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Cowan George (b. 1920-02-15 / d. 2012-04-20)
He was an American physical chemist, a businessman and philanthropist. Cowan received a B.S. from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1941. He did graduate studies at Princeton, where he worked under future Nobel laureate Eugene Wigner, whose investigation of uranium confirmed the feasibility of the Fermi pile. He continued his nuclear research with the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago, Oak Ridge, Columbia University, and Los Alamos. Because he was transferred to various locations as a technological troubleshooter for the effort, he was among the very few people with knowledge of the separate components of the bomb, kept apart for security reasons. He joined the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1946. He earned a Ph.D. from the Mellon College of Science in 1950. Weeks after his arrival at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1949, he directed the detection of radioactive fallout from samples collected near the Russian border indicating the Soviets were in possession of a nuclear bomb. He later served on the Bethe Panel that convinced government decision makers the radiochemistry detected represented weapons uses rather than peaceful pursuits.
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45
Born 1971-02-20. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:orphan disease
Joost Heystek van der Westhuizen was a South African professional rugby union player who made 89 appearances in test matches for the national team, scoring 38 tries. He mostly played as a scrum-half and participated in three Rugby World Cups, most notably in the 1995 tournament, which was won by South Africa. He is widely regarded as the greatest scrumhalf of all time. He captained the national side on ten occasions and was part of the team that won South Africa's first Tri-Nations title in 1998. Domestically he played for the provincial side the Blue Bulls from 1993 to 2003, with whom he won two domestic Currie Cup trophies in 1998 and 2002, and from 1996 until his retirement in 2003 played Super 12 rugby for Northern Transvaal (later renamed the Bulls). He was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 2007 and later into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. In 2011, it was announced that van der Westhuizen had motor neurone disease. He eventually became confined to a wheelchair and experienced speech problems, yet still raised awareness of the disease through his charity, the J9 Foundation. In 2001, he and his wife of six years, Marlene, divorced, shortly before he married Amor Vittone. He had two children with Vittone. In February 2009, Rapport newspaper and Heat magazine reported that they had video evidence of him engaging in sex play with a mystery blonde and snorting a white substance. Charmaine Weavers claimed to have had an affair with him in an interview with YOU magazine. His marriage to Vittone fell apart. At the end of March he lost his job as a television presenter with the South African broadcaster SuperSport. On 28 June 2009, he was admitted to hospital with a suspected heart attack, although he was discharged soon afterward when tests found no evidence of heart problems. A panic attack was suspected. On 1 November, coinciding with the release of his autobiography Spieëlbeeld ("Man in the mirror"), van der Westhuizen confessed to being in the controversial sex video and apologised for lying. In a telephone interview in August 2013 with BBC Sports correspondent James Peacock, he spoke about facing up to the controversy. "What I did went against all my principles - my life was controlled by my mind and I had to make my mistakes to realise what life is all about, I led my life at a hundred miles an hour. I've learned that there are too many things that we take for granted in life and it's only when you lose them that you realise what it is all about. But I know that God is alive in my life and with experience you do learn. I can now talk openly about the mistakes I made because I know my faith won't give up and it won't diminish. It's only when you go through what I am going through that you understand that life is generous." Doping was at stake because of the disease. Several south africans were affected during the 90's (Ruben Kruger, Tinus Linee, André Venter).
65
Born 1950-03-17. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Age
He was an Italian professional racing cyclist. He rode in the 1976 Tour de France, which he finished 37th.
78
Born 1936-06-30. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Age
She was an Algerian novelist, translator and filmmaker. Most of her works deal with obstacles faced by women, and she is noted for her feminist stance. She is "frequently associated with women's writing movements, her novels are clearly focused on the creation of a genealogy of Algerian women, and her political stance is virulently anti-patriarchal as much as it is anti-colonial.
88
Born 1923-12-13. Domain:Painting. Cause of death:Age
He was a Catalan painter, sculptor and art theorist. The son of lawyer Josep Tàpies i Mestre, and María Puig i Guerra, he became one of the most famous European artists of his generation.
55
Born 1956-10-08. Domain:Science (Physics style). Cause of death:Cancer (breast)
She was an American engineer and a NASA astronaut. She flew in space five times, jointly holding the record for American women. Voss died after a battle with breast cancer. During her career as an astronaut, she participated in the first Shuttle rendezvous with the Mir space station on STS-63: it flew around the station, testing communications and inflight manoeuvres for later missions, but did not actually dock. As an STS-99 crew member on the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, she and her fellow crew members worked continuously in shifts to produce what was at the time the most accurate digital topographical map of the Earth.
19
Born 1991-03-01. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Murder
William Morais started in football in the youth of Corinthians. With good performances in the Copa São Paulo de Juniores and the Campeonato Paulista de Juniores midfielder was named by coach Mano Menezes to integrate the core team of Corinthians. The 19-year-old midfielder on loan to Minas Gerais club America was shot in the back early Sunday while trying to escape a robbery attempt in the city of Belo Horizonte.
90
Born 1920-03-20. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Age
She was a French poet and novelist of Lebanese descent. She got married to a physician when she was twenty-two, with whom she has two children: Louis Chedid, now a famous French singer, and Michèle. Andrée Chedid is the grandmother of the French rock star -M- (Louis Chedid's son) for whom she has contributed song lyrics including that of Bonoboo on the album Je dis aime.
