Welcome to the ‘spot the celebrity edition’ of the Dead Pool Newsletter! Yup, some fairly unknown ‘stars’ have died this week, looks like this week is historically a quiet week too. Anyhow, plenty to read, and an Olympic special at the end too, as I like to be on point sometimes. 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Bobby Eaton, 62, American professional wrestler (JCP, WCW, SMW).  
• Terry Davies, 87, Welsh rugby union player (Swansea, British and Irish Lions, national team).  
• Reg Gorman, 89, Australian actor (The Sullivans, Fergus McPhail, Neighbours), cancer. 
• Brad Allan, 48, Australian martial artist, action choreographer, and stunt performer (Rush Hour 2, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Solo: A Star Wars Story).  
• Markie Post, 70, American actress (Night Court, The Fall Guy, Hearts Afire), cancer.  
• Dennis Thomas, 70, American saxophonist (Kool & the Gang).
• Carolyn S. Shoemaker, 92, American astronomer, co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9.

In Other News

Kathy Griffin has revealed she has cancer and is about to have half of her left lung removed. The American comedian made the announcement on Twitter on Monday. Griffin told her followers that doctors are “optimistic” the surgery will be a success as she was diagnosed with stage one cancer, which was “contained” to her left lung. “Yes, I have lung cancer even though I’ve never smoked!” she wrote. “Hopefully no chemo or radiation after this and I should have normal function with my breathing.” Griffin said that she “should be up and running around as usual in a month or less”, assuring her fans she is “gonna be just fine”. The actor and TV personality also said she was “fully vaccinated for Covid”, adding: “The consequences for being unvaccinated would have been even more serious.” She told her fans to “stay up to date” on medical checks as doing this “saved” her life. Following her announcement, Griffin’s fans sent love and best wishes to the comedian. Griffin’s comedy career began in the late 1980s, when she joined the Los Angeles improvisational troupe The Groundlings. She has led numerous standup specials for HBO and Bravo. Following her 16th special for bravo, she broke the world record for having the most number of television specials broadcast on a single network.   

Former My 600lb Life star and TikTok dancer Gina Marie Krasley has died at the age of 30. The sad news was confirmed by her family, who shared that she died at her home in Tuckerton, New Jersey on August 1st. Their tribute went on to share her love of dancing and made reference to a movie role from when she was younger, but there was no mention of her time on the TLC reality show. It continued: ‘Born in Galloway, NJ, Gina has been a lifelong resident of Ocean County, living in Forked River, Barnegat and Tuckerton for the last 6 years. Her greatest passion was dancing and she would make up dances with her sister and kids in the neighbourhood growing up. She started the “dancing has no size limit” TikTok trend and she dreamed of one day opening up a dance studio for special needs children. Gina once appeared in a movie when she was younger called Walking to the Waterline and she enjoyed playing video games and spending time with her family.’ Her cause of death has not been shared. Krasley’s popularity on TikTok saw her amass over 200,000 followers on the video clip sharing platform, where she shared her dancing videos. According to reports, her death came just weeks after she revealed she was struggling with an unidentified illness that had left her fingers numb and her legs in pain, rendering her immobile. Krasely appeared on season eight of My 600lb Life, with her episode airing last January, as she sought help from bariatric doctor Younan Nowzaradan at his Texas clinic. During the show, she revealed that she had turned to comfort eating after struggling with the attention her older sister Ali received when she was diagnosed with agoraphobia at the age of 11. Krasely was seven-years-old at that time and by early high school weighed more than 300lbs, before later reaching over 600lbs.  

Hugh Jackman, 52, took to social media to share a health update earlier this week. The Wolverine actor admitted he has had yet another skin biopsy after a cancer scan as he urged his followers to be vigilant. Posting a video on Twitter to his 14.5 million followers, Hugh shared the news. In the short clip, he could be seen wearing a mask which he then pulled down to show a plaster on his nose. He said: “Hey guys, I just want to let you know, I just went to see Lisa and Trevor, my amazing dermatologists and doctors. They saw something that was a little irregular, so they took a biopsy and they’re getting it checked. So if you see a shot of me with this on, do not freak out. Thanks for being concerned, I’ll let you know what’s going on. But they think it’s probably fine.” He then added: “Just remember, go get it checked and wear sunscreen. Hugh has previously undergone treatment for basal cell carcinoma in 2017. Basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of skin cancer and arises from the abnormal, uncontrolled growth of basal cells.  

The Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has had to undergo a procedure this week which was “completely successful”, but has unfortunately left him unable to take part in the band’s upcoming tour in America. The musician, who turned 80 in June, stepped down on the advice of his doctors, revealing that his recuperation may “take a while”. In order to avoid delaying the tour any further, Charlie has asked musician Steve Jordan to replace him. “For once, my timing has been a little off,” Charlie said of the disappointing news. Earlier this morning, the band announced that the tour, which was previously postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, will still go ahead. Their official Twitter account wished Charlie a “speedy recovery” and shared further details. “We’re sure you’ll all join us in wishing Charlie a speedy recovery,” the band tweeted, in view of their 3.4 million followers. All 2021 tour dates will go ahead as planned,” the caption continued alongside a statement. “Charlie has had a procedure this week which was completely successful, but I gather his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation. With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it’s very disappointing to say the least, but it’s also fair to say no one saw this coming,” a spokesman for the drummer said. Charlie added: “I am working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while.  

Val Kilmer’s children have given an update on their father’s recovery from throat cancer, calling the process ‘gruelling’. The 61-year-old actor was diagnosed with stage four cancer in 2015, after a tumour burst, and later got two tracheotomies, which affect his ability to speak clearly. In 2017, Kilmer said he had experienced ‘a healing of cancer’, and last year shared that he had been cancer-free for four years after his tracheotomies and chemotherapy.  His children Mercedes and Jack appeared on TV to promote their dad’s new documentary Val, and shared that the Top Gun star is recovering well. Mercedes, 29, said: ‘He’s doing well. He’s still recovering. The recovery process is just as gruelling as the actual disease.’ When asked who had been supporting Kilmer throughout his illness, Jack, 26, said: ‘Everyone has been so supportive; it makes me so emotional. It’s really beautiful to see people come together.’ Mercedes and Jack, who Kilmer shares with his ex-wife Joanne Whalley, have been promoting the Amazon Prime Video movie Val on behalf of their father, saying their dad was at the premiere ‘in spirit’. The movie follows the personal and professional life of Kilmer through hundreds of hours of home movies and footage, which the star recorded over the years. Mercedes said: ‘He always has been ahead of the curve. He’s always had this need to document things. My dad’s been making this movie for 50 years.’ Kilmer is heard using a voice box to speak in the movie, with the Batman Forever star admitting: ‘I’m still recovering, and it’s difficult to talk and be understood.’ 

On This Day

• 1908 – Wilbur Wright makes his first flight at a racecourse at Le Mans, France. It is the Wright Brothers’ first public flight.
• 1963 – Great Train Robbery: In England, a gang of 15 train robbers steal £2.6 million in bank notes.
• 1969 – At a zebra crossing in London, photographer Iain Macmillan takes the iconic photo that becomes the cover image of the Beatles’ album Abbey Road.
• 1974 – President Richard Nixon, in a nationwide television address, announces his resignation from the office of the President of the United States effective noon the next day.

Deaths

• 1988 – Alan Napier, English actor (b. 1903)
• 2004 – Fay Wray, Canadian-American actress (b. 1907)
• 2017 – Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1936)

 The Deadly Olympics

If you are all enjoying the Tokyo Olympics, spare a thought for the athletes, as sometimes competing at the Olympics can be fatal!

At the modern Olympic Games, up to and including the 2016 Summer Paralympics, 10 athletes have died while either competing in or practicing their sport. In addition, another 14 participants have died at the Olympics from other causes; 11 of these deaths resulted from the Munich massacre of 1972.

Several incidents related to the Olympics have caused the death of non-participants. Large numbers were killed during the Lima football riot of 1964 and the Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico City in 1968. The Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Games caused two deaths. 

However, only three competitors have actually died during their event.

