On this day 1838 poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L., Letitia Elizabeth Landon died from an overdose of prussic acid in Cape Coast Castle on the Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana), aged 36. Born on 14 August 1802 in Chelsea, London.
The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough came with The Improvisatrice and thence she developed the metrical romance towards the Victorian ideal of the Victorian monologue, casting her influence on Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning and Christina Rossetti. Her influence can also be found in Alfred Tennyson and in America, where she was very popular. Poe regarded her genius as self-evident.
In spite of these wide influences, due to the perceived immorality of Landon’s lifestyle, her works were more or less deliberately suppressed and misrepresented after her death.
In October 1836, Landon met George Maclean, governor of the Gold Coast (now Ghana), at a dinner party, and the two began a relationship. Maclean, however, moved to Scotland early the following year, to the surprise and distress of Landon. After much prodding, Maclean returned to England and he and Landon were married shortly thereafter, on 7 June 1838. In early July, the couple sailed for Cape Coast, where they arrived on 16 August. Maclean was hot-tempered, and Landon’s married life was unhappy.
The Final Footprint – Landon was found dead, a bottle of prussic acid in her hand. This was a prescription labelled ‘Acid Hydrocianicum Delatum, Pharm. London 1836. Medium Dose Five Minims, being about one third the strength of that in former use, prepared by Scheele’s proof’. That she was poisoned thereby was an assumption. There is evidence that she showed symptoms of Stokes–Adams syndrome (for one, Mrs Elwood writes that she was subject to spasms, hysterical affections, and deep and instantaneous fainting fits) for which the dilute acid was the standard remedy and, as she told her husband it was so necessary for the preservation of her life, it would appear she had been told that her life was in danger. William Cobbald, the surgeon who attended, reported that ‘she was insensible with the pupils of both eyes much dilated’, an almost certain indication that a seizure had occurred. No autopsy was carried out (there being no qualified pathologist available) but from the eye-witness accounts it has been argued that Landon suffered a fatal convulsion. On the evening of her death she was buried in the courtyard of Cape Coast Castle.
On this day in 1917, exotic dancer and courtesan Mata Hari died by firing squad after being convicted of being a spy for Germany in World War I, Vincennes, Paris, at the age of 41. Born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle on 7 August 1876 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands.
She defiantly blew a kiss to the firing squad. Zelle has often been portrayed as a femme fatale, the dangerous, seductive woman who uses her sexuality to effortlessly manipulate men, but others view her differently: in the words of the American historians Norman Polmer and Thomas Allen she was “naïve and easily duped”, a victim of men rather than a victimizer.
At 18, Zelle answered an advertisement in a Dutch newspaper placed by Dutch Colonial Army Captain Rudolf MacLeod (1 March 1856 – 9 January 1928), who was living in what was then the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and was looking for a wife. Zelle married MacLeod in Amsterdam on 11 July 1895. The marriage enabled her to move into the Dutch upper class, and her finances were placed on a sound footing. They moved to Malang on the east side of the island of Java, traveling out on SS Prinses Amalia in May 1897, and had two children, Norman-John MacLeod (30 January 1897 – 27 June 1899) and Louise Jeanne MacLeod (2 May 1898 – 10 August 1919).
The marriage was an overall disappointment. MacLeod was an alcoholic and regularly beat his wife, who was twenty years younger and whom he blamed for his lack of promotion. He also openly kept a concubine, a socially accepted practice in the Dutch East Indies at that time. The disenchanted Zelle abandoned him temporarily, moving in with Van Rheedes, another Dutch officer. She studied the Indonesian traditions intensively for several months and joined a local dance company during that time. In correspondence to her relatives in the Netherlands in 1897, she revealed her artistic name of Mata Hari, the word for “sun” in the local Malay language (literally, “eye of the day”).
Performing in 1905
In 1903, Zelle moved to Paris, where she performed as a circus horse rider using the name Lady MacLeod, much to the disapproval of the Dutch MacLeods. Struggling to earn a living, she also posed as an artist’s model.
By 1905, Mata Hari began to win fame as an exotic dancer. She was a contemporary of dancers Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis, leaders in the early modern dance movement, which around the turn of the 20th century looked to Asia and Egypt for artistic inspiration.
