Franklin, Melvin
Music
Age 52
October 12, 1942 - February 23, 1995
Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
It has been over five decades since The Temptations were first founded and in that time there have been 22 different members of the group, but it is the ‘Classic Five’ (and the post-Classic Five, Dennis Edwards) line-up that m...
Boltzmann, Ludwig
Science
Age 62
February 20, 1844 - September 5, 1906
Der Wiener Zentralfriedhof / Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234 / Vienna / Austria / Europe
Ludwig Boltzmann was one of the greatest theoretical physicists of all time. His fame is due to his pioneering research work on thermodynamics and statistical mechanics (his basic equation of kinetic gas theory and the second prin...
Geraci, Sonny
Music
Age 70
November 22, 1946 - February 5, 2017
Knollwood Cemetery / Mayfield Heights / Ohio / USA / North America
Geraci made his mark in the Cleveland music scene as the lead singer for the Outsiders. Signed to Capital Records they released four Top-40 hits including "Girl in Love" and "Help Me Girl". In 1971 Geraci scored his biggest hit s...
Big Mama Thornton
Music
Age 57
December 11, 1926 - July 25, 1985
Inglewood Memorial Park / Inglewood / California / USA / North America
Janis Joplin called her one of her inspirations and Living Blues magazine described her as "two hundred pounds of boogaloo." Of course, fans and musicians alike just called her Big Mama Thornton. An aggressive blues shouter, who a...
Kennedy, Joseph Patrick
Business and Finance
Age 81
September 6, 1888 – - November 18, 1969
Holyhood Cemetery / Chestnut Hill / Massachusetts / USA / North America
Joseph P. Kennedy is best known for being the father of three political leaders: President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, who served as a U.S. senator and attorney general. Kennedy became a bank pres...
Lawnchair Larry
The Odd and the Interesting
Age 44
April 19, 1949 - October 6, 1993
Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
Lawnchair Larry was an American truck driver who made a 45-minute flight in a homemade airship made of an ordinary patio chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons. The aircraft, named 'Inspiration I', and with a couple of sandwi...
Jones, Spike
Music
Age 53
December 14, 1911 - May 1, 1965
Holy Cross Cemetery / Culver City / California / USA / North America
Considered by many as the Father of Novelty Music, Spike Jones was the “Weird Al” Yankovic of the 1940s through the early 60s. A talented and serious musician and bandleader, Spike Jones and His City Slickers specialized in sp...
Taylor, Elizabeth
Show Business
Age 79
February 27, 1932 - March 23, 2011
Forest Lawn Memorial Park / Glendale / California / USA / North America
With striking beauty and undeniable talent, Elizabeth Taylor captivated audiences. From precocious child actor to unforgettable leading lady, she played legendary female characters who embodied strength, integrity, and unapologeti...
Fleischmann, Charles Louis
Business and Finance
Age 62
November 3, 1835 - December 10, 1897
Spring Grove Cemetery / Cincinnati / Ohio / USA / North America
Charles Louis Fleischmann was a Hungarian-American who, along with his brother Maximilian and another partner, created America’s first commercially produced yeast, which revolutionized baking in a way that made today’s mass pr...
Richard, Martin
Crime and their Victims
Age 8
June 9, 2004 - April 15, 2013
Cedar Grove Cemetery / Dorchester Center / Massachusetts / USA / North America
Martin Richard was the youngest of three victims killed by two domestic terrorists who detonated two homemade improvised explosive devices near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 2013. He was described by a family friend, "...
Ruffin, David
Music
Age 50
January 18, 1941 - June 1, 1991
Woodlawn Cemetery / Detroit / Michigan / USA / North America
David Ruffin is an American soul singer and musician most famous for his work as one of the original members and lead singers of the Temptations from 1964 - 1968. His vocals can be heard on the legendary Motown hits My Girl, Ain't...
Éluard, Paul
Writers and Poets
Age 56
December 14, 1895 - November 18, 1952
Cimetière du Père Lachaise / Paris / France / Europe
Paul Éluard was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. He is widely considered the best of the surrealist poets, and his surrealist books include Capitale de la douleur (1926), La Rose publique (1934) a...
Bentsen, Lloyd
World Leaders
Age 85
February 11, 1921 - May 23, 2006
Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery / Houston / Texas / USA / North America
Lloyd Bentson was a four-term United States Senator (1971–1993) from Texas, the Democratic Party nominee for vice president in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ticket and served as the 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury und...
Bridgwood, Charlotte
The Odd and the Interesting
Age 68
August 18, 1861 - August 20, 1929
Hollywood Forever Cemetery / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
Charlotte Bridgwood patented the first electrically powered windshield wiper in 1917, improving previous manually-operated wipers such as the one patented by Mary Anderson in 1905. However, her wiper used rollers rather than blade...
Beveridge, Daeida W.
Business and Finance
Age 53
1861 - August 7, 1914
Hollywood Forever Cemetery / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
Once described as “just a housewife,” Daeida Hartle Wilcox Beveridge renamed a former fig farm and secured her place history as the founder, developer and woman who named Hollywood. With first husband H.H. Wilcox, she led deve...