This is another anniversary: May 6, 1937, 82 years ago today: The German zeppelin Hindenburg, with Nazi swastikas on it, catches fire and burns while attempting to land at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Manchester, Ocean County, New Jersey, May 6, 1937. There were 36 deaths, but 62 survivors.
All of this information is based on available documentation, and any of it may be superseded by the discovery of new information.
479 BC: Aristodemus, the only survivor of the 300 Spartans who fought at the Battle of Thermopylae, August 20, 480 BC. 1 year.
AD 100: John the Evangelist, the last survivor of the Twelve Apostles. Jesus had been executed around AD 33, so, 67 years.
June 5, 1118, Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, the last Norman nobleman to have fought alongside William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, October 14, 1066. 52 years.
August 22, 1485: Last survivor of the Wars of the Roses: I couldn't find an authoritative answer.
October 12, 1492: Last survivor of Columbus' voyages: I couldn't find an authoritative answer.
August 27, 1576: The last surviving Renaissance painter: I can't be absolutely certain, but it appears to have been Tiziano Vecellio, known in English as Titian, who outlived Leonardo da Vinci by 57 years, Raphael da Urbino by 56, and Michelangelo Buonarotti by 12.
September 18, 1589: Don Mancio Sierra de Leguizamo, 77, the last original Conquistador, a participant in the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire in 1532. 57 years.
1692: Edmund Ludlow, the last surviving regicide of Charles I (commissioner who signed his death warrant), January 30, 1649. 43 years.
November 28, 1699: Mary Allerton, 83, the last surviving passenger of the Mayflower, which landed at Plymouth Rock on December 21, 1620. 79 years.
February 7, 1732: William Hiseland, 111, the last survivor of the English Civil War, which ended on January 30, 1649. 83 years. He fought on the Royalist side.
February 18, 1792: George Browne, 94, the last survivor of the Jacobite Rising of 1715. 77 years.
July 4, 1826: Thomas Jefferson, 83, the last survivor of the 1st Presidential Cabinet, which effectively took office with President George Washington on April 30, 1789. 37 years. However, if you count the Vice President of the United States as a member of the Cabinet, then John Adams outlived Jefferson, who had been Secretary of State, by a few hours. Adams, of course, succeeded Washington as the 2nd President, while Jefferson beat him in 1800 to become the 3rd President.
March 14, 1828: Paul François de Quelen de La Vauguyon, duc de La Vauguyon, 82, the last European survivor of the Seven Years War, known in North America as the French and Indian War, which ended on February 10, 1763. 65 years.
March 5, 1829: John Adams (not the 2nd President), 61, the last participant in the mutiny on the HMS Bounty, April 28, 1789. 30 years.
November 14, 1832: Charles Carroll, 95, the last surviving Signer of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. 56 years.
June 28, 1836: James Madison, 85, the 4th President of the United States, the "Father of the Constitution," and the last surviving signer of that document, September 17, 1787.
November 5, 1840: George Hewes, 98, the last survivor of the Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770; also the last survivor of the Boston Tea Party, December 16, 1773. 70 and 67 years.
August 26, 1841: Jonathan Benjamin, 103, believed to be the last survivor in America of the Seven Years War, known in North America as the French and Indian War, which ended February 10, 1763. 78 years. He fought for the British in that war, and for the Americans in the War of the American Revolution.
April 5, 1869: Daniel Bakeman, 109, believed to be the last surviving veteran of the War of the American Revolution, which effectively ended with George Washington's retirement dinner at Fraunces Tavern in what is now Lower Manhattan (but was then considered "downtown"), on December 4, 1783. 85 years. He and his wife Susan also have the longest marriage ever recorded in American history: 91 years.
April 2, 1870: Patrick Gass, 98, the last member of the Corps of Discovery, a.k.a. the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which completed its return on September 23, 1806. 63 years.
September 8, 1872: Arthur Dardenne, 96, the last surviving participant in the Storming of the Bastille, igniting the French Revolution, July 14, 1789. 83 years.
March 6, 1890: Joseph Sutherland, 101, the last survivor of the Battle of Trafalgar, October 21, 1805, and the last British veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, which ended on June 18, 1815. 85 and 75 years, respectively.
May 24, 1895: Hugh McCulloch, 86, the last survivor of President Abraham Lincoln's Cabinet, which ended with Lincoln's life on April 15, 1865. 30 years. McCulloch served as Secretary of the Treasury for the length of what was meant to be Lincoln's 2nd term, including under the next President, Andrew Johnson, 1865-69. He briefly returned to the office, 1884-85, under President Chester Arthur.
1902: Jean Adrin, 105, the last veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, which ended on June 18, 1815. 87 years.
June 10, 1904: Walter T. Avery, 90, the last participant in what was long purported to be the 1st baseball game, and was definitely the 1st one played under what became known as the Knickerbocker Rules, at the Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey on June 19, 1846. 58 years.
May 13, 1905: Hiram Cronk, 105, the last U.S. veteran of the War of 1812, which ended on January 8, 1815. 90 years.
