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von Papen Franz (b. 1879-10-29 / d. 1969-05-02)
The central role that Papen played in Hitler's appointment as Chancellor in January 1933 was reflected by Papen's indictment at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial. He was, however, acquitted based on the tribunal's determination that his "political immoralities" were not punishable under the "conspiracy to commit crimes against peace" charged in Papen's indictment.
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48
Born 1932-07-08. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Cancer
At the time of her death at the age of 48 from cancer, she was married to the director Elia Kazan, by whom she had one child. She was perhaps best-known for her role in Kazan's film, Splendor in the Grass (1961), in which she played Warren Beatty's sister, as well as for portraying a fictionalized version of Marilyn Monroe in Kazan's stage production of After the Fall, written by Monroe's former husband, playwright Arthur Miller.
79
Born 1900-06-22. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
She was a French actress and the first wife of film director Jean Renoir. Hessling appeared in 15, mostly silent, films before retiring from the acting profession and withdrawing from public life in the mid-1930s.
69
Born 1910-02-17. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Cancer
Arthur Lee Hunnicutt was an American actor known for his portrayal of wise, grizzled, and old rural characters. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Big Sky (1952). He was also known for his role in the Western television series Sugarfoot (1957-1961).
35
Born 1944-06-22. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Murder
He was a French left-wing intellectual who was convicted of several robberies and assassinated mysteriously. It has been suspected that the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL) death squad was involved in his murder. His half-brother Jean-Jacques Goldman is a popular French singer. he was assassinated at point-blank range in Paris. Eye-witnesses described three Spanish-looking persons. In April 2006, Libération published an interview of former police officer Lucien Aimé-Blanc, who stated that one of his informants, Jean-Pierre Maďone, had admitted, a few years later, having killed Goldman on behalf of the GAL: “ Marseille boys members of GAL killed him with Maďone, who also talked about a commandant, former member of the SDECE [French secret service], without revealing me his identity."
40
Born 1938-11-13. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Suicide
In August 1979, she went missing, and was found dead 11 days later in the back seat of her car in a Paris suburb. The police report stated that she had taken a massive overdose of barbiturates and alcohol (8g per litre). A suicide note ("Forgive me. I can no longer live with my nerves") was found in her hand, and suicide was ultimately ruled the official cause of death. However, it is often questioned how she could have driven with that amount of alcohol in her body, and without the glasses she absolutely needed for driving
80
Born 1898-06-26. Domain:Science (Physics style). Cause of death:Age
Following World War II, Messerschmitt was tried by a denazification court for using slave labor, and in 1948 was convicted of being a "fellow traveller". After two years in prison, he was released and resumed his position as head of his company. Since Germany was forbidden to manufacture aircraft until 1955, he turned his company to manufacturing prefabricated buildings, sewing machines, and small cars - most notably the Messerschmitt Kabinenroller. Exporting his talents, he designed the Hispano HA200 jet trainer for Hispano Aviacion in Spain in 1952 before eventually being allowed to return to aircraft manufacturing in Germany to licence-produce the Fiat G91 and then Lockheed F-104 Starfighter for the West German Luftwaffe.
49
Born 1929-03-01. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Murder
After moving to the West, he worked as a broadcaster and journalist for the BBC World Service, the US-funded Radio Free Europe, and Germany's Deutsche Welle. He criticised the Bulgarian communist regime many times on radio. It is speculated that, as a result of this, the Bulgarian government decided to dispose of him—and asked the KGB for help.
Markov walked across Waterloo Bridge, which crosses the River Thames, and was waiting at a bus stop on the other side, when he was jabbed in the thigh by a man holding an umbrella. The man apologized and walked away. Markov would later tell doctors that the man had spoken in a foreign accent. The event is recalled as the Umbrella Murder.
Markov recalled feeling a stinging pain from where he had been hit by the umbrella tip. When he arrived at work at the BBC World Service offices he noticed a small red pimple had formed and the pain from being jabbed had not gone away. He told at least one of his colleagues at the BBC about this incident. That evening he developed a high fever and was admitted to hospital where he died three days later.
34
Born 1944-02-14. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Accident
At the start of the race, the race starter threw the green light before the field was ready to start. Several cars in the middle of the field got a jump on those at the front, and the result was an accordion effect of the cars as they approached the chicane, bunching the cars tightly together. James Hunt collided with Peterson, with Riccardo Patrese, Vittorio Brambilla, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Patrick Depailler, Didier Pironi, Derek Daly, Clay Regazzoni and Brett Lunger all involved in the ensuing melee.
