Died On This Date

July 31

Reeves, Jim
b. August 20, 1923 d. July 31, 1964
Nicknamed "Gentleman Jim," he was one of the great voices in music. His aspirations of becoming a professional baseball player ended due to an ankle injury so he turned to singing and working as a disc jockey for KWKH, Shreveport, Louisiana, the home of the Louisiana Hayride. His breakthrough single came in 1953 with a song called Mexican Joe. That same year he officially joined the cast of the Louisiana Hayride and in 1955 he became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Cause of death: Plane crash.

Johnson, Andrew
b. December 29, 1808 d. July 31, 1875
17th United States President. The first President to be tried for impeachment. After President Johnson notified Congress on February 21, 1868, that he had removed Edwin Stanton as Secretary of War and replaced him with Adjutant-General Lorenzo Thomas, it took the House of Representatives only three days to impeach him for "high crimes and misdemeanors." Meanwhile, Stanton refused to abandon his office and had Thomas arrested for attempting to exercise the duties of the Secretary of War. Cause of death: Stroke

Saint-Exupéry, Antoine Marie Roger de
b. June 29, 1900 d. July 31, 1944
Author, Inventor. He wrote "Wind, Sand and Stars" (1939), and the children's classic "The Little Prince" (1943). Went missing on a flight over the Mediterranean in 1944 and his body was never recovered. The flowerbed around his memorial is laid out in the shape of his drawing of the Little Prince.

Died On This Date

July 30

Colbert, Claudette
b. September 13, 1903 d. July 30, 1996
Actress who starred in more than 60 films. Claudette Colbert died in Speightstown, Barbados, on July 30, 1996. (This was her vacation home.) Her permanent address was Manhattan. She was born on September 13, 1903, in France. Her real name was "Lily Claudette Chauchoin. While still a child her parents moved the family to New York. She won the Best Actress award in 1934 for "It Happened One Night," a Frank Capra movie.

Phillips, Sam Cornelius
b. January 5, 1923 d. July 30, 2003
Rock pioneer. He was the founder of Sun Records and was credited with discovering Elvis Presley. He produced Presley's first record in 1954. He later sold Presley's recording contract to RCA for only $35,000. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Walsh, Bill (William Ernest)
b. November 30, 1931 d. July 30, 2007
Professional Football Coach. Nicknamed "the genius", he was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 1979 to 1988 and NFL Coach Of the Year in 1981 & 1984. He coached the 49ers to three Super Bowl Championships. An innovative thinker, he popularized an offensive game plan that became known as the West Coast Offense and is still in use today. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in 1993. Cause of death: Leukemia.

Died On This Date

July 29

Van Gogh, Vincent
b. March 30, 1853 d. July 29, 1890
Artist. He was born in the Netherlands. In 1869 he began working for art dealers, but in 1877 he studied religion and from 1878 to 1880 he was an evangelist in Belgium. Later he decided to become an artist. He admired the work of Millet and Daumier and his early subjects were peasants. He lived in Brussels and in Netherlands and in February 1886 he moved to Paris where he lived together with his brother, Theo, and encountered Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting. Cause of death: Suicide by gunshot.

Kanka, Megan
b. December 7, 1986 d. July 29, 1994
Young murder victim. She was murdered by a neighbor and it was later discovered that he had been released from prison after having served time for child molestation. Megan's Law, the sex offender's law that now requires convicted sex offenders to register with the local authorities when they move into an area, was named for her. It was made into a Federal Law and is now enforced in all 50 states. Megan's killer was sentenced to death and is currently sitting on death row.

Niven, David (James David Graham)
b. March 1, 1910 d. July 29, 1983
Actor, Producer. Most remembered for his dapper English roles in such films as the Pink Panther series, "Around the World in Eighty Days" (1956), and numerous other films. He won an Oscar for his role in "Separate Tables" (1958). Born in London, England, the son of a British Army Captain who was killed at Gallipoli in 1915. He attended Stowe School and Sandhurst Military Academy, where he was commissioned and served two years with the Highland Light Infantry.

Elliot, Cass
b. September 19, 1941 d. July 29, 1974
Rock Singer. She was a singer for the folk-rock group "Mamas and the Papas," during the 1960s and early 1970s. Born Ellen Naomi Cohen in Baltimore, Maryland, she grew up in the Washington DC area. During her senior year in high school she performed in a summer stock of "The Boyfriend" at the Owings Mills Playhouse; a performance that compelled her to forego college in pursuit of an acting career. Cause of death: Heart attack.

