Valhalla, I am coming....

March 23, 2009 7:56 PM

Dead.AtYourAge.Comis a handy website that tells you about noteworthy people who died at exactly your age (or thereabouts). Like, in my case, Dimebag Darrell.
posted by jonmc (91 comments total)

In your face, Qusay Hussein!
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 8:00 PM on March 23

At your exact age, William Kemmler died of execution by electric chair. He was an ax murderer who was the first criminal to be electrocuted.

Gotta hand it to the guy, at least he did something.
posted by turgid dahlia at 8:00 PM on March 23 [7 favorites has favorites]

This list doesn't have Evariste Galois - He did the first work on normal subgroups, created the entire branch of Galois theory and finite fields, and multiple other contributions, and died before turning 21.

He's my go-to "I've wasted my life" guy.
posted by Lemurrhea at 8:01 PM on March 23 [2 favorites has favorites]

You are 33 years and 176 days old today.

You've outlived Katherine Philips by almost a week. She was a translator and poet who wrote about platonic love and love between women. She died of smallpox on June 22, 1664, 312 years before you were born.

So I have more time to finish my cycle of Sapphic limericks. Fuckin' sweet, kick rocks Katherine Phillips, I gotcha beat.
posted by Divine_Wino at 8:02 PM on March 23

Dimebag? Really? You win, right out of the blocks.
I've outlived Ernie Kovaks by a week, which is a pretty raw deal for the world.
posted by NoMich at 8:03 PM on March 23

"It is sobering to consider that, when Mozart was my age, he had already been dead for a year."

Tom Lehrer, at 36
posted by The White Hat at 8:03 PM on March 23 [4 favorites has favorites]

Also I've had my smallpox shots so my original plan of fatally double flipping off an armed dickhead seems to be on track.
posted by Divine_Wino at 8:04 PM on March 23 [1 favorite has favorites]

hmmmm...nobody I've heard of for me...
I'll keep the same birthday as Elvis though...
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:05 PM on March 23

You've outlived William Kemmler by a week. He was an ax murderer who was the first criminal to be electrocuted. He died of execution by electric chair on August 6, 1890, 89 years before you were born.

So proud. Take that ax murderers union.
posted by IvoShandor at 8:05 PM on March 23

I've outlived both Joe Kennedy and Mary Jo Kopechne. Cool.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 8:10 PM on March 23

It tells me I'm precisely half as old as Zachary Taylor was when he died. I have no idea what to take out of that.
posted by Bookhouse at 8:10 PM on March 23 [1 favorite has favorites]

It means you better get cracking if you expect to be president.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 8:12 PM on March 23

I am apparently in the primo age for death of rappers and football players. One of you people, if you start seeing a whole bunch of listings about scientists dying, let me know how old you are.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 8:13 PM on March 23

"I Totally Outlived Jesus"
posted by Rhaomi at 8:14 PM on March 23

You've outlived Ludwig van Beethoven by one day. He was a German composer whose work was crucial to the development of tonal music.. He died of liver disease on March 26, 1827, 126 years before you were born.

When Beethoven passed away, he was buried in a churchyard. A couple days later, the town drunk was walking through the cemetery and heard some strange noise coming from the area where Beethoven was buried. Terrified, the drunk ran and got the priest to come and listen to it. The priest bent close to the grave and heard some faint, unrecognizable music coming from the grave. Frightened, the priest ran and got the town magistrate.

When the magistrate arrived, he bent his ear to the grave, listened for a moment, and said, "Ah, yes, that's Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, being played backwards."

He listened a while longer, and said, "There's the Eighth Symphony, and it's backwards, too. Most puzzling." So the magistrate kept listening; "There's the Seventh... the Sixth... the Fifth..."

Suddenly the realization of what was happening dawned on the magistrate; he stood up and announced to the crowd that had gathered in the cemetery, "My fellow citizens, there's nothing to worry about. It's just Beethoven decomposing."
posted by netbros at 8:17 PM on March 23 [33 favorites has favorites]

As of today, I've officially outlived Bruce Lee.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:17 PM on March 23

Brian Jones.

.
posted by mike_bling at 8:20 PM on March 23

Hitler!
posted by mattoxic at 8:22 PM on March 23

It tells me I'm precisely half as old as Zachary Taylor was when he died. I have no idea what to take out of that.

