Louis Braille

popular name: Thomas Edison

date_of_death: October 18, 1931

age: 84

cause_of_death: Complications of diabetes

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Thomas Edison was an American inventor and businessman who has been described as America's greatest inventor. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and early versions of the electric light bulb, have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial research laboratory.

popular name: Dom Pérignon

date_of_death: December 4, 1715

age: 77

cause_of_death: Natural causes

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Dom Pierre Pérignon was a French Benedictine monk who made important contributions to the production and quality of Champagne wine in an era when the region's wines were predominantly red. He is often credited erroneously that he invented sparkling Champagne but that dominant style of Champagne did not appear until about 200 years after his death. Today the famous Champagne Dom Pérignon, the prestige cuvée of Moët & Chandon, is named for him. The remains of the monastery where he spent his adult life is now the property of the winery.

popular name: Eddie Rickenbacker

date_of_death: July 23, 1973

age: 82

cause_of_death: Pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Historical Figure

best_know_for: Captain Edward V. Rickenbacker was called America’s Ace of Aces during World War I, the highest scorer of American aerial victories over the Germans. He could just as easily have been labeled the ‘luckiest man alive,’ however, since he survived — by his own count — 135 brushes with death during his exciting lifetime. With 26 aerial victories, he was the United States' most successful fighter ace in the war and is considered to have received the most awards for valor by an American during the war. He was also a race car driver, an automotive designer, a government consultant in military matters and a pioneer in air transportation, particularly as the long-time head of Eastern Air Lines. At one time he even owned and raced at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Towards the end of his life as CEO of Eastern Air Lines, the company was the most profitable airline in the postwar era. However during the late 1950s Eastern Air Lines' fortunes declined, and Rickenbacker was forced out of his position as CEO in 1959. Rickenbacker also resigned as the chairman of the board in 1963, at the age of 73. After that, Captain and Mrs. Rickenbacker traveled extensively for a number of years and in the 1960s, Rickenbacker became a well-known speaker, sharing shared his vision for the future of technology and commerce. Upon his death, he was buried at Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.