Died On This Date

July 28

Bach, Johann Sebastian
b. March 21, 1685 d. July 28, 1750
Composer and Organist. One of the acknowledged giants of Western music and the greatest composer of the Baroque era. Bach's work represents the culmination of all the musical ideas of his era. He brought such techniques as counterpoint and fugue to their heights of expressiveness, and wrote masterpieces in every existing genre except opera. Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany, into a family that boasted seven generations of musicians. Cause of death: Stroke.

Died On This Date

July 27

Hope, Bob (Leslie Townes)
b. May 29, 1903 d. July 27, 2003
Comedian, Actor, Entertainer. Legendary comic performer whose career spanned from the 1930s to the 1990s. One of the most beloved in American History, he has earned over 2,000 awards and honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2 honorary Oscars, 2 Emmys, the National Medal of Arts (received from President Bill Clinton), 58 honorary degrees, and was knighted (honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II. Cause of death: Pneumonia.


Walsh, Adam
b. November 14, 1974 d. July 27, 1981
He was the son of "America's Most Wanted" host, John Walsh and his wife Reva. He was abducted and murdered. The search continued for days and many appeals to the public for help until Adam's decapitated head was found. His death inspired a television movie and the "America's Most Wanted" television program in 1988. On December 16th, 2008, the Hollywood Police Department finally identified Adam Walsh's killer as Ottis Toole (who died in prison in 1996).

Died On This Date

July 26

Houston, Sam
b. March 2, 1793 d. July 26, 1863
Texas Republic Army General, Texas Republic President, Tennessee Governor, Texas Governor. He is best remembered as the General who defeated the Mexicans to win Texas independence. Born in Virginia in 1793, his family moved to Tennessee when he was 13 years old and lived in a frontier settlement, where Houston worked as a clerk in a trader's store. When he was 15, he ran away from home and lived with the Cherokee Indians in eastern Tennessee, where the Indians adopted him.

Peron, Eva (María Eva Ibarguren)
b. May 7, 1919 d. July 26, 1952
Argentinean Leader. Wife of Argentina President Juan Domingo Peron. Born Maria Eva, she was the fourth child born to Juana Ibarguren and Juan Duarte, all illegitimate in a ramshackle house near the village of Los Toldos some 150 miles west of Buenos Aires. At 15, she arrived in Buenos Aires, and became a star of radio soap operas and then a movie. She met Juan Peron during an earthquake-relief meeting. The widowed Peron married her in 1945, and they became a team in power ruling Argentina.
Cause of death: Uterine cancer.

Died On This Date

July 25

Rich, Charlie
b. December 14, 1932 d. July 25, 1995
Singer. Musician. Born near Forrest City, Arkansas. He attended Consolidated High School in Forrest City, where he played saxophone in the high school band. After high school, he attended Arkansas State College on a football scholarship. He then transferred to the University of Arkansas as a music major but left after one semester to join the Air Force. He married his life-long love, fellow jazz enthusiast Margaret Ann in 1952.

Pausch, Randy
b. October 23, 1960 d. July 25, 2008
Professor, Author. Gained international fame after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and giving a "last lecture" to his class that was posted on the internet. He received a Bachelor's degree in computer sciences from Brown University and a PhD from Carnegie Mellon. He taught at the University of Virginia and at Carnegie Mellon. After his famous lecture, Randy Pausch was seen on several television shows including interviews done by Diane Sawyer and Oprah Winfrey.

Died On This Date

July 24

Sellers, Peter (Richard Henry)
b. September 8, 1925 d. July 24, 1980
Actor. He is best remembered for his role of inept French police Inspector 'Jacques Clouseau' in the "Pink Panther" series of films (1964 to 1982). The last of that series, "Trail of the Pink Panther" (1982) was made after his death, using film clips and unseen footage from his earlier "Pink Panther" movies. Born Richard Henry Sellers in Southsea, Hampshire, England, his parents worked in an acting company run by his grandmother. Cause of death: Heart attack.

Van Buren, Martin
b. December 5, 1782 d. July 24, 1862
8th United States President. Martin Van Buren was born in Kinderhook, New York a Hudson River town totally comprised of people of Dutch descent. His mother had been widowed with three children before marrying his father who was a tavern-inn proprietor while owning slaves who worked at the enterprise. The tavern hosted political meetings, elections and entertained such guests as Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. Young Martin received a political education while ease dropping as a boy.

Died On This Date

July 23

Grant, Ulysses (Hiram Ulysses) S
b. April 27, 1822 d. July 23, 1885
18th United States President, Civil War Union Lieutenant General. He was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio. His birth name was Hiram Ulysses Grant. At seventeen, he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point. After graduation, his first assignment was service in a border war with Mexico. After eleven years he resigned his commission and persued a number of failed civilian endeavors.

Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon 'Eddie'
b. October 8, 1890 d. July 23, 1973
World War I Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient, Distinguished Service Cross Recipient, Fighter Ace, Aviator, Race Car Driver, America's 'Ace of Aces' during World War I. The son of Swiss immigrants, he first gained fame driving race cars. He raced 4 time in the Indianapolis 500 with his best finish being 10th in 1914. He enlisted in the Army in 1917 when the United States declared war on Germany.

Clift, Montgomery
b. October 17, 1920 d. July 23, 1966
Actor. He is best remembered for his role as ‘Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt’ in the motion picture "From Here to Eternity" (1953). He represented the new wave of post-World War II actors who were handsome, intelligent, soft-spoken, introspective, and acted with intensity. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, just after his twin sister Roberta, to a banking family, his mother, Ethel, had been born out of wedlock, and she determined that the children would grow up knowing their true southern aristocratic heritage.

Griffith, D.W. (David Wark)
b. January 22, 1875 d. July 23, 1948
Motion Picture Director. Called by many as “The Father of the Motion Picture”, he was the first to recognize the new medium's potential, and invented many of the common film techniques used today, such as the Flashback, the Iris shot, the mask, and Crosscutting. He is best remembered for his epic "Birth of a Nation" (1915), considered by most his best work, despite its racist message. Born in rural Kentucky to Jacob Griffith, a Confederate Army Colonel and Civil War hero. Cause of death: Cerebral hemorrhage.

Died On This Date

July 22

Shepard, Alan Bartlett
b. November 18, 1923 d. July 22, 1998
American Astronaut. The first American into space, he is currently the oldest man to have walked on the moon. Born in Derry, New Hampshire, the son of Army Lieutenant Colonel Alan B. Shepard and Renza Emerson Shepard, Alan Jr graduated from the Admiral Farragut Academy (military high school) in 1941, and received a BS degree in Engineering from the US Naval Academy in 1944.

Getty, Estelle
b. July 25, 1923 d. July 22, 2008
Actress. Best known for her role as sassy Italian octogenarian "Sophia Petrillo", on the hit sitcom "The Golden Girls." Estelle was born in New York to Polish immigrants. In 1947, she married Arthur Gettleman. The couple had two sons together. Estelle Gettleman began her acting career under the stage name Estelle Getty in 1978 playing a teacher in the film "Team Mates." She had small walk on roles in the Films "Tootsie" in 1982 and "Mask" in 1985.

Sandburg, Carl
b. January 6, 1878 d. July 22, 1967
Author. Poet. Carl Sandburg was born in Galesburg, Illinois. He was born the son of Swedish immigrants, August and Clara Anderson Sandburg. He was the second of seven children and was called Charlie by his family. He quit school after graduating from the eighth grade in 1891. The next few years he worked a variety of jobs. He spent some time traveling as a hobo while honing his writing and political views. He volunteered for service in the Spanish-American War in 1898. Cause of death: Heart Attack.

Died On This Date

July 21

Rathbone, Basil (Philip St. John)
b. June 13, 1892 d. July 21, 1967
Actor. He is best remembered for his role of 'Sir Guy of Gisbourne' in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938), and for his role of 'Sherlock Holmes' in a series of movies with actor Nigel Bruce playing 'Dr. Watson' from 1939 to 1946). Born Philip St. John Basil Rathbone in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Edgar Philip Rathbone, a mining engineer, and his wife, Anna Barbara, a violinist. In 1895, his family was forced to return to Great Britain, when Boers accused his father of being a British spy. Cause of death: Heart Attack.

Young, Robert
b. February 22, 1907 d. July 21, 1998
Actor. In a career that lasted over fifty years, Robert Young performed on stage, screen and radio, appearing in some 100 movies before making a successful transition to television. He was born in Chicago coming west when his family relocated to Los Angeles at age seven. Introduced to acting while attending Lincoln High School, he then pursued an acting career after graduation by enrolling at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Died On This Date

July 20

Lee, Bruce
b. November 27, 1940 d. July 20, 1973
Acclaimed Martial Artist, Actor, and Film Director. Balancing martial arts theory and film performance, Bruce Lee remains the most recognized martial artist of the twentieth century. Though born in San Francisco, Lee would move to Hong Kong with his family while still an infant and would act in several films there as a child. After losing a street fight in 1953, he would also study Wing Chun Kung Fu, a style emphasizing economy of movement.