March 1, 1908: August Hejnek, 108, the last person known to have been born during the 18th Century, which ended on December 31, 1799 -- not December 31, 1800.
April 12, 1913: John B. Henderson, 86, Republican of Missouri, the last Senator who had voted to acquit President Andrew Johnson in his impeachment trail, on May 26, 1868. 45 years.
September 22, 1913: William P. Zuber, 93, the last survivor of the Texas Revolution, which ended on April 21, 1836. 77 years.
October 15, 1914: Thomas Patrickson, 86, the last survivor of the voyage of HMS Beagle, on which Charles Darwin formed his Theory of Evolution, October 2, 1836. 78 years.
October 30, 1915: Charles Tupper, 94, the last politician present for the independence of Canada, July 1, 1867. 48 years. Canada calls its "Founding Fathers" the "Fathers of Confederation." Tupper also served as Canada's 6th Prime Minister, but, in contrast to his age (he remains the oldest to have held the office, 80), he was the short-serving, just 69 days, May 1 to July 8, 1896.
March 15, 1924: Charlotte Woodward Peirce, 94, the last participant in the Seneca Falls Convention, July 20, 1848. 76 years.
November 3, 1924: Cornelius Cole, Republican of California, 102, the last Senator who had voted (unsuccessfully) to convict and remove President Andrew Johnson from the Presidency in his impeachment trial, on May 26, 1868. 56 years. Also the longest-lived person to have served in the U.S. Senate, topping Strom Thurmond, 100. Despite this longevity, he only served 1 term in each house of Congress: 1863-65 in the House of Representatives, and 1867-73 in the Senate.
April 18, 1927: Edwin Hughes, 96, last surviving veteran of the Charge of the Light Brigade, in the Battle of Balaclava, in Sevastopol, currently disputed between Russia and Ukraine. October 25, 1854. 73 years.
January 13, 1929: Wyatt Earp, 80, the last survivor of the Gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, on October 26, 1881. 47 years.
March 1, 1929: József Fischl, believed to be the last survivor of Europe's Revolutions of 1848. 79 years.
September 3, 1929: Owen Edgar, 98, the last survivor of the Mexican-American War, which ended on February 3, 1848. 79 years.
April 14, 1932: Thomas Kelly, 83, the last survivor of the sinking of HMS Birkenhead, February 26, 1852. 70 years.
July 15, 1932: Rebecca Tickaneesky Neugin, 97, the last survivor of the Trail of Tears, which ended on January 7, 1839. 93 years.
1935: Francisco Arellano Zenteno, the last surviving Mexican veteran of the French occupation, which ended on June 21, 1867. 68 years.
March 25, 1935: Margaret Isabella Breen McMahon, 89, the last survivor of the Donner Party, April 29, 1847. 88 years.
January 9, 1936: William Albert Norris, 93, last survivor of the Sultana steamboat fire, Memphis, April 27, 1865. 71 years.
August 21, 1937: George Wright, 90, the last survivor of the 1st openly professional baseball team, the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings. 68 years.
June 4, 1939: Reginald Welch, 87, the last survivors of the winners of the 1st FA Cup Final, the 1872 Wanderers. He was also the last surviving player from the England team that played Scotland to a 0-0 draw in the 1st international football (soccer) match, the same year. 67 years.
August 15, 1939: George H. Large, 88, the last surviving player in the 1st American football game, New Brunswick, New Jersey, November 6, 1869. Nearly 70 years. The native of Readington, Hunterdon County played on the Rutgers side, and in 1888 served as President of the State Senate, making him the Acting Governor on a few occasions.
February 15, 1940: Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, 94, a pioneer in British electricity, and also the last surviving veteran of the Crimean War, which ended on March 30, 1856. 84 years.
January 9, 1942: Adrien Lejuene, the last surviving Communard, the fighters for the Paris Commune, which ended on May 28, 1871. 71 years.
May 24, 1942: Billy MacKinnon, 90, the last surviving player in the 1st international football match, at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland, November 30, 1872. 70 years. He and all of his Scotland teammates played their "club football" for Queen's Park of Glasgow.
August 6, 1943: Tom Garrett, 85, the last surviving player from the 1st official cricket test match, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on March 15, 1877. 66 years. He was a bowler, and remains the youngest Australian to play in a senior cricket match against England. Australia, which would not achieve independence for another 24 years, defeated England 245-196. Garrett is the great-grandfather of Peter Garrett, lead singer of Australian rock band Midnight Oil.
1946: Petrus Verbeek, 95, a Dutchman who fought in the battles for the unification of Italy, achieved on July 1, 1871. 75 years.
January 21, 1948: Eliza Moore, 105, the last living American known to have been born into slavery, in her case in 1843. Emancipation had come on June 19, 1865, 83 years earlier.
March 24, 1950: James R. Garfield, 84, the last surviving member of the Cabinet of President Theodore Roosevelt, which left office on March 4, 1909. 41 years. The son of President James A. Garfield, he served as Secretary of the Interior for the last 2 years of TR's Presidency.
