Louis Braille

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.

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: 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.