• Francisco Lázaro (21), Portugal – Runner – 1912, Stockholm – electrolyte imbalance/overheating. Like all the Olympic athletes of his time, Lázaro was an amateur sportsman, and his actual job was as a carpenter in an automobile factory in Lisbon. Lázaro was the first athlete to die during a modern Olympic event, after collapsing at the 30-kilometer mark (19 miles) of the marathon with a body temperature of 41 °C. The cause of death was initially thought to be severe dehydration due to the high temperature registered at the time of the race. Later it was discovered that Lázaro had covered large portions of his body with suet to prevent sunburn and to help with speed and lightness while running; but eventually the wax restricted the athlete’s natural perspiration, leading to a fatal body fluid electrolytic imbalance. Before the race, he had supposedly said: “Either I win or I die.”
• Knud Enemark Jensen (23), Denmark – Cyclist – 1960, Rome – heat stroke. One of the four-man Danish team, Jorgen B. Jorgensen, dropped out of the race due to sunstroke after the first lap, necessitating that all three remaining Danish cyclists finish the race for the team not to be disqualified. Jensen told his teammates that he felt dizzy. Niels Baunsøe clutched his jersey, keeping him from falling, while Vagn Bangsborg held Jensen from the other side. Bangsborg sprayed Jensen with water, leading to an apparent improvement, but when Baunsøe let go, Jensen collapsed and fractured his skull on the pavement.The Olympic 100 km team time trial road race was held in over 40-degree heat on Viale Cristoforo Colombo in Rome. Jensen was brought by ambulance to an overheated military tent near the finish line, where he died that afternoon without regaining consciousness.

Also during the Paralympics

• Bahman Golbarnezhad (48), Iran – Cyclist – 2016, Rio de Janeiro – cardiac arrest following crash. During the men’s C4-5 road cycling event on 17 September 2016 at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, Golbarnezhad suffered a head injury during a collision with a rock on a mountainous stretch of the circuit in Pontal. Golbarnezhad was treated on-site, and was in the process of being transported to the athletes’ hospital when he died from a cardiac arrest.

During Olympic practice or after Olympic competition

• Edmond Brassart, (30), France – Fencer – 1900, Paris – Brassard was killed alongside three others in the collapse of the Passerelle des Invalides, a temporary bridge built for the Exposition Universelle de 1900. This occurred two months after he participated in the Olympic Games but also two months before the Games concluded.
• Nicolae Berechet (20), Romania – Boxer – 1936, Berlin – Berechet died three days after losing his bout against Evald Seeberg. His death was officially recorded as being due to blood poisoning, but it has been suggested that damage caused in the fight may have been a factor in his death.
• Ignaz Stiefsohn, Austria – Gliding (demonstration event) – 1936, Berlin – killed when his glider crashed during practice.
• Ross Milne (19), Australia – Downhill Skiing – 1964, Innsbruck – Ski collision in practice.
• Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki, Britain – Luge – 1964, Innsbruck – Luge crash in practice two weeks before the Games.
• Nicolas Bochatay (27), Switzerland – Speed Skiing (demonstration sport) – 1992, Albertville – collided with a snow machine in practice.
• Hyginus Anugo (22), Nigeria – 4 × 400 metres relay reserve – 2000, Sydney – struck by a vehicle while training.
• Nodar Kumaritashvili (21), Georgia – Luge – 2010, Vancouver – Luge crash in practice.

Other Olympic deaths

London 1948 – In 1948, during the London Olympics, Eliška Misáková, one of nine members of the Czechoslovak women’s team in gymnastics, became ill on arrival in the host city. Diagnosed with polio, she died on the last day of the Olympics, the same day her remaining teammates won the competition.

Melbourne 1956 – Arrigo Menicocci, Italian rower who competed in eights, was killed as a passenger in a car crash about 90 km northwest of Melbourne during the Olympics on 1st December 1956, four days after the end of the rowing competition.

Munich 1972 – In 1972, during the Munich Olympics, 11 members of the Israeli team were killed during a terrorist attack by Palestinian terrorists called Black September. The 11 Israeli Olympic Team members who were murdered in the 1972 Olympic Games in  Munich are:

• Mark Slavin, 18, Wrestler
• Eliezer Halfin, 24, Wrestler
• David Mark Berger, 28, Weightlifter
• Ze’ev Friedman, 28, Weightlifter
• Yossef Romano, 32, Weightlifter
• Andre Spitzer, 27, Fencing coach
• Moshe Weinberg, 33, Wrestling coach
• Yossef Gutfreund, 40, Wrestling referee
• Amitzur Shapira, 40, Track and field coach
• Yakov Springer, 51, Weightlifting judge
• Kehat Shorr, 53, Shooting coach

Calgary 1988 – Between the morning and afternoon runs of the men’s giant slalom, Jörg Oberhammer, 47, the Austrian team doctor, was skiing on a recreational slope when he collided with another skier (a CTV technician) and was knocked under a snow-grooming machine, which crushed him instantly.

Deaths of non-participants at Olympic-related events

Lima 1964 – In a qualifying match for the Olympic football tournament, home fans began rioting after a late Peru goal was disallowed. Police fired tear gas into the crowd, exacerbating the situation, which ended with 318 deaths.

Mexico 1968 – The Mexico 68 protests were part of a worldwide series of leftwing student-led protests. While the protesting National Strike Council claimed not to link its demands to the Olympics, some students protested at the perceived extravagance of hosting the games, and some sought to exploit the increased foreign media presence in the city for publicity. The authoritarian government had a secret “Olympia Battalion” to ensure security during the Games. Ten days before the games, the unit swept through a mass meeting in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas making arrests. Estimates of the number killed in the operation range from thirty to several hundred.

Munich 1972 – In addition to the 11 Israeli Olympic Team members that died, West German police officer Anton Fliegerbauer and five Palestinian terrorists were killed during a shootout. Carmel Eliash, cousin of Moshe Weinberg, died of a heart attack during the public memorial service the following day.

Atlanta 1996 (Olympic Park Bombing) – On 27th July 1996 (the eighth day of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games), a bomb exploded at the Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, killing two and wounding over 100 people.

Athens 2004 Paralympics – Seven teenagers from Farkadona were killed in a crash whilst travelling to Athens for the Games, when their bus collided with a truck near the town of Kamena Vourla. Out of respect for their death, the cultural portion of the closing ceremonies of these Paralympics was cancelled.

Beijing 2008 – A Hong Kong Police motorcyclist was on a VIP escort to Sheung Yue River for 2008 Olympic Equestrian events and was killed en-route in a traffic collision.

London 2012 – On 1st August 2012, a special bus carrying media from the London Olympic Park was involved in a collision in which a cyclist was killed.

Rio de Janeiro 2016 – German Olympic coach Stefan Henze died on 15th August 2016 after his taxi was hit in a high-speed head-on collision in Rio. 

But which is the deadliest Olympic Sport? Despite the clear risks involved in sports like pole vaulting, javelin or boxing, surprisingly they are much safer than some sports. However, injuries are frequent. Gymnastics isn’t just captivating and beautiful to watch, it can be life-threatening to the Olympians performing. “In our sport, we essentially dive into a pool with no water,” former Olympic gymnast Dominique Moceano said. “When you lose your ability to find the ground … the consequences can be catastrophic.” But such occurrences are very rare.

At the end of the 2008 Olympics, over 1,000 injuries had been reported. The events associated with the most injuries were football, taekwondo, and hockey. In 2016, 38% of BMX cyclists suffered injuries, compared to 8% of Olympians overall. I suppose a sport that requires competitors to propel off a hill before riding over jumps and tight corners at as high as 37 miles per hour is bound to have a few sprains!

For the ones of you who like equestrian events, less than 5% of equestrian athletes suffer injuries, putting it toward the bottom of the risky list — well behind badminton and handball. But when accidents happen with a 1,200-pound animal galloping, weaving, and jumping more than 20 miles per hour, they can lead to permanent injury. Less than 3% of Olympic rowers, shooters, archers, swimmers, golfers, and table tennis players got injured. And such injuries are medically minor, like a nerve issue in a finger or an overuse injury in a golfer.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Dustin Hoffman (84), Keith Carradine (72), Charlize Theron (46), Abbie Cornish (39), Michael Shannon (47), David Duchovny (61), Tobin Bell (79), John Glover (77), Cirroc Lofton (43), M. Night Shyamalan (51), Michelle Yeoh (59), Mark Strong (58), Loni Anderson (76), Kara Tointon (38), Meghan Markle (40), Billy Bob Thornton (66), Sebastian Roché (57), Barack Obama (60), Evangeline Lilly (42), Stephen Graham (48), Martin Sheen (81), John C. McGinley (62), Michael Ealy (48), Mamie Gummer (38), Steven Berkoff (84), John Landis (71), Kevin Smith (51), Edward Furlong (44), and Sam Worthington (45).

