Inspired by some other lists on The List Universe involving deaths of famous people I thought it might be interesting to write a list of well known people that lost their lives by drowning. I tried to make the list as entertaining as possible with pictures, clips and interesting facts about the drowning. It’s amazing how much one learns when you write a list!

Just a reminder to all: With summer right around the corner please be careful in the water.

Profession: Actress
Date of Birth: 09/06/1942
Date of Drowning: 01/13/1985
Age at Death: 42

Anyone who is a Johnny Carson fan is familiar with Carol Wayne. She, of course, played the funny and sexy matinee lady in the tea time movie skits. She was also in many TV shows throughout her career.

This is one item where the more I learned about the circumstances surrounding her drowning; the more suspicious it seemed. Carol Wayne and her companion, Edward Durston, were vacationing in Mexico and apparently she had an argument with him. It was reported that she left to take a walk on the beach. Her body was found three days later by a local fisherman. After the discovery of Wayne’s body, authorities discovered that Durston had checked out of the resort the day the couple argued, leaving Wayne’s luggage at the airport. An autopsy performed in Mexico later revealed no signs of drugs or alcohol in Wayne’s body.

But wait, there’s more… Edward Durston was also the friend and only person with Diane Linkletter (daughter of Art Linkletter) when she jumped to her death on 10-4-1969 from the kitchen window of her high rise apartment.

Maybe this is one of those series of unfortunate events but it just sounds kind of fishy to me.

Profession: Football player, Kansas City Chiefs running back
Date of Birth: 10/03/1958
Date of Drowning: 06/29/1983
Age at Death: 24

Of all the drownings on this list this is certainly the most heroic. Delaney dived into a pond in Louisiana and tried to save three children who were screaming for help. The children were in a water hole left by recent construction work. Delaney did not know how to swim very well but dove in anyway. He managed to save one child while two of the other children and Delaney died by drowning. Delaney always had a history of helping others. Three thousand people attended his memorial service.

Profession: British media mogul
Date of Birth: 06/10/1923
Date of Drowning: 11/05/1991
Age at Death: 68

Maxwell is presumed to have fallen overboard from his luxury yacht while cruising off the Canary Islands. His body was found floating in the Atlantic Ocean. The official verdict was accidental drowning. It came to light in early 2006 that, before his death, Maxwell was being investigated for possible war crimes in Germany in 1945. This led to renewed speculation that his death was a suicide.

Maxwell’s death triggered a flood of revelations about his business dealings and activities. It was discovered that, without prior authorization, he had used hundreds of millions of pounds from his companies’ pension funds to finance his corporate debt and his lavish lifestyle. Thousands of Maxwell employees lost their pensions.

Profession: Actor
Date of Birth: 11/08/1924
Date of Drowning: 07/19/1974
Age at Death: 49

Anyone who watches “McHale’s Navy” will know who Joe Flynn is. He also appeared in a bunch of Disney films.

This is another drowning under odd circumstances. Shortly after completing voiceover work for the Disney animated feature, The Rescuers (1977) the 49-year-old Flynn was discovered by family members in the swimming pool of his Beverly Hills home. Apparently, he had gone into the pool with a cast on his broken leg. His body was found at the pool’s bottom, held down by the weight of the cast. Some celebrity friends including Merv Griffith expressed concern about the unusual circumstances surrounding Flynn’s death, though authorities found no evidence of foul play. Many believe Flynn suffered a heart attack while swimming.

Profession: Singer-Songwriter and Guitarist, Son of singer/songwriter Tim Buckley
Date of Birth: 11/17/1966
Date of Drowning: 5/29/1997
Age at Death: 30

On the day he was scheduled to reunite with his band members to resume work on an album, Buckley spontaneously decided to take a swim, fully-clothed, in the Mississippi river; he was caught in the wake of a passing boat and disappeared. Despite a determined rescue effort that night, Buckley remained missing. On June 4, his body was discovered. An album was released posthumously in 1998 under the title Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk; 2007 marked the 10th anniversary of Jeff Buckley’s death. His life and music were celebrated in May and June 2007. There were tributes in Australia, Belgium, Canada, United Kingdom, Iceland, Ireland, Macedonia, France and the USA.

Profession: Jazz Saxophonist, Son of legendary jazz musician Art Porter, Sr.,
Date of Birth: 08/03/1961
Date of Drowning: 11/23/1996
Age at Death: 35

Porter traveled to Thailand to appear at the Thailand International Jazz Festival. After the festival he went boating on the Kratha Taek reservoir. Tragically, the boat Porter was traveling on overturned, and Porter, along with several others, drowned. Porter was survived by his wife and two sons. In 1998, the album For Art’s Sake was posthumously released in his honor.
Porter’s charisma and great talent are evident in the clip above.

Profession: News correspondent and anchorwoman
Date of Birth: 02/01/1947
Date of Drowning:10/23/1983
Age at Death: 36

For those who are not from the States or are too young to remember, Jessica Savitch was a very skilled reporter and anchorwoman with a great future ahead of her. I remember hearing about her tragic death. What made it worse is the way she died.

Savitch had dinner with Martin Fischbein, vice-president of the New York Post, in New Hope, Pennsylvania. After the meal, they began to drive home (around 7:15 PM). Fischbein was behind the wheel and Savitch was in the back seat with her dog, Chewy. Apparently Fischbein missed posted warning signs in a heavy rainfall, and he drove out of the wrong exit from the restaurant and up the towpath of the Pennsylvania Canal on the side of the Delaware River. The car veered over the edge into the shallow water of the canal. The car landed upside down, and sank into deep mud that sealed the doors shut. Savitch and Fischbein were trapped inside as water poured in. When the car was discovered Fischbein’s body was still strapped behind the wheel, with Savitch and her dog in the rear. After the subsequent autopsies, the coroner ruled that both had died from asphyxiation (by drowning). He noted that Fischbein was apparently knocked unconscious in the wreck but Savitch had struggled to escape. There was no finding that drugs or alcohol had played any part in the crash.

Profession: Nazi Camp Doctor at Auschwitz
Date of Birth: 3/16/1911
Date of Drowning 02/07/1979
Age at Death: 67

If there were a list of people you would most like to drown, Mengele would be on it. He is on this list because he really did but most would say not soon enough. While swimming in the sea, Mengela accidentally drowned possibly from a stroke in Bertioga, Brazil, where he was in hiding and going by the name of “Wolfgang Gerhard.”

Profession: Businessman, Inventor, Writer
Date of Birth: 7/13/1864
Date of Drowning: 4/15/1912
Age at Death: 49

This is obviously the most famous of circumstances on this list surrounding a notable person drowning. John Jacob Astor IV was the wealthiest passenger on board the Titanic and came from one of the richest families in the United States.

After the accident Astor left his suite to investigate, he quickly returned and reported to his wife who was pregnant at the time that the ship had struck ice. He reassured her that the damage did not appear serious. Even as the boats were loaded Astor appeared unbothered; he ridiculed the idea of trading the solid decks of the Titanic for a small lifeboat. He changed his mind by 1:45AM when Second Officer Charles Lightoller arrived on A deck to finish loading Lifeboat 4. Astor helped his wife to climb onto the lifeboat and then asked if he might join her, as she was in ‘a delicate condition’. Lightoller told him that no men could enter until all the women & children had been loaded.

Astor’s body was recovered on Monday April 22 by the cable ship McKay-Bennett. Reports say his body was covered in soot and blood, thus it is assumed he was struck by the first funnel when it collapsed as the Titanic made its final plunge.

Below is the official list of items found on body number 124

CLOTHING – Blue serge suit; blue handkerchief with “A.V.”; belt with gold buckle; brown boots with red rubber soles; brown flannel shirt; “J.J.A.” on back of collar.
EFFECTS – Gold watch; cuff links, gold with diamond; diamond ring with three stones; £225 in English notes; $2440 in notes; £5 in gold; 7s. in silver; 5 ten franc pieces; gold pencil; pocketbook.

Profession: Musician one-time Rolling Stone
Date of Birth: 2/28/1942
Date of Drowning: 7/3/1969
Age at Death: 27

This is another drowning under suspicious circumstances. At around midnight, Jones was discovered motionless at the bottom of his swimming pool at his home in Hartfield, Sussex, England. His girlfriend, Anna Wohlin, said he was alive when they took him out of the pool, insisting he still had a pulse. However, when the doctors arrived, it was too late and he was pronounced dead. The coroner’s report noted his liver and heart were heavily enlarged by drug and alcohol abuse. Some felt it was suicide, blaming Jagger and Richards for his mental state. His girlfriend Wohlin claimed in 1999 that Jones had been murdered by a builder who had been renovating the house the couple shared. The builder, Frank Thorogood, allegedly confessed to the murder on his deathbed to the Rolling Stones’ driver, Tom Keylock; however, there were no other witnesses.

Profession: Musician, Drummer for the Beach Boys
Date of Birth: 12/04/1944
Date of Drowning: 12/28/1983
Age at Death: 39

Wilson was on a friend’s yacht and after several drinks announced he was going for a swim. His friends thought he was nuts, because the water was so cold, he dove in, and decided to swim near the spot where his old yacht used to be docked. He emerged from the water holding a picture of his ex wife that he threw from his yacht years before. Wilson dove in again for more treasures but this time he didn’t resurface. Wilson was known for practical jokes so his friends thought he was playing around. They even checked the local bars to see if Wilson was hiding there. It took four divers working in the dark with a pole, probing the ocean floor, 45 minutes to find Wilson’s body in 13 feet of water.

Profession: Actress
Date of Birth: 07/20/1938
Date of Drowning: 11/29/1981
Age at Death: 43

If you ask people if they can name a well known person who drowned, Natalie Wood’s name would probably come up first 9 out of 10 times.

She would also be at the top or near the top of any most beautiful women in Hollywood list. I had a boyhood crush on her growing up and I remember how sad I felt when I first heard of her death. It’s hard to believe she has been gone for over 26 years. The circumstances concerning her drowning are still puzzling to this day.

After Thanksgiving, she and her husband Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken, whom she was working with on a film, went on to Catalina Island for the weekend. Apparently Natalie Wood tried to either leave the yacht or secure a dinghy from banging against the hull when she accidentally slipped and fell overboard. Later it was discovered a witness nearby heard calls for help at around midnight. She said the cries lasted for about 15 minutes and were answered by someone else who said, “Take it easy. We’ll be over to get you. “It was laid back,” the witness recalled. “There was no urgency or immediacy.” An investigation by Los Angeles County coroner Thomas Noguchi resulted in an official verdict of accidental drowning. Noguchi concluded Wood had drunk several glasses of wine and was intoxicated when she died. There were marks and bruises on her body that could have been received as a result of her fall.

Contributor: Blogball

Both the Union and the Confederacy enlisted child soldiers during the bloody US Civil War that lasted from April 12, 1861, to May 9, 1865. Many of the children served with distinction and returned home. Others were not so lucky and paid with their lives.

10 Edwin Francis Jemison

The portrait of Confederate Private Edwin Francis Jemison is one of the most famous photographs of the Civil War. He was born on December 4, 1844, and enlisted in the Confederate 2nd Louisiana Infantry in May 1861 when he was 16. The photograph for which he is remembered was taken soon after his enlistment.

Edwin’s first encounter with the Union Army was in April 1862 when his unit faced enemy troops in the Battle of Dam No. 1 in Virginia. His second encounter was in the July 1, 1862, Battle of Malvern Hill, which remained the deadliest battle of the Civil War until it was superseded by the Battle of Antietam.

The Confederates lost about 5,500 soldiers during the battle while the Union lost half of that number. Jemison became part of the Confederate casualty list when he was hit by a cannonball while charging toward Union lines.^[1] He was five months to clocking 18.

9 John Lincoln Clem

John Lincoln Clem was born John Joseph Klem, but he swapped “Joseph” for “Lincoln” in reverence for President Abraham Lincoln. In 1861, at age 10, John fled from home to join the Union 3rd Ohio as a drummer.

The 3rd Ohio turned him down for being underage, and he left to join the 22nd Michigan, which turned him down for the same reason. Undeterred, he tagged along with the 22nd Michigan, which later adopted him as a mascot and drummer, although he was only allowed to enlist in 1862.^[2]

John Clem swapped his drum for a musket during the September 1863 Battle of Chickamauga, where three bullets pierced holes in his hat. He strayed from his unit during the battle and was spotted running back to his lines by a Confederate colonel who chased after him and demanded his surrender.

Rather than surrendering, he shot and killed the colonel, who had referred to Clem as a “Yankee Devil.” The incident earned him a promotion and the nickname “The Drummer Boy of Chickamauga.” He was discharged from the army in 1864. But he rejoined as a second lieutenant in 1871 and retired as a brigadier general in 1915.

8 Elisha Stockwell

Elisha Stockwell first enlisted in the Union Army during a recruitment drive in Jackson County, Wisconsin, when he was 15. His father disapproved of his enlistment, which caused the recruiters to remove Elisha’s name.

Undeterred, he fled with a Union soldier who was a friend of his father and had come home on leave. Before taking off, Elisha visited his sister and told her he was going downtown. She told him to return early for dinner.

Elisha did, two years later.

During his second enlistment, he told the recruiter that he could not remember his age although he thought he was 18. The recruiter knew Elisha was younger than 18. Still, the man listed Elisha’s age as 18 and his height as 165 centimeters (5’5″)—a height he only reached two years later.

Elisha saw a dead man for the first time in the 1862 Battle of Shiloh when he stumbled on a dead, disemboweled soldier with his back to a tree. According to Elisha, the encounter made him “deadly sick.”

He also saw his first action in that battle when he joined a downhill charge toward Confederate lines. When the charge was called off, half the men in his unit were either dead or wounded.

For the first time, Elisha realized that his decision to run away from home was foolish because warfare was no joke. He returned home after the war to learn that only three (including him) of the 32 men and boys from his hometown who had left for the war had lived.^[3]

7 William Johnston

William Johnston is the youngest recipient of the Medal of Honor. He was born in July 1850 and enlisted in the Union 3rd Vermont Infantry as a drummer in May 1862.

He participated in the “Seven Days” battle that lasted from June 25 to July 1, 1862, in which his unit was forced to retreat by Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s forces. Confederate troops followed and fired at William’s unit as it retreated, forcing many soldiers to dump their weapons and drums.

Only William had his drum when the entire division, which included the 3rd Vermont Infantry, was mustered for an Independence Day parade on July 4. So he played for the entire division.

President Abraham Lincoln was so impressed with William’s resolve to hold onto his drum when the older soldiers dumped their weapons and drums that Lincoln awarded William the Medal of Honor. At age 13, William is the youngest recipient to date.^[4]

6 John Cook

John Cook enlisted in the Union 4th United States Artillery as a bugler when he was 15. He participated in the deadly Battle of Antietam where his battery was attacked by Confederate infantry.

His battery suffered about 17 wounded or dead during the first wave of the assault. The wounded included the commander, Captain Campbell, whose horse was killed. Injured survivors were targeted by enemy fire as they attempted to retreat to the rear, but John managed to drag the captain back there before returning to commandeer a cannon.

He was joined by the division’s commander, Brigadier General Gibbon, who loaded and fired the cannon like a regular soldier. Meanwhile, the Confederates made three unsuccessful attempts to capture the cannons.

The third attempt was the most dramatic as they got within 3–5 meters (10–15 ft) of the cannons. At the end of the fight, the battery had 44 men and 40 horses dead or wounded.^[5] John Cook was awarded the Medal of Honor for his efforts, making him the youngest artillery soldier to ever earn such a distinction.

5 Robert Henry Hendershot

Robert Henry Hendershot was 10 when he joined the Union’s 9th Michigan Infantry as a volunteer drummer in 1861. He took the drumming craft with unusual seriousness for an ill-mannered rascal who regularly fought with his mother and skipped school to pelt train passengers with fruits.

However, he was only allowed to enlist in the unit in March 1862. It was from this moment that his accounts of the war became divided between truths, exaggerated truths, and outright lies.

He reportedly killed a Confederate colonel during a siege in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where he was captured and freed during a prisoner exchange. He reenlisted in the 8th Michigan as Robert Henry Henderson on August 19, 1862, but found his way into the 7th Michigan instead. There, he claimed to have taken the surrender of a Confederate soldier in the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Trouble started in August 1891 when veterans of the 7th Michigan denied that Robert was ever in Fredericksburg. They stripped him of the title “The Drummer Boy of the Rappahannock” and claimed that the real drummer boy was either John T. Spillaine or Thomas Robinson.^[6]

Meanwhile, the 8th Michigan claimed that it was Charles Gardner. Robert only got his title back after several notable people, including President Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant, intervened.

4 Charles Edwin King

Charles Edwin King holds the record of being the youngest fatality of the Civil War. He was born on April 4, 1849, and enlisted as a drummer in the Union’s 49th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers on September 12, 1861. He was 12 years old. His father opposed his enlistment but gave in on the assurance of Captain Benjamin Sweeney, who promised to keep Charlie away from the front lines.

Charlie first saw action in the Battle of Williamsburg, where the Union Army was routed from the Virginia Peninsula by Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s troops. Charlie saw combat again in the September 17, 1862, Battle of Antietam, which remains the deadliest battle of the Civil War.^[7]

Estimates vary, but the casualty rate is believed to be at least 22,720 troops: 12,400 from the Confederate side and 10,320 from the Union. This doesn’t include civilians who died of disease after the battle and the 6,300 soldiers who died in a prelude to the battle three days earlier.

The battle would also be Charlie’s last as he was seriously wounded when shrapnel from a Confederate shell exploded close to him at the rear lines. The shrapnel passed through his body, causing extensive injuries that turned fatal three days later. He died on September 20, 1862, at age 13.

3 Frederick Grant

At age 12, Frederick Grant, the son of Union General Ulysses S. Grant, followed his father to war. Frederick camped in his father’s tent and was allocated his own horse and uniform. General Grant barred the boy from visiting the front lines, but he still did, at least until a Confederate soldier shot him in the leg.

Frederick’s low point of the war was the Battle of Port Gibson, where the Union suffered 131 dead and 719 wounded. Frederick visited the battlefield after the fighting and helped to gather the dead. This horrendous task made him sick, and he quickly left to join other soldiers bringing the wounded to a makeshift hospital. The sight at the hospital was worse, and the horrified boy left to sit by a tree.^[8]

A report by someone else who also visited this hospital after the battle stated that its yard was filled with a heap of amputated arms and legs. According to the person, seeing that was worse than seeing dead people, as it evoked in him very deep feelings he had never felt before.

2 Edward Black

Edward Black enlisted in the Union 21st Indiana Infantry as a drummer at age eight, making him the youngest person to ever serve in the United States Armed Forces. Like other drummers, Edward was always at the front, where he played his drums to lead and direct the troops. This made him and other drummers perfect targets for enemy soldiers willing to disorganize the unit.

Edward was captured during the Battle of Baton Rouge and imprisoned on an island in the Gulf of Mexico. But he regained his freedom when Union forces captured the island and nearby New Orleans.

After President Lincoln banned the use of child soldiers in 1862, Edward was discharged and returned to his Indianapolis home with his drum. However, the trauma and injuries he sustained during the war haunted him so badly that it probably contributed to his death at age 18. His drum currently sits at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis where it remains one of the museum’s most prized artifacts.^[9]

1 Abel Sheeks

Abel Sheeks fled his Alabama home to join the ranks of the Confederate Army when he was 16. With the Confederates short on uniforms, Abel had to wear his blue shirt and trousers (which resembled the Union’s uniform) into battle. That continued until a colleague asked if he wanted to be mistaken for a Union soldier.

After each engagement, Abel scoured the battlefield to scavenge uniforms from dead Confederate soldiers of his size. According to him, he hated doing it but was left with no choice. In a few weeks, he had a full Confederate uniform.

Training for military life was hell for the boys at the Confederate camps. Drills were the centerpiece, and shooting practice was almost nonexistent because guns and ammunition were in short supply. This meant that many Confederate soldiers received their shooting lessons right on the battlefield.^[10]

Drills at the Union camps were no better. One Union boy who had endured enough of the boring, repetitive actions during his first drill told the drill sergeant, “Let’s stop this fooling and go over to the grocery.” The drill sergeant did not take kindly to his suggestion and ordered a corporal to “drill him like hell.”

Oliver Taylor is a freelance writer and bathroom musician. You can reach him at [email protected].

Many of us will have experienced the feeling that we are going to die at one time or another. Maybe that feeling came when we got into trouble while swimming or in the seconds before a car accident. Then again, sometimes we have a hangover so brutal that we just really want death to come.

A smaller number of people have foreseen their own deaths and proven to be absolutely right though, suggesting that there is more to premonitions than we know, and sometimes those who have that sense of impending mortality are notable public figures.

Top 10 TV Shows That Predicted The Future And Got It Right

10 Martin Luther King Jr.

 

Possibly the most famous example of someone appearing to know that they were going to die is that of Martin Luther King Jr. In April 1968 he traveled to Memphis to lend his support to a strike by African American workers who were protesting the response of the city to the accidental deaths of two bin-men. King Jr. was a man used to facing threats to his life as the most prominent face of the struggle for racial equality in the US, but despite that there was something genuinely ominous about the speech he gave in the Mason Temple on the night of April 3rd.

Quoting from the Bible, King Jr. told the assembled crowd that had been to the top of the mountain and had seen the “promised land” of equality on the other side, assuring them that they would make it there. However he added “I may not get there with you” and pointed out that while he would like to live for a long time, he was not worried about that or his fate. The following evening he was shot dead on the balcony of his hotel, and his final speech suggested that he sensed that something was going to happen to him but that he was leaning on his faith for strength.^[1]

9 Mark Twain

 

Novelist Mark Twain had to correct “exaggerated” reports of his death in 1897, leading to one of the most frequently repeated quotes ever, but what is less well known is that he actually made an eerily accurate prediction about when he would die. The creator of legendary fictional characters Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn was born in 1835, which was also a year in which Halley’s Comet made an appearance.

This comet has an orbiting time of roughly 75 years, coming close to earth again at the end of that period of time and Twain seemed to know that his destiny was tied to its orbit. Just before it was due to make its next appearance, in 1910, he was quoted as saying that: “I came in with Halley’s Comet…It is coming again…and I expect to go out with it.” Sadly, this proved to be all too accurate a prediction of events, as Twain was to die on 21st April of that year. While some have pointed out that the orbiting timescale of the comet is similar to the average human lifespan, we do not all live for exactly 75 years, so that does not really explain the forecast.^[2]

8 Oliver Reed

Given his legendary love of booze, Oliver Reed did not need to have a sixth sense to guess that it would have something to do with his death, but there is difference between that and forecasting almost the exact circumstances of it. For that reason there is something more than a little eerie about the interview he gave to Channel Four in the UK five years before he was finally admitted to the Great Bar in the Sky.

Reed was taking part in a program called The Obituary Show, in which a different public figure was asked each week how they would be remembered after they died – while celebrity guests pretended they already were. With the studio set up to look like he was in heaven, Reed stated that his death came “in a bar of a heart attack.” In 1999, while filming his part in the movie Gladiator, Reed collapsed and died of a heart attack in a bar in Malta. The only difference between prediction and reality is that he was involved in a drinking contest, rather than a cabbage competition, at the time.

7 Buddy Holly

 

Buddy Holly was the first in a long line of talented rock musicians to die very young, and apparently he had some advance warning that this was going to be his fate. Holly died in a plane crash on February 3rd 1959, alongside JP ‘The Big Bopper’ Richardson and Ritchie Valens, while they were taking part in the Winter Dance Party tour of the Midwest, However in the days before the tour began Holly and his wife Maria Elena both had frightening dreams that seemed to be telling them something.