Doohan, James Montgomery
b. March 3, 1920 d. July 20, 2005
Actor. He is best known for his role of 'Montgomery "Scotty" Scott', the Chief Engineer of the starship "Enterprise" in the seminal and immensely popular 1960's science fiction television series "Star Trek" and it's subsequent movies. Born in British Columbia, Canada, he served in the Royal Canadian Artillery during World War II, and lost the middle finger on his right hand after Canadian forces stormed ashore at Juno Beach during the D-Day Normandy invasion.

Villa, Pancho
b. 1877 d. July 20, 1923
Mexican Revolutionary, General, Bandit, and Governor. He was a major leader in the Mexican Revolution and in 1916-1917, was the object of the Punitive Expedition in which US Troops crossed into Mexico in a futile attempt to capture him. Born Jose Doroteo Orango Arámbula, he is better known under his revolutionary name, Francisco "Pancho" Villa. Many details of his life are in dispute. Villa's early life is mostly unknown.

Died On This Date

July 19

Gebel-Williams, Gunther
b. September 12, 1934 d. July 19, 2001
Circus animal trainer. He delighted ladies, gentleman, children of all ages during his three decades with the Greatest Show on Earth. He never missed a performance during his career with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The flashy performer worked with elephants, tigers, leopards, lions, panthers, mountain lions, horses, goats, camels, zebras, and a giraffe. In addition, he was featured in TV specials and advertisements.

Beatty, Clyde
b. June 10, 1903 d. July 19, 1965
Wild animal trainer, circus performer. He left all Ringing interests at the end of the 1934 season, and joined out with owner-partners Jess Adkins and Zack Terrell with the new Cole Bros. Circus that winter, and opened with them for the season of 1935. They added his name to the title for public appeal, and his name appeared in the title of every circus he was on thereafter. He was on Cole Bros. & Clyde Beatty through the 1937 season.

Died On This Date

July 18

Jones, John Paul
b. July 6, 1747 d. July 18, 1792
Father of the American Navy. The Revolutionary War was fought on sea as well as on land. The fledgling Continental Navy was even more ragtag then the Colonies counterpart the army. Although he was a Scott, not an American, John Paul Jones was the first naval hero. He first stalked British ships around the Colonies and then took the war direct to Britain with command of the sloop Ranger.

Died On This Date

July 17

Holiday, Billie
b. April 7, 1915 d. July 17, 1959
Jazz Singer. "Lady Day" (as she was named by Lester Young) had a small voice and did not scat but her innovative behind-the-beat phrasing made her very influential. The emotional intensity that she put into the words she sang (particularly in later years) was memorable because she often really did live the words she sang. Her original name and birthplace have been wrong for years but were finally listed correctly by Donald Clarke's definitive Billie Holiday biography "Wishing on the Moon".

Cobb, Ty
b. December 18, 1886 d. July 17, 1961
Hall of Fame Major League Baseball Player. Ranks as one of Baseball's greatest players, if not the game's fiercest competitor. Everyone knows about his batting records! Ty Cobb grew up in the post Civil War South where racism was the norm. This is not to say that it was right, but it was a given and accepted practice. What shaped Tys' personality more than anything was an incident that happened when he was just 18, just a few sparse weeks before he joined the Tigers.

Spillane, Mickey
b. March 9, 1918 d. July 17, 2006
Author. Real name Frank Morrison Spillane. He is best remembered for creating the hard boiled detective Mike Hammer, who appeared in a series of violent mystery novels beginning with "I, the Jury" (1947). There have been several films adapted from his books and a "Mike Hammer" television series in the 1980s, starring Stacy Keach. Spillane himself played the character in the film "The Girl Hunters" (1963). Prior to writing novels, Spillane wrote for magazines and comic books.

Died On This Date

July 16

Kennedy Jr., John Fitzgerald
b. November 25, 1960 d. July 16, 1999
Son of US president John F. Kennedy. Born at Washington, D.C. John F. Kennedy Jr. was the second child of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier, and brother to Caroline Schlossberg. Known as John-John to the American public, the not-quite-three-year-old boy, Kennedy is famously remembered for saluting the casket of his assassinated father. Kennedy spent most of his growing-up years and adult life in Manhattan, New York City. Cause of death: Plane crash.

