List of new posts

Death of Amelia Earhart (1897-1939)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 07:16:00 +0000

In July (39 y/o) 1937 [Amelia] with her navigator were over the Pacific Ocean on round-the-world flight ...

1937.02.23: Front Page

... when they dissapeared ...

1937.07.03: Headline

1937.07.04: Headline ... with 'Hitler's Kill All Jews' Proposal

The official search efforts lasted until 1937.07.19.

1937.07.07: Headline

At $4 million, the air and sea search by the Navy and Coast Guard was the most costly in U.S. history up to that time [1].

1937.07.17: Front page

No physical evidence was found.
Immediately after the end of the official search, [Amelia]'s (49 y/o) husband, [George], financed a private search by local authorities of nearby Pacific islands ...

Back in the United States, [George] became the trustee of [Amelia]'s estate ... In probate court in Los Angeles, [George] requested to have the "declared death in absentia" seven-year waiting period waived so that he could manage [Amelia]'s finances. As a result, [Amelia] was declared legally dead on 1939.01.05.

1960.05.27: Headline

:

[1]: but search and rescue techniques during the era were rudimentary ... Most historians hold to the "crash and sink" OR "captured by Japanese" ... theories ... [wiki]
[Amelia]: Amelia Mary Earhart (1897.07.24-1939.01.05 (41 y/o, 5'7" (170 cm)) American aviation pioneer and author, [wiki]
[George]: George Palmer Putnam (1887.09.07-1950.01.04 (62 y/o)) [Amelia]'s husband, American publisher, author and explorer ... remarried on 1939.05.21 to Jean-Marie Cosigny James ... [wiki]

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Death of Erwin Schrodinger (1887-1961)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 13:13:00 +0000

[Erwin]'s bust (marble) in the Arkadenhof of the University of Vienna, [wiki]

[Erwin]’s metaphysical outlook, as expressed in his last book, [My View of the World] (1961), closely paralleled the Vedanta (Indian mysticism):

"... Why is it precisely at this intermediate level in the hierarchy ... (cell, organ, human body, state) ... that unitary self-consciousness comes into the picture, whereas the cell and the organ do not as yet possess it and the state possesses it no longer? ..." [wiki]

"... This life of yours which you are living is not merely a piece of this entire existence, but in a certain sense the whole ... This, as we know, is what the [Brahmins] express in ... formula ... "tat tvam asi", this is you. Or, again ... as "I am in the east and the west, I am above and below, I am this entire world" ... For eternally ... there is only now ... the present is the only thing that has no end ..." [wiki]

"... There is no kind of framework within which we can find consciousness in the plural; this is ... something we construct because of the temporal plurality of individuals ... The only solution ... is available ... in the ancient wisdom of the Upanishad ..." [wiki]

[Erwin] & his wife [Anny]

1961.01.04 (73 y/o) died of tuberculosis (infectious disease, that generally affects the lungs), in Vienna.
His body was buried ...

:

[Anny]: [Erwin]'s wife, (1896.12.03-1965.10.03 (68 y/o)).
[Brahmin]: (in Hinduism) priests and teachers [wiki]
[Erwin]: Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger (Schroedinger) (1887.08.12-1961.01.04 (73 y/o)), Nobel Prize-winning Austrian physicist (quantum theory) ... [wiki], [wikiquote]
[My View of the World]: (1961) GER: Meine Weltansicht, [goodreads]

:

1983: Austria 1000 Schilling banknote, [worldbanknotescoins.com]

Death of Sanmao (1943-1991)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Sat, 30 Dec 2017 12:11:00 +0000

By 1989 [Sanmao] traveled 54 countries. She fully dedicated herself to writing.
In 1990 the film [Red Dust], made from her script, was the winner, with eight "best" awards, during Taiwan's 27th Golden Horse Film Awards. However, Sanmao did not receive an award ...

1991.01.02, she admitted herself into Rongmin General Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan. She was tested for cancer - the results were negative.

1991: [ifeng.com]

1991.01.03, on the night, she asked the nurse for a sleeping pill, and said, "Don't wake up me during the night."
1991.01.04 at 7 am hospital staff found (47 y/o) Sanmao dead ...

[Sanmao] death reconstruction photo by [Vice]

She had hanged herself with a pair of silk stockings.

:

[Red Dust] (CHN: 滾滾紅塵) a 1990 Taiwanese drama film (a love story set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai) directed by Ho Yim [wiki], [imdb].
[Sanmao]: San Mao (三毛) (1943.03.26-1991.01.04 (47 y/o)) a Taiwanese novelist, translator and writer ... [wiki], [goodreads], [focustaiwan.t w], [womenofchina.cn], [YouTube]
[Vice]: (1994-...) print magazine and website focused on arts, culture ... [wiki]

:

"... my heart never left my beloved country ... " [YouTube]

Death of Albert Camus (1913-1960)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Fri, 29 Dec 2017 15:27:00 +0000

2015: sculpture of [Albert] Camus by Roger Vene (behind) in Dinan, France. [ouest-france]

1960.01.04 (46 y/o) [Albert] died in a car accident in the small town of Villeblevin (in Le Grand Fossard). The car skidded into a tree ...

1957: [Albert] in Paris office, [irishtimes]

In his coat pocket was an unused train ticket. He had planned to travel by train with his wife and children ...

... but at the last minute he accepted the proposal of his publisher, [Michel], to travel with him on Facel Vega HK500 car. [1]

[Michel] died five days after the acRcident.
Their bodies were buried ...

Two of [Albert]'s works were published posthumously. The first, entitled "A Happy Death" (1970):

“... I feel like getting married, or committing suicide, or subscribing to [L'Illustration]. Something desperate, you know ...”
“... You see, Mersualt, all the misery and cruelty of our civilisation can be measured by this one stupid axiom: happy nations have no history ...”

and an unfinished novel, "The First Man" (1995) (about his childhood in Algeria):

“... There's always been war ... But people quickly get accustomed to peace. So they think it's normal. No, war is what's normal. ...”
“... He had never loved anything except what was inevitable. The people fate had imposed on him, the world as it appeared to him, everything in his life he had not been able to avoid...For the rest, for everything he had to choose, he made himself love, which is not the same thing. No doubt he had known the feeling of wonderment, passion, and even moments of tenderness. But each moment had sent him on to other moments, each person to others, and he had loved nothing he had chosen ...”

:

[1]: In August 2011, the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera reported a theory that the writer had been the victim of a Soviet plot, but Camus's biographer, Olivier Todd (fr), did not consider it credible.
[Albert]: Albert Camus (1913.11.07-1960.01.04 (46 y/o)) French philosopher and journalist ... [wiki], [goodreads.com]
[L'Illustration]: a 1843-1944 weekly French newspaper published in Paris [wiki].
[Michel]: Michel Gallimard, [Albert]s's publisher and close friend, ...

:

Camus' Death & Lovers (BBC Documentary)

1959.01.28: Albert Camus on Nihilism (of Fyodor Dostoyevsky 1821-1881)

Death of Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Thu, 28 Dec 2017 16:34:00 +0000

2009: Shpalikov, Tarkovsky and Shukshin (at Institute of Cinematography, Moscow), [wiki]

In July 1984 during the shooting of a film in Italy [Andrei] resolved not to return to the Soviet Union. [2].

1985.08.28, he arrived at Italian Refugee Camp in Latina, where he was registered with the serial number 13225/379.

During 1984-1985, he shot the film [The Sacrifice] in Sweden.

1985: (53 y/o) [Andrej] (1st) and (62 y/o) Swedish cinematographer [Sven] Nykvist (3rd) [source]

At the end of 1985 he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

In January 1986, he began treatment in Paris and was joined there by his (16 y/o) son [Andrei Jr.], who was allowed to leave the Soviet Union after 18 month of separation.
1986.12.15 in [Andrei]'s last diary entry, he wrote:

"But now I have no strength left - that is the problem". [Martyrolog]

1986.12.29 (54 y/o) [Andrei] died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. [1]
His body was buried in France ...

