Daniel Bellany
Using new(er) web-based media such as Wikipedia, Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter, and a variety of search engines, Bellany looks for interesting stories and bits of information that he then incorporates into his own creative writing and graphic design pieces. In particular, he is interested in how our access to almost unlimited information has changed the way we view our own personal stories.Excerpts from Bellany's recent book,
"Wiki-People Who Died At Age 32"
Since 2006, Bellany has scoured Wikipedia for people who died at his exact age. When he was 32, he found 117 figures - some obscure and others notable, who had died at that tender age. In addition to writing up a short biography for each 'character', Bellany created original black and white portraits using illustrations he uncovered on image searches.
"Being the same age as each person I researched (when they died), I naturally felt a strong personal connection to their stories. I compared our accomplishments, social situations, and the eras in which we lived. It was a new way of looking at both history and myself. Now that I have moved on to age 33, I find myself contemplating the strange fact that I have lived longer than Bruce Lee, King Richard III and Alexander the Great. It definitely motivates me to work harder and make a difference."
↓more
・Bruce Lee
・Buzz Sawyer
・Davey Allison
・Dick Turpin
・Eadred of England
・Elizabeth Siddal
・Galeazzo Maria Sforza
・Glen Kidston
・Hernan Gaviria
・Jedediah 'Strong' Smith
・Joseph I
・Keith Godchaux
・Lya De Putti
・Mike Lockwood
・Ota Benga
・Ottavio Bottecchia
・Proof
・Regnier De Graaf
・Steve Chiasson
・Thomas Ashe
・Vladimir of Novgorod
・William Cartwright
・Wyndham Hallswelle
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Wiki-People Who Died At Age 32
Vladimir of Novgorod (1020-1052)Prince of the Russian city of Novgorod from 1036 until his death in 1052, Vladimir is best known as the founder of St. Sophia, Russia's oldest surviving church. In fact, his dusty bones are still entombed within a sarcophagus that, according to Wikipedia, is located "in a niche on the south side of the main body of the cathedral overlooking the Martirievskii Porch." Let's find it!
Dying two years before his father, Yaroslav I the Wise, Vladimir never managed to become king. His descendants were similarly cursed. After being dispossessed by their uncles, they fled to the countryside, where the family line went extinct in 1199. So that relatives could never return to Novgorod and claim power, it is believed that all records of Vladimir's (courageous?) exploits were purposely destroyed.
The little we know about Vladimir today comes mainly from foreign sources. Norse sagas refer to him as 'Vladimir the Nimble' and chronicle his possible conflicts with the Finns. Byzantine scholar George Cedrenus, who compiled A Concise History of the World during the time that Vladimir was still alive, noted that the Russian prince was "arrogant". 830 years later, writer Vladimir Volkoff authored a book about the unfortunate prince titled, Vladimir, the Russian Viking.