© December 31,
2023 Ridley’s Believe It Or Not Year Partially
In Review
Noted Deaths Starting with
1/1/2023 and ending in 12/31/2023:
Ken Block, rally driver and DC Shoes,
1/1/2023 age 55.
Lisa Marie Presley, singer,
1/11/2023 age 54
Bobby Hull, professional
hockey, 1/29/2023 age 82
Burt Bacharach, composer
2/7/2023 age 94
Raquel Welch, actress
2/14/2023 age 92
Bud Grant, pro football
coach 3/10/2023 age 95
Al Jaffe, Mad Magazine, Cartoonist
4/9/2023 age 102
Ralphe Belafonte, actor,
singer and activist 4/24/2023/ age 96
Jerry Springer, controversial
daytime TV Host 4/26/2023 age 79
Marlene Hagge, cofounder of LPGA 5/15/2023 age
89
Jim Brown, pro football player 5/18/22023
age 87
Tina Turner, singer
5/23/2023 age 83
Richard Hanssen, Ex-FBI Soviet
Spy 6/4/2023 age 79
Ted Kaczynski, the “Unabomber”
6/9/2023 age 81
Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon
Papers Leaker 6/15/age 92
Tony Bennett, Singer 7/20/2023
age 96
Sinead O’Connor,
Singer 7/25/2023 age 56
Paul Reubens aka Pee Wee
Herman actor, comic 7/29/2023 age 70
Bob Barker, Game Show Host,
Actor 8/25/2023 age 99
Jimmy Buffet, Singer,
Songwriter 8/31/2023 age 76
Senator Dianne Feinstein, CA
Blue Sen. 9/27/2023 age 90
Suzanne Somers, 3’s Company
actress, nutritionist 10/14/2023 age 76
Rosalind Carter,
former First Lady 11/18/2023 age 96
Henry Kissinger, Former Secretary of State 11/28, 2023 age 100
Sandra Day O’Connor,
SCOTUS Justice 11/30/ 2023 age/93
Bill McColl, College
Hall of Fame, Orthopedic Surgeon 12/28/2023 age 93
John Travolta, Actor
12/31/2023 age 69
The list of noted people and celebrities who have died this year is a long one but
with the number of new drugs in patient trials we can hope that progress will be made. It was a difficult
choice but a need as the list seems to grow its but growth will slow as
evidence that efficacy and safety are there.
It was easier to categorize the
deadliest natural disasters because such disasters usually leave a trail of destruction
and dead and injured all with the survivors is a world of hurt. The list could
have been longer but sufficient to stress the lesson that Mother Nature can be
a mother of unbelievable hurt.
Ten of the deadliest natural disasters of 2023
Maui Wildfires 8/8-8/11
killed at least 100 and damage of at $5.52 B
Rwanda Rainstorms 5/2
destroyed 5,000 homes and killed 129 people
130 mph winds of Cyclone
Mocha 5/14 killed at least 145 people
11/3 a 5.6 earthquake
hit Nepal killing at least 157 people
Early May heavy
rainstorms in Western Congo destroying 1000’s of homes
And killing at least 438
people
For 6 days in early May,
Tropical Cyclone Freedy was dumping massive
rain to kill at least a
1000 in Malawi, 17 in Madagascar and 183 in
Mozambique while
displacing some 183,000 persons.
10/7 a 6.3 Earthquake
rattled Afghanistan, killing some 1480 and
Injured 1000’s more
On 9/8 a 6.8
Earthquake hit 48 miles from Marrakesh, Morocco killing
some 2,946 and injuring
some 5,674
On 9/10 Storm Daniel
hit Derna, Libya with massive rainfall burst
2 dams in Derna, releasing
massive amounts of rain in a deadly flood,
With the official death
count as of 10/31 is 4272 with 8,000 more
deemed missing and
dead
On February 6, a 7.8 Earthquake hit Turkey near
its Syrian border/
Followed by a 7.6 2 hours
later with some 55,000 believed to be dead