April 11, 1950: Bainbridge Colby, 80, the last surviving member of the Cabinet of President Woodrow Wilson, which left office on March 4, 1921. 29 years. He was Secretary of State for the last year of the Administration.
September 26, 1951: H. Montagu Allan, 90, the last surviving original inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, in 1945. 6 years. He was the only original inductee who was alive at all. A major businessman in Montreal, in the early 20th Century, he was not a player. Instead, he was elected in the "Builders" category, for his donation of the Allan Cup, awarded annually to the national senior amateur champions of Canada.
December 31, 1951: Pleasant Crump, 104, the last surviving confirmed Confederate veteran of the American Civil War, whose last shot was fired on June 22, 1865. 86 years. Others claimed to have been a surviving Confederate veteran, but Crump was the last for whom any documentation survived.
March 8, 1953: Charles Wallace Warden, 99, the last surviving British soldier of the Anglo-Zulu War, which ended on July 4, 1879. 74 years.
November 2, 1955: Wasú Máza, or "Iron Hail," bearer of the English name Dewey Beard, 96, the last survivor of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, a.k.a. Custer's Last Stand, June 25, 1876. 81 years. He was also the last Lakota tribesman known to have survived the Wounded Knee Massacre, December 29, 1890. 65 years. Charles Windolph was the last white survivor, dying at 97 on March 11, 1950. No, not every member of the 7th Cavalry was killed in the battle.
November 17, 1955: Bob Holmes, 88, the last surviving player from the 1st Champions of England's Football League, the 1888-89 Preston North End team. 66 years.
December 8, 1955: Seraphin Pruvost, 105, the last French veteran of the Franco-Prussian War, which ended on May 10, 1871. 84 years.
April 12, 1956: Samuel J. Seymour, 96, the last witness to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre, April 14, 1865. 89 years. He appeared on the TV show I've Got a Secret on February 9, 1856, 2 months before his death. The idea that a living person who had seen Lincoln had actually lasted long enough to be on television is a bit staggering.
August 2, 1956: Albert Woolson, 106, the last Union veteran, and probably the last veteran on either side, in the American Civil War. 89 years.
July 17, 1961: Ty Cobb, 75, the last survivor of the original 5 honorees by the Baseball Hall of Fame, January 16, 1936. 25 years. He played center field, mostly for the Detroit Tigers, from 1905 to 1928.
March 10, 1962: John Henry Turpin, 85, the last survivor of the sinking of the USS Maine, in Havana, Cuba, February 15, 1898. 64 years.
February 14, 1963: Billy Barlow, 92, the last surviving player from the 1st Stanley Cup winners, the 1893 Montreal Amateur Athletic Association team. 70 years.
March 17, 1965: Amos Alonzo Stagg, 102, the last surviving member of the 1st All-American college football team, 1889, an end at Yale University. 74 years. He became better known as a coach who introduced many of the things football fans now take for granted, including the playbook, the huddle, the center snap, the placekick, the onside kick, the position of linebacker, pads (for players and goalposts), the tackling dummy, uniform numbers and varsity letters.
July 1, 1968: Dr. Ernest Hildner, 94, the last surviving player in the 1st basketball game, Springfield, Massachusetts, December 21, 1891. 76 years.
February 15, 1970: Dimitrios Loundras, 84, the last surviving competitor in the 1st modern Olympic Games, in Athens, Greece, April 15, 1896. 74 years.
September 23, 1972: Peter Mills, 111, who appears to have been the last surviving person to have been legally enslaved in America, after the 13th Amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865. 107 years.
November 7, 1972: Freddy Parent, 96, the last surviving member of the winning team in the 1st World Series, the 1903 Boston Americans. 69 years. The team changed its name to the Red Sox in 1907.
March 26, 1973: George Sisler, 80, the last survivor of the group of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame honored at the Hall's opening in Cooperstown, New York, June 12, 1939. 34 years. He played 1st base, mostly for the St. Louis Browns, from 1915 to 1930.
June 18, 1973: Frederick Fraske, 101, the last known veteran of the Indian Wars, serving until 1897. 76 years.
October 13, 1975: Charles "Swede" Risberg, 81, the last survivor of the "Eight Men Out," the Chicago White Sox players who threw the World Series, losing it to the Cincinnati Reds on October 9, 1919. 56 years.
June 9, 1976: James A. Farley, 88, the last surviving member of the Cabinet of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which left office with FDR's death on April 12, 1945. 31 years. For FDR's 1st 2 terms, Farley, an aide of his as Governor of New York, was both Postmaster General (which is no longer a Cabinet position) and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
August 24, 1977: Dorsie Wills, 91, the last surviving soldier accused in the Brownsville Affair, August 13, 1906. 69 years.
May 1, 1979: Yellow Shield, later taking the English name Louisa Motley, 95, the last survivor of the Wounded Knee Massacre. 89 years.
July 3, 1984: Ernesto Mascheroni, 76, the last surviving player from the Uruguay team that won the 1st World Cup Final, July 30, 1930. 54 years.
