Death Anniversary Thread

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American comedian and actress Danitra Vance died on this day 30 years ago, aged 40.

 

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Pope Nicholas III died on this day 744 years ago, aged 64.

- Nicholas' birth name was Giovanni Orsini; he was born into an ancient family and was related to several popes and Doges of Venice.

- Nicholas was made a cardinal at the very young age of 28 by Pope Innocent IV. In 1262, Pope Urban IV appointed Nicholas as the first-ever Grand Inquisitor against heresy cases.

- Nicholas was elected pope in 1277 after the death of Pope John XXI. His papacy was mostly unremarkable (mostly acting as a mediator in the affairs of European kings), although he was well-known for his nepotism. Nicholas would appoint three of his close relatives (his brother, his nephew, and another I couldn't find out about) as cardinals, which was the subject of some thirteenth-century political cartoonists, depicting the relatives as small bears (a pun on his last name, which meant "bearlike").

- Nicholas died after a little under three years as pope, being succeeded by Pope Martin IV. He was posthumously depicted in Dante's Inferno in the third layer of the Eighth Circle of Hell for committing simony (Dante believed Nicholas gave his relatives money upon naming them cardinals).

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

African American revolutionary and political activist Huey P. Newton died on this day 35 years ago, aged 47.

 

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Yevgeny Prigozhin died on this day a year ago, aged 62.

- As a young adult, Prigozhin joined a street gang to make ends meet, and spent nine years in prison for his crimes.

- After his release in 1990, Prigozhin decided to begin a hot dog business, investing in grocery stores. In 1995 he opened his first restaurant, Old Customs House, in Saint Petersburg. This was followed in 1997 with New Island- notably built on a large boat floating in the Vyatka River. Several heads of state dined at the latter, such as George W. Bush, Jacques Chirac, and (most important in his life) Vladimir Putin.

- Prigozhin and Putin would become friends with each other, and his catering company would soon receive government contracts to serve schools and federal workers. However, Prigozhin was known for his corrupt business practices, and it is believed that a company he was affiliated with caused a dysentery outbreak in 2019 by selling tainted food to a school in Moscow. Prigozhin's wealth was believed to have been over 1 billion rubles (about 11 million US dollars).

- Prigozhin is most well-known for founding the private military company Wagner Group. He founded it in 2014 to assist Russian guerrilla groups in Ukraine's Donbas region, and he would also establish ties with several African nations to align them with Russian global interests. Wagner Group (and Prigozhin himself) would come to international prominence following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, amassing over 50,000 mercenary fighters (many of which were convicted prisoners), and Prigozhin was often seen as a warlord.

- Throughout the war, Prigozhin would soon have a falling out with the Russian Ministry of Defense- while he agreed with the invasion, he disagreed with their practices, seeing them as ineffectual. In June of 2023, Prigozhin led a rebellion against Russian forces, having claimed that the military attacked Wagner Group positions after he refused to sign a contract that would've made Wagner Group subordinate to the military. The rebellion failed, and two months later, Prigozhin would die in a plane crash- believed to have been caused by a bomb loaded aboard the plane.

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

British typographer and graphic designer Jock Kinneir died on this day 30 years ago, aged 77.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,742]

Peggy Shippen died on this day 220 years ago, aged 44.

- Born to a prominent Pennsylvania family, Shippen met Benedict Arnold in 1778. The two of them married the following year.

- Shippen was a Loyalist (an American citizen who supported the British in the Revolution), and she was friends with general John Andre prior to meeting her husband. Peggy and John would manage to coax Benedict into weakening the defenses of the fort at West Point in New York.

- When Andre was captured, Peggy would assist her husband in escaping before George Washington was set to arrive at their home (Washington was unaware of Arnold's treason and was just heading there to have breakfast with him). After burning papers implicating Benedict, Peggy Arnold feigned insanity in front of Washington by stripping nearly-naked, screaming incoherently, and claiming Washington was conspiring to murder the Arnolds' baby son Edward.

- After the incident, Peggy would escape with the help of her father, taking a boat to New York City to meet with her husband, before they sailed to the United Kingdom. Queen Charlotte would gift her an annual payment of 100 pounds (over 20,000 pounds today), with historians calling her the highest-paid spy in the American Revolution.

- After Benedict died in 1801, Peggy would have to sell her home and many of her belongings to pay for the massive financial debts he had accumulated, and died three years later from some kind of cancer.

