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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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97
Born 1923-02-13. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Age
Charles Elwood Yeager was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot. In 1947, he became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight. Yeager named his plane after his wife Glennis as a good-luck charm; "You're my good-luck charm, hon. Any airplane I name after you always brings me home." Yeager and Glennis moved to Grass Valley, California, after his retirement from the Air Force in 1975. The couple prospered because of Yeager's best-selling autobiography, speaking engagements and commercial ventures. Glennis Yeager died of ovarian cancer in 1990. They had four children (Susan, Don, Mickey and Sharon). In 2000, Yeager met actress Victoria Scott D'Angelo on a hiking trail in Nevada County. The pair started dating shortly thereafter, and married in August 2003. Subsequent to the commencement of their relationship, a bitter dispute arose between Yeager, his children and D'Angelo. The children contended that D'Angelo, 35 years Yeager's junior, had married him for his fortune. Yeager and D'Angelo both denied the charge. Litigation ensued, in which his children accused D'Angelo of "undue influence" on Yeager, and Yeager accused his children of diverting millions of dollars from his assets. In August 2008, the California Court of Appeal ruled for Yeager, finding that his daughter Susan had breached her duty as trustee.
55
Born 1962-08-14. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Unknown
He was a Native American actor and member of the Blackfoot tribe known for his roles in the films Fargo, Last of the Dogmen, and Dances with Wolves.
90
Born 1925-11-30. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
He was an American character actor known for playing scientist Dr. Rudy Wells in the television series The Six Million Dollar Man and its spin-off, The Bionic Woman, from 1975 onward (a role originally portrayed by Martin Balsam and then by Alan Oppenheimer).
77
Born 1938-05-26. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Age
He was a British racing driver from England. He participated in two World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, scoring no championship points. In 1969 he raced a Formula 2 Brabham-Cosworth, driving in his first Grand Prix in the 1969 German Grand Prix. He finished ninth on the road, fifth in the F2 class. The following year he failed to qualify for the 1970 United States Grand Prix driving a works BRM, after an engine failure.
98
Born 1915-09-24. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
Madeleine Jeanne Louise "Mado" Maurin was a French actress, whose career spanned over 55 years.
36
Born 1975-00-00. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Accident
Hendrik "Hendri" Coetzee was a renowned South African outdoorsman and author. He was presumed dead after being taken by a crocodile in December 2010.
83
Born 1926-07-25. Domain:Science (Math style). Cause of death:Age
He was the founder of the branch of artificial intelligence based on machine learning, prediction and probability. He circulated the first report on machine learning in 1956.
Ray Solomonoff intended to deliver an invited lecture at the upcoming AGI 2010, the Conference on Artificial General Intelligence (March 5-8 2010) in Lugano. The AGI conference series would not even exist without his essential theoretical contributions. With great sadness AGI 2010 will be held "In Memoriam Ray Solomonoff." Ray will live on in the many minds shaped by his revolutionary ideas.
88
Born 1905-10-18. Domain:Politics. Cause of death:Cancer
Houphouët-Boigny was commonly known in the West as the "Sage of Africa" or the "Grand Old Man of Africa." In 1989, UNESCO created the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize for the "safeguarding, maintaining and seeking of peace." It should be noted, however, that he is believed to have diverted significant funds for his personal use and for patronage
81
Born 1866-09-07. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Age
He was interned during World War II at the Drancy deportation camp. Public outcry at his imprisonment brought about his release in 1943. He died in Paris four years later of the results of his internment and was buried in Passy cemetery. His grand-son, françois, was deported in Mathausen. He never returned.
35
Born 1901-12-09. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Accident
On December 7, 1936, He came back shortly after take off to report a troublesome engine on his Laté 300 "Croix du Sud" ("Southern Cross"). As he found out that he couldn't wait for another one to be prepared, he took off again on the same plane after a quick repair, concerned that he would be late in delivering the mail. (His last words before boarding the plane were "Quick, let's not waste time anymore.") Four hours later, the radio station received a short message, where Mermoz declared that he had to cut the power on the aft starboard engine. The message was interrupted abruptly. No further messages were received, and neither the Laté 300 nor the crew were ever recovered. It is assumed that the engine they had tried to repair lost its propeller midflight, and being one of the aft engines, the loose propeller either badly damaged or cut the hull entirely, causing the plane to lose its tail and crash instantly. (Henri Guillaumet, one of Mermoz's fellow pilots, had encountered the same problem a few months before, but as his own engine was on the forward side, airspeed had been sufficient to maintain the propeller in place until the landing.)