Death Anniversary Thread

[John "요한" Sulu 386]

One year ago from yesterday, Treat Williams died due to a motorcycle accident.

 

Photo Credit: Philipp Wüst per Creative Commons license

[Drewsky1211 4,244]

Henry Mancini died on this day 30 years ago, aged 70.

- Mancini's first instrument was the piccolo, and he would go on to learn the piano. When he was 12, he would write a composition for then-rising big band leader Benny Goodman.

- After serving in World War II, Mancini would become a pianist for the reformed Glenn Miller Orchestra (minus Glenn Miller), but soon left to become a film composer. Among the movies he made music for included Creature from the Black Lagoon, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Great Race, and most famously The Pink Panther:

- Mancini was also known for composing the Peter Gunn theme song:

- Mancini would have a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 with "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet", which he adapted from Italian composer Nino Rota. It topped the chart for two weeks.

- In his later years, Mancini had a cameo in an episode of Frasier as the one-off character Al, and would also compose two of the songs of Disney's 1986 film The Great Mouse Detective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UQg4zb9dsA (embed didn't work but whatever)

- Mancini died after battling pancreatic cancer, and was working on the music of the Broadway musical Victor/Victoria at the time.

[Drewsky1211 4,244]

James K. Polk died on this day 175 years ago, aged 53.

- Polk attended the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and his roommate was also a politician- William Dunn Moseley, who later became the first American governor of Florida during the former's presidency.

- Polk was elected to the Tennessee Senate in 1823, and would be elected to the US House of Representatives a mere two years later. He was a huge fan of Andrew Jackson (particularly thanks to his war hero status in the War of 1812), and would become one of the biggest critics of the John Quincy Adams administration; Polk advocated for the abolition of the Electoral College (due to Adams' "corrupt bargain" with Henry Clay) and would agree with Jackson's anti-National Bank stance.

- Polk was elected Speaker of the House in 1835, continuing to advocate for Jacksonianism into the Van Buren presidency. He would then be elected governor of Tennessee in 1839, losing re-election in 1841 by a mere 3,000 votes.

- During the 1844 election, former president Martin Van Buren was seen as the frontrunner for the Democrats' nomination, and Polk would try to convince electors to make him Van Buren's running mate. However, slavery expansion advocates in the south detested Van Buren's abolitionist views, and determined Polk would make for a good compromise. Polk would be nominated on the ninth ballot at the Democratic National Convention, and the Polk-Dallas ticket would win 170-105 in the Electoral College.

- Polk's presidency was largely about expansion of the United States, as the country went to war with Mexico in 1846. The US won the war, and would gain a very large amount of land from Mexico (that included California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado, Wyoming and Oklahoma). Polk would also gain part of the UK's Oregon territory south of the 49th parallel (others wanted "54'40 or fight"). Due to the amount of land gained in such a short amount of time, Polk is often considered one of the most underrated US presidents by historians.

- Polk declined to seek reelection, and died just three months after leaving office due to cholera- the shortest post-presidency of any US president who didn't die in office.

[Drewsky1211 4,244]

Wernher von Braun died on this day 47 years ago, aged 65.

- Von Braun became fascinated by rockets as a teenager- specifically the construction of rocket-powered cars, and he would make his own by strapping fireworks to a toy vehicle. He launched this small car in a crowded sidewalk, causing him to be detained for a short period.

- After receiving his doctorate in physics in 1934, Von Braun would join the Nazi Party in 1937 in order to further his rocketeer career. He developed the V2 rocket- the world's first guided ballistic missile, and first object to reach space. It has been reported by Holocaust survivors that Von Braun worked at the Mittlebau-Dora concentration camp in order to receive slave labor for the construction of V2s (Von Braun probably saw it as making an expensive device built with free work).

- Von Braun would avoid prosecution after World War II thanks to Operation Paperclip, jokingly calling himself a "prisoner of peace". He would develop rocket weapons for the US Army, most notably the nuclear Redstone missile.

- In 1958, Von Braun would be transferred to the newly-established NASA, and became its first director in 1960 (holding the position until 1970). Von Braun notably designed the Saturn V rocket that would eventually send astronauts to the Moon during the Apollo missions:

- Von Braun would be diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1973, and would later be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer- the latter did him in.

- In 1965, Tom Lehrer would release a song satirizing Von Braun's career:

A rumor quickly spread that Von Braun sued Lehrer for libel, but he never did.

[John "요한" Sulu 386]

On this day 1 year ago, American military analyst and researcher Daniel Ellsburg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers, passed away at the age of 92.

[Drewsky1211 4,244]

Boleslaw I of Poland died on this day 999 years ago, aged 58.

- Boleslaw was the son of Duke Mieszko I, and was named after his maternal grandfather, Boleslaus I of Bohemia (infamous for killing his brother "Good King" Wenceslas).

- Boleslaw would become the duke of Poland upon his father's death in 992. In order to prevent claimants from taking the throne, he forcefully exiled his stepmother and half-brothers from the country. In 995, he would lead a campaign against the Obotrites or Veleti. Throughout his reign, he would also send his armies to intervene in succession crises, notably in Germany and Kyiv.

- Boleslaw became the first king of Poland on Christmas Eve in 1024, having received approval from Pope John XIX to elevate Poland from a duchy to a kingdom. Some historians believe this was due to John seeking an ally in case of a potential threat to the Papal States due to Byzantine campaigns in Sicily.

- Boleslaw would die just six months after his coronation, and was succeeded as king by his son Mieszko II (who decided to consider his grandfather a king). His posthumous epithets include "the Brave" and "the Great".

[Drewsky1211 4,244]

Emperor Leo III died on this day 1283 years ago, aged 56.

- Leo's birth name was 'Konon', and he was born in what is now southern Turkey- hence his epithet, "the Isaurian" (Isauria was what the geographic area was called at the time). He lived within the borders of the Umayyad Caliphate, and was therefore fluent in Arabic.

- Leo would conspire against Emperor Theodosius III during his time as a military governor, and would lead a siege on Constantinople in 717. Leo would successfully oust Theodosius (who lived until 754), but immediately had to deal with another siege led by the Umayyads, which was repelled following the death of their caliph Sulayman (who was not killed in battle).

- Leo's reign was known for his civil reforms, which included inviting Slavic people to settle in the empire and help build up his army, freeing the empire's serfs, and introducing the Ecloga legal code. However, he was also against religious freedom, forcing Byzantine Jews to be baptized, and would plan to lead a siege on Ravenna after Pope Gregory II threatened to excommunicate iconoclasts (Leo's stance may have been due to having grown up in a predominantly Muslim area- the religion is known for the iconoclasm of its prophets).

- Leo died after 24 years as emperor, and would be succeeded by his son Constantine V. He was the first emperor of the Isaurian dynasty, which lasted until 802.