September 14, 1984: Janet Gaynor, 77, the last surviving winner at the 1st Academy Awards (a.k.a. the Oscars), May 16, 1929. At the time, the awards were given for overall performance in the year, not for any single film performance. She was awarded for 3 films: 7th Heaven, Street Angel and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans.
July 27, 1985: Smoky Joe Wood, 95, the last surviving player from the Addie Joss Benefit Game, held to support the family of the Cleveland Indians pitcher who died of meningitis at the start of the season, July 24, 1911. 75 years. A pitcher, Wood was also the last survivor of the 1912 and the 1915 World Champion Boston Red Sox.
January 15, 1986: Jim Crowley, 83, the last survivor of the backfield known as the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, winners of the Rose Bowl, January 1, 1925. 61 years.
February 22, 1986: Tom Bradshaw, 82, the last surviving player from the Scotland team that upset England at the original Wembley Stadium in London on March 31, 1928. 58 years. At the time, though, he was playing his "club football" for an English team, Liverpool.
May 11, 1986: Frederick "Fritz" Pollard, 92, the last surviving player from the 1st NFL Champions, the 1920 Akron Pros. 66 years.
August 17, 1987: Rudolf Hess, 93, the last surviving major Nazi official, after V-E Day, May 8, 1945. 43 years.
October 25, 1987: Ivan Beshoff, 102, the last survivor of the Potemkin Mutiny, July 8, 1905. 82 years.
July 14, 1988: Lawton "Whitey" Witt, 92, the last surviving player from the 1923 New York Yankees, meaning he was the last survivor of the 1st game at the original Yankee Stadium on April 18, and of the 1st Yankee team to win the World Series, on October 15. 65 years.
January 27, 1989: Clarence Norris, 75, the last survivor of the Scottsboro Boys, black teenagers falsely accused of raping a white woman in Scottsboro, Alabama, an incident alleged to have taken place on March 25, 1931. 58 years.
May 17, 1989: George "Specs" Toporcer, 90, the last surviving baseball player interviewed by Lawrence S. Ritter for his book The Glory of Their Times, published on September 26, 1966. 23 years. An infielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, he was also the last surviving player from their 1926 team that won the World Series, which included Grover Cleveland Alexander's strikeout of Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded in the 7th inning of Game 7.
July 3, 1989: Verde Clark Graff, 97, the last survivor of the Iroquois Theatre Fire in Chicago, December 30, 1903. 86 years.
June 11, 1990: Vaso Cubrilovic, 93, the last surviving conspirator in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, sparking World War I, June 28, 1914.
July 2, 1992: Charles F. Brannan, 88, the last surviving member of the Cabinet of President Harry S Truman, which left office on January 20, 1953. 39 years. He was Secretary of Agriculture in the 2nd term.
September 10, 1992: Nathan Cook, 106, the last surviving veteran of the Boxer Rebellion, which ended on September 7, 1901. 91 years. He was also the last surviving veteran of the Philippine Campaign, which ended on July 2, 1902. 90 years.
April 12, 1993: George F. Ives, 111, the last known veteran of the Boer War, which ended on May 31, 1902. 91 years.
August 29, 1993: Jones Morgan, 110, the last surviving veteran of the Spanish-American War, April 21 to August 13, 1898. 95 years.
May 16, 1995: Harold Schultz, 69, the last survivor of the flag-raisers at the Battle of Iwo Jima, February 23, 1945. 50 years.
October 8, 1995: John Cairncross, 82, the last survivor of the Cambridge Five, British spies for the Soviet Union, active until 1951. 44 years.
January 22, 1996: Lilly Kempson, 99, the last participant in the Easter Rising, considered the founding of the Republic of Ireland, April 30, 1916. 80 years.
March 20, 1997: Frank Shomo, 108, the last survivor of the Johnstown Flood in Western Pennsylvania, May 31, 1889. 108 years, as he was an infant at the time.
September 26, 1997: Elwood "Woody" English, 91, the last surviving player from the 1st Major League Baseball All-Star Game, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, July 6, 1933. 64 years. He was a shortstop for the Chicago Cubs.
March 21, 1998: Albert H. Wolff, 95, the last survivor of Eliot Ness' Department of the Treasury team, known as "The Untouchables." Al Capone was convicted on October 17, 1931, so, 67 years.
March 8, 1999: Joe DiMaggio, 84, the last surviving inductee into Monument Park at Yankee Stadium prior to its closing for renovation, September 30, 1973. 26 years. Miller Huggins died in 1929, Jacob Ruppert in 1939, Lou Gehrig in 1941, Babe Ruth in 1948, Ed Barrow in 1953, Pope Paul VI in 1978, and Mickey Mantle in 1995.
January 24, 2000: Alexander Heron, 105, the last surviving builder of the Panama Canal, which was finished on August 15, 1914. 85 years.
February 23, 2000: Stanley Matthews, 85, the last surviving player from the England soccer team which, while it did not play in the World Cup, took on its winners, Italy, at the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club in North London, November 14, 1934. 65 years. At the time, he was an outside right (today, we would call his position "right winger") for Stoke City. He would still be playing in England's top division in 1965, at age 50, and remains the only British footballer ever knighted while still an active player.
