Most influential death of the twentieth century

Colonel Sanders.....

OK OK I'm thinkin'

MLK? Hitler?

My own, but you won't realize it for at least 200 years <shotgun blast>

I was actually thinking the death of democracy, but that's not technically a person.

Ziggy Stardust

Albert Einstein.
Ghandi.
Mother Teresa.
The Beatles.
Communism.

Lots of people changed the world during their lives, but their deaths were not earth-shaking. My nomination for most influential death goes to Archduke Francis Ferdinand, whose assassination triggered the first World War.

The most influential death is the one that took from the world, the benefits which would have come from that life.

As such, the most influential death is probably some unknown child who simply never had the chance to build an influential life. And we simply don't know what we're missing.

I think MLK would be a very good candadate. When he was gunned down the Civil Rights Movement died - or atleast lost a TON of momentum.

I think if he would have lived longer - advances in civil rights and equality would have gone faster and been further than we are today.

TF

Princess Diana

Hmmm...let's see...Princess Di...or Mother Teresa...
Mother Teresa....or Princess Di?

Perhaps the most influential for literature were those of Sylvia Plath or George Orwell.

For society in general? Martin Luther King, I felt.

Having lived through the riots the summer of MLK's death, I'm not sure if the cause of Civil Rights was advanced or held back as you say. I know that MLK was adamantly against it.
"[R]ioting is not revolutionary but reactionary
because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis,
but it must be followed by a sense of futility." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Exactly. The kid who died at 2 years old in 1952 who would have been the researcher to discover the cure for cancer next year? The 23 year old who was hit by lightening in 1901 who was the guy that would have invented and marketed a hydrogen vehicle in 1918?

Who knows who we missed?..............

I believe Terry has it. The most influential death (as opposed to life) was that of the Hapsburg Archduke Franz Ferdinand. His assasination at the hands of Serbian nationalists set off the fuse of WWI. This in turn led to the Russian Revolution, the destruction of the Ottoman Empire, the disastrous Treaty of Versailles, which set the stage for Hitler and the national resentments that led to WWII, and finally the crisis in the Islamic world with which we are dealing today.

Definitely Franz Ferdinand.


That said, Rosborne's answer is more poetic, and beauty is more important than truth (at least to me), and i'm quite willing to ignore those stupid boring modern history lessons in order to support it, although i don't agree entirely. It's generally the most disadvantaged, who don't have access to necessary resources to achieve their potential who are most vulnerable to early death.

That said, I am really, really tired, locked out of my house and watching though a psychology lecture at one thirty in the morning. So don't take these messages too seriously, and if my messages sound like i am half asleep, it's because i am (sob).

Its interesting that in placing beauty above truth, that you could justify the beautiful lies on which Communism is built. The awful truth of it's repression and coercion that resulted in the sloughier of millions counts for nothing when compared to that beautiful ideal, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". Beauty often masks nightmare.

Hehehehe but i'd never have let Stalin in. Not with that mustache. It goes completely against my concept of beauty .

But (slightly more seriously) Many horrific crimes have been committed by overintellectuallising things ( social darwinism and the holocaust, for one) so I don't see how that's any better.

Hehehehe but i'd never have let Stalin in. Not with that mustache. It goes completely against my concept of beauty .

But (slightly more seriously) Many horrific crimes have been committed by overintellectuallising things ( social darwinism and the holocaust, for one) so I don't see how that's any better.

Elvis Presley.
His death created an entire generation of people who think he is still alive. Because of this Pfizer created Prozac..... im positive!
Thats some powerful influence. hahahahaha!