Peterson's Lotus went into the barriers hard and caught fire. He was trapped, but Hunt, Regazzoni and Depailler managed to free him from the wreck before he received more than minor burns. He was dragged free and laid in the middle of the track fully conscious, his severe leg injuries obvious to all. Hunt later said he stopped Peterson from looking at his legs to spare him further distress.
At the time there was more concern for Brambilla , who was hit on the head by a flying wheel and was slumped comatose in his car (he later recovered and drove on in F1 until 1980). Peterson's life was not seen to be in any danger. The injured drivers were taken to hospital in Milan and the race was restarted after the track was cleaned up.
At the hospital, Peterson's X-rays showed he had 7 fractures in one leg and 3 in the other. After discussion with Ronnie himself, the surgeons decided to operate to stabilize the bones. Unfortunately, during the night, bone marrow went into Peterson's bloodstream through the fractures, forming fat globules on his major organs including lungs, liver, and brain. By morning he was in full renal failure and was declared dead a few hours later. The cause of death was given as fat embolism. Somebody reported that Peterson's death should be ascribed to bloodloss happened during the attempt to remove this embolism.
Peterson's life would most likely have been saved had he received medical attention immediately after his accident. In violation of safety requirements, track officials waited more than 20 minutes before dispatching medical help to the scene.
Teammate and close friend Andretti clinched the championship at the race. "It was so unfair to have a tragedy connected with probably what should have been the happiest day of my career," Andretti said. "I couldn't celebrate, but also, I knew that trophy would be with me forever. And I knew also that Ronnie would have been happy for me."
86
Born 1892-08-02. Domain:Business. Cause of death:Age
By the end of 1973, those closest to Warner became aware of signs that he was becoming disoriented. Shortly after losing his way in the building that housed his own office, Warner retired. In 1974, the former studio chief suffered a stroke that left him blind and enfeebled. During the next several years, he gradually lost the ability to speak and became unresponsive to friends and relatives. Finally, on August 13, 1978, Warner was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Hospital, where he died of a heart inflammation.
32
Born 1946-08-23. Domain:Music. Cause of death:alcohol, other drugs
Keith Moon's final night out was as a guest of Paul McCartney at the preview of the film The Buddy Holly Story on 7 September 1978. After dining with Paul and Linda McCartney, Moon and his girlfriend, Annette Walter-Lax, left the party early and returned to a flat on loan from Harry Nilsson in Curzon Place, London. He died at the age of 32, having overdosed on Clomethiazole, a medication taken as part of a program to wean him off alcohol. When the police investigated the cause of his death they determined that there were about 32 pills in his system. Some of the pills were undissolved.
Moon died a couple of weeks after the release of the last Who album he appeared on, Who Are You. All four band members are shown on the album cover, with Moon seated on a chair back-to-front in order to hide all the weight he had gained in the previous three years, as discussed in Tony Fletcher's book "Dear Boy". Ironically, the chair was labeled "Not to be taken away".
53
Born 1923-12-02. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Heart attack
Callas spent her last years living largely in isolation in Paris and died on September 16, 1977, of a heart attack, at the age of 53. A funerary liturgy was held at Agios Stephanos (St. Stephen's) Greek Orthodox Cathedral on Rue Georges-Bizet, Paris, on September 20, 1977, and her ashes were interred at the Pčre Lachaise Cemetery. After being stolen and later recovered, they were scattered over the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Greece, according to her wish.
29
Born 1947-09-30. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Accident
He was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist whose hit singles, fashion sensibilities and stage presence with T.Rex in the early 1970s helped cultivate the glam rock era and made him one of the most recognisable stars in British music of the time.
Bolan died two weeks before his 30th birthday. He was a passenger in a purple Mini 1275GT (registration FOX 661L) driven by Gloria Jones as they headed home from Mortons drinking club and restaurant in Berkeley Square. Jones lost control of the speeding car and it struck a sycamore tree after failing to negotiate a small humpback bridge near Gipsy Lane on Queens Ride, Barnes, southwest London. Bolan died instantly, while Jones suffered a broken arm and broken jaw and spent a short time in hospital. Neither were wearing seat belts. Bolan's home, which was less than a mile away at 142 Upper Richmond Road West in East Sheen, was immediately looted.
28
Born 1949-00-00. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Murder
He was the last person to be guillotined in France, at Baumettes Prison in Marseille. He was a Tunisian immigrant who had been convicted of the torture and murder of 21-year-old Elisabeth Bousquet, his former girlfriend, in Marseille. Marcel Chevalier served as chief executioner.
Born in Tunisia around 1949, Djandoubi started living and working in Marseille, France in 1968, as a packer. He lost his job in 1971 after a workplace accident removed two-thirds of his right leg.
