Death Anniversary Thread

[John "요한" Sulu 419]

On this day 1 year ago, Mexican actor Ignacio López Tarso, who starred in the film "Macario", passed away at the age of 98.

 

Photo Credit: Antonio Nava / Secretaría de Cultura per Creative Commons license

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Pope Innocent I died on this day 1607 years ago, aged ~57.

- Historical accounts claim that Innocent's father was either a man named Innocentius, or (his immediate predecessor) Pope Anastasius I- however, the latter claim (made by the contemporary historian Saint Jerome) is likely a metaphor for when Innocent was a cardinal.

- Innocent became pope in 401. In 410, Rome was attacked by the Visigoths, and in order to appease them, Innocent declared freedom of religion by allowing pagans to worship freely in private.

- Innocent would hold a synod against the ideas of Pelagianism (the idea that there was no original sin in Christianity) from 415 to 416, which notably had Augustine of Hippo as one of its participating bishops.

- Innocent's papal reign lasted 16 years. He was succeeded as pope by Pope Zosimus.

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Christian VII of Denmark died on this day 216 years ago, aged 59.

- Christian was the son of king Frederick V. He would ascend to the throne upon his father's death in 1766, shortly before turning 17.

- Christian married his maternal cousin Caroline of Great Britain (a sister of George III), which was reportedly not a happy one- Christian had to be goaded into procreation by his former tutor, and the two divorced after six years. In addition, Christian had a chronic masturbation addiction that got to the point where it interfered with his royal duties.

- Christian effectively put his advisors in charge of the country in a de facto regency- his doctor, then his stepmother, then his half-brother, then a prominent Danish politician, and finally his son.

- Christian is also believed to have suffered from schizophrenia- he had hallucinations, paranoia, and he committed self-harm.

- Christian died from a stroke after a 42-year reign, and would be succeeded by his son Frederick VI.

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Augustus FitzRoy, AKA the Duke of Grafton, died on this day 213 years ago, aged 75.

- FitzRoy was a direct great-great-grandson of king Charles II through his illegitimate son Henry FitzRoy. His maternal grandfather, William Cosby, served as the governor of both New York and New Jersey from 1732 to 1736.

- FitzRoy's first title was the Earl of Euston, which he inherited following his uncle George's death in 1747.

- FitzRoy would first be elected to Parliament in 1756 when he was 21 years old, and would also join the House of Lords the following year after the death of his grandfather.

- During the Seven Years' War, FitzRoy would serve as a commander of the West Suffolk militia, formed in order to defend against a possible French invasion.

- After William Pitt the Elder resigned from office in 1768, FitzRoy became Prime Minister. His term was a tumultuous one due to political gridlock, the failure to defend Corsica from the French, and the Junius letters that led to public disapproval of him. FitzRoy would retire in 1770, and would be succeeded by Lord North as PM.

- Among FitzRoy's personal interests were theology and horse racing; he authored two books and was a professional racer.

- FitzRoy remains the British prime minister with the longest post-premiership, at 41 years.

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Odoacer died on this day 1531 years ago, aged 60.

- Odoacer's origins are contested- he was either of Germanic, Gothic, or Hunnic ancestry.

- Odoacer joined the Roman Army as a mercenary by 470. After Romulus Augustulus was installed as emperor, Odoacer led a legion that killed his father (who had installed him over exiled emperor Julius Nepos) in 476.The Roman army would declare Odoacer emperor in August of that year and marched to Ravenna, deposing Romulus Augustulus; he did not invite Julius Nepos to reclaim the throne in favor of seizing power himself. This is contrary to the popular belief he was a foreign invader, and the now-Byzantine emperor Zeno officially recognized him as the new emperor of the West.

- During his reign, Odoacer would seize Sicily from the Vandals, and would wage battle with and kidnap the king of the Rugians in 487.

- Emperor Zeno would soon find Odoacer a threat to his power, and tried to convince the Ostrogoths to invade what was now called Italy. The king of the Ostrogoths, Theodoric, would win battle after battle and cause Odoacer to retreat back to Ravenna.

- Odoacer would be killed by Theodoric at a feast mere days after the bishop of Ravenna had them sign a peace treaty declaring joint rule of the kingdom; Theodoric would become the sole king.

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Tammi Terrell died on this day 54 years ago, aged 24.

- Terrell's actual name was "Thomasina Montgomery". Her nickname was "Tommie", but she started calling herself "Tammy" when she was 12.

- Terrell became a professional recording artist when she was 15. She joined the girl group The Sherrys, but was fired due to arguments within the band.

- Terrell's first charting single was 1963's "I Cried", peaking at #99 on the Billboard Hot 100:

- Terrell signed to Motown in 1965, and the label would pair her with Marvin Gaye in 1967. The duo had several successful singles, most notably "Ain't No Mountain High Enough":

- Prior to Motown, Terrell was signed to James Brown's record label- she was also in a physically abusive relationship with him, but managed to leave him.

- Terrell suffered from migraines since her childhood, and these became more constant by 1967, the year she collapsed on stage while performing with Marvin Gaye. She would be diagnosed with a brain tumor and underwent surgery in 1968. This did nothing to alleviate her tumor, and her final surgery left her comatose for eight weeks, before she died.

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Harold Harefoot died on this day 984 years ago, aged ~25.

- Harold was the son of the Danish king Cnut the Great, who seized the English throne when Harold was a baby.

- Cnut died in 1035- Harold was still heir apparent after his younger half-brother Harthacnut, but the latter was unable to come to England due to wanting to defend Denmark from Norway and Sweden. Harold would be named as "acting king" in Harthacnut's absence- while there was some opposition from the elites, by 1037 he was accepted as a legitimate ruler.

- In 1036, Harold's stepbrothers Alfred and Edward (the Confessor) came to England, possibly in an attempt to wrest the throne back to the House of Wessex. Edward left after seizing treasure from Southampton, while Harold's supporters managed to capture Alfred, who was blinded and died soon after.

- Harold died after a 5-year reign due to unknown causes. One contemporary source claims it was divine judgment due to taking land from monks (he "turned black" as they bargained with him), while another states he was plagued by elves (there was a superstition that elves shooting invisible arrows at people caused disease at this time).

- Harold would be succeeded as king of England by Harthacnut, who was able to arrive in England this time.

- Harold's epithet is attributed to his alleged agility, derived from the Anglo-Saxon "Harefoh", which meant "swift of foot".

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Johnny Appleseed died on this day 179 years ago, aged 70.

- Appleseed's real name was "John Chapman". When he was 18 years old (in 1792), he decided to move west and bring his younger half-brother Nathaniel along with him to Ohio, where his father and the rest of his family met up with them in 1805.

- Appleseed then became an apprentice to an apple orchard owner, which inspired him to start his own apple tree nurseries; the primary reason he planted apple trees wherever he went was to provide food for pioneers who were also travelling westward.

- Appleseed was also a missionary for the Swedenborgian Church, and his westward mission would soon catch the church heads' attention. They were the first to give him his moniker in an 1822 letter to members.

- While Appleseed is primarily known for planting apple trees, he also planted the dogfennel weed across Ohio believing it had medicinal purposes- it is now considered an invasive plant.

- Reasons why Appleseed is considered a folk hero is largely due to his love of nature- he was kind to every animal he came across, reportedly taming an injured wolf after healing its leg and refusing to build a fire because it could kill mosquitoes (as a very religious man, he considered even them to be creatures of God's creation); Appleseed was also a vegetarian.

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Alexander III of Scotland died on this day 738 years ago, aged 44.

- Alexander was the son of king Alexander II, and acceded to the throne upon the elder Alexander's death in 1249- Alexander was 7 when he became king, and a regency was needed.

- Alexander was given full control of royal affairs when he turned 21 in 1262, and among his first acts was an attempt to get the Western Isles from Norway. The Norwegian king Haakon IV sent a fleet to negotiate, and when affairs became hostile, he waged war in Largs- but a storm soon damaged many of his ships, and he would acquiesce. In 1266, king Magnus VI gave the Western Isles and the Isle of Man to Scotland for money to help rebuild their navy, which Alexander accepted.

- The rest of Alexander's reign was largely uneventful, but he would outlive all three of his children, leading to a succession crisis. He named his granddaughter Margaret as his heir apparent. Alexander would die in 1286 after he and his horse fell from a steep hill while riding in the dark- he was planning to go see his second wife Yolande for her 23rd birthday, which was the day after. After this, Scotland would enter a regency period until 1292.

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Chet Huntley died on this day 50 years ago, aged 62.

- After graduating from university with speech and drama degrees in 1934, Huntley would get his job as a radio newscaster the same year.

- Huntley would be hired by NBC in 1955, and the network viewed him in a similar vein to fellow newscaster Ed Murrow. At this time, Walter Cronkite was becoming a popular figure, and so NBC would pair him with David Brinkley to cover the 1956 presidential nominating conventions. Huntley's typical newsman behavior was contrapuntal to Brinkley's quick jokes, and the two soon got their own TV show with The Huntley-Brinkley Report, one of the biggest news programs of the 1960s- only for Cronkite to surpass them due to his coverage of the Vietnam War and US space program.

- Huntley would also get a solo show called Outlook- which was later renamed to Chet Huntley Reporting. Huntley primarily covered the civil rights movement on this show.

- Huntley would retire in 1970, causing The Huntley-Brinkley Report to end. He died from lung cancer only four years later.

[John "요한" Sulu 419]

On this day 1 year ago, Romanian-born American opera singer Virginia Zeani passed away at the age of 97.

 

Photo Credit: Nationaal Archief, Dutch National Archives, and Spaarnestad Photo per Creative Commons license

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William Utermohlen died on this day 17 years ago, aged 73.

- Utermohlen was a figurative painter- albeit he was a largely unknown figure. He had six art periods- "Mythological" (1962-1963), "Dante" (1964-1966; largely revolved around painting scenes from Dante's Inferno), "Mummers" (1969-1970; refers to Philadelphia's Mummers Parade- a favorite childhood event of his), "War" (1972-1973), "Nudes" (1973-1974), and "Conversation" (1989-1991).

- During his "Conversation" phase, Utermohlen began to suffer from memory loss, forgetting where his home was and what time it was. Utermohlen would then be diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's in 1995 (when he was 61 years old).

- Following his diagnosis, his nurse would encourage him to paint self-portraits of himself- which have since become his most famous works, particularly after his death- due to the clear display of the progression of his deteriorating state:

By 2002 he had lost the ability to draw, and he entered a nursing home in 2004. Utermohlen died after 12 years with Alzheimer's.

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Walter Lantz died on this day 30 years ago, aged 94.

- Despite his surname, Lantz was of Italian descent- his immigrant father had it nonconsensually anglicized from "Lanza".

- Lantz became inspired to become an animator after seeing Winsor McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur, and then got a job as a comic strip artist.

- Lantz' first cartoon was 1924's Dinky Doodle series, which made live action/animation hybrids of fairy tales:

- Lantz then got work on the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series (in 1928, after Universal had taken control of the character from Walt Disney), and he became head writer of the shorts in 1933.

- Lantz would leave Oswald in 1935, and had another successful cartoon series after creating Andy Panda in 1939. The following year, the Andy Panda short "Knock Knock" featured the first appearance of Lantz' most popular character by far... Woody Woodpecker:

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(Woody Woodpecker is still extremely popular in Brazil and is known as "Pica-Pau" there)

Woody got his own series in 1941, and his theme song topped Billboard's best-selling singles chart for six weeks in 1948.

- Lantz would continue making theatrical shorts until 1972. After retiring, he would make money by selling drawings of Woody Woodpecker, and licensing his IPs to other media companies such as Universal. Lantz would receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1986.

 

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Paul I of Russia died on this day 223 years ago, aged 46.

- Paul was the son of Peter III and Catherine II (the Great). He was put in the care of his great-aunt Elizabeth soon after he was born, and his mother took the throne when he was 7 years old. He had little contact with Queen Catherine.

- When he turned 18 in 1772, Catherine would take measures to stay queen, particularly by trying to find him a wife. Catherine would also give him mansions to placate his desire to become tsar.

- Paul finally became emperor upon his mother's death in 1796, and ordered the destruction of her will so he could take the throne (Catherine favored her grandson Alexander over Paul). He would also establish an absolute male primogeniture law, and reversed many policies his mother had instated.

- Following a joint invasion of the Netherlands in 1799, Paul fell out with the UK, when the latter's government refused to give Malta to the Order of St. John, and also attacked a Danish ship (Denmark was a Russian ally at the time). He would seize British ships moored in Russian ports and held their crews hostage

- Paul had a fixation with parades, ordering them to be held every day for his entertainment. He was strict and ordered those who made mistakes while marching to be flogged.

- Paul was disliked by the nobility by trying to force them to be loyal to him, and for issuing reforms favorable to serfs. A group of nobles conspired to oust him, and had the support of Alexander- but ended up strangling Paul to death after he resisted abdication. The new emperor Alexander I did not punish the assassins, but did believe they went too far by killing his father.

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Queen Elizabeth I died on this day 421 years ago, aged 69.

- Elizabeth's education comprised of her reading classical literature and learning many languages- among which is the now critically endangered Cornish language.

- Elizabeth's older half-sister Mary I would imprison her in the Tower of London in 1554 on baseless accusations that she was involved in Wyatt's Rebellion. She would be freed the following year, and her half-brother-in-law Philip II of Spain would mentor her in preparation of her succession to the throne, which occurred upon Mary's death in 1558.

- Elizabeth's early reign consisted of church reforms to compromise with England's Catholic population, and also took measures to separate church and state by making the clergy follow her laws, and repeal some laws against heresy.

- While Elizabeth is called the "Virgin Queen", she did go on many dates, and was engaged twice. Some doubt her virginity claims to be 100% true, however- albeit she did not have any children of her own.

- The "Elizabethan Era" largely refers to her later reign, particularly the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, the rise and mysterious fall of the Roanoke colony, and the writing of many of Shakespeare's greatest plays. An often overlooked aspect of this time was the establishment of relations between England and the Ottoman Empire, and England hoped the Ottomans would help them in their war against Spain.

- Elizabeth is believed to have died from a fatal bout of pneumonia- in the days before her death, she would sit on cushions and refuse to get into bed, possibly due to the realization of what being bedbound symbolized.

- With Elizabeth's death, the Tudor dynasty came to an end, and the Stuart dynasty began when James I and VI was declared king.

[John "요한" Sulu 419]

On this day 1 year ago, American businessman Gordon Moore, who co-founded the Intel Corporation, passes away at the age of 94.

 

Photo Credit: Intel Free Press per Creative Commons license

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Ida B. Wells died on this day 93 years ago, aged 68.

- Wells was born to slaves in Mississippi during the Civil War, and both of her parents died when she was 16 due to a local yellow fever epidemic.

- Wells would attend several African-American colleges, and largely studied politics. When forced into an inferior train car in 1883 and 1884, Wells sued the railroad company and won- but her case would be overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1887. From there, Wells became an anti-segregation activist, writing articles under a pseudonym that lambasted Jim Crow laws.

- Following a lynching event in Memphis in 1892, Wells urged African-Americans to lead an exodus away from the city, and she would begin to write more fervently against lynch mobs. Soon after, a mob would attack and destroy her publishing office- Wells was in New York City at the time, and never returned to Memphis; she found a job at a local newspaper and continued her publication activism. The same year, she published Southern Horrors, which informed Northern citizens about the lynching that occurred in the South, and that virtually no positive change had occurred since emancipation.

- In the early 20th century, Wells campaigned for women's suffrage, and in 1909 was one of the founders of the NAACP. During World War I, the US government would spy on her due to her "race agitator" status, but this did not deter her from her work. In 1930, Wells would run as an independent candidate for an Illinois Senate race, ultimately losing to the Republican candidate Adelbert Roberts.

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Sancho I of Portugal died on this day 813 years ago, aged 56.

- Sancho was the son of king Afonso I. His birth name was "Martin", having been born on Saint Martin's feast day.

- Sancho's father knighted him when he was 16, and would marry him off to Dulce, the sister of king Alfonso II of Aragon, in order for Portugal to be recognized as independent (it did so in 1139, but Castile and Leon were both trying to re-annex it).

