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Tait Peter Guthrie (b. 1831-04-28 / d. 1901-07-04)
Peter Guthrie Tait FRSE was a Scottish mathematical physicist and early pioneer in thermodynamics. He is best known for the mathematical physics textbook Treatise on Natural Philosophy, which he co-wrote with Kelvin, and his early investigations into knot theory. His work on knot theory contributed to the eventual formation of topology as a mathematical discipline. His name is known in graph theory mainly for Tait's conjecture. He is also one of the namesakes of the Tait-Kneser theorem on osculating circles.
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87
Born 1936-06-13. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Age
Michel Jazy was a French middle-distance runner and long-distance runner. He won the 1500 metres silver medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics, as well as two golds (in 1962 and 1966) and one silver (in 1966) at the European Championships. He set nine world records in the mile (once), 2000 metres (twice) and 3000 metres (twice), the two miles (twice) and the 4×1500 metres relay (twice).
79
Born 1941-06-12. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Cancer
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea was an American jazz composer, keyboardist, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" and "Windows" are widely considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis's band in the late 1960s, he participated in the birth of jazz fusion. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever. Along with Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans, he is considered one of the major piano players to emerge in jazz during the post-John Coltrane era. Corea continued to pursue multiple collaborations and to explore different musical styles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He was also known for promoting and fundraising for a number of social issues. Corea won 23 Grammy Awards and was nominated over 60 times. Corea died from cancer at his home in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.
96
Born 1924-12-19. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
Cicely Tyson was an American actress and fashion model. In a career spanning more than seven decades, she became known for her portrayal of strong African-American women. Tyson was the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Black Reel Awards, one Screen Actors Guild Award, one Tony Award, an honorary Academy Award, and a Peabody Award. Tyson first dated jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in the 1960s when he was in the process of divorcing dancer Frances Davis. Davis used a photo of Tyson for his 1967 album, Sorcerer. Davis told the press in 1967 that he intended to marry Tyson in March 1968 after his divorce was finalized, but he married singer Betty Davis that September. Tyson and Davis rekindled their relationship in 1978. They were married on November 26, 1981, in a ceremony conducted by Atlanta mayor Andrew Young at the home of actor Bill Cosby. Their marriage was tumultuous due to Davis' volatile temper and infidelity. Davis credited Tyson with saving his life and helping him overcome his cocaine addiction. They resided in Malibu, California, and New York City, until she filed for divorce in 1988. Their divorce was finalized in 1989, two years before Davis died in 1991.
39
Born 1981-01-13. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Accident
He was an American professional wrestler and actor. He was best known for his time with WWE, where he performed under his real name and teamed with JTG as a member of Cryme Tyme. After departing WWE in 2010, Gaspard pursued an acting career that included several films and television roles such as Think Like a Man Too, Get Hard, The Game, and From Dusk till Dawn: The Series. He was also the co-creator of the 2011 graphic novel Assassin & Son and provided motion capture for video games, most notably for the protagonist Kratos in the 2018 edition of God of War. On May 17, 2020, Gaspard and his son were among a group of swimmers caught in a strong rip current in Venice Beach, California. Gaspard instructed the lifeguards to save his son first, then disappeared underwater. After searching 70 square nautical miles (240 km2), the U.S Coast Guard suspended the search. On May 20, Gaspard's body was found washed ashore in Venice Beach and was identified by the Los Angeles County coroner's office.
