Death Anniversary Thread

[Drewsky1211 4,742]

Martha the passenger pigeon died on this day 110 years ago, aged 29.

- Martha was hatched around 1885, believed to have been the daughter of a breeding pair within the last captive group of passenger pigeons (once numbered in the billions, but hunted to near-extinction due to overhunting), owned by zoologist Charles Otis Whitman. A different theory suggests she was hatched at the Cincinnati Zoo; she was a part of the enclosure by 1907. She was named after US First Lady Martha Washington.

- By the time of Martha's first verifiable appearance in the zoo, she was one of only three remaining passenger pigeons in the world (the other two were male, hopefully to start a conservation program). One of the males died in the spring of 1909, and the other in July of 1910.

- As the endling of her species, the zoo offered a $1,000 reward for anyone who could find a breeding partner for her- which of course was never given out.

- Martha died of old age, rendering the passenger pigeon extinct with her death. Her taxidermized body would be given to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC, where it remains on display to this day:

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

American actor Howland Chamberlain died on this day 40 years ago, aged 73.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,742]

Ho Chi Minh died on this day 55 years ago, aged 79.

- Ho's birth name was Nguyen Sinh Cung. He would take his new name in 1941, taking the generic Vietnamese surname Ho; 'Chi Minh' is Vietnamese for "enlightened spirit".

- In 1911, Ho would be hired as a kitchen assistant on a French ship (Vietnam was then the colony of French Indochina), and would then get hired as a chef in New York City. He would also work in the UK, before returning to France in 1919.

- While in France, Ho would join a pro-Vietnamese independence group, and wrote letters to world leaders such as Georges Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson seeking their support. These letters were obviously ignored. He would then live in the Soviet Union and (pre-communist) China, learning about communism and believing Vietnam would benefit from it due to its anti-imperialist views.

- Ho would return to Vietnam in 1941 following its invasion by Japan, rallying Vietnamese nationalists to form a guerrilla army against Japan, and following the end of World War II, France- beginning the First Indochina War.

- After the fall of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, presidential elections were supposed to be held- with Ho achieving 80% in polls. The US did not want him to become president of the now-independent Vietnam due to his communist stance (Ho was a nationalist first and foremost, however), and the American government would lead a campaign to encourage migration to the south; this would split the country in two and initiate the Vietnam War. Ho, however, would remain the president of North Vietnam.

- Ho had a heart attack in early 1969, which was complicated by his diabetes. He would die in September of that year, and was president of North Vietnam for exactly 24 years.

- Ho's most obvious legacy is Vietnam's largest city being named after him- originally called Saigon until the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

American academic, educator, naval officer and religious leader Mildred H. McAfee died on this day 30 years ago, aged 94.

 

[John "요한" Sulu 419]

On this day 2 years ago, American astronomer and astrophysicist Frank Drake passed away at the age of 92.

 

Photo Credit: Amalex5 per Creative Commons license

[Drewsky1211 4,742]

W. Clement Stone died on this day 22 years ago, aged 100.

- Stone was an entrepreneur early in his life, setting up a newsstand when he was 13 years old. He would then become an insurance agent, dropping out of high school to seek a career.

- Stone would found Combined Insurance in 1922, which would grow significantly and would soon become a billion-dollar company. The company would merge with another insurance company in 1987.

- Stone was more well-known for publishing self-help books, often working with fellow self-help author Napoleon Hill. Among his most well-known books are Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude and The Other Side of the Mind.

- Stone was a noted philanthropist, and at one point his net worth exceeded $2 billion. When he turned 100, he celebrated his centennial birthday by donating $100,000 to the University of Illinois Chicago.

- Stone appeared on the DeathList once in 2002, and was the 10th and last hit on that year's list.

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

American television and film executive James T. Aubrey died on this day 30 years ago, aged 75.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,742]

Steve Harwell died on this day a year ago, aged 56.

- Harwell's first band was the rap group FOS (Freedom Of Speech), inspired by the works of Public Enemy. He would leave the group in 1992.

- Harwell would co-found Smash Mouth in 1994, with the group achieving their first hit single in 1997 with "Walkin' on the Sun":

- With the release of 1999's Astro Lounge, Harwell and Smash Mouth saw ogrish success with its lead single "All Star"- which was almost instantly licensed to be used in the film Mystery Men (with some of its characters appearing in the music video):

The song swamped the airwaves, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

- Before its iconic usage in the first Shrek movie, a soundalike instrumental was initially planned to be used. After its licensing, Smash Mouth was asked to record a cover of The Monkees' "I'm A Believer" for the film, which became another one of the band's biggest hits:

- Harwell would also make voice cameos as himself in animated shows such as Kim Possible and What's New, Scooby Doo?.