I am at least aware who Zachary Taylor is. I am apparently half as old as an octogenarian psychiatrist whom I have never heard of. Jeez, I could have told you that already.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:25 PM on March 23

Nice find, jonmc. This is a great little site.

You've outlived Matthew Webb by two days. He was the first man to swim the English channel, he swam from Dover to Calais in under 22 hours. He died by drowning on July 24, 1883, 91 years before you were born.
posted by bz at 8:27 PM on March 23

Sir Henry Percy (British warrior and leader of a rebellion again King Henry IV; died from arrow injuries sustained in battle).

Che Guevara (revolutionary and guerrilla leader; died by execution).

Francisco Madero (writer, revolutionary and president of Mexico; died by assassination).

Stonewall Jackson (Confederate general and a hero in the Civil War's First Battle of Bull Run).

Hm. Not sure what to make of all that.
posted by googly at 8:29 PM on March 23

I have outlived Al Capone.

And I have a bigger -

No, wait; I don't.
posted by yhbc at 8:29 PM on March 23

I've outlived both Joe Kennedy and Mary Jo Kopechne. Cool.

I've already outlived Mary Jo Kopechne by two weeks. Guess I'd better hurry up and integrate myself into the Kennedy circle.
posted by DecemberBoy at 8:30 PM on March 23

I'm exactly as old as Shannon Hoon ever became. I remember hearing about it when he died but it didn't really register. However I learned that I've outlived Sarah Kane by 2 weeks, which gave me pause.
posted by Kattullus at 8:31 PM on March 23

I've outlived...Joe Kennedy...

Really though, we all have.
posted by turgid dahlia at 8:34 PM on March 23 [2 favorites has favorites]

I'm catching up on Guy Fawkes...
posted by Lucinda at 8:36 PM on March 23

GG Allin

really. really? sigh. :( I feel so dirty by association.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 8:37 PM on March 23

You've outlived Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier by almost two weeks. He was a Frenchman who was the first aviator and the first aviation fatality. He died on June 15, 1785, 195 years before you were born.

Take that, Jean-François! And guess what? I've flown numerous times! In an aero-plane! Balloons are for bafoons, and the dead! Heh.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:40 PM on March 23

You've outlived Matthew Shepard by about half a year. He was a college student whose murder by homophobes led to improved hate crimes legislation.

Why couldn't I have gotten a mass murderer or something? :(
posted by Buttons at 8:41 PM on March 23

I forgot to add the people I outlasted.

Gavrilo Princip (assassinated Franz Ferdinand) by two weeks.
Bobby Fuller (best-known cover of I fought the Law) by three weeks.

Apparently Fuller died of gasoline asphyxiation. Not a pleasant way to go.
posted by Lemurrhea at 8:41 PM on March 23

Apparently Lee Harvey Oswald was only 20 days older than Chandra Levy at their respective deaths.

WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! IT'S A CONSPIRACY!!!!
posted by Lemurrhea at 8:43 PM on March 23

Kurt Cobain was about two weeks younger than you when he died of suicide by gunshot on April 5, 1994. He was a leader of rock band Nirvana and late husband of Courtney Love. Upon reading this and realizing how much you've wasted your life thus far, you may be tempted to commit suicide in a similar fashion. I won't dissuade you from that notion. Just be aware that if you do off yourself, no one will weepily play acoustic versions of your songs at candlelight vigils.
posted by naju at 8:44 PM on March 23 [1 favorite has favorites]

Meriwether Lewis for me. Apparently he died under odd circumstances.
posted by hattifattener at 8:46 PM on March 23

Tied with MLK Jr. and beat SRV by one day.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 8:46 PM on March 23

This time tomorrow I will have outlived Che Guevara. (And all I got was this lousy t-shirt.)
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 8:48 PM on March 23

Ray Combs gets top billing over John Lennon.

And Vitas Gerulaitis, too, for that matter!!!
posted by yhbc at 8:48 PM on March 23

I've got a couple months on both John Bonham and Keith Moon. Take that, legendary rock drummers!
posted by Saxon Kane at 8:50 PM on March 23

When Mozart was my age he'd been dead for 18 years.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:51 PM on March 23

In 2 days, your lifespan will surpass that of the Duke of Burgundy (1482-1506)

Stay classy, dead guy.
posted by SirOmega at 8:54 PM on March 23

Steve Biko was about 2 months younger than you when he died of injuries sustained from being beaten by police on September 12, 1977. He was an anti-apartheid martyr and founder of the South African Students Organization. He died 1 year before you were born.

Yeah, no funny comment on that one. Not even that the University of Manchester's Student Union building was better named than ours - the Steve Biko Building does sound better than the Barnes Wallis Building.
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 8:55 PM on March 23

six-or-six-thirty:

Francis Maitland Balfour - zoologist & founder of embryology
Marie François Xavier Bichat - anatomist and physiologist who founded histology and classified the organs

Man, I should have been aware of these two people already. The name of Balfour sounds familiar, at least.

... and James V of Scotland who, apparently, didn't like the church. Yay!

/too young to die
posted by porpoise at 8:56 PM on March 23

Someday you will be older than yourself when you died, and the internet will tell you.
posted by blue_beetle at 8:58 PM on March 23 [1 favorite has favorites]

I've got two weeks on Percy Shelley. Jeez, what a way to feel inadequate about myself.
posted by frobozz at 9:01 PM on March 23

I've done it. I've finally outlived Falco.
posted by zylocomotion at 9:09 PM on March 23 [8 favorites has favorites]

Heath Ledger. Well that just made me sad.
posted by afu at 9:09 PM on March 23

I got Steven Jesse Bernstein. I was never a fan.

Great site though.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 9:34 PM on March 23

Dying young at your physical and creative peak is an excellent marketing decision. Imagine the boost to Orson Welles's legacy if he would have had the good sense to kick off after Citizen Kane instead of malingering about forever as a eccentric fatty doing frozen veggie spots in 100 takes, and voicing battle robots for kids cartoons he didn't care about.

Paul McCartney should have died years ago... for his own good, of course.
posted by dgaicun at 9:44 PM on March 23

I've outlived Lisa Lopes (from TLC) by two weeks apparently.
posted by aclevername at 9:53 PM on March 23

Oh, wow, Andrés Escobar. Haven't thought about him in years, but I saw that game where he scored the own goal. I was really sad when he got killed.
posted by equalpants at 10:04 PM on March 23

About a month past Aubrey Beardsley. So, I should draw more erotic images? My sense of inadequacy feels somehow... inadequate.
posted by Saydur at 10:05 PM on March 23

You've outlived Matt Carrington by almost a week. He was a fraternity pledge whose death became the foundation for a California anti-hazing law. He died of water intoxication on February 2, 2005, when you were 17 years old.

There, I've outlived a fratboy. Quite an accomplishment.
posted by Serial Killer Slumber Party at 10:07 PM on March 23

Kurt Cobain was about two weeks younger than you when he died of suicide by gunshot on April 5, 1994.

Huh. Is this what getting old feels like?
posted by Jeff_Larson at 10:10 PM on March 23

Precisely.
posted by Bookhouse at 10:26 PM on March 23 [1 favorite has favorites]

Vince Foster was a woman. You learn something every day.

"You've outlived Vince Foster by almost a week. She was a deputy White House counsel for Bill Clinton and law partner of Hillary Rodham Clinton. She died of suicide by gunshot on July 20, 1993, when you were 32 years old."
posted by wsg at 10:58 PM on March 23

This site will send me an email when I have outlived another of my enemies. Oh wonder-site, now email me the locations of their graves so I may dance upon them!
posted by twoleftfeet at 11:21 PM on March 23 [3 favorites has favorites]

Jennifer Strange was about 2 months younger than you when she died of water intoxication on January 12, 2007. She was a woman who died after drinking gallons of water in a "Hold your wee for a Wii" radio station contest. You were 26 years old when she died.

.
posted by brundlefly at 12:10 AM on March 24

You've outlived Mohammed Atta by almost two weeks. He was an al-Qaeda operative and leader of the hijackers who perpetrated the 9-11 attacks. He died by suicide on September 11, 2001, when you were 25 years old.

