Louis Braille

popular name: Antoine-Augustin Parmentier

date_of_death: December 13, 1813

age: 76

cause_of_death: Tuberculosis

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (1737–1813) was a French pharmacist, agronomist, and nutrition advocate best known for promoting the potato as a reliable food source in France. After serving as a military pharmacist during the Seven Years’ War, he was captured by Prussians and fed a diet largely consisting of potatoes—an experience that convinced him of their nutritional value at a time when the French public considered them unsafe. Returning to France, Parmentier conducted scientific studies on potato cultivation, organized public demonstrations, and even persuaded influential figures, including King Louis XVI, to support his efforts. Beyond potatoes, he contributed significantly to public health by working on food preservation, public hygiene, smallpox vaccination campaigns, and improved bread production. Parmentier’s work helped transform French agricultural practices and eased food shortages, securing his legacy as a pioneering figure in nutrition and public health.

popular name: Albert J. Myer

date_of_death: August 24, 1880

age: 51

cause_of_death: Kidney disease

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Albert Myers was a surgeon, a general, father of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, inventor of wig-wag signaling (or aerial telegraphy), and also was the founder of the U.S. Weather Bureau.

popular name: Paul Bocuse

date_of_death: January 20, 2018

age: 91

cause_of_death: Parkinson's disease

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Paul Bocuse was a French chef based in Lyon who was known for the high quality of his restaurants and his innovative approaches to cuisine. A student of Eugénie Brazier, he was one of the most prominent chefs associated with the nouvelle cuisine, which is less opulent and calorific than the traditional cuisine classique, and stresses the importance of fresh ingredients of the highest quality. Bocuse was the incarnation of French gastronomy, a colossus of haute cuisine. His signature dishes not only pleased the palate; they also seduced the eye and piqued the imagination. He stuffed sea bass with lobster mousse and encased it in pastry scales and fins. He poached a truffled Bresse chicken inside a pig’s bladder. Chef Bocuse most famous dish was truffle soup V.G.E., a heady mixture of truffles and foie gras in chicken broth, baked in a single-serving bowl covered in puff pastry. First served at a dinner at the Élysée Palace in 1975, the soup was named for the French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, who had just awarded Mr. Bocuse the French Legion of Honor. Through the years Bocuse was among the first chefs to understand the value of publicity, and was a tireless promoter of French food and of his own restaurant, L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges, near Lyon. Upon his passing in the very room he was born in just above his signature restaurant, L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges had maintained their 3-star Michelin rating for over 50 years.