49
Born 1969-09-17. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Suicide
Keith Charles Flint was an English singer, dancer and motorcycle racer. He was a founding member of the electronic dance act the Prodigy. Starting out as a dancer, he became the frontman of the group and performed on the group's two UK number one singles, "Firestarter" and "Breathe" both released in 1996. He was also the lead singer of his own band, Flint. He owned a motorcycle racing team, Team Traction Control, which won four Isle of Man TT races throughout 2015 and 2016, and competed in the British Supersport Championship. Flint was a keen motorcyclist. He rode 2,400 km (1,500 miles) from England to southern Spain to attend the 2007 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix and also raced in club competitions. He rode with Lee Thompson of the band Madness. He had his own motorcycle team, Team Traction Control, which competed in the British Supersport Championship as part of the British Superbike Championship before stepping up to the British Superbike Championship in 2017. In 2015 Team Traction Control machines won two Isle of Man TT races, ridden by Ian Hutchinson. The team and Ian Hutchinson repeated their two victories again in 2016. Flint's final public performance with the Prodigy was on 5 February 2019 at Trusts Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. On Saturday 2 March 2019, Flint took part in the Chelmsford Parkrun, for the third consecutive week, in which he achieved his personal best time. On 4 March 2019, just after 8:10 am, Essex Police were called to Flint's home in North End, near Great Dunmow, Essex, in response to concerns for his welfare. Flint was pronounced dead at the scene, and the police did not treat the death as suspicious. It was later confirmed at an inquest into his death he had died as a result of hanging. The coroner adjourned the inquest until 23 July for a full hearing. Later that day, bandmate Liam Howlett stated in an Instagram post that Flint had taken his own life. The official band website then went black with an announcement of his death and the Prodigy announced that they had cancelled all forthcoming shows. It was later revealed by Emily Eavis that this included a booking at the 2019 Glastonbury Festival. The next scheduled Prodigy performance was to be the Estéreo Picnic Festival on 6 April 2019 in Bogotá, Colombia. It was established by the coroners inquest on 8 May 2019 that there was insufficient evidence to conclude a suicide verdict in relation to Flint's death.
90
Born 1927-07-03. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
Timothy Joseph O'Connor was an American character actor known for his prolific work in television, although he made only a few appearances after the early 1990s. Before moving to California, he lived on an island in the middle of Glen Wild Lake, located in Bloomingdale, New Jersey, 30 miles from Manhattan. O'Connor specialized in playing officials, military men, and police officers. O'Connor died of cancer at his home in Nevada City, California, at the age of 90.
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).
97
Born 1914-10-14. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Age
He was an agricultural worker and fisherman from Jersey who lived in self-imposed exile on the Ecréhous reef for 14 years after being wrongly accused of a string of child sex attacks. Fearing for his life, Le Gastelois felt compelled to leave Jersey to live on the small island six miles to the north east of Jersey, having been treated as a criminal and ostracised by many who lived on Jersey. Ten years later, on July 10, 1971, the real criminal, Edward Paisnel, nicknamed the Beast of Jersey, was caught and on November 29, 1971, was sentenced for 13 sex attacks, ending an 11-year reign of terror. Le Gastelois was born on the island of Jersey to French parents. His father was from Besneville and his mother from Montgardon. He studied at St Martin's School.
68
Born 1943-10-09. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Age
He was an African-American guitarist most famous for playing with Miles Davis' band between 1973 and 1975. His fiercely flanged and distorted guitar bore comparisons to Jimi Hendrix. Cosey kept a low profile for much of his career (he released no solo recorded works)
57
Born 1954-11-10. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Unknown
Also known as "Caballo Blanco", he was an American ultrarunner from Boulder, Colorado, who gained fame as a central character in Christopher McDougall's best-selling book Born to Run. The book chronicles his time in Mexico's Copper Canyon with the Tarahumara Indians, who taught him a new and better way to run so he could avoid the normal injuries that beset long distance runners. He was said to be "a legend" in the ultra marathon community. He was thought to be "indestructible" and a "pillar of the running community." On March 27, 2012, True disappeared after heading out for a run in the Gila Wilderness, part of the Gila National Forest in southwestern New Mexico. He departed from the Wilderness Lodge in Gila, left his dog, took a water bottle and said he was going for a 12 miles (19 km) run. It was assumed that he was heading north towards the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. His body was found around 6 p.m. on March 31, 2012. Cause of death is unknown at this point. The local sheriff said there were "no obvious signs of trauma". The mountain rescue effort involved three aircraft and at least nine search and rescue teams. His remains were expected to be removed by horseback, and because of difficult terrain and remote location, that was not expected to be completed until April 1. True was to attend the memorial for his mother Mary Louise Hickman on Sunday, April 1, 2012
73
Born 1938-02-24. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Heart
He was an American actor. He appeared in nearly 100 television, film and stage roles, among them The Final Countdown, Jesus of Nazareth, and Dynasty. Farentino was arrested in Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 23, 1991, after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police intercepted a package containing 3.2 grams of cocaine being sent to his hotel room. Farentino was in town filming the TV movie, "Miles From Nowhere". He was charged with cocaine possession and released on bail. Farentino died of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a long illness.