Years later Maria Elena stated that she had experienced a vivid nightmare where she was standing in a field and saw a fireball fall to earth leaving a burning crater in the ground. When she woke up in a state of shock, Buddy told her that he had also had a strange dream in which he was flying away from her on a plane, with the feeling that he would not be back to see her again. The fact that both of them had these weird plane and crash related visions at the same time, days before his fatal journey is a very odd and unsettling coincidence.^[3]

6 Arnold Schoenberg

Phobias can be pretty horrible for those of us unlucky enough to suffer from them, but not many have been quite as damaging as that endured by composer Arnold Schoenberg. He had triskaidekaphobia – which is a fear of the number 13 – and became convinced that it would have something to do with his death.

Given that he was born on the 13th, his birthdays were never cheery affairs, but his 76th on 13th July 1951 had been a particularly bad one. He had spent the entire day in his bed, riddled with fear and certain he would die before it ended. His wife later said that she felt relieved when she looked at the clock and saw there were only 15 minutes left before the date changed. She went on to add that it was at almost exactly that moment that she heard the doctor shout to her and when she went up to the bedroom he told that Schoenberg had died of a massive heart attack. Some have suggested that his sheer terror helped to cause the attack that killed him, which is surely a lesson to the rest of us to get some therapy.^[4]

10 People Who Claimed To Have Traveled To The Future

5 Abraham Lincoln

 

When it comes to nightmares, one in which you appear as a corpse has to be in the front rank of horror, and that is what apparently happened to former US president Abraham Lincoln. On the night of 4th April 1865, Lincoln had gone to bed as usual, but the experience he had while asleep was anything but normal.

The next morning he told a friend that he had dreamt of mourners crying and of a dead body lying in the East Room of the White House. The corpse was guarded by a soldier and Lincoln asked him who it belonged to. The response would have disturbed anyone as the soldier said: “The president. He was killed by an assassin.” That was when Lincoln awoke, very shaken– for which we can hardly blame him – and he went on tell his friend that he remained “strangely annoyed” by the dream. He seems to have sensed that this was something more sinister than just eating too much cheese before bed and he was right. Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth exactly 10 days later, on 14th April.^[5]

4 Frank Pastore

 

Frank Pastore had two high profile careers during his lifetime, first as a pitcher in Major League Baseball, and then as a popular presenter on a Christian radio station. Despite these achievements though, the day of his death is perhaps the thing that he will end up being most remembered for. On 19th November 2012, Pastore presented his radio show as normal and at one point he talked about a television program he had seen the night before that dealt with the subject of the afterlife.

Pastore loved motorcycles and during his monologue he mentioned the risks, saying that, due to careless drivers: “at any minute I could be spread all over the 210.” This was a reference to the 210 freeway that he rode home each day and it was on just that road that he was hit by a car three hours after saying those words. He suffered massive head injuries and died later in hospital. However despite the disturbing nature of his death, Pastore was a devout Christian. The point of the radio monologue he delivered that day had been to emphasize his firm belief that we live on after our bodies die.^[6]

3 Jim Morrison

 

Jim Morrison was one of the brightest stars of the golden age of rock, in the 1960s and 1970s, but like most rock stars he lived a high-risk existence: ‘sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll’ rather than ‘sleep, diet and veggie roll.’ It was that lifestyle that killed him at the cursed age of 27, but before breaking on through to the other side, Morrison made a casual remark that suggested he knew his life would soon be over.

He had been seriously spooked by the deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin during 1970 – which we should not be surprised by as there were a lot of similarities between their lifestyles and his. During boozing sessions, Morrison took to telling friends they were “drinking with number three,” meaning that he fully expected to be the next big rock star to die young. Of course, we should remember that lots of people get a bit down when they are drinking, but his previous behavior suggests he was a manic rather than morbid drunk. Furthermore, the fact that he would be gone within months, in the summer of 1971, suggests it was not just the booze talking.^[7]

2 Mikey Welsh

People post horrifying things on Twitter all the time – mostly links to their YouTube movie reviews – but former Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh surely wins the prize for the most disturbing tweets of all time. Welsh had a lot of problems with both drug addiction and mental health during the 40 years he was alive, which led to his exit from the band, but he had built a new life for himself as an artist in the years after that.

On 26th September 2012, Welsh took to the social media site to tell his followers: “Dreamt I died in Chicago next weekend (heart attack in my sleep). Need to write my will today.” This was then followed by a second tweet in which he clarified that his dream death had actually occurred the weekend after that. While this would have been pretty alarming to his friends and fans, due to his publicized problems, the tweets became much more upsetting two weeks later, when news broke that Welsh had been found dead in a hotel room in Chicago. What makes the whole thing extra creepy is that the cause of death was a heart attack caused by an overdose of drugs.^[8]

1 Indira Ghandi

 

Leading a country inevitably means that you make a lot of enemies and former Prime Minister of India Indira Ghandi was no different. 1984 was a particularly rough period for Ghandi and the country as a whole because during the summer she had ordered the army to storm the Golden Temple in Punjab, which was being occupied by Sikh political militants. This was called Operation Blue Star and led to high numbers of Sikh deaths, as well as angering a lot of their supporters.

On 30th October, Ghandi gave a speech similar to the one made by Martin Luther King Jr. in which she seemed to somehow know what fate had in store for her. It included the lines “I am here today, I may not be here tomorrow” and “I have lived a long life and I am proud that I spent the whole of my life in the service of my people.” The following day, Ghandi was due to be interviewed for a television documentary and as she walked towards the filmmakers – who included presenter Peter Ustinov – two of her Sikh bodyguards shot her to death in revenge for Operation Blue Star.^[9]

10 Unsettling Premonitions That Came True

About The Author: I am a freelancer writer who lives in Dundee. I also make short films as one half of Wardlaw Films.

Throughout the course of history, poison has proven an extremely valuable item for the assassin’s toolkit. What it lacks in reliability it makes up for in silence, and sometimes warfare and murder need to be as absolutely discreet as possible.

In ancient Rome, for instance, the political climate and strife between wealthy, aristocratic Roman elites dissuaded more brutal and overt forms of violence, and poisoning became a favorite for those who wanted to kill unquestioned without a trace. There were even mass poisonings and master poisoners, assassins who’d work to carry out the quick, quiet, clean, and murderous directives of the highest bidder.^[1] Needless to say, an assassin who could effectively kill discreetly was in high demand in an age where challenging political factions and alliances was dangerous and could get you killed if found out.

Throughout many ancient historical empires, leaders and citizenry alike have been disposed of through the use of poison. Here are ten notable poisonings from ancient history which had important consequences, often ushering in a change of power.

10 Socrates

No list discussing poisoning would be complete without a mention of one of the most famous poisonings of all time, the trial and execution of Socrates. While Socrates administered the poison himself, uttering that he longed for death after a long life of reflection, it’s no secret that the father of Western philosophy was coerced into doing so in an Athenian prison, put into a situation where he had to accept an unjust guilt, pay a fine, and leave town—something he could not, in good conscience, bring himself to do—or die at his own hand in the custody of the Athenian authorities. The Athenians needed a face to blame, a scapegoat for political and social unrest, and Socrates was just about the least popular character in town at the time.^[2]

Socrates was the laughingstock of the city but also a philosophical genius, a fool capable of making a fool of everyone who thought he was a fool, demonstrably and in public, by outsmarting them. This made the old man a target for political attacks, and he would be persecuted and essentially forced to drink poison by his fellow Athenians. Plato tells of Socrates’s trial, and through Plato, the philosophy of Socrates lived on and ended up being a catalyst that changed the entire history of the Western world indefinitely.

9 Drusus Julius Caesar

This almost-would-be emperor was the only son of Emperor Tiberius of ancient Rome and was the expected successor to the throne in the 20s AD. He was a moderately experienced statesman with a life of imperial richness ahead of him.^[3] He was related to two emperors of excess, Nero and Caligula, and because of this, and possibly his moderate temperament mixed with his violent reputation, he ended up getting the raw end of a political double cross.

Sejanus, an ambitious confidant of Tiberius and rival of Drusus, didn’t want Drusus succeeding Tiberius to the throne, and Tiberius wasn’t exactly a young man. Sejanus seduced Drusus’s wife, Livilla, even telling her that he’d divorce his own wife for her. Livilla poisoned Drusus. Ultimately, however, when Tiberius died, the throne would pass to the infamous Caligula.

8 Demosthenes Of Athens

Demosthenes was an Athenian public speaker and politician who would be notable for is opposition to the consolidation of Greek power which took place under Philip II of Macedon—and later, Alexander the Great. Demosthenes was very vocal about his disagreement with the idea that Macedon should annex Athens, and Greek land in general. He was an avid supporter of Athenian democracy and culture and was a notable figure in the city-state, furthering much of what ended up spilling into future Western culture. Giving an infamous speech to try to gather Athenian support against Macedonia, he would fail at his task, regardless of his skills in rhetoric and public discourse, though he would continue long, dedicated campaigns in support of Athenian independence.

After the sudden and surprising death of the Macedonian king Philip, Alexander would take hold of the newly forming empire, and he would go on to become the conqueror and leader we know as Alexander the Great. After he led a failed uprising against Alexander, Demosthenes went into exile. Even though Alexander would suddenly die, Demosthenes’s friend Demades denounced him as a traitor and turncoat, and the Athenians sentenced him to die. Demosthenes ultimately chose to kill himself with poison.^[4]

7 Cleopatra

Cleopatra (aka Cleopatra VII Philopator), one of the most famous women in history, would end up dying from poison at the end of her life and reign. She became a ruler of Egypt through her Macedonian ancestors’ takeover of the ancient nation and became a figure of literary history after her death, especially as a result of William Shakespeare’s work about her.

Cleopatra would notably sweep Julius Caesar off his feet after he chased political rival Pompey into Egypt to solidify his power. Cleopatra famously rolled herself into a rug and smuggled herself right into Caesar’s presence, the opportunist that she was, seeing an opportunity to seduce the military general as he took nearly the sole reigns of the budding Roman Empire. However, Cleopatra’s relationship with Caesar was largely a political move. She did, however, end up in a romantic relationship with Mark Antony, one of Caesar’s political allies.

But Antony truly loved Cleopatra, allowing her great powers within Egypt and some Greek islands in the Mediterranean, which didn’t sit well with the political elite of the day. He was ultimately forced to run away to Egypt after falling out of political favor in Rome. In truly Shakespearean fashion, Cleopatra is alleged to have spread word of her own suicide. Antony was completely unaware of this ploy, and thinking her actually dead, chose to commit suicide rather than live without her. Cleopatra would take her own life with poison as well, rather than face capture by Octavian. The classic story goes that she used the venom of an asp, but she probably actually used hemlock.^[5]

6 Artaxerxes III

Outside of the Greco-Roman world, political double crosses in the face of great opportunity were still largely the norm. The Persian Empire had its fair share of political strife, and that means it had its fair share of political assassinations. That, of course, means poison was a valuable tool for anyone who wanted to murder their way to the top.

Artaxerxes was the ruler of ancient Persia, coming from a long line of emperors, and while generally popular, he ruled with an iron fist, snuffing out any competition in his way, even family. In a time of political turmoil, revolt, and challenges to the throne, Artaxerxes III put his enemies and opponents to death in a fashion that would make modern mob bosses blush—like many rulers at the time, he simply did what had to be done.

In a historical double cross, Bagoas, Artaxerxes’s minister and political ally, would poison Artaxerxes and all of his sons except one, consolidating his power.^[6] He would later attempt to poison Darius III of Persia unsuccessfully.

5 Artaxerxes IV

But the story of Artaxerxes and Bagoas doesn’t end there. Remember that one, single, lone surviving son of Artaxerxes III? Bagoas would catapult him to the throne in an attempt to manipulate him and maintain his consolidated control over the Persian Empire.^[7]

However, turmoil persisted throughout the empire. (Being invaded by Philip II of Macedon didn’t help.) After reigning for only two years, Artaxerxes IV (aka Arses) plotted to poison Bagoas. Instead, Bagoas successfully poisoned and killed Artaxerxes. With everyone scrambling for power and all heirs to the throne dead, Bagoas would establish Arses’s cousin, Darius III, as the new emperor of Persia.

