Death Anniversary Thread

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On this day in 1986 american sprinter , Olympic gold medallist (as part of the mens relay team)and professional athlete Jackson Scholz,died aged 89.

He was the first person to take part in  Olympic sprinting finals  at three consecutive Olympics. 

 

 

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Ito Hirobumi died on this day 113 years ago, aged 68.

Born as Hayashi Risuke, his father was adopted by a samurai in 1853, causing him to change his name. After the Boshin War and Meiji Restoration, Ito was appointed the governor of Hyogo Prefecture, and would become a member of the Iwakura Embassy in the early 1870s to bring knowledge of the western world to Japan.

 

In 1885, Ito was appointed as Japan's first ever prime minister. While he resigned from the position in 1888, Ito helped work on the Meiji Constitution published the next year. Hirobumi would serve as PM on and off again from 1892 to 1896, 1898, and 1900 to 1901. After Korea was made a Japanese protectorate in 1905, he became its resident-general, serving until June of 1909.

 

In October of that year, Ito met with Russian foreign minister Vladimir Kokovtsov in Manchuria while on a train. After departing at the railway station in Harbin, Ito was shot dead by a Korean independence activist named An Jung-geun- An would give a list of fifteen reasons why he believed Ito should've died at his trial, and would be executed for the crime in 1910.

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English singer of traditional pop in the 1950s and early 1960s Alma Cogan died on this day 56 years ago, aged 34.

 

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Russian-American aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky died on this day 50 years ago, aged 83.

 

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King Albert II of Germany died on this day 583 years ago, aged 42.

Albert was the son of the duke of Austria, and became duke at the age of 7 when his father died, with his uncles acting as regents- their fighting nearly led to civil war due to each trying to take full control of Austria. Albert became king proper in 1411, when he was 14.

 

Albert notoriously ordered the forced conversion of Austrian Jews to Christianity in 1420 due to church influence. Those who did not convert were either banished (by being sent down the Danube River in boats), stripped of their property, tortured, or burned at the stake. Jewish babies were also forcibly baptized (Pope Martin V stopped Albert from doing that when he found out). The religion was completely banned in Austria in 1421.

 

Albert fought in the Hussite War against the Hussites (followers of Jan Hus) with his father-in-law, Sigismund (the Holy Roman Emperor). Sigismund declared Albert to be his successor as king, and Albert was crowned upon Sigismund's death in 1437. Sigismund would also become the king of Hungary and Bohemia.

 

And before you ask, yes, he does look like that old Spoderman meme:

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On this day 34 years ago in 1988 , British actor,  comedian and director Charles Hawtrey,  best known for his various roles in the British comedy Carry on films,  died aged 73.

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5 minutes ago, Gooseberry Crumble said:

On this day 34 years ago in 1988 , British actor,  comedian and director Charles Hawtrey,  best known for his various roles in the British comedy Carry on films,  died aged 73.

 

His last TV appearance was on Supergran alongside Gudrun Ure (who is still with us)

 

Patrick Trougton the same

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On this day 9 years ago in 2013 american singer, guitarist and songwriter  Lou Reed died aged 71 of liver disease. 

He was the principal songwriter and singer with group  Velvet Underground but also had a hugely successful solo career.

 His songs include  Walk on the wild side, Perfect day, Satellite of love , Vicious and Sweet Jane.

 

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Its 21 years since the death of John P. Roberts, heir to the Polident/Poligrip fortune. He was (along with partner Joel Rosenman) the money behind the Woodstock festival.

He and Rosenman tried to pitch a TV show whereby two men with more money than ideas tried to launch businesses. To research they placed an ad in The WSJ, asking for business ideas, one of which was to build a recording studio in Woodstock to harness local talent (including Dylan & Hendrix). This morphed into the eponymous music festival. It took him until 1980 to get out of debt from the event.

 

He died from cancer, aged 56.

 

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American radio and television announcer Rod Roddy died on this day 19 years ago, aged 66.

 

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American-Brazilian-British scientist David Bohm died on this day 30 years ago, aged 74.

 

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Crime fiction author James M. Cain died on this day 45 years ago, aged 85.

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Margaret I of Denmark died on this day 610 years ago, aged 59.

Margaret (or Margrethe) was the daughter of Valdemar IV of Denmark. She married Haakon VI of Norway, and had a son, Olaf (II of Denmark and IV of Norway), who would become the king of Denmark following his grandfather's death in 1375- with his mother's help, arguing against her brother in law, Henry III, Duke of Mecklenburg. As Olaf was a child when he was crowned, Margaret ruled as regent. Margaret was widowed in 1380, and their son would also become king of Norway because of this. Olaf died suddenly at the age of 16 in 1387.

 

Margaret was chosen as regent during this time, and would soon be known as the "Lady King" to her subjects due to her effective statesmanship. In 1388, Margaret sent troops to help depose the unpopular king Albert of Sweden, who was defeated in battle the following year. Margaret was instated as queen of Sweden, giving her control over much of Scandinavia. In 1397, Margaret united the three countries into the Kalmar Union (which lasted until 1523).

 

Margaret is considered to be among the most powerful women of her time. It wasn't until 1972 that another female would become the queen of Denmark- she would also be named Margrethe.

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On this day 12 years ago in 2010, Jonathan Motzffeldt, the first Prime minister of Greenland died aged 72.