:

[1]: A conspiracy theory emerged in Russia in the early 1990s when it was alleged that Tarkovsky was assassinated by the KGB. Evidence includes testimonies by former KGB agents who claim that ... KGB saw as anti-Soviet propaganda by Tarkovsky ... Other evidence includes the claim by one of [Andrei]'s doctors that his cancer could not have developed from a natural cause ... Larisa Tarkovskaya (1938-1998) and actor Anatoli Solonitsyn all died from the very same type of lung cancer. Vladimir Sharun, sound designer in Stalker, is convinced that they were all poisoned by the chemical plant where they were shooting the film ... [wiki]
[2]: In Soviet Union [Andrei] had been allowed to make only six films in nearly a quarter of a century ... ''I am not a Soviet dissident, ... I have no conflict with the Soviet Government.'' But if he returned home, he said, ''I would be unemployed.'' [nytimes]
[Andrei]: Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (RUS: Андре́й Арсе́ньевич Тарко́вский, 1932.04.04-1986.12.29 (54 y/o)) was a Soviet Russian filmmaker, writer, theatre and opera director. His films include Ivan's Childhood (1962), Andrei Rublev (1966), Solaris (1972), Mirror (1975), and Stalker (1979) ... [wiki], [wikiquote], [nytimes]
[Andrei Jr.]: Andrei Andreyevich Tarkovsky (1970.08.07-...), [Andrei]'s son ...
[Martyrolog]: Time Within Time: The Diaries 1970-1986 ... published posthumously in 1989 and in English in 1991. [wiki]
[Sven]: Sven Vilhem Nykvist (Swedish pronunciation: [svɛn ˌvɪlhɛlm ˈnyːˈkvɪst]) (3 December 1922.12.03-2006.09.20) was a Swedish cinematographer, [wiki]
[The Sacrifice]: (aka Offret) the film was presented at 1986 Cannes Film Festival and received the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury, the FIPRESCI prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury ... As Tarkovsky was unable to attend due to his illness, the prizes were collected by his (16 y/o) son [Andrei Jr.]. [wiki]

:

1972: (62 y/o) Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998) & (40 y/o) [Andrei]
on watching "Solaris". [cinearchive.org]

Death of Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Wed, 27 Dec 2017 16:28:00 +0000

1929: [Gustave] Eiffel bust sculpted by Bourdelle, [toureiffel]

1910: [Gustave] photo, [wiki]

1923.12.27 (91 y/o) [Gustave] died, while listening to Beethoven's 5th Symphony, 2nd movement Andante, in his mansion on Rue Rabelais in Paris, France.

1923: [Gustave] post mortem photo

His body was buried ...

:

[Gustave]: Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832.12.15-1923.12.27 (91 y/o)) was a French civil engineer and architect, [wiki].

:

[Gustave]’s Secret Apartment on Top of the Eiffel Tower, [worldwanderings]

Death of Sergei Yesenin (1895-1925)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 08:09:00 +0000

Death-mask of Sergei Yesenin, [rbth.com]

1925.12.28 (30 y/o) Yesenin was found dead in the room in the Hotel Angleterre in St Petersburg.

1923: [Yesenin], [rbth.com]

His last poem was written by him the day before he died. [1]

Farewell, my good friend, farewell.
In my heart, forever, you’ll stay.
May the fated parting foretell
That again we’ll meet up someday.
Let no words, no handshakes ensue,
No saddened brows in remorse, -
To die, in this life, is not new,
And living’s no newer, of course.

The poet committed suicide by hanging [2].

1925: [Yesenin] on deathbed, [wiki]

Yesenin's suicide triggered an epidemic of copycat suicides by his mostly female fans.

1925: [Yesenin] on deathbed, [source]

1925.12.31 his body was buried.

1925: [Yesenin] funeral, [wiki]

Although he was one of Russia's most popular poets and had been given an elaborate state funeral, some of his writings were banned during the reigns of Stalin (1878.12.18-1953.03.05) and Khrushchev (1894.04.15-1971.09.11).
Only in 1966 were most of his works republished.

:

[1]: His last poem is sometimes considered as written in 1924 and dedicated to the fellow poet Viktor Manuilov ...
[2]: Given the poet’s late negativism towards the authorities and his persistent feeling that they were following him and threatening him, shared with friends on various occasions, a theory exists that Yesenin's death was actually a murder by [OGPU] agents who staged it to look like suicide. Among facts tending to support the assassination hypothesis:
- 1) At the time of his death, Yesenin was actively working on his collected works. He was not drinking [3] after his departure from Moscow ... His project, to start editing a literature magazine of his own, was close to success. Most of his manuscripts were missing from his hotel room and had never been discovered (including his recently announced novella known under the work title "When I was a boy"…). Yesenin preferred to be well ordered in his work; but his hotel room was in extreme chaos, with his things scattered on the floor ...
- 2) Yesenin had a fresh wound on his shoulder, one on his forehead and a bruise under one of his eyes. A few weeks before his death, many of his friends claimed that he had been carrying a revolver, but this weapon was never discovered. His jacket was missing, and he had to be covered with a sheet from the hotel ...
- 3) The photos of the hotel room and the body were not made by a police photographer. None of his close friends was taken to see the room. Neither were they officially interrogated ...
- 4) The medical documentation does not include the supposed hour of death ...
- 5) The fact that Yesenin remained in the Hotel Angleterre, where there was a regular strong police presence, is still unexplained ...Moreover, he was not registered in the hotel, as well as his friend, the writer Georgy Ustinov, who also reportedly killed himself in 1932.)
[3]: As Yesenin's popularity grew, stories began to circulate about his heavy drinking and alcohol-fueled public outbursts. In Autumn 1923 he was arrested in Moscow twice and had to undergo a series of enquiries at the [OGPU]. Fellow poet Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893-1930), wrote that after his return from America (1921: 4 months) [Yesenin] became more visible in newspaper police log sections than in poetry.
[OGPU]: The Joint State Political Directorate: 1923-1934 the secret police of the Soviet Union. (RUS: Объединённое государственное политическое управление ... or ОГПУ (OGPU), [wiki]
[Yesenin]: Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin (RUS Серге́й Алекса́ндрович Есе́нин) 1895.03.10-1925.12.28 (30 y/o) was a Russian lyric poet, ... [wiki]

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Christmas Death of Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Sun, 24 Dec 2017 13:18:00 +0000

Tussaud's sculpture

In the 1975 New Year Honours, Chaplin was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II, though he was too weak to kneel and received the honour in his wheelchair.

1976.03: (50 y/o) Queen Elizabeth II & (86 y/o) [Charles] Chaplin, [getty]

By October 1977, [Charles]'s health had declined to the point that he needed constant care.
1977.12.25, in the early morning, (88 y/o) he died at home after suffering a stroke in his sleep at Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland.

Last home of [Charles], [YouTube]

1977.12.27 his body was privately buried.

[Charles] hated Christmas. He would scowl as his celebrated family.
“It really depressed him,” reveals [Michael] Chaplin. “My mother would always put a big tree in the house and we’d surround it with wrapped gifts, while my father would grow morose and complain about the commercialisation of Christmas ... It reminded him of his hard childhood when he’d had no presents and no tree. He’d complain: ‘If I got an orange at Christmas as a child, I was lucky ...’

:

[Charles]: Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin aka Charlie Chaplin (1889.04.16-1977.12.25 (88 y/o)) British-born Hollywood comic actor (who never became a USA citizen, exiled in 1952), filmmaker ... had 4 wives and 11 children ... [wiki], [YouTube]
[Michael]: Michael John Chaplin (1946.03.07-...) American actor born in Santa Monica, California. He is the second child and eldest son from Charlie Chaplin's fourth and final marriage, to Oona O'Neill., [wiki], [express.co.uk]

:

1972: Charlie Chaplin's Oscar Honorary Award, [YouTube]

1975: Chaplin at His Home in Switzerland, [YouTube]

Death of Mikhail Kalashnikov (1919-2013)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 11:31:00 +0000

2013.11.17 after a prolonged illness (94 y/o) [Mikhail] was hospitalized in an Udmurtian medical facility in Izhevsk (where he lived).