- Sancho became king in 1185 when his father died, and just a few years later would participate in the Third Crusade against the neighboring Almohad Caliphate.

- Sancho's epithet "the Populator" comes both from the fact one of his reign's focal points was the construction of many cities throughout Portugal- and that he also had 11 legitimate children (with 8 living to adulthood) and at least nine bastards.

- Sancho was also fond of literature, and wrote his own poems. He would also personally use his own money to send some Portuguese students to universities across Europe.

- Sancho died after a 25-year reign, and would be succeeded as king by his son Afonso II.

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Ian Dury died on this day 24 years ago, aged 57.

- Dury was a victim of polio at a young age, leading to the paralysis of the left side of his body. Despite his disability, he became an art teacher and newspaper advertisement illustrator.

- Dury decided to form his own band in 1971, which became Kilburn and the High Roads- this band's music became a major influence on future punk and new wave bands such as The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Madness:

 

- Kilburn and the High Roads disbanded in 1975, and Dury would sign on to Stiff Records. His debut single "Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll" was critically acclaimed, but did not sell well and was banned from radio broadcast on the BBC due to its lyrics.

- Shortly after, Dury would form the band Ian Dury and the Blockheads, and had top-ten singles with "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3" and What a Waste", and their song "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" peaked at number 1 on the UK charts in January of 1979:

 

The group disbanded in 1982, but had multiple reunions (and the band is still active to this day as simply "The Blockheads").

- Dury would also have roles in several movies, which included Judge Dredd, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, and The Crow: City of Angels.

- Dury would be diagnosed with colon cancer in 1996, which had metastasized to his liver. He would perform up until a month until his death. Incidentally, Bob Geldof mistakenly announced his death on radio in 1998 due to a fake alert from a prank caller.

- Dury would appear on the DeathList twice (1999 and 2000), and was 2000's fifth hit, at spot number 14.

 

[John "요한" Sulu 419]

On this day 22 years ago, American actor and comedian Milton Berle passed away at the age of 93.

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Ivan the Terrible died on this day 440 years ago, aged 53.

- Ivan was the son of Vasili III of Russia, and became the grand prince when he was 3 years old, following the death of his father. His mother would act as regent until she died five years later, and from there high-ranking nobles became the regents.

- Ivan would officially be crowned when he was 16, and took the "tsar" title- the first Russian monarch to do so. "Tsar" is derived from "caesar", and Ivan claimed that his distant ancestor Rurik was a direct descendant of a fabricated brother of Emperor Augustus (named Prus).

- Ivan's early reign is marked by the Great Fire of 1547, a series of government reforms, and the construction of St. Basil's Cathedral in 1561.

- Ivan issued a letter of abdication in 1564 due to his suspicion of the nobility. When the nobles were unable to form a government, they begged him to return, and he accepted on the basis that he was given absolute power. This led to the creation of the Oprichniki- his bodyguards comprised of nobles loyal to him, also known as his "secret police" due to the powers and duties bestowed upon them.

- Ivan's "terrible" moniker is due to violent outbursts that he often had- and it is also believed he had undiagnosed psychopathy: as a child, he would butcher living birds he caught, and throw cats and dogs out of windows. This is also applicable due to the Novgorod Massacre of 1570 (that killed about 3,000 people), and the fact he killed his son Ivan following a verbal dispute.

- Ivan famously died from a stroke while in the middle of a chess match:

He was succeeded by his son Feodor I, who was the last ruler of Russia of the Rurikid dynasty.

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Johnnie Cochran died on this day 19 years ago, aged 67.

- Cochran was inspired to enter law due to being inspired by Thurgood Marshall, specifically his win in Brown v. Board of Education. He would be admitted to the bar in 1963, and the first celebrity he represented in court was Lenny Bruce (in an obscenity case).

- Cochran would gain fame for his specialty in representing plaintiffs in police brutality cases, and he would become the district attorney of Los Angeles in 1978. He would return to private practice in 1983, and in 1993 would be Michael Jackson's lawyer in his child molestation trial.