47
Born 1963-04-13. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Unknown
"There are times I don't like the way my life went, but that doesn’t mean that I'm not in love with life," says the 43-year-old motivational speaker who created the Choose Living Foundation. "Is it fair what's happened to me? No, of course not. So what? I still have to get up in the morning. By engaging life, by moving what few muscles I have, my bed suddenly becomes an exercise mat."
Finishing his undergraduate work in 1985, he ventured to New York City, to train at the Circle in the Square Theatre School on Broadway. Three weeks later, leaving a late-night rehearsal session on his motorcycle, MacLaren was broadsided by a 40,000-pound city bus. Rushed to Bellevue Hospital, he was initially diagnosed as "dead on arrival."
After 18 hours of surgery doctors stabilized a comatose MacLaren and made a decision that would shape the next eight years of his life. They amputated his left leg below the knee. He awoke from his coma, rehabbed diligently, and attempted to resume his graduate studies at the Yale School of Drama. There, he started swimming, and picked up a book on triathlons that sparked his imagination. Soon, MacLaren was ready to resume life as an athlete, as a triathlete. "I felt like I was back in it, back in life," he says. "I didn't compete against other people. I was competing against me. A buddy once said, 'Mac, nobody cares how fast you go, they just love that you're doing it.'
"I told him I care. I never wanted to be taken for granted, as that guy with the fake leg. So I just kept pushing myself."
MacLaren became a media sensation in the fledgling sport of triathlons, paving the way for a new generation of disabled athletes. He competed and set scores of records in some of the toughest races on the planet, including the New York City Marathon and the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, and routinely finished ahead of 80 percent of the able-bodied athletes.
Then, on June 6, 1993, his life took another cruel turn. He was in Mission Viejo, California, racing another triathlon. Two miles into the bike leg, on a closed course, a traffic marshal misjudged MacLaren's speed approaching an intersection. The marshal directed a van to cross the street, and the van and MacLaren collided. Hurled into a signpost, MacLaren broke his neck at the C5 vertebrae, paralyzing him.
Slowly, MacLaren pulled himself back again, grappling with seemingly insurmountable obstacles and even reclaiming some motor function of his limbs. Most importantly, he fostered an inner force that enabled him to act in ways he couldn't as an able-bodied athlete. "It took two years of self study, going deep, and then deeper again," he says. "And, sometime in 2000-2001, I chose life."
47
Born 1961-09-17. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Murder
On June 16, 1983, two women were returning home when their car broke down on the Florida Turnpike in Broward County. John Marek and his accomplice Raymond Wigley stopped and convinced one of the women, Adella Marie Simmons to ride with them to a service station. They instead took her to a beach about 60 miles away. The woman was repeatedly sexually assaulted and then strangled with a bandana and then burned. Marek's accomplice Raymond Wigley was killed by a fellow inmate whilst serving life imprisonment in 2000.
Marek has been executed on Wednesday, August 19, 2009, at 6:20 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time, EDT, -0400 UTC), in Florida State Prison, Raiford, Union County, FL. The method of execution was lethal injection. The execution took 13 minutes. Death was declared at 6:33 p.m.
Marek declined sedatives.
Final words: "Jesus, remember us sinners", then he said the Lord's Prayer.
38
Born 1970-00-00. Domain:Business. Cause of death:Accident
Former Boulder resident and Webroot founder Steven Thomas appears to have died of injuries from a fall, the Honolulu medical examiner said.
"The injuries he had are consistent with a fall from a height," said Dr. Kanthi De Alwis, who performed the autopsy Monday. "However, at this point, we have not concluded the manner, which means whether he jumped or accidently fell."