March 8, 1999: Joe DiMaggio, 84, the last surviving inductee into Monument Park at Yankee Stadium prior to its closing for renovation, September 30, 1973. 26 years. Miller Huggins died in 1929, Jacob Ruppert in 1939, Lou Gehrig in 1941, Babe Ruth in 1948, Ed Barrow in 1953, Pope Paul VI in 1978, and Mickey Mantle in 1995.
January 24, 2000: Alexander Heron, 105, the last surviving builder of the Panama Canal, which was finished on August 15, 1914. 85 years.
February 23, 2000: Stanley Matthews, 85, the last surviving player from the England soccer team which, while it did not play in the World Cup, took on its winners, Italy, at the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club in North London, November 14, 1934. 65 years. At the time, he was an outside right (today, we would call his position "right winger") for Stoke City. He would still be playing in England's top division in 1965, at age 50, and remains the only British footballer ever knighted while still an active player.
October 31, 2000: Ring Lardner Jr., 85, the last survivor of the Hollywood Ten, 1947. 53 years.
January 2, 2001: William P. Rogers, 87, the last surviving member of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Cabinet, which left office on January 20, 1961. 40 years. He was Attorney General for "Ike"'s 2nd term. He was also Secretary of State for President Richard Nixon's 1st term, but Nixon usually sidestepped him for National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, until Rogers quit out of frustration on September 3, 1973.
February 15, 2001: Rose Freedman, 107, the last survivor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York, March 25, 1911. 90 years.
August 21, 2001: Gerard Zinser, 83, the last surviving crewman of John F. Kennedy's PT-109, sunk on August 2, 1943. 58 years.
August 7, 2002: Charles "Ookie" Miller, 92, the last surviving player from the Chicago Bears team that won the 1st NFL Championship Game, regardless of whether you consider that to be the unofficial one on December 18, 1932, at Chicago Stadium, a 9-0 win over the Portsmouth Spartans (they became the Detroit Lions in 1934); or the official one on December 17, 1933, at Wrigley Field, a 23-21 win over the New York Giants. 70 or 69 years. Either way, he played the position of center.
August 16, 2003: Thomas J. Brewer, the last surviving juror of the "Scopes Monkey Trial" in Dayton, Tennessee, who reached a verdict of "Guilty" on July 21, 1925.
January 20, 2004: Bernard Punsly, 80, the last survivor of the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids/Bowery Boys, who debuted in Angels with Dirty Faces, November 26, 1938. 65 years.
January 26, 2004: Adella Wotherspoon, 100, the last survivor of the General Slocum Fire on the East River in New York, June 15, 1904. Just short of 100 years.
November 14, 2004: Maude Conic, 106, the last survivor of the Galveston Hurricane, September 12, 1900. 104 years.
March 17, 2005: Elma Damrell, 95, the last survivor of the Italian Hall disaster in Calumet, Michigan, December 24, 1913. 91 years.
April 27, 2005: George "Red" Horner, 95, the last surviving player from the Ace Bailey Benefit Game, often called the 1st NHL All-Star Game, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, February 14, 1934. 71 years. He was also the last surviving player from the Howie Morez Memorial Game, at the Montreal Forum, November 2, 1937. At the time of each game, he was a defenseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
June 1, 2005: George Mikan, 80, the last surviving original inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, established in 1959. 46 years. (Its original building did not open until 1968.)
September 1, 2006: Nellie Connally, 87, the last surviving person who had been in the car in which President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. 53 years. Her husband, Governor John Connally of Texas, died in 1993; JFK's wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, died in 1994; and the driver, Secret Service Agent William Greer, died in 1985. Technically, Secret Service Agent Clint Hill, still alive at age 87, could be considered "the last surviving person who had been in the car," but he wasn't in it when the shots were fired.
November 5, 2006: Pietro Rava, 90, the last surviving player from the "Rest of Europe" team that played England in the Football Association 75th Anniversary Game at Wembley Stadium, October 26, 1938. 68 years. A left back for Turin-based Juventus, he had helped Italy win the 1936 Olympics and the 1938 World Cup, although he was not yet a regular for their 1934 World Cup win. The last surviving England player was Stan Cullis, a centre-half for Wolverhampton Wanderers, who later became their greatest manager, living until February 28, 2001. 62 years.
December 26, 2006: Gerald Ford, 93, the last surviving member of the Warren Commission, tasked with determining, since there would be no trial as the main suspect had himself been killed, who killed President John F. Kennedy; who killed the suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald; and whether there was a conspiracy to kill either. The Commission issued its report on September 24, 1964. 43 years. Ford, who later served as the 38th President of the United States, insisted to the end, as did all members of the Commission, that Oswald acted alone in killing JFK, and that Jack Ruby had acted alone in killing Oswald.
December 27, 2006: Boris Gudz, the last survivor of the October Revolution, a.k.a. the Bolshevik Revolution, November 7, 1917. 89 years.
