Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

popular name: Michael Kennedy

date_of_death: December 31, 1997

age: 39

cause_of_death: Blunt force trauma from skiing accident

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Michael LeMoyne Kennedy was born into a very public family as Robert F. and Ethel Kennedy's middle of 11 children. He graduated from Harvard in 1980 and then went to law school at the University of Virginia, where he earned a law degree in 1984. In 1988 he took over as chairman of Citizens Energy Corp., the nonprofit fuel company founded by his brother, Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II, that discounts home heating fuel for the poor. He also chaired Citizens Conservation Corp., which provided energy consulting services to low-income, multi-family housing. Through Citizen's Energy subsidiaries, Kennedy also coordinated relief missions to West Africa in 1989 and 1992, founded the U.S.-Angola Chamber of Commerce and helped establish a Catholic university in that country. Kennedy also co-chaired the Walden Woods Project, an effort to preserve a forest near Walden Pond in Concord, and Stop Handgun Violence Inc., a group that works to raise awareness about handguns. All that work, however, was overshadowed when reports said he had a 3-year affair with his children's 14-year-old baby sitter. Robert F. Kennedy's 39-year-old son died on New Year’s Eve Day 1997, playing football while skiing Aspen Mountain’s Copper Bowl. It was a game that the Kennedy family had enjoyed for over three decades, and was considered daring, if not dangerous. This time, Kennedy was caught off-balance and too close to the treeline, lost an edge, and went into a tree head first. He had not been wearing a helmet. He was the second of Robert and Ethel Kennedy's sons to die young. In 1984 David Anthony Kennedy died of a drug overdose at age 24.

popular name: George Armstrong Custer

date_of_death: June 25, 1876

age: 36

cause_of_death: Bullet wounds to the chest and head

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: George Armstrong Custer (1839–1876) was a U.S. Army officer and cavalry commander during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Born in New Rumley, Ohio, Custer attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating last in his class in 1861. Despite his poor academic standing, he quickly rose to fame for his boldness and bravery during the Civil War, earning rapid promotions and leading cavalry units in key battles such as Gettysburg and Appomattox. After the Civil War, Custer was assigned to the western frontier, where he became involved in the Indian Wars. He is most famous for his role in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, where his forces faced a large combined force of Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors. Custer and his 210 men were killed in the battle, a disastrous defeat for the U.S. Army. Custer's death cemented his legacy as a controversial figure, admired by some for his bravery and criticized by others for his recklessness and stupidity. Despite his tragic end, he became a symbol of the American frontier, and his life continues to be a subject of debate. Upon his death, he was interred at the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery.

popular name: Rose Kennedy

date_of_death: January 22, 1995

age: 104

cause_of_death: Pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy was the mother of President John F. Kennedy and of two United States Senators, the long-suffering wife of a fabulously wealthy businessman-ambassador and the matriarch of a family whose political triumphs and personal tragedies she carried with quiet dignity until her dying days. Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy will be best remembered as an American philanthropist, socialite, and matriarch of the Kennedy family. She was deeply embedded in the "lace curtain" Irish American community in Boston. Her father, John F. Fitzgerald, served in the Massachusetts State Senate (1892–1894), in the U.S. House of Representatives (1895–1901, 1919), and as Mayor of Boston (1906–1908, 1910–1914). Her husband, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., chaired the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (1934–1935) and the U.S. Maritime Commission (1937–1938), and served as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1938–1940). Their nine children included United States President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith.