Curated playlist
2009 deaths
- Michael JacksonMichael Jackson bought a music catalog with most of the Beatles's material in 1985. He paid 47.5 million dollars.
- Richard PoirierLiterary critic Richard Poirier signed a 1968 pledge to refuse federal taxes. It was a protest against the Vietnam War.
- Susan AtkinsOn the 24th of September 2009, Susan Atkins died at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla. Her husband, James Whitehouse, told reporters that her last whispered word was "Amen." At that moment she was California's…
- Chuck DalyChuck Daly was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame twice. The second came after his death, for the Dream Team.
- Allen KleinFormer Beatles manager Allen Klein bought a song company and became the plaintiff suing George Harrison.
- Walter CronkiteWalter Cronkite took off his glasses and told America President Kennedy had died.
- Claude Lévi-StraussClaude Lévi-Strauss died in 2009, and for four days the world did not know.
- Paul SamuelsonPaul Samuelson said he was born as an economist at age sixteen. It happened in a 1932 Chicago lecture on Malthus.
- Al CerviAl Cervi lost his Rochester job over a $3,500 raise request. He then coached Syracuse to a title.
- John Allen MuhammadJohn Allen Muhammad was pronounced dead at 9:11 p.m. on the 10th of November 2009. The place was the Greensville Correctional Center, near Jarratt, Virginia. Seven years earlier, in 2002, shootings attributed to him and a young partner…
- Brittany MurphyBrittany Murphy stood on the stage of the 2003 Independent Spirit Awards with a very simple job. She was to read the names of five nominees, open an envelope and announce the winner. Instead, the American actress and singer turned the…
- Heinz EdelmannHeinz Edelmann was expelled from Czechoslovakia at twelve, then designed Yellow Submarine.
- John Patrick DigginsHistorian John Patrick Diggins called Ronald Reagan one of the great presidents.
- Kaoru KurimotoKaoru Kurimoto won two major literary prizes in two years under two names. Both were the same woman.
- Ray SolomonoffRay Solomonoff's idea was matched by a Russian mathematician five years later, and the Russian got the credit.
- Hans HolzerHans Holzer wrote more than 120 books, and every one was about ghosts and the afterlife. He was born in Vienna in 1920.
- Dave ArnesonDave Arneson's Blackmoor game had a tank, submarines and steam power. It also introduced hit points.
- I. J. GoodAlan Turing once stopped speaking to a codebreaker for napping on the floor.
- Sergey MikhalkovSergey Mikhalkov wrote a friendly giant policeman for children, then anthems for two countries.