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

American actress Mary Jane Croft died on this day 25 years ago, aged 83.

 

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Henry Morgan died on this day 336 years ago, aged 53.

- Morgan was Welsh, with his birth name being "Harri".

- How Morgan got to the Caribbean remains unknown, though some theories suggest he joined the navy to attack Spanish settlements, as some claim he was a crew member of the privateer Christopher Myngs. By 1663 he was a captain who led raids on Spanish Cuba, Mexico, and Panama, seizing items of monetary value from several cities- to the Spanish, he was a notorious pirate, but to the English he was a skilled naval commander.

- Morgan would be knighted for his service in 1674, and shortly afterwards he would be appointed the lieutenant governor of Jamaica. Morgan was also a member of Jamaica's House of Assembly, serving until 1683.

- Morgan was also a notorious slaveowner, running three different sugar plantations, as well as attacking settlements of Jamaican Maroons (slaves who had escaped to freedom- fortunately some would retreat deep into the mountains and remain hidden).

- Following his death in 1688, Morgan would receive a state funeral- his grave, however, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1692. In modern times, Morgan is most well-known as the mascot for Captain Morgan brand rum:

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American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor Truman Capote died on this day 40 years ago, aged 59.

 

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Franz Werfel died on this day 79 years ago, aged 54.

- Werfel would publish his first book- a collection of poems called Der Weltfreund (Friend to the World), and would quickly befriend notable figures such as Franz Kafka and Martin Buber.

- Werfel would serve in World War I as a phone operator for Austria-Hungary. After being reassigned to the propaganda department in 1917, Werfel would meet Alma Mahler Gropius- then married to Walter Gropius- and would have an affair which led to the birth of a bastard son named Martin (who sadly died at less than a year old). Alma and Walter would divorce in 1920, and she married Franz in 1929.

- In 1933, Werfel would publish The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, a novel that would bring global attention to the Armenian genocide of 1915. The book would be banned in Nazi Germany- not due to the contents revolving around a genocide, but because Werfel was Jewish.

- Franz and Alma Werfel would flee Germany in 1938, going to France before settling in the United States in 1940. There, in 1941, he would write his most well-known novel, The Song of Bernadette (a novel about the visions of Bernadette Soubirous). It would quickly be adapted into a movie (in 1943).

- Franz died of heart failure shortly after the end of World War II- Alma would live for another 19 years.

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

American aviator and military officer Charles Lindbergh died on this day 50 years ago, aged 72.

 

[Bobytomi 111]

1 year has passed since Bob Barker died

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Pope Eugene II died on this day 1197 years ago, aged ~47.

- Like most popes from the early Middle Ages, much of Eugene's life before his papacy remains an utter mystery. This even applies to his lineage- some accounts give his father's name as Boemund, but others say his parents remain unidentified.

- Eugene was elected pope in 824 largely due to the influence of the Carolingian Franks- the clergy and general population initially considered nominating a man named Zinzinnus, seen to have continued the policies of Eugene's predecessor Paschal I.

- Eugene would restore the properties of nobles who had been banished from Rome by Paschal, and in order to keep them in check, Eugene would draft the Constitutio Romana with Italian king Lothair I. Eugene was also a patron of education, holding an ecumenical council in 826 to facilitate the development of several schools.

- Eugene would die after a three-year papacy, and would be succeeded by Pope Valentine. Eugene and Valentine had a very close relationship, and some historians believe the two were either father and son, or even a potentially closeted couple.

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American character actor Billy Sands died on this day 40 years ago, aged 73.

 

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Louis II of Germany died on this day 1148 years ago, aged 70.

- Louis was a grandson of Charlemagne as the son of Louis the Pious. The elder Louis would give his son control of Bavaria in 817.

- Towards the end of his father's life, Louis would fight for land from his brothers, instigating a Frankish civil war in 839. Louis the Pious died the following year, and Louis II would attack his brother Lothair for his land. This would be settled with the Treaty of Verdun in 843, in which Louis would receive most of the land east of the Rhine River.

- In his own late life, Louis would experience deja vu when his own sons (Carloman, Louis, and Charles) would rebel against him, and ended up having to cede land to each of them in 865.

- Louis died after a 33-year reign, and his three sons would divide his kingdom into Bavaria, Saxony and Swabia. Louis' epithet "the German" arose in the 18th century- his contemporary epithet was "the pious" (exactly the same name as his father).

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

American journalist and syndicated newspaper columnist Joseph Alsop died on this day 35 years ago, aged 78.