In 1973, a 21-year-old woman named Elisabeth Bousquet filed a complaint against Djandoubi, who was her lover, for illegal confinement and cruelty, claiming that he had tried to force her into prostitution.
After his arrest and eventual release from custody during the spring of 1973, Djandoubi drew two other young girls into his confidence and then forced them to "work" for him. The idea of taking revenge on his accuser never left his mind, however, and in July 1974 he kidnapped Bousquet and took her into his home where, in full view of the terrified girls, he beat the unfortunate woman mercilessly before stubbing a lit cigarette all over her breasts and genital area. Despite this Bousquet survived the ordeal, so Djandoubi took her by car to an outskirt of Marseille and there strangled her.
On his return Djandoubi warned the two girls to say nothing of what they had seen, and it was not until Bousquet's body was identified one month after its discovery in a shed by two children on 7 July 1974 that the girls finally found the courage to take their story to the authorities.
After a lengthy pre-trial process, Djandoubi eventually appeared in court in Aix-en-Provence on charges of torture-murder, rape and premeditated violence on 24 February 1977. His main defence revolved around the supposed effects of the amputation of his leg six years earlier which his lawyer claimed had driven him to a paroxysm of alcohol and violence, turning him into a "different" man. It was all to no avail, however: on 25 February he was condemned to death. An appeal against his sentence was rejected on 9 June, and in the early morning of 10 September 1977, Djandoubi was woken to be informed that all hope of a presidential reprieve had failed. Shortly afterwards, at 4:40 a.m., he was executed.
30
Born 1946-09-18. Domain:Art. Cause of death:Other
Alexis started working for Pilote in 1968, providing illustrations and gags. In 1969, he began a collaboration with Fred on the series Timoléon, and started his working relationship with Gotlib on the film parody series Cinémastok in 1970. The partnership with Gotlib continued for several years, leading to the creation of the magazine Fluide Glacial in 1975 where the advertising parody series La Publicité dans la Joie was published. In 1976, Alexis started the humorous western series Al Crane, in collaboration with Gérard Lauzier, and in 1977 he succeeded Gotlib as artist of the series Superdupont, written by Jacques Lob.
While working on the post-apocalyptic work Le Transperceneige, Alexis died as a result of a ruptured aneurysm on September 7, 1977. His final work was later completed by Jean-Marc Rochette.
92
Born 1885-06-09. Domain:Science (Math style). Cause of death:Age
He was a British mathematician, best known for the results achieved in collaboration with G. H. Hardy. There is a story (related in the Miscellany) that at a conference Littlewood met a German mathematician who said he was most interested to discover that Littlewood really existed, as he had always assumed that Littlewood was a name used by Hardy for lesser work which he did not want to put out under his own name; Littlewood apparently roared with laughter. There are versions of this story involving both Norbert Wiener and Edmund Landau, who, it is claimed, "so doubted the existence of Littlewood that he made a special trip to Great Britain to see the man with his own eyes".
83
Born 1894-10-30. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Age
Active as an experimental biologist, Rostand became famous for his work as a science writer, as well as a philosopher and an activist. His scientific work covered a variety of biological fields such as amphibian embryology, parthenogenesis and teratogeny, while his literary output extended into popular science, history of science and philosophy.
66
Born 1910-08-18. Domain:Science (Math style). Cause of death:cancer (blood)
Pál Turán was a Hungarian mathematician who worked primarily in number theory. He had a long collaboration with fellow Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős, lasting 46 years and resulting in 28 joint papers. He died in Budapest of leukemia.
84
Born 1892-08-02. Domain:Journalism. Cause of death:Age
Emmanuel Berl was a French journalist, historian and essayist. He was born at Le Vésinet in the modern département of Yvelines, and is buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris. In 1937 he married the singer, composer and film actress Mireille Hartuch; she had nicknamed him "Théodore" (which is what appears on their tomb). Berl was the cousin of Lisette de Brinon.
87
Born 1889-02-01. Domain:Business. Cause of death:Age
Shōjirō Ishibashi (石橋 正二郎, Ishibashi Shōjirō) was a Japanese businessman who founded the Bridgestone Corporation, the world's largest maker of tires, in 1931 in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. the company was named after its founder: in the Japanese language, ishi means "stone" and hashi (here voiced to bashi) means "bridge", whence the origin of the company's name in English. Ishibashi's daughter, Yasuko Hatoyama, became heir to Ishibashi's considerable fortune and has used the inheritance to fund her family's political causes. She married former Japanese Foreign Minister Iichirō Hatoyama. The couple had two sons, who are Ishibashi's grandchildren – politicians Kunio Hatoyama, who served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, and Yukio Hatoyama, who was Prime Minister from September 16, 2009 to June 8, 2010.