54
Born 1956-11-04. Domain:Society. Cause of death:alcohol, other drugs
Jean Paul Getty III was the first of four children of Paul Getty and Gail Harris, the grandson of oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty, and the father of actor Balthazar Getty. On 10 July 1973, Paul was kidnapped in Rome. A ransom note was received, demanding $17 million in exchange his safe return. When that ransom message arrived, some family members suspected the kidnapping was merely a ploy by the rebellious Paul, to get money from his grandfather. A second demand was received, but had been delayed by an Italian postal strike. Jean Paul Getty II asked his father for the money, but was refused. In November 1973, an envelope containing a lock of hair and a human ear was delivered to a daily newspaper, with a threat of further mutilation of Paul unless $3.2 million was paid: "This is Paul's ear. If we don’t get some money within 10 days, then the other ear will arrive. In other words, he will arrive in little bits." At this point Jean Paul agreed to pay a ransom, with his son repaying the sum at 4% interest. However, the reluctant Getty Sr. negotiated a deal and got his grandson back for about $2.9 million. Getty III was found alive in southern Italy on December 15, 1973, shortly after the ransom was paid. His kidnappers, supposedly linked with the 'Ndrangheta, were never caught. Paul III was permanently affected by the trauma and became a drug addict. After a stroke brought on by a cocktail of drugs and alcohol in 1981, Paul III was rendered speechless, nearly blind and partially paralyzed for the rest of his life. Getty defended his initial refusal to pay the ransom on two points. First, he argued that to submit to the kidnappers' demands would immediately place his other fourteen grandchildren at the risk of copy-cat kidnappers. He added: The second reason for my refusal was much broader-based. I contend that acceding to the demands of criminals and terrorists merely guarantees the continuing increase and spread of lawlessness, violence and such outrages as terror-bombings, "skyjackings" and the slaughter of hostages that plague our present-day world. (Getty, 1976, pg.139).
87
Born 1921-10-01. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
Whitmore was diagnosed with lung cancer in November 2008.
He was the President of the Assembly in "the planet of the apes"
93
Born 1913-03-30. Domain:Music. Cause of death:cardiovascular disease
He was also known as Mr Rhythm for his driving jazzy style.
80
Born 1924-10-30. Domain:Science (Physics style). Cause of death:Age
He served as a Minister of the Research from 1984 through 1986.
51
Born 1946-12-21. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Cancer (lung)
Carl Wilson, a heavy smoker, was diagnosed with brain and lung cancer in late 1996. Despite his illness and chemotherapy treatments, Carl continued to perform as a gift to his fans. Carl played through the Beach Boys' entire summer tour which ended in the fall of 1997. His death came just three months after the death of his mother, Audree Wilson.
60
Born 1937-10-15. Domain:Politics. Cause of death:Murder
He was murdered by Corse' independentists. (firearms)
88
Born 1905-05-15. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:cancer (throat)
“ Orson Welles lists Citizen Kane as his best film, Alfred Hitchcock opts for Shadow of a Doubt and Sir Carol Reed chose The Third Man - and I'm in all of them. ”
He died on February of pneumonia, a complication of terminal (or metastasized) throat cancer at the age of 88
49
Born 1943-07-10. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:AIDS
In 1979, Ashe suffered a heart attack, an event that surprised the public in view of his high level of fitness as an athlete. His condition drew attention to the hereditary aspect of heart disease. After a quadruple coronary-bypass operation, he appeared to have made a full recovery, but was obliged to give up competitive tennis.
The story of Ashe's life turned from success to tragedy in 1988, however, when Ashe discovered he had contracted HIV during the blood transfusions he had received during one of his two heart surgeries. He and his wife kept his illness private until April 8, 1992, when reports that the newspaper USA Today was about to publish a story about his condition forced him to make a public announcement that he had the disease. In the last year of his life, Arthur Ashe did much to call attention to AIDS sufferers worldwide. Two months before his death, he founded the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, to help address issues of inadequate health care delivery and was named Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year. He also spent much of the last years of his life writing his memoir Days of Grace, finishing the manuscript less than a week before his death.
80
Born 1909-02-03. Domain:Directing. Cause of death:Age
46
Born 1920-05-16. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Heart attack
Despite her fame and fortune, Martine Carol's personal life was filled with turmoil that included a suicide attempt (Georges Marchal had left her for Dany Robin), drug abuse, and four marriages. She was also kidnapped by French gangster Pierre Loutrel (aka "Pierrot le Fou" or "Crazy Pete"), albeit briefly and received roses the next day as an apology.
She unexpectedly died of a reported heart attack in a Monte Carlo hotel room at the age of only forty-four years. There were rumors of suicide, never confirmed.
35
Born 1909-03-31. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Murder
he openly supported fascism. After the fall of France, he became an editor of Je suis partout, an antisemitic paper, and wrote in favor of the collaboration and Nazi policies. In November 1942 he supported the German takeover of the unoccupied zone under the Vichy government, because it "reunited France". He called for death of left-wing politicians and in the summer of 1944 signed the call for the summary execution of all members of the French Resistance. After the liberation of Paris, Brasillach hid in an attic but he gave himself up on September 14 when he heard that his mother had been arrested. He spent the next five months in prison.
Brasillach went to trial in Paris on 19 January 1945 and was sentenced to death. The sentence caused uproar in French literature circles and even some of Brasillach's political opponents protested against it. Resistance member and author François Mauriac circulated a petition to Charles De Gaulle to commute the sentence. De Gaulle did not comply and Brasillach was executed by firing squad in Montrouge. He was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery.