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Actress Lisa Robin Kelly, known for her role as Laurie on "That '70s Show," passed away in her sleep at a rehabilitation facility in 2013 due to "multiple drug intoxication."
In the 1790s, France constructed a national network of signaling towers called the Chappe telegraph. Operators used large mechanical arms to create symbols, allowing complex messages to be transmitted across the country in about an hour, decades before electric telegraphs were invented.
In 2001, a six-year-old boy tragically died during an MRI scan when the machine's magnetic field pulled a metal oxygen tank across the room, fracturing his skull. He was under sedation at the time, and the incident led to significant safety reviews in hospitals.
Vince Gilligan described his pitch meeting with HBO for "Breaking Bad" as the worst of his life. The executive he met showed no interest, "not even in my story, but in whether I lived or died." HBO did not even extend a courtesy "no" in the following weeks.
Under U.S. copyright law, Weird Al Yankovic does not legally need permission to parody a song. However, he always seeks approval as a personal rule to maintain good relationships with artists.
During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), American oil company Texaco illegally sold oil to fascist leader Francisco Franco. Although fined $20,000 by the U.S. government, the company continued supplying oil until the war ended.
In 1903, Serbian King Alexander and Queen Draga Mašin were brutally murdered in their bedroom. The deeply unpopular king had repeatedly suspended the constitution, and both royals were widely despised. After their deaths, soldiers threw their bodies from a balcony into a pile of manure.
In 1895, Alva Vanderbilt shocked American high society by divorcing William K. Vanderbilt due to alleged infidelity. She walked away with millions and several estates, later using her wealth to support women's suffrage, racial uplift, and social and prison reform.
During the Tudor era in England, begging was strictly regulated. Only the sick or physically weak were allowed to beg, and only in designated areas. Healthy beggars faced harsh punishments, including public whippings or being branded with a "V" for vagrant.
In 1986, Indian flight attendant Neerja Bhanot was on Pan Am Flight 73 when it was hijacked by terrorists during a stopover in Karachi, Pakistan. She hid American passengers' passports to protect them from the hijackers and died while shielding three children from gunfire.
Sources: 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320