Louis Braille

popular name: Morgan Earp

date_of_death: March 18, 1882

age: 30

cause_of_death: Murdered

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: As a sheriff and lawman, Morgan Earp is perhaps best known for his involvement in the notorious Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Sadly he was ambushed and gun down several months later by the Cochise County Cowboys in retaliation. As a sheriff and lawman, Morgan Earp served as Tombstone, Arizona's Special Policeman when he helped his brothers Virgil and Wyatt, as well as Doc Holliday, confront the outlaw Cochise County Cowboys in the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881. All three Earp brothers had been the target of repeated death threats made by the Cowboys who were upset by the Earps' interference in their illegal activities. The lawmen killed Cowboys Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton. All four lawmen were charged with murder by Billy's older brother, Ike Clanton, who had run from the gunfight. During a month-long preliminary hearing, Judge Wells Spicer exonerated the men, concluding they had been performing their duty. . Friends of the slain outlaws retaliated, and on December 29, Cowboys ambushed Virgil, leaving him maimed. Two and a half months later, on March 18, 1882, they ambushed Morgan, shooting him at night through the window of a door at Campbell & Hatch Billiard Parlor while he was playing billiards and killed him. The Cowboys suspected in both shootings were let off on technicalities or lack of evidence. Wyatt Earp felt he could not rely on the criminal justice system and decided to take matters into his own hands. He concluded the only way to get justice for his murdered brother was to avenge his death. Wyatt assembled a posse that included their brother Warren Earp and set out on a vendetta to kill those they felt were responsible.

popular name: Varina Davis

date_of_death: October 16, 1906

age: 80

cause_of_death: Pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Varina Davis was the only First Lady of the Confederate States of America, and the longtime second wife of President Jefferson Davis. Born and raised in the South and educated in Philadelphia, she had family on both sides of the conflict and unconventional views for a woman in her public role. She did not support the Confederacy's position on slavery, and was ambivalent about the war. Davis became a writer after the American Civil War, completing her husband's memoir. She was recruited by Kate (Davis) Pulitzer, a purportedly distant cousin of Varina’s husband and wife of publisher Joseph Pulitzer, to write articles and eventually a regular column for the New York World.

popular name: Voltaire

date_of_death: May 30, 1778

age: 83

cause_of_death: Exact cause unknown - experienced severe lower abdominal pain shortly before death

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Voltaire was a French writer and philosopher who produced prolific works that challenged the 18th century's ideas about religion and civil rights. Voltaire is most famously known for his satirical novel Candide, which was very popular and controversial. He was one of the first authors to become renowned and commercially successful internationally. He was an outspoken advocate of civil liberties, and he was at constant risk from the strict censorship laws of the Catholic French monarchy. His polemics witheringly satirized intolerance, religious dogma, and the French institutions of his day.