Promiscuous, flirtatious, and openly flaunting her body, Mata Hari captivated her audiences and was an overnight success from the debut of her act at the Musée Guimet on 13 March 1905. She became the long-time mistress of the millionaire Lyon industrialist Émile Étienne Guimet, who had founded the Musée. She posed as a Javanese princess of priestly Hindu birth, pretending to have been immersed in the art of sacred Indian dance since childhood. She was photographed numerous times during this period, nude or nearly so.
in 1906
1910
In Amsterdam, 1915
During World War I, the Netherlands remained neutral. As a Dutch subject, Zelle was thus able to cross national borders freely. To avoid the battlefields, she travelled between France and the Netherlands via Spain and Britain, and her movements inevitably attracted attention. During the war, Zelle was involved in what was described as a very intense romantic-sexual relationship with a Russian pilot serving with the French, the twenty-five year old Captain Vadim Maslov, whom she called the love of her life.
In the summer of 1916, Maslov was shot down and badly wounded during a dogfight with the Germans, losing his sight in both eyes, which led Zelle to ask for permission to visit her wounded lover at the hospital where he was staying near the front. As a citizen of a neutral country, Zelle would not normally be allowed near the front. Zelle was met by agents from the Deuxième Bureau who told her that she would only be allowed to see Maslov if she agreed to spy on Germany.
In January 1917, Major Kalle transmitted radio messages to Berlin describing the helpful activities of a German spy code-named H-21, whose biography so closely matched Zelle’s that it was patently obvious that Agent H-21 could only be Mata Hari. The Deuxième Bureau intercepted the messages and, from the information they contained, identified H-21 as Mata Hari. The messages were in a code that German intelligence knew had already been broken by the French, suggesting that the messages were contrived to have Zelle arrested by the French.
At her arrest
On 13 February 1917, Mata Hari was arrested in her room at the Hotel Elysée Palace on the Champs Elysées in Paris. She was put on trial on 24 July, accused of spying for Germany, and consequently causing the deaths of at least 50,000 soldiers. Although the French and British intelligence suspected her of spying for Germany, neither could produce definite evidence against her. Supposedly secret ink was found in her room, which was incriminating evidence in that period. She contended that it was part of her makeup.
A harlot? Yes, but a traitor, never!
— Phrase attributed to Mata Hari during the trial.
awaiting death by firing squad. It is not known whether this is actually an image from the execution or if it is a recreation.
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Mata Hari’s body was not claimed by any family members and was accordingly used for medical study. Her head was embalmed and kept in the Museum of Anatomy in Paris. In 2000, archivists discovered that it had disappeared, possibly as early as 1954, when the museum had been relocated. It remains missing. Records dated from 1918 show that the museum also received the rest of the body, but none of the remains could later be accounted for.
On this day in 1964 composer and songwriter Cole Porter died of kidney failure in Santa Monica, California at the age of 73. Born Cole Albert Porter on 9 June 1891 in Peru, Indiana. In my opinion, one of the greatest contributors to the Great American Songbook. He wrote both the lyrics and the music for his songs. My favorite Porter songs are: “Let’s do it, let’s Fall in Love”, “I Get a Kick out of You”, “You’re the Top”, “Don’t Fence Me In”, “It’s De-Lovely”, “I’ve got You under My Skin”, “You’d be so Nice to Come Home To”, “Too Darn Hot”. Porter met Linda Lee Thomas on 30 January 1918 at a wedding at the Hotel Ritz Paris. They were married on 18 December 1919 in Paris. They were married until her death in 1954.
The Final Footprint – Porter is interred in the Porter Family Estate in Mount Hope Cemetery in Peru, Indiana between his wife and his father. His grave is marked with an upright granite marker
Porter Family Estate
On this day in 1976 mafioso, boss of the Gambino crime family, Don Carlo, Capo di tutti capi (Boss of Bosses), The Godfather, Carlo Gambino died of a heart attack at his home (watching the New York Yankees) in Massapequa, New York at the age of 74. Born 24 August 1902 in Caccamo, Palermo, Sicily, Italy. In 1931, Charles “Lucky” Luciano created The Commission to avoid mafia warfare. The Five Families were formed at this time with Luciano head of the Luciano family, Joseph Bonnano head of the Bonnano family, Joseph Profaci head of the Profaci family, Gaetano Gagliano head of the Gagliano family and Vincent Mangano head of the Mangano family. In the Mangano family, Albert Anastasia served as underboss and Gambino served as caporegime. On 19 April 1951 Mangano’s brother was found murdered and Mangano vanished and was never found. Anastasia became boss of the Mangano family with Gambino as his underboss. Anastasia was murdered on 25 October 1957 and Gambino became head of the Mangano family which was then renamed the Gambino family. He would later become head of the Commission and thus the Boss of Bosses.
