|
|
|
| Ibsen to
Murders & Other Sociopaths |
| Ibsen,
Henrik (1828-1906) |
|
"On the contrary." |
|
Henrik Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright
who achieved
international
recognition for such classics as A Doll's House and Hedda
Gabler.
Ibsen suffered a stroke in 1900 and spent the last years of his life
confined
to bed. One day, he heard his nurse remark to a visitor that he
was
feeling better. "On the contrary," cut in Ibsen just before he
died. |
|
For more information:
|
| Jackson,
Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" (1824-1863) |
|
"Order A.P. Hill to prepare for
action! Pass
the infantry
to the front rapidly! Tell Major Hawks. . . . Let us cross
over the river and sit under the shade of the trees." |
|
Stonewall Jackson was one of the premier
Confederate
generals of the
American Civil War. He was mistakenly wounded by his own men on 2
May 1863 during the battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia, and his
left
arm had to be amputated. General Robert E. Lee decided that
Jackson
should recuperate in a safe refuge and ordered that Jackson be
transported
to Guinea Station about 30 miles from the front lines. Jackson endured
the ambulance ride well and was expected to eventually recover.
Pneumonia
set in, however, and by Sunday, 10 May, it became clear that Jackson
would
not last through the day. Jackson remarked to his physician, "I
have
always desired to die on Sunday," and lapsed into delirium before he
died
at 3:15 p.m. |
|
Jackson's chaplain, B. Tucker Lacy, who
attended to the
general at
Guinea Station reported that during the ordeal General Lee spoke to him
of Jackson, "He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right arm." |
|
For more information:
|
| Jefferson,
Thomas (1743-1826) |
|
"This is the Fourth?" |
|
Both Thomas Jefferson and his old friend
and rival John
Adams died on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of
Independence.
On the evening of 3 July 1826, Jefferson roused from semi-consciousness
on his deathbed and asked an attendant, "This is the Fourth?" To
comfort Jefferson, the man replied that it was. Jefferson smiled
with satisfaction and returned to sleep. He died just after noon
on the following day. |
|
For more information:
|
| Jesus
of Nazareth (4 B.C.?-30 A.D.?) |
|
"It is finished." per John
19:30
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!"
per Mark
15:34-5
and Matthew 27:46
"Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit."
per
Luke 23:46 |
|
Jesus of Nazareth was a 1st century Jewish
teacher who
was crucified
by the Romans. Jesus is believed by Christians to be the Christ
through
whom God revealed himself to the world and whose death reconciles
the world with God. |
|
For more information:
|
| Joan
of Arc, Saint (1412-1431) |
|
"Hold the cross high so I may see it
through the
flames!" |
|
Joan was the youngest of five children of
Jacques
d'Arc, a peasant
farmer from Domremy. She began to hear "voices" when she was
thirteen
that told her she was to serve the Dauphin and save France. Joan
was repeatedly rebuffed in her attempts to join the French army until
she
successfully predicted its defeat at the Battle of Herrings in
1429.
Afterwards, a local commander sent her to the Dauphin. When she
recognized
the disguised Dauphin hiding in a group of courtiers, he sent her to be
examined by group of theologians at Poitiers. After three weeks
of
questioning, they proclaimed that her voices were genuine. |
|
The Dauphin then sent her to serve with
the Army as it
fought to lift
the siege of Orleans. There, clad in a suit of armor, she led her
men and saved the city by capturing several English forts. Later
that year she led the French army to an even more important victory at
Troyes. This allowed the Dauphin to be crowned Charles VII at
Reims,
and Joan stood at his side during the ceremony. She continued to
lead the army until she was captured by Burgundians at Compiegne and
turned
over to the English. Charles made no effort to save her, and in
fact,
some have suggested that he helped arrange her capture as part of a
secret
deal with the Burgundians. |
|
Joan was tried in a religious court for
heresy and
witchcraft, and
although she defended herself well, she was forced or tricked into
denying
her "voices" and promising never again to wear men's clothes.
Later,
she once more dressed as a man and was declared a heretic. She
was
burned at the stake in the Rouen marketplace, and her ashes were thrown
into the Seine. Twenty-five years later, her case was reopened by
Pope Callistus III, and she was found innocent. Joan was
canonized
by Pope Benedict XV in 1920. |
|
For more information:
|
| Jolson,
Al (Asa Yoelson) (1886-1950) |
|
"This is it! I'm going. I'm
going." |
|
Al Jolson was born in Lithuania and
immigrated with his
family to the
United States in 1895. He began his career singing in burlesque,
minstrel shows, and vaudeville before becoming a star on
Broadway.