This week we could almost make up a band with those who have died. However, we have a world first in the news section, an actual video on the Dead Pool Newsletter! You heard right, a bloody video! Quick shout out to Nickie once again for finding loads of stories recently, makes editing the newsletter really easy 🙂  

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Dieter Brummer, 45, Australian actor (Home and Away, Neighbours, Underbelly: The Golden Mile). 
• Rick Aiello, 65, American actor (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Do the Right Thing, The Sopranos), pancreatic cancer.   
• Mike Howe, 55, American heavy metal singer (Metal Church, Heretic). 
• Joey Jordison, 46, American musician & drummer (Slipknot, Murderdolls, Sinsaenum). 
• Lee Man Tat, 91, Hong Kong food manufacturer, chairman of Lee Kum Kee. 
• Mo Hayder, 59, British author (Birdman, The Treatment, Pig Island), complications from motor neurone disease.   
• Dusty Hill, 72, American Hall of Fame musician (ZZ Top) and songwriter (“Tush“). 

In Other News

If you remember, we covered the death of a last tribesman by Covid back in March, just so happens there’s more than one last tribe!!!  Karapiru Awá Guajá had survived a massacre that killed most of his family in the Brazilian Amazon and lived for 10 years alone in the forest, but he could not escape the pandemic. Karapiru, one of the last of the hunter-gatherer nomadic Awá of Maranhão state, died of Covid-19 earlier this month. With only 300 Awá thought to remain, they have been called the “earth’s most threatened tribe”. In the 1970’s, Karapiru lost almost everyone he knew in a genocidal attack on his tribe by settlers. His wife, daughter, siblings and other family members were killed, and he was shot in the back. But his resilience became a source of inspiration for activists working to protect indigenous and un-contacted peoples. Awá lands have been under attack since the discovery of iron ore in the late 1960’s. Skilled archers, the Awá live scattered in family groups over a large area, and travel at night using torches made from tree resin. Many have had no contact with the outside world. Karapiru was estimated to be 75 when he died. The Indigenist Missionary Council a Catholic NGO working with indigenous peoples, reported his death as “a victim of Covid-19”, despite him having had the Covid vaccine. Fiona Watson, research director at Survival International, first met Karapiru in 1992. “I just thought I cannot believe this man survived on his own for 10 years, not speaking to anybody,” she says. “He spoke so quietly, he whispered, that really struck me because I thought, of course, he’s had to become invisible in order to survive. He started talking and smiling, and I thought how is he not more traumatised? He knew I wasn’t [an enemy], he had no rancour, no bitterness. That astounded me. That magnanimity. What an extraordinary human being, to be able to sort of forgive people in a way and to be able to carry on your life.” 

Bob Odenkirk has collapsed on the New Mexico set of Better Call Saul and is in hospital. The actor was filming a scene when he “went down, and was immediately surrounded by crew members who called an ambulance.” Odenkirk is suspected to have suffered a heart related incident on Tuesday while filming but is now in a stable condition. His son has issued a statement saying he will make a full recovery. But while the circumstances around his collapse are unknown, anti-vaxxers have decided to blame the coronavirus vaccine. An article by right-wing Big League Politics used the misleading headline: “Better Call Saul Star Bob Odenkirk collapses on set after receiving experimental Covid-19 vaccine.” Odenkirk announced he had got the jab four months ago. Side effects are rare and are more likely to include a “sore arm” or “headache” – as per the NHS website. These effects occur in the first week of getting the jab, if at all, not four months later. But this has not stopped those who wish to discredit the vaccine. It is not the first time there have been unfounded conspiracies about the vaccine. Anti-vaxxers have also claimed the jab makes them magnetic!!!!  

An entitled Ruby Rose has posted a tearful video to fans, revealing that it took her hours to get accepted into an emergency room after she had complications from surgery. The Orange is the New Black star said that “I did have a procedure and I had to have surgery, but it was fine and the surgery went well. But then I had a few complications and I had to go to the emergency room to go to the hospital.” She said that she “called an ambulance and it took hours to find a hospital that would be able to take me or anyone”. Rose began to cry as she told fans emergency rooms were “rejecting taking people and I… and my case was quite serious”. The Australian actress said she believes the difficulty getting into hospital was due to the pandemic. “Please stay safe, try to keep everyone safe. Get vaccinated if you can, please,” she said. “It’s just… it doesn’t need to be this hard for everyone and I just can’t imagine all the other people that are having way more, way, way more serious situations happening right now.” Rose did not disclose what procedure she had originally had that led to complications, but we suspect it was dramatitis.…  

A Scottish climber has reportedly died in an avalanche on K2 – the world’s most dangerous mountain – as he attempted to take a new route to the summit. Rick Allen, from Aberdeen, was attempting to climb the world’s second highest mountain to raise money for the Partners Relief And Development charity. But according to reports from the base camp in Pakistan, the 68-year-old was caught in an avalanche on the mountain’s south-east face. His two climbing partners, Jordi Tosas of Spain and Stephan Keck of Austria, were reportedly rescued without major injuries. The death has not been officially confirmed but a Foreign Office spokeswoman said: ‘The British High Commission in Islamabad is aware of reports that a British citizen has died climbing K2 and stands ready to assist.’ Sadly, if donations equal his life’s worth, the fundraising effort had only received £170 of the £10,000 target at the time his death was reported. Mr Allen had previously been presumed dead in 2018 after falling from an ice cliff during a solo climb to the summit of Pakistan’s Broad Peak that, at 8,047m, is the 12th highest mountain on Earth. However, his rucksack was eventually spotted by a cook at the mountain’s base camp before a drone was used to locate him and to guide rescuers to his location. K2 is considered to be the world’s most dangerous mountain as it has a fatality rate of around 25 per cent compared to just 6.5 per cent on Everest, which is considerably more  than Mount Snowdon in Wales, as rescuers say two women are “very lucky” to be alive after they were hit by lightning on the summit. The pair were in a five-strong group by its 3,560ft peak when they were struck on Wednesday afternoon. The Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team were called out by North Wales Police to help rescue them. The team said one woman “was falling in and out of consciousness”, while the other had minor injuries. Both women were evacuated from the summit to a lower slope, before a coastguard helicopter took them to hospital in Bangor, Gwynedd. Rescuers said neither woman had sustained life-threatening injuries. The rest of their group, which had been visiting north Wales, were “clearly shocked but otherwise uninjured”, said rescue co-ordinator Phil Benbow without a hint of irony. He added: “The advice generally is don’t be on the top of a mountain when thunder and lightning is about.” No shit Sherlock!  

And finally, a tweet this week by @ScarredForLife2 went viral for correctly stating that the life expectancy of a character in a public information film was roughly 4.3 seconds, and had this video to prove it! For those of us who don’t remember, or who might be too young, public information films were a series of government-commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the United Kingdom. They were common place in the 1950’s until the 2000’s however became obsolete with the closure of the Central Office Of Information. The films advised the general public on what to do in a multitude of situations, ranging from crossing the road to surviving a nuclear attack!! Many of these films were aimed at children and were shown during breaks in children’s programmes during holidays and at weekends. Many of them involved or were narrated by celebrities of the day, which included the likes of David Prowse, Donald Pleasance, John Hurt and Jimmy Savile. Some of the more memorable  films included the Charley Says animated series which advised children on the various dangers they might encounter in their daily lives, interestingly, Charley’s growls were voiced by none other than Kenny Everett. You might also remember Clunk Click Every Trip and the ever frightening AIDS: Don’t Die of Ignorance, which stopped a generation of kids from having sex forevermore! 

On This Day

• 1774 – British scientist Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen, prior to this everyone suffocated at birth. 
• 1834 – Slavery is abolished in the British Empire as the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 comes into force.  
• 1893 – Henry Perky patents Shredded Wheat. Quite a feat to make straw a breakfast staple. 
• 1965 – Frank Herbert‘s novel, Dune was published for the first time.  
• 1976 – Niki Lauda has a severe accident that almost claims his life at the German Grand Prix at Nürburgring..
• 1981 – MTV begins broadcasting in the United States and airs its first video, “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles.

Deaths

• 30 BC – Mark Antony, Roman general and politician (b. 83 BC)
• 1903 – Calamity Jane, American frontierswoman and scout (b. 1853)
• 2013 – John Amis, English journalist and critic (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Mike Smith, English radio and television host (b. 1955)
• 2015 – Cilla Black, English singer and actress (b. 1943)

Last Meals 

The famous Tollund Man ate a modest but nutritious meal before being hanged around 400 BC, a new study reveals. Scientists have re-examined the last meal of the famous Tollund Man, a naturally mummified corpse found in a bog on the Jutland peninsula in Denmark in 1950. The new analysis reveals that he likely ate an Iron Age meal of fish and porridge packed with seeds, consumed sometime between 12 and 24 hours before his death.

Although it sounds fairly ordinary, threshing waste containing the wild seeds was used as an ingredient in the porridge, which is suggestive of ritual practices. They also found Tollund Man had several parasitic infections – likely because he consumed undercooked meat and contaminated water at some point prior to death.

Tollund Man is a bog body – meaning it’s been incredibly well-preserved over more than 2,000 years in the unique conditions of a natural peat bog. Previous research has determined his cause of death as murder by hanging for unknown reasons before his body was placed in the bog. Tollund Man may have been a criminal or was possibly even sacrificed as part of a ritual practice ‘to keep the gods satisfied’. Tollund Man’s gut contents had been analysed forensically when he was discovered in 1950, uncovering traces of cereals and wild plants. When Tollund Man was autopsied in 1950, his intestines were still preserved, and the alimentary canal from the stomach to anus was removed in one piece with its contents still in place.

Now, experts from Silkeborg Museum in Denmark, say they have been able to reconstruct the last meal of Tollund Man in greater detail than ever before – right down to how it was prepared. The researchers used a few millilitres of material from the large intestine for analyses to give the ‘most detailed study’ yet on the gut contents of a bog body.

‘Since knowledge of plant macro-fossils and the methods for analysing gut contents have improved greatly since 1950, we decided to re-investigate the gut contents of Tollund Man,’ said study author Dr Nina H. Nielsen from Museum Silkeborg.

‘In this way, we get very close to a specific situation in the past – you can almost imagine how they were sitting by the fireplace preparing the barley porridge and the fish.

‘We can now pretty much reconstruct the recipe of the last meal of Tollund Man.

Porridge was likely a typical dish in Iron Age northern Europe, and fish was also eaten in this period, although it did not make up a substantial part of the diet. His last meal was cooked in a clay pot, likely using water from a lake or bog, according to the experts.

His ‘quite nutritious’ porridge consisted of barley, flax seeds, pale persicaria seeds and other seeds in ‘negligible amounts’, including gold-of-pleasure seeds. Seeds of Pale persicaria – which grew as a weed – were likely removed as grain was cleaned during threshing and collected along with the grain. The use of threshing waste containing pale persicaria in the porridge could be connected to the human sacrifice ritual, or it might have been part of ordinary Iron Age cooking.

‘As for now, we don’t know whether the use of threshing waste in the Iron Age cuisine was normal practice or whether this ingredient was only used at special occasions like human sacrifices,’ said Dr Nielsen. Threshing waste has also before been found in the Grauballe Man, found in a peat bog near the village of Grauballe in Jutland, Denmark. Together, the plant ingredients alone provided nearly half of the daily caloric intake for a person with limited physical activity.  Traces of a further 20 plant species were also found in the guts, but they made up less than 1 per cent and were probably not an intentional part of the meal. As well as the seeds, threshing waste including sand, charcoal and other detritus seems to have been used as an ingredient in the porridge.

Eggs from whipworm, mawworm and tapeworm were common in the gut contents of Tollund Man and show that he was infected by intestinal parasites. Whipworm and mawworm have previously been found in several bog bodies, but it is the first time that tapeworm is reported. The most likely cause of the tapeworm infection was that Tollund Man at some point had consumed raw or undercooked meat infected with tapeworm cysts. The infestations of whipworm and mawworm reflect poor hygiene, as these are transmitted by eggs present in human faeces, which contaminate the soil in areas where sanitation is poor. The researchers claim their study ‘shows that it can be beneficial to re-analyse bog body gut contents’ to reveal secrets of the past. Because of their exceptionally good preservation, bog bodies can provide detailed insights into how the people looked, dressed and died, as well as their last meal, their health and where they lived.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Jason Momoa (42), Adrian Dunbar (63), Michael Biehn (65), Wesley Snipes (59), Emilia Fox (47), Dean Cain (55), Christopher Nolan (51), Arnold Schwarzenegger (74), Jaime Pressly (44), Hilary Swank (47), Laurence Fishburne (60), Frances de la Tour (77), Terry Crews (53), Lisa Kudrow (58), Jean Reno (73), Carel Struycken (73), Sian Gibson (45), Wil Wheaton (49), Stephen Dorff (48), David Warner (80), Elizabeth Berkley (49), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (44), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (51), Taylor Schilling (37), Donnie Yen (58), Kate Beckinsale (48), Jason Statham (54), Sandra Bullock (57), Helen Mirren (76), Kevin Spacey (62), Nana Visitor (64), Eve Myles (43), and Mick Jagger (78).

Another week, another spate of slightly famous people succumbing to various ailments. It might be a good week to send out the Flying Monkeys, we could do with a points bonanza! 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Mary Ward, 106, Australian actress (Prisoner, Sons and Daughters, Neighbours).  
• John Cornell, 80, Australian film producer, writer (Crocodile Dundee, Crocodile Dundee II) and actor (The Paul Hogan Show), complications from Parkinson’s disease. 
• Rodney Alcala, 77, American serial killer. 
• Jackie Mason, 93, American comedian and actor (The Simpsons, The Jerk, Caddyshack II).

In Other News

Former Good Morning Britain anchor, Piers Morgan has admitted that he has become one of the latest confirmed cases of coronavirus. It comes following the presenter’s trip to Wembley Stadium with his three sons. The 56-year-old believes he caught the Delta variant after heading to Wembley two weeks ago for the Euro 2020 final, that saw Italy take home the prestigious trophy. Over the past year, Piers has been perhaps one of the government’s most outspoken critics and policies. The journalist frequently attacked the government who refused to be questioned on Good Morning Britain during the height of the pandemic. Now, despite being double vaccinated, Piers has revealed the true extent of his symptoms. In order to attend the match, football fans had to provide proof that they were either double vaccinated or produce a negative test result. However, Piers claims he started to feel unwell just two days after the match, while at his home in Sussex. After taking a lateral flow test that displayed a positive result, he later took a PCR test, confirming that he was in fact positive, four days after the match. Writing in his column, Piers penned: “As I’m sure everyone who gets it feels, it’s a strange, disquieting moment to know I have this killer virus inside me.” Piers’ symptoms included a fever, cold sweats, coughing, sneezing, “strange aches” and “alarming” chest pains. He went on to write: “And my voice now sounds like Barry White, though I couldn’t feel less like a Walrus of Love. “This is definitely the roughest I’ve felt from any illness in my adult life, BUT, as I slowly come out the other side, coughing and spluttering. I’m still here – unlike so many millions around the world who’ve lost their lives to Covid in this pandemic.”  

A swan believed to be the UK’s oldest has died at the age of thirty. Pickles the whooper swan, or common swan, was described as a “massive character”. He was born in early June 1991, although his precise hatching date is unknown. Staff at Leeds Castle in Kent, where he was often seen on the moat, designated 3 June as Pickles Day, serving him a special swan-friendly cake last month. There are 19 captive-bred swans in the grounds of the castle, including mute swans, trumpeter swans and black swans. “Fly high, Pickles, fly high,” the castle tweeted. “Pickles was much loved by everyone. We celebrated his birthday with his favourite seed cake recently and he enjoyed the media attention he got! It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Pickles the swan, who passed away yesterday,” said Mark Brattle, the castle’s falconry and wildlife manager. “Pickles the whooper swan was a massive character at the castle and will be missed by staff and visitors alike. The falconry and wildlife team would like to thank everyone for their kind words of support.” Whooper swans, which can grow to 5ft 3in in length, generally live to about ten in the wild, but have previously been known to reach their late twenties in captivity.  

Chris Packham has revealed that he wants his ashes to be mixed with his two dogs Itchy and Scratchy, so they can be spread among the trees where they loved to play. Growing up with an animal can influence your choice of pet in the future, and for Chris Packham, 60, it was dogs – all of which were poodles. The nature presenter has had seven four legged friends over the years, to which he formed unique bonds with. And in a new interview, the Springwatch host admitted when he dies, he wants his ashes mixed with that of two of his poodles, Itchy and Scratchy, who saved him while he was in an extremely dark point in his life. Speaking of his love for the animals, he revealed his first dog Max died in 1995 and he didn’t get another until 2001, due to work commitments and general life changes. “My partner at the time was so bored with listening to stories about Max that she got me another dog, Fish, for my 40th birthday,” he said. But tragedy struck after the pooch was sadly hit by a car when he was a year old and died in his arms. “The suddenness and the shock was really damaging, and because of that six-year gap, I’d fallen in love with Fish more quickly,” Chris admitted. “I fell into a deep and intense depression, into a dark place where everything seemed to fall apart.” Seven years later, Itchy and Scratchy joined the family, but Chris admitted they weren’t an “instant fix”, instead they were something for him to “connect to”. “Itchy and Scratchy were there in my darkest moments — if they hadn’t been, I wouldn’t be here to write this,” he confessed the harrowing truth. And because of Fish’s awful fate, Chris’ growing concern for Itchy and Scratchy’s safety became his priority. “It got to a point where everyone could see we were three organisms umbilically linked,” he explained. When they got ill, the presenter decided to avoid any intolerable suffering and euthanise them. “It seemed obvious to me,” he shrugged. “When I die, I’ll be cremated and my ashes will be mixed with Itchy and Scratchy, and scattered by a particular tree. He now has two new poodles called Sid and Nancy, which he got in 2020. Both Sid & Nancy are crossing their paws in hope that Peckham lives a few more years as they don’t fancy being cremated alive with the wildlife presenter.    

On This Day

• 1797 – Horatio Nelson loses more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife.  
• 1965 – Bob Dylan goes electric at the Newport Folk Festival, signalling a major change in folk and rock music and people lo9se their fucking minds!  
• 1978 – Birth of Louise Joy Brown, the first human to have been born after conception by in vitro fertilisation, or IVF.   
• 1984 – Salyut 7 cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to perform a spacewalk.  
• 2000 – Concorde Air France Flight 4590 crashes at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, killing 113 people.  

Deaths

• 1834 – Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English philosopher, poet, and critic (b. 1772). 
• 1843 – Charles Macintosh, Scottish chemist and engineer (b. 1766). 
• 2009 – Harry Patch, English soldier (b. 1898). 

 Last Meals

Edward Mordake is the apocryphal subject of an urban legend who was, according to the legend, born in the 19th century as the heir to an English peerage. Mordrake (originally spelled Mordake) was a young, intelligent, and good-looking English nobleman, as well as a “musician of rare ability.” But with all of his great blessings came a terrible curse. In addition to his handsome, normal face, Mordrake had a terrifying second face on the back of his head. According to legend, the face could whisper, grab objects, laugh or cry. The second face was said to be as “lovely as a dream, hideous as a devil.” This strange visage also possessed an intelligence “of a malignant sort.” Whenever Mordrake cried, the second face would “smile and sneer.”

Mordrake was constantly plagued by his “devil twin,” which kept him up all night whispering “such things as they only speak of in hell.” The young nobleman was eventually driven mad and took his own life at the age of 23, leaving behind a note ordering that the evil face should be destroyed after his death, “lest it continues its dreadful whispering in my grave.”

This story of the man with two faces spread like wildfire across America. On December 8, 1895, the Boston Sunday Post published an article titled “The Wonders of Modern Science.” This article presented reports from the so-called “Royal Scientific Society,” which documented the existence of “human freaks.” The public clamoured for more details about Mordrake, and even medical professionals approached the story without a hint of scepticism.

In 1896, American doctors George M. Gould and Walter L. Pyle included the Mordrake story in their book Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine — a collection of peculiar medical cases. Although Gould and Pyle were legitimate ophthalmologists with successful medical practices, they were also quite gullible in at least this one case. Because as it turned out, the story of Edward Mordrake was fake.

As Alex Boese’s blog Museum of Hoaxes diligently deduced, the author of the original Post article, Charles Lotin Hildreth, was a poet and science-fiction writer. His stories tended toward the fantastical and other-worldly, as opposed to articles based in reality.

Of course, just because someone usually writes fiction doesn’t mean that every single thing they write is fictional. Still, there are many clues that suggest that the Mordrake story is completely made up.

For one, Hildreth’s article cites the “Royal Scientific Society” as its source for its numerous bizarre medical cases, but an organisation by that name didn’t exist in the 19th century.

The Royal Society of London was a centuries-old scientific institution, but there was no organisation that was both “Royal” and “Scientific” by name in the Western world. However, this name might’ve sounded believable to people who didn’t live in England — which may explain why so many Americans fell for the story of the man with two faces. Or perhaps Americans are just stupid.

Secondly, Hildreth’s article appears to be the first time any of the medical cases he describes have ever appeared in any literature, scientific or otherwise. The Royal Society of London’s entire database is searchable online, and Boese wasn’t able to find any of Hildreth’s anomalies in its archives — from the Norfolk Spider (a human head with six hairy legs) to the Fish Woman of Lincoln (a mermaid-type creature).

“When we realise this,” Boese wrote, “that’s when it becomes apparent that Hildreth’s article was fiction. All of it sprang from his imagination, including Edward Mordake.”

As one might imagine, many newspapers in the late 19th century weren’t held to the same editorial standards as they are today. While they were still vital sources of information and entertainment, they were also filled with fictional tales that were presented as if they were nonfiction.

Ultimately, Hildreth’s story about a man with two faces wasn’t necessarily irresponsible journalism. It was simply a tale written convincingly enough to trick a couple of doctors — and to endure in the public imagination for more than a century. Hildreth died mere months after his article was published, so he never got to see just how quickly Americans were fooled by his wild creativity.

Edward Mordrake’s story experienced a recent resurgence in popularity, thanks in part to the TV series American Horror Story.

The show rehashes the basics of the urban legend, although the television incarnation of Mordrake is driven to murder as well as suicide. The writers must have taken a great deal of inspiration from the original Boston Sunday Post article, since the lobster boy also makes an appearance in the show.

Lest modern readers think they are so much wiser than their Victorian fore-bearers that they would never be taken in by such an absurd tale, a photo supposedly depicting the remains of Mordrake’s head went viral in 2018.

This is not the first time a photo of the cursed nobleman has seized the public’s attention. But like all of the others, it is far from authentic. 

The gruesome Janus-like skull is, in fact, just a papier-mâché artist’s imagining of what Edward Mordrake might have looked like if he existed. The artist has even gone on record stating it was created entirely for entertainment purposes. Another famous photo that is often mistakenly labelled as authentic is the work of a different artist who used wax.

Of course, even the most fantastical stories do contain at least a small grain of truth. The medical condition known as “craniofacial duplication” — the result of an abnormal protein expression — can cause the facial features of an embryo to be duplicated.

The condition is extremely rare and usually lethal, although there are a few recent documented cases of infants who managed to survive a short time with this mutation. For instance, Lali Singh was born with the condition in India in 2008.

Though Singh sadly didn’t live long, she was not believed to be cursed like Edward Mordrake. In fact, residents of her village thought that she was an incarnation of the Hindu goddess Durga, who is traditionally portrayed with multiple limbs.

After the poor baby Lali died when she was only a few months old, the villagers constructed a temple in her honour.