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Gambino is entombed in the Gambino private room in the mausoleum at Saint John Cemetery in Middle Village, New York.
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The Final Footprint – Flynn is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. His grave is marked by a single flat bronze marker. Other notable Final Footprints at Forest Lawn Glendale include; L. Frank Baum, Humphrey Bogart, Lon Chaney, Nat King Cole, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis, Jr., Jean Harlow, Sam Cooke, Walt Disney, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Michael Jackson, Carole Lombard, Tom Mix, Casey Stengel, Jimmy Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor, and Spencer Tracy.
On this day in 1977, singer and actor Bing Crosby died of a heart attack at the age of 74 on a golf course in La Moraleja, Spain, near Madrid. Born Harry Lillis Crosby, Jr. on 3 May 1903 in Tacoma, Washington. Crosby’s trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century. A multimedia star, from 1934 to 1954 in records, radio, and motion pictures. Yank magazine recognized Crosby as the person who had done the most for American G.I. morale during World War II. Along with Frank Sinatra, Crosby was one of the principal backers behind the famous United Western Recorders recording studio complex in Los Angeles. Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Father Chuck O’Malley in the 1944 motion picture Going My Way, and was nominated for his reprise of the role in The Bells of St. Mary’s opposite Ingrid Bergman the next year, becoming the first of four actors to be nominated twice for playing the same character. Crosby starred with Bob Hope and actress Dorothy Lamour in seven Road to musical comedies between 1940 and 1962, cementing the two entertainers as an on-and-off duo. In 1963, Crosby received the first Grammy Global Achievement Award. Crosby is one of the 22 people to have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (a star for motion pictures, radio, and audio recording). Crosby was married twice; singer Dixie Lee (1930 – 1952 her death) and Kathryn Grant (1957 – 1977 his death).
The Final Footprint – Reportedly his last words were “That was a great game of golf, fellas.” Crosby is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California. Note the incorrect birth year on the marker. Other notable final footprints at Holy Cross include; John Candy, Jimmy Durante, John Ford, Rita Hayworth, Chick Hearn, Conrad Hilton, Jr., Mario Lanza, Bela Lugosi, Al Martino, Audrey Meadows, Ricardo Montalbán, Chris Penn, Jo Stafford, and Sharon Tate.
On this day in 1990, composer, conductor, author, music lecturer, and pianist Leonard Bernstein died from a heart attack at his apartment The Dakota in Manhattan at the age of 72. Born Louis Bernstein on August 25, 1918 in 
On this day in 2006, singer, musician Freddy Fender died from 
On this day in 2009, United States Navy veteran, singer and actor Al Martino died at his childhood home in Springfield, Pennsylvania, six days after his 82nd birthday. Born Jasper Cini in Philadelphia on 7 October 1927. The name Jasper was an anglicisation of his father’s name, Gasparino. His parents were immigrants from Abruzzo, Italy. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as “one of the great Italian American pop crooners”. He became well known as an actor, particularly for his role as singer Johnny Fontane in Francis Ford Coppola’s film versions of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather.
The Final Footprint – Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Other notable final footprints at Holy Cross include; John Candy, Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante, John Ford, Chick Hearn, Rita Hayworth, Mario Lanza, Bela Lugosi, Audrey Meadows, Ricardo Montalbán, Chris Penn, Jo Stafford, and Sharon Tate.
On this day in 1924, French poet, journalist, and novelist Anatole France died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, France at the age of 80. Born François-Anatole Thibault on 16 April 1844 in Paris. He was a successful novelist, with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. France was a member of the Académie française, and won the Nobel Prize for Literaturein recognition of his literary achievements. He is also believed to be the model for narrator Marcel’s literary idol Bergotte in Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. In 1877, Anatole France married Valérie Guérin de Sauville (1877 – 1893 divorce). France’s relations with women were always turbulent, and in 1888 he began a relationship with Madame Arman de Caillavet, who conducted a celebrated literary salon of the Third Republic. The affair lasted until shortly before her death in 1910. After his divorce, he had many liaisons, notably with Mme. Gagey, who committed suicide in 1911. France married again, Emma Laprévotte in 1920.
