Died On May 7th

Antonio Salieri was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher considered a key figure in the development of late 18th-century opera. He was a protégé of eminent composer Christoph Willibald Gluck. For several years, he served as the director of the Italian opera by the Habsburg court. His works were performed widely across Europe during his lifetime. 

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, known for his ruthlessness, not only united the German empire by crushing all rebellious vassals, but also put an end to the attacks by the Magyars of Hungary. His strategy of making the German bishops feudal lords helped his cause of stabilizing his empire.

Caspar David Friedrich was a German painter best remembered for painting mid-period allegorical landscapes. Widely regarded as the most important German painter of his era, Friedrich is celebrated as an important figure of the German Romantic movement. His works have influenced several painters, including Johan Christian Dahl, Arnold Böcklin, and Christiane Pooley.

Hungarian brunette beauty Angelica Bella began her career in the porn industry as Gabriella Dari. Initially a favorite of German producers, she later became a huge name in Italy. Known for her hardcore porn films that included anal sex, she has  now retired and runs an online sex shop.

The first Nigerian civil engineer, Herbert Macaulay was a multi-talented man who had been a politician, a musician, and a journalist. Also remembered as the Father of Nigerian Nationalism, he was one of the major figures who opposed British colonialism in Nigeria. He practiced ancient African magic and the occult.

Mary of Modena, the second wife of King James II of England, who was also James VII of Scotland, reigned as the queen of England, Ireland, and Scotland. It is believed she induced James to escape to France during the Glorious Revolution, when William of Orange invaded England.

Architect Josef Hoffmann was one of the pioneering figures of the Vienna Sezession. He also supported the British Arts and Crafts Movement and helped in setting up the Vienna Workshop, serving as its director for 30 years. He was later made the city architect of Vienna.

Willard Boyle revolutionized physics with the invention of the charge-coupled device (CCD), which also earned him, and his co-inventor George E. Smith, a Nobel Prize. During his time at Bellcomm, he was associated with the Apollo space program. Both he and Smith worked for Bell Laboratories, too.

Right-wing Romanian politician Octavian Goga was a significant part of the Romanian nationalistic movement and the Romanian National Party. He later formed the National Christian Party and led Romania as its prime minister. He was a talented poet, playwright, and journalist, too, and penned works such as The Olt River.

Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma was the Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma from 1974 until his death in 1977. He was also a Carlist claimant to the Spanish throne. He joined the Belgian army during World War I and fought with distinction. He also played important roles in the Spanish Civil War and World War II during his military career.

Ion Ghica was a Romanian mathematician, statesman, politician, and diplomat. He is best remembered for his service as the Prime Minister of Romania. Ion Ghica is also remembered for his association with Academia Mihăileană, where he served as a professor of mineralogy, geology, and political economy.

After winning a beauty contest as a housewife, Joyce Davidson worked on a TV cooking show. The CBC TV broadcaster was once dragged into a controversy for stating that she was “indifferent” about Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Canada. Public backlash drove her out of the country, and she eventually settled in the US.

Arnold van Gennep was a Dutch-German-French folklorist and ethnographer. He is best remembered for his 1909 work, The Rites of Passage, which influenced Joseph Campbell's 1949 work The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Arnold van Gennep's work also influenced Victor Turner's research and his 1969 work, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure.