Peter Seeger (1919 - 2014)

Peter “Pete” Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead Belly’s “Goodnight, Irene”, which topped the […]

Jerry Coleman (1924 - 2014)

Born in San Jose, California, Coleman graduated from Lowell High School, then spent his entire playing career with the New York Yankees. He played six years in the Yankees’ minor league system before reaching the big club in 1949. Coleman hit .275 in his first year and led all second basemen in fielding percentage. He […]

Richard Attenborough (1923 - 2014)

Attenborough was born on 29 August 1923 in Cambridge, the eldest of three sons of Mary Attenborough (née Clegg), a founding member of the Marriage Guidance Council, and Frederick Levi Attenborough, a scholar and academic administrator who was a fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and wrote a standard text on Anglo-Saxon law. Attenborough was educated […]

Andy Whitfield (1971 - 2011)

Whitfield was born in Amlwch, Anglesey, Wales. He studied construction at Sheffield Hallam University in England. He moved to Australia from Britain in 1999 to work as an engineer in Lidcombe, before later settling in Sydney. He appeared in several Australian television series, such as Opening Up, All Saints, The Strip, Packed to the Rafters, […]

Nate Dogg (1969 - 2011)

Nate Dogg was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi on August 19, 1969. He moved to Long Beach, California when he was 14, following his parents’ divorce. He was friends with rappers Warren G, RBX, and Daz Dillinger and cousin of Butch Cassidy, Snoop Dogg, and Lil’ ½ Dead. He began singing as a child in the […]

Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011)

Steven Paul “Steve” Jobs (/ˈdʒɒbz/; February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, marketer, and inventor, who was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc. Through Apple, he is widely recognized as a charismatic and design-driven pioneer of the personal computer revolution and for his influential career in the computer and […]

Ryan Dunn (1977 - 2011)

Ryan Dunn Dunn took part in the characteristic stunts that made Jackass famous, and featured in all three released films, Jackass: The Movie, Jackass Number Two and Jackass 3D.  In 2006, Dunn and Bam Margera participated in the Gumball 3000 road rally in Margera’s Lamborghini Gallardo. He later went on a tour with Don Vito […]

Martin Litton (1917 - 2014)

Clyde Martin Litton (February 13, 1917 – November 30, 2014) was a Grand Canyon river runner and a longtime conservationist, best known as a staunch opponent of the construction of Glen Canyon Dam and other dams on the Colorado River.  Litton grew up in Gardena, California. Although not a well-known environmental activist until the 1950s, […]

Ian McLagan (1945 - 2014)

McLagan first started playing in bands in the early 1960s, initially using the Hohner Cembalet before switching to the Hammond Organ and Wurlitzer electric piano, as well as occasional guitar. He was influenced by Cyril Davies’ All Stars, and his first professional group was the Muleskinners, followed by the Boz People with future King Crimson […]

Luise Rainer (1910 - 2014)

Luise Rainer (12 January 1910 – 30 December 2014) was a German-born Austrian and American film actress. She was the first person to win multiple Academy Awards and the first person to win them consecutively. At the time of her death, she was the longest-lived actress ever to have received an Academy Award. Rainer began […]

Eliot Ness (1903 - 1957)

Eliot Ness Ness remarried in 1939, to illustrator Evaline Michelow. The Nesses moved to Washington, D.C. in 1942 where he worked for the federal government, directing the battle against prostitution in communities surrounding military bases, where venereal disease was a serious problem. Later he made a number of forays into the corporate world, all of […]

Harry Houdini (1874 - 1926)

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini died of peritonitis, secondary to a ruptured appendix at 1:26 p.m. on October 31, 1926 in Room 401 at Detroit’s Grace Hospital, aged 52. In his final days, he optimistically held to a strong belief that he would recover, but his last words before dying were reportedly, “I’m tired of fighting.” Eyewitnesses […]

Hector Camacho (1962 - 2012)

Hector Camacho was a Puerto Rican professional boxer and singer. Known for his quickness in the ring and flamboyant style, he held major championships in the super featherweight (WBC, 1983), lightweight (WBC, 1985), and junior welterweight (WBO, 1989 and 1991) divisions. After earning minor titles in four additional weight classes, Camacho became the first boxer […]

Arturo Gatti (1972 - 2009)