- Cochran's most famous client was OJ Simpson in his 1995 murder trial, which Cochran managed to get him acquitted of- partially thanks to his "if the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit" line:

This incident itself would soon earn the legal term "Chewbacca defense" 3 years later when South Park parodied him in the episode "Chef Aid":

On the topic of animation, Cochran would lend his voice to the "Henny Penny" episode of HBO's Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child as Foxy Woxy (this episode has MANY guest voices that might surprise you).

- Cochran's final trial before his retirement in 2002 was defending (the now relevant) P. Diddy in a stolen weapons trial.

- Cochran was diagnosed with a brain tumor in late 2003, and died after a 15-month battle. Simpson and Jackson would attend his funeral.

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Mark Russell died on this day a year ago, aged 90.

- Russell's real name was Joseph Ruslander- the "Mark" came from his middle name, Marcus.

- Russell would often perform at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC, and his big break came following Watergate in 1973- reporters sent to cover the scandal saw him perform, and he soon got TV coverage.

- Russell's first comedy special aired on PBS in 1975. He would often poke fun at incumbent politicians, both Republican and Democrat- admitting his favorite punching bags were Ronald Reagan and the Clintons. Russell would also make an annual appearance on Meet the Press each September between 1991 and 2008.

- Russell's material primarily consisted of parodies of existing songs, adding his own topical and political lyrics over them. One notable example included "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" talking about the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, and his musical style is often compared to that of Tom Lehrer's (Russell effectively filled in the void in political satire music that Lehrer had left behind when he retired).

- Russell was notably parodied in the season 3 Simpsons episode "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington", where his songs annoy Bart:

- Russell would initially retire in 2010, before returning to music in 2013 and finally retiring in 2016:

 

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Francis I of France died on this day 477 years ago, aged 52.

- Francis was the son of the count of Angouleme, and was not expected to take the throne at birth. However, his third cousin Charles VIII died in 1498, and his successor, (Francis' cousin first removed) Louis XII only had daughters. Louis would marry his daughter Claude to Francis.

- Francis became king in 1515 at the age of 20. Francis was a patron of the arts, and particularly sponsored Leonardo da Vinci while he lived in France- Francis also reportedly was at da Vinci's bedside when he died in 1519. He also enjoyed literature, especially poetry, writing poems of his own.

- Among Francis' foreign policy were the Italian Wars (which had begun the year he was born), forming a fierce rivalry with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He would be captured in battle in 1525, and held as a POW in Spain for a year before being released. Francis would form a new alliance in 1536 with the Ottoman Empire- the first diplomatic alliance between a Christian and Muslim country in history.

- Francis' reign would also see him send Jacques Cartier to what is now Canada in 1534, with the first attempt at a colony set up there in 1541 (and abandoned in 1543).

- The Protestant Revolution also began during Francis' reign, and he initially supported the movement (as it caused some of the German nobility to turn against Charles V). However, he would condemn it when he viewed messages against the Catholic mass as a plot against him, and he would codify persecution against French Protestants.

- Francis died after 32 years on the throne, and was succeeded by his son Henry II.

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Scott Joplin died on this day 107 years ago, aged 48.

- Joplin was the son of a recently emancipated father and free-born mother. Joplin began playing the piano when he was 7, and after receiving professional lessons, would form his first band (a quartet) in 1884.

- Due to segregation, Joplin mostly found band work at brothels, most notably at one near the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.

- Joplin's early compositions were marches, most notably 1896's "Great Crush Collision March" commemorating a staged train crash (whose debris ended up killing two spectators):

- By the late 1890s, ragtime music had become a national phenomenon, and Joplin would become one of the most prolific composers of this time. One of his most famous songs was the Maple Leaf Rag, composed in 1898, and Joplin reportedly became the first musician to sell one million copies of an instrumental song:

This song became the model for many rags to come afterwards, and Joplin is known as the "King of Ragtime" as such.

- Joplin would have another mega-hit with "The Entertainer" in 1902, used as the theme for The Sting 71 years later:

- In 1911, Joplin would make the opera Treemonisha. It was never staged within his lifetime, with the first stage performance being done in 1972- and it would posthumously earn Joplin a Pulitzer Prize in 1976.

- In his later years, Joplin suffered from chronic syphilis. This would end up killing him as it developed into neurosyphilis.