January 2, 2001: William P. Rogers, 87, the last surviving member of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Cabinet, which left office on January 20, 1961. 40 years. He was Attorney General for "Ike"'s 2nd term. He was also Secretary of State for President Richard Nixon's 1st term, but Nixon usually sidestepped him for National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, until Rogers quit out of frustration on September 3, 1973.
February 15, 2001: Rose Freedman, 107, the last survivor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York, March 25, 1911. 90 years.
August 21, 2001: Gerard Zinser, 83, the last surviving crewman of John F. Kennedy's PT-109, sunk on August 2, 1943. 58 years.
August 7, 2002: Charles "Ookie" Miller, 92, the last surviving player from the Chicago Bears team that won the 1st NFL Championship Game, regardless of whether you consider that to be the unofficial one on December 18, 1932, at Chicago Stadium, a 9-0 win over the Portsmouth Spartans (they became the Detroit Lions in 1934); or the official one on December 17, 1933, at Wrigley Field, a 23-21 win over the New York Giants. 70 or 69 years. Either way, he played the position of center.
August 16, 2003: Thomas J. Brewer, the last surviving juror of the "Scopes Monkey Trial" in Dayton, Tennessee, who reached a verdict of "Guilty" on July 21, 1925.
January 20, 2004: Bernard Punsly, 80, the last survivor of the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids/Bowery Boys, who debuted in Angels with Dirty Faces, November 26, 1938. 65 years.
January 26, 2004: Adella Wotherspoon, 100, the last survivor of the General Slocum Fire on the East River in New York, June 15, 1904. Just short of 100 years.
November 14, 2004: Maude Conic, 106, the last survivor of the Galveston Hurricane, September 12, 1900. 104 years.
March 17, 2005: Elma Damrell, 95, the last survivor of the Italian Hall disaster in Calumet, Michigan, December 24, 1913. 91 years.
April 27, 2005: George "Red" Horner, 95, the last surviving player from the Ace Bailey Benefit Game, often called the 1st NHL All-Star Game, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, February 14, 1934. 71 years. He was also the last surviving player from the Howie Morez Memorial Game, at the Montreal Forum, November 2, 1937. At the time of each game, he was a defenseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
June 1, 2005: George Mikan, 80, the last surviving original inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, established in 1959. 46 years. (Its original building did not open until 1968.)
September 1, 2006: Nellie Connally, 87, the last surviving person who had been in the car in which President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. 53 years. Her husband, Governor John Connally of Texas, died in 1993; JFK's wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, died in 1994; and the driver, Secret Service Agent William Greer, died in 1985. Technically, Secret Service Agent Clint Hill, still alive at age 87, could be considered "the last surviving person who had been in the car," but he wasn't in it when the shots were fired.
November 5, 2006: Pietro Rava, 90, the last surviving player from the "Rest of Europe" team that played England in the Football Association 75th Anniversary Game at Wembley Stadium, October 26, 1938. 68 years. A left back for Turin-based Juventus, he had helped Italy win the 1936 Olympics and the 1938 World Cup, although he was not yet a regular for their 1934 World Cup win. The last surviving England player was Stan Cullis, a centre-half for Wolverhampton Wanderers, who later became their greatest manager, living until February 28, 2001. 62 years.
December 26, 2006: Gerald Ford, 93, the last surviving member of the Warren Commission, tasked with determining, since there would be no trial as the main suspect had himself been killed, who killed President John F. Kennedy; who killed the suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald; and whether there was a conspiracy to kill either. The Commission issued its report on September 24, 1964. 43 years. Ford, who later served as the 38th President of the United States, insisted to the end, as did all members of the Commission, that Oswald acted alone in killing JFK, and that Jack Ruby had acted alone in killing Oswald.
December 27, 2006: Boris Gudz, the last survivor of the October Revolution, a.k.a. the Bolshevik Revolution, November 7, 1917. 89 years.
October 2, 2007: Dan Keating, 105, the last surviving veteran of the Irish War of Independence, which ended on July 11, 1921. 86 years.
December 17, 2008: Sammy Baugh, 94, the last surviving original inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, September 8, 1963. 45 years. He played quarterback, cornerback and punter for the Washington Redskins from 1937 to 1952.
January 22, 2009: Bill Werber, 100, the last surviving former teammate of Babe Ruth, playing for the Yankees in the 1930 and 1933 seasons. Ruth played his last game on May 30, 1935, so, 74 years. Werber also won the 1940 World Series with the Cincinnati Reds.
May 31, 2009: Millvina Dean, 97, the last survivor of the RMS Titanic, April 15, 1912. 97 years.
September 10, 2009: Lou Bender, 99, the last surviving player from "The Original Celtics," the 1st great pro basketball team, which dominated the sport in the 1920s. They were disbanded in 1927, so, 82 years.
January 11, 2010: Miep Gies, 100, the last survivor of the group who hid the Frank family, including daughter Anne, in "the Secret Annex" in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, before they were arrested on August 4, 1944. 65 years.