4 Bagoas

How sweet the taste of revenge is. Cashing in on built-up karma, the next famous poisoning on our list is none other than Bagoas himself. Bagoas was a consultant and political statesman who operated largely behind the scenes, conducting his imperialism behind the facade of emperor-making and controlling them like puppets, as we’ve seen. He disposed of both Artaxerxes III and IV when they proved not to be loyal enough or exactly what he wanted out of a puppet emperor. Then, he installed Darius III.

Remember how Bagoas later attempted to poison Darius III? Well, finally, his sleazy ways would catch up with him. Darius had been warned of Bagoas’s intentions. After his attempt to poison Darius failed, Darius forced Bagoas to drink the poison intended for the emperor. Bagoas died, quite literally, from a taste of his own medicine.^[8]

3 Antipater

Antipater was the father of King Herod the Great and started a dynasty in Palestine, of which Herod was his successor as ruler. Antipater was caught in a whirlwind of local Palestinian politics, both Jewish and non. Having been installed to power by Caesar and Pompey meant he was caught up in Roman politics as well.^[9]

During his rise to local political leader as governor, he snubbed the then-Palestinian king, Aristobulis, and distanced himself from another king, Hyrcanus II, by installing his two sons, including Herod, into positions of power in local office. A political rival named Malich (or Malichus) would end up poisoning Antipater a few years later, something which benefited Hyrcanus as well. Nevertheless, Herod was placed in power by the Romans and would go on to become the king written about in the Holy Bible.

2 Claudius

Emperor Claudius was the son of Nero Claudius Drusus Tiberius, who was the younger brother of the Emperor Tiberius (the same Tiberius who fathered Drusus Julius Caesar, mentioned earlier). He is notable for greatly expanding the size of Rome and making Britain a province. Through many military campaigns, Claudius brought Rome to one of the largest sizes it would ever be and reigned from AD 41 to 54. Having a long tenure for a Roman emperor of that era, Cladius’s reign was largely successful.

Claudius was married to a woman named Messalina, with whom he had a son, Brittanicus. Claudius would eventually discover that his wife supposedly conspiring against him to seize power, in true Roman format. Claudius divorced her. Subsequently, he married Agrippina the Younger, who was the mother of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also known as Nero. Agrippina, hoping to position Nero to become an heir to the Roman throne, poisoned Claudius behind the scenes and succeeded in installing Nero as emperor.^[10]

1 Britannicus

Nero was poised to take the throne as the Roman emperor, but only one thing stood in his way. Claudius had died, but he had a son with his previous wife, Messalina. Britannicus was the actual, rightful heir to the throne left open by the poisoning of Claudius. Agrippina the Younger, Nero’s mother, was as ambitious as she was brutal and, having already murdered Claudius, was anxious to get Britannicus out of the way.^[11]

She would hire the same poisoner who murdered Claudius to do the job. Britannicus died at only 13 years old, and Nero claimed the throne, but Aggripina’s murderous ways wouldn’t go unpunished. At first, the lavish, extravagant Emperor Nero was quite popular, and he decided he no longer needed Agrippina, making the executive decision to murder his own mother.

I like to write about dark stuff, history, horror, murder, true crime, philosophy, and serial killers.

While we have no research to back this up, espionage would have easily been one of the most dangerous occupations one could have chosen during the Cold War. Regardless, countless espionage operatives worked on both sides of the Iron Curtain, driven by ideology, cash, or a bit of both. These notable Cold War spies regularly took up high-stakes, Hollywood-esque jobs that eventually led to their imprisonment and execution.

10. Raymond Mawby

Raymond Mawby was a British Member of Parliament who died in 1990, earlier working as an assistant paymaster general and junior minister. According to a BBC investigation, this was the time when he was also working as a spy for the Czechoslovakian security service for over a decade, from 1960 to 1971. 

Throughout his tenure as an operative, Mawby supplied sensitive political information to communist spies during Czechoslovakia’s communist era, including a hand-drawn floor plan of the prime minister’s Commons office, details about parliamentary committees, and a confidential parliamentary investigation into another Conservative Party politician. 

Allegedly operating under the codename ‘Laval’, Mawby’s relationship with the Czech spy service began in 1960, when he was approached at a cocktail party and convinced to provide political gossip in exchange for cash payments – exactly £100 for every exchange of information he provided. He continued to assist the foreign intelligence agency even after his promotion to junior minister in 1963. As per the report, this relationship came to an end in November, 1971.

9. Micha? Goleniewski

Micha? Goleniewski was a high-ranking officer in Poland’s intelligence service. He was also a KGB operative, though he’d later turn into one of the West’s most valuable double agents during the Cold War. 

Goleniewski began his political career by collaborating with the Nazis during the Second World War. He would soon become a high-ranking counterintelligence officer for the Polish intelligence, followed by his stint as a KGB operative supplying information about the Polish intelligence to his handlers back in the Soviet Union. 

In April 1958, Goleniewski voluntarily defected to the United States, and for the next 33 months or so, he’d smuggle a large amount of top-secret Soviet and Warsaw bloc military and espionage secrets to the West, including details that exposed 1,693 communists working across western intelligence and government departments. 

8. Otto von Bolschwing

Otto von Bolschwing was an early recruit to the Nazi Party, rising through its ranks to become Heinrich Himmler’s deputy in the Reich Main Security Office, where he mainly focused on the supposed ‘Jewish problem’. In 1937, he designed terror tactics to drive Jews out of Germany and rob them as they left. Bolschwing’s radicalism led him to support the anti-Semitic Iron Guard in Romania, even attempting a coup against the German-allied government. He continued to climb the Nazi hierarchy even after his detention, as he was soon hired as Adolf Eichmann’s deputy and oversaw the logistics of the Holocaust.

After the war,  Bolschwing escaped to American-occupied Austria and worked with exiled Iron Guard members, before he was recruited by the CIA under the code name ‘Agent Unrest’. His Nazi background was overlooked due to his espionage value against the Soviet Union. Eventually, Bolschwing would work as a CIA asset with valuable connections in Austria and Eastern Europe, supporting the larger US intelligence effort during the Cold War until 1953.

7. Gunvor Galtung Haavik

Gunvor Galtung Haavik was a Norwegian Foreign Ministry clerk and an agent of the Soviet Union for over 27 years. Her career began during the Second World War, when she worked as a nurse and interpreter for Soviet prisoners held by the Nazis, where she fell in love with a Russian prisoner of war. When the soldier’s safety was threatened by the Nazis, the KGB promised protection in exchange for Haavik’s cooperation. By the time Norway joined NATO in 1949, she had already signed a spy contract with the Soviets for future operations

Over time, there were suspicions that Soviet diplomats were too well-informed about Norway’s classified positions on various matters, especially regarding its European Community membership. Haavik was eventually identified by Norwegian counterintelligence during her meeting with a KGB operative, A.K. Printsipalov, leading to her arrest in 1977. While she confessed to her espionage activities against Norway and other western nations, Haavik died before her trial due to heart failure.

6. Oleg Vladimirovich Penkovsky

Often called one of the West’s most valuable double agents during the Cold War, Oleg Vladimirovich Penkovsky began his espionage career in the Soviet Red Army in 1937, later working as an artillery officer against the Nazi invasion during the Second World War. By 1949, he had moved to the Soviet Army Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and attended the Military Diplomatic Academy, before being hired as an intelligence officer in Moscow. By 1960, he had risen to the rank of colonel in the GRU.

By April 1961, however, Penkovsky had turned against the Soviet system, offering his services to British intelligence through a British businessman named Greville M. Wynne. Over the course of the next year and a half, he secretly provided British and US intelligence agencies with over 5,000 photographs of classified military, political, and economic documents from the Soviet union. The information he supplied decisively revealed the limited long-range missile capabilities of the Soviet Army during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. 

5. Elizabeth Bentley

Born in Connecticut, Elizabeth Bentley was well-educated, with degrees in the humanities at Vassar College and Columbia University. In 1935, she joined the American League against War and Fascism due to her exposure to fascism in Italy, followed by her relatively-brief stint as a member of the US Communist Party. 

Bentley’s espionage career began when she was recruited by a coworker, Juliet Stuart Poyntz, at the Italian Information Library. She collected information on fascist activity and later worked as a secretary with Juliet Stuart Poyntz – a Russian-born American involved in espionage through a Soviet-backed travel agency. 

When Golos died in 1943, however, Bentley grew disillusioned with the Communist Party, resulting in her turning to the FBI as a double agent. Bentley’s testimonies would eventually lead to the conviction of 11 Communist party leaders. 

4. Adolf Tolkachev

Adolf Tolkachev was a Soviet engineer who turned into one of the most important CIA assets during the Cold War. His work began in 1978 in Moscow, and involved leaking top-secret information about Soviet radar technology, avionics, and cruise missiles. He soon became known as the ‘Billion Dollar Spy’ for saving the United States an estimated $2 billion in weapons research and development costs. 

Operating right under the eyes of the KGB, Tolkachev engaged in 21 meetings with CIA officers on the streets of Moscow throughout his two-decades-long career. A big part of his job was smuggling documents out of his military laboratory – usually concealed within his overcoat – and photographing them in secret. According to declassified documents, Tolkachev was motivated to work against the Soviet Union due to his family’s plight during Stalin’s Great Terror era.

3. Hede Massing

Hede Massing was born in Vienna in 1900 to a Polish father and Austrian mother. She joined the Communist Party around 1920 and married Gerhart Eisler, a prominent member of the German Communist Party. Between 1933 and 1937, Massing served as a Soviet espionage agent in the United States. In her later years, however, she went against the Soviet Union – particularly the communist movement under Stalin – and turned into a staunch anti-communist.

In 1949, Hede Massing played an important role in the Alger Hiss espionage trial, testifying that Hiss had been working with the Soviet Union against the interests of the United States. Although her testimony had some inconsistencies, it directly contributed to Hiss’s conviction for perjury in 1950. 

2. Philip Agee

Born in 1935, Philip Agee was a former CIA officer-turned-whistleblower. Agee’s transformation came during a chaotic period in American history, marked by the Vietnam War, Watergate scandal, and a growing popular disillusionment with US foreign policy. He finally left the CIA in 1969 after twelve years of service, primarily motivated by the agency’s perceived role in undermining democracy to serve American interests abroad.

In 1975, Agee published his book Inside the Company: CIA Diary – an unprecedented work that revealed the extent of CIA’s covert operations in Latin America. Unlike other whistleblowers before him, Agee exposed the identities of CIA officers, agents, and assets working in the field. Despite criticism, Agee continued to undermine the CIA operations and US policies he deemed objectionable. 

1. Aleksandr Dmitrievich Ogorodnik

Born in 1939, Aleksandr Dmitrievich Ogorodnik was a Soviet diplomat-turned-CIA spy at the height of the Cold War. While he was initially thought to be an unlikely candidate for western espionage, Ogorodnik was eventually recruited by the Colombian intelligence agency and the CIA, operating under the codename TRIGON, or Trianon. 

Ogorodnik worked as a valuable spy due to his high level of access to secret diplomatic cables within the Soviet Foreign Ministry in Moscow, which he photographed and transmitted to the CIA. He even requested a suicide pill, or the L-pill, as a contingency plan. While we don’t know exactly why he turned into a double agent, it might have had something to do with his continued financial problems, or his deep-seated discontent for the Soviet bureaucratic system. 

Ogorodnik’s career and life came to an end when he was apprehended by the KGB in Moscow. Instead of capture, he opted for the L-pill and ended his life, leaving many unanswered questions about the extent of his espionage and counter-espionage activities. Till today, Ogorodnik remains one of the most important double agents of the Cold War, particularly due to his involvement with coded numbers transmissions called numbers stations.

For many people, time spent in the bathroom is the perfect opportunity for reflection and introspection. And for many others, it’s when they get new high scores on Candy Crush. Okay, so maybe most of us use that time for procrastination, but even so, there have been a few significant events that occurred inside a bathroom.

10. The Death of Agamemnon

We’re going to start off with one event that is more mythology than history – the assassination of Agamemnon. Made famous in “The Iliad,” Agamemnon was the King of Mycenae who led the Greeks during the Trojan War. After the fall of Troy, he returned home triumphant, only to discover that his wife, Clytemnestra, had taken on a lover by the name of Aegisthus. 

