Louis Braille

popular name: Aaron Burr Sr.

date_of_death: September 24, 1757

age: 41

cause_of_death: Fever

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Aaron Burr Sr. was a notable Presbyterian minister and college educator in colonial America. He was a founder of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and the father of Aaron Burr (1756–1836), the third vice president of the United States. When Jonathan Dickinson, the first president of the College, died soon after his appointment in 1747, Burr (who taught at the College) then became the second president on November 9, 1748. During his tenure (1748–1757), the curriculum was settled, the student body increased from 8 in 1747 to 40–50 in 1751, and the first commencement was held. Among the first graduates was Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence; five others became Presbyterian ministers. Burr moved the College to its permanent home at Princeton, New Jersey, where he supervised the construction of Nassau Hall, Princeton's best-known structure and the largest building in colonial New Jersey when it was completed in 1756. In 1755, Burr was relieved of his pastoral duties in order to concentrate full-time on his work at Princeton. At age 32, he became the youngest person ever to serve as president of Princeton.

popular name: Paul Robeson

date_of_death: January 23, 1976

age: 77

cause_of_death: Complications of a stroke

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Paul Robeson was an American actor, singer, and activist. Some of his best know work on stage included The Emperor Jones, All God's Chillun Got Wings, and Othello. Robeson best known movies include Show Boat (1936), Sanders of the River (1935), and The Proud Valley (1940). He became active in the Civil Rights Movement and other social justice campaigns. His sympathies for the Soviet Union and for communism, and his criticism of the United States government and its foreign policies, caused him to be blacklisted during the McCarthy era.

popular name: Franklin Pierce

date_of_death: October 8, 1869

age: 64

cause_of_death: Cirrhosis of the liver

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States of America. He came into office during a period of growing tension between the North and South. A politician of limited ability, Pierce was behind one of the most crucial pieces of legislation in American history. Although he did not author the Kansas-Nebraska Act, he did encourage its passage by Congress. That piece of legislation set the nation on its path to civil war by angering northerners and heightening pre-Civil War tensions by repealing the Missouri Compromise.