RIP Pope Zephyrinus, who died on this date in 217. He presided over the Church when they were still being persecuted by the Romans. That's about it for him, except that he became a Saint. In addition to the whole "getting beaten up and killed by Romans" thing, he also had a number of people who decided that the Church needed to change their doctrine. He helped fight that off, and saved the Church in a sense.
In 1812, a woman died who had quite an impact on US history- and it's fitting that today is the date, given the Louisiana Purchase. RIP, Sacagawea. She had some useful connections for Lewis & Clark as they explored Louisiana, but if you were brought up believing that she "saved" the entire expedition... well, that's not really true. On the other hand, there's a school of thought that she didn't die on this date in 1812, but actually lived on for decades, having left her family and married into the Comanche tribe. Possible, I guess, but doubtful. She was commemorated on a coin a few years back. The image wasn't her, and the coin was ugly and poorly thought out, so it flopped. (Amazing how often the government does that!)
In 1937, Erich Ludendorff died. He was a German general in WWI. He was the right hand man of Field Marshal von Hindenburg, and the two of them essentially led the German effort from 1916 until the end of the War. After the War, he got mixed up with an ex-soldier named Hitler when the latter tried to overthrow the government. Later, he decided that the Nazis were too nice, and stopped hanging out with them. Apparently he was about as nice as he sounds, so I don't think the world mourned his passing.
Unlike Ludendorff, the world did mourn the passing of John Steinbeck, who died on this date in 1968. He of course wrote a lot of great stuff, but I have a soft spot for "Travels with Charley" which was the first book of his that I ever read. I also have a soft spot for him because he lived and worked for some years in Monterey, which remains one of my favorite places. If only it weren't in California!
Roy O. Disney died on this date in 1971. He was the older brother of Walt, and together they started a business. Care to guess what it was? He was the businessman to his brother the creative guy, and played a major role in ensuring their company was viable. So I'd say he succeeded pretty well.
I have mixed feelings about this next one. RIP Carl Sagan, who died in 1996. I love "Cosmos", and regard it as one of the best things TV ever produced. However, I think Sagan was kind of a putz. His ideas on "nuclear winter" and all that crap never did impress me, and still don't. Nevertheless, we'll celebrate his most important legacy, while also noting that he never once said "billions and billions" in Cosmos.
And if you're a fan of "Barney Miller", then you'll want to mourn the passing last year of Steve Landesberg, aka Dietrich. Interesting character, and Landesberg was nominated for 3 Emmys for playing him. Oh, and he apparently came up with an awesome quote: "Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense".
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