Homicide is not suspected at this time, she said. Toxicology tests are being conducted, which could take several weeks, she said.
De Alwis determined that Thomas had been dead five to six days when hikers found his body Sunday.
The 36-year-old entrepreneur was found about 200 feet below the Pali lookout, a scenic overlook in the mountains just northeast of Honolulu on Oahu island. The spot is about 5 miles from Thomas' beachfront home in Lanikai, outside Kailua.
Thomas had been missing for two weeks. He had recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, but refused medication and medical attention. His behavior in the months and weeks leading up to his disappearance increasingly alarmed family members.
In April, he was arrested after he ran naked into a race/walk event in front of his home. More recently, Thomas expressed deep dismay over his investments, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and his family's plans move back to Boulder, according to reports published in Hawaii.
Thomas stayed with visiting family members at a Waikiki hotel in the days before he disappeared, according to news reports. He told them that the balcony of their hotel room was not high enough for what he needed to do, his brother told reporters.
Friends and family members have said Thomas did not exhibit signs of mental-health problems until recently.
30
Born 1973-01-31. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Accident
Dwain Weston was an Australian skydiver, BASE jumper and wingsuiter. On 5 October 2003, at the end of the inaugural Go Fast Games, Weston was killed while attempting to fly over the Royal Gorge Bridge near Cańon City, Colorado. Weston was wearing a wingsuit, a skydiving suit with fabric extended below the arms to the body and between the legs to catch air allowing for horizontal travel when skydiving. Weston was to go over the bridge while fellow skydiver Jeb Corliss was to go under it. Just prior to the jump, Weston said to Corliss, "Just remember: whatever happens, happens." Miscalculating the winds and his distance from the bridge, Weston struck a railing while traveling at an estimated 120 miles per hour (190 km/h), severing one of his legs. After the impact with the bridge, Weston's parachute deployed and he fell onto a rock face about 300 feet (91 m) from the bottom of the gorge, where he bled to death. Spectators on the bridge witnessed and filmed the event, capturing the reaction of the crowd and the damage to the bridge.
17
Born 1985-12-26. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Operation
She was an illegal immigrant from Mexico who entered the United States to obtain medical treatment, but died after an organ transplant operation in which she received the heart and lungs of a patient whose blood type did not match hers. Doctors at the Duke University Medical Center failed to check the compatibility before surgery began.
Jesica, whose blood was type O-positive, had a heart condition (restrictive cardiomyopathy and secondary nonreactive pulmonary hypertension), that resulted in reduced blood perfusion in her lungs. She had been hospitalized at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.
On February 7, 2003, she received the heart and lung transplant. The new organs had been flown in from Boston. Blood test results proving that the organ blood type (type A) and Jesica's blood type (O-Positive) did not match came in just as the surgery was ending and she was given immo-suppression drugs.
Jesica, two siblings, her mother Magdelena Santillan and her mother's boyfriend Melecio Huerta illegally entered the United States from Tamazula, Mexico, a town 275 miles west of Mexico City, so that she could receive medical treatment. Relatives have stated that the family paid a smuggler to get them across the border.
On February 20, Jesica received a new heart and set of lungs after a new donor was found late on February 19, 2003. On February 21, she was declared brain dead.
Transplant surgeon Dr. James Jaggers, stated, "Unfortunately, in this case, human errors were made during the process. I hope that we, and others, can learn from this tragic mistake."
After Jesica's death, the Santillan family was approached by the hospital to determine if her salvageable organs could be donated for use in other transplant patients. On the advice of their attorneys, the family declined.
64
Born 1938-04-01. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Cancer
Peter Miles was the stage name of American child actor Gerald Richard Perreau-Saussine. After his film career ended, he turned to writing under the pen name Richard Miles
51
Born 1945-12-12. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Heart attack
Widely regarded as one of the most important and influential jazz drummers to come to prominence in the '60s, Tony Williams first gained fame in the band of trumpeter Miles Davis, and was a pioneer of jazz fusion.
