Curated playlist
2013 deaths
- Nelson MandelaNelson Mandela wore a Springbok shirt to the 1995 Rugby World Cup final. He gave the trophy to an Afrikaner captain.
- D. Brainerd HolmesD. Brainerd Holmes was hired in 1961 to lead NASA's crewed spaceflight program. He oversaw Mercury.
- Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher kept a portrait of her chemistry tutor on the wall at 10 Downing Street.
- Roger EbertRoger Ebert typed his last blog post two days before he died. He signed off with "I'll see you at the movies."
- Peter O'ToolePeter O'Toole asked the Academy to wait when it offered him an honorary Oscar. He hoped to win the award outright.
- Djalma SantosDjalma Santos sat out the 1958 World Cup until the final, then made the All-Star Team. Brazil beat Sweden 5-2.
- James GandolfiniJames Gandolfini once stopped in the middle of an audition and walked out. David Chase, creator of The Sopranos, told the story to The Guardian in a 2013 interview. Gandolfini felt that he "didn't prepare right." Later that night he…
- David LandesBefore he taught at Harvard, David Landes decoded Japanese messages.
- A. K. WarderA. K. Warder's 1963 Pali primer treated Pali as its own language, not a weaker form of Sanskrit.
- James M. BuchananEconomist James M. Buchanan argued that politicians act from self-interest like everyone else.
- Richard RamirezRichard Ramirez was an American burglar, sex offender and serial killer who terrorized Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. A California judge, upholding nineteen death sentences against him, said his deeds showed "cruelty,…
- Ronald CoaseRonald Coase faced twenty skeptical senior economists in 1960 and gradually won them over.
- Ossie SchectmanOssie Schectman scored the first basket in what became the NBA. He did it for the Knicks in Toronto on November 1, 1946.
- Jack VanceJack Vance memorized an eye chart to join the Merchant Marine. He later kept writing novels after going legally blind.
- Colin WilsonColin Wilson finished his book The Outsider while sleeping rough on Hampstead Heath.
- Lawrence KleinLawrence Klein's model correctly predicted a postwar boom when many expected a depression.
- Tony SheridanTony Sheridan is the only non-Beatle to sing lead on a charting Beatles single.
- Harold Hunter (basketball)Harold Hunter became the first African American to sign with an NBA team, then was cut weeks later.