As for Edward Mordrake, his story continues to shock – and fool – people today. Even though the man himself never existed, the tale remains an enduring urban legend that will likely raise eyebrows for years to come.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Matt LeBlanc (54), D.B. Woodside (52), Iman (66), Rose Byrne (42), Elisabeth Moss (39), Anna Paquin (39), Summer Glau (40), Jennifer Lopez (52), Lynda Carter (70), Danny Dyer (44), Daniel Radcliffe (32), Kathryn Hahn (48), Woody Harrelson (60), Charisma Carpenter (51), Ronny Cox (83), Willem Dafoe (66), Selena Gomez (29), Terence Stamp (83), Rhys Ifans (54), Danny Glover (75), Louise Fletcher (87), Colin Ferguson (49), Josh Hartnett (43), Lance Guest (61), Paloma Faith (40), John Woodvine (92), Sandra Oh (50), John Francis Daley (36), Dean Winters (57), Julian Rhind-Tutt (53), Gisele Bündchen (41), Benedict Cumberbatch (45), and Jared Padalecki (39).  

No movement on the league table, but with this bumper two-week newsletter, there is loads to read about.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Matīss Kivlenieks, 24, Latvian ice hockey goaltender, injuries sustained from firework blast.  
• Richard Donner, 91, American film director (Superman, Lethal Weapon, The Goonies) and producer. 
• Big Jake, 20, American Belgian gelding, world’s tallest horse.  
• Fay Allen, 83, Jamaican-born British police officer.  
• Jonathan Coleman, 65, English-born Australian radio and TV presenter, prostate cancer. 
• Chick Vennera, 74, American actor (Thank God It’s Friday, Animaniacs, The Milagro Beanfield War), cancer. 
• Robert Downey Sr., 85, American actor (To Live and Die in L.A.). Parkinson’s disease. 
• Charlie Robinson, 75, American actor (Night Court, Sugar Hill, The Black Gestapo), complications from cancer.  
• Paul Orndorff, 71, American professional wrestler (WWF, WCW, GCW).  
• Andy Fordham, 59, English darts player, world champion (2004), organ failure.  
• Dawn Foster, 33, British journalist (The Independent, Tribune, The Guardian) and broadcaster.  
• Tom O’Connor, 81, British comedian and game show host (Crosswits, The Zodiac Game, Name That Tune), complications from Parkinson’s disease.  

In Other News

Pope Francis has been seen leaving hospital in  Rome, 10 days after undergoing surgery to remove half his colon. A car carrying the 84-year-old was spotted leaving Gemelli Polytechnic hospital in the Italian capital on Wednesday morning. Francis had half of his colon removed for a severe narrowing of his large intestine on 4th July, his first major surgery since he became pope in 2013. It was a planned procedure, scheduled for early July when the pope’s audiences are suspended and he would normally take some time off. The Pope on Sunday made his first public appearance since the surgery, standing for about 10 minutes while delivering his weekly prayer from the balcony of his suite surrounded by young cancer patients. Francis will have several more weeks to recover before beginning to travel again in September. There are plans for him to visit Hungary and Slovakia between 12th and 15th September before a brief trip to Glasgow in November to participate in the COP26 climate conference. The Vatican had originally said Francis could be discharged last weekend, but later said he would stay a few days extra for further recovery and rehabilitation therapy. On the eve of his release, he visited the paediatric cancer ward, which is located on the same floor as the papal hospital suite. The Argentine pope had part of one lung removed when he was a young man but has otherwise enjoyed relatively robust health.   

US country singer Ashley Monroe has revealed she is starting chemotherapy after being diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer. Monroe, a member of the band Pistol Annies, wrote on Instagram that she had been diagnosed with Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia after going to the doctor for routine lab work. According to cancer.org, Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia is a form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. “A few months ago my doctor was doing some routine lab work and found that I was anaemic,” Monroe, 34, wrote. “I was like, FINE, I’ll just double up on cheeseburger patties, take some extra vitamins and call it a day. Well my red blood count just kept falling, and they found out my iron, b12, folic acid numbers were actually fine. short story long, they did a bone marrow biopsy, (ouch), and VOILA… a rare kind of blood c word called ‘Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia’.” Monroe added that she was “thankful” for the support of her family and friends, and for her “angel son”, whom she is “fighting for the most”. Monroe formed the Pistol Annies alongside Miranda Lambert and Angaleena Presley in 2009. She has also enjoyed a successful solo career.   

The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro has reportedly been hospitalised after suffering from abdominal pains. He was admitted to the army hospital in the capital city of Brasilia for testing in the early hours of Wednesday, according to media reports. Mr Bolsonaro is expected to remain under observation for 24-48 hours. The 66-year-old had reportedly complained about persistent hiccups in the days before he was admitted to hospital. Mr Bolsonaro’s health has been in the spotlight during his presidency, particularly since he was stabbed and seriously injured on the campaign trail in 2018. His attacker was acquitted in 2019 on the grounds that he was mentally ill. Adelio Bispo de Oliveira pierced Mr Bolsonaro’s intestine, putting his life in danger, when he stabbed the leader with a knife in the streets of Juiz de Fora, north of Rio de Janeiro. The far-right politician was placed in intensive care and lost 40 per cent of his blood but sadly survived and went on to win the presidential election. According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders (US), non-stop hiccups can be caused by ‘brain lesions, tumours, intestinal diseases, and liver or kidney disorders.’ We can only pray and hope for the people of Brazil that one (or all) are the cause of his hiccups!  

Security minister James Brokenshire has announced he is standing down from the government to concentrate on his fight against cancer. The Old Bexley and Sidcup MP resigned as Northern Ireland secretary in 2018 for surgery to remove a lesion on his right lung, but returned to Theresa May’s cabinet later that year as housing secretary and joined the Home Office under Boris Johnson in 2020. He announced in January he was taking a leave of absence from ministerial duties for surgery on a tumour. But in a letter to Mr Johnson, he today said that his recovery from treatment and return to full duties was “taking longer than anticipated”. “I have therefore concluded that it is best that I stand down from my ministerial role and focus on restoring my health,” he said. Mr Brokenshire said he hoped “to be able to serve again in some way in the future”. The 53-year-old father-of-three has previously said that his lung cancer diagnosis came as a “jolt” as he had never smoked. In a letter written in crayon accepting his resignation from the government, Mr Johnson said: “I look forward to welcoming you back as soon as possible.”   

The son of former middleweight boxing champion Chris Eubank died on Friday, a month after becoming a father. His widow, Salma Abdelati, said the 29-year-old had the heart attack while in the sea in Dubai. She said she was grateful “he was able to spend a few short and happy weeks with his son before his death”. Sebastian, who had followed in his father’s footsteps to become a professional boxer, had been due to turn 30 on 18th July. In a statement, his widow said: “Dubai Police and the coroner have confirmed that after a full post-mortem Sebastian Eubank tragically died from a massive heart attack whilst in the sea and probably could not have been saved even if out of the water. There was evidence of a pre-existing heart condition we were all unaware of. While still very painful, it is of some comfort that Sebastian died after having one of his favourite meals with one of his closest friends whilst doing his favourite thing at his favourite place in Dubai where he often went to swim. He was standing in the water close to shore watching the sunset at Cove Beach in Dubai.” Figures from around the boxing world and beyond paid tribute to Sebastian, the middle child of Eubank’s five children, following the news of his death. His father called his son a “deep thinker who liked to challenge accepted wisdom” in an earlier tribute to him. Eubank said the family was devastated at the loss of Sebastian, who grew up in Hove but had been living in Dubai, where he was “a leader in the adoption of a healthy lifestyle and of alternative therapies”. Sebastian, who boxed using the name Alka Lion, made his debut in February 2018 against Polish fighter Kamil Kulczyk. His brother, Chris Eubank Jr, also a professional boxer, said on Twitter: “Rest easy little brother, I love you and you will be missed always.”   

A Los Angeles rapper was shot dead in his car in a brazen daylight attack last week while he was live-streaming on Instagram in what police believe was a gang-related killing. Zerail Rivera, who went by the name Indian Red Boy, was murdered in Hawthorne on July 8th at about 4.10pm while speaking to a friend on Instagram from inside his car. The disturbing video, which is being shared widely online, shows the 21-year-old smiling and laughing with his friend as the gunman approached his window. Rivera could be seen glancing out the window just as the gunshots started to ring out. He could be seen trying to cover his head with his arms as at least 12 shots were fired. His friend, social media influencer Kapone, can be heard saying: ‘What the fuck? Bro, what the fuck? Where you at?’ A bloodied Rivera could be seen mouthing ‘help’ repeatedly to the camera before whispering ‘I’m in Hawthorne’. He dropped his camera seconds later and the live-stream ended. Police responding to reports of the shooting found Rivera ‘slumped in the front seat’. He had been shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene. The gunman fled before authorities arrived. No one has been arrested in relation to the shooting. Police are still reviewing surveillance video from the area but they believe it was a walk-up shooting and that Rivera was targeted. They say it was likely gang-related but have not provided further details.

On This Day 11th July

• 1804 – A duel occurs in which the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.  
• 1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published, in the United States.  
• 1962 – First transatlantic satellite television transmission.  
• 1979 – America’s first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.  

On This Day 18th July

• 1944 – World War II: Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt led by German Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg. 
• 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 11’s crew successfully makes the first manned landing on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility. Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon six and a half hours later.  
• 1982 – Hyde Park and Regent’s Park bombings: The Provisional IRA detonates two bombs in Hyde Park and Regent’s Park in central London, killing eight soldiers, wounding forty-seven people, and leading to the deaths of seven horses.  
• 2012 – James Holmes opened fire at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 and injuring 70 others.  

Deaths on 11th July

• 1937 – George Gershwin, American pianist, songwriter, and composer (b. 1898). 
• 1989 – Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (b. 1907).  
• 2000 – Robert Runcie, English archbishop (b. 1921). 
• 2005 – Gretchen Franklin, English actress and dancer (b. 1911). 
• 2006 – John Spencer, English snooker player and sportscaster (b. 1935). 

Deaths on 18th July

• 1923 – Pancho Villa, Mexican general and politician, Governor of Chihuahua (b. 1878). 
• 1973 – Bruce Lee, American actor and martial artist (b. 1940). 
• 2005 – James Doohan, Canadian-American actor (b. 1920). 
• 2011 – Lucian Freud, German-English painter and illustrator (b. 1922). 
• 2012 – Alastair Burnet, English journalist (b. 1928). 
• 2017 – Chester Bennington, American singer (b. 1976). 

Last Meals

Francis Crowley was an American murderer. His crime spree lasted nearly three months, ending in a two-hour shootout with the New York City Police Department on May 7th 1931, that was witnessed by 15,000 bystanders and received national attention. In 1932 he was executed in New York’s electric chair. 

Crowley was born in New York City on October 31st 1912, the second son of an unwed German mother who gave him up for adoption. He had a hatred for police, with some speculating that his absent father was a police officer.

This hatred for the police was compounded by police killing his brother John when Crowley was 12 years old. John was alleged to be involved in the killing of NYPD Officer Maurice Harlow on February 22nd 1925. Shortly thereafter John Crowley was killed in a confrontation with police officers while resisting arrest on a charge of disorderly conduct. By his late teens, Francis Crowley had a reputation as a troubled youth with a criminal history. 

On February 21st 1931, Crowley and two other young men crashed a dance hosted by the American Legion in the Bronx. Several Legionnaires tried to remove them from the venue, so Crowley drew a gun and wounded two men before fleeing. He was charged with attempted murder and went into hiding. He was confronted by police on March 13th. He escaped into an office building on Lexington Avenue after shooting Detective Ferdinand Schaedel. Two days later, Crowley and four others robbed a bank in New Rochelle, New York.

A month later, Crowley and two friends broke into the West 90th Street apartment of real estate broker Rudolph Adler. Adler attempted to resist them, and Crowley shot him five times using two pistols, which earned him the nickname “Two Gun”. Adler’s dog Trixie attacked the robbers and drove them from the house, saving her owner’s life. 

On April 27th, Crowley was out joyriding in a stolen vehicle with his partner Rudolph “Fats” Durringer and dance hall hostess Virginia Brannen. Brannen resisted Durringer’s advances, so Durringer shot and killed her while still in the car. Crowley then helped him dump her body at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers. New York City police found Brannen’s body and escalated their efforts to find Crowley. 

On April 29th he was spotted in the Bronx driving a green Chrysler Imperial sedan along 138th Street near the Morris Avenue Bridge. Police pursued him, but he escaped after a running gun battle. Detectives found that the bullets extracted from a police car matched those that killed Virginia Brannen and those from other unsolved shootings. The following day, Crowley’s car was found abandoned with bullet holes and bloodstains on the inside. On May 6th, Crowley was sitting in a parked car with his 16-year-old girlfriend Helen Walsh on Morris Lane in North Merrick, Long Island when he was approached by police officers Frederick Hirsch and Peter Yodice, who asked for identification. Crowley fired at them, killing Hirsch and wounding Yodice. He then sped off. 

The following day, Crowley, Walsh, and Durringer were tracked down to a fifth-floor apartment in a rooming house on West 91st Street. The residence belonged to a former lover of Crowley’s, who notified the police upon seeing Crowley with another woman. Outside the building, a force of 300 police officers armed with rifles, machine guns, and tear gas assembled. The events attracted 15,000 bystanders. 

Crowley and the police exchanged gunfire for nearly two hours, with the police firing an estimated 700 rounds into the building. While Walsh and Durringer reloaded Crowley’s pistols, Crowley threw back several tear gas grenades that the police had thrown into the apartment through a hole cut into the roof. After suffering four gunshot wounds and bleeding heavily, he finally surrendered. Arresting officers found two pistols strapped to his legs.  

On May 29th, less than three weeks after his arrest, Crowley was tried and convicted of the murder of police officer Frederick Hirsch. His partner, Fats Durringer, was found guilty of the murder of Virginia Brannen. Both men were sentenced to death on June 1st. Crowley was sentenced to death by electric chair.

Crowley spent his last year on death row at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York. He remained a disciplinary problem – stuffing his prison uniform down a toilet, setting fire to his bed, and frequently crafting homemade weapons. His attitude became somewhat more serene as his execution neared: He reportedly adopted a starling that frequently flew into his cell. For his last meal, Crowley enjoyed steak and onions, french fries, apple pie, ice cream and melted ice cream?!?! 

On January 21st 1932, Crowley’s last words to Warden Lewis Lawes were to ask for a rag. Referring to Durringer’s death in the same electric chair, Crowley said, “I want to wipe off the chair after this rat sat in it.” It is not clear if the request was granted.

Crowley was only 19 when he was executed.

Last Two Week’s Birthdays

Vin Diesel (54), Kristen Bell (41), Elizabeth McGovern (60), James Brolin (81), Priyanka Chopra Jonas (39), Paul Verhoeven (83), Richard Branson (71), Donald Sutherland (86), Alex Winter (56), Eric Winter (45), David Hasselhoff (69), Will Ferrell (54), Phoebe Cates (58), Corey Feldman (50), Travis Fimmel (42), Diane Kruger (45), Brigitte Nielsen (58), Forest Whitaker (60), Celia Imrie (69), Jesse Ventura (70), Adam Savage (54), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (36), Jackie Earle Haley (60), Matthew Fox (55), Kyle Gass (61), David Mitchell (47), Harrison Ford (79), Sharon Horgan (51), Patrick Stewart (81), Ken Jeong (52), Michelle Rodriguez (43), Anna Friel (45), Melissa O’Neil (33), Bill Cosby (84), Tamsin Greig (55), Cheryl Ladd (70), Stephen Lang (69), Caroline Quentin (61), Craig Charles (57), Sofía Vergara (49), Chiwetel Ejiofor (44), Jessica Simpson (41), Peter Serafinowicz (49), John Simm (51), Tom Hanks (65), Kelly McGillis (64), Pamela Adlon (55), Courtney Love (57), Fred Savage (45), Scott Grimes (59), Richard Roundtree (79), O.J. Simpson (74), Richard Wilson (85), Kevin Bacon (63), Anjelica Huston (70), Jaden Smith (23), Jeffrey Tambor (77), Shelley Duvall (72), Jack Whitehall (33), Ringo Starr (81), Eva Green (41), Sylvester Stallone (75), Kevin Hart (42), Burt Ward (76), Geoffrey Rush (70), Jennifer Saunders (63), 50 Cent (46), and Huey Lewis (71).