Williams lived and taught in the San Francisco Bay Area until his death from a heart attack following routine gall bladder surgery. One of his final recordings was Arcana, a release organized by prolific bass guitarist Bill Laswell.
74
Born 1923-04-08. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Cancer (lung)
He was an Irish actor whose career spanned four decades. He is better known for his starring roles in two television series, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, and Knight Rider (both the original 1980s television series and a 1991 TV film) as Devon Miles. (In the 1991 TV film, Mulhare's character of Miles was killed.) Edward Mulhare died in his Van Nuys home in Los Angeles of lung cancer in 1997. He was never married. The Team Knight Rider episode "K.R.O.," broadcast 27 October 1997, is dedicated to Edward Mulhare's memory.
65
Born 1926-05-26. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Stroke
Osteoarthritis (which led to a hip replacement operation in 1976, the first of several), depression, bursitis, ulcers, rheumatism and a renewed dependence on alcohol and illegal drugs (primarily cocaine), throughout late 1974 and early 1975.
74
Born 1916-09-13. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:cancer (blood)
In 1920, when Roald was three, his seven-year-old sister, Astri, died from appendicitis. About a month later, his father died of pneumonia at the age of 57.
On 19 September 1940, Dahl was ordered to fly his Gladiator from Abu Sueir in Egypt, on to Amiriya to refuel, and again to Fouka in Libya for a second refuelling. From there he would fly to 80 Squadron's forward airstrip 30 miles south of Mersa Matruh. On the final leg, he could not find the airstrip and, running low on fuel and with night approaching, he was forced to attempt a landing in the desert. Unfortunately, the undercarriage hit a boulder and the plane crashed, fracturing his skull, smashing his nose in, and blinding him. He managed to drag himself away from the blazing wreckage and passed out. Later, he wrote about the crash for his first published work.
Roald Dahl died in November 1990 of a rare blood disease, myelodysplastic anaemia, at his home, Gipsy House in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, and was buried in the cemetery at the parish church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. According to his granddaughter, the family gave him a "sort of Viking funeral". He was buried with his snooker cues, some very good burgundy, chocolates, HB pencils and a power saw.
The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS, formerly known as "preleukemia") are a diverse collection of hematological conditions united by ineffective production of blood cells and varying risks of transformation to acute myelogenous leukemia. Anemia requiring chronic blood transfusion is frequently present. Although not truly malignant, MDS is nevertheless classified within the haematological neoplasms.
51
Born 1929-08-16. Domain:Music. Cause of death:alcohol, other drugs
Evans's chemical dependency problems most likely began during his stint with Miles Davis in the late 1950s. A heroin addict for much of his career, his health was generally poor and his financial situation worse for most of the 1960s. By the end of that decade he appeared to have succeeded in overcoming that drug problem, but during the 1970s cocaine became a serious and eventually fatal issue for Evans. His body finally gave out in the fall of 1980, when, ravaged by psychoactive drugs, a perforated liver, and a lifelong battle with hepatitis, he died in New York City of a bleeding ulcer, cirrhosis of the liver and bronchial pneumonia.
34
Born 1940-08-13. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Unknown
James Anthony Sullivan (August 13, 1940 – disappeared March 6, 1975) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who released two albums before he disappeared without a trace in New Mexico. Sullivan left Los Angeles on March 4, 1975, to drive to Nashville alone in his Volkswagen Beetle. The next day, after being cautioned by a highway patrol officer regarding his driving, he checked into the La Mesa Motel in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Later reports suggest he did not sleep there, and left his key inside the room, and that he bought vodka at the town store. He was seen the following day about 26 miles (42 km) away, at a remote ranch owned by the Gennitti family. His car was later found abandoned at the ranch, and he was reportedly last seen walking away from it. The car contained Sullivan's money, papers, guitar, clothes, and a box of his unsold records. He was never seen again, and reports have variously attributed his disappearance to being murdered, becoming disoriented and lost, or, particularly in the light of the title of his first album, alien abduction. Search parties failed to find any trace of him. A decomposed body resembling Sullivan was later found in a remote area several miles away, but was determined not to be his.
