Charles Louis Fleischmann

popular name: Franklin Clarence Mars

date_of_death: April 8, 1934

age: 50

cause_of_death: Heart and Kidney issues

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Franklin Clarence Mars was an American entrepreneur and the visionary founder of Mars, Inc., multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products. As a child recovering from polio, he learned to hand-dip chocolate with his mother—a skill that ignited his lifelong passion for candy-making. At 19, he began selling molasses chips, which set him on a path to confectionery innovation. In 1911, alongside his second wife Ethel Veronica Healy, Mars established the Mars Candy Factory in Tacoma, Washington, though early competition forced its relocation. By 1920, the company moved to Minneapolis under the name Mar‑O‑Bar Co., later incorporating as Mars, Inc.. Mars’s breakthrough came in 1923 with the Milky Way bar—conceived from a suggestion by his son Forrest—a chocolate, caramel, and nougat confection that propelled his company to national success. He followed this triumph with the introduction of the Snickers bar in 1930, named after the family’s favorite horse. Mars later settled in Chicago (River Forest, Illinois), where he became an honorary captain of the Oak Park police. Beyond candy, he invested in his passion for horse breeding and ranching, establishing the sprawling Milky Way Farm in Tennessee—complete with barns, clubhouse, and racetrack. He remained actively involved in both his business and agricultural pursuits until his death at age 50 from heart and kidney issues at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

popular name: Sarah Winchester

date_of_death: September 5, 1922

age: 83

cause_of_death: Congestive heart failure

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Sarah Winchester was an American heiress who amassed great wealth after the death of her husband, William Wirt Winchester (son of Winchester Repeating Arms Company founder Oliver Winchester). Her inheritance included $20 million ($606.5 million in 2022) as well as a 50% holding in the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, which made her one of the wealthiest women in the world at the time. Sarah Winchester was, supposedly, so racked with guilt and haunted by the spirits of those killed by the Winchester firearms that she started building a house in California because a medium advised her that endless building would appease the dead. Construction, which continued 24 hours per day 7 days a week, only stopped when she died. The only problem with this narrative is that it is 100% completely false. And to make matters worse, the owners of the Winchester Mystery House continue to this day to repeat this myth to thousands of visitors every day to the home in San Jose. The fact of the matter is Sarah Winchester was not a crazy, guilt-ridden millionaire who sought guidence from ghost whispers, but rather she was highly educated, spoke multiple languages fluently, and moved to California for her health. She purchased a modest (by her standards) farmhouse and started work on her architectual marval. Aside from its immense size and Victorian style architecture, the House has a number of unique characteristics. To begin, it is undeniably a labyrinth. There are literally miles of maze-like corridors and twisting hallways, some of which have dead ends—forcing the traveler to turn around and back-up. There are also some centrally located passages and stairways that serve as shortcuts allowing a virtual leap from one side of the House to the other. Although Sarah’s labyrinthine House serves the same function as the ancient prototypes, her labyrinth is more a symbolic introductory step into her puzzle. The greatest test for the initiate lies in his ability to understand and identify Mrs. Winchester’s remarkable mix of symbols and numbered code. Sarah’s love of Geometry and specific symmetric numbers is prominently displayed throughout the House. When Winchester died in 1922 the house had 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 stairways, 47 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms, and 6 kitchens.

popular name: Andrew Carnegie

date_of_death: August 11, 1919

age: 83

cause_of_death: Bronchial Pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist who played a pivotal role in the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. Born on November 25, 1835, in Dunfermline, Scotland, Carnegie emigrated to the United States with his family in 1848, settling in Pennsylvania. Starting as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory, he quickly rose through the ranks of the business world, eventually founding the Carnegie Steel Company, which became the largest and most profitable industrial enterprise of its time. After selling his company to J.P. Morgan in 1901 for $480 million (equivalent to billions today), Carnegie devoted the rest of his life to philanthropy. He believed in the "Gospel of Wealth," the idea that the rich have a moral obligation to use their wealth for the betterment of society. Carnegie donated over $350 million during his lifetime to causes such as libraries, education, and peace initiatives. He died on August 11, 1919, leaving behind a legacy as one of the richest men in history and one of its most generous philanthropists. Upon his death, Andrew Carnegie was laid to rest at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York.