Um. I'm trying to imagine living in a place in the world where it would have seemed like a good idea to fly a plane into a building a couple of weeks ago. I'm finding it hard.
posted by ArkhanJG at 12:39 AM on March 24

Not even that the University of Manchester's Student Union building was better named than ours - the Steve Biko Building does sound better than the Barnes Wallis Building.

One invented the bouncing bomb -- the other was the first bouncing anti-apartheid protester.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 1:00 AM on March 24

You've outlived James Dean by one day

But have I really outlived him?
posted by minifigs at 2:11 AM on March 24 [5 favorites has favorites]

Bud Powell. And this:

"Titus was about 2 months younger than you when he died of fever on September 13, 0081. He was a military commander who destroyed Jerusalem and succeeded his father as Roman Emperor (79-81). He died 1886 years before you were born."

Were people just more accomplished in ye olden days?
posted by maxwelton at 2:45 AM on March 24

I'm not looking because I am afraid I will find my name and then die.
posted by srboisvert at 2:59 AM on March 24

Well I get both Eva Braun and Clara Petacci. As my old Dad used to say, "Son, what is it with you and the dead mistresses of dead facists?"





I don't know, Dad. I just don't know.
posted by Life at Boulton Wynfevers at 3:21 AM on March 24 [4 favorites has favorites]

Jason Rhodes.

I always liked his work and was really sad to hear he had died. What an odd site - thanks.
posted by From Bklyn at 3:25 AM on March 24

a woman who died after drinking gallons of water in a "Hold your wee for a Wii" radio station contest

There really is no worse way to go, unless it's from the "Hold your poo for a date with Bono" contest.
posted by mannequito at 3:30 AM on March 24 [6 favorites has favorites]

YaKnow.atYourAge.com just has old people admonishing you for wasting your youth and reminding you of the opportunities you missed.
posted by chillmost at 4:03 AM on March 24

Lenny Bruce.

This site is interesting because it gives a little flash of insight into where the famous person was in life. It's a bit easier for me to understand his stubbornness as he went down in flames, knowing where he stood in life.
posted by bendybendy at 4:04 AM on March 24 [1 favorite has favorites]

mannequito: "There really is no worse way to go, unless it's from the "Hold your poo for a date with Bono" contest."

Do you really call him "Bonooo"? I mean, I have a friend who calls him "Boner" (in a very faux-Oirish accent", but Bonoooo... That's just weird.

And I didn't outlive anyone interesting yet...
posted by benzo8 at 4:10 AM on March 24

weirdness...

mine pulled up Malcom Lowry...subject of the next FPP...says I have 11 days to go.
posted by timsteil at 5:08 AM on March 24

I've outlived Eazy-E...not exactly a shocker. Great site, though.
posted by cordouroy15 at 5:46 AM on March 24

Why not just "Hold Number Two for a night with U2"? The whole gang can be in on it.
posted by Spatch at 5:48 AM on March 24

In 15 days, when you reach 25 years and 78 days of age, your lifespan will surpass that of a talented basketball star whose alcoholism and off-court violence destroyed his career.

I'm excited!
posted by xorry at 5:53 AM on March 24

You've outlived Bill Hicks by almost three weeks. He was a stand-up comic known for his misanthropic, angry rants against American politics and culture. He died of pancreatic cancer on February 26, 1994, when you were 17 years old
posted by twine42 at 5:54 AM on March 24

Ooh, you can subscribe to a custom RSS feed based on your date of birth! That's some good daily motivation.
posted by nicepersonality at 5:54 AM on March 24

Someone needs to tie this to a script that trawls Wiki changes for deaths and automatically creates a list of people who have just died and people who died at the same age.

Maybe 'needs' was too strong a word...
posted by twine42 at 5:59 AM on March 24

You've outlived Christa McAuliffe by three days. She was a teacher and private citizen chosen for the Challenger space shuttle mission. She died in a space shuttle explosion on January 28, 1986, when you were 14 years old.
:(
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 6:31 AM on March 24

You've outlived Mike Muuss by three days. He was a computer programmer who developed the freeware network tool Ping.
posted by stbalbach at 6:43 AM on March 24

timsteil: "mine pulled up Malcom Lowry...subject of the next FPP...says I have 11 days to go."

