Death Anniversary Thread

[Hell 1,330]

José López Portillo died on this day 20 years ago, aged 83. He was a Mexican writer, lawyer and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 58th president of Mexico from 1976 to 1982. López Portillo was the only official candidate in the 1976 presidential election, being the only president in recent Mexican history to win an election unopposed. the López Portillo administration began a process of partial political openness by passing an electoral reform in 1977 which loosened the requisites for the registration of political parties and allowed for greater representation of opposition parties in the Chamber of Deputies, as well as granting amnesty to many of the guerrilla fighters from the Dirty War. On the economic front, López Portillo was the last of the so-called economic nationalist Mexican presidents. His tenure was marked by heavy investments in the national oil industry after the discovery of new oil reserves, which propelled initial economic growth, but later gave way to a severe debt crisis after the international oil prices fell in the summer of 1981, leading Mexico to declare a sovereign default in 1982. As a result of the crisis, the last months of his administration were plagued by widespread capital flight, leading López Portillo to nationalize the banks three months before leaving office, and by the end of his term Mexico had the highest external debt in the world. His presidency was also marked by widespread government corruption and nepotism.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,543]

J. Robert Oppenheimer am become dead on this day 57 years ago, aged 62.

- The "J" in his name stood for Julius- which was also his father's name. J. Robert was also the third cousin of voice actor Alan Oppenheimer (best known as the voice of He-Man's Skeletor).

- After majoring in chemistry, Oppenheimer worked under the tutelage of future Nobel Laureates Patrick Blackett and Max Born, and would befriend other well-known nuclear physicists such as Enrico Fermi, Edward Teller, and Werner Heisenberg.

- Outside of nuclear physics, Oppenheimer had an interest in astrophysics, and studied white dwarfs and neutron stars- and would successfully predict the existence of black holes in 1939.

- Oppenheimer had in interest in Hindu mythology, and nicknamed his car "Garuda" after Vishnu's avian mount. This fascination is also the origin of his most famous quote:

- After the nuclear bombs he helped design were dropped on Japan, he had a falling out with president Harry S. Truman due to him feeling responsible for all the deaths that occurred- Truman described him as a "fucking cretin" and lambasted him for his perceived weakness.

- Oppenheimer would be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics three times (1946, 1951 and 1967), but never won.

- Oppenheimer had a smoking addiction, and was diagnosed with throat cancer in the fall of 1965, dying after just over a year battling it.

[Hell 1,330]

 Dale Earnhardt died on this day 23 years ago, aged 49. He was an American professional stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably driving the No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.he began his career in 1975 in the World 600. Earnhardt won a total of 76 Winston Cup races over the course of his 26-year career, including four Winston 500s(1990, 1994, 1999, and 2000) and the 1998 Daytona 500. Along with his 76 career points wins, he has also won 24 non-points exhibition events, bringing his overall Winston Cup win total to 100, one of only four drivers in NASCAR history to do so. He is the only driver in NASCAR history to score at least one win in four different and consecutive decades (scoring his first career win in 1979, 38 wins in the 1980s, 35 wins in the 1990s, & scoring his final two career wins in 2000). He also earned seven Winston Cup championships, a record held with Richard Petty and Jimmie Johnson. He is regarded as one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history and named as one of the NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers class in 1998.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,543]

Diogo Alves died on this day 183 years ago, aged 30.

- Alves was a 19th-century Portuguese serial killer who got the nickname "The Aqueduct Killer" based on how he killed: he would mug travelers crossing a local aqueduct, before pushing them off to their deaths in order to stage them as suicides.

- Alves' murders spanned between 1836 and 1840, but it is believed his kill count was 70 people- making him one of the most prolific serial killers in history.

- Alves would also form a gang, but it was only one murder that caught the group. Alves would be sentenced to death by hanging, and was the second-to-last person in Portugal to be executed in such a manner.

- Following his execution his head was separated from his body, and a post-mortem autopsy on his brain was performed- phrenology was big at the time, and they tried to figure out what caused him to do this, and why he was unremorseful. Some believe it was due to a fall from a horse during his childhood.

- After the autopsy, his head would be preserved in a formaldehyde solution. It is currently in the possession of the medical faculty at the University of Lisbon... and is still in virtually perfect condition:

[Hell 1,330]

Bon Scott died on this day 44 years ago, aged 33. He was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. With AC/DC Scott performed on the band's first seven albums: High Voltage (1975, Australian only release), T.N.T. (1975, Australian only release), High Voltage (1976, first international release), Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976, not released until 1981 in the United States), Let There Be Rock (1977), Powerage (1978), Highway to Hell (1979). Scott formed his first band, The Spektors, in 1964 and became the band's drummer and occasional lead vocalist. He performed in several other bands, including The Valentines and Fraternity, before replacing original AC/DC lead singer Dave Evans in 1974. AC/DC's popularity grew throughout the 1970s, initially in Australia, and then internationally. Their 1979 album Highway to Hell reached the top 20 in the United States, and was their commercial breakthrough.
 