According to the legend, Agamemnon had sacrificed one of his daughters, Iphigenia, in order to please Artemis and secure his victory at Troy, so it was understandable that his wife might bear a tiny grudge against him. She was probably hoping that he would die in battle, but now that he was back, Clytemnestra wanted Agamemnon dead and plotted with her lover to make it happen. In some versions, Aegisthus simply attacked Agamemnon with a band of assassins, but in others, Clytemnestra did the deed herself by stabbing her husband in the bath.

9. The Political Career of John Glenn

In 1962, astronaut John Glenn made history when he became the first American to orbit the Earth. Once he was done with the whole space thing, as one of the most popular people in the country, the world was his oyster. Glenn wanted to get into politics and, eventually, he did serve as a senator for Ohio for two-and-a-half decades. However, his first run was derailed thanks to an unfortunate slip in the bathroom.

In January 1964, Glenn retired from NASA and announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. Just a month later, the former astronaut slipped in his bathtub and sustained a severe hit on the noggin. Left with a concussion and an inner ear injury, Glenn was unable to campaign and decided to quit the senatorial race since he felt that it would not be fair to ask for the people of Ohio to simply vote for a name on a piece of paper. 

The accident delayed Glenn’s political career by an entire decade. It wasn’t until 1974 that he finally won a seat in the Senate.

8. The Assassination of Edmund Ironside

There is a pretty long list of people who died on the toilet, but of them all, King Edmund Ironside probably had the most unpleasant way to go. The son of Ethelred the Unready, Edmund only reigned for half a year in 1016 during the Danish invasion of Cnut the Great. He earned the moniker “Ironside” because of the bravery and valor he displayed while fighting against a superior invading force. 

Edmund did not fall valiantly in battle, but was rather done in by treachery in the end, both literally and figuratively, assuming the account of historian Henry of Huntingdon is correct. According to him, the king was slain in his private privy while obeying the call of nature. The son of an enemy ealdorman named Edric snuck inside the castle and hid himself in the pit under the king’s privy. Then, when Edmund sat down to do his business, the assassin stabbed him upwards multiple times.

Cnut was not particularly impressed with this method of disposal. He had respect for Edmund Ironside, so when he heard what Edric had done to him, he had the ealdorman decapitated and his head placed on the highest battlement of the Tower of London.

7. The Work of Edmond Rostand

Bathrooms have not been solely the scenes of violence, bloodshed, and injuries. Occasionally, good things happen in them because some people use them as sources of inspiration. Benjamin Franklin was famously fond of spending a lot of time in the bath, musing on the world around him, and French poet Edmond Rostand did a lot of his writing while soaking in the tub.

Most famous for his play Cyrano de Bergerac, Rostand regarded working in the bathroom as the perfect solution to two of his problems. He hated being interrupted while he was writing but, at the same time, he was loathe to use this as an excuse to turn his friends away. However, if he were in the bathtub, nobody would take offense to being asked to return another time, so he could focus on his work without worries of interruptions.

6. The Demise of Elagabalus

Elagabalus is constantly ranked among the worst Roman emperors in history. Therefore, it’s not really surprising that he made a lot of enemies, including his own grandmother, Julia Maesa, who helped orchestrate his assassination. She decided to replace one nephew with another, so Julia convinced Elagabalus to adopt his young cousin, Severus Alexander, as his heir. 

The emperor accepted, but he quickly changed his mind when he saw that the people liked Alexander more than him. He wanted his young cousin gone, but the Praetorian Guard refused to cooperate. They’ve had enough of Elagabalus and asking them to assassinate Alexander was the final straw. They attacked the Roman emperor, who tried to hide in a latrine in vain. His mother was also killed at the same time. Afterward, “their heads were cut off and their bodies, after being stripped naked, were first dragged all over the city, and then the mother’s body was cast aside somewhere or other, while his was thrown into the river.”

5. The End of King Haakon’s Reign

The reign of King Haakon VII defined Norway during the first half of the 20th century, with him ruling for over 50 years between 1905 and 1957. He is now remembered as one of the country’s greatest leaders, although he did have an ignominious end thanks to an accident in the bathroom that marked the end of his reign.

King Haakon sustained a very bad fall in 1955, shortly before his 83rd birthday. It didn’t kill him, but it left him confined in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He survived for two more years after that, but he turned into a shell of his former self. Despite being an octogenarian, Haakon had previously maintained an active lifestyle, mainly as a skier. Now, he was forced to give up the things he loved, while his reduced mobility ensured that his health continuously deteriorated. Haakon became a recluse with little interest in state affairs or social occasions. His son, Crown Prince Olav, took up most of his ceremonial duties until his father passed away and he became the new king.

4. The Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat

Jean-Paul Marat was one of the central figures of the French Revolution, becoming one of the leaders of the Jacobin faction which was opposed by the Girondins. And yet, he is best remembered for his assassination while taking a bath at the hands of a Girondin sympathizer named Charlotte Corday.

On July 13, 1793, Corday showed up at Marat’s apartment, claiming to have information about other Girondins who were on the run. His fiancee, Simonne, was suspicious of the young woman and did not want to let her in, but Marat insisted. The revolutionary was in the bathtub, where he spent a lot of time due to a debilitating skin disease. He took out a pen & paper and a wooden plank to write on and started taking down the information that Corday provided. When she was finished, she pulled out a kitchen knife from her dress and plunged it into Marat’s chest. His last words were “Help me, my beloved,” but by the time Simonne entered the bathroom, Marat was already dead.  

Corday made to attempt to escape. She was arrested and executed by guillotine a few days later.

3. The Medical Breakthrough of King George II

“On the 25th of October he rose as usual at six, and drank his chocolate; for all his actions were invariably methodic. A quarter after seven he went into a little closet. His German valet de chamber in waiting heard a noise and, running in, found the King dead on the floor.”

That is the description of how King George II of Great Britain kicked the bucket in 1760, at the venerable age of 76, as reported by his personal physician, Frank Nicholls. In the process, George II joined a long and illustrious line of people who died while straining at stool, but besides the obvious consequence of leaving Great Britain without a king, there was an unexpected benefit – it allowed Nicholls to provide us with the first clear account of an aortic dissection. 

Nicholls was tasked with opening and embalming George II and he observed and described in detail the deadly aortic disease that fell the king: “…the pericardium was found distended with a quantity of coagulated blood, nearly a pint…; the whole heart was so compressed as to prevent any blood contained in the veins from being forced into the auricles; therefore the ventricles were found absolutely void of blood…; and in the trunk of the aorta we found a transverse fissure on its inner side, about an inch and a half long, through which some blood had recently passed under its external coat and formed an elevated ecchymosis.”

Following Nicholls’s account, the disease began being studied by the medical community, although it would be almost two centuries before a surgery for it was developed. 

2. The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase is a crucial moment in the history of both France and the United States and, if Lucien Bonaparte is to be believed, his brother Napoleon decided to sell Louisiana while taking a bath.

According to Lucien’s memoirs, both he and his brother Joseph were against the idea of the Louisiana Purchase. One day in 1803, Napoleon summoned both of his siblings at the Tuileries Palace in Paris and received them while he was bathing. He was definitely not happy with them, and when Joseph indicated that he might oppose Napoleon on the matter, the latter acted out like a petulant child by falling back into the tub and splashing his brothers with the bathwater. 

At that point, Lucien told his sibling that “If I were not your brother I would be your enemy,” to which Napoleon once again responded in a bad-tempered way by smashing a snuff box on the floor.

1. The Eureka Moment

When it comes to notable events that occurred in the bathroom, none can compare to the iconic “Eureka” moment when Archimedes figured out water displacement.

Here’s the story: when Hieron II became King of Syracuse, he commissioned a gold crown for himself. He gave a bar of pure gold to the goldsmith, but when the latter returned with the crown, the king feared that he had been cheated. It wasn’t unheard of back then for dishonest smiths to mix in some silver and keep part of the gold for themselves. But the question was – how to prove it?

Hieron tasked Archimedes with finding a solution. The mathematician pondered on the problem during a bath, when he noticed that the more he sunk into the tub, the more water spilled out. He then realized that there was a relationship between the volume of his body and the volume of water displaced by his body. Archimedes was so jubilant with his discovery that he leaped out of the bath and started running down the streets naked, shouted “Eureka.”

Once he understood this, the actual experiment was easy. If the crown was, indeed, made of pure gold, then it should have the same volume as the bar of gold with the same mass. If, however, it contained silver, then it would be less dense. Archimedes proved that the goldsmith did, indeed, try to cheat the king, and we can only imagine what unpleasant fate awaited him. 

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that the Eureka story actually happened like this. Archimedes himself never wrote about it and it was first mentioned by Vitruvius a few centuries later. But still, it remains a testament to the sparks of inspiration we can experience while in the bathroom.

It seems these days that it is the fashionable thing to apologize to the masses for things which, generally, don’t affect them personally. From religious and political leaders to sportsmen, these apologies really do seem to be nothing but public relations moves. This list looks at ten apologies from the last decade.

2000: Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker apologizes for dissing New Yorkers.

In an interview, Rocker talked about how disgusted he felt, riding in the New York subway with green haired punks, street people with loathsome diseases, as well as how rude the fans were. After the resulting brouhaha, he taped an apology which was shown on the big screen at Shea Stadium before a game. “I have apologized and felt badly for anyone who took my comments personally. I am also fully aware that the overwhelming majority of people in this city are extremely charismatic and full of personality, although a bit spirited at times, but, you know, that doesn’t make them bad people.” The tape was soundly booed by the Mets fans.

2001: George Bush kinda sorta apologizes to China, in the wake of China’s interceptor colliding with an American spy plane.

A hot-dogging Chinese fighter jet crowded an American EC-130 spy plane in international waters. The jet plunged to the pilot’s death, while the spy plane was damaged and forced to land on Hainan Island. China demanded an apology from the U.S. for the entire incident, but the protocol parsers of the Bush team balked at the nuance of the Chinese syllable “qian”, which implied greater fault than the administration was willing to admit. Eventually the White House issued a statement expressing “regret” for the incident, but not actual remorse.

2002: Trent Lott apologizes for praising Strom Thurmond’s 1948 Presidential run.

At South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday party, Senate Leader Trent Lott expressed the opinion that the country would have been better off if Thurmond had won the 1948 Presidential election, on the segregationist Dixicrat ticket. Lott heard about it hot and strong, and had to go on the media apology circuit. “”I wanted to honor Strom Thurmond, the man, who was turning 100 years old. He certainly has been a legend in the Senate both in terms of his service and the length of his service. It was certainly not intended to endorse his segregationist policies that he might have been advocating or was advocating 54 years ago. But obviously, I am sorry for my words, they were poorly chosen and insensitive and I regret the way it has been interpreted.”

2003: Symbionese Liberation Army radicals apologize to family of slaying victim Myrna Opsahl at their sentencing.

70s radicals gunned down a bystander during a bank robbery. When they were finally brought to trial, decades later, the right-wing blogosphere was full of outrage, and claims that they were being coddled by the media and the courts because of their left-wing politics. The terrorists’ apologies were marbled with self-pity. “It is your day, and I apologize. But you’re not going to walk out of here thinking justice was done. We are truly abstraction because we are the hated monsters for 30 years. There is nothing I can do. I’ve thought about your mother. To me, your mother has never been an abstraction. You have never been an abstraction to me.”

2004: George W. Bush apologizes for prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.

During a press conference after a meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan, President Bush said, “I told him I was sorry for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners and the humiliation suffered by their families.” Needless to say, this was not the end of the matter.

2005: England’s Prince Harry apologized for wearing a Nazi uniform to a costume party.

A prime example of outrage being in inverse proportion to the harm done. Prince Henry (and yes, that is his real name – look it up) wore a Nazi uniform to a party and was photographed by the media. Now certainly it was not in good taste, but did it really warrant a royal apology to the entire nation?