Ominous man, ominous.
posted by stbalbach at 6:44 AM on March 24

benzo8 : took me a minute to figure out what you were getting at, but I guess you thought I was making it rhyme in a weird way ... actually I was referencing this episode of South Park.
posted by mannequito at 6:46 AM on March 24

I take a lot of comfort in the saying "only the good die young".
posted by telstar at 6:55 AM on March 24

"Phil Lynott was almost three weeks younger than you when he died of heart failure and pneumonia on January 4, 1986. He was a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and founding member of rock group Thin Lizzy. You were 13 years old when he died."

jonmc, thanks for pointing out this vaguely depressing, schadenfreude laden, wholly wonderful site. :)

If you haven't already seen it, you might appreciate this story about what happened when the E! Channel tried to get Pantera's permission to re-enact Dimebag's death.
posted by zarq at 7:09 AM on March 24 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ferdinand VI of Spain by almost a week. He was the king of Spain (1746-59) who suffered from depression and was patron of the castrato singer Farinelli.

I too suffer from depression and am patron of not one but TWO castrato singers - who happen also to be dogs and prefer to harmonize with fire engines. My life takes on new meaning!
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:09 AM on March 24 [1 favorite has favorites]

One person living longer than another person is irrelevant. What does it get you if you live to 150 and do nothing but sit around and take up space the whole time? All this website gives me are a list of people who accomplished more than I ever will before they reached the age I am now. However, even that is irrelevant when you think about it. What did their accomplishments get those people? Will John Belushi be remembered 500 years from now? A thousand? So in an eye blink in evolutionary terms, John Belushi and I will have amounted to the same thing. Just dead people. Sure his work had more of an affect on the world and reached more people, but so what? Say people are watching The Blues Brothers and Animal House and SNL reruns 100 years from now, how many will be? How many people will still be alive who watched them now? How many people whose world view was affected by John Belushi in some way will have interacted with the world in a still perceptible way in 1000 years? How long will the ripples his life created go on? How long until the world as it is, with John Belushi having lived in it, is identical to the world as it would have existed had he never lived? 5,000 years? That's nothing. I'll live 70 some odd years and John Belushi lived 30 some odd years and in less time than some bristlecone pines have been alive it won't mean a damn thing that either one of us ever existed. Look upon my works, ye Mighty etc. All this website conveys to me is the utter pointlessness of fame, achievement, notoriety and life in general. So thanks.
posted by ND¢ at 8:09 AM on March 24 [1 favorite has favorites]

You are 43 years and 236 days old today.

When John F. Kennedy, 35th U.S. president, the first Catholic in the job and the only president to win the Pulitzer Prize, was the exact same age as you, he was inaugurated as president of the United States.

OK, no pressure.
posted by InfidelZombie at 8:59 AM on March 24

I didn't even know that Kevin Peter Hall (the guy in the Predator suit in PREDATOR) was dead (from AIDS-related pneumonia, apparently), much less that he was roughly my current age when he died. Huh.
posted by Dr. Wu at 9:45 AM on March 24

So everyone just exposed their birthdays to the blue? Very clever jonmc.
posted by ShadowCrash at 10:54 AM on March 24

Geez NDcent.... thanks for the pick me up this morning.

NOT.


(Boy, I wish I'd said something more biting.)
posted by Saxon Kane at 10:58 AM on March 24

When I did this yesterday I was told I had lived exactly half as long as movie trailer announcer Don Lafontaine.

The creepy part: I did an FPP when he died last year.

ooooooooEEEEEEEEoooooooooo
posted by evilcolonel at 11:34 AM on March 24

You've outlived James Dean by one day

But have I really outlived him?

Don't worry, his life was all stunt men and special effects. You're a whole lot more real (unless you're a sock puppet, then I'm wrong on all counts).
posted by filthy light thief at 12:51 PM on March 24

Geez NDcent.... thanks for the pick me up this morning. NOT.

He probably wasn't prepared for how much your psychological well-being was invested in the eternal legacy of John Belushi.
posted by dgaicun at 12:26 AM on March 25

"...multiple organ failure due to anorexia..."

the fuck

i don't think i will ever understand these things.
posted by tehloki at 2:23 PM on March 26

Outlived Selena by 2 weeks.
posted by itchie at 9:03 PM on March 26