[Drewsky1211 4,543]

Max Schreck died on this day 88 years ago, aged 56.

- Schreck's father disapproved of his dream of being an actor, but his mother supported it. After his father died, he was allowed to attend drama school, completing training in 1902, and went into theatre.

- Schreck's first movie was 1920's The Mayor of Zalamea, and just two years later, Schreck would be cast in his most iconic role: cast in an unlicensed version of Bram Stoker's Dracula (which was not in the public domain yet) called...

This SpongeBob episode seems to have cemented the movie's title as the vampire's name- but it is actually Count Orlok. An interesting fact regarding the film is that clips were put into a 1932 short film called Boo! and mocked- very similar to things that would come decades later such as Mystery Science Theater 3000.

- Other notable film roles of his include The Street (1923), The Grand Duke's Finances (1924), and Doña Juana (1927).

- Schreck died shortly after a performance in the play Don Carlos, having felt unwell after finishing.

[chel 355]

On 2/19/2024 at 9:41 AM, Drewsky1211 said:

After the autopsy, his head would be preserved in a formaldehyde solution.

 

He looks really good. I'm guessing they mixed formaldehyde with glycerin.

[Hell 1,330]

Ferrucio Lamborghini died on this day 31 years ago, aged 76. He was an Italian automobile designer, soldier, inventor, mechanic, engineer, winemaker, industrialist, and businessman who created Lamborghini Trattori in 1948 and the Automobili Lamborghini in 1963, a maker of high-end sports cars in Sant'Agata Bolognese. Born to grape farmers in Renazzo, from the comune of Cento in the Emilia-Romagna region, his mechanical know-how led him to enter the business of tractor manufacturing in 1948, when he founded Lamborghini Trattori, which quickly became an important manufacturer of agricultural equipment in the midst of Italy's post-WWII economic boom. In 1959, he opened an oil burner factory, Lamborghini Bruciatori, which later entered the business of producing air conditioning equipment. Lamborghini founded a fourth company, Lamborghini Oleodinamica, in 1969 after creating Automobili Lamborghini in 1963. Lamborghini sold off many of his interests by the late 1970s and retired to an estate in Umbria, where he pursued winemaking.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,543]

James I of Scotland died on this day 587 years ago, aged 42.

- The son of king Robert III, James became king when he was 11 years old- he was planned to have been in Scotland when his father died, but pirates captured the ship he was on and delivered him to king Henry IV of England, who held him hostage.

- Henry IV acted as a mentor to James, but when Henry V acceded the English throne in 1413, he imprisoned him in the Tower of London. By 1420, however, he would be released from confinement, and go with Henry to France on a diplomatic trip. James would only be officially freed in 1423 by Henry VI's regency council.

- During his reign, James would promote the crown as having more power than the church. He would be summoned to the Council of Basel by Pope Eugene IV, but did not go. A bishop was sent to Scotland and James reportedly reconciled with the Catholic Church, but died before reforms supporting them could be made.

- James' reign oversaw several nobility rebellions, and one led to his assassination in 1437- an attempted coup led by his uncle Walter. His son James II would succeed him to the throne.

[Hell 1,330]

Billy Graham died on this day 6 years ago, aged 99. He was an American evangelist, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, and a civil rights advocate whose broadcast and live sermons became well known internationally in the mid-to-late 20th century. During a career spanning six decades, Graham was a prominent evangelical Christian figure in the United States. In his six decades on television, Graham hosted annual crusades, evangelistic campaigns that ran from 1947 until his retirement in 2005. He also hosted the radio show Hour of Decision from 1950 to 1954. He repudiated racial segregation and insisted on racial integration for his revivals and crusades, starting in 1953. He later invited Martin Luther King Jr. to preach jointly at a revival in New York City in 1957. Graham was particularly close to Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson (one of Graham's closest friends), and Richard Nixon. He was also lifelong friends with Robert Schuller, another televangelist and the founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, whom Graham talked into starting his own television ministry. Graham's evangelism was appreciated by mainline Protestant denominations, as he encouraged those mainline Protestants who were converted to his evangelical message to remain within or return to their mainline churches. According to his staff, more than 3.2 million people have responded to the invitation at Billy Graham Crusades to "accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior". Graham was on Gallup's list of most admired men and women a record 61 times. He died of natural causes. He appeared on the DeathList 12 times.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,543]

Pope Sabinian died on this day 1418 years ago, aged 75.