Jolson is, perhaps, best remembered for his starring role in The
Jazz
Singer, the first full-length talking motion picture. After Jolson
died in 1950, he was posthumously awarded a Congressional Medal of
Merit
for his untiring efforts to provide entertainment for U.S. military
forces. |
|
For more information:
|
| Jones,
Henry Arthur (1851-1924) |
|
"The prettier. Now fight for it." |
|
Henry Jones was a successful English
playwright during
the last quarter
of the 19th century. On his deathbed, his nurse and his niece
asked
him whom he would prefer to have at his side during the evening.
"The prettier," he said, "Now fight for it."
|
| Kafka,
Franz (1883-1924) |
|
"Kill me, or else you are a murderer!" |
|
Franz Kafka, born in Prague in 1883,
became one of the
most influential
writers of the 20th century. As Kafka lay dying of tuberculosis,
he begged his physician for an overdose of morphine to end his
suffering.
While alive, Kafka only published a very few selections of his short
fiction
including "The Metamorphosis," a story
about
a young man who, symbolically, is transformed into a huge disgusting
insect.
Following his death, friends published the bulk of Kafka's work,
including The
Castle and The Trial, despite his final instructions that
they
destroy the manuscripts, "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I
leave
behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and
others'),
sketches, and so on, to be burned unread." |
|
For more information:
|
| Kelly,
George (1887-1974) |
|
"My dear, before you kiss me good-bye,
fix you hair.
It's a mess." |
|
George Kelly was an American playwright
and the uncle
of Grace Kelly.
On his death bed he was visited by a different niece, who leaned
forward
to kiss him farewell.
|
| Kennedy,
John F. (1917-1963) |
|
"That's obvious." |
|
John Kennedy, 35th president of the United
States, was
assassinated
by Lee Harvey Oswald as he was
traveling
by motorcade through the streets of Dallas. Kennedy was visiting
Dallas to help prepare for his coming election campaign. Many
citizens
were lining the streets to watch the procession as it passed.
Kennedy
had just responded to the Texas governor's wife's comment, "Mr.
President,
you can't say that Dallas doesn't love you" when the first of Oswald's
bullets struck him in the head. |
|
Nothing
brings out more kooks than the opportunity to publish a conspiracy
theory about Kennedy's assassination. Perhaps this is in part due
to the rather dark and sinister Kennedy family history.
Regardless, Vincent Bugliosi and Geral Posner debunk them all.
|
|
For more information:
|
| Ker,
William Paton (1855-1923) |
|
"I thought this was the most beautiful
spot in the
world, and now
I know it." |
|
William Ker was a British scholar and
professor of
English at University
College, London, for over thirty years. He was an accomplished
mountain
hiker and returned to the Italian alps in 1923. As he was walking
up the the Pizzo Bianco at Macugnaga, he turned to his companions,
uttered
his last words, and suffered a fatal heart attack.
|
| Knox,
Ronald (1888-1957) |
|
"No . . . . Awfully jolly of you
to suggest
it, though." |
|
Ronald Knox was a British priest and
author who served
as the Catholic
chaplain at Oxford for many years. For several days before his
death
from liver cancer, he lay comatose, attended by close friends.
Shortly
before his death, Lady Elton noticed that he had stirred slightly and
asked
if he would like her to read from his own translation of the New
Testament.
|
| Lawrence,
Saint (?-258) |
|
"Turn me. I am roasted on one
side." |
|
Saint Lawrence is one of the most
celebrated Roman
martyrs. A
church deacon during the time Emperor Valerian was vigorously
persecuting
christians, Lawrence also served as the keeper of the church's
treasures.
He was arrested and told that to save himself he must give the church
treasures
to the government. Lawrence readily agreed and told the official
that it would take at least eight days to assemble them. On the
eighth
day, Lawrence returned to the prefect and presented him with hundreds
of
poor and disabled men, women, and children. "These," he said,
"are
the riches of the church." The enraged official then ordered
Lawrence
to be stripped, tied face down on a gridiron suspended over a bed of
coals,
and slowly burned to death. Lawrence maintained a cheerful
appearance
through out the ordeal and, when asked if he had any last request,
responded
with his last words. His behavior was said to have been so impressive
that
several Roman senators converted to Christianity on the spot, and
hundreds
of citizens did the same the following day. |
|
For more
information:
|
| Lawrence,
James (1781-1813) |
|
"Tell the men to fire faster and not to
give up the
ship; fight
her till she sinks." |
|
James Lawrence was a U.S. Navy officer who
commanded
the frigate Chesapeake
in a naval battle during the War of 1812. Mortally wounded, he
was
carried below. His last words are often shortened to simply
"Don't
give up the ship."
|
| Leary,
Timothy (1920-1996) |
|
"Why not? Why not? Why
not? Why
not? Yeah." |
|
Timothy Leary, a Harvard psychologist who
was fired
after supplying
students with drugs, was one of the most controversial personalities of
the 1960s. Leary advocated the widespread use of LSD and urged
American
youth to "Turn on, tune in, and drop out." |
|
For more information:
|
| Lee,
Robert E. (1807-1870) |
|
"Strike the tent." |
|
Robert E. Lee was a distinguished U.S.
Army officer who
gave up his
federal commission to lead the the Army of Northern Virginia during the
American Civil War. |
|
For more information:
|
| Lewis,
Meriwether (1774-1809) |
|
"I am not coward, but I am so
strong. It is
hard to die." |
|
Meriwether Lewis was appointed the first
governor of
Upper Louisiana
by Thomas Jefferson following his return from his famous expedition to
the Pacific Ocean. He was a poor administrator and decided to
travel
to Washington to square some unreimbursed expense reports that had left
him deep in debt. He departed Saint Louis with $200 in his
pockets
for New Orleans, where he planned to finish his journey by boat.
In route, he suffered a breakdown near what today is Memphis,
Tennessee.
He recuperated there for several weeks and again set out, this time
overland.
While stopped just south of Nashville at the home of Ms. Robert
Grinder,
whose husband was away, Lewis was said to have become very agitated
about
his personal affairs. Ms Grinder later reported that during the
night
she heard a gunshot followed by the cry of "Oh, Lord," which was
followed
by a second shot. A few minutes later, Lewis staggered to her
door
and pleaded, "Oh, madam! Give me some water and heal my wounds."
Ms. Grinder was too frightened to open the door until morning when she
sought out Lewis's servants, and together they found him alive and
intense
pain with his skull shattered and brain exposed. Ms. Grinder
claimed
that although he then begged her to kill him, she refused.
Lewis's
death was never investigated, and while many believed it to have been a
suicide, an equal number suggested that he was killed while being
robbed
by his servants, Ms. Grinder, her husband, or others. Lewis's
$200
was never found. |
|
For more information:
|
| Lincoln,
Abraham |
|
(Laughter) |
|
As Abraham Lincoln was watching the play, Our
American Cousin,
on the night of his assassination at Ford's Theater, one of the
actresses
called for a shawl to protect her from the draft. One of the actors
ad-libbed
a reply, "You are mistaken, Miss Mary, the draft has already been
stopped
by order of the President!" Lincoln shared his last laugh with
the
rest of the audience. |
|
You may have heard that Lincoln, on his
deathbed,
addressed his last
words to the legendary inventor of baseball, General Abner Doubleday,
"Keep
baseball going. The country needs it." This is simply not
true.
The fabrication was made up by a popular CBS sports announcer, Bill
Stern,
who hosted the "Colgate Sports Newsreel" during the 1930s and 1940s. |
|
For more information:
|
| Loeb,
Richard A. (1906-1936) |
|
"I think I'm going to make it." |
|
Richard Loeb was the son of a Sears Vice
President and
the youngest
person ever to graduate from the University of Michigan. He also
led his close nineteen year old friend, Nathan Leopold, in the
kidnapping
and murder of a fourteen year old boy in 1924. After the
murderers
were tied to the crime scene by a pair of specially designed eyeglasses
that Leopold dropped while hiding the body, both confessed, and the
subsequent
trial became the first "trial of the century." Clarence Darrow
defended
the pair and persuaded the judge to sentence them to life in prison
rather
than death. Loeb was eventually killed in a prison shower room
fight,
slashed 56 times with a razor after he allegedly made sexual advances
to
another inmate. |
|
For more information:
|
| Long,
Huey P., Jr. (The Kingfish) (1893-1935) |
|
"I wonder why he shot me." |
|
Huey P. Long was a Democrat politician
who, while
governor of Louisiana
from 1928 to 1932, created a powerful political machine and ruled the
state
as a dictator. He was sent to the Senate in 1932, where he
promoted
a "share-our-wealth" program that promised to take money from those who
had it and redistribute it to those who did not. Long developed
considerable
support among the poor and was seen as a possible third-party threat to
the Roosevelt presidential campaign. He was shot and killed by
the
son-in-law of a former political opponent. |
|
Long's story was fictionalized in 1947 in
the novel, All
the King's
Men. It was made into a movie two years later, and Long's
character, Willie
Stark, was played by Broderick Crawford |
|
For more information:
|
| Marat,
Jean-Paul (1743-1793) |
|
"They shall all be guillotined." |
|
Jean-Paul Marat was one of the most
radical and
bloodthirsty of all
the leaders of the French Revolution. His extreme positions had
isolated
him from most of his colleagues by 1793, but he continued to publish
his
views in his newspaper, L'Ami du Peuple, which he edited from
his
bathtub where he soaked for most of each day to relieve the itching and
pain of a chronic skin infection. On 13 July, a woman named
Charlotte
Corday asked the guard at his apartment door if she could deliver
information
about a counter-revolutionary group to Marat. Marat granted her
entry,
and she sat in a chair next to his tub and handed him a list of
conspirators.
