Tuesday, December 31, 2019

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

To my family, friends and readers on this last day of the year . . . 

Image result for irish blessing

GRAHAM'S TIME BALLS AND BRETT'S MONTHLY

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GRAHAM'S TIME BALLS:

The following item was emailed to me by Graham E. 

Thanks, Graham. 

An interesting item to see out the old year. 

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Hi Mr O, 

As New Year approaches many people will watch the ball drop in Time Square at midnight. This continues a timekeeping tradition begun in 1829.


In the 1800’s few people could afford to have their own watches and clocks, instead relying on the hourly chimes of the church clock to tell time. The church clocks were not very accurate but most people had no need for precise time 

Things were different for a ship’s captain. Ships needed extremely precise clocks to determine their position at sea, which they did by taking celestial readings and coordinating those readings with the time they were known to occur at another point on earth, such as at Greenwich. The breakthrough came in 1761 when John Harrison, a Yorkshire carpenter, developed a chronometer that was accurate and portable enough to do the job. But Harrison’s remarkable invention was still useless if it couldn’t be set correctly before departing on a long voyage. 


The idea of the time ball was proposed in 1829 by Robert Wauchope, a Royal Navy captain. Robert suggested that the time ball be set up at the harbor and dropped at a specific moment to indicate the time. Sailors could view it through a telescope and set their chronometers accordingly. 


The first time ball was erected in the harbor at Portsmouth, England. It worked so well that in 1833 another one was set up at the Greenwich Observatory on a hilltop —the same one that you see today. The first American time ball went into service in 1845 at the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. 

There are over sixty time balls still standing at harbors around the world today. A few of them are still operating for the novelty or for tourists, like the one at Greenwich Observatory, with others operating on special occasions, such as the Times Square time ball in New York. 

The Greenwich Time Ball, London, England. 

Williamstown Lighthouse and Time Ball Tower, Melbourne, Victoria. 

Old Windmill and Time Ball, Brisbane, Queensland. 

Sydney Observatory and Time Ball, Sydney, New South Wales. 

Semaphore Time Ball Tower, Adelaide, South Australia. 

Customs House and Time Ball, Newcastle, New South Wales. 

Time Ball, Fremantle, Western Australia. 

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BRETT'S MONTHLY:

As usual, Brett B has sent a list of the coming month’s holidays and special days. 

Thanks, Brett. 

Click on the daily ones to expand the links.

A good item to see in the new month, the new year and the new decade (let's not debate whether the new decade begins in 2021, rather thqan 2020) . . . 

Month:
  • National Bath Safety Month
  • National Blood Donor Month
  • National Braille Literacy Month
  • National Hobby Month
  • Hot Tea Month
  • National Oatmeal Month
  • National Soup Month
Week Celebrations:
2nd Week Letter Writing Week
January 2020 Daily Holidays, Special and Wacky Days:
January 1
January 2
January 3
January 4
January 5
January 6

January 7
January 8
 National Take the Stairs Day - second Wednesday of month
January 9
January 10
January 11
January 12
January 13
January 14
January 15
January 16
January 17
January 18
Winnie the Pooh Day -The Birthday of Winnie's author A.A. Milne
January 19
January 20
Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday  , celebrated on the third Monday
January 21
January 22
January 23
Measure Your Feet Day- we only ask...."Why!?!"
January 24
January 25
25 Chinese New Years - date varies
National Seed Swap Day - Last Saturday in January
January 26
January 27
Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day - last Monday of month
January 28
January 29
January 30
January 31





Monday, December 30, 2019

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY





2019: THE YEAR IN REVIEW


Image result for 2019
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JANUARY:

1:  Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Austria following a 2017 Austrian Supreme Court decision that a law to the contrary violated the principle of non-discrimination.

3:  Chinese probe Chang'e 4 becomes the first human-made object to land on the far side of the Moon.  Chang'e No. 4  is part of the second phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program and is named after the Chinese Moon goddess.

6:  King Muhammad V of Kelantan abdicates the throne of Malaysia, the first Malaysian monarch to do so.  Np reason given although he went on medical leave in November and, later that month, photographs emerged that appeared to show him marrying a former Miss Moscow.

18:  Fuel thieves rupture a pipeline in Tlahuelilpan, Mexico, and a subsequent explosion kills at least 137 people and injures dozens more.

19:  An aircraft carrying new Cardiff City F.C. footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson en route from Nantes, France, to Cardiff, Wales, goes missing over the English Channel. Sala's body is recovered on February 7.

25:  A mine tailings dam breaks in the Brazilian city of Brumadinho, in the state of Minas Gerais. At least 248 people are killed, with 22 missing.

28:  The U.S. Justice Department charges Chinese tech firm Huawei with multiple counts of fraud, raising U.S.–China tensions.

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FEBRUARY:

1:  U.S. President Donald Trump confirms that the U.S. will leave the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987, citing Russian non-compliance. The next day, Russia follows suit with suspension of its obligations to the treaty.

3:  Pope Francis arrives in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, becoming the first pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula.

27–28:  The 2019 North Korea–United States summit is held in Hanoi, Vietnam. It is the second summit between United States President Donald Trump and the North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un.

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MARCH:

13:  A winter storm completes its explosive intensification over the Southern Rocky Mountains region, which began the day before, becoming a powerful "bomb cyclone" and triggering severe blizzard conditions across much of the Southwestern and Central United States.

13:  Australian Cardinal George Pell is sentenced to six years in prison for sexually abusing two choirboys in 1996.

15:  51 people are killed and 50 others injured in terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand: Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre, both of which were the target of shootings by Australia-born Brenton Harrison Tarrant. It is the deadliest mass shooting and terrorist attack in New Zealand's history and described by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as "one of New Zealand's darkest days".  Subsequently, Facebook announced they had disabled 1.5 million videos of the gunman's rampage.

20:  Europe's antitrust regulators fine Google 1.49 billion euros ($1.7 billion) for freezing out rivals in the online advertising business. The ruling brings to nearly $10 billion the fines imposed against Google by the European Union.

20:  Disney acquires the rights to 21st Century Fox leaving out a few assets to be spun-off to the newly formed Fox Corporation.

23:  An estimated 400,000 people march in central London in protest against Brexit.

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APRIL:

11:  WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange is arrested after seven years in Ecuador's embassy in London.

15:  During Holy Week, a major fire engulfs Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, resulting in the roof and main spire collapsing.

18:  The full 448-page report on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States Presidential Election (the Mueller Report) is released in redacted form.

21:  A series of bomb attacks occur at eight locations in Sri Lanka, including three churches, four hotels and one housing complex in Colombo, on Easter Sunday, leaving 259 people dead and over 500 injured.

25:  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits Russia to hold a series of summits with Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin.

30:  Emperor Akihito of Japan abdicates from his throne, the first abdication by a Japanese monarch in almost two centuries. The abdication ends the Heisei era of Japan and ushers in the Reiwa era with new emperor Naruhito ascending the throne on 1 May.

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MAY:

1:  King Vajiralongkorn of Thailand marries his personal bodyguard Suthida Tidjai – a commoner – in a surprise ceremony, making her queen consort of Thailand.

1:  Russian President Vladimir Putin signs into law a controversial "sovereign internet" bill that allows Russian authorities to better monitor internet routing and to steer Russian internet traffic away from foreign servers. Proponents of the bill say it ensures Russian internet security and decreases dependence on foreign servers while critics argue it gives new censorship powers to the government and is a part of a global trend of cyber-balkanization.

3:  The number of deaths from the Kivu Ebola outbreak exceeds 1,000. It is the second deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, only surpassed by the West African Ebola virus epidemic of 2013–2016.

6:  Birth of Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, first child of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and seventh in the line of succession to the British throne.

10:  Amid ongoing negotiations, the United States' 25 percent tariff hike on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports takes effect, escalating tensions between the two nations in the ongoing China–United States trade war.

13:  Prosecutors in Sweden reopen the rape allegation investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Swedish prosecutors mention their intent to seek extradition of Assange from the United Kingdom after he has served his 50-week prison sentence for skipping bail.

17:  Taiwan's parliament becomes the first in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage.

18:  Australian federal election: Scott Morrison's Liberal/National Coalition Government is narrowly re-elected, defeating the Labor Party led by Bill Shorten.

24:  British Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation as Conservative leader, effective June 7, 2019.

30:  South Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo reports that North Korea executed nuclear envoy Kim Hyok-chol and four other diplomats in March after the failed February Hanoi summit with the United States. The newspaper also reports that Kim Yong-chol, a top aide to Kim Jong-un, was sentenced to hard labor during the purge.

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JUNE:

3-5:  U.S. President Donald Trump makes a state visit to the United Kingdom, meeting with Queen Elizabeth II and outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May. It is the first official state visit to the U.K. by a sitting U.S. president since 2011. Trump also attends D-Day commemorative ceremonies.

7:  British Prime Minister Theresa May resigns as leader of the Conservative Party.

9:  Over 1 million people in Hong Kong protest against proposed legislation regarding extradition to China. It is the largest protest in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover.

15:  Hong Kong announces it will indefinitely suspend the controversial extradition bill, but protests continue, this time calling for the total withdrawal of the bill and the resignation of Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

19:  Four men are charged with murdering the 298 passengers and crew of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, the airliner shot down while flying over Ukraine in July 2014.

30:  During a trilateral gathering at the Panmunjom Truce Village between South Korean President Moon Jae-in, North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and United States President Donald Trump, Trump becomes the first sitting U.S. president to cross the Korean Demilitarized Zone and enter North Korea. Trump and Kim also agree to restart stalled denuclearization negotiations.

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JULY:

1:  Japan resumes commercial whaling after a 30-year moratorium, following its withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission.

17:  Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, former head of the Sinaloa Cartel, which became the biggest supplier of drugs to the U.S., is sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years.

24:  Boris Johnson becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after defeating Jeremy Hunt in a leadership contest, succeeding Theresa May.[176]

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AUGUST:

1:  Danish polar research institution Polar Portal reports a large spike in Greenland ice loss, with 11 billion tons melted in one day and 197 gigatonnes during the month of July.

15:  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that July 2019 was the hottest month on record globally, at 0.95 °C (1.71 °F) above the 20th-century average.

21:  Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) reports fires burning in the Amazon rainforest at a record rate, with more than 36,000 in the year to date, while smoke reaches São Paulo more than 1,700 miles (2,700 km) away.

23L  German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron describe the widespread Amazon fires as an international emergency, urging the matter to be discussed at the weekend's G7 summit.

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SEPTEMBER:

7:   US  President Donald Trump announces he "called off" planned peace talks with the Taliban at Camp David after they claimed responsibility for the September 2 and 5 bombings in Kabul which killed a U.S. soldier, among others.

10:  The Parliament of the United Kingdom is prorogued amid unprecedented protests from opposition MPs, who hold up signs in the House of Commons and refuse to back the shutdown.

23:  One of the largest and oldest travel firms, Thomas Cook, goes bankrupt as last-minute rescue negotiations fail, stranding 600,000 tourists worldwide

24:  The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom unanimously rules that the September 2019 prorogation of Parliament was unlawful and void.

27:  500,000 people march in a climate change protest led by activist Greta Thunberg and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Montreal, Canada. 4,000,000 go on strike around the world.

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OCTOBER:

1:  In commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the largest-ever military parade and mass pageant in the history of China takes place in Beijing.

4:  Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and the Chief Executive in Council invokes the Emergency Regulations Ordinance and banning the face mask in public gatherings with immediate effect.

19:  An estimated one million people march through London in a protest organised by People's Vote, to demand a second referendum on Brexit.

21:  The 2019 Canadian federal election takes place, for all 338 seats in the House of Commons of Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party win a narrow victory to form a minority government.

23:  The bodies of 39 people are found in a truck container in Essex, England. A 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland is arrested on suspicion of murder.

25:  Tourists visit the summit of Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) for the last time, as a ban on climbing the famous rock in Australia's Northern Territory comes into effect.

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NOVEMBER:

13:  Public impeachment hearings against U.S. President Donald Trump begin in the House of Representatives.

17:  Police use tear gas and water cannons against protesters who try to break through cordons and reach The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, which is at the center of a week-long standoff between demonstrators and law enforcement. Protesters fight back with Molotov cocktails, arrows, and bricks.

21:  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

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DECEMBER:

9:  The World Anti-Doping Agency votes unanimously to ban Russia from international sport for four years for doping offences, meaning it will be excluded from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

9:  A volcano erupts on White Island in New Zealand, killing 19 people and injuring 28.

12:  The 2019 United Kingdom general election takes place, for all 650 seats in the House of Commons.  The election resulted in a Conservative win with a landslide majority of 80 seats[n 5] (their largest majority since 1987).

12:  It is announced that Israel will hold an unprecedented third general election in less than a year, due to the apparent inability of any of the major parties to be able to form a decisive governing coalition. The election will take place on March 2, 2020.

18:  The U.S. House of Representatives approves two articles of impeachment against President Trump, making him the third president to be impeached in the nation's history.

23:  Five men are sentenced to death and another three face 24 years in prison for their roles in the murder of dissident journalist and Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.




Sunday, December 29, 2019

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY




THOSE WE LOST IN 2019, PART 2


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RUTGER HAUER

Date of death
July 19, 2019
Age at death:
75
Cause of death:
Died at home of an unspecified illness.
Comments:
Dutch actor, writer, and environmentalist. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public the Best Dutch Actor of the Century.  Blond, blue-eyed, tall and handsome Hauer enjoyed an international reputation for playing everything from romantic leads to action heroes to sinister villains.
Some more:
Rutger Hauer came up with many inventive ideas for his characterization of Roy Batty in Blade Runner, such as the moment where he grabs and fondles a dove. He also changed the final speech by Batty and improvised the now-iconic line "All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain". He later chose "All those moments" as the title of his autobiography.
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”

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DAVID HEDISON

Date of death
July 18, 2019
Age at death:
92
Cause of death:
Comments:
American film, television, and stage actor. He was billed as Al Hedison in his early film work until 1959 when he was cast in the role of Victor Sebastian in the short-lived espionage television series Five Fingers. NBC insisted that he change his name and he proposed his middle name and he was billed as David Hedison from then on. He was known for his role as Captain Lee Crane in Irwin Allen's television series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964–1968) and as CIA agent Felix Leiter in two James Bond films, Live and Let Die (1973) and Licence to Kill (1989).
Some more:
After Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea concluded, Hedison was offered the role of Mike Brady on The Brady Bunch, but turned it down, stating, "after four years of subs and monsters, who needs kids and dogs?" The role eventually went to Robert Reed.

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 DENISE NICKERSON

Date of death
July 10, 2019
Age at death:
62
Cause of death:
Nickerson suffered a massive seizure and slipped into a coma after  a suicide attempt, dying of pneumonia that day
Comments:
American actress who started her career as a child actress playing bratty bubblegum-chewing Violet Beauregarde in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory; Allison on The Electric Company; and Amy Jennings, Nora Collins, and Amy Collins in the soap opera Dark Shadows.
Some more:
Denise Nickerson (Violet) didn't want to do the nose-picking bit. She had a crush on Peter Ostrum (Charlie) and didn't want to embarrass herself.
Denise Nickerson had a Violet-esque experience in real life. She said in the DVD commentary that one day in math class, kids started pointing at her and laughing, and one of her friends told her she was turning purple. The make-up that had been used on her for the film had apparently seeped into her pores and started to resurface (which, she jokingly remarks, prevented her from getting any dates at that school).

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RIP TORN

Date of death
July 9, 2019
Age at death:
88
Cause of death:
Not known
Comments:
American actor and voice actor who had a career that spanned over 60 years.
Torn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his part as Marsh Turner in Cross Creek (1983). His work includes the role of Artie the producer on The Larry Sanders Show, for which he was nominated for six Emmy Awards, winning in 1996. He also won an American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Male in a Series and two CableACE Awards for his work on the show.
Some more:
In 1969, Dennis Hopper offered Torn the role of the pot-smoking lawyer in Easy Rider. Torn withdrew from the project after he and Hopper got into a bitter argument in a New York restaurant ending with Hopper pulling a knife on Torn. As a result, Torn was replaced by Jack Nicholson, whose appearance in the film launched him into stardom.
In 1994, Hopper told Jay Leno on The Tonight Show that it was Torn who had pulled a knife on him. Torn sued. A judge heard from both sides, and from witnesses who had been at the restaurant, and decided to award Torn $475,000. When Hopper appealed, another judge doubled the award.

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 ROSS PEROT

Date of death
July 9, 2019
Age at death:
89
Cause of death:
Perot died on July 9, 2019, less than two weeks after his 89th birthday in Dallas, Texas, from leukemia.
Comments:
American business magnate, billionaire, philanthropist, and politician. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an independent presidential campaign in 1992 and a third-party campaign in 1996, establishing the Reform Party in the latter election. Both campaigns were among the strongest presidential showings by a third party or independent candidate in US history.
Some more:
Perot was the son of a cotton broker. He attended Texarkana Junior College for two years before entering the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1949. He was commissioned in the U.S. Navy in 1953 and served until 1957, after which he worked as a salesman for International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
In 1962 Perot quit IBM and formed his own company, Electronic Data Systems (EDS), to design, install, and operate computer data-processing systems for clients on a contractual basis. EDS grew by processing medical claims for Blue Cross and other large insurance companies, and in 1968 Perot took the firm public in a shrewdly managed share offering whose skyrocketing prices yielded Perot, the majority shareholder, several hundred million dollars. EDS continued to prosper under his leadership, and in 1984 Perot sold the company to General Motors for $2.5 billion worth of special-issue stock and a seat on GM’s board of directors. Perot’s criticism of GM’s management prompted them to buy back his seat for $700 million in 1986.

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LEE IACOCCA

Date of death
July 2, 2019
Age at death:
94
Cause of death:
Complications of Parkinson's disease.
Comments:
American automobile executive best known for the development of Ford Mustang and Pinto cars, while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, and then later for reviving the Chrysler Corporation as its CEO during the 1980s.  He served as President and CEO of Chrysler from 1978 and additionally as chairman from 1979, until his retirement at the end of 1992. He was one of the only executives ever to preside over the operations of two of the Big Three automakers which he did during different tenures.
Iacocca authored or co-authored several books, including Iacocca: An Autobiography (with William Novak), and Where Have All the Leaders Gone? Portfolio Magazine named Iacocca the 18th-greatest American CEO of all time.
Some more:
Iacocca was on the Charles Manson hit list of business leaders to be killed by the Manson Family.

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 STEVE DUNLEAVY







Date of death
June 24, 2019
Age at death:
81
Cause of death:
Oz
Comments:
Australian journalist based in the United States, best known as a columnist for the New York Post from 1976 to 2008. He was a lead reporter on the US tabloid television program A Current Affair in the 1980s and 1990s.
Some more:
“Born in Sydney on Jan. 21, 1938, Stephen Francis Patrick Aloysius Dunleavy came from a family of newspapermen. At age 14, he became a copy boy at the Sydney Sun, the paper where his father was a photographer. By 16, he’d switched to a competing paper to escape accusations that he was benefiting from favoritism.
During that time, he was up against his father on a story about missing hikers. According to many who heard the oft-told tale, to prevent his competitor from getting the story, Mr. Dunleavy slashed his father’s car tyres. He later claimed, with a wink, that he hadn’t known the car belonged to his father.”
-        Washington Post
In 1994, film director Oliver Stone said he used Dunleavy as the model for the evil reporter in “Natural Born Killers.”

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JUDITH KRANTZ

Date of death
June 22, 2019
Age at death:
91
Cause of death:
Not known.
Comments:
Magazine writer and fashion editor who only turned to fiction as she approached the age of 50. Her first novel Scruples (1978) quickly became a New York Times best-seller and went on to be a worldwide publishing success, translated into 50 languages. Scruples, which describes the glamorous and affluent world of high fashion in Beverley Hills, California, helped define a new supercharged sub-genre of the romance novel - the bonkbuster or "sex-and-shopping" novel. She also fundamentally changed the publishing industry by becoming one of the first celebrity authors through her extensive touring and promotion - "a superstar of fiction".
Some more:
While raising their sons, Nicholas and Tony, Krantz wrote features for middle-market mags. The Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown loved her Myth of the Multiple Orgasm piece, but nixed her idea for a round-up of sex fantasies as too raunchy. Krantz saved the material for later.
With her sons grown and her husband’s income stabilising, Krantz at 50 determined to do what she never thought she could: learn to fly and to write fiction. Her first novel, Scruples, as noted above was a worldwide success.

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GLORIA VANDERBILT


Date of death
June 17, 2019
Age at death:
95
Cause of death:
Stomach cancer.
Comments:
American artist, author, actress, fashion designer, heiress, and socialite. She was a member of the Vanderbilt family of New York and the mother of CNN television anchor Anderson Cooper.
During the 1930s, she was the subject of a high-profile child custody trial in which her mother, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, and her paternal aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, each sought custody of her and control over her trust fund. Called the "trial of the century" by the press, the court proceedings were the subject of wide and sensational press coverage due to the wealth and prominence of the involved parties, and the scandalous evidence presented to support Whitney's claim that Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt was an unfit parent.
As an adult in the 1970s, Vanderbilt launched a line of fashions, perfumes, and household goods bearing her name. She was particularly noted as an early developer of designer blue jeans.
Some more:
Gloria Vanderbilt left almost all of her estate to her youngest son, Anderson Cooper — and nothing to her estranged middle son, Chris Stokowski, according to her will.  Chris — whose father, composer Leopold Stokowski, was Vanderbilt’s second husband — reportedly cut himself off from the family 40 years ago over a dispute with his mother’s psychiatrist.

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Leon Redbone

Date of death
May 30, 2019
Age at death:
69
Cause of death:
Redbone died following complications from dementia
Comments:
Singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor specializing in jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley classics. Recognized by his Panama hat, dark sunglasses, and black tie, Redbone was born in Cyprus of Armenian ancestry and first appeared on stage in Toronto, Canada, in the early 1970s. He also appeared on film and television in acting and voice-over roles.
In concert Redbone often employed comedy and demonstrated his skill in guitar playing. Recurrent gags involved the influence of alcohol and claiming to have written works originating well before he was born – Redbone favored material from the Tin Pan Alley era, circa 1890 to 1910. He sang the theme to the 1980s television series Mr. Belvedere and released eighteen albums.
Some more:
Redbone was the voice and visual inspiration of “Leon the Snowman” in the 2003 Will Ferrell holiday movie, “Elf.” “Oh, by the way,” he tells Ferrell’s character, “don’t eat the yellow snow.” Over the film’s final credits, Mr. Redbone sings a duet of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with the film’s co-star, Zooey Deschanel.

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NIKI LAUDA

Date of death
May 20. 2019
Age at death:
70
Cause of death:
Lauda died in his sleep, at  the University Hospital of Zürich, where he had been undergoing dialysis treatment for kidney problems, following a period of ill health
Comments:
Austrian Formula One driver, a three-time F1 World Drivers' Champion, winning in 1975, 1977 and 1984, and an aviation entrepreneur. He is the only driver in F1 history to have been champion for both Ferrari and McLaren, the sport's two most successful constructors. He is widely considered one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. As an aviation entrepreneur, he founded and ran three airlines: Lauda Air, Niki, and Lauda. He was a Bombardier Business Aircraft brand ambassador. He was also a consultant for Scuderia Ferrari and team manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years. Afterwards, he worked as a pundit for German TV during Grand Prix weekends and acted as non-executive chairman of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, of which Lauda owned 10%.
Having emerged as Formula One's star driver amid a 1975 title win and leading the 1976 championship battle, Lauda was seriously injured in a crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring during which his Ferrari 312T2 burst into flames, and he came close to death after inhaling hot toxic fumes and suffering severe burns. However, he survived and recovered sufficiently to race again just six weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix. Although he lost that year's title – by just one point – to James Hunt, he won his second championship the year after, during his final season at Ferrari. After a couple of years at Brabham and two years' hiatus, Lauda returned and raced four seasons for McLaren between 1982 and 1985 – during which he won the 1984 title by half a point over his teammate Alain Prost.
Some more:
Prior to the 2006 German Grand Prix, Lauda, Bernie Ecclestone and others walked to the old Nurburgring and had a drink at the point where Lauda had crashed in 1976.  Bernie had earlier planted a pig’s ear in the grass.  When he was there with Niki Lauda, he picked up the object, held it up and said “Niki, I’ve found your ear.”  It was reportedly taken in good humour by Lauda.

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 HERMAN WOUK

Date of death
May 17, 2019
Age at death:
103
Cause of death:
Wouk died in his sleep at the age of 103 in his home in Palm Springs, California, on May 17, 2019, 10 days shy of his 104th birthday.
Comments:
American author best known for historical fiction such as The Caine Mutiny (1951) which won the Pulitzer Prize.
His other major works include The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, historical novels about World War II, and non-fiction such as This Is My God, an explanation of Judaism from a Modern Orthodox perspective, written for Jewish and non-Jewish audiences. His books have been translated into 27 languages.
The Washington Post called Wouk, who cherished his privacy, "the reclusive dean of American historical novelists". Historians, novelists, publishers, and critics who gathered at the Library of Congress in 1995 to mark Wouk's 80th birthday described him as an American Tolstoy.
Some more:
Wouk kept a personal diary from 1937, from age 22. On September 10, 2008, Wouk formally presented the Library of Congress with his journals, which number more than 100 volumes as of 2012 at a ceremony that honoured him with the first Library of Congress Lifetime Achievement Award for the Writing of Fiction (now the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction). Wouk often referred to his journals to check dates and facts in his writing, and he was hesitant to let the originals out of his personal possession. A solution was arrived at: a scanning service bureau was selected to scan the entire set of volumes into digital formats.

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BOB HAWKE






Date of death
May 16 2019
Age at death:
89
Cause of death:
“Natural causes”
oz
Comments:
Australian politician who served as Prime Minister of Australia and Leader of the Labor Party from 1983 to 1991. He was also Member of Parliament (MP) for Wills from 1980 to 1992.
Hawke was born in Bordertown, South Australia. He attended the University of Western Australia and went on to study at University College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. In 1956, Hawke joined the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) as a research officer. Having risen to become responsible for wage arbitration, he was elected ACTU President in 1969, where he achieved a high public profile.
After a decade serving in that role, Hawke announced his intention to enter politics, and was subsequently elected to the House of Representatives as the Labor MP for Wills in Victoria. Three years later, he led Labor to a landslide victory at the 1983 election and was sworn in as Australia's 23rd Prime Minister. He went on to lead Labor to victory three more times, in 1984, 1987 and 1990, making him the most electorally successful Labor Leader in history.
The Hawke Government created Medicare and Landcare, brokered the Prices and Incomes Accord, established APEC, floated the Australian dollar, deregulated the financial sector, introduced the Family Assistance Scheme, announced "Advance Australia Fair" as the official national anthem, initiated superannuation pension schemes for all workers and oversaw passage of the Australia Act that removed all remaining jurisdiction by the United Kingdom from Australia. During his time as Prime Minister, Hawke recorded the highest popularity rating ever measured by an Australian opinion poll, reaching 75% approval in 1984.
In June 1991, Treasurer Paul Keating unsuccessfully challenged for the leadership, believing that Hawke had reneged on the Kirribilli Agreement. Keating mounted a second challenge six months later, this time narrowly succeeding. Hawke subsequently retired from Parliament, pursuing both a business career and a number of charitable causes, until his death in 2019, aged 89. Hawke remains Labor's longest-serving and Australia's third-longest-serving Prime Minister.
Some more:
“ . . . from veteran ABC political journo Barrie Cassidy, who worked for the prime minster as press secretary from 1986 to 1991.
Reflecting on his old boss on ABC News Breakfast on Friday, Cassidy told a yarn he says proves Hawke’s egalitarian streak was not just rhetoric.  The press secretary was with Hawke one day at the MCG, chaperoning a delegation of US dignitaries, including federal congressmen, when he was bemoaning the plan to take the official bus back to the Hyatt hotel.
“A couple of young guys turned up and said ‘Hey, Hawkey, you legend’. And he said, ‘if I’m such a legend, give me a lift back to the friggin’ pub’,” Cassidy recounted.
“And they said ‘righto’ and he got in the car with all these Americans watching and he drove off with these complete strangers. And he talked to me the next day and said ‘They were great guys [and] they put their mums on the mobile phone and I had to talk to them on the way to the hotel’.
“[The Americans] couldn’t believe a former prime minister would do that [but]…that’s how he operated.”

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TIM CONWAY

Date of death
May 14, 2019
Age at death:
85
Cause of death:
Conway was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus in 2018 and he died from complications of that condition.
Comments:
American actor, comedian, writer, and director. From 1966 to 2012 he appeared in more than 20 TV shows, TV series and films, portraying different characters in each. Among his more notable roles, he portrayed the inept Ensign Parker in the 1960s World War II TV situation comedy McHale's Navy, was a regular cast member (1975–78) on the TV comedy The Carol Burnett Show where he portrayed his recurrent iconic characters Mister Tudball, Oldest Man and Dumb Private, co-starred with Don Knotts in several films (1979–80), was the title character in the Dorf series of eight sports comedy direct-to-video films (1987–96), and provided the voice of Barnacle Boy in the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants (1999–2012). Twice, in 1970 and in 1980–81, he had his own TV series.
He won six Primetime Emmy Awards during his career, four of which were awarded for The Carol Burnett Show, including one for writing.
Some more:
Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway voiced the characters of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy on the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants (1999).iihju

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DORIS DAY

Date of death
May 13, 2019
Age at death:
97
Cause of death:
Doris Day died after having contracted pneumonia.
Comments:
American actress, singer, and animal welfare activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey" and "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" with Les Brown & His Band of Renown. She left Brown to embark on a solo career and recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967.
Some more:
Day’s real name was Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff.  While working for orchestra leader Barney Rapp in 1939, she adopted the stage surname "Day", at Rapp's suggestion. Rapp felt that "Kappelhoff" was too long for marquees, and he admired her rendition of the song "Day After Day".

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PEGGY LIPTON

Date of death
May 11 , 2019
Age at death:
72
Cause of death:
Lipton was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2004, received treatment, and ultimately died of the illness in Los Angeles.
Comments:
American actress, model, and singer. She made appearances in many of the most popular television shows of the 1960s before she landed her defining role as flower child Julie Barnes in the crime drama The Mod Squad (1968–1973), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama in 1970.
After The Mod Squad, Lipton married producer Quincy Jones and began a 15-year hiatus from acting, in which she raised her two children, Kidada and Rashida Jones. She returned to acting in 1988, performing in many TV roles, including Norma Jennings in David Lynch's Twin Peaks.
Some more:
Lipton had affairs with Paul McCartney and Elvis Presley.

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PETER MAYHEW

Date of death
April 30, 2019
Age at death:
74
Cause of death:
Heart attack.
Comments:
English-American actor, best known for portraying Chewbacca in the Star Wars film series. He played the character in all of his live-action appearances from the 1977 original to 2015's The Force Awakens before his retirement from the role.
Some more:
His height was a product of Marfan syndrome, not gigantism; "I don't have the big head", Mayhew said when asked about the cause of his height. His peak height was 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 m).
When casting the original Star Wars (1977), director George Lucas needed a tall actor who could fit the role of the hairy alien Chewbacca. He originally had in mind 6-foot-6-inch (1.98 m) bodybuilder David Prowse, but Prowse chose to play Darth Vader. This led Lucas to cast Mayhew, who was working as an orderly in the radiology department of King's College Hospital, London.  He became aware of a casting call for Star Wars which was filming at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. The 7-foot-3-inch (2.21 m) tall actor was immediately cast as Chewbacca after he stood up to greet Lucas.  Mayhew continued working as an orderly - at Mayday Hospital (now Croydon University Hospital) - in between filming the original Star Wars trilogy.
Mayhew modelled his performance of Chewbacca after researching the behaviour of bears, monkeys and gorillas he saw at London Zoo. Lucas said Mayhew was "the closest any human being could be to a Wookiee: big heart, gentle nature and I learnt to always let him win". The character did not have any lines, the sounds he made being derived from sound recordings of animal noises.

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 GEOFF HARVEY

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Date of death
March 30, 2019
Age at death:
83
Cause of death:
No record in the news items.
Comments:
English-Australian musician, pianist, conductor, musical director and television personality who worked at the Australian Nine Network for 38 years. Known primarily for his appearances on the Don Lane tonight show,  The Mike Walsh Show and Midday, Harvey also composed a number of the theme songs for the network's programs.
Some more:
Known as a practical joker and for making "wild bets", he grew a beard as a result of losing a 1965 bet to Don Lane on a football match.

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LUKE PERRY

Date of death
March 4, 2019
Age at death:
52
Cause of death:
Perry suffered a massive ischemic stroke at his home in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles on February 27, 2019. After a second stroke, his family followed the medical team's recommendations to remove him from life support.
Comments:
American actor. He became a teen idol for playing Dylan McKay on the TV series Beverly Hills, 90210 from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1998 to 2000. He also starred as Fred Andrews on the CW series Riverdale, had guest roles on notable shows such as Criminal Minds, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Simpsons, and Will & Grace, and also starred in several films, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), 8 Seconds (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), his final feature performance.
Some more:
In an interview with Whoopi Goldberg in the 1990s, Perry said he auditioned for 215 acting jobs in New York before getting work on a television commercial.

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JAN-MICHAEL VINCENT

Date of death
February 10, 2019
Age at death:
74
Cause of death:
Cardiac arrest
Comments:
American actor. He was best known for having played helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the television series Airwolf (1984–1987) and the protagonist, Matt Johnson, in the 1978 film Big Wednesday. He also starred as Byron Henry in The Winds of War.
Some more:
His failed career was partly the result of alcoholism, which had begun to have a serious impact on his work during Airwolf (1984). In later projects he would occasionally show up completely inebriated, unaware of the scene being shot and unable to say his lines.  Vincent suffered permanent damage to his voice after getting into a near-fatal auto accident in 1996 that resulted in a broken neck. Paramedics had to insert a tube down his throat and the tube damaged one of his vocal cords.  In 2012 Vincent had to have the lower half of his right leg amputated due to a leg infection he contracted because of complications from peripheral artery disease. Thereafter he had a prosthetic right foot and sometimes had to use a wheelchair to get around.

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KARL LAGERFELD

Date of death
February 19,2019
Age at death:
85
Cause of death:
Complications from  pancreatic cancer.
Comments:
German creative director, fashion designer, artist, photographer, and caricaturist who lived in Paris.
He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 until his death, and was also creative director of the Italian fur and leather goods fashion house Fendi, and of his own eponymous fashion label. He collaborated on a variety of fashion and art-related project.
Lagerfeld was recognized for his signature white hair, black sunglasses, fingerless gloves, and high, starched, detachable collars.
Some more:
In 1955, after living in Paris for two years, Lagerfeld entered a coat design competition sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat. He won the coat category and befriended Yves Saint Laurent, who won the dress category, and was soon after hired by Pierre Balmain. He worked as Balmain's assistant, and later apprentice, for three years.

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LEONARD CASLEY

Hutt River Principality 50 cent coin depicting Leonard Casley





Date of death
February 13, 2019
Age at death:
93
Cause of death:
Lung infection
oz
Comments:
Self-proclaimed Prince of the Principality of Hutt, formerly Hutt River Province, located about 500 kilometres north of Perth in Western Australia’s Mid West, Casley declared in 1970 that his property was seceding from Western Australia because of a dispute over wheat quotas and was henceforth an independent country. Although Casley owned about 4,000 hectares, the quotas introduced would allow only about 40 hectares of wheat to be grown. Casley set up borders, entry requirements, stamps, passports and local currency, making the Principality a tourist attraction.  The Principality is not recognised by the WA or Australian governments and, in 2017, the Supreme Court ordered Casley and his son Graeme to pay $3 million after the ATO demanded they pay income tax for the eight financial years between June 2006 and 2013.  The High Court has also rejected independent status.  In February 2017, at the age of 91 and after ruling for 45 years, Casley abdicated the throne in favor of his youngest son, Prince Graeme.
Some more:
In April 2016, the Principality received a letter from Queen Elizabeth II which communicated the Queen's good wishes on the anniversary of the founding of the Principality 46 years ago, on 21 April 1970. The letter from Buckingham Palace is signed by Sonia Bonici, Senior Correspondence Officer. It reads in part: “I am to convey Her Majesty’s good wishes to you and to all concerned for a most enjoyable and successful celebration on 23rd and 24th of April to mark the forty-sixth anniversary of the Principality of Hutt River.” The Queen was replying to a letter from Prince Leonard congratulating her on her 90th birthday.

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RON SMITH

Date of death
January 10, 2019
Age at death:
90
Cause of death:
Undisclosed
Comments:
English comic artist whose career spanned almost fifty years. Primarily producing strips for the two main publishers, DC Thomson and IPC Magazines, Smith was best known for drawing Judge Dredd for 2000 AD and the Daily Star.
Some more:
Smith flew photo-reconnaissance Spitfires in WW2.

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JIMMY HANNAN






Date of death
January 7, 2019
Age at death:
81
Cause of death:
Cancer
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Comments:
Australian radio and television personality, variety show host, singer, entertainer and game show host of the 1960s and 1970s. One of the pioneers of television, he appeared regularly on variety show In Melbourne Tonight, and later hosted his own musical variety show Jimmy, later called Tonight with Jimmy Hannan. Hannan hosted music show Saturday Date from 1963 until 1967, which featured such performers as Billy Thorpe and Olivia Newton-John. He won the 1965 Gold Logie award for most popular personality on Australian television.
Some more:
His single “Beach Ball”, which was released in 1963, featured the Bee Gees singing backup and providing background chat to give the single a ‘party’ atmosphere. The single went to Number 1 on the Australian charts, capitalising on the huge craze of ‘surf’ music.

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ANNALISE BRAAKENSIEK






Date of death
January 6, 2019
Age at death:
Cause of death:
Braakensiek’s body was found in her apartment.  Speculation as to suicide has been disputed by her friends who maintain that she may have been the victim of an accident, caused by an overdose of ‘downers’ or sleeping pills.
oz
Comments:
Australian model, actress, television presenter, businesswoman and campaign ambassador.
Some more:
Braakensiek had often been open about her struggles with depression and was an ambassador for suicide prevention charity R U OK.