- Not much is known about Sabinian's early life, but it is known that before his papacy, he served as Pope Gregory I's legate to Constantinople. Gregory disliked how he was unable to resolve the claim of "ecumenical patriarch" between him and Patriarch John IV, and sent him to the Frankish Kingdom when the conflict could not be resolved.

- Sabinian succeeded Gregory in 604- however he did not take the papal throne for six months, as he was waiting for Emperor Phocas to confirm him. He was seen as the opposite as Gregory in many regards: he filled ecclesiastical postitions with formal church leaders instead of monks, and would donate grain to Roman citizens following an invasion instead of before one.

- Sabinian died after a 2-year papacy. His successor as pope was Boniface III.

[Hell 1,330]

American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker Chuck Jones died on this day 22 years ago, aged 89. He was best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoonson the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of shorts. He wrote, produced, and/or directed many classic animated cartoonshorts starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, Pepé Le Pew, Marvin the Martian, and Porky Pig, among others. Jones started his career in 1933 alongside Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, and Robert McKimson at the Leon Schlesinger Production's Termite Terrace studio, the studio that made Warner Brothers cartoons, where they created and developed the Looney Tunes characters. During the Second World War, Jones directed many of the Private Snafu (1943–1946) shorts which were shown to members of the United States military. After his career at Warner Bros. ended in 1962, Jones started Sib Tower 12 Productions and began producing cartoons for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, including a new series of Tom and Jerry shorts (1963–1967) as well as the television adaptations of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) and Horton Hears a Who! (1970). He later started his own studio, Chuck Jones Enterprises, where he directed and produced the film adaptation of Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth (1970). Jones's work along with the other animators was showcased in the documentary, Bugs Bunny: Superstar (1975). Jones directed the first feature-length animated Looney Tunes compilation film, The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979). Jones won three Academy Awards. The cartoons which he directed, For Scent-imental Reasons, So Much for So Little, and The Dot and the Line, won the Best Animated Short. Robin Williams presented Jones with an Honorary Academy Award in 1996 for his work in the animation industry. He died from congestive heart failure. He was No. 16 in DeathList 2002.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,543]

Ofra Haza died on this day 24 years ago, aged 42.

- Haza was the daughter of Yemeni Jews who emigrated to Israel in 1949, and was the youngest of her family. Her first name was actually Bathsheba, but she disliked it and went by her middle name.

- After joining a musical theater troupe, a recording manager soon hired her, and she quickly became a pop star- nicknamed "Madonna of the East". In 1983, Haza represented Israel at Eurovision, placing second (losing to Luxembourg):

- Throughout the next decade, Haza would see international success with albums such as Fifty Gates of Wisdom, Shaday, and Kirya (the latter being nominated for a Grammy). Many noted how she incorporated Yemeni  into her songs as inspiration.

- In 1998, Haza voiced Moses' mother Jochebed in DreamWorks' The Prince of Egypt- her face was based on Haza's own:

Haza sang part of "Deliver Us" in 17 other languages besides English and Hebrew- among these were Romanian, Swedish, Greek, and Slovak.

- Haza died at a young age from AIDS, having kept her battle a secret.

[En Passant 3,581]

 

 

 

[Hell 1,330]

John Quincy Adams died on this day 176 years ago, aged 80. He was an American statesman, politician, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diplomatic and political career, Adams served as an ambassador and also as a member of the United States Congress representing Massachusetts in both chambers. He was the eldest son of John Adams, who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801, and First LadyAbigail Adams. Initially a Federalist like his father, he won election to the presidency as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, and later, in the mid-1830s, became affiliated with the Whig Party. As president, Adams called for an ambitious agenda that included federally funded infrastructure projects, the establishment of a national university, and engagement with the countries of Latin America, but Congress refused to pass many of his initiatives. During Adams's presidency, the Democratic-Republican Party split into two major camps: the National Republican Party, which supported Adams, and Andrew Jackson's Democratic Party. The Democrats proved to be more effective political organizers than Adams and his National Republican supporters, and Jackson soundly defeated Adams in the 1828 presidential election, making Adams the second president to fail to win re-election (his father being the first).

 

[Drewsky1211 4,543]

Harold Ramis died on this day 10 years ago, aged 69.

- Ramis' passion for comedy began in college, when he wrote scripts for satirical plays. He would become a member of the Chicago Daily News' entertainment section, and from there, became the joke editor for Playboy.