2006: Seinfeld star Michael Richards apologizes for racial rant during standup comedy show.

Michael Richards lost patience with a heckler during his show, and started spewing N-bombs. Video of the incident starting showing up on the internet–including a new video website called YouTube–and the heavens came crashing down on him. So he hit the apology circuit, even seeking out the Rev. Al Sharpton, to kiss his ring in atonement. “I lost my temper onstage. I said some pretty nasty things to some Afro Americans (sic). . . . You know, I’m really busted up over this and I’m very, very sorry.” He got weirder: “There’s a great deal of disturbance in this country, and how blacks feel about what happened in Katrina and, you know, many of the comics, many of the performers are in Las Vegas and New Orleans trying to raise money for what happened there, and for this to happen, for me to be in a comedy club and flip out and say this crap, you know, I’m deeply, deeply sorry. And I’ll get to the force field of this hostility, why it’s there, why the rage is in any of us, why the trash takes place, whether or not it’s between me and a couple of hecklers in the audience or between this country and another nation, the rage . . .”

2007: Mattel apologizes to China over lead-based paint in imported toys.

A perfect example of the growing clout China has over us: They shipped us poisonous toys, toys painted with lead-based paint -and the America toy company Mattel ended up apologizing to China for the fuss. “Our reputation has been damaged lately by these recalls. And Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the toys.” Mattel groveled further: “We understand and appreciate deeply the issues that this has caused for the reputation of Chinese manufacturers.”

2008: The AMA apologizes to black doctors for past racism.

I once knew an elderly black security guard, years and years ago. He told me that he had been to medical school, but was never able to practice in his field, because of racial discrimination. I was appalled. So I was gratified for his sake to learn of this apology from the American Medical Association. “The AMA failed, across the span of a century, to live up to the high standards that define the noble profession of medicine.” These included everything from actually barring black doctors from local AMA chapters, to listing them as “colored” in membership directories.

2009: Tiger Woods apologizes to fans for “transgressions.”

As the ceiling started collapsing on Tiger Woods’ marriage and possibly his career in late 2009, he tried to get ahead of the cascading sordidness by issuing a prompt apology: “I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect.” This of course did not head off the resulting bimbo eruptions, necessitating his televised mea culpa earlier this year. One would presume he had already apologized to his wife and family – did he really need to apologize to the rest of us? Does anyone outside of his close circle of acquaintances really care?

Before the Chinese coronavirus (COVID-19) is finally defeated through the passage of time or a cure, the sad reality is, many more people will die. Nobody is immune to its effects, though it can be deadlier to the immunocompromised and the elderly.

Top 10 Celebrity Deaths That Never Happened

Since the virus began sickening people in China in 2019, there have been thousands of recorded deaths, and some of those people who died have been celebrities, performers, politicians, and the like.

While every death is a tragedy, these ten, presented in no particular order, are notable people for what they gave society during their lifetimes, and like so many others, they will be missed.

10 Joe Diffie

If you’re a fan of country music, odds are the news of Joe Diffie’s passing hit you particularly hard. Diffie was an accomplished country music singer who released a ton of hit singles over the years. From 1990 to 2004, Diffie released 35 singles featured on the Billboard Hot Country Song chart. Five of those singles rose to number one, including “Home”, “If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets)”, “Third Rock from the Sun”, “Pickup Man,” and “Bigger Than the Beatles.” He released seven studio albums, a Christmas album, and a Greatest Hits album.

Diffie announced through his publicist that he tested positive for COVID-19 on March 27th. He remained in critical condition from the disease for two days, and he died on March 29th at the age of 61. He passed away in Nashville, Tennessee, which is a city deeply rooted in the country music scene. Diffie is the first country music star to succumb to the disease, and his passing was noted by his peers with heartfelt posts on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms.^[1]

9 Floyd Cardoz

Fans of the hit series Top Chef are in mourning following the death of celebrated Indian-American Chef Floyd Cardoz. The talented chef was the winner of Top Chef Masters in 2011 and was well known for his many entrepreneurial forays in the world of gourmet food. In addition to his time in front of the cameras for Top Chef Masters, Cardoz was the executive chef at New York City’s Paowalla and Tabla eateries. He specialized in the melding of Indian flavors and spices with Western cuisine of all kinds.

Cardoz also held the honor of being a four-time James Beard Award nominee, and he was also the author of two cookbooks. Cardoz traveled from Mumbai to New York through Frankfurt in early March. He soon fell ill and tested positive for COVID-19. He died from complications of the virus on March 25th at a hospital in New Jersey. Cardoz was 59-years-old at the time of his death. He leaves behind his wife/business manager, Barkha, and their two sons, Justin and Peter.^[2]

8 Maria Mercader

Though she may not have been as well known to people outside the world of news, Maria Mercader was a driving force in news and reporting for CBS, where she worked for more than three decades. Mercader began her professional career in 1987 as a page at CBS. She shifted from page duty to the network’s news program with CPS Newspath, where he produced various pieces distributed via CBS’ affiliate stations. She continued to produce through the death of Princess Diana, 9/11, and many more significant events.

Mercader won an Emmy Award for her work as a producer, and she climbed the ranks at CBS to become the Director of Talent Strategy in 2016. Her work there diversified the workplace and helped to facilitate more involvement with various minority groups, including the Asian American Journalists Association and many others. For more than two decades, Mercader fought cancer and other illnesses, and when she went to a hospital in New York City for treatment, she succumbed to COVID-19 at that location and passed away on March 29th at the age of 54.^[3]

7 Terrence McNally

Terrence McNally was a prominent playwright, screenwriter, and librettist, who was often described as “the bard of American theater.” He was considered to be one of the greatest contemporary playwrights of the American theater, and he earned that distinction through 56 years of work in the field. He received the coveted Tony Award for Best Play for two of his works, and the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for another two. He also earned an Emmy, two Guggenheim Fellowships, and several other theater awards throughout his career.

McNally’s work spanned six decades, and they included Broadway plays, off-Broadway plays, films, and pretty much anything and everything he could get his hands on. He is probably best known for “Kiss of the Spider-Woman” and “Ragtime,” though he wrote dozens of plays, operas, and theater pieces. His work is played around the world, and his passing was a blow to everyone who loves the theater. On March 24th, he passed away following complications from COVID-19 in a hospital in Florida. He was 81 at the time of his passing.^[4]

6 Princess María Teresa Of Bourbon-Parma

Princess María Teresa of Bourbon-Parma was a French-Spanish member of the House of Bourbon-Parma, which is a cadet branch of the Spanish Royal family. She spent her life working to further social causes as an activist, which earned her the nickname “Red Princess.” She was a monarchist, and she sadly holds the distinction of being the first member of a royal family to die from COVID-19. Born in 1933 in Paris, Princess Maria Teresa spent her youth in various castles and private schools.

She attended the Paris-Sorbonne University, where she received a doctorate in Hispanic Studies. She followed this with another doctorate in Political Sociology from the Complutense University of Madrid. She was an activist in the areas of women’s rights and other important matters. On March 27th, Princess Maria Teresa died at the age of 86 from complications brought on by COVID-19. She was the first royal to die from the disease, though she wasn’t the only one infected, as Prince Charles battled the disease with only mild symptoms. He remained in self-isolation for a week and fortunately survived.^[5]

10 Gruesome Facts About Suicide And Death Cleanup

5 Nashom Wooden

Folks may not immediately recognize the name Nashom Wooden, but it’s not because he wasn’t famous, it’s due to people being more familiar with his drag queen persona, Mona Foot. Wooden developed his drag persona in the late 1980s, and he credited RuPaul as an early mentor in his early drag career. RuPaul helped him immensely by teaching him how to apply makeup, which helped him land a role as Mona Foot in an off-Broadway production called My Pet Homo. Interestingly, he came up with the persona while working as a manager in a Manhattan men’s clothing department at Patricia Field’s boutique.

Wooden later appeared as Mona Foot in the film Flawless, where he also performed the song of the same name with The Ones. Wooden phased out his Mona Foot identity in his later life, and while he did test positive for HIV, he had an undetectable viral load. That infection didn’t appear to be the cause of his death, as he died as a result of complications from COVID-19 in New York City on March 23rd. He was 50 at the time of his death.^[6]

4 Manu Dibango

Emmanuel N’Djoké “Manu” Dibango was a Cameroonian musician who was well known in the world of jazz, as he was a prominent songwriter and saxophonist. Dibango’s career spanned six decades, consisting of numerous hits, though he is likely best known for his 1972 single “Soul Makossa.” That hit would later be sampled by Michael Jackson, Kanye West, and many more prominent musicians all around the world. Dibango’s career began at the age of 15 after he moved to Paris just after World War II. He played saxophone and piano and quickly became a regular in the European jazz circuit.

He became an international sensation with “Soul Makossa,” which was originally planned to be a B side to an anthem he wrote in celebration of Cameroon’s success in hosting the 1972 Africa Cup of Nations football tournament. News of Dibango’s illness came on his Facebook page, which noted he was hospitalized with an infection from COVID-19 on March 18th. His Facebook page confirmed the following week that he passed away on March 24th from the virus at the age of 86.^[7]

3 Lucia Bosè

Italy is one of the hardest-hit nations where COVID-19 is concerned, and it seems nobody is safe from infection. Lucia Bosè was a prominent actress in her native Italy, where she rose to fame during the period of Italian Neorealism, which kicked off in the 1950s. She originally worked in a bakery, but in 1947, she won the second edition of the Miss Italia beauty contest, which launched her career as an actress. She starred in several standout roles through the early 1950s, peaking in 1955 before coming to an end.

She fell in love with a Spanish bullfighter during the filming of Muerte de un ciclista. She opted to give up her career to raise a family. Eventually, she returned to acting and starred numerous roles with her most recent work was in 2007. She is the mother of famed Spanish singer Miguel Bosé and was a well-respected performer throughout her life. On March 23rd, she passed away from pneumonia complicated by a COVID-19 infection. She was 89 at the time of her passing.^[8]

2 Daniel Azulay

Daniel Azulay was a comic book artist and educator who was well-known and respected in and out of Brazil. His work was highly regarded in the art community, and he is probably best known for his children’s series, Turma do Lambe-Lambe. Azulay was born in Rio de Janeiro and raised in Ipanema, a neighborhood located in the southern parts of the city. At the age of 21, he created a newspaper strip called Capitão Cipó, and just five years later, he launched Turma do Lambe-Lambe.

His work helped to teach the children growing up in the 1980s about ecology, art, design, and many other subjects. He traveled the globe, exhibiting his work and giving lectures. He conducted art workshops with thousands of children and adults, and in 2009, he hosted a drawing class online to help even more people learn his craft. Azulay died in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro at the age of 72. He was hospitalized for two weeks for leukemia treatment, and while there, he was infected with COVID-19, which caused complications, ending his life.^[9]

1 Dr. Li Wenliang

For most celebrities, their fame is established during their lifetime, but for some, that distinction is only granted posthumously. That’s certainly true of Dr. Li Wenliang, a Chinese ophthalmologist who worked at Wuhan Central Hospital in China. In December 2019, Wenliang began warning his colleagues about a possible outbreak of a disease that resembled SARS. That disease was later named COVID-19, making Dr. Wenliang the first physician to raise the alert that the disease was going to cause problems.

Dr. Wenliang essentially became a whistleblower where the virus was concerned, and he paid for it. On January 3rd, he was admonished by the Wuhan police for “making false comments on the Internet.” He went back to work and later contracted the virus from a patient. Dr. Wenliang passed away on February 7th at the age of 33. He was posthumously exonerated and offered a “solemn apology” for the admonishment he received by the Communist Party of China. If only his colleagues had listened to him, there likely wouldn’t have been any names to put on this list.^[10]

Don’t forget to wash your hands, keep your distance from others, and remember, we will get through this!

10 Strange Omens That Warned Of Death

Many inventions and discoveries perceived to be modern phenomena have been with us for a very long time. One sometimes stands in awe at how innovative, creative, and brilliant those who came before us had been—with limited knowledge and fewer resources.