2013.12.23 he died from gastric hemorrhage (RUS: «желудочное кровотечение»).
His body was buried ...
In January 2014 a letter that Kalashnikov wrote six months before his death to the (66 y/o) leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, [Kirill], was published by the Russian daily newspaper Izvestia. In the letter he stated that he was suffering "spiritual pain" about whether he was responsible for the deaths caused by the weapons he created:

"... if my rifle claimed people's lives, then can it be that I ... peasant's son, Christian and an Orthodox believer, was to blame for their deaths? ..."

RUS: "... коль мой автомат лишал людей жизни, стало быть, и я, ... сын крестьянки, христианин и православный по вере своей, повинен в смерти людей, пусть даже врага? ..."

[Kirill] wrote back, saying that [Mikhail] "was an example of patriotism and a correct attitude toward the country ... the church has a well-defined position when the weapon is defense of the Motherland, the Church supports its creators and the military, which use it ..."

2017.01.20: [Mikhail] Kakashnikov's statue in Shcherbakov's atelier, [gettyimages]

:

[AK-47] aka "the Kalashnikov" (1945-1947), a gas-operated, 7.62×39mm assault rifle, (2017 price: 400-1.200$, 7-15k rounds), [wiki], 10 Things You Don't Know About The AK-47 Rifle: [YouTube], Common AK Rifle Myths: [YouTube]
[Kirill]: Patriarch Kirill of Moscow (RUS: Кирилл, secular name Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev, 1946.11.20-) is a Russian Orthodox bishop, [wiki]
[Mikhail]: Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov (RUS: Михаи́л Тимофе́евич Кала́шников) 1919.11.10-2013.12.23 (94 y/o) was a Russian lieutenant-general, military engineer and small arms designer, inventor of the AK-47 ... [wiki]

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Gluten-free Diet?

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Fri, 22 Dec 2017 19:44:00 +0000

Wheat flour, European spelt, barley, rolled rye flakes, [wiki]

Gluten-related disorders is term for diseases triggered by [gluten]:

Celiac disease [CD]: (affects ~1% of population) autoimmune disorder (abnormal immune response), that mainly affects the bowel (small intestine) ...
Non-celiac gluten sensitivity [NCGS]: condition of multiple symptoms that improves when switching to a gluten-free diet [GFD]
Wheat allergy: abnormal immune response
...

Possible causes:

Grains-based diet (Mediterranean diet (pasta, bread, ...), +yeast ...).
The development of new types of wheat with a higher amount of cytotoxic (toxic to cells) gluten peptides, and the higher content of gluten in bread and bakery products, due to the reduction of dough fermentation time. [wiki]
Environmental influences ...

[Gluten] gives elasticity to dough, helping it rise and keep its shape ... [wiki], [Y ouTube]

Gluten-free diet [GFD]:

Brown rice [webMD]
Oats: the inclusion of oats in [GFD] depend on the oat cultivar and the frequent cross-contamination with other gluten-containing cereals ... [wiki]
Amaranth
Buckwheat
Millet
Sorghum
Corn
Potatoe

Intestinal damage begins to heal within weeks, and antibody (protein of immune sistem) levels decline over months ... [wiki], [Dicke]

:

[CD]: coeliac disease (aka "Celiac disease", aka "gluten enteropathy") (mainly affects the small intestine (but may involve several organs) of predisposed people (0.2-1.2% of population), [wiki]:
- cause: permanent intolerance to gliadins and glutenins proteins (found in the crops of the tribe Triticeae (wheat, barley and rye) and the tribe Aveneae (oats))
- diagnosis: tests are useless if the person is eating a gluten-free diet [GFD] ... [wiki]
- symptoms: gastrointestinal (chronic diarrhoea, abdominal distention, malabsorption, loss of appetite, failure to grow normally (for children)) [wiki]
- The disease is also associated with other auto`immune disorders (abnormal immune response): diabetes (high blood sugar), psoriasis (skin patches), etc.
[Dicke]: Willem Karel Dicke (1905.02.15-1962, De Bilt) Dutch paediatrician who was the first to develop the gluten-free diet (1940s) and to show that in coeliac disease [CD] some types of flour cause relapse, [wiki]
[Fasano]: Alessio Fasano is an Italian medical doctor, pediatric gastroenterologist and researcher, His work covers, pathophysiology of coeliac disease and gluten sensitivity as well as of diabetes mellitus type 1, [wiki]
[Gluten]: (Latin: gluten, "glue") protein, found in wheat (~50%), barley (inc. malt) (~20%), rye (~15%), oats (~20%) ... [wiki] ... it passes through to the small intestine, undigested. If eaten in excess, it can irritate the intestinal villi on the gut wall and affect our digestion and absorption, [everydayayurveda.org], [YouTube]
[NCGS]: non-celiac gluten sensitivity - condition of multiple symptoms that improves when switching to a gluten-free diet [GFD]. Most people with NCGS (having a long history of health problems and unsuccessful consultations with physicians), often end up resorting to a [GFD] and a self-diagnosis of gluten sensitivity. [wiki]

:

"Part of it, let's be honest, is just fad diet marketing, ..." (SciShow) [YouTube]

Food for Sight

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Fri, 22 Dec 2017 06:09:00 +0000

To lower risk of macular degeneration [AMD] and [cataracts]:

Eat foods containing:

[Antioxidants]:
- [anthocyanins] (blueberries)
- beta-carotene (carrot (+vitamin A))
- Lutein and Zeaxanthin (green leafy vegetables: spinach, kale, etc.)
- [vitamin C] (citrus fruits, grapefruit, spinach, tomatoes, apples ...)
- vitamins E (sunflower seeds, almonds, spinach, pomegranate, pumpkin seeds, Avocados, Broccoli, ...)
zinc [Zn] (Oysters, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, oats, eggs ... )
[omega-3] fatty acids (flaxseed oil, chia seeds, walnuts, salmon,tuna (and other oily fish), oysters, ...)

Wear Ultraviolet (UV) protective Sunglasses.

"... "Age-Related Eye Disease Studies" formulation is not a cure. It does not help people with early [AMD], and will not restore vision already lost from [AMD]. But it may delay the onset of late [AMD] ..." [nei.nih.gov]

:

[AMD]: [Macular] degeneration, aka "age-related macular degeneration" (AMD or ARMD): gradual loss of vision in the center of the visual field ... affects: ~0.4% of 50-60 y/o, ~0.7% of 60-70 y/o, ~2.3% of 70-80 y/o, and ~12% of >80 y/o ... A 2012 Cochrane review found the use of vitamin and mineral supplements, alone or in combination, had no effect on whether or not AMD started ... [wiki]
[Antioxidant]: → ↓cell damage: vitamin C, ellagic acid (fruits), lycopene, ... [wiki] [YouTube]
[Astigmatism]: when eye does not focus light evenly on the retina ... the cause is inclear [wiki]
[cataracts]: clouding of the lens in the eye, cause of 50% of blindness and 33% of visual impairment worldwide ... [wiki]
- Causes: aging, trauma or radiation exposure, be present from birth, or occur following eye surgery ... [wiki]
- Risk factors include diabetes, smoking tobacco, prolonged exposure to sunlight, and alcohol ... [wiki]
[KC]: Keratoconus (latin: "cornea+conus"): progressive thinning of the cornea (→ cone shape) ... affects ~0.05% (1 in 2000) of people ... probable cause: a combination of genetic (7%), environmental (rubbing the eyes and allergies), and hormonal factors (puberty (teenage years), pregnancy) ... [wiki], [livestrong]
- !!!: Laser vision correction surgery (LASIK) can further weaken the cornea
[Macula]: part of the retina, contains high levels of the minerals, [wiki]
[melanin]: group of natural pigments ... found in skin, hairs, the pigmented tissue underlying the iris of the eye ... [wiki]
[omega-3]: polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) ... → ↓dry eye (soothe inflammation in eyelids or on the surface of your eye + helps keep tears from drying up too quickly) ... (supplementation does not appear to be associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality) [wiki], [fish-oil-testosterone], [WebMD]
[vitamin C]: (antioxidant), important for the blood vessels in eyes. Especially helpful in preventing [cataracts] ... [WebMD]
[Zn]: [vitamin A] + [Zn] → [melanin] (found in the iris of the eye) [WebMD]

Iris of the eye photos, [dailymail]

:

Death of F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 18:12:00 +0000

Statue of [Scott] at 593 Summit in St. Paul, Minneapolis, USA [source]

[Scott] suffered two heart attacks in the late 1930s.
In 1936 he placed his wife [Zelda] in the [Hospital], writing to friends:

"... Zelda now claims to be in direct contact with Christ, William the Conqueror, Mary Stuart, Apollo and all the stock paraphernalia of insane-asylum jokes ... For what she has really suffered, there is never a sober night that I do not pay a stark tribute of an hour to in the darkness. In an odd way, perhaps incredible to you, she was always my child (it was not reciprocal as it often is in marriages) ..."

