Elizabeth II, 96

(21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) 
British monarch, Queen of the United Kingdom.
Cause of death: unknown.

The BBC reported that British Queen Elizabeth II (born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary) died at the age of 96. Buckingham Palace announced earlier today that doctors are concerned about the health of the 96-year-old British Queen and that she is under medical supervision.

Immediately following the doctor's announcement, members of the royal family rushed to the queen's Scottish summer residence, Balmoral Castle. Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning British monarch and the world's oldest monarch. Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 70th year on the throne earlier this year.

The new King of the United Kingdom is Charles, the man who has waited for the longest in the history of the thousand-year-old monarchy. Queen's death was announced online by the royal family, who stated that she "died peacefully." The cause was not specified in the announcement.

The Queen's death was announced after months of speculation about her health. In 2003, Elizabeth II underwent knee surgery and used a cane in public for about two weeks. She was admitted to the hospital again in 2013 after contracting gastroenteritis. She successfully operated on a cataract in one eye five years later, in 2018.

In 2016, she entered parliament via elevator rather than the 26-step royal staircase for the grand opening. She was photographed using a walking stick in Westminster Abbey last year, at the age of 95. Doctors then ordered her to rest, and she canceled her participation in a series of events scheduled for that month.

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom had been on the throne since she was 25 years old, and the vast majority of Britons had never known another ruler in their lifetime. She was also one of the most well-known people in the world.

Her health began to deteriorate visibly after her husband, Philip, died in April of last year. She was rarely seen in public after that because she had difficulty walking and standing. Her eldest son and heir, Charles (73) gradually assumed more and more responsibilities in preparation for his reign.

Since leaving Buckingham Palace at the start of the pandemic in early 2020, she has spent the majority of her time at her home in Windsor Castle, west of London.

She celebrated her platinum jubilee in June, which no British monarch has ever done. Her presence was almost everywhere during her 70-year reign, from postage stamps and banknotes to her monogram on mailboxes. Although citizens' views and respect for the monarchy have changed over time, the Queen's popularity with the public has remained consistent.

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born on April 21, 1926, in London, and she became queen by chance. When her father's older brother Eduard VIII. abdicated in 1936 to marry twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson, he became King Uro VI.

As a result, Princess Lilibet ascended to the throne. During the Second World War, she and her younger sister Margaret were evacuated to Windsor as German bombs fell on London. She became a military mechanic and driver at the age of 19, gaining the admiration of the British. At the age of 21, she married Philip Mountbatten, the son of a Greek prince, in a ceremony that added a touch of glam to postwar Britain's austerity.

The couple was in Kenya when news arrived on 6 February 1952 that her father had died, making her the new ruler automatically.

On 2 June 1953, she was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka).

She was Queen of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth countries until her death. The Queen performed hundreds of tasks each year, from receptions for foreign dignitaries to the conferment of civil and military honors and royal visits around the world, with a sense of duty instilled in her since childhood.

Since her health has failed, she has relied on her immediate family for assistance with her responsibilities, but she is missing two prominent members: her second son, Prince Andrew, and her grandson, Harry.

Andrew, her favorite son, was barred from royal functions because he was associated with convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. In 2020, Harry resigned from the royal family and relocated to the United States, where he and his wife Meghan accused the family of racism. For decades, the Queen has been considered a pillar of stability in the turbulent life of the royal family. Three of her four children divorced in 1992, which she dubbed the "Annus Horribilis," and a fire broke out in Windsor.

Charles' supporters believe that his wisdom, thoughtfulness, and dedication to environmental protection will earn him the public support he deserves. Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales, Prince of Scotland, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Earl of Chester, and Lord of the Isles until recently, was born on November 14, 1948, at Buckingham Palace.

When his grandfather Uro VI died, he was four years old, and his mother inherited the throne. A year later, he watched his mother's coronation with his grandmother and aunt, the late Princess Margareta.

He despised his Gordonstoun school in a remote part of Scotland, where his father had also gone, but it was because of this that he was the first heir to the throne to graduate from Cambridge. He was formally proclaimed Prince of Wales in 1969 and had the longest reign of any British heir to the throne in history.

His detractors, including some monarchists who believe Charles is a bad offshoot of the House of Windsor, argue that it was better that way.

Guy Morriss, 71

(May 13, 1951 – September 6, 2022)
Former American football player and Former

Kentucky and Baylor head football coach.
Cause of death: Alzheimer's disease.

Guy Morriss, a former football head coach and assistant head coach for the University of Kentucky, died on Monday in Danville at the age of 71. Morriss received an Alzheimer's disease diagnosis in 2016.

Morriss' physician stated to the television station WKYT in 2017 that Morriss' football career was probably the cause of his Alzheimer's. He was an offensive lineman at TCU and spent 15 NFL seasons (1973–1987) with the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots, playing in 229 games (including postseason games) and 180 starts. In the second round of the 1973 draft, the Eagles selected him.

Morriss joined Lexington in 1997 as Hal Mumme's offensive line coach and associate head coach. Pass protection and running lanes were given by Morriss' offensive lines for the record-breaking attacks led by quarterbacks Tim Couch (1997–98), Dusty Bonner (1999), and Jared Lorenzen (2000).

Landrieu worked with offensive lines during the early years of his coaching career, both at the professional and collegiate levels. Morriss joined Kentucky in 1997 as the offensive line coach and assistant head coach. After Hul Mumme resigned due to a recruiting controversy, Morriss was named interim head coach.

Morriss rebuilt the offensive line despite losing all five starters from the 1998 squad, enabling Bonner and the Wildcats to go 6-5 during the regular season and make it to the HomePoint.com Music City Bowl.

