Louis Braille

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.

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.

popular name: Malcolm X

date_of_death: February 21, 1965

age: 39

cause_of_death: Assassination - 15 gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Malcolm X was a Muslim minister and controversial human rights activist who was a popular figure during the civil rights movement. He is best known for his time spent as a vocal spokesman for the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X was also a widely celebrated figure within African-American and popular during the civil rights era. A year before his murder, Malcolm X had split with the Nation of Islam, and began getting death threats from Nation of Islam followers. On February 21, 1965, he was assassinated in front of his wife and children at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. Three Nation members were charged with the murder and given indeterminate life sentences. Speculation about the assassination and whether it was conceived or aided by leading or additional members of the Nation, or with law enforcement agencies, have persisted for decades after the shooting.