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Baire René-Louis (b. 1874-01-21 / d. 1932-07-05)
René-Louis Baire was a French mathematician most famous for his Baire category theorem, which helped to generalize and prove future theorems. His theory was published originally in his dissertation Sur les fonctions de variable réelles ("On the Functions of Real Variables") in 1899. Since he was young, Baire always had "delicate" health. He had developed problems with his esophagus before he attended school and he would occasionally experience severe attacks of agoraphobia. From time to time, his health would prevent him from working or studying. The bad spells became more frequent, immobilizing him for long periods of time. Over time, he had developed a kind of psychological disorder that made him unable to undertake work that required long periods of concentration. At times this would make his ability to research mathematics impossible. Between 1909 and 1914 this problem continually plagued him and his teaching duties became more and more difficult. He was given a leave of absence from the University of Dijon due to all these breakdowns. He retired from Dijon in 1925 and spent his last years living in multiple hotels that he could afford with his meager pension.
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90
Born 1931-11-01. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Age
Birch began sailing later in his life, but gained notoriety following his victory at the inaugural Route du Rhum in 1978. His sailboat, the Olympus Photo, a 12 meter trimaran, caught up with the larger Kriter V of Michel Malinovsky late in the race. Birch's victory at the Route du Rhum would be his only one on a monohull and begin the reign of the multihull, particularly following the death of Alain Colas. Birch continued a long career racing offshore completing his final race at the Transat Jacques Vabre in 2007, where he finished in 16th place. Birch died in Brech, France.
91
Born 1927-08-02. Domain:Science (Math style). Cause of death:Age
Sir Henry Peter Francis Swinnerton-Dyer, 16th Baronet, KBE, FRS was an English mathematician specialising in number theory at University of Cambridge. As a mathematician he was best known for his part in the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture relating algebraic properties of elliptic curves to special values of L-functions, which was developed with Bryan Birch during the first half of the 1960s with the help of machine computation, and for his work on the Titan operating system.
92
Born 1894-02-10. Domain:Politics. Cause of death:Age
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC, FRS, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Dubbed "Supermac", he was known for his pragmatism, wit and unflappability. Macmillan had often play-acted being an old man long before real old age set in. As early as 1948 Humphry Berkeley wrote of how "he makes a show of being feeble and decrepit", mentioning how he had suddenly stopped shambling and sprinted for a train. Nigel Fisher tells an anecdote of how Macmillan initially greeted him to his house leaning on a stick, but later walked and climbed steps perfectly well, twice acting lame again and fetching his stick when he remembered his "act". However, in genuine old age he became almost blind, causing him to need sticks and a helping arm. Macmillan died at Birch Grove, the Macmillan family mansion on the edge of Ashdown Forest near Chelwood Gate in East Sussex, four days after Christmas in 1986. His age was 92 years and 322 days—the greatest age attained by a British Prime Minister until surpassed by Lord Callaghan on 14 February 2005. His grandson and heir Alexander, Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden, said: "In the last 48 hours he was very weak but entirely reasonable and intelligent. His last words were, 'I think I will go to sleep now'.