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.
46
Born 1924-06-20. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Accident
Audie Leon Murphy was an American soldier in World War II. In 27 months of combat action, he became the most decorated U.S. combat soldier of World War II.
Murphy received the Medal of Honor, the military's highest award for valor, along with 32 additional medals awarded for bravery and service.
In the later part of his life, he went on to have a successful movie career, including the extremely popular To Hell and Back(1955), based on his memoir of the same name (1949).
Post-war illness.
While on a business trip (during Memorial Day weekend), flying in bad weather with a pilot unqualified to fly on instruments, Murphy's private plane crashed into Brush Mountain, near Catawba, Virginia, some 20 miles west of Roanoke.
45
Born 1923-09-01. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Accident
In 1969, on the eve of his 46th birthday, Marciano was a passenger in a small private plane, a Cessna 172 headed to Des Moines, Iowa. It was at night, and bad weather set in. The pilot, Glenn Belz, had only 231 total hours of flying time, only 35 of them at night, and was not certified to fly in such dangerous conditions. Belz tried to set the plane down at a small airfield outside Newton, Iowa, but hit a tree two miles short of the runway. Evidently, the plane was also extremely low on fuel. Rocky, Belz (the young pilot), and 22 year old Frankie Farrell (son of Italian mobster Louis Fratto) were killed on impact. The National Transportation Safety Board report said, "The pilot attempted operation exceeding his experience and ability level, continued visual flight rules under adverse weather conditions, and experienced spatial disorientation in the last moments of the flight.". Marciano was on his way to give a speech to support a friend's son and there was a surprise birthday celebration waiting for him. He had hoped to return early morning for his 46th birthday celebration with his wife. He was coming from a dinner in Chicago at STP CEO Andy Granatelli's home.
26
Born 1941-09-09. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Accident
Redding and six others, including four of the six members of Redding's backup band, The Bar-Kays, were killed when the plane on which they were travelling crashed into Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin on December 10, 1967. The two remaining members of The Bar-Kays were Ben Cauley and James Alexander. Cauley was the only person aboard Redding's plane to survive the crash; Alexander was on another plane.
Cauley reported that he had been asleep until just seconds before impact, and recalled that upon waking he saw bandmate Phalon Jones look out a window and say, "Oh, no!" Cauley said that he then unbuckled his seat belt, and that was his final recollection before finding himself in the frigid waters of the lake, grasping a seat cushion to keep himself afloat.
Redding's body was recovered the next day when the lake bed was dragged with a grappling hook, and footage exists of his body being brought out of the water. The cause of the crash was never precisely determined.
Redding was laid to rest in a tomb on his private ranch in Round Oak, Georgia, 23 miles (37 km) north of Macon.
34
Born 1932-08-15. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Accident
He was an American amateur parachute jumper who reached 123,500 feet (37,642 meters, 23.39 miles) with his Strato Jump II balloon on February 2, 1966, flying a manned balloon higher than anyone before, a record that stood until Felix Baumgartner's flight on October 14, 2012. His third attempt occurred on the morning of May 1, 1966. Piantanida donned a bright orange suit and parachute harness. Secured inside a styrofoam-insulated gondola about the size of a portable toilet, he began his ascent for a planned super-sonic free fall from over 120,000 feet. However, ground controllers listening to the communications link with the Strato Jump III were startled by the sound of a whoosh of rushing air and a sudden, cut-off call over the radio to abort. Piantanida's suit had depressurized at about the 57,000-foot mark. Ground controllers immediately jettisoned the balloon at close to 56,000 feet (17,000 m) – higher than the cruising altitude for commercial jets – and for 25 minutes Piantanida's gondola parachuted to the ground. He barely survived the descent, having suffered massive tissue damage due to ebullism. The lack of oxygen left him brain damaged and in a coma from which he never recovered. Piantanida died four months later at the Veterans Hospital in Philadelphia. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, New Jersey
47
Born 1918-11-01. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Accident