April 24, 2010: W. Willard Wirtz, 98, the last surviving member of President John F. Kennedy's Cabinet, which left office with his assassination on November 22, 1963. 46 years. Wirtz served JFK and President Lyndon B. Johnson as Secretary of Labor from 1962 to 1969.
There are currently 2 living members of Johnson's Cabinet: Secretary of Transportation Alan Boyd and Attorney General Ramsey Clark. There are 3 from Nixon's Cabinet: Secretary of Commerce Frederick Dent, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and George Shultz, who served as Secretary of Labor and of the Treasury, and was later Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan.
There are 6 survivors from the Cabinet of Gerald Ford, 7 from Jimmy Carter, and most of those of Reagan, both George Bushes and Bill Clinton are still alive. All of those of Barack Obama and Donald Trump are still alive.
May 11, 2010: Doris Eaton Travis, 106, the last survivor of the Ziegfeld Girls. The Ziegfeld Follies ran until 1931, so, 79 years.
January 11, 2011: Audrey Lawson-Johnston, 95, the last survivor of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, May 7, 1915. 96 years.
February 27, 2011: Frank Buckles, 110, the last surviving American veteran of World War I, which ended on November 11, 1918. 93 years. He also served in World War II, and was captured by the Japanese in the Philippines, spending 3 years as a prisoner of war.
December 23, 2011: James "Pappy" Ricks, 68, the last surviving player from the New York Renaissance Five, or "the New York Rens," the legendary all-black pro basketball team of the 1930s. He last played for them in 1936, so, 55 years.
February 4, 2012: Florence Green, formerly Florence Patterson, 110, the last surviving veteran, of any country, of World War I. 94 years.
February 28, 2013: Ford "Moon" Mullen, 96, the last surviving basketball player from the 1st NCAA Tournament Champions, the University of Oregon, March 27, 1939. 74 years.
March 8, 2013: Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin, 90, the last surviving participant in the 20 July Plot, which failed to assassinate Adolf Hitler, at his Wolf's Lair retreat in Rastenburg, Germany -- now Ketrzy, Poland -- July 20, 1944. 69 years.
September 14, 2013: Jerry Edgerton, 99, the last survivor of the fire aboard the SS Morro Castle, off the coast of Asbury Park, New Jersey, September 8, 1934. 89 years.
June 4, 2014: Chester Nez, 93, the last survivor of the Navajo Code Talkers, following the end of World War II on V-J Day, August 14, 1945. 69 years.
July 28, 2014: Theodore Van Kirk, 93, the last surviving crew member of the Enola Gay, which dropped the 1st atomic bomb in warfare, over Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. 69 years.
November 24, 2014: Marion Eichholz, 102, the last survivor of the sinking of the SS Eastland in the Chicago River, July 24, 1915. 89 years.
May 27, 2015: John Siegal, 97, the last surviving player from the Chicago Bears team that beat the Washington Redskins 73-0, the biggest blowout in NFL history, in the NFL Championship Game, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, December 8, 1940. 75 years. He played end on both offense and defense.
July 16, 2015: Alcides Ghiggia, 88, the last surviving player from the Uruguay team that won the World Cup, shocking Brazil in the Final at the Estadio do Maracana, an event remembered in Brazil as the Maracanazo, July 16, 1950. 65 years.
January 11, 2016: Bill Del Monte, the last known survivor of the Great San Francisco Earthquake, April 18, 1906. 109 years.
February 28, 2016: Delmer Berg, 100, the last surviving veteran of the XV International Brigade, a.k.a. the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, that fought in aid of the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War, which ended on April 1, 1939. 77 years. As of April 1, 2019, the 80th anniversary of the war's end, there were believed to be 30 surviving veterans on the Republican side, and 8 on the Nationalist side.
March 14, 2016: Davy Walsh, 92, the last surviving player from the Republic of Ireland team that upset England at Goodison Park in Liverpool, home of Everton Football Club, September 21, 1949. 66 years. At the time, he was a forward for Birmingham-area team West Bromwich Albion.
May 1, 2016: Madeleine Lebeau, 92, the last surviving castmember of Casablanca, which premiered on November 26, 1942. She played Yvonne, one of Rick Blaine's girlfriends, and a fellow exile from Paris. Her tearful yet determined participation in Victor Laszlo's leading of the French national anthem, "Les Marseillaise," is one of the most powerful moments in the history of motion pictures. At the time of filming, she was married to Marcel Dalio, who played Emil the croupier, but they were divorced soon thereafter.
October 21, 2016: Jerry Rullo, 93, the last surviving member of the 1st NBA Champions, the 1947 Philadelphia Warriors. 69 years.
November 23, 2016: Ralph Branca, 90, the last surviving member of the 1st desegregated Major League Baseball team, the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers. 69 years. A few other teammates of Jackie Robinson are still alive.
December 8, 2016: John Glenn, the last survivor of the Mercury Seven, selected on April 9, 1959. 57 years.