The Final Footprint – France is buried in the Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery. The Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemeteries in the Hauts-de-Seine département of France are in the western suburbs of Paris, between Paris and La Défense. The first is called cimetière ancien (Old Cemetery) and is to be found in Neuilly; the second (New Cemetery) is to be found in Nanterre, near La Défense, but belongs to Neuilly. It is called cimetière nouveau.
On this day in 1940, The King of the Cowboys, actor Tom Mix died in a car accident near Florence, Arizona at the age of 60. Born Thomas Hezikiah Mix on January 6, 1880 in Mix Run Pennsylvania. The star of many early Western movies between 1909 and 1935, Mix appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent movies. He was Hollywood’s first Western star and helped define the genre as it emerged in the early days of the cinema.
His funeral took place at the Little Church of the Flowers in Glendale, California, on October 16, 1940, and was attended by thousands of fans and Hollywood personalities. He was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery Glendale. Other notable Final Footprints at Forest Lawn Glendale include; L. Frank Baum, Humphrey Bogart, Lon Chaney, Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis, Jr., Walt Disney, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Michael Jackson, Carole Lombard, Casey Stengel, Jimmy Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor, and Spencer Tracy
On this day in 1997, singer/songwriter, actor, activist, poet John Denver died at the age of 53 when his experimental Rutan Long-EZ plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Pacific Grove, California, while making a series of touch-and-go landings at the nearby Monterey Peninsula Airport. Born Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. on 31 December 1943 in Roswell, New Mexico. My all time favorite John Denver song is Wild Montana Skies. Oh, to be there now astride a fine, stout horse.
The Final Footprint – Upon announcement of Denver’s death, Colorado governor Roy Romer ordered all state flags to be lowered to half staff in his honor. Funeral services were held at Faith Presbyterian Church in Aurora, Colorado, on 17 October 1997, being officiated by Pastor Les Felker, a retired Air Force chaplain. Later, Denver’s ashes were scattered in the Rocky Mountains. Further tributes were made at the following Grammys and Country Music Association Awards. On 23 September 2007, nearly ten years after his death, his brother Ron witnessed the dedication of a plaque placed near the crash-site in Pacific Grove, California, commemorating the singer.
On this day in 1963, French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker Jean Cocteau died of a heart attack at his chateau in Milly-la-Forêt, Essonne, France, at the age of 74. It is said that upon hearing of the death of his friend, the French singer Édith Piaf the previous day, Cocteau choked so badly that his heart failed. Born Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau on 5 July 1889 in Maisons-Laffitte, Yvelines, a village near Paris. Perhaps best known for his novel Les Enfants terribles (1929), and the films Blood of a Poet (1930), Les Parents terribles (1948), Beauty and the Beast (1946), and Orpheus (1949). His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Pablo Picasso, Jean Marais, Yul Brynner, Marlene Dietrich, and Coco Chanel. Marais was his muse and lover for over 25 years.
The Final Footprint – He is buried beneath the floor of the Chapelle Saint Blaise Des Simples in Milly-la-Forêt. The epitaph on his gravestone set in the floor of the chapel reads: “I stay with you” (“Je reste avec vous”).
On this day in 1991, stand-up comedian and actor, Redd Foxx died from a heart attack in Queen Of Angels Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, Los Angeles at the age of 68. Born John Elroy Sanford on December 9, 1922 in St. Louis, Missouri. Perhaps best remembered for his explicit comedy records and his starring role on the 1970s sitcom Sanford and Son. Foxx gained notoriety with his raunchy nightclub acts during the 1950s and 1960s. Known as the “King of the Party Records”, he performed on more than 50 records in his lifetime. He also starred in Sanford, The Redd Foxx Show and The Royal Family. His film projects included All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960), Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970), Norman… Is That You?(1976) and Harlem Nights (1989).