1935: [Zelda] & [Scott] attend a formal event, [npr.org]

In June 1937 Scott returned to Hollywood for a $1,000-a-week job with MGM.
Without Zelda's knowledge, he began an affair with the movie columnist [Sheilah].

In 1938 after a drunken and violent fight with [Sheilah], Scott returned to [hospital]. The Fitzgeralds decided to on a trip. But it was a disaster: Scott was beaten up when he tried to stop a cockfight and returned to the United States so intoxicated [1] and exhausted that he was hospitalized. The Fitzgeralds never saw each other again

He moved in with [Sheilah] on 1443 North Hayworth Ave. in Hollywood. Scott had two flights of stairs to climb to his apartment; Graham's was on the ground floor.

1937.06.04: [Scott], [wiki]

1940.12.20, on the night, (44 y/o) Scott and (36 y/o) [Sheilah] attended the premiere of film "This Thing Called Love".

As the two were leaving the Pantages Theater, Scott experienced a dizziness and had trouble leaving the theater; he said to Sheilah,

"They think I am drunk, don't they?" [1]

[Scott] & [Sheilah] [delistraty.com]

The following day, as Scott ate a candy bar and made notes in his newly arrived magazine "Princeton Alumni Weekly", Sheilah saw him jump from his armchair, grab the mantelpiece, gasp, and fall to the floor ...
She ran to the manager of the building (60 y/o) [Harry]. He later stated upon entering the apartment, "I'm afraid he's dead."

Final residence of F. Scott Fitzgerald, [source]

The cause of death was stated as "heart attack" in death certificate.
Scott's body was buried ...

Scott died before he could complete his last book "The Last Tycoon".

:

[1]: [Scott], an alcoholic since college (1913), became notorious during the 1920s for his heavy drinking, undermining his health by the late 1930s. [wiki]
[b1]: according to scholar Matthew J. Bruccoli
[Edmund]: Edmund Wilson (1895.05.08-1972.06.12 (77 y/o)) American writer and (literatury) critic who notably explored Freudian and Marxist themes. He influenced many American authors, including [Scott], whose unfinished work he edited for publication ... [wiki]
[Harry]: Harry Hazel Culver (January 22, 1880.01.22-1946.08.17) real estate developer and promoter, [wiki]
[Hospital]: Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, [wiki]
[Sheilah]: Sheilah Graham, born Lily Shiel; (1904.09.15-1988.11.17 (84 y/o)) English-born, nationally syndicated American gossip columnist ... she came to wield sufficient power to make or break Hollywood careers - prompting her to describe herself as "the last of the unholy trio". [wiki]
[Scott]: Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (1896.09.24-1940.12.21 (44 y/o)) aka F. Scott Fitzgerald, American novelist and short story writer ... [wiki], [wikiquote], [goodreads.com]
[Zelda]: Zelda Fitzgerald (1900.07.24-1948.03.10 (47 y/o)) American socialite, novelist, painter and wife of [Scott] (1920.04.03-, who redrafted the character of Rosalind Connage in his novel "This Side of Paradise" to resemble her ... Ernest Hemingway, whom Zelda disliked, blamed her for Scott's declining literary output ... she died in a fire at [hospital] ... [wiki]

:

Death of James Parkinson (1755-1824)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 17:10:00 +0000

James Parkinson delivers an alehouse sermon (Image courtesy of Wellcome Library) [source]

In 1817 in "An Essay on the Shaking Palsy" (62 y/o) [James] was the first person to describe "paralysis agitans", that would later be renamed "Parkinson's disease" [PD] by Jean-Martin [Charcot].

In preface to his essay James wrote:

"... some conciliatory explanation should be offered for the present publication: in which, it is acknowledged, that mere conjecture takes the place of experiment; and, that analogy is the substitute for anatomical examination, the only sure foundation for pathological knowledge ..." [source]

In 1822 [James] was awarded the Royal College of Surgeons’ first Gold Medal, but for his “splendid Work on Organic Remains” (i.e. paleontology).

In final years he was concentrated on his geological interests.
1824.12.21 (69 y/o) [James] died in London after a stroke that interfered with his speech, bequeathing his houses in Langthorne to his sons and wife, Mary Dale [1], and his apothecary's shop to his son, John.
His body was buried ...

:

[1]: His collection of organic remains was given to his wife and much of it went on to be sold in 1827 ... a catalogue of the sale has never been found. [wiki]
[Charcot]: Jean-Martin Charcot (1825.11.29-1893.08.16 (67 y/o)) French neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology ... [wiki]
[James]: James Parkinson (1755.04.11-1824.12.21 (69 y/o)) English geologist, palaeontologist, surgeon and apothecary ... married in 1791, had 8 children, best known for his 1817 work, "An Essay on the Shaking Palsy". [wiki], [YouTube]
[PD]: Parkinson's disease (aka "paralysis agitans", or "shaking palsy") is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the way you move (i.e. motor system) ... [wiki], [WebMD]
1. Causes include genetics, and environmental factors:including exposure to pesticides and a history of head injury (modest risks); ... never having smoked cigarettes (probably unknown factor both increases the risk of PD and causes an aversion to tobacco), and never drinking caffeinated beverages (small risks)
2. possible mechanism: ??? → breakage of nerve cells → lack of dopamine; [WebMD]
3. symptoms: It begins with tremor (shaking), stiff muscles, slowness of movement, problems with balance. Then thinking problems and dementia becomes common in the advanced stages

:

Death of Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 09:49:00 +0000

[Alois] sculpture

In 1901 at the Frankfurt Asylum (37 y/o) [Alois] observed a (51 y/o) patient, Frau [Auguste] Deter, who had strange behavioral symptoms, including a loss of short-term memory ...

[Alois] & [Auguste]

1906.04.08, (56 y/o) Auguste died, and (42 y/o) Alois performed an autopsy and had her medical records and brain brought to Munich where he was working in laboratory ...

1904: (the front row at lef) [Alois] (head of Kraepelin's neuroanatomic laboratory) and coworkers
at the psychiatric clinic of the University of Munich, [alamy]

With two Italian physicians, he identified brain anomalies, that would later became known as [Alzheimer's] disease.

1912, in August, (48 y/o) [Alois] fell ill on the train on his way to the University of Breslau, where he had been appointed professor of psychiatry in July 1912.

1908: Alzheimer and Kraepelin with psychiatrist Robert Gaupp and neuropathologist Franz Nissl [ref]

He probably had rheumatic fever (inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. It is typically develops 2-4 weeks after a streptococcal throat infection) leading to heart disease and kidney failure. He continued to work, but never completely recovered ...
1915.12.19 (51 y/o) he died of heart failure in Breslau, Silesia (present-day Wrocław, Poland).
1915.12.23 his body was buried ...

For a long time [Alzheimer's] was mistakenly considered as normal part of aging.
By 2017: the cause of [Alzheimer's] is still poorly understood ... People with [high blood pressure] and [high cholesterol] have a greater chance ... More rarely, head injuries may increase the risk of Alzheimer's later in life ... the biggest risks linked to being older (but it isn’t a normal part of aging) and having the desease in your family (in 1..5% of cases genetic differences have been identified [alz.org]) ... [WebMD] ...

