Louis Braille

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.

popular name: John Tyler

date_of_death: January 18, 1862

age: 71

cause_of_death: Stroke

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: John Tyler was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845 after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. As vice president, John Tyler set the example for a seamless and immediate succession of presidential power when an incumbent president dies. He is known for being the first president to serve without being elected to office, and served nearly an entire term of four years after President William Henry Harrison died just 32 days after taking office. Tyler demonstrated how a president who was willing to use the veto could block Congress. He vetoed a bill resurrecting the Bank of the United States (which Jackson had dismantled).

popular name: Anton Cermak

date_of_death: March 6, 1933

age: 59

cause_of_death: Ulcerative colitis, peritonitis and gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Anton Cermak was the 44th mayor of Chicago who was shot while shaking hands with President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami, Florida after a day of fishing on February 15, 1933. Cermak was shot in the lung and wounded during Giuseppe Zangara's assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. One of the last things he said was "I'm glad it was me, instead of you".