After reading the list, Marat remarked, "They shall all be
guillotined."
As he did, Corday pulled a long-bladed kitchen knife from her dress and
drove it into Marat's left chest; she had actually come to avenge the
execution
of a friend. Marat called the name of his common law wife as he
collapsed
and died in the tub. Charlotte Corday was caught and executed
four
days later. Despite his unpopularity, thousands of Parisians
flocked
to view Marat's heart when it was later displayed by his allies. |
|
For more information:
|
| Marx,
Karl (1818-1883) |
|
"Go on, get out! Last words are
for fools who
haven't said
enough!" |
|
Karl Marx was the German economist,
philosopher, and
revolutionary
who, with the aid of Friederich Engles, produced most of the theory of
modern socialism and communism. As he lay in bed shortly before
his
death, his housekeeper foolishly asked if he had any last words. |
|
For more information:
|
| McKinley,
William B. (1843-1901) |
|
"We are all going." |
|
William McKinley, a U.S. President, was
assassinated by
an anarchist, Leon
Czolgosz, at the Pan American Exposition in 1901. He died
after
lingering painfully for several days. His wife, at his bedside as
he died, cried, "I want to go too, I want to go too!" McKinley
answered
her plea before he expired. |
|
McKinley's last words have also been
recorded as "It's
God's way.
His will, not ours, be done." |
|
For more information:
|
| Maria
Theresa, Empress of Austria (1717-1780) |
|
"No, but comfortable enough to die." |
|
Maria Theresa was the empress of Austria
from 1740
until her death
in 1780. She spent the last several days of her life propped up
in
a chair as she was unable to breath lying down. Her son, Joseph,
attempted to comfort her after one especially painful spasm. "Your
Majesty
cannot be comfortable like that," he said rushing to her side for
support.
"No," replied the empress, "but comfortable enough to die." Maria
Theresa died a few minutes later without any additional suffering.
|
| Mather,
Cotton (1663-1728) |
|
"Is this dying? Is this
all? Is this
what I feared when
I prayed against a hard death? Oh, I can bear this! I can
bear
this!" |
|
Cotton Mather was the most famous of the
late 17th
century New England
ministers and the last of the great Puritan preachers. He found
himself
overwhelmed by the advance of secularism and defended the old New
England
theocracy in its final losing battles. |
|
For more information:
|
| Merrick,
John Cary (?-1890) |
|
"The heart beats . . . . Nothing
ever dies."
(from the
movie, The Elephant Man - actor, John Hurt) |
|
John Merrick suffered from an incredibly
disfiguring
neurological disease.
He was rescued from a freak show by a British surgeon, Frederick
Treves.
Inexplicably, Michael Jackson became fixated on purchasing Merrick's
remains
in the late 1980s. |
|
For more information:
|
| Mineo,
Sal (1939-1976) |
|
"Oh God! No! Help! Someone Help!" |
|
Sal Mineo was a movie star best known for
his teenage
roles in Rebel
Without a Cause and Exodus for which he received Oscar
nominations.
Following a feud with John Ford during the filming of Cheyenne
Autumn in
1963, Mineo's film offers fell off sharply, and by the early 1970's he
was acting only in small plays, television roles, and foreign
movies.