- Harwell battled alcoholism throughout his life, slipping deeper into his drinking problem following the tragic death of his infant son from leukemia. He would often perform live concerts while drunk, culminating in a 2021 concert where he would threaten the audience, and make lewd remarks and gestures. Harwell would announce his retirement soon after to focus on his health, being replaced as Smash Mouth's lead singer by Zach Goode. This alcoholism is eventually what killed him- he died of liver failure.

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host Joan Rivers died on this day 10 years ago, aged 81.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,742]

Emperor Nijo died on this day 859 years ago, aged 22.

- Nijo's birth name was Morihito. He was the son of Emperor Go-Shirakawa, and would accede to the throne upon his father's abdication in 1158.

- Nijo's reign would see a short civil war (the Heiji Rebellion of 1159) fought by rival families, which solidified the Taira clan's major influence in political affairs. Nijo was unaffiliated with the fighting, which lasted only two weeks.

- Nijo had six different era names during his 7-year reign. In order, they were: Hogen (1158-1159), Heiji (1159-1160), Eiryaku (1160-1161), Oho (1161-1163), Chokan (1163-1165), and Eiman (June-August 1165).

- Nijo would abdicate following an unidentified illness in August of 1165, with his eight-month-old son Rokujo succeeding him as emperor. Nijo died a month later.

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and civil rights activist Josh White died on this day 55 years ago, aged 55.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,742]

Pope John XIII died on this day 1052 years ago, aged 42.

- John is believed to have been a member of the ancient Crescentii family, possibly a brother of 10th-century Italian aristocrat Crescentius the Elder.

- Before becoming pope, John served as the bishop of Narni, as well as being appointed the librarian of the Vatican Library in 961.

- John became pope in 965 after the death of Leo VIII. He would issue reforms trying to weaken the powers of Italian nobles, and a militia loyal to said nobles would capture and imprison John in December of that year. John would manage to sneak away from captivity, and returned to Rome eleven months later- his own supporters having led an uprising against those who seized him.

- In life, John was known for his desire to learn (likely stemming from his job as the Vatican's librarian), and was also known by two nicknames- "John the Good" for his piety, and "The White Hen" due to his hair color.

- John died after seven years as pope, and would be succeeded by Pope Benedict VI.

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

American singer and songwriter Ernest Tubb died on this day 40 years ago, aged 70.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,742]

Billie Lou Watt died on this day 23 years ago, aged 77.

- Watt was originally a stage actress before moving to radio voice acting in 1949, voicing the titular character of The Billy Bean Show. One of the only live-action roles following this was portraying Ellie Bergman in the soap opera Search for Tomorrow from 1968 to 1981.

- Watt would gain fame in the 1960s by providing voices to the titular characters of some of the first anime brought to the US- those being Osamu Tezuka's Kimba the White Lion and Astro Boy:

Watt would also help writing lines for the English dub when needed.

- Among other voice acting roles Watt was known for included Elsie the Cow in Borden Cheese commercials, and Eustace's mother in Courage the Cowardly Dog (her final role before her death):

Watt died before Courage finished its run, and its fourth and final season was dedicated to her memory.

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

American sports executive Walter A. Brown died on this day 60 years ago, aged 59.

 

 

 

[Sly Ronnie 879]

46 years ago today since Keith Moon, drummer with The Who died aged 32.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,742]

Queen Elizabeth II died on this day 2 years ago, aged 96.

Going to do something a bit different today... I'm going to take you back down memory lane by recapping her final week as recorded by the forum (time zones are EST).

 

September 1, 2022: Joke made about the queen dying before Boris Johnson can turn his duties over to incoming PM Liz Truss.

September 2, 2022: Confirmation that she would no longer attend the Braemar Highland Games (scheduled for the following day).

September 3, 2022: Speculation made that she may stay at Balmoral Castle permanently- which she did. Somehow leads to a semantics argument on the spelling of 'toerag'.

September 6, 2022: Meets with Liz Truss to confirm her as PM. Everyone instantly notices the odd coloration of her hands (in her last picture):

September 7, 2022: Cancels a privy meeting due to exhaustion. Makes her final written statement issuing condolences for the victims of the mass stabbing in Saskachewan. Nobody seems to think she's imminently on the way out.

