Louis Braille

popular name: Aaron Burr

date_of_death: September 14, 1836

age: 80

cause_of_death: Long-term effects of a debilitating stoke

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician. He was elected twice to the New York State Assembly (1784–1785, 1798–1799), was appointed New York State Attorney General (1789–1791), was chosen as a United States Senator (1791–1797) from the state of New York, and reached the apex of his career as third Vice President of the United States (1801–1805), under President Thomas Jefferson. Despite these accomplishments, Burr is chiefly remembered as the man who killed his rival Alexander Hamilton in the famous 1804 duel. Controversy dogged Burr throughout his lifetime, and his reputation among historians remains contested. Burr died in financial ruin in a boarding house in Staten Island, New York at the age of 80.

popular name: Frances Cleveland

date_of_death: October 29, 1947

age: 83

cause_of_death: Natural causes

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Frances Cleveland was First Lady of the United States from 1886 to 1889 and again from 1893 to 1897 as the wife of President Grover Cleveland. Becoming First Lady at age 21, she remains the youngest wife of a sitting president.

popular name: Marquis de Vauban

date_of_death: March 30, 1707

age: 73

cause_of_death: Natural causes

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Marquis de Vauban was a French military engineer who revolutionized the art of siege craft and defensive fortifications. He fought in all of France's wars of Louis XIV's reign (1643–1715). He is generally considered the greatest engineer of his time, and one of the most important in Western military history. His principles for fortifications were widely used for nearly 100 years, while aspects of his offensive tactics remained in use until the mid-twentieth century. He viewed civilian infrastructure as closely connected to military effectiveness and worked on many of France's major ports, as well as projects like the Canal de la Bruche, which remain in use today. He founded the Corps royal des ingénieurs militaires, whose curriculum was based on his publications on engineering design, strategy and training. His economic tract, La Dîme royale, used statistics in support of his arguments, making it a precursor of modern economics. Later destroyed by Royal decree, it contained radical proposals for a more even distribution of the tax burden. His application of rational and scientific methods to problem-solving, whether engineering or social, anticipated an approach common in the Age of Enlightenment. Perhaps the most enduring aspect of Vauban's legacy was his view of France as a geographical entity.