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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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103
Born 1914-06-16. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
She was a French actress, who appeared in numerous theatre and film productions. She was an honorary member of the Sociétaires of the Comédie-Française, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and Grand-Croix of the National Order of Merit. In a career spanning more than 80 years, Casadesus appeared in more than a dozen films after turning 90.
62
Born 1953-10-20. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:cancer (blood)
He was an American actor known for his roles as Radio Raheem in Spike Lee's film Do the Right Thing and Robbie Robertson in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man film trilogy. Nunn died in his home in Pittsburgh's Hill District; he was 62 years old. His widow, Donna, confirmed that he had leukemia.
71
Born 1944-05-06. Domain:Science (Physics style). Cause of death:Age
He developed two data transmission protocols popular for uploading and downloading files from dial-up bulletin board systems in the 1990s. He received a Dvorak Award for Excellence in Telecommunications in 1992 for developing ZMODEM. He was also the project engineer on the Tektronix 4010-series graphics terminals.
61
Born 1948-05-07. Domain:Society. Cause of death:cancer (brain)
She was a convicted American murderer who was a member of the "Manson family", led by Charles Manson. Manson and his followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations in California, over a period of five weeks in the summer of 1969. Atkins, known within the Manson family as Sadie Mae Glutz, was convicted for her participation in eight of these killings, including the most notorious, the "Tate/LaBianca" murders. She was sentenced to death, which was subsequently commuted to life in prison. Atkins was incarcerated in California from October 1, 1969 until her death, having been denied parole 18 times. She had been the longest-incarcerated female inmate in the California penal system.
Atkins' release hearing took place on July 15, 2008. During the 90-minute hearing, emotional pleas were made by both supporters and opponents of Atkins' release. The public hearing limited speakers to five minutes each for comment. After the board heard the case (as well as other agenda items) it retired to closed session for final deliberations. Due to her failing health, Atkins did not attend the hearing.
Debra Tate, the only surviving immediate relative of murder victim Sharon Tate, spoke in opposition to a compassionate release for Atkins, stating that "She will be set free when judged by God. It's important that she die in incarceration." Pam Turner, a cousin of Sharon Tate, also opposed Atkins' release, stating that "If she were capable of comprehending what our family's been through, she would be ashamed to come before this parole board and ask such a request." Anthony DiMaria, the nephew of murder victim Thomas Jay Sebring, also opposed Atkins' release stating that "You will hear various opinions with respect to this today, but you will hear nothing from the nine people who lie in their graves and suffered horrendous deaths at the hands of Susan Atkins."
Gloria Goodwin Killian, director of ACWIP (Action Committee for Women in Prison) and a Pasadena legal researcher and prisoner advocate, spoke in support for Atkins' compassionate release, arguing "Susan has been punished all that she can be. Short of going out to the hospital and physically torturing her, there is nothing left anyone can do to her. The people who are suffering are the people you see in this room today." In July 2008 Atkins' husband, James W. Whitehouse, told the board "They tell me we're lucky if we have three months. It's not going to be fun. It's not going to be pretty."
The 11 members of the California Board of Parole Hearings ultimately denied Atkins' request in a unanimous decision after final deliberations. The decision — posted on its Web site — meant the Atkins' request would not be forwarded to the Los Angeles Superior Court that sentenced her, which would have had the final say as to whether she would be released.
Atkins was transferred back to the Central California Women's Facility, which has a nursing facility, in Chowchilla, California, on September 24, 2008.
Atkins, reportedly paralyzed over 85 percent of her body, unable to sit up or be transferred to a wheelchair, according to a Web site maintained by her husband, was denied parole at a parole hearing on September 2, 2009.
Coincidentaly, Atkins died a couple of days before Roman Polanski was arrested in Zürich for an old paedophilic affair in the U.S.
25
Born 1983-05-11. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Accident
He was a Dutch cricketer.
Van Nierop moved to Cape Town to work in 2006, and began playing for a local club. He had been out for the evening with Ryan Maron, the coach at his old club in the Netherlands. The two had dinner together and then spent time socialising a night club with members of the South African cricket team, reportedly including Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher.
He stayed out when Maron went home, indicating that he would follow him home later. Reports suggested that friends he had expected to meet with didn't turn up, so he headed home. At 4:45 a.m., a security guard witnessed him jump down from a wall in the Woodstock area of Cape Town and land on his head, suffering fatal injuries.
He had been named in the Dutch winter squad less than a week earlier and was thought to be in line for a comeback to the national side. He had planned to return to play cricket in the Netherlands in the 2009 season.
24
Born 1984-00-00. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Murder
The former Vasco de Gama player Thiago da Silva was brutally tortured and murdered, allegedly by hired assassins on the orders of his ex-girlfriend. Da Silva, 25, who had been playing for second-division team Estacio de Sa Soccer Club, died in a Rio de Janeiro hospital Wednesday night, six days after being mortally shot in an attack by three men on a soccer field. According to reports from the local police, the instigator of the crime is da Silva's former girlfriend. Before he passed away, da Silva was able to tell the police that he had fallen into a trap last Thursday evening, shortly after discussing the end of his relationship with his girlfriend, Alyne Padula. The former Vasco player was overwhelmed by three people (including a member of the military police), all of whom are friends of the girl's aunt. He was handcuffed, beaten and tortured. When he tried to flee he was hit by three bullets. Both the former girlfriend and her aunt, Marcia Padula Viana, were arrested on Sunday as instigators of the crime, and accused of hiring the assassins to kill da Silva.
84
Born 1923-02-00. Domain:Philosophy. Cause of death:Suicide
Pen name: Michel Bosquet.
In the 1960s, Gorz was a theorist of workers' self-management. Later, he was also concerned with political ecology. His central theme was work: liberation from work, just distribution of work, alienated work, etc. He was also one of the advocates of a Guaranteed basic income.
Gorz committed suicide with his wife Dorine in his home in Vosnon (Aube) and was found dead on the 24th of September 2007. Dorine, 83, was suffering of a long illness. In 2006, Gorz had published "Lettre à D. Histoire d'un amour". There, he wrote:
«Tu viens juste d'avoir quatre-vingt-deux ans (...). Tu es toujours belle, gracieuse et désirable. Cela fait cinquante-huit ans que nous vivons ensemble et je t'aime plus que jamais. Récemment, je suis retombé amoureux de toi une nouvelle fois et je porte de nouveau en moi un vide débordant que ne comble que ton corps serré contre le mien.»
78
Born 1928-08-29. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Heart attack
Thomas Stewart died of a heart attack while playing golf near his home in Rockville, Maryland.
He was an American bass-baritone who specialized in Wagnerian roles.
69
Born 1935-06-21. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Other
Fond of travelling in the United States, she was often seen with Truman Capote. She was once involved in a car accident with her Aston Martin, which left her in a coma for some time.
In the 1990s Sagan was convicted for using cocaine.
Her health was reported to be poor in the decade of the 2000s. In 2002 she was unable to appear at a trial in which she was convicted of tax fraud involving François Mitterrand, and she received a suspended sentence.
Françoise Sagan died of a blood clot in a lung in Honfleur, Calvados at the age of 69.
83
Born 1920-06-20. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Age
He was a writer and professor of literature. Of French descent, he was born in Algeria, but left as part of the diaspora of French colonists referred to as pied-noirs following the Algerian War.
67
Born 1914-10-07. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
She was born in London, England, the second daughter of future Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Clementine Churchill: she was the third of the couple's five children. Sarah was named after Churchill's ancestor, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.
She is fondly remembered for her role in the film Royal Wedding (1951) as Anne Ashmond, starring opposite Fred Astaire.
63
Born 1882-09-30. Domain:Science (Physics style). Cause of death:Age
He was a German physicist. He is perhaps best known as the co-inventor of the Geiger counter and for the Geiger-Marsden experiment which discovered the Atomic nucleus. He did not hesitate to give to the nazis some of his jewish colleagues, who had helped him in his discoveries. He was a member of the Uranium Club, which was working on an atomic bomb for Nazi Germany. Geiger died in Potsdam, Germany a few months after World War II ended.
74
Born 1846-05-30. Domain:Art. Cause of death:Age
He was a Russian jeweller, best known for the famous Fabergé eggs, made in the style of genuine Easter eggs, but using precious metals and gemstones rather than more mundane materials.
In 1917, amidst the chaos of the October Revolution, he sold his shares in the company to his employees and fled Russia. He went first to Finland, with assistance from the British Embassy, and then to Wiesbaden, Germany making stops in Riga, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg. Fabergé and his wife moved to Bellevue Hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland. When he died, he was buried beside his wife Augusta in the Cimetière du Grand Jas in Cannes, France.