Lincoln, Mary Todd
b. December 13, 1818 d. July 16, 1882
Presidential First Lady. She was born to pioneer settlers in Kentucky. When Mary Lincoln was seven, her mother died and her father remarried. She belonged to the aristocracy of Lexington with an excellent social life and a sound private education. Nearly 21, she went to Springfield, Illinois to live with her sister. Here she met Abraham Lincoln. Three years later, after a stormy courtship and a broken engagement, they were married. They were opposites in background and temperament.

Chapin, Harry
b. December 7, 1942 d. July 16, 1981
Singer, Songwriter, Activist. He originally wanted to become a filmaker, and his socially-conscious folk-rock ballads showed a decided flair for storytelling. His signature song, the six-minute "Taxi" (1972), reveals the hard-bitten observations of a cab driver, while "W. O. L. D." (1973) describes the life of a disc jockey. "Cat's in the Cradle" (1974), Chapin's only Number One hit, is about a businessman who realizes too late how he sacrificed his relationship with his son.

Died On This Date

July 15

Pershing, John Joseph 'Black Jack'
b. September 13, 1860 d. July 15, 1948General of the Armies of the United States. Born in Laclede, Missouri, he was the son of a railroad switchman. At 17, he taught in a rural school for black children to earn enough money to pay for his college education at Kirksville Normal School (now Truman State University.) In 1881, answering an advertisement for the United States Military Academy's entrance exam, he sat for the exam and won entry to West Point in 1882.

Bonney, William 'Billy The Kid'
b. November 23, 1859 d. July 15, 1881
Legendary Outlaw. He was born in New York City as Henry McCarty. His mother's name was Catherine McCarty. Not very much information is known about his father except that he died when the Kid was young. Eventually, Catherine moved with the Kid and his brother Joseph to Wichita Kansas. After his first brush with the law, Catherine was diagnosed with tuberculosis and decided to move to New Mexico, where she remarried and died in 1874.

Stratton, Charles Sherwood 'General Tom Thumb'
b. January 4, 1838 d. July 15, 1883Circus Performer. Without question the most famous midget in history. Phineas T. Barnum discovered him, named him "General Tom Thumb" and made him a success, in 1842. When Charles Stratton was born, he was a large baby, weighing a little over nine pounds. He developed normally for a while, reaching 15 pounds and two feet, one inch in length by five months of age, then his growth stopped. By age five he had not grown an inch more, but otherwise he was a completely normal child.

Died On This Date

July 14

Little Turtle, Chief 'Michikinikwa'
b. 1752 d. July 14, 1812 Miami war chief. Born to a Miami chieftain and a Mahican mother in what is present day Indiana, he was given the name Me-she-kin-o-quah. During the American Revolution, frontier fighting brought Little Turtle in conflict with the American ally Augustin Mottin de La Balme who had destroyed Miami villages at Kekionga (present day Ft. Wayne) in November of 1780. At that time, Little Turtle rose to war chief of the Miamis.

Died On This Date

July 13

Buttons (Chwatt), Red (Aaron)
b. February 5, 1919 d. July 13, 2006
Entertainer. His show business career spanned nearly 70 years. Best known as a feisty stand-up comedian with a rapid-fire delivery, he was also a fine character actor in Hollywood films. Buttons won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for "Sayonara" (1957). Born Aaron Chwatt in New York City, the son of Jewish immigrants, he got hooked on performing after winning an Amateur Night contest at age 12. Originally called "Irish" because of his red hair and puckish features.

Died On This Date

July 12

Hamilton, Alexander
b. January 11, 1755 d. July 12, 1804
Founding Father, Statesman. The thirteen states after the Revolutionary War were weak and still separate. Alexander Hamilton was the strong voice calling for a strong united government with a new Constitution and then most instrumental in the formation and convening of the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia which established the United States of America. He was born southeast of Florida on Nevis, a small island making up the group in the Caribbean known as the West Indies.

Madison, Dolley
b. May 20, 1768 d. July 12, 1849
Presidential First Lady. She was the wife of 4th United States President James Madison. Born in New Garden, North Carolina, she married John Todd, Jr., a lawyer, who in 1790 who succumbed to yellow fever, leaving her with a small son, Payne. Her second marriage was to James Madison, who was then serving as a Congressman from Virginia, and was seventeen years her senior.