September 8, 2022:

- 7:35 AM: TQR makes the announcement about Buckingham Palace's statement about her health. TV coverage begins with the palace's official announcement.

- 7:44 AM: Repost from then-Twitter noting that Nadhim Zahawi "urgently" briefing Liz Truss.

- 7:51 AM: Announcement that Prince William is heading to Balmoral. People finally begin to recognize her incoming demise and post sweepstake dates.

- 8:48 AM: Announcement that Princess Anne, Prince Edward and the Archbishop of Canterbury are heading to Balmoral.

- 11:10 AM: Queen Elizabeth II's recorded time of death.

- 11:31 AM: First death rumor posted by Sean 20 minutes after it actually happened (still not announced).

- 11:47 AM: Announcement that ITV to suspend normal programming indefinitely at 5 PM BST.

- 1:30 PM: Thatcher (obviously) breaks the official announcement of her death. The forum's loading times slow to a crawl due to all the incoming user traffic, but are mostly back to normal within a few hours.

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

American animator and pianist Frank Thomas died on this day 20 years ago, aged 92.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,742]

Burgess Meredith died on this day 27 years ago, aged 89.

- Meredith went by his middle name- his first name was Oliver.

- Meredith's made his Broadway debut in a 1930 production of Romeo and Juliet, and was thrust into stardom in 1935's The Barretts of Wimpole Street. Decades later in 1974, he received a Tony Award nomination for a performance in Ulysses in Nighttown.

- Meredith's first major film role was as George in the 1939 adaptation of Of Mice and Men. He would receive several award nominations in 1975 (most notably an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor) for his role as Harry Greener in The Day of the Locust. His most memorable role, however, was as Mickey (pictured above) in the first three Rocky films.

- On TV, Meredith was best known for four leading Twilight Zone roles, and as The Penguin in the Adam West Batman series:

Some may also remember him for providing his voice to the titular Puff the Magic Dragon in a 1978 TV special adapting the song.

- Meredith's final role before his death was (surprisingly) in a video game- voicing the Wofford brothers in the 1996 PC game Ripper.

- At the time of his death, Meredith had been diagnosed with both Alzheimer's disease and skin cancer. He appeared on the DeathList only once, in 1997, the eighth hit of the nine that year.

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

American entrepreneur and musician Ernie Ball died on this day 20 years ago, aged 74.

 

[John "요한" Sulu 419]

On this day 1 year ago, South African politician and Zulu tribal leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi passes away at the age of 95.

 

Photo Credit: Rob Bogaerts/Anefo per Creative Commons license

[Drewsky1211 4,742]

Richard Kiel died on this day 10 years ago, aged 74,

- Kiel had a height of 7'2" (218 cm), which led to him often being typecast as intimidating villain characters. These would include Kanamit in The Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man", The Ghost (actually a Russian agent) in an episode of Gilligan's Island, the titular caveman in the 1962 movie Eegah, and most notably Jaws in both The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker:

- Kiel was initially cast as Bruce Banner's alter ego in the 1977 The Incredible Hulk show, but was recast by Lou Ferrigno because the producers wanted a shorter, more muscular Hulk. Kiel did not mind this, finding the green makeup hard to wash off.

- In later years, Kiel would act in several more-lighthearted films- among which included Happy Gilmore, the live-action Inspector Gadget, and Tangled- in the latter film he provided a few lines for tavern patron Vladimir:

- Kiel would die three days before his 75th birthday.

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

American actor Charles Drake died on this day 30 years ago, aged 76.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,742]

Jessica Tandy died on this day 30 years ago, aged 85.

- Tandy made her acting debut in 1927, often starring in Shakespearian plays on West End in the '30s.

- Tandy would move to the US, and had notable appearances in films such as The Seventh Cross, A Woman's Vengeance, and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.

- Tandy's stage career would continue after her emigration, and she earned three Tony Awards for A Streetcar Named Desire (1948), The Gin Game (1977), and Foxfire (1982).

- Throughout her acting career, Tandy would often collaborate with Hume Cronyn, who she married in 1942. The two would see a resurgence in their careers in the 1980s by starring in movies that included Cocoon and Batteries Not Included.

- In 1990, Tandy won her only Oscar for her role as the titular Miss Daisy of Driving Miss Daisy. At 80 years old, she was the oldest recipient of the Best Actress award.

- The same year she won her Oscar, Tandy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and died after a four-year battle.

[jcc 228]

Reggae ledge Peter Tosh dotd 37 years ago aged 42.