Already well into the twentieth century, the year 1922 saw great people entering and exiting our world and brought us wonderful discoveries and inventions of notable value. Many that still have an influence a century later. Luxury developments from 1922 have paved the way for modern variants throughout the decades, while books and movies enjoyed then still draw attention today—with some films being made and remade many, many times (because is there any originality left in Hollywood?).

When pausing a moment from the constant expectation of new things to come, we find that there are quite a few big 100th anniversaries to be celebrated in 2022.

Related: Top 10 Bizarre Celebrations Of Love Around The World

10 Deaths

Even when gone, some people have left legacies worth remembering, and their death dates are still being celebrated today. Legendary people who died in 1922 include Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach, chocolate mogul George Cadbury, South African Boer-General Christiaan de Wet, and Pope Benedict XV.

Irish-born Antarctic explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton, died just short of his 48th birthday on January 5, during his fourth attempt to reach the South Pole. Also, Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish inventor and discoverer to whom the invention of the telephone and the metal detector was accredited, died on August 2—from diabetes-related complications.

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, born in 1858 as Eliezer Perlman, was a lexicographer known for his work toward the phenomenal revival of the then-not-spoken-anymore Hebrew language. He died in Jerusalem on April 23 at age 64 from tuberculosis. On November 18, Parisian novelist and poet Marcel Proust died of pneumonia at age 51. He was an influential French writer famous for writing excessively long sentences—with his longest one being 958 words—which is by far not the longest sentence in a publication!^[1]

9 Births

The world was collectively holding its breath to see if she was going to make it, but unfortunately, everyone’s favorite Golden Girl, Betty White, died on December 31, 2021, just 17 days shy of her 100th birthday. Incidentally, her co-star in the series, Bea Arthur, who died in 2009, was also born in 1922. Iconic American actor Christopher Lee, the most prolific actor of all time, cast in more than 244 films and TV movies, was born on May 27.

Among other famous over-achievers born this year a century ago was Professor Christiaan Barnard (November 8), the South African cardiac surgeon responsible for the world’s first heart transplant in December 1967. Yitzhak Rabin, army general and later the 5th Prime Minister of Israel, who was assassinated in 1995, was born on March 1. On April 13, Tanzanian anti-colonial activist and politician Julius Nyerere was born.^[2]

8 Inventions

Some of the most useful inventions that are still in use today originated in 1922. The “upward-acting” garage door by C.G. Johnson and the electric blender, for which Stephen J. Poplawski is accredited, are two such inventions. These remain in everyday use in many households worldwide.

Raymond DeWalt invented the radial arm saw, an efficient power tool used for crosscuts of longboards and a standard tool still used today. And on a sweet note, Christian Kent Nelson receives a patent for the Eskimo Pie.

With his brother pulling him with a boat at 20 mph, the favorite vacation pastime and now popular water sport of waterskiing was created by Ralph Samuelson in mid-1922. Having experimented with two wooden boards and a clothesline as a towrope, Samuelson initially struggled to get on his feet in the water. He spent the next 15 years trying to perfect the skill of waterskiing—which he later taught others to enjoy.^[3]

7 Discoveries of Different Kinds

1922 saw the discovery of Vitamin E by Herbert McLean Evans and Katharine Scott Bishop. Also in 1922, Vitamin D was discovered by Elmer McCollum and other researchers while doing research on children with rickets. The condition—also known as English Disease—is an illness causing weak bones in children, which is now known to be triggered by a lack of Vitamin D.

After a long history filled with disputes and controversies, insulin was intravenously injected on January 11, 1922. Although it was an initial failure, this experiment has paved the way for successful insulin treatment for diabetes ever since.

On November 4, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his team found the entrance to King Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor in Egypt.^[4]

6 World Events

Egypt gained its independency in 1922 from the British Empire, although the Brits kept control over the Suez Canal in partnership with France. In 1956, after a tug of war between Egypt and the two European countries, the USA convinced the latter to surrender its control of the Suez Canal.

As a result of the 1917 Revolution, the U.S.S.R (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), also known as the Soviet Union, was established on December 30, 1922. The U.S.S.R. consisted of the Russian and Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republics, together with the Ukrainian and the (then-called) Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republics. It officially lasted until the Soviet flag was lowered for the last time on Christmas Day 1991 when countries previously absorbed into the union became independent again. An interesting celebration against the background of current events in the area.

Also, on July 24, 1922, the then League of Nations approved the British Mandate of Palestine, which the Brits ruled from 1920 to 1948, whereafter the State of Israel was established.

The Japanese aircraft carrier, Hōshō (meaning: phoenix flying), became the first purpose-designed aircraft carrier to be commissioned. The Hōshō, different from later UK and U.S. aircraft carriers, was used during World War II. The design was used for the later Japanese fleet carriers—the Akagi, the Kaga, and the Ryūjō.^[5]

5 Movies Released

Various movies based on popular literature from the era were first released in 1922. A few films from that year that are still popular today include Robin Hood, Oliver Twist, Sherlock Holmes, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Rob Roy, Othello, With Stanley in Africa (the story of Dr. Stanley Livingstone), and David Copperfield.

Most of these films had seen remakes and remakes of remakes throughout the century. Yes, Hollywood knows how to redo. Take Robin Hood, for example. This 1922 film was just the beginning as we have seen numerous versions. Some of these include The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Robin and Marian (1976), Robin Hood (1991), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Robin Hood (2010), and Robin Hood (2018). Oh and we can’t forget everyone’s favoriteRobin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). And that doesn’t even account for the many foreign, cartoon, or adult versions made. Sheesh.^[6]

4 Books Published

Many books and educational publications by writers whose work still has an influence today appeared in 1922. Albert Einstein’s The Meaning of Relativity: Four Lectures Delivered at Princeton University, May 1921, was published by Princeton University Press. And on February 2, James Joyce’s novel, Ulysses (containing a 4,391-word sentence), was published in Paris in time for his 40th birthday. And that’s still not the longest sentence in literature.

1922 was a good year for F. Scott Fitzgerald, writer of The Great Gatsby—as both his novel The Beautiful and Damned was published on March 4, while his short story “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” was run in Collier’s Weekly magazine on May 27. Adaptations of Fitzgerald’s titles, including these two, found their way onto the stage and the silver screen through the last century.

Other well-known publications celebrating its centenary this year include The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot, England My England by D. H. Lawrence, and Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting.^[7]

3 Automotive Firsts

Launched in 1922, the Lancia Lambda introduced many world’s firsts—the first monocoque chassis, the first independent (front) suspension, the first V4 engine, the first production aluminum engine block, and the first four-wheel brakes.

This year also saw dramatic increases in automobile production. September established a new monthly production record, with a total of 206,000 motor vehicles turned out of the factories. The Willys-Overland Company made a record during July, August, and September when it produced 37,000 vehicles.

The convertible made its appearance in the early 1920s, with the first practical retractable hardtop prototype, created by American Ben P. Ellerbeck, being introduced in ‘22.^[8]

2 Fashionable Trends

Not surprisingly, 1922 wasn’t only known as the year in which John and Mary were the most popular baby names in the U.S.—and probably in most other countries where English is spoken—but also brought along new fashion trends.

The years after World War I (ending in 1918) saw a huge change in society, and fashion didn’t escape this transformation. The pre-war extravagance and war modesty (and the scarcity of everything) were slowly being replaced by more androgynous (male and female neutral) trends that still influence the fashion industry today. Under the influence of designer Coco Chanel and suddenly freer to express themselves, women started wearing less jewelry, shorter hair, and more unisex clothes—with dress suits and even trousers and ties finding their way into everyday wear.

1922 was also the year Coco Chanel’s iconic Chanel No. 5 perfume—still a favorite today—was launched.^[9]

1 Sporty Moments

Mickey “Toy Bulldog” Walker defeated Jack Britton for the welterweight boxing title in 1922. It is believed that Ernest Hemingway based his short story, “Fifty Grand,” on the fight, as the plot and even the names of the main characters are quite close to the real event and the boxers’ names.

Slalom skiing, which would become an Olympic sport in 1948, celebrated competing with official rules in place for a century this year. Olympic swimmer, Johnny Weissmuller, broke the one-minute barrier in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 58.6 seconds. He would eventually become famous (again) as the actor playing Tarzan in Tarzan, The Ape Man. The current record (Oct 2021) is held by Australia’s Kyle Chalmers with 44.84 seconds.

1922 was a big year for the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (popularly known as Wimbledon or the All England Club). It moved from its first home on Worple Road to where it is today on Church Street, London. Australian Gerald Patterson and Suzanne Lenglen from France won the first singles titles on this famous piece of lawn. It was also the first year that saw previous champions defending their titles from Round 1 on Day 1. Until then, champions only started competing after the main draw had been decided.^[10]

Few of the fabled heroes of American history are more controversial than Custer. He amassed a then record of demerits as a cadet at the United States Military Academy, and finished last in his class in academic standing. Yet within two years of his graduation he held the rank of brevet (temporary) brigadier general of volunteers. He was the youngest general in the American army since Lafayette. Over the course of the Civil War he developed the reputation of possessing superb leadership skills, a sound sense of military tactics, and personal courage, leading his troops from the front.

After the war, assigned to the west to assist in the pacification of the Western tribes, his reputation plummeted. He was elevated to near mythical status as a martyr following his death at the Little Big Horn, largely through the efforts of his widow, Libby Bacon Custer. Films and early television exaggerated his mythos. Then, beginning in the 1970s changes in attitudes towards American history regarding native Americans once again brought his lofty status as a hero to the ground. Here are ten incidents in the life and death of George Armstrong Custer which contributed to his mythos, and which remain controversial.

10. He didn’t exactly distinguish himself at West Point

Later in his military career George Armstrong Custer wrote that those who adopted his behavior should disregard his career at West Point unless they looked at it as, “…an example to be carefully avoided”. He arrived at the Military Academy equipped with a marginal education in mathematics, though he had some experience as a school teacher in other subjects. He also had a lifelong penchant for practical jokes and an established contempt for higher authority. None of those traits were indicative of assured success at a highly disciplined environment, known internationally for the quality of the education it provided its cadets.

He excelled, if that is the word, at the school in one area. During his four-year stay at West Point he accumulated a then record number of demerits, awarded for various infractions. He kept cooking utensils in his barracks room. In Spanish class one afternoon Custer asked the correct way to say “Class is dismissed” in that language. When the instructor uttered the phrase Custer grabbed his books and strode from the classroom. His uniform was incorrect, his hair too long, and his boots insufficiently polished, far from the dandy he later became.

Like many cadets of the time period, Custer frequented a nearby tavern, Benny Havens, officially off-limits but nonetheless popular. He also became notable among cadets and the academy staff for his horsemanship. In June, 1861, the scheduled five-year term for his class was shortened to four, and Custer graduated. His tenure at West Point was well-known to the officers with which he served, both the senior officers who preceded him at the Point, and the cadets who followed, awed by the legendary record of escaping severe punishment he left behind.

9. Northern newspapers lionized him early in the Civil War

Custer graduated with his West Point class in 1861, one year earlier than planned, due to the need for trained officers in the rapidly expanding Union Army. At that stage of the war Union victories in battle were scarce, and Confederate troops were encamped just thirty miles from Washington in Virginia. Custer served with distinction in the First Battle of Bull Run. He then participated in the Peninsula Campaign, the Maryland Campaign, and the Battle of South Mountain. He led numerous cavalry attacks, served as an aide to General George McClellan, and developed a reputation as an audacious commander in the field. In June 1863, with the Confederates under Robert E. Lee marching into Pennsylvania, Custer received the command of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade, with the rank of brigadier general of volunteers. He was 23.

His success in the early campaigns brought him to the attention of northern newspaper reporters and magazine correspondents. As a commanding officer, using his perquisites of rank, Custer adopted flamboyant uniforms, much to the delight of the writers. He justified his appearance as being necessary on the field of battle, making it easier for his officers and men to identify him, as well as for messengers from other units to find him in the chaos of battle. During the three-day Battle of Gettysburg, Custer led his unit, called the “Wolverines” , into a pitched battle with the near-legendary Confederate cavalry under Jeb Stuart, which was attempting to flank the main Union army. Despite being heavily outnumbered Custer led his command to victory, driving the Confederates from the field.