Deaths are certainly a bit sparse at the moment. However, I will send out the flying monkeys next week, so watch this space! 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Stuart Damon, 84, American actor (General Hospital, The Champions), kidney failure.  
• Donald Rumsfeld, 88, American politician, secretary of defence, multiple myeloma.  
• Pete McGarry, 71, British electrician, (Gogglebox), colon cancer.  

In Other News

Blink-182 singer-bassist Mark Hoppus gave 153 concerned fans an encouraging update on his cancer treatment while on Twitch on Sunday. The 49-year-old still hasn’t specified what type of cancer he was diagnosed with, but he admitted he was ‘feeling much better’ than he had on Saturday. ‘I woke up today feeling better,’ Mark said. ‘I went for a walk, and I had a decent breakfast, and I haven’t felt like I was going to throw up today, so we’ll take it as a win. I’ve actually, like, watched movies and walked around and cleaned the house and hung out with my dogs, I didn’t just feel like a poisoned electrified zombie leaned up against an electric fence like I did the rest, the past couple of rounds.’ Hoppus said he was nauseated after his most recent round of chemotherapy treatments, which began in March. ‘I still have months of treatment ahead of me, but I’m trying to remain hopeful and positive,’ Mark said in his statement. ‘Can’t wait to be cancer free and see you all at a concert in the near future. Love to you all.’ 

Although not famous enough for our purposes, but sadly the youngest survivor of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster has died aged 34 after a long battle with drug addiction. Carly Zutic, from Dumfries, was just nine weeks old when her soldier father swam to safety with her ‘baby grow in his teeth’ from capsize tragedy which killed 193 people. The family held a small, private funeral for the Scottish mother due to current Covid restrictions on funerals. At about 6pm on March 6th, 1987, the Townsend Thoresen roll-on, roll-off ferry The Herald Of Free Enterprise turned over on its side outside Zeebrugge,  Belgium, as it set out for Dover, Kent. Carly’s father Petar reportedly carried Carly’s ‘baby grow in his teeth’ as she was so tiny when he rescued her, swimming to safety as the passenger ferry capsized. They were reunited with Carly’s mother Julie just six hours later. A friend said, ’Carly’s rescue was the stuff of legend around Dumfries. Her dad swam to safety with her baby grow between his teeth as she was so tiny. It was a story that made headlines around the world at the time and they are quite well known because of it.’

In a horrifying incident, a 25-year-old Iraqi chef fell into a giant vat of chicken soup, sustaining third-degree burns over 70 per cent of his body, several Middle Eastern outlets reported. He succumbed to his injuries five days later. Issa Ismail was making chicken soup for a wedding party on 15th June in Iraq’s northern district of Zakho, when he slipped and fell into the vat. Ismail, a father of three, was preparing food at the Hazel Hall for Weddings and Events when the accident happened. He was rushed to a hospital in the nearby city of Dohuk for treatment. After battling severe burn injuries for several days, Ismail succumbed on 21st June. His tragic death has led to an outpouring of grief on social media when news of this accident was finally out. One of his relatives, Zervan Hosni, was quoted in the local media as saying: “Issa cooked food at wedding parties, mourning boards and various ceremonies, and for two years he has been working in two-party halls for 25,000 dinars per day.” Which is roughly £12.50 a day. The local Kurdish media — Rudaw Media Network — quoted him as saying that Ismail had three children and the youngest was just six months old!! 

On This Day

• 1776 – American Revolution: The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted. 
• 1826 – John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, respectively the second and third presidents of the United States, die the same day, on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence. Adams’ last words were, “Thomas Jefferson survives.”  
• 1862 – Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.  
• 1910 – The Johnson–Jeffries riots occur after African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in the 15th round. Between 11 and 26 people are killed and hundreds more injured.  
• 1911 – A massive heat wave strikes the northeastern United States, killing 380 people in eleven days and breaking temperature records in several cities.  
• 1918 – Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family. 
• 1954 – Rationing ends in the United Kingdom.  

Deaths

• 1826 – John Adams, American lawyer, 2nd President of the United States (b. 1735). 
• 1826 – Thomas Jefferson, American lawyer, 3rd President of the United States (b. 1743). 
• 1831 – James Monroe, American lawyer, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758). 
• 1934 – Marie Curie, French-Polish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867). 
• 1995 – Bob Ross, American painter and television host (b. 1942). 
• 2003 – Barry White, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1944).  
• 2012 – Eric Sykes, English actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1923). 
• 2013 – Bernie Nolan, Irish singer (b. 1960). 

 Last Meals

Keith Zettlemoyer was an American convicted murderer who was executed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the 1980 murder of his friend Charles DeVetsco.

In the early hours of the morning on October 13th 1980, two police officers were out on patrol in Harrisburg in an unmarked car. They heard gunfire coming from a nearby wooded area which was unlit and often used for dumping trash. As they approached the scene they found a 1967 Ford van parked on a dirt road near some bushes. After hearing rustling noises coming from the bushes they ordered the person making the noise to come out. Zettlemoyer emerged from the woods holding a handgun and a flashlight. He claimed he had been shooting rats, but the officers were not convinced. Zettlemoyer was ordered to drop the gun and was then secured. 

One of the officers searched the area and came across the body of 29-year-old Charles DeVetsco. He had been shot a total of four times. It later emerged he had been shot twice in the van while handcuffed and was then dragged from the van to the woods where two more fatal shots were fired. The cause of death was confirmed as a massive haemorrhaging of the heart, which had been penetrated by .357 magnum bullets. 

DeVetsco had worked with Zettlemoyer at a retail store and had been scheduled to testify against him in an upcoming robbery trial in Snyder County. In May 1980, Zettlemoyer and an accomplice had carried out a robbery, in which they had bound a security guard at a RadioShack near Sunbury and had stolen electronic equipment worth thousands of dollars. The accomplice was later caught trying to return the equipment for money and had named Zettlemoyer as his partner. Zettlemoyer had then confided in DeVetsco about the heist. DeVetsco contacted the authorities, and had planned to testify against him. Zettlemoyer had kidnapped DeVetsco near Selinsgrove and had driven him to Harrisburg to kill him in order to prevent his testimony.

On April 24th 1981, Zettlemoyer was convicted of first degree murder and was sentenced to death. After spending fourteen years on death row, Zettlemoyer fired his lawyers and dropped his efforts to live. He begged the courts to let him die because he claimed “brain disease” was making his life hell. Doctors reported that Zettlemoyer was suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. Lawyers for the Pennsylvania Post-Conviction Defender Organization argued that Zettlemoyer was not mentally competent, however, three psychiatrists testified he was sane. DeVetsco’s mother also argued that Zettlemoyer was mentally ill and was, therefore, not competent to be executed for the murder  of her son.

However, Zettlemoyer was executed by lethal injection on May 2nd 1995, at State Correctional Institution – Rockview. His last meal was two cheeseburgers, french fries, chocolate pudding and chocolate milk. He became the first person to be executed by the state of Pennsylvania since the resumption of the death penalty in 1976 and the first inmate put to death in Pennsylvania in thirty-three years. He remains the first of only three people to be executed in Pennsylvania since the resumption of the death penalty. The others were Leon Moser in August 1995 and Gary M. Heidnik in 1999.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Gina Lollobrigida (94), Post Malone (26), Neil Morrissey (59), Tom Cruise (59), Connie Nielsen (56), Patrick Wilson (48), Kurtwood Smith (78), Yeardley Smith (57), Margot Robbie(31), Lindsay Lohan (35), Larry David (74), Jerry Hall (65), Peter Kay (48), Liv Tyler (44), Pamela Anderson (54), Geneviève Bujold (79), Dan Aykroyd (69), Debbie Harry (76), Vincent D’Onofrio (62), Marton Csokas (55), Katherine Ryan (38), Mike Tyson (55), Cheryl (38), Gary Busey (77), Amanda Donohoe (59), Aleks Paunovic (52), Katherine Jenkins (41), Mel Brooks (95), John Cusack (55), Kathy Bates (73), Alice Krige (67), Felicia Day (42), and Elon Musk (50).