Still doctors can't prevent, cure, or slow it down ... [YouTube]

:

[Alois]: Aloysius Alzheimer (1864.06.14-1915.12.19 (51 y/o)), aka Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist and neuropathologist [wiki]
[Auguste]: Auguste Deter (1850.05.16-1906.06.08 (56 y/o) was a German woman notable for being the first person to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, [wiki]
[AD]: Alzheimer's disease, aka "Alzheimer's", is a chronic neurodegenerative disease (loss of structure or function of neurons). It is the cause of 60-70% of cases of dementia (decrease in the ability to think and remember) ... As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems with language, disorientation (easily getting lost) ... [wiki]
[alz.org]: What We Know Today About Alzheimer's Disease
[high cholesterol] in the blood (aka "Hypercholesterolemia"): cauded by a combination of genetics.and environmental factors: stress, obesity, diabetes, diet: Trans fats (margarine, fried food ...) and high fructose intake have been shown to increase (LDL, aka "bad" cholesterol") ... when cholesterol intake goes down, production (principally by the liver) typically increases, so that blood total cholesterol changes can be modest or even elevated ... [wiki]
[high blood pressure]: aka Hypertension, caused by genes and environmental factors (high salt intake; lack of exercise, obesity, depression ... influence of caffeine and sugar consumption, and vitamin D deficiency are less clear) ... the risk rises with aging ... [wiki]

:

[Alois] memorial plate in Wrocław

Cancer Risk Reducing Foods

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Sun, 17 Dec 2017 16:48:00 +0000

"... no single food can prevent cancer ... but some foods can reduce the risk ... being overweight also increases risk ..." [WebMD]

↑ Eat More:

Cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli OR cabbage, kale, cauliflower: ↑[Phytochemicals::glucosinolates] → produce [protective enzymes] + [carotenoids] (beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin); vitamins C, E, and K; [folate]; minerals, [fibers]. [NCI]
Dark green leafy vegetables: Spinach (vitamin C) OR lettuce (best raw or lightly cooked): ↑[lutein] + zeaxanthin: carotenoids that remove unstable molecules ("free radicals") from body + [folate]+[fibers]
Berries: Strawberries, black raspberry OR blackberries, blueberries, and cranberries: ↑[antioxidants] + ↑[flavonoids] → ↓heart disease + ↓memory decline risk
Allium plants: garlic (1 clove per day) OR onions, leeks, chives, and scallions ... : kills bacteria [1] (including [H.pylori]. For most benefit, peel and chop the garlic cloves and let them sit 15-20 min before cooking. That activates [enzymes] and releases the sulfur-containing compounds that have the most protective effect [WebMD]
Red vegetables/fruits: Tomatoes OR watermelon, grapefruit, peppers ... : ↑[Phytochemical::lycopene]. For most benefit, eat cooked or processed tomatoes (juice or sauce). Heat breaks down the plant's cell walls, making compounds more available ... oil also boosts the availability of lycopene ...
Carrot: ↑beta-carotene [antioxidants] + [Falcarinol] + (vitamin A). (Best Eaten Cooked.)
Whole grains: Their link with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer (stomach), it isn't yet clear. Minimally processed grains are source of [Fibers]. [WebMD].

↓ Eat Less:
Processed food (chips, fast foods and sweets, etc.) and meats, salty foods, sugary drinks ...

:

[1]: Possible mechanism: cell damage → boosts immune system → cancer
[Antioxidant]: ↓cell damage: vitamin C, ellagic acid, [Phytochemical::lycopene], and beta-carotene:
1. [anthocyanins]: (latin: "dark blue flower") one of the most powerful antioxidants → ↓inflammation; lots in Blueberries ... [wiki]
2. [lutein]: (latin: luteus "yellow"), carotenoid synthesized only by plants → ↓age-related macular degeneration of eyes [wiki]
3. [zeaxanthin]: ↓age-related macular degeneration of eyes [wiki]
[Carotenoids]: organic pigments, not synthesizing by humans: beta-carotene, [lutein], [zeaxanthin], found in carrots and apricots [wiki]
[Enzymes]: biological catalysts (accelerate chem. reaction) [wiki]
1. [protective enzymes]: released when you chew the raw vegetable ... human body also produces protective enzymes in the intestines ... Broccoli is the source of the most protective enzyme sulforaphane ... [WebMD], [wiki]
[Falcarinol]: natural pesticide → ↓inflammation [wiki]
[Fiber]: indigestible portion of food [wiki] ... "It fills belly, it acts like a sponge, it's slower to be digested and absorbed, so it makes you feel full" ... Main sources: Beans, Whole grains, brown rice, oatmeal, nuts, vegetables ... [WebMD]
[Folate]: helps produce new cells and repair DNA (important for women of childbearing age because it can prevent neural tube defects in a developing fetus [WebMD]
[flavonoids]: (Latin: "flavus", "yellow"), their color in nature) a class of organic compounds [wiki] suppress an enzyme that damages DNA and has been linked to lung cancer ... [WebMD]
[H.pylori]: Helicobacter pylori (bacterium), found usually in stomach ... linked with duodenal ulcers and stomach cancer [wiki]
[Phytochemical]: compounds produced by plants, helping them thrive or thwart competitors, predators, or pathogens ... prevent cell damage and mutations ... [wiki]:
1. [Phytochemical::glucosinolate]: sulfur-containing chemicals, high in cruciferous vegetables → produce [protective enzymes] when you chew the raw vegetable (rupturing the cell walls); [wiki]
2. [Phytochemical::lycopene]: powerful [antioxidant], provides the red hue (tomatoes ... watermelon, grapefruit, peppers ...): protects the cell damage [1] → ↓ prostate cancer and heart disease risk ... [WebMD]
American Institute for Cancer Research ...
[NCI]: national cancer institute, [cancer.gov]
[WebMD]: (founded in 1996) American corporation known primarily as an online publisher of news and information pertaining to human health and well-being ... [wiki]
World Cancer Research Fund ...

:

... Does eating red meat increase the risk of dying from heart disease or cancer? [WebMD]

Death of Samuel Beckett (1906-1989)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Sat, 16 Dec 2017 16:44:00 +0000

In October 1969 while on holiday in Tunis with (69 y/o) wife [Suzanne], (63 y/o) [Samuel] heard that he had won the Nobel Prize for Literature. [Suzanne] called the award a "catastrophe" (for private life) [1]. But [Samuel] gave away the prize money and did not devote much time to interviews [2]

In 1983 [Samuel] wrote in "Worstward Ho":

" ... All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better ..." [goodreads]

In 1988 in the hospital and [nursing home] where he spent his final days, [Samuel] wrote his last work, the poem "What is the Word" ("Comment dire"):

"... what is the word ... folly seeing all this this here ..."

1989.07.17 (89 y/o) [Suzanne] died.

1989.12.22 (83 y/o) [Samuel] died at [nursing home] struggling with emphysema (chronic lung disease) and (possibly) Parkinson's disease (long-term degeneration of central nervous system, mainly affecting the motor system).

His body was buried ...

:

[1]: [Suzanne] anticipated that her intensely private [2] husband would be saddled with fame from that moment on [wiki]
[2]: a review of the second volume of [Samuel]'s letters by Roy Foster (2011.12.15, in "The New Republic" magazine) reveals Beckett to be not only unexpectedly amiable but frequently prepared to talk about his work and the process behind it ... [wiki]
[home]: In 1953, with money left to him by his mother, Beckett bought a plot of land and built a small house of “Spartan simplicity” in the commune of Ussy-sur-Marne (east of Paris). This was to become his regular retreat until his final years. He went there to write or when he was depressed. His house in Ussy was far enough from Paris to avoid having to face people [irishmeninparis.org]
[nursing home]: Tiers Temps nursing home (Paris, France), [google.maps]
[Samuel]: Samuel Barclay Beckett (1906.04.13-1989.12.22 (83 y/o)) Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet, who lived in Paris for most of his adult life and wrote in both English and French, [wiki]
[Suzanne]: Suzanne Déchevaux-Dumesnil (1900-1989.07.17 (89 y/o)) the lover (since 1938) and wife (since 1961) of [Samuel], [wiki], [irishmeninparis.org]

:

"The key word in my plays is 'perhaps.'" [Samuel]

Death of Ned Vizzini (1981-2013)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 17:40:00 +0000

While working on books, [Ned] was also writing for television.