In reports covering the Gettysburg campaign, Custer received lavish praise for his performance. His flamboyant dress in battle drew the attention of his enemies as well as his friends and commanders. The New York Herald called him “The Boy General with the Golden Locks”. His unit took heavy casualties during the campaign, and he had at least one horse shot from under him while in action. The newspapers extolled his leadership, always from the front, and personal courage. Custer found himself an acclaimed hero in the North, a reputation he enhanced with further actions during the Civil War.

8. Custer stole a horse and refused to return it when ordered

Custer commanded a cavalry division as a major general by early 1865, and maneuvered it to block Lee’s escape at Appomattox. There, he learned of a prized thoroughbred race horse owned by Richard Gaines, near Clarksville, Virginia. Custer dispatched a patrol to seize the horse, as well as its written pedigree. Lee had surrendered over two weeks earlier, and the terms of surrender allowed his defeated army to retain its remaining horses. Custer didn’t care, he had heard much of the fifteen-hand stallion named Don Juan. His decision to obtain the pedigree, which would be essential to a later sale of the animal at its true value, means Custer came to the premeditated decision to steal a horse.

Custer rode Don Juan in the Grand Parade of the Army of the Potomac in Washington, during which the skittish animal bolted from the noise of the crowds. The sudden charge of the horse allowed Custer, famous for his long blond hair, to display his horsemanship before adoring crowds. Grant later ordered Custer to return the animal to his rightful owner. Custer refused, supported by Philip Sheridan, insisting the animal had been contraband of war, and that he had purchased it legally from the Union Army for his personal use.

To Custer the horse represented the spoils of war, and he wrote in several letters he intended to sell the animal, believing it could bring him $10,000 ($176,000 today), a handsome sum at the time. The horse died suddenly in 1866, ending Custer’s hopes for a nest egg. Custer’s behavior in obtaining the horse, and his perceived insolence in refusing to return it despite being ordered to do so widened the rift between him and General Grant. Though the story was not widely known by the public at the time, gossip among officers of Custer’s theft was rife at military posts. Today’s Custer State Park, in the shadow of Mt. Rushmore contains amongst its treasures the ironically named Horse Thief Lake.

7. Custer exploited his fame in post-war New York

After the Grand Parade Custer returned to his hometown of Monroe, Michigan for a rest. Custer then assumed command of Federal cavalry in Louisiana, destined to form the basis of occupation forces in eastern Texas. His command there was difficult. Most of the troops were volunteers who wanted to be discharged from the service, since the war they had volunteered to fight had ended. Custer’s attempts to maintain discipline among the troops drew resentment, desertions, and outright mutiny. He also found he no longer had the support of US Grant, after his insubordination over Don Juan and other issues.

Relieved in early 1866, Custer was ordered to Washington, where he lobbied for assignment. He considered a career outside the army, journeyed to New York to hobnob with high society and captains of industry. He also requested a leave of absence to allow him to go to Mexico and support the forces of Benito Juarez in the Mexican Revolution. Grant endorsed his request, but Secretary of State William Seward opposed it, and Custer remained unemployed in Washington, with the permanent rank of captain.

In the summer, 1866, Custer joined President Andrew Johnson, along with other Civil War heroes such as Grant and Admiral David Farragut, on a campaign tour to build up public support for Johnson’s Reconstruction policies. It was the first time an American President undertook a national speaking campaign along party lines. The tour proved disastrous for the President, Grant refused to speak before the crowds, and Custer spent most of his time lobbying the President for promotion and a command in the west.

6. The 7th Cavalry was a new unit when Custer was assigned to its command

In movies and television productions of the Custer mythos, particularly those made before 1970, Custer’s 7th Cavalry is usually depicted as an established regiment. In fact, the US Army created the 7th Cavalry in July, 1866 as part of a general expansion of the regular army. Custer was not the first commander of the 7th Cavalry. Colonel Andrew Smith took command and organized the new regiment at Fort Riley, Kansas. In February, 1867, Custer arrived at Fort Riley and assumed command of the regiment, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Before the year was out Custer was suspended from his command, without pay, after a botched pursuit of hostile Indians which led to the desertion of several men. After he returned to the regiment and its command he was again suspended and arrested in August, 1868, having gone AWOL (away without leave), when he abandoned his post against orders. He remained under suspension until October, 1868, when he rejoined his command at the behest of Philip Sheridan, then in command of all United States Cavalry.

By 1869 Custer’s once vaunted reputation was in tatters. He had antagonized US Grant, several members of Congress, and several of his fellow officers. His flamboyant appearance, and the fact he was frequently followed about by several dogs, was regarded with disdain by many junior officers. He nonetheless retained the support of Sheridan, and certain his star was falling, he longed for a major victory against the Indians which he could exploit to public acclaim.

5. Washita River restored Custer’s reputation in the East

Custer gained what was considered the first major victory over the western Indian tribes when he led the 7th Cavalry to attack a village of Cheyenne under Chief Black Kettle in November, 1868. Custer’s scouts had trailed a raiding party from the settlements they had attacked to the village. Black Kettle had claimed during negotiations with Indian agents and military officers that his people wanted peace. Nonetheless, warriors from several raiding parties had come from his village and returned there during the summer and fall months.

The Washita action has long been controversial. In the 1960s-70s Indian activists claimed the battle had been little more than a massacre, primarily of women, children, and older men. They claimed there had been few, if any, warriors in the village at the time of the attack. Custer initially claimed 103 warriors were killed, later revising the number upwards to 140. He acknowledged a “few” women casualties, and reported 21 dead troopers from the 7th, and an additional 13 wounded.

The Washita River attack restored Custer’s reputation in Eastern newspapers and among the general public as a daring cavalry commander and a staunch Indian fighter. Yet during the battle he withdrew before learning the whereabouts of a small troop, dispatched to pursue fleeing Cheyenne. That group encountered warriors from other nearby encampments, and greatly outnumbered they were overwhelmed and killed. The incident led to deeper suspicions among junior officers that Custer placed his search for glory ahead of the welfare of the men under his command.

4. Custer’s defeat at Little Big Horn shocked the nation

The summer of 1876 saw the United States beginning the long planned celebrations of the nation’s centennial. Passenger rail excursions to Philadelphia, for the Centennial Exposition held there beginning on May 10 were nearly always full. So were the steamboats and ferries bringing visitors to what was the first World’s Fair. Among the items to make their first public appearance at the exhibition were Hires Root Beer, Heinz Ketchup, and a communications device its inventor called the telephone.

Americans celebrated their national unity, emerging technologies, and the vast wealth of the continent. The revelers at the exposition, those traveling to it, and those remaining at home were shocked at the news that Custer and his command at the Little Big Horn had been wiped out by Indians. The exposition displayed numerous examples of modern military weapons, including those from Germany and France, as well as the United States. The public perception of the Indians prevalent at the time rendered their crushing a disciplined unit of American cavalry unthinkable.

The shock led to an immediate decision to crush the Indian tribes which had destroyed Custer’s command. By the spring of 1877 the Cheyenne under Chief Dull Knife were defeated, their villages destroyed, and they were forced onto the reservations. Little evidence exists that Dull Knife had been involved at the Little Big Horn. Also crushed and forced onto reservations were the Sioux, Arapaho, and other of the plains’ tribes. Many of the tribes were forced into the Indian Territory, as it was then known, today’s state of Oklahoma. A significant number of Sioux under Sitting Bull fled across the border into Canada.

3. His widow, Libby Bacon Custer, worked tirelessly to enhance his heroic reputation

In the United States Army, up to and including its Commander in Chief, President US Grant, there was little praise of Custer in the immediate aftermath of the Little Big Horn. Major Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen, both survivors of the battle because they were not with the five companies personally led by Custer, blamed him for the defeat. Reno had a checkered career following the Little Big Horn, including charges of making advances on another officer’s wife, being drunk on duty, and the worst of all charges on a military officer, cowardice before the enemy.

Benteen, who had been ordered to reinforce Custer’s command during the battle, instead rode to the support of Reno. He too blamed Custer for the debacle at the Little Big Horn. Few in the army command structure defended the dead Custer’s actions. President Grant publicly condemned Custer for his actions and the resultant loss of life. In the absence of support for her late husband, Libby Bacon Custer stepped into the void. Libby had kept detailed diaries of life with her husband on the American frontier, where she had accompanied him to his posts.

Libby polished and published her diaries in the 1880s; Boots and Saddles (1885), Tenting on the Plains (1887), and Following the Guidon (1890). Her books were aimed at giving Custer a glorious image, and they were for the most part historically correct, other than for details regarding maneuvers in the field. They were widely popular, were soon supported by dime novels and penny papers, and the Custer legend, as well as the legend of the Last Stand, entered the public eye. Artists produced paintings depicting Custer fighting to the death heroically, including one commissioned by Anheuser Busch which hung in saloons all over the nation. The legend of Custer’s Last Stand stood, untarnished, for nearly 100 years.

2. Custer in films and television

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq68RGtRP3g

Beginning with a silent film in 1912 Custer has appeared in films over 30 times, portrayed by a number of distinguished actors. Ronald Reagan played Custer in an entirely fictional film, Santa Fe Trail (1940). The following year Errol Flynn depicted Custer heroically (how else could Flynn play anyone?) in They Died with Their Boots On. Several films depicted Custer as defending the rights of the Indians against nefarious government agents, illegal traders, and corrupt officials exploiting them. In 1967 Robert Shaw, later to star in Jaws, played Custer as risking his military career to defend the rights of the Indians in Custer of the West. The legend of the Last Stand remained very much alive.

During the Civil Rights movements of the 1950s-60s, historians and filmmakers began to reexamine the Custer legend. An early example is 1970s Little Big Man, starring Dustin Hoffman. The fictional story, told through the eyes of a White man raised by the Cheyenne, was in part intended to ridicule the military establishment at the height of American involvement in the Vietnam War. Richard Mulligan portrayed Custer as a borderline psychotic, driven by a deep hatred of the Indians, and finally acting completely insane during the climactic Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Television largely followed the same pattern, with early programs depicting him as a heroic icon of American history, and later portrayals making him insubordinate, egomaniacal, and determined to eliminate the tribes in order to gain greater glory for himself. Whether sympathetic, critical, fictional, or even as a spoof, Custer remains a popular character in television productions, including on Netflix’s The Ridiculous 6, released in 2015. Custer was played by David Spade. The production earned some of the harshest reviews of film history.

1. The Indigenous of his day held Custer in respect

Although some revisionists dispute it, the troops of General Terry’s command which discovered the bodies of Custer’s men found them to have been horribly mutilated. Except for two, Custer’s and Miles Keough’s. Allegedly, Keough was spared because he wore a religious medallion from the Papal States. Superstition among the indigenous likely led them to respect the medal. Custer reportedly had his eardrums punctured, but his body was spared mutilation. Terry’s men found two wounds, to the head and chest. Either of the two wounds could have been instantly fatal. Some allege an arrow was found in Custer’s genitalia, though official reports do not.

Most of the command’s dead were horribly mutilated. Custer’s brother Tom, a two-time Medal of Honor recipient, was so mutilated he could only be identified by part of a tattoo which remained. Custer’s body had been more or less left as it fell, though his eardrums, according to tribal folklore, had been pierced, making him deaf in the afterlife in their belief. The fact that his body did not undergo the indignities of those of the rest of his command indicates his enemies had a level of respect for Custer not shared by those who continue to rewrite the story of his career and death.

Custer was buried, along with the rest of his men, as they lay on the field. Attempts to identify them at the time were hampered by their mutilations and the pillaging of personal items by their killers after the battle. Custer’s body was later exhumed and reinterred at West Point in October, 1877. By then actions by the US military to crush the western tribes which had prevailed at the Little Big Horn were well underway, For the Native Americans, Little Big Horn (which they called Greasy Grass) proved a pyrrhic victory. By the end of the decade the Indian tribes of the plains were subdued, and the revisions of their history had begun.