31st year - N° 56 Thursday, 25 February 2016

BIRTH(+)FACT(᙮)DEATH(-)
31st year - N° 56 Thursday, 25 February 2016

25 February / Today's 12 Events:

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(+) 143 years ago Tuesday 25th of February 1873 Tenor Enrico Caruso is born in Via San Giovannello agli Ottocalli 7, Napoli, Campania, Italy.

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(+) 99 years ago Sunday 25th of February 1917 Writer Anthony Burgess, originally John Anthony Burgess Wilson known for his dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange is born in 91 Carisbrook Street, Harpurhey, Manchester, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom.

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(-) 94 years ago Saturday 25th of February 1922 Serial killer Henri Désiré Landru aka Le Barbe-Bleue de Gambais is executed by the Guillotine at the age of 53 in Prison Saint Pierre, Place des Tribunaux, Versailles, Île-de-France, France.

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(+) 85 years ago Wednesday 25th of February 1931 Serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke aka The Australian Nightmare is born in Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

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(+) 59 years ago Monday 25th of February 1957 Irish republican hunger striker Raymond McCreesh, originally Réamonn Mac Raois is born in Camlough, Armagh, Ireland.

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(+) 57 years ago Wednesday 25th of February 1959 Murderer Ricky Lee Sanderson is born in Iredell County, North Carolina, United States.

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(-) 52 years ago Tuesday 25th of February 1964 Artist Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko dies of unknown causes at the age of 77 in New York City, New York, United States.

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(-) 47 years ago Tuesday 25th of February 1969 Revolutionary student Jan Zajíc commits suicide by self-immolation at the age of 19 in Wenceslas Square, Praha, Bohemia, Czechoslovakia. Around 1:30 in the afternoon Zajíc walked into the passageway of the building at No. 39 on Wenceslas Square and ignited his chemical-soaked clothes. Zajíc was unable to run out of the door and collapsed and died in the hallway. "Mother, father, brother, little sister! – When you read this letter, I will already be dead or close to death. I know what a severe blow my act will be to you, but don't be angry at me. Unfortunately, we are not alone in this world. I am not doing this because I would be tired by life, on the contrary, because I cherish it too much. Hopefully my act will make life better. I know the price of life and I know it is the most precious thing. But I want a lot for you, for everyone, so I have to pay a lot. Do not lose your heart after my sacrifice, tell Jacek to study harder and Marta too. You must never accept injustice, be it in any form, my death will bind you. I am sorry that I will never see you or that, which I loved so much. Please forgive me that I fought with you so much. Do not let them make me a madman. – Say hi to the boys, the river and the forest."

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46 years ago

Wednesday 25th of February 1970

Abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko, originally Marcus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz commits suicide by slashing his arms at the age of 67 in 118 E. 95th Street, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States.

Rothko's body was found by his assistant Oliver Steindecker when Steindecker arrived in the morning for work. Rothko was lying face-up on the kitchen floor of his studio in a pool of blood, his arms outstretched. He was dressed in an undershirt, long johns and long black socks. He had removed his glasses, shoes and trousers (which were found folded over the back of a chair) before slitting his arms with a double-edged razor. He first took the razor in his right hand (after ca refully wrapping a tissue over one one side of the razor) and made a cut in his left arm. He then switched the razor to his left hand and made an even deeper cut in his right arm. Both cuts were made just below the bend of the elbow. The autopsy revealed that Rothko had also overdosed on anti-depressants.

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(x) 34 years ago Thursday 25th of February 1982 23-year-old Performance artist Danny Devos aka DDV performs 'Resonantiepunctie' in an exhibition of Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven aka AMVK in Zeno X Gallery, Leopold De Waelplaats, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

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(-) 33 years ago Friday 25th of February 1983 Writer and playwright Tennessee Thomas Lanier Williams chokes to death on the cap from a bottle of eye drops he frequently used in his suite at the age of 72 in Hotel Elysee, 60 East 54th Street, New York City, New York, United States. Williams' use of drugs and alcohol may have contributed to his death by suppressing his gag reflex.

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9 years ago The Eyes had it Sunday 25th of February 2007 My 'Bastard Art' piece 'Erd-Ecke' in  'The Moss Gathering Tumbleweed Experience' exhibition in NICC, Museumstraat, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

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