and fans of his work have attempted to stitch together Williams' original vision through what is known as "The Recobbled Cut":

- Williams was also known for being the chief animator for Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988- he was initially reluctant to do a live action-animation hybrid film, but would soon declare it one of his greatest achievements. Williams won two Oscars for his work on the film.

- Williams' final film was 2015's Prologue, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film the following year.

[Drewsky1211 4,822]

Ray Chapman died on this day 104 years ago, aged 29.

- Chapman's first major league baseball team was the Cleveland Naps, which he was drafted to in 1912, renamed to the Cleveland Indians in 1914 (and now known as the Cleveland Guardians).

- Chapman became very well known for his stealing base and sacrifice bunt techniques, with a total batting average of .303. Rumors spread that he was planning to retire after the 1920 season to focus on his new marriage and starting a family. However, a tragic accident prevented this:

- On August 16, 1920, Chapman was playing against the New York Yankees, when pitcher Carl Mays threw a pitch that accidentally hit him in the head. Chapman started bleeding from the ear, and players from both teams (and a doctor) rushed to aid him, before he lost consciousness shortly thereafter. Chapman died the following morning due to a skull fracture. Chapman's death led to people rallying for players to be required to wear helmets- albeit it took over three decades for that rule to be instated.

[Drewsky1211 4,822]

Sultan Ibrahim died on this day 376 years ago, aged 32.

- Ibrahim was the youngest child of Ottoman sultan Ahmed I, and was initially unlikely to take the throne. However, his older brother Murad IV executed several of his brothers- with his life being spared thanks to his mother (and Murad's, for that instance).

- Ibrahim acceded to the throne in 1640 following Murad's death. Possibly due to his paranoia-filled childhood (which led to chronic stress-induced migraines), Ibrahim would often seclude himself in his palace with his harem. It is also possible Ibrahim was a fat fetishist (considering his preference for overweight concubines). A likely apocryphal story says that he ended up drowning all 280 women in his harem after one of them had a relationship with another man. 

- Ibrahim was also known for his lavish lifestyle, decorating his rooms in soft furs and mirrors, and putting on an exorbitant amount of jewelry and perfume.

- In 1644, Ibrahim began a war against Venice after ships carrying pilgrims to Mecca were seized by Maltese corsairs (declaring war on them due to the fact the Maltese ship docked in Crete, then a Venetian territory)- which would last for over 20 years. The Venetians would block the Dardanelles Strait, leading to food and supply scarcities and then a revolt. This ended with Ibrahim's ousting and subsequent execution by strangulation, and his son Mehmed IV succeeded him.

[The Ashes Urn 1,360]

American actress Mildred Davis died on this day 55 years ago, aged 68.

 

[John "요한" Sulu 429]

On this day 2 years ago, American actress Virginia Patton, who starred in the film "It's a Wonderful Life", passed away at the age of 97.

[John "요한" Sulu 429]

On this day 1 year ago, American politician James L. Buckley, who was a New York Senator from 1971 to 1977 passed away at the age of 100.

[John "요한" Sulu 429]

On this day 1 year ago, American politician Al Quie, who was a Minnesota representative from 1958 to 1979 and Minnesota governor from 1979 to 1983 passed away at the age of 99.

[Drewsky1211 4,822]

Groucho Marx died on this day 47 years ago, aged 86.

- Groucho's real name was Julius, and was the third-born of the Marx Brothers- albeit his family group was not his first act; that was as a singer in a group called The Leroy Trio.

- While Groucho and his brothers were popular vaudeville acts, they would achieve celebrity status with the advent of film- in which he would often sing:

This song would effectively become Marx's signature song, which he used for the theme song of You Bet Your Life on TV- which he was equally-famous for hosting.

- Marx's iconic mustache and glasses were initially used for comedic cosmetics- however, he would later on grow a real mustache, and his eyesight weakened to where he needed prescription lenses. His look also inspired one of the most famous novelty disguises- the Groucho glasses:

- In later life, Marx would form friendships with a surprising amount of rock musicians, which included the likes of Alice Cooper, Queen (the A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races albums were named after two of his films), and Elton John; John would name his 1973 album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player after a conversation he had with Marx, where he pointed finger guns at him:

- Marx's death was overshadowed by that of Elvis Presley's- Elvis died three days before Groucho.

[The Ashes Urn 1,360]

English pioneer of aviation Claude Grahame-White died on this day 65 years ago, aged 79.

 

 

 

[Drewsky1211 4,822]

Johan de Witt died on this day 352 years ago, aged 46.

- De Witt was appointed the pensionary of the city of Dordrecht in 1650, and then in 1653 he would be appointed as the Grand Pensionary of the Netherlands- the highest civil service position within the country at the time (he was not a prime minister, as some think he was, but he was the de facto state leader of the Netherlands).

- In 1654, De Witt would co-author the Treaty of Westminster, which ended the First Anglo-Dutch War. He would build up the Dutch Navy, and was prepared for the Second Anglo-Dutch War when it broke out in 1665 (the Great Plague and Great Fire of London in 1666 largely led to the war's end). Despite the wars, De Witt would form an alliance with England (as well as Sweden) should France decide to attack any of them.

- De Witt was responsible for largely dismantling the Orange dynasty's power within the country (though he had planned for the future William III to have a role in a future administration). In 1672, England would betray the alliance by attacking the Netherlands with France, and De Witt was injured by an assassin, and resigned due to the war.

- Soon after, De Witt's brother Cornelis was arrested on charges of treason (by Orangist supporters), and sentenced to exile. When Johan came to help ensure a safe departure for his brother, the two were soon ambushed and lynched by a local militia- who then proceeded to cannibalize their livers (which is somehow what De Witt is most well-known for).

[The Ashes Urn 1,360]

American professor Revilo P. Oliver died on this day 30 years ago, aged 86.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,822]

Baldwin II of Jerusalem died on this day 893 years ago, aged 56.

- Born in France as the son of the count of Rethel, Baldwin would participate in the First Crusade, notably being one of the leaders in the campaign to take Bethlehem.

- Baldwin was made the count of Edessa (a crusader state in modern Syria) in 1100, and would marry the daughter of an Armenian nobleman in order to appease his new subjects.

- In 1104, Baldwin would be captured by Turkic soldiers and would be held for ransom for four years. As part of the conditions of his release, Baldwin had to free most of the Muslim prisoners within Edessa, and allow them to practice their religion (which included allowing them to build a mosque).

- Baldwin was willed as the secondary heir to the throne of Jerusalem following the death of Baldwin I- Baldwin I's planned heir (his brother Eustace III of Boulougne) was unable to go there from France. Baldwin II would continue fighting against Abbasid Turks, and was captured again in 1123 (while he was planning to practice his falconry)- being released the next year.

- Baldwin died after a 13-year reign. His successors were a joint couple- his daughter Melisende, and son-in-law Fulk of Anjou (Fulk and his previous wife were the paternal grandparents of Henry II of England).