- Ramis would soon become closely associated with John Belushi, who invited him to join National Lampoon's radio show (along with Bill Murray). He would then join the Canadian sketch comedy show SCTV, but left in 1979 to pursue a film career. During his time on SCTV, he would help write the script for Animal House, and is credited as one of the film's three writers.

- Ramis would also co-write Meatballs and Ghostbusters- the latter of which, he starred in his most famous on-screen role as Egon Spengler:

Ramis was also the director of Caddyshack and Groundhog Day. In addition to this, he would also direct four episodes of The Office.

- Ramis contracted autoimmune vasculitis in 2010, and died from complications of the disease four years later.

[Hell 1,330]

Bobby Moore died on this day 31 years ago, aged 51. He was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England national team that won the 1966 FIFA World Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders in the history of football, and was cited by Pelé as the greatest defender that he had ever played against. Widely regarded as West Ham's greatest ever player, Moore played more than 600 games for the club during a 16-year tenure, winning the FA Cup in 1963–64 and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1964–65. During his time at the club, he won the FWA Footballer of the Year in 1964 and the West Ham Player of the Year in 1961, 1963, 1968 and 1970. In August 2008, West Ham United officially retired his number 6 shirt, 15 years after his death. Moore was made captain of England in 1964, at age 23, going on to lift the World Cup trophy in 1966. He won a total of 108 caps for his country, which at the time of his international retirement in 1973 was a national record. This record was later broken by Peter Shilton. 
 

[Drewsky1211 4,543]

Glenn T. Seaborg died on this day 25 years ago, aged 86.

- Seaborg majored in chemistry, and received a PhD in 1937. He coined the term "spallation" (the process of particles ejecting from an object due to a collision) in his doctoral thesis. He would work at the lab at the University of California Berkeley for his entire life.

- Seaborg's first synthesis of a new chemical was the iron-59 isotope, followed by iodine-131. Both of these isotopes have been prominently used for medical purposes

- However, Seaborg is best known for his discoveries/co-discoveries of many elements with over 90 protons (and therefore often synthesized by him)- in order, they were: plutonium (1940), americium (1944), curium (1944), berkelium (1949), californium (1950), einsteinium (1952), fermium (1952), mendelevium (1955), nobelium (1958)- and one more in the following factoid.

- In 1974, Seaborg assisted in the synthesis of element 106. In 1994, this element would be named "seaborgium" after him, making him the first living person to have an element on the periodic table named after them (the second was Yuri Oganessian with oganesson being named in 2016):

For his contributions, Seaborg would be awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1951.

- Besides these discoveries, Seaborg was also instrumental to the Manhattan Project, being the first person to isolate a plutonium isotope from uranium atoms, allowing mass production of plutonium for the Fat Man bomb.

- Seaborg was also somewhat of an alchemist- he managed to remove protons and neutrons from bismuth atoms to turn them into gold atoms.

[Hell 1,330]

Don Bradman died on this day 23 years ago, aged 92. He was an Australian international cricketer. He is acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane Warne, among others, to make Bradman the "greatest sportsperson" in history. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 is considered by some to be the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport. During a 20-year playing career, Bradman consistently scored at a level that made him, in the words of former Australia captain Bill Woodfull, "worth three batsmen to Australia". A controversial set of tactics, known as Bodyline, was specially devised by the England team to curb his scoring. As a captain and administrator, Bradman was committed to attacking, entertaining cricket; he drew spectators in record numbers. He hated the constant adulation, however, and it affected how he dealt with others. The focus of attention on Bradman's individual performances strained relationships with some teammates, administrators and journalists, who thought him aloof and wary. Following an enforced hiatus due to the Second World War, he made a dramatic comeback, captaining an Australian team known as "The Invincibles" on a record-breaking unbeaten tour of England.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,543]

Roger II of Sicily died on this day 870 years ago, aged 58.

- When Roger was born in 1095, his mother Adelaide was 20, while his father Roger was 64.

- Roger was 9 years old when he inherited the County of Sicily- his mother served as his regent.

- During his reign, he inherited virtually all Norman possessions in Italy. This increase of power was seen as a threat by the pope, who wished to instigate a crusade against Roger. In 1130, Roger would be elevated from count to king due to his support of Antipope Anacletus II. This would lead to several revolts from supporters of the recognized pope, Innocent II.

- In 1139, Innocent would invade the kingdom of Sicily after Roger refused the creation of a buffer state between it and the Papal States, and his troops managed to capture Innocent, with the pope being freed three days later after being forced to accept Sicily's soverignty.