 

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Gene Wilder died on this day 8 years ago, aged 83.

- Wilder's real name was Jerome Silberman. His interest in acting began during his childhood when his family doctor asked him to try to make his sick mother laugh, and this was furthered when his sister began acting class. His first public performance was as Balthasar in a production of Romeo and Juliet when he was 15.

- Wilder took his stage name in 1954 due to feeling insecure about his own name (he felt 'Jerry Silberman' didn't sound right in a production). He took 'Gene' from the character of Eugene Gant in Look Homeward, Angel, whereas 'Wilder' was a tribute to Our Town playwright Thornton Wilder.

- Wilder met Anne Bancroft in 1963 when they starred in a production of Mother Courage and Her Children, and it is there he met Mel Brooks (then her boyfriend). Wilder would soon be cast by Brooks in The Producers as Leo Bloom, leading to more appearances in his movies- most notably the Waco Kid in Blazing Saddles and the titular role in Young Frankenstein:

- By far his most famous role was the titular Willy Wonka in the 1971 version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:

Actors considered for the role before Wilder included Fred Astaire, Jon Pertwee, and Joel Grey.

- While on set of the 1982 film Hanky Panky, Wilder met Gilda Radner. The two fell in love, and Wilder would direct and star in some films with her, such as 1984's The Woman in Red. They married in 1984, but Radner died five years later from ovarian cancer. As a result, Wilder became a leading figure in promoting awareness of the disease, and would co-found the support group Gilda's Club in 1995.

- Wilder was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2013, opting to keep his battle private so not to sadden his fans (particularly children who recognized him as Willy Wonka in public).

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

British chemist, hematologist and geneticist Arthur Mourant died on this day 30 years ago, aged 90.

 

[The Unknown Man 584]

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev died on this day 2 years ago, aged 91.

[John "요한" Sulu 419]

On this day 3 years ago, Ed Asner passed away at the age of 91.

[Drewsky1211 4,742]

Valerie Harper died on this day 5 years ago, aged 80.

- Harper's parents named her after the tennis player Valerie Scott- her father was attending a tennis tournament match the day she was born.

- Harper got her start in acting as a background dancer on Broadway, but would only begin to see fame when she started working on TV. She would co-write for segments on Love, American Style. In 1970, Harper would be cast as Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and would continue the role in the spinoff Rhoda from 1974 to 1978. Harper won four Emmy Awards for her portrayal of the character.

- In terms of film, Harper was most known for starring in Night Tower and Chapter Two- before she went back to television in 1986 to star as Valerie Hogan in Valerie. She was fired after the first season of Valerie due to a pay disagreement- and would sue NBC and Lorimar Television for wrongful dismissal, and won against Lorimar (the NBC suit was dismissed); she still wasn't brought back to the show and her character was killed offscreen (the show was renamed to The Hogan Family).

- Harper was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009, which went into remission. In 2013, she would be diagnosed with leptomeningeal cancer (cancer of the membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord), and died after a six-year battle. She was put on the DeathList five times between 2014 and 2019 (2016 being the only year she was dropped), and was the 7th hit (of 13) on the 2019 list.

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American film and television actor and screenwriter Wesley Lau died on this day 40 years ago, aged 63.

 

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Henry V died on this day 602 years ago, aged 35.

- Henry was a son of Henry IV, and he was known as Henry of Monmouth before ascending to the English throne.

- Henry's military experience begun by fighting against the forces of Owain Glyndŵr during the Welsh Revolt from 1403 to 1406.

- Henry would become king upon his father's death, when he was 26 years old- with his coronation being disrupted by a blizzard. Henry's domestic policies were often tackled from a multiangled view, leading to a quite peaceful reign at home- but he was still dealing with France during the Hundred Years' War. Among the most notable events of his reign was the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, a surprise victory for England (they were hungry and outnumbered). His victory there would lead to an alliance with Hungary.

- Despite his further victories in Rouen and Meaux, Henry lost his final battle with an unidentified disease (either smallpox, dysentery, leprosy or even heatstroke). He was succeeded by his eight-month-old son Henry VI.

[John "요한" Sulu 419]

One year ago from yesterday, Egyptian business magnate Mohamed Al-Fayed passed away at the age of 94.

 

Photo Credit: Abi Skipp per Creative Commons license

[The Ashes Urn 1,356]

English singer and actor Carl Wayne died on this day 20 years ago, aged 61.