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On this day in 1963, French singer and cultural icon Édith Piaf died of liver cancer at age 47 at her villa in Plascassier (Grasse), on the French Riviera, the day before filmmaker and friend Jean Cocteau died. Born Édith Giovanna Gassion on 19 December 1915 in Belleville, Paris. Widely regarded as France’s national diva, as well as being one of France’s greatest international stars. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads. Among her songs are “La Vie en rose” (1946), “Non, je ne regrette rien” (1960), “Hymne à l’amour” (1949), “Milord” (1959), “La Foule” (1957), “l’Accordéoniste” (1955), and “Padam… Padam…” (1951). Reportedly, the love of Piaf’s life, the married boxer Marcel Cerdan, died in a plane crash in October 1949, while flying from Paris to New York City to meet Piaf. Cerdan’s Air France flight, flown on a Lockheed Constellation, crashed in the Azores, killing everyone on board, including noted violinist Ginette Neveu. Piaf and Cerdan’s affair made international headlines, as Cerdan was the former middleweight world champion and a legend in France in his own right. Piaf married Jacques Pills (1952 – 1957 divorce) and Théo Sarapo (1962 – 1963 her death).
The Final Footprint – Apparently, her last words were “Every damn fool thing you do in this life, you pay for.” It is said that her body was driven back to Paris secretly so that fans would think she had died in her hometown. She is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris next to her daughter Marcelle, where her grave is among the most visited. Although she was denied a funeral mass by the Roman Catholic archbishop of Paris because of her lifestyle, her funeral procession drew tens of thousands of mourners onto the streets of Paris and the ceremony at the cemetery was attended by more than 100,000 fans. Charles Aznavour recalled that Piaf’s funeral procession was the only time since the end of World War II that he saw Parisian traffic come to a complete stop. In Paris, a two-room museum is dedicated to her, the Musée Édith Piaf (5, Rue Crespin du Gast). La Vie en Rose (2007), a film about her life directed by Olivier Dahan, debuted at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2007. Titled La Môme in France, the film stars Marion Cotillard in the role that won her the Academy Award for Best Actress (Oscar), as Piaf. David Bret’s 1988 biography, Piaf, A Passionate Life, was re-released by JR Books to coincide with the film’s release. Piaf’s song “Non, je ne regrette rien” appears recurringly throughout the film Inception (2010), and Hans Zimmer reworked pieces of the song into cues of the score. Inception featured Leonardo DiCaprio as Cobb and Cotillard as Mal. Other notable Final Footprints at Père Lachaise include; Guillaume Apollinaire, Honoré de Balzac, Georges Bizet, Jean-Dominique Bauby, Maria Callas, Frédéric Chopin, Colette, Auguste Comte, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Max Ernst, Molière, Jim Morrison, Camille Pissarro, Marcel Proust, Sully Prudhomme, Gioachino Rossini, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Simone Signoret, Gertrude Stein, Dorothea Tanning, Alice B. Toklas, Oscar Wilde, and Richard Wright.
On this day in 1985, Oscar winning actor Yul Brynner died in New York City at the age of 65 from lung cancer. Born Yuliy Borisovich Bryner on 11 July 1920 in Vladivostok, Russia. Perhaps best known for his portrayal of the King of Siam in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won two Tony Awards and an Academy Award for the film version; he played the role 4,625 times on stage. He is also remembered as Rameses II in the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille blockbuster The Ten Commandments, General Bounine in the 1956 film Anastasia and Chris Adams in The Magnificent Seven. Brynner was noted for his distinctive voice and for his shaved head, which he maintained as a personal trademark long after adopting it in 1951 for his role in The King and I. Of course, my favorite movie he starred in is The Magnificent Seven (1960).
The Final Footprint – Brynner is buried on the grounds of the Saint-Michel-de-Bois-Aubry Russian Orthodox monastery, not far from Luze, between Tours and Poitiers, Vienne, France.
On this day in 1985, actor, director, writer, and producer, Orson Welles died from a heart attack at his home in Hollywood at the age of 70. Born George Orson Welles on May 6, 1915 in Welles worked in theatre, radio, and film. He is remembered for his innovative work in all three: in theatre, most notably Caesar (1937), a Broadway adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar; in radio, the legendary 1938 broadcast “The War of the Worlds”; and in film, Citizen Kane (1941), consistently ranked as one of the greatest films ever made.