Arturo Gatti He was the former IBF Junior Lightweight Champion (1995 to 1997) and WBC Junior Welterweight Champion (2004 to 2005). Born in Italy and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, he made his professional debut in 1991. Earning the reputation as a warrior in the ring, Gatti’s bouts often turned into wars as he was […]

Johnny Tapia (1967 - 2012)

Johnny Tapia Johnny Tapia endured a tragic early life. His father had reportedly been murdered while his mother was pregnant with him. When he was eight years old, his mother, Virginia, was kidnapped, raped, hanged, repeatedly stabbed, and left for dead by her assailant. Tapia was awakened by her screams and saw her chained to […]

Tony Martin (1961 - 2013)

Tony Martin Professional Boxer. He was the former International Boxing Council Junior-Welterweight Champion from 1991 until abandoning the title to move up in weight-class. Born in St. Louis, he moved to Philadelphia in 1985 where he launched his professional career as a prizefighter. He earned his first world championship title chance against the Guyanese fighter […]

Emile Griffith (1938 - 1970)

Emile Griffith Griffith retired from boxing in 1977 with a record of 85-24-2 with 23 knockouts. He fought in 23 matches at Madison Square Garden and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990. He is perhaps best known for his victory against Bennie Paret on March 24, 1962 that put Paret into a […]

Tommy Morrison (1969 - 2013)

Tommy Morrison Tommy Morrison’s career reached its pinnacle on a hot June night in Las Vegas, when he stepped into the ring and beat George Foreman to become heavyweight champion. It reached its nadir when he tested positive for HIV three years later. The last 20 years of the brash boxer’s life would be defined […]

Marion Barry (1936 - 2014)

Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. (March 6, 1936 – November 23, 2014) was an American politician who served as the second Mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991, and again as the fourth Mayor from 1995 to 1999. A Democrat, Barry had served three tenures on the Council of the District of Columbia, […]

Carol Ann Susi (1952 - 2014)

Carol Ann Susi (February 2, 1952 – November 11, 2014) was an American actress best known for providing the voice of recurring unseen character Mrs. Wolowitz on the television series The Big Bang Theory.  Susi was born in Brooklyn and was of Italian descent. She studied acting at HB Studio in New York City before […]

Mike Nichols (1931 - 2014)

Mike Nichols (born Mikhail Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was a German-born American film and theatre director, producer, actor and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s with the improv troupe The Compass Players, predecessor of the Second City in Chicago, and as one half of the comedy duo Nichols […]

Joe Cocker (1944 - 2014)

Joe Cocker John Robert “Joe” Cocker, OBE (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English rock and blues singer and musician who came to popularity in the 1960s. He was known for his gritty voice, spasmodic body movement in performance, and cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles.  Cocker’s cover […]

Rosa Parks (1913 - 2005)

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an activist in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, whom the United States Congress called “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement”. Her birthday, February 4, and the day she was arrested, December 1, have both become Rosa […]

Pope John Paul II (1920 - 2005)

Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus II), born Karol Józef Wojtyła (8 May 1920 ‒ 2 April 2005) was pope of the Catholic Church from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005. In Catholicism, since his canonisation, he is referred to as Pope Saint John Paul II or Saint John Paul […]

Franklin D Roosevelt (1882 - 1945)

Franklin D Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), commonly known by his initials FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States. A Democrat, he was elected four times and served from March 1933 to his death in April 1945. He […]

Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890)

Vincent Willem van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Post-Impressionist painter of Dutch origin whose work—notable for its rough beauty, emotional honesty, and bold color—had a far-reaching influence on 20th-century art. After years of painful anxiety and frequent bouts of mental illness, he died aged 37 from a gunshot wound, generally […]

Leo Tolstoy (1828 - 1910)

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 – 20 November 1910), also known as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, philosopher and playwright who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Tolstoy was a master of realistic fiction and is widely considered one of the greatest novelists of all time. He is best […]

Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895)

Louis Pasteur (December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases, and his discoveries have saved countless lives ever since. He reduced mortality from […]

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519)

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived. […]

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 - 1964)

Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was the first Prime Minister of India and a central figure in Indian politics for much of the 20th century. He emerged as the paramount leader of the Indian independence movement under the tutelage of Mahatma Gandhi and ruled India from its establishment as an independent […]