- Roger also promoted freedom of religion within his kingdom, and often employed Muslims in his ranks (either soldiers or educators). Towards the end of his reign, he commissioned the Tabula Rogeriana from geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi, which featured an early world map:

(the original map was southwards-north)

- Roger died after 24 years as king (and 49 as count), being succeeded by his son William I.

 

[Hell 1,330]

Joseph Wapner died on this day 7 years ago, aged 97. He was an American judge and television personality. He is best known as the first presiding judge of the ongoing reality court show The People's Court. The show's first run in syndication, with Judge Wapner presiding as judge, lasted from 1981 to 1993, for 12 seasons and 2,484 episodes. While the show's second run has been presided over by multiple judges, Wapner was the sole judge to preside during the show's first incarnation. His tenure on the program made him the first jurist of arbitration-based reality court shows, which evolved into the most popular trend in the judicial genre and continues to be to the present.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,543]

Mister Fred Rogers died on this day 21 years ago, aged 74.

- Rogers entered the TV business in 1951 as a floor director for NBC. Two years later, he would join Pittsburgh's public station WQED, and developed puppets used for its children's show The Children's Corner. Many of these puppets would later be used in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, such as Lady Elaine, Daniel Tiger, and King Friday XIII.

- Before Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Rogers would star on Canada's CBC on a 15-minute show called Misterogers from 1963 to 1967. Many of the episodes have since faded into lost media status.

- Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ran from 1968 to 2001, lasting 912 episodes. Rogers would often delve into serious topics, such as divorce, pet death, segregation (in a 1969 episode) and gun safety (a 1981 episode following John Lennon's murder and Ronald Reagan getting shot). Other times, he would have celebrities guest star on the show- a notable one being Margaret Hamilton:

Rogers ended the show's 33-year run with a speech thanking his viewers:

- Rogers would have a single role as an actor, in a 1996 episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman- he portrayed a pastor:

- Rogers was diagnosed with stomach cancer in October of 2002, and died after a four-month battle.

[Hell 1,330]

Dale Robertson died on this day 11 years ago, aged 89. He was an American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the roving investigator Jim Hardie in the television series Tales of Wells Fargo and railroad owner Ben Calhoun in Iron Horse. He often was presented as a deceptively thoughtful but modest Western hero. From 1968 to 1970, Robertson was the fourth and final host of the anthology seriesDeath Valley Days. Described by Time magazine in 1959 as "probably the best horseman on television", for most of his career, Robertson played in western films and television shows—well over 60 titles in all.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,543]

Alfonso XIII of Spain died on this day 83 years ago, aged 54.

- Alfonso was a posthumous child and became king at birth- his father Alfonso XII died six months before he was born. His mother would serve as his regent until his 16th birthday in 1902.

- Alfonso would marry Victoria of Battenberg (a granddaughter of Queen Victoria) in 1906- she converted to Catholicism to marry him, but she passed hemophilia to two their sons. Because of this, Alfonso had several affairs, siring six illegitimate children (including one before his marriage).

- Alfonso would keep Spain neutral during World War I, and established a network to send letters to and from POWs. Spain's neutrality also led to the 1918 pandemic's disease becoming known as the "Spanish Flu", as fighting countries flu counts were hidden by war coverage. Alfonso became seriously ill, but recovered from the illness.

- Alfonso's bungling of the Rif War led to a republicanist victory in the 1931 local elections- and he would then flee to Italy, where he lived for the last 10 years of his life.

- Alfonso was also known for being a pornographic film connoisseur, and it is believed he was a mazophile (breast fetishist). His promiscuous and sex-addicted nature has led to him getting the nickname "The Playboy King".

[Hell 1,330]

George Kennedy died on this day 8 years ago, aged 91. He was an American actor. He played "Dragline" in Cool Hand Luke (1967), winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role and being nominated for the corresponding Golden Globe. He received a second Golden Globe nomination for portraying Joe Patroni in Airport (1970). Among other films he had a significant role in are Lonely Are the Brave, Charade, Strait-Jacket, McHale's Navy, Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Mirage, Shenandoah, The Sons of Katie Elder, The Flight of the Phoenix, In Harm's Way, The Dirty Dozen, The Boston Strangler, Guns of the Magnificent Seven, tick… tick… tick…, Cahill U.S. Marshal, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys, Earthquake, The Eiger Sanction, and The Delta Force. Kennedy was the only actor to appear in all four films in the Airport series, reprising the role of Joe Patroni three times. He also played Police Captain Ed Hocken in the Naked Gun series of comedy films, and corrupt oil tycoon Carter McKay on the original Dallas television series.