He was a British sports car racing engineer and driver best known for his motorsport career in the US and with American teams on the international scene. He is an inductee to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. The Ford J-car was intended to be the successor to the all-conquering Ford GT40 Mk.II and, despite reliability problems, showed potential in the springtime Le Mans trials. After the death of Walt Hansgen in a J-car Ford while testing at Le Mans in April, the decision was made to shelve the J-car and focus on the proven Mk IIs, and little development was done for the rest of the 1966 World Sports Car Championship season. Finally, in August 1966, Shelby American resumed testing and development work with Miles serving as primary test driver. The J-car featured a breadvan-shaped rear section that experimented with Kammback aerodynamic theories, as well as a revolutionary (but untested) honeycomb panel design that was supposed to both lighten and stiffen the car, but the design remained unproved with high-speed prototype sports cars. After almost a day of testing at Riverside International Raceway in the brutally hot Southern California desert summer weather, Miles approached the end of the track's 1-mile (1.6 km), downhill back straight at top speed (200-plus mph) when the car suddenly looped, flipped, crashed and caught fire. The car broke into pieces and ejected Miles, killing him instantly. The car had suffered precisely the sort of crash damage the honeycomb construction was designed to prevent. As a result, the aerodynamics of the J-car were greatly modified to correct the rear-end lift generated at race speeds. Ford officials, under pressure after the second of two fatal accidents in the program in five months, also ordered a NASCAR-style steel tube rollover cage to be installed in future versions of the car.] The death of 47-year-old Miles, following that of 46-year-old Hansgen, led Ford to favour younger drivers in subsequent race entries. The significantly revised J-car, renamed the Ford Mk IV, won the only two races in which it was entered: the 1967 Sebring (Fla.) 12 Hours, and the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. The steel roll cage in the Mk IV (mandated as a direct result of Miles's death) probably saved the life of Mario Andretti, who crashed violently during the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans but escaped.
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Born 1921-02-16. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Accident
Jean Marie Behra was a Formula One driver who raced for the Gordini, Maserati, BRM, Ferrari and Porsche teams. Behra was small in stature, stocky, and weighed 178 pounds. Behra had big shoulders and was scarred from 12 crashes. In 1955 he had an ear torn off from a collision. He sometimes drove magnificently, while at other times he drove with a lack of enthusiasm. Behra was known for being hard-charging and temperamental, which led to confrontations with Ferrari team managers after being accused of overstressing engines at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Reims Grand Prix race in 1959. He was dismissed from the Ferrari team after assaulting a team manager, shortly before his death. He crashed his Porsche RSK in rainy weather in the sports car race that preceded the German Grand Prix at AVUS, in Berlin, Germany. He was thrown from his car and fatally injured when he hit a flagpole, causing a skull fracture. The sports car race featured entries of small, under 1,500 c.c. engine capacity. After three laps Behra was third behind Wolfgang von Trips and Bonnier, who eventually finished one and two. The AVUS was unique among race tracks. It used a strip of the Autobahn 2.5 miles (4.0 km) in length. The north and south bound lanes were fifty feet apart. At one end was a hairpin turn which drivers negotiated at around 30 mph (48 km/h). At the other end was a 30-foot (9.1 m) high, steeply banked loop. Behra lost control in the pouring rain, while going 110 mph (180 km/h). The Porsche began to fishtail with the tail of the car going higher and higher up the slick, steep bank. Then the Porsche spun and went over the top of the banking, with its nose pointing toward the sky. It landed heavily on its side on top of the banking. It remained there wrecked, while the race continued on underneath. Behra was thrown out and for a fleeting moment he could be seen against the background of the sky, with his arms outstretched as though attempting to fly. He impacted one of eight flagpoles arranged at the summit of the embankment which bore the flags of the competing nations. The flagpole toppled over when Behra collided with it, about halfway to its top. Behra came down into trees and rolled almost into a street where drivers and cars often waited in a paddock to practice. A doctor arrived from a Red Cross ambulance close by. He examined Behra briefly and shook his head. A hospital bulletin stated that Behra broke most of his ribs in addition to the skull fracture which killed him. Currently AVUS is a vital part of the German public highway system as Autobahn A 115.