As I start this article on October 27th, I am celebrating my 22nd birthday (pardon me while I cry in the corner) and it got me thinking about a fun fact/wikipedia game I once saw. The premise: Google “died + (insert your birthday here)” to find out what famous person you are reincarnated as via the top wikipedia articles that appear. My top two results:
Allen R. Schindler, Jr. – a navy sailor who was brutally beaten to death in a bathroom for being gay. His case helped instigate the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” act. He was also 22 at the time of his death.
David Bohm – considered one of the most significant theoretical physicists of the 20th century who contributed innovative and unorthodox ideas to quantum physics, philosophy of mind, and neuropsychology.
Granted, I was born at 2am and my mother was in labor for 24 hours so time of their deaths comes into question.
Here are a few more from your fellow Oliners.
Margaret Lidrbauch,
Born 2 March 1995
Hugo Cole – a musician who played cellist for several orchestras, a writer/composer of seven operas along with a fair amount of chamber music, and musical critic of Guardian and Country Life
Vivian MacKerrell – a British actor who became an inspiration for Withnail, a memorable character in British cinema
Ray Moore – a right handed pitcher in Major League Baseball
Matt Wismer,
Born 22 May 1992
Last episode Jonny Carson did on the tonight show
Daniel “Dan” Enright – working with Jack Barry, he became one of the most successful game show producers in American television, producing several network game shows such as Back that Fact, You’re on Your Own, Tic-Tac-Dough, etc.
Antonino Joseph Accardo – (aka. “Joe Batters” or “Big Tuna”) a day-to-day boss of the Chicago Outfit who eventually became the final authority. He moved the Outfit into slot machines, counterfeit cigarettes and liquor tax stamps, and also expanded narcotic smuggling.
Elizabeth Mahon,
Born 19 July 1993
Newby O. Brantly – an inventor, engineer and entrepreneur who started the Brantly Helicopter company. Some of his patented inventions include a knitting machine, a pump jack, and a brassiere for female athletes.
Gordon Gary – a Scottish Cardinal of the Catholic Church and the first resident Scottish Cardinal since the Reformation.
Girilal Jain – an Indian journalist and editor of The Times of India (1978-1988), best known for his book The Hindu Phenomenon.
William “Bill” Warner,
Born 9 September 1994
William the Conqueror – (official year of death: 1087) the first Norman king of England whose “changes in the Church, aristocracy, culture, and language of the country have persisted into modern times.”
Jack Warner – (official year of death: 1978) president and driving force behind Warner Brother Studios and several of the hard-edged social dramas for which the studio is known today.
Mao Zedong – (official year of death: 1976) a Chinese communist revolutionary and founder of the People’s Republic of China. He is infamously known for ‘The Great Leap Forward’ (among other disasters) which lead to the death of 45 million people over a 4 year period.
Patrick O’Neal – a US television, stage, and film actor. His credits include: Night of the Iguana (broadway), King Rat, Stepford Wives, episode of Twilight Zone, etc.
Miles Beevor – a solicitor, pilot, businessman who fought in WW2 and later went on to be the managing director of Brush Group Lt. as the company pushed to produce diesel based locomotives in the British Railways to replace the regular steam ones.
All sources: Wikipedia
Special thanks to those who sent me their info.