83
Born 1893-12-26. Domain:Politics. Cause of death:Other
Mao Zedong died at the age of 82, on September 9, 1976 at 10 minutes past midnight in Beijing. He died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known in the U.S as Lou Gehrig's Disease and elsewhere as Motor Neurone Disease. Mao had been in poor health for several years and had declined visibly for some months prior to his death. His body lay in state at the Great Hall of the People.
88
Born 1887-05-31. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Age
He was a French poet and diplomat who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1960 "for the soaring flight and evocative imagery of his poetry."
80
Born 1894-07-25. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
Upon his death from emphysema at the age of eighty in Oxnard, Brennan was interred in San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Los Angeles. His widow, Ruth, whom he married in 1920, lived to be ninety-nine and is buried next to him. They had a daughter and two sons.
75
Born 1899-07-05. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Other
Diabetes
65
Born 1908-03-07. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:cancer (pancreas)
She had worked in films for almost 20 years before gaining international renown as 'Pina' in Roberto Rossellini's neorealist milestone Roma, Cittá Aperta. (also known as Rome, Open City, 1945). Her harrowing death scene remains one of cinema's most devastating moments.
69
Born 1904-07-12. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:cancer (pancreas)
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean writer and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto.
Hospitalized with cancer at the time of the Chilean coup d'état led by Augusto Pinochet, Neruda died of heart failure twelve days later. Already a legend in life, Neruda's death became charged with an intense symbolism that reverberated around the world. Pinochet had denied permission to transform Neruda's funeral into a public event, but thousands of grieving Chileans disobeyed the curfew, flooding the streets in tribute. Neruda's funeral became the first public protest against the Chilean military dictatorship.
Neruda assumed his pen name as a teenager, partly because it was in vogue, partly to hide his poetry from his father, a rigid man who wanted his son to have a "practical" occupation. Neruda's pen name was derived from Czech writer and poet Jan Neruda; Pablo is thought to be from Paul Verlaine. It later became his legal name.
40
Born 1932-09-28. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Murder
Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbiɣtoɾ ˈliđjo ˈxaɾa maɾˈtines]) was a Chilean teacher, theater director, poet, singer-songwriter and Communist political activist. He developed Chilean theater by directing a broad array of works, ranging from locally produced plays to world classics, as well as the experimental work of playwrights such as Ann Jellicoe. He also played a pivotal role among neo-folkloric musicians who established the Nueva canción chilena (New Chilean Song) movement. This led to an uprising of new sounds in popular music during the administration of President Salvador Allende. On 11 September 1973, the Chilean military, with the support of the United States, overthrew the Allende government, resulting in Allende's suicide and the installation of Augusto Pinochet as dictator. On the day of the coup, Jara was on his way to work at the Technical University. He slept that night at the university along with other teachers and students and sang to raise their morale. After the coup, Pinochet's soldiers rounded up Chileans who were believed to be involved with leftist groups, including Allende's Popular Unity party. On the morning of 12 September 1973, Jara was taken prisoner, along with thousands of others, and imprisoned inside Estadio Chile. Soon after, he was killed with a gunshot to the head, and his body was riddled with more than 40 bullets.
65
Born 1908-06-26. Domain:Politics. Cause of death:Unknown
Just prior to the capture of La Moneda (the Presidential Palace), with gunfire and explosions clearly audible in the background, Allende gave his (subsequently famous) farewell speech to Chileans on live radio, speaking of himself in the past tense, of his love for Chile and of his deep faith in its future. He stated that his commitment to Chile did not allow him to take an easy way out and be used as a propaganda tool by those he called "traitors" (accepting an offer of safe passage), clearly implying he intended to fight to the end.
Shortly afterwards, Allende died. An official announcement declared that he had committed suicide with an automatic rifle, purportedly the AK-47 assault rifle given to him as a gift by Fidel Castro, which bore a golden plate engraved "To my good friend Salvador from Fidel, who by different means tries to achieve the same goals."
In his 2004 documentary Salvador Allende, Patricio Guzmán incorporates a graphic image of Allende's corpse in the position it was found after his death. According to Guzmán's documentary, Allende simply shot himself with a gun, and not a rifle.
At the time and for many years after, his supporters nearly uniformly presumed that he was killed by the forces staging the coup. In recent years, the view he committed suicide has become more accepted, particularly as different testimonies are confirming the details of the suicide in news and documentary interviews. Also, members of Allende's immediate family including his daughter, accept that it was a suicide.