Louis Braille

popular name: Diana, Princess of Wales

date_of_death: August 31, 1997

age: 36

cause_of_death: Fatal chest injures from car crash

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Diana, Princess of Wales was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales and was the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry. She was international icon and earned her enduring popularity as well as unprecedented public scrutiny, exacerbated by her tumultuous private life. Her marriage to Prince Charles was unhappy and broken as he continued on an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. She used her popularity to promote charity work centered on children, but she later became known for her involvement with AIDS patients and campaign for the removal of landmines. She also raised awareness and advocated ways to help people affected with cancer and mental illness. Diana died from injures sustained in a car crash in Paris in 1997, while trying to escape paparazzi. This led to extensive public mourning and media attention worldwide.

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.

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.