On this day in 2004, actor Christopher Reeved died from sepsis, a complication of paralysis, in 
On this day in 2010, 
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On this day in 1911, distiller and the founder of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey distillery, Jack Daniel died from blood poisoning in Lynchburg, Tennessee at the age of 62. The infection allegedly set up originally in a toe, which Daniel injured in kicking his safe in anger when he could not get it open early one morning at work (he apparently had trouble remembering the combination). This incident was the subject of a marketing poster used on the London Underground in January 2006, with the line “Moral: Never go to work early.” A common joke that is told during the tour of the distillery is that all Jack had to do to cure his infection was to dip his toe in a glass of his own whiskey to clean it. Born Jasper Newton Daniel on 5 September 1850 in Lynchburg. Daniel never married. Prior to his death he gave the distillery to his nephew and bookkeeper, Lem Motlow.
The Final Footprint – Daniel is interred in the Lynchburg City Cemetery. Jack Daniel’s is a brand of sour mash Tennessee whiskey that is one of the highest selling American whiskeys in the world. It is known for its square bottles and black label. It is produced in Lynchburg, by the Jack Daniel Distillery, which has been owned by the Brown-Forman Corporation since 1956. Despite being the location of a major operational distillery, Jack Daniel’s home county of Moore is a dry county, so the product is not available for consumption at stores or restaurants within the county. Although the product generally meets the regulatory criteria for classification as a straight bourbon, the company disavows this classification and markets it simply as Tennessee whiskey rather than as Tennessee bourbon. Frank Sinatra was widely known as a Jack Daniel’s drinker. He was famously buried with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Old Number 7 in 1998. A line from Dean Martin‘s song I Love Vegas states “I love Vegas, like Sinatra loves Jack Daniels.” The George Jones‘ song “A whole lotta trouble for you” mentions “Jack Daniel’s makes a good whiskey”. The George Thorogood song “I Drink Alone” mentions “So I called up my pal Jack Daniel’s and his partner Jimmy Beam”. In the movie Animal House, the character John “Bluto” Blutarsky can be seen chugging an entire bottle of Old No. 7. In the movie Scent of a Woman, Al Pacino‘s character refers to filling a hotel room with John Daniels. “When you’ve known him as long as I have…” In the movie National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Clark asks his father how he got through the holidays, and he replies “I had a lot of help from Jack Daniel’s”. In the film The Shining, Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson, is seen drinking Jack Daniel’s in the hotel bar, served by the ghostly bartender Lloyd. The French singer Orelsan in “Ils sont cools” includes the line “Passe la tise que je me Jack Danise” (which can be translated as “Give me the alcohol so I can be Jack Danieled”). The cover of the book The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band, an autobiography collectively written by the members of the rock band Mötley Crüe, includes a bottle design based on that of Jack Daniel’s whiskey. Hank Williams Jr. mentions Jack Daniels in his song “Dixie On My Mind” singing “The people here don’t sip Jack Daniel’s whiskey, the way they do in that Tennessee mountain land.” The 1979 David Allen Coe song “Jack Daniels if you please” contains the line “Jack Daniels if you please, knock me to my knees”. The Drive-By Truckers song “Dead, Drunk, And Naked” has the lyric “Me and old Jack Daniel’s, become the best of friends. We got all them Baptists to die for our sins. I know the lord is coming. The South will rise again!” The Liane Edwards Band, popular country band from France, directly refers to the brand name in their song “Jack”, ( My Best Friend’s Name is) “Jack” . ” He was born down in Lynchburg… My best friend’s name is Jack, he may be your best friend too, when you drain him to his last drop, I’ll be glad to share my friend with you…” The Charlie Daniels Band album Way Down Yonder depicts bottles of Jack Daniel’s on its cover art. The character Barnes in Oliver Stone‘s 1986 film Platoon is drinking from a Jack Daniel’s bottle when he drunkenly berates Taylor and his group.
On his day in 1967, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist Che Guevara was executed by gunfire in 
On this day in 1978 singer and actor Jacques Brel died of a pulmonary embolism at hospital Avicenne in Bobigny near Paris at the age of 49. Born Jacques Romain Georges Brel on 8 April 1929 in Schaerbeek, Brussels, Belgium. He composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, later throughout the world. He is considered a master of the modern chanson.