Before moving to Baylor, Morriss enjoyed his sole successful season in 2002, when Kentucky finished 7-5. In 2015, Guy Morrisslast worked as a coach at Kentucky's Lexington Christian Academy.

Moon Landrieu, 92

(July 23, 1930 – September 5, 2022)
American politician, HUD secretary (1979–1981) and 
mayor of New Orleans (1970–1978)
Cause of death: natural causes.

Moon Landrieu (92), who transformed racial politics in New Orleans, one of the country's most diverse and dynamic cities, where he won the mayorship in 1970 with a rare combination of white and Black voters, passed away on Monday at his home.

While many other Southern politicians of his day exploited racial separation, Moon Landrieu came to prominence in municipal politics in the 1960s and 1970s by fostering cross-cultural relationships. Moon Landrieu, also known as Maurice Edwin Landrieu, presided over a significant Democratic political dynasty in New Orleans while serving as mayor of the city from 1970 until 1978.

His son Mitch, who is also a former mayor of New Orleans, serves as a senior adviser and infrastructure coordinator in the Biden administration. His daughter Mary served as a US senator from Louisiana from 1997 until 2015.

When he let African Americans apply for high-level public positions and contracts, Moon Landrieu gained the admiration of many Black people by championing integration in the city. Prior to that, he spearheaded the successful effort to pass a local ordinance that forbade racial or religious discrimination in public spaces as a councilor.

Landrieu served as the second secretary of Housing and Urban Development under former President Jimmy Carter after leaving the mayor's office, and he was chosen in 1992 to be a judge on Louisiana's Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal. In 2000, he left the judiciary.

Frank Drake, 92

(May 28, 1930 – September 2, 2022)
American astronomer and astrophysicist.
Cause of death: natural causes.

Frank Drake (92), a world-renowned radio astronomer known for his pioneering efforts in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), died on September 2 in his Aptos, California, home. Nadia Drake, his daughter, announced the sad news on her website.

Drake, an emeritus professor of astronomy and astrophysics and former dean of natural sciences at UC Santa Cruz, also served for 19 years as chair of the SETI Institute's board of trustees, a nonprofit organization dedicated to research and teaching connected to the search for life beyond Earth. Drake was the elder of two children born on May 28, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois.

At the age of eight, he began to think that human civilization developed accidentally and that there must be other life elsewhere in the world.

The astronomer is well-known for the "Drake Equation," which he developed in 1961 to estimate the number of communicative extraterrestrial civilizations that might be detectable in our galaxy. It works by taking into consideration increasingly improbable factors, starting with the average rate of star formation and ending with the percentage of planets that go on to develop intelligent life.

Drake gained notoriety in 1974 when he crafted the "Arecibo message," the first interplanetary communication ever purposefully sent into space from Earth and broadcast through radio waves from Puerto Rico's now-defunct Arecibo Observatory that collapsed in 2020.

Earnie Shavers, 78

(August 31, 1944 – September 1, 2022)
Former American professional boxer.
Cause of death: unknown.

Earnie Shavers, 78, has died. He was regarded as one of the hardest punchers in boxing history, with a 74-14-1 record and 68 KO victories. It is unknown what caused his death.

Earnie Shavers competed for the world heavyweight championship twice and lost both times. In a memorable fight at Madison Square Garden in 1977, he was beaten by Muhammad Ali. "Earnie punched me so hard, it shook my family back in Africa," said Muhammad Ali, who won the 15-round bout by unanimous decision of the judges.

Shaver's, according to Ali, was stronger than fighters Joe Frazier and George Foreman.

He admitted in his memoirs that when Earnie hit him, he "heard bells and whistles." Earnie Shavers lost by technical knockout to Larry Holmes in Las Vegas the second time he fought for the world heavyweight title in 1979.

Holmes escaped one of Shaver's famed blows. Earnie Shavers, a track and football standout at Newton Falls High School, began boxing in 1967 while working at the General Motors Lordstown plant. Earnie Shavers made his boxing debut in 1969 and retired in 1995, leaving behind a knockout of Ken Norton and victories over Jimmy Ellis and Jimmy Young.

Earnie Shavers tried out for the film Rocky III, featuring Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, in 1982, when his career was already in decline.

Stallone asked EarnieShavers to punch him for real during a sparring battle. He used his weaker left hand to deliver one of his renowned punches.

His autobiography, Welcome to the Big Time, was published in 2001. He continued to visit boxing events as a special guest, autograph signer, and motivational speaker after retiring from fighting.

Ravil Maganov, 67

(25 September 1954 – 1 September 2022)
Russian petroleum executive, chairman of Lukoil.
Cause of death: fall.

The Russian oil corporation Lukoil's chairman, Ravil Maganov, passed away after falling from a Moscow hospital window, the company reported. Maganov is the most recent in a line of prominent corporate leaders to pass away suddenly. Investigating police stated that they were attempting to determine how he passed away at the spot.

According to reports published by the Tass news agency, he died by suicide after initially reporting that he had fallen out of a window on the sixth story early on Thursday morning. Maganov was receiving medical care at a facility on the western outskirts of Moscow that is well renowned for treating members of Russia's political and corporate elite.

The unprovoked invasion of Ukraine that was started at President Vladimir Putin's request in late February was slammed by Lukoil in March. In that remark, it was said that "We completely support its conclusion via dialogue, by diplomatic methods." It was a startling display of dissidence in a country where businesses and their executives are supposed to never challenge the Kremlin, not even in times of peace.

The next month, Vagit Alekperov, the company's chairman, resigned. In 2020, Maganov was elected chairman of the board of Lukoil, following three decades of advancement within the company.

Maganov died in Moscow's Central Clinical Hospital, a facility frequently used by the nation's ruling class. Putin paid his tribute to the late Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who passed away earlier this week, by going to the hospital on the day of Maganov's passing.