In 1976, he was living in a small apartment in a rather seedy part of
Los
Angeles while he rehearsed a play about a bisexual burglar. One
night
as Mineo walked from his carport, a man attacked him, stabbing him in
the
heart. Neighbors heard Mineo's cries for help and chased the
assailant
away. One tried unsuccessfully to administer CPR. The
police
never solved the crime. |
|
For more information:
|
| Mishima
Yukio (1925-1970) |
|
"Human life is limited; but I would
like to live
forever." |
|
Mishima Yukio was a right-wing Japanese
novelist and
playwright whose
best known work to Western readers is probably The Sailor Who Fell
from
Grace With the Sea. He committed seppuku, or hari-kiri, after
failing to convince the Japanese military to overthrow the civilian
government. |
|
For more information:
|
| Mizner,
Wilson (1876-1933) |
|
"Why should I talk to you? I've
just been
talking to your
boss." |
|
Wilson Mizner was a U.S. writer and
gambler. On
his deathbed,
he briefly regained consciousness before dying and found a priest
standing
over him. Mizner waved the priest away saying, "Why should I talk
to you? I've just been talking to your boss."
|
| Monmouth,
Duke of (James Scott) (1649-1685) |
|
"Do not hack me as you did my Lord
Russell." |
|
James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth, was an
illegitimate
son of Charles
II. He led an unsuccessful rebellion against Charles's successor,
James II, and was executed after losing the Battle of Sedgemoor.
His last words were addressed to the executioner.
|
| Montagu,
Lady Mary Wortley (1689-1762) |
|
"It has all been most interesting." |
|
Lady Mary, an English writer and
world-traveler, was
close friends
with many prominent political and literary figures. She is also
credited
with first introducing English physicians to the Turkish practice of
smallpox
inoculation. |
|
For more information:
|
| More,
Thomas, Sir (1478-1535) |
|
"This hath not offended the king." |
|
Sir Thomas More was a prominent English
statesman and
philosopher whose
most famous work, Utopia, describes an ideal society based upon
reason. More served as the Speaker of the House of Commons and
was
a champion of free speech. He became Lord Chancellor in 1529 but
resigned three years later because he disapproved of King Henry VIII's
break with the Catholic Church. More was imprisoned in the Tower
of London in 1535 for refusing to recognize Henry as the leader of the
Church of England. He was found guilty of treason and beheaded
later
that year. |
|
Sir Thomas More spoke his last words as he
laid his
neck on the executioner's
block and carefully arranged his long, gray beard so that it would not
be cut by the sword. |
|
More's last words have also been recorded
as, "I pray
you, I pray you,
Mr. Lieutenant, see me safe up, and for my coming, down let me shift
for
myself." In the 1966 movie, A Man for All Seasons, Thomas
More's (actor Paul Scofield's) last words were "I die the king's good
servant,
but God's first." |
|
For more information:
|
| Mulligan,
Colonel James A. (?-1864) |
|
"Lay me down, and save the flag!" |
|
In the late spring and early summer of
1864, the
Confederate Army terrorized
Maryland and threatened Washington D.C. from its Shenandoah Valley
stronghold.
Union General George Crook was dispatched to eliminate the threat, but
was soundly defeated at the Second Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, on 24
July 1864. Mulligan's division held the center of the Union line
during the battle, but as units on either flank fell back, it became
enveloped
by three Confederate divisions. As Mulligan directed his forces,
he was hit with rounds and fell mortally wounded. With
Mulligan's
death, the center gave way and the Union army retreated to the Potomac
River. Shortly after the defeat, the Confederate commander,
General
Early, sent his cavalry to burn Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on 30 July.
|
| Murderers
and Other Apolitical Sociopaths |
|
Appel, George
1928
|
"Well, gentlemen,
you are about
to see a baked
apple." |
|
Barney, Jeffrey
|
"I'm tingling all
over." |
|
Flegensheimer,
Arthur
1935
|
"Mother is the best
bet." |
|
French, James
1966
|
"How about this for
a
headline? French
fries." |
|
Garrett,
Johnny
Frank
1991 |
"I'd like to thank
my family for
loving me and
taking care of me. And the rest of the world can kiss my ass."
|
|
Gilmore,
Gary
1977
|
"Let's do it." |
|
Grasso,
Thomas J.
1995 |
"I did not get my
Spaghetti-Os. I got spaghetti.
I want the press to know this."
|
|
Johnson,
Edward E.
1986
|
"I guess no one's
going to call." |
|
Loeb, Richard A.
1936
|
"I think I'm
going to make it." |
|
McCarty,
Henry
1881
|
"Who is it?" |
|
Parks, Roby Leroy
1992
|
"I'm still
awake." |
|
Roges, James
|
"Why yes, a bullet
proof vest." |
|
Spenkelink,
John
1979
|
"Capital punishment;
them without
the capital
get the punishment." |
|
Tucker,
Karla Fay
1998 |
"I am going to be
face to face
with Jesus now.
. . . I will see you all when you get there. I will wait
for
you |
|
|