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On this day in 1995, University of Texas Ex, political activist, historian, professor, rancher, cowboy J. Evetts Haley died in Midland, Texas at the age of 94. Born James Evetts Haley on 5 July, 1901 in Belton, Texas.
And on this day in 2014, actress and comedienne Jan Hooks died from throat cancer at her home in Woodstock, New York, at the age of 57. Born Janet Vivian Hooks on April 23, 1957 in Decatur, Georgia. Perhaps best known for her work on Saturday Night Live, where she was a repertory player from 1986 to 1991, and continued making cameo appearances until 1994. Her subsequent work included a regular role on the final two seasons of Designing Women, a recurring role on 3rd Rock from the Sun and a number of other roles in film and television including on Tina Fey’s NBC show 30 Rock and The Simpsons.
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The Final Footprint– Hackett is entombed in the Sanctuary of Faith corridor in the Abbey of the Psalms mausoleum at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California. Along with her name and birth and death years, her bronze crypt plate reads:
And on this day in 2015, chef Paul Prudhomme died in New Orleans at the age of 75. Born on July 13, 1940 in Opelousas, Louisiana. His specialties were Creole and Cajun cuisines, which he was also credited with popularizing. He was the chef proprietor of K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans, and had formerly owned and run several other restaurants. He developed several culinary products, including hot sauce and seasoning mixes, and wrote 11 cookbooks.
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There is an upright engraved granite monument marking his original grave. The inscription reads in part; “Quoth the Raven, Nevermore”. His current burial space is marked by a large upright marble monument. Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography. Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. A number of his homes are dedicated museums today. The Mystery Writers of America present an annual award known as the Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre. Every year on the anniversary of his birth from about 1949 until 2009, “The Poe Toaster” would appear at his grave and drink a cognac toast and leave three roses.
On this day in 1892, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS and poet laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson died in Haslemere, Surrey at the age of 83. Born Alfred Tennyson in Somersby, Lincolnshire on 6 August 1809. Tennyson was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria’s reign and probably remains one of the most popular British poets. Tennyson excelled at penning short lyrics, such as “Break, Break, Break”, “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, “Tears, Idle Tears” and “Crossing the Bar”. Much of his verse was based on classical mythological themes, such as Ulysses, although In Memoriam A.H.H. was written to commemorate his best friend Arthur Hallam, a fellow poet and fellow student at Trinity College, Cambridge, who was engaged to Tennyson’s sister, but died from a brain haemorrhage before they could marry. Tennyson also wrote some notable blank verse including Idylls of the King, “Ulysses”, and “Tithonus”. A number of phrases from Tennyson’s work have become commonplaces of the English language, including “Nature, red in tooth and claw“, “‘Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all“, “Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die“, “My strength is as the strength of ten, / Because my heart is pure“, “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield“, “Knowledge comes, but Wisdom lingers“, and “The old order changeth, yielding place to new“. Tennyson is one of the most frequently quoted writers in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Tennyson married Emily Sarah Sellwood (1850 – 1892 his death). One of my favorite poets. An excerpt from his poem In Memoriam A.H.H.: I hold it true, whate’er befall;/I feel it when I sorrow most;/’Tis better to have loved and lost/Than never to have loved at all.
The Final Footprint – Tennyson was entombed in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey in Westminster. A memorial was erected in All Saints’ Church, Freshwater. His last words were; “Oh that press will have me now!” A statue of Tennyson was erected in Trinity College, Cambridge. Other notable Final Footprints at Westminster include; Robert Browning, Lord Byron, Geoffrey Chaucer, Oliver Cromwell, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Edward The Confessor, Elizabeth I, George II, George Friederic Handel, Steven Hawking, James I (James VI of Scotland), Samuel Johnson, Ben Jonson, Charles II, Edward III, Edward VI, Henry III, Henry V, Henry VII, Richard II, Rudyard Kipling, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Milton, Sir Isaac Newton, Laurence Olivier, Henry Purcell, Mary I, Mary II, Mary Queen of Scots, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Dylan Thomas, and William III.
On this day in 1989, Academy Award winning actress Bette Davis died at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France from breast cancer at the age of 81. Born Ruth Elizabeth Davis in Lowell, Massachusetts on April 5, 1908. In my opinion, one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history. Davis was known for her willingness to play unsympathetic, sardonic characters and was reputed for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, although her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas.
