Louis Braille

popular name: Ossie Davis

date_of_death: February 4, 2005

age: 87

cause_of_death: Suspected heart disease

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Ossie Davis was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. He and his wife, Ruby Dee were named to the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame; were awarded the National Medal of Arts and were recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1994. Ossie David made his film debut in 1950 in the Sidney Poitier film No Way Out. He was one of a handful of black actors able to find commercial success while avoiding stereotypical roles prior to 1970, which also included a significant role in the movies The Hill, The Cardinal, and The Scalphunters. In addition to acting, Ossie Davis was considered one of the most notable black directors of his generation. Some of his best known works include directing Gordon's War, Black Girl and Cotton Comes to Harlem.

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: Patrick J. Kennedy

date_of_death: May 18, 1929

age: 71

cause_of_death: Liver disease

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Patrick Joseph Kennedy (P.J. to his friends and grandfather to President John F. Kennedy) was the son of Irish immigrants. His father, Patrick Kennedy, died of cholera ten months after he was born while his mother, Bridget Kennedy, who also had three daughters, found work as a clerk in a shop. Working in the shipyards after high school, Kennedy borrowed money from his mother and sisters to purchase a run-down saloon in a poor area of Boston. Although he was himself a teetotaler, the business venture was a success and he was soon able to obtain a second saloon. Kennedy purchased a third bar in an upscale East Boston hotel, the Maverick House. Before he was thirty, his growing prosperity allowed him to buy a whiskey and fine liquors importing business, P.J. Kennedy and Company. In 1887 Kennedy married Mary Augusta Hickey, the daughter of a prosperous businessman in the city. A member of the Democratic Party Kennedy was elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1892 where he worked behind the scenes as a party boss. After leaving state politics, Kennedy held various appointed positions in the city including elections commissioner, fire commissioner, and wire (electricity) commissioner. He continued his business career by helping to incorporate two Boston financial institutions, the Columbia Trust Company and the Sumner Savings Bank.