In 2013 interview he said:

"... the main challenge for me was writing something for a middle grade audience as opposed to a young adult audience ... there are things you can write about for seventh graders that you can't write about for third graders ..." [YouTube]

His essays have appeared in "The New Yorker" magazine and the "Los Angeles Review of Books" journal.

2013: [Ned] (reads from "House of Secrets") & [Chris] during the 2013 Festival of Books, [latimes]

His most recent book project was the middle-grade series that began with "House of Secrets" (2013.04.23). Ned co-wrote the book with film director [Chris]; a sequel, "House of Secrets: Battle of the Beast" is to be published 2014.03.25.

2013: (54 y/o) [Chris] & (32 y/o) [Ned], [latimes]

[Ned] often spoke and wrote about his struggles with depression (as well as in his speeches to students).

2010 in a video posted on his site (29 y/o) [Ned] said:

"... There are so few things that can really kill you ... But one of the things that can is stress ..." [1]

“... If you’re feeling suicidal, call a hotline. Suicidal ideation really is a medical emergency ..."

2013.12.19 (Thursday) (32 y/o) he jumped off the roof of the building where their parents live in Brooklyn, New York ...

:

[1]: [Ned] told students at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences in Whitby, Canada, in a video posted on his site. [latimes.com]
[Chris]: Chris Joseph Columbus (1958.09.10-..) American filmmaker, [wiki]
[Ned]: Ned Vizzini (born Edison Price Vizzini, 1981.04.04-2013.12.19 (32 y/o)) American author of four books for young adults including "It's Kind of a Funny Story" (2006, (25 y/o), [YouTube]), named #56 of the "100 Best-Ever Teen Novels" ... [wiki], [goodreads], [livejournal.com], [euronews.com], [mtv.com]

:

Death of Rumi (1207-1273)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Thu, 14 Dec 2017 16:25:00 +0000

[Rumi] clay sculpture, by Dursun Dönmez (İstanbul). [atolyed.com]

Rumi lived most of his life in Sultanate of Rum (state).
Around 1258 (51 y/o) [Rumi] began dictating "Mathnawi" (lit. "The Spiritual Couplets"). (Probably at the request of his disciple (and successor), Husam al-Din Chalabi, who observed that many of Rumi’s followers dutifully read the works of poets Sana’i (1080-1131) and ‘Attar (1145-1221).

1273, in December, during the work on the 6th volume of Mathnawi, he became ill.
His rest was uneasy and his body suffered dramatic changes in temperature.

1479: Masnavi manuscript, [wiki]

During the night before death he composed the poem (ghazal "On the Deathbed" [Full version], [YouTube]):

Go, rest your head on a pillow, leave me alone;
leave me ruined, exhausted from the journey of this night,
writhing in a wave of passion till the dawn.
...
No cure exists for this pain but to die,
So why should I say, "Cure this pain"?
In a dream last night I saw
an ancient one in the garden of love,
beckoning with his hand, saying, "Come here."
...
If you are a man of learning,
read something classic,
a history of the human struggle
and don't settle for mediocre verse.

1273.12.17 (66 y/o) he died at Konya city (Turkey) surrounded by family and disciples. [IA&S]

His body was buried ... [1]

The Shrine of [Rumi], Konya (Turkey)

Before death [Rumi] wrote:

"... you’ll only see me descending into a grave
now watch me rise how can there be an end
when the sun sets or the moon goes down ..."

"... I died as a mineral and became a plant, I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was Man ..." [wiki]

:

[1]: The day of his death was called "Sheb-i Arus", meaning ‘Bride’s Night” or ‘Wedding Night,’ ...
[IA&S] Islamic Art and Spirituality, by Seyyed Hossein Nasr.
[Mathnawi]: (lit. "The Spiritual Couplets") poetic collection of anecdotes and stories
[Rumi]: Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (1207.09.30-1273.12.17 (66 y/o)) (Persian: جلال‌الدین محمد رومی‎), aka Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī (جلال‌الدین محمد بلخى), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā (مولانا, "our master"), Mevlevî/Mawlawī (مولوی, "my master"), Persian Sunni Muslim, who transformed, during his life, from sober theologian (scholar, preacher) into ecstatic dancer, poet and mystic ... [wiki], [sufiway.eu]
[Sanai]: Hakim Abul-Majd Majdūd ibn Ādam Sanā'ī Ghaznavi (1080-1131..1141) (Persian: حکیم ابوالمجد مجدود ‌بن آدم سنایی غزنوی‎) Persian poet, [wiki]

:

2013: [Rumi] by Mark Winter, [chicanepictures.com]

Death of Simon Bolivar (1783-1830)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 10:16:00 +0000

2017: [Simon]'s statue with a Venezuelan flag used as mask (Caracas street protests), [spectator]

1830.01.20 resigning his presidency (1819-1830) (46 y/o) [Simon] wrote in his statement:

"Colombians! Today I cease to govern you. I have served you for 20 years as soldier and leader ... we have taken back our country, liberated three republics, fomented many civil wars ...
Fearing that I may be regarded as an obstacle to establishing the Republic ... I ... have cast myself down from the ... position of leadership ...
Colombians! I have been the victim of ... suspicions, with no ... way to defend ... my principles ... Never ... has it crossed my mind to aspire to a kingship ... My only desire has been to contribute to your freedom ...
Colombians! Gather around the constitutional congress ..."

Simon intended to leave for exile in Europe. He sent ahead several crates containing his belongings and writings ahead, but died before setting sail ...
1830.12.17 (47 y/o) Simon died in his estate (near the Caribbean sea in Santa Marta, northern Colombia).

Tuberculosis (infectious disease, generally affecting the lungs) was listed as the cause of death.
By the end of his life [Simon] developed chronic cough fever, weakness, gastrointestinal complains, terrible headaches, skin darkening, arthritis (joint pain and stiffness), weight loss (he weighted ~22 kg when died) ... (i.e. symptoms not typical of tuberculosis) [ME]

In his final days Simon wrote:

"All who have served the Revolution have plowed the sea."

On his deathbed, Simon asked his [assistant], (29 y/o) general [Daniel] to burn the remaining extensive archive of his writings, letters, and speeches.

Dying [Simon] & [Daniel], painting by Antonio Herrera Toro, [wiki]

Daniel disobeyed ... [1]
Simon's remains were buried ...

[Simon]'s deathbed [seecolombia.travel]

In July 2011, international forensics experts released their report, claiming that he developed health problems because of chronic ingestion of arsenic (best treatment ("aspirin", "painkiller") available at that time for unknown health problems, Simon probably also consumed it simply by drinking the water from local sources). [ME]

1878: Campo Santa Marta, [wikiart]

:

[1]: [Simon]'s writings survived, providing historians with a wealth of information about his philosophy and thought, as well as details of his personal life ... [wiki]
[assistant]: aka "aide-de-camp" (FRA: literally "helper in the [military] camp") a personal assistant or secretary to a person of high rank ... [wiki]
[Daniel]: Daniel Florence O'Leary (1801-1854) military general, [Simon]'s [assistant] [wiki]
[ME]: Medical Experts Review Simon Bolivar's Cause of Death, [YouTube]
[Simon]: Simón Bolívar aka Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad de Bolívar y Palacios (aka "El Libertador") 1783.07.24-1830.12.17 (47 y/o), Venezuelan military leader who played a role in the establishment of Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama as states, independent of Spanish rule ... [wiki]

:

Death of Grimm brothers (1785-1863)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 17:48:00 +0000

1989: [Wilhelm] & [Jacob] Grimm on Deutsche Mark, [wiki]

The Grimm brothers lived together almost their entire lives.

The Brothers Grimm Childhood Home, [*]

In 1838 they begin to work on "The German Dictionary" [DWB].

1842: Berlin by Eduard Gärtner, [iheartberlin.de]

1854.04.13 eight initial volumes were published. The press called it a "great national work" and its first shipments sold 10,000 copies.
[Jacob] wrote:

"This dictionary is an not immoral book, but a scientific undertaking. Even the Bible does not lack for words that are frowned upon in fine society."

1847: [Wilhelm] & [Jacob] Grimm

1859.12.16 (73 y/o) [Wilhelm] died in Berlin of an infection. He wrote the [DWB] articles to the letter "D".
[Jacob] was never seriously ill, and habitually worked all day without pause or haste. He rarely made corrections or revised what he had written, remarking about [Wilhelm] who often re-read his manuscripts before sending them to press.

At the end of his autobiography [Jacob] wrote:

"Nearly all my labors have been devoted ... to the investigation of our earlier language, poetry and laws ... My principle has always been in these investigations ... to utilize the small for the illustration of the great ..."

1867: The old Berlin Town Hall, [iheartberlin.de]

1863.09.20 (78 y/o) [Jacob] died in Berlin. He was able to fully complete the letters A, B, C and E of [DWB] and died in while working on the entry for "Frucht" (fruit) ...

1886: Wilhelmplatz in Spring, [iheartberlin.de]

The brothers were buried side by side ...

[Jacob] & [Wilhelm] Grimm Monument in Hanau, Germany

:

[DWB]: GER: "Deutsches Wörterbuch", ENG: "The German Dictionary" (1838-1961), the largest dictionary of the German language, spanning from Martin Luther (1483-1546) to Goethe (1749-1832). It was completed in 1961. The brothers initially expected the project to take 10 years and produce 6-7 volumes. [wiki]
[Jacob]: Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm (aka Ludwig Karl, the elder brother), 1785.01.04-1863.09.20 (78 y/o), German university professor, philologist, jurist, mythologist, member of Göttingen Seven, the chief compiler of "Grimms' Fairy Tales" [wiki]
[Wilhelm]: Wilhelm Carl Grimm (aka Wilhelm Karl, the younger brother); 1786.01.24-1859.12.16 (73 y/o) German university professor, author and anthropologist, married on Henrietta Grimm.[wiki], [YouTube].

:

Death of Walt Disney (1901-1966)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 09:04:00 +0000

1966: Walt Disney at the Rose Parade

In 1965, [Disney] began development of theme park "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" (Epcot) theme park.

In 1966 promotional film he described it as:

"... an experimental prototype community of tomorrow that will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging ... It will ... never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems ..." [YouTube]

He was also involved in the story development of studio's films (including "The Jungle Book" (1964-1967 animated musical) [1]).

1966.11.02 (65 y/o) Disney entered the [hospital].
He was diagnosed with [lung cancer] and was treated with cobalt therapy (usage of gamma rays from the radioisotope cobalt-60).

1966.11.21 he underwent surgery for removal of a portion of his left lung.
At the time, a studio official reported that Disney was admitted for treatment of an old neck injury received while playing polo.
1966.11.30 Disney felt unwell and returned to [hospital].

St. Joseph Hos pital (Burbank, California)

1966.12.15 at 9:35 a.m. (65 y/o) Disney died ...
Shortly before death, he scribbled the words “Kurt Russell” on a piece of paper ... [2]
His remains were privatly cremated two days later ...

2015: Tussauds Disney wax figure, [YouTube]

Hospital and studio spokesmen declined to state the specific cause of death, saying only that Disney died of "acute circulatory collapse" (failure of blood circulation).
Epcot project was abandoned ...

:

[1]: The plan was for the Beatles to voice the four vultures ... But the Fab Four's schedule didn't leave time for recording their lines and John Lennon was opposed to the whole idea ...
[2]: Kurt Vogel Russell (1951.03.17-...) American actor ... At the time of Disney’s death, Russell was a (15 y/o) child actor working for the studio (In the late 1960s, he signed a 10-year contract with The Walt Disney Company) ... [wiki]
[Disney]: Walter Elias Disney (1901.12.05-1966.12.15 (65 y/o)) American entrepreneur, animator, voice actor and film producer. A pioneer of the American animation industry ... [wiki], [latimes.com], [YouTube]
[hospital]: St. Joseph Hospital (Burbank, California)
[lung cancer]: (13-17 y/o) Disney had been a heavy smoker since World War I (1914-1918). As a young man, he did not use cigarettes with filters, and had smoked a pipe, [wiki]

:

"... the culture industry likes to keep us distracted, confused and a bit intimidated. German philosopher Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969) described Walt Disney "the most dangerous man in America …" [YouTube]

Death of George Washington (1732-1799)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Sun, 10 Dec 2017 09:41:00 +0000

2014.12.26: Madame Tussauds, George Washington, [flickr]

1799.12.12 (Thursday) (67 y/o) [George] spent several hours inspecting his plantation on horseback, in snow, hail, and freezing rain. That evening, he ate his supper without changing from his wet clothes.

Mount Vernon Dining Room, [getawaymavens.com]

1799.12.13 (Friday) He awoke the next morning with a severe sore throat and became increasingly hoarse as the day progressed, yet still rode out in the heavy snow, marking trees for future cutting on the plantation. According to secretary [Tobias], George said,

“You know I never take anything for a cold. Let it go as it came.”'

Mount Vernon Estate, [mapio.net]

1799.12.14 (Saturday) Some time around 3 a.m., he suddenly awoke with severe difficulty breathing and almost completely unable to speak or swallow. He ordered estate overseer (Albin Rawlins) to perform the [bloodletting] and removed nearly a pint (568 ml. of ~5000 ml. total blood volume) of his blood.

Bloodletting, [molineskeptics.com]

Three physicians were summoned.
Upon the arrival of Washington's personal physician (72 y/o) [James], it was agreed to try the another bleeding (~32 ounces (946 ml.) of blood).
(37 y/o) [Elisha] arrived, at 3:30 p.m. and (52 y/o) [Gustavus] at 4:00 p.m.

1853: Washington's final moments The Christian, lithograph by Claude Regnier.

When George proved unable to swallow medicines orally, the application of various poultices (soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth over the skin) and emetic tartar (byproduct of winemaking).
Four [bloodlettings] were employed over the course of the day (2.5 liters). A blister was applied to the part affected, two moderate doses of rectal solution of calomel (toxic) were administered, which operated on the lower intestines, but all without any perceptible advantage.

View from the Mount Vernon piazza on a snowy, winter's day, [wiki]

James and Gustavus thought that George had "quinsey" (pus (accumulation of liquid consisting of dead white blood cells and bacteria in infected tissue) behind the tonsil). Elisha thought that the condition was more serious or a "violent inflammation of the throat".

After several hours of treatment Elisha proposed:

"... I pronounced decisively that death was inevitable, unless it could be arrested by the operation of tracheotomy (making an incision on the neck for direct airway), to which I strenuously recommended an immediate resort ... "

Few American doctors were then familiar with this procedure and the other two doctors disapproved. [1]
1799.12.14 at around 10 p.m. (67 y/o) [George] died at [home] at Mount Vernon [1].

George Washington Death Bed Mt Vernon, [getawaymavens.com]

(37 y/o) secretary [Tobias] recorded in his journal George's last words [2]:

... About ten o'clk, Saturday December 14, 1799, Washington made several attempts to speak to me before he could effect it, at length he said, - "I am just going. Have me decently buried; and do not let my body be put into the Vault in less than two days after I am dead."
I bowed assent.
He then looked at me again and said, "Do you understand me?"
I replied "Yes."
"'Tis well" said he ... [Taphophobia]

George Washingtons Distillery, [getawaymavens.com]

George's body was buried ...

:

[1]: In the days immediately following his death, James and Elisha published account stated that the symptoms had been consistent with "cynanche trachealis" (severe inflammation of the structures of the upper airway, caused by a virus) ... modern medical authors have speculated that [George] probably died from a severe case of epiglottitis (inflammation of the flap at the base of the tongue that keeps food from going into the trachea) or Laryngitis and pneumonia (inflammation of lungs) which was complicated by the given treatments (all of which were accepted medical practice of that era), most notably the massive deliberate blood loss, which almost certainly caused hypovolemic shock (The patient may feel dizzy, faint, nauseated, or very thirsty.)
[2]: [Tobias]'s only biographer, Ray Brighton, was convinced that Tobias destroyed many of Washington's letters and diary entries, which he had possession of for about a year after Washington's death, [wiki]
[bloodletting]: standard medical practice of that era; [George] used it to treat various ailments of slaves on his plantation.
[Elisha]: Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick, M.D. (1762.03.15-1825.09.22 (63 y/o)) was a Virginia physician and political figure, [wiki]
[George]: George Washington (1732.02.22- 1799.12.14 (67 y/o)) American statesman and soldier who served as the first President of the United States (1789-1797) and was one of the "Founding Fathers" of the United States, [wiki]
[home]: plantation at Mount Vernon, [wiki]
[Gustavus]: Dr. Gustavus Richard Brown (1747.10.17-1804.09.30 (56 y/o)) friend of George Washington, a physician and a botanist, [wiki]
[James]: Dr. James Craik (1727-1814.02.06 (83-84 y/o)) Physician General (precursor of the Surgeon General) of the United States Army, as well as George Washington's personal physician and close friend, [wiki]
[Taphophobia]: Fear of being buried alive. In 1896, an American funeral director, T. M. Montgomery, reported that "nearly 2% of those exhumed were no doubt victims of suspended animation" [wiki]
[Tobias]: Tobias Lear (c. 1762-1816.10.11 (54 y/o)) personal secretary of [George] during 1784-1799. 1816.10.11 he apparently committed suicide by shooting himself with a pistol. Although it was known that he suffered severe headaches and stints of depression, as well as being vilified by the media, the specific reasons for his suicide are unknown. It is curious that this "scrupulous record keeper" left behind neither suicide note nor will ... [wiki]

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Death of Laozi (531 BC)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 09:50:00 +0000

(80 y/o) [Laozi] worked in the court of the Zhou dynasty.

Confucius meets Laozi, [wiki]

In 531 BC witnessing the corruption and hypocrisy widespread in his surroundings in capital [Chengzhou], he gave up all and departed from China into the Western wild-lands (India), mounted on a water buffalo, to live as a hermit in the unsettled frontier:

"When I let go of who I am, I become what I might be ..." [Laozi]

At the western gate of the [Chengzhou] city (or kingdom), Laozi was recognized by the guard [Yinxi].

The sentry asked the old master to record his knowledge before he would be permitted to pass.

The text Laozi wrote was said to be the Tao Te Ching (the present version of the text is actually a collection of the work of various authors and includes additions from later periods):

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step" [Laozi]

The sentry was inspired by the work, became a disciple and left with Laozi, never to be seen again ...

Sculpture of Laozi, located north of Quanzhou at the foot of Mount Qingyuan, [wiki]

:

[Chengzhou]: Chengzhou (成周), Zhou capital settlement (1136 BC). By 25-220AD capital of Luoyang (洛阳市) would be built over Chengzhou, [wiki]
[Laozi]: Laozi (aka Lao-Tzu or Lao-Tze, CHN: 老子; lit. "Old Master") (...-531 BC) Chinese philosopher and writer, founder of philosophical Taoism, whose historical existence has been a matter of scholastic debate, claiming that the book Tao Te Ching is actually a collection of the work of various authors ... [wiki], [wikiquote], [goodreads]
[Yinxi]: aka Yin-hsi (CHN: 尹喜), a guard at the western gate of the [Chengzhou], [wiki]
[Zhou]: Zhou dynasty, an area in the Wei River valley of modern-day Qishan County. [wiki]

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Straw Dogs (Lao Tzu quote)

Death of Confucius (551-479 BC)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 07:43:00 +0000

Oldest Known Paintings of Confucius, [ancient-origins.net]

In 484 BC a former student convinced the rulers of [Lu] state to call Confucius back.
In 483 BC (68 y/o) [Confucius] returned home to his native [Lu], after he was invited to do so by Ji Kangzi, the chief minister of Lu.
Confucius sometimes acted as an adviser to several government officials in [Lu] (including Ji Kangzi) on matters including governance and crime, but his political ideas had found no support among the rulers of his own state.
On one occasion The ruling warlords asked him how to find honest officials.

“Be honest yourself” was the reply.

Confucius with his students

The daughter of Confucius was married and his son wasn't so gifted to learning. His students were his family.
He taught 72-77 disciples using set of texts called the [Five Classics]. [ZZ] Confucius believed that his favourite student, [Yen Hui], would carry on his work ...

Portrait of Yan Hui, [wiki]

But in 481 BC (41 y/o) Yen Hui died.Confucius lamented: "Heaven has bereft me! Heaven has bereft me!"
Years later, he would say that no other student could take Yan Hui's place ...
His only son died about this time ...
In 480 BC. another disciple, Tzu-lu, was killed in battle ...
In 479 BC (71-72 y/o) Confucius died from natural causes.
His last words were:

“Will no ruler come forward and take me as his master.” (i.e. learn from my ideas)

His body was buried in cemetery ...

2012: "Q Confucius." exhiibtion at the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, by Zhang Huan

:

[5 Classics]: The Five Classics (五經; Wǔ Jīng) are five pre-Qin dynasty (221-207 BC) Chinese books that form part of the traditional Confucian canon ... [wiki]
[Confucius]: Confucius (551.09.28-479 BC (71-72 y/o), at [Lu]) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher ... author of the Analects [wiki], [wikiquote], [goodreads.com]
[Lu]: Lu (state) of Zhou (dynasty), territory mainly covered the central and southwest regions of what is now Shandong Province, [wiki]
[S&A]: Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu 春秋)
[Yan Hui]: Yan Hui (CHN: 顏回; Wade–Giles: Yen Hui; aka Yan Yuan (顏淵), 521?–481 BC (41 y/o)) one of the earliest and favorite disciples of Confucius ...Yen Hui reminded Confucius of his own youth. [wiki]
[ZZ]: The Zuo zhuan; CHN: 左傳), ancient Chinese narrative history that is traditionally regarded as a commentary on the ancient [S&A] chronicle, [wiki]

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"Only after Winter comes do we know that the pine and the cypress are the last to fade." [Confucius]

2012: statue of Confucius, College Entrance Exams in Wuhan, China, [bloomberg.com]

2012: Bronze sculptures of Confucius and Einstein at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, [utar.edu]

Death of Robert Browning (1812-1889)

noreply@blogger.com (valixt) — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 09:27:00 +0000

In 1878 (66 y/o) [Robert] revisited Italy for the first time in the 17 years since death of his wife, [Elizabeth] (1806-1861 (55 y/o)) in her husband's arms. Robert said that she died "smilingly, happily, and with a face like a girl's....
Her last word was... ''Beautiful"

In the remaining years of his life he travelled extensively.
In 1881 "Browning Society" was founded at Cornell University to further study the poet’s work, [wiki]

1904: Illustration "Mr. Robert Browning, taking tea with the Browning Society"

In 1887 (75 y/o) Robert received an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Law) from Balliol College at Oxford University.

1884: (72 y/o) [Robert] Browning and Joseph Milsand looking at a painting, [CWRB]

In 1887 he produced the major work of this years, "Parleyings with Certain People of Importance in Their Day", in wich the poet speaking in his own voice, engaged in a series of dialogues with figures of literary, artistic, and philosophic history:

"... So death completes living, shows life in its truth.
Man learningly lives: till death helps him - no lore!... "

" ... Impute that sure implacable release
Of life from warmth and joy? But death means peace ... " [CWRB]

2015 (Jun): "Window view of the Grand Canal", [tripadvisor], [google.maps]

The [Victorian] public was baffled by his book, and Browning returned to the brief, concise lyric for his last book, Asolando (1889), published on the day of his death.
1889.12.12 (77 y/o) [Robert] died at his son's home Ca' Rezzonico in Venice.

Browning after death, [wiki]

His body was buried ...

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[CWRB]: The Complete Works of Robert Browning (Vo.16)
[Elizabeth]: Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806.03.06-1861.06.29 (55 y/o)) English poet, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime, [wiki]
[Robert]: Robert Browning (1812.05.07-1889.12.12 (77 y/o)) aka "master of the dramatic monologue", English poet and playwright ... [wiki], [goodreads]
[Victorian]: Victorian morality, that espouse sexual restraint, low tolerance of crime and a strict social code of conduct ...) [Death of Ida Craddock (1857-1902)]

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