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American professional basketball coach and executive Red Auerbach died on this day 16 years ago, aged 89.

 

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Its 12 years since the death of US actor James MacArthur, aged 72.

The adopted son of playwright Charles MacArthur and actress Helen Hayes, he started as a boy actor in radio and theatre work, initially in productions with his mother where a boy actor was needed, before his first TV role at 18; he was contracted to Disney for a time, leading to other work for the studio for which he dropped out of Harvard. Notable films were Kidnapped! and Swiss Family Robinson, both 1960, the same year he made his Broadway debut, opposite Jane Fonda, which would be his only Broadway role, and also the year he had a couple of (very) minor hit singles.

 

Other film roles followed, including one in Hang 'em High, which would lead to his most famous role, Danny 'Danno' Williams in the original Hawai'i Five-O. He reprised the role in an unaired pilot for a 1997 reboot, with Gary Busey, and was to have made a cameo appearance in the 2010 reboot, but died before filming. An on-air tribure was made before the 1 Novermber broadcast.

 

 

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French artist André Masson died on this day 35 years ago, aged 91.

 

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On this day in 2010 Scottish actor  Gerard Kelly  died as a result of a brain aneurysm aged 51.

He was known for much of his acting in comedies such as City Lights and Rab C Nesbitt as well as more serious fayre in Juliet Bravo, EastEnders and villain Callum Finnegan in Channel 4 soap Brookside. 

 

British comedian and television presenter  Bobby Ball, of famous stand up duo Cannon and Ball (Tommy Cannon) died on this day two years ago in 2020 aged 76.

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7 minutes ago, Gooseberry Crumble said:

 

 

On this day in 2010 Scottish actor  Gerard Kelly  died as a result of a brain aneurysm aged 51.

He was known for much of his acting in comedies such as City Lights and Rab C Nesbitt as well as more serious fayre in Juliet Bravo, EastEnders and villain Callum Finnegan in Channel 4 soap Brookside. 

 

Have a look at his Hamish MacBeth appearance, as Hamish's "replacement". TV John (the late Ralph Riach) sends the poor man insane by making it seem like Lochdubh has a higher crime rate than New York!

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Just now, msc said:

 

Have a look at his Hamish MacBeth appearance, as Hamish's "replacement". TV John (the late Ralph Riach) sends the poor man insane by making it seem like Lochdubh has a higher crime rate than New York!

Cheers  for the recommendation. Now on my YouTube  list this weekend 

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On this day 18 years ago in 2004 ,Princess Alice the Dowager Duchess of Gloucester, a member of the British Royal family, died aged 102.

Alice was married to Prince Henry The Duke of Gloucester the third son of  King George V.

She was a working member of the royal family for around sixty years until frailty and age in her nineties curtailed her public appearances.  Given the Queen Mother's enmity towards her sister in law Wallis Simpson and  her irritation with  the wife of the then Duke of Kent, Princess  Marina, because of her view Marina was a deluded snob, Princess Alice was certainly the royal sister in law she got on with best.

The Current Duke of Gloucester  Richard is Alice's youngest son.  Her eldest son Prince William of Gloucester died in the 1970s in an accident whilst piloting a plane in a competition in an airshow  near Dudley.

 

At the time of her death Alice was said to be the last living person who witnessed closely up front the abdication crisis of 1936 behind the scenes. 

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Jimmy Savile died on this day 11 years ago, aged 84.

During his life, Savile was known for presenting Top of the Pops and his show Jim'll Fix It, and was considered a philanthropist. He was also among the celebrities included on the initial 1987 DeathList...

however, his legacy would be permanently annihilated after his death.

 

In September 2012, an ITV documentary gave interviews to over ten women who claimed that Savile raped them, and some were children during the alleged sexual assaults. More people reported on Savile's sexual deviance, and almost 300 potential victims had come forward by the end of October 2012. Scotland Yard launched an investigation called Operation Yewtree. When their report was completed in 2013, they found that 450 people were violated by Savile- 328 of them being minors. Yewtree led to a domino effect in that more celebrities were being investigating for sexual abuse of children, which included Gary Glitter and Rolf Harris.

 

Also going to mention that an episode of the preschool show Tweenies aired a rerun the month Yewtree's report was published that featured a character dressed as Savile- talk about bad timing.

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American author, musician and Satanist Anton LaVey died on this day 25 years ago, aged 67.

 

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American actor and comedian who performed in various television shows and films John Witherspoon died on this day 3 years ago, aged 77.

 

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Bonar Law died on this day 99 years ago, aged 65.

Born in Canada, Law's unusual name came from the fact he was named after missionary and biographer Andrew Bonar- should've stuck with "AB Law", as he did when he was younger. When he was 12, the Laws would move to Scotland.

 

Law would enter politics in the 1890s, and in 1900, he was elected to the House of Commons. Law was known for his tariff reform policies. In the midst of World War I, in 1916, Law became the leader of the Conservative Party. Law would resign as leader in 1921 citing ill health. After the Conservatives voted to disband the coalition government of David Lloyd George, and Lloyd George resigned due to this. The party now had a majority, and Law, having been reelected as party leader, was now the prime minister.

 

However, Bonar came and went as PM- in 1923, Law was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer, and resigned in May of that year after 211 days in office. Stanley Baldwin would succeed him. Law died five months later. Because of his short tenure (the shortest of the 20th century), Law has been nicknamed as "The Unknown Prime Minister".