February 8, 2018: Ben Agajanian, the last surviving player from the All-America Football Conference, which played its last game on December 11, 1946. 71 years. A placekicker, he played for the 1956 NFL Champion New York Giants, and for Los Angeles teams in 3 different leagues: The Dons of the AAFC, the Rams of the NFL, and the Chargers of the AFL.
March 8, 2018: Bernhard Heuer, the last surviving crewmember of the battleship Bismarck, sunk by Britain's Royal Navy on May 27, 1941. 77 years.
May 24, 2018: Jerry Maren, 98, the last surviving castmember of The Wizard of Oz, which premiered on August 25, 1939. 79 years. He played a Munchkin.
June 18, 2018: Walter Bahr, 91, the last surviving player from the U.S. soccer team that defeated England at the World Cup in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, June 29, 1950. 68 years. His sons Matt and Chris went on to become Super Bowl-winning placekickers.
November 21, 2018: Olivia Hooker, 103, the last survivor of the Tulsa Race Riot, June 1, 1921. 97 years.
February 13, 2019: Richard Churchill, 99, the last surviving prisoner from Stalag Luft III in Zagan, Poland, who took part in what became known as "the Great Escape," March 25, 1944. 75 years. He went to his grave believing that the reason he was spared execution after being captured was a belief that he was related to Winston Churchill. He did not clear up the misunderstanding.
March 14, 2019: Ermenia Daley, 105, the last survivor of the Ludlow Massacre, in which striking coal miners were fired upon by the Colorado National Guard, Ludlow, Colorado, April 20, 1914. Almost 105 years.
I can find no record of how many survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor, in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, are still alive after 77 years; or of the D-Day invasion at Normandy, France on June 6, 1944, after 75 years; or of the sinking of the SS Andrea Doria, which killed 46 people off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts on July 26, 1956, after 63 years. But all have multiple survivors currently alive.
There are believed to be 5 survivors of the Cocoanut Grove fire that killed 492 people on November 28, 1942, after 76 years.
Alive as of May 6, 2019:
Werner Doehner, 90, the last surviving passenger of the Hindenburg explosion, at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, Manchester, Ocean County, New Jersey, May 6, 1937. 82 years ago today.
Olivia de Havilland, 102, the last surviving castmember of Gone with the Wind, which premiered on December 15, 1939. 79 years. The actress playing Melanie Wilkes even outlived Cammie King, who played Bonnie Blue Butler at age 5, and lived until 2010.
Nick Clifford, 97, the last surviving builder of Mount Rushmore, on which construction was stopped on October 31, 1941. 77 years.
Traute Lafrenz, 100, the last surviving member of the White Rose resistance movement against the Nazis, whose core group was arrested on February 18, 1943. 76 years.
Aliza Melamed Vitis-Shomron, 90, the last surviving participant in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, May 16, 1943. 76 years.
Gunther Schwagermann, 103, the last surviving person who had been in Adolf Hitler's Fuhrerbunker when the Nazi leader committed suicide, April 30, 1945. 74 years. Schwagermann was an adutant to Joseph Goebbels, who killed himself and his family the next day.
Reg Harrison, 95, the earliest surviving player for an FA Cup winner, East Midlands team Derby County, who beat South London team Charlton Athletic at Wembley Stadium, 4-1, on April 27, 1946. 73 years.
Howie Meeker, 95, the last surviving player from the 1st official NHL All-Star Game, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, October 13, 1947. 71 years. He was a right wing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and is also the last surviving player for their Stanley Cup-winning teams of 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1951. This also makes him the earliest surviving player for a Stanley Cup winner. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, as a broadcaster.
Bobby Brown, 94, the earliest surviving player for a World Series winner, the New York Yankees, who beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in 7 games, at Yankee Stadium, on October 6, 1947. 71 years.
Charlie Trippi, 97, the earliest surviving player for an NFL Championship team, the Chicago Cardinals, who beat the Philadelphia Eagles 28-21 at Comiskey Park, December 28, 1947. 71 years.
Arnie Ferrin, 93, the earliest surviving player for an NBA Championship team, the Minneapolis Lakers, who beat the Washington Capitols in 6 games, April 13, 1949. 70 years. He's also the earliest surviving player for an NCAA Championship team, the University of Utah, beating Dartmouth College 42-40 at the old Madison Square Garden on March 28, 1944. 75 years.
Jack Myers, 94, the last surviving player from the Philadelphia Eagles teams that won the NFL Championship in a 7-0 win over the Chicago Cardinals (a rematch of the year before) at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, December 19, 1948; and the next year, in a 14-0 win over the Los Angeles Rams at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, December 18, 1949. 70 and 69 years.
Bob Cousy, 90, the last surviving player from the 1st NBA All-Star Game, at his home court, the Boston Garden, March 2, 1951. 68 years.
Tony Marchi, 86, the earliest surviving player for a Football League title team, Tottenham Hotspur of North London, who clinched at home at White Hart Lane against Yorkshire team Sheffield Wednesday, April 28, 1951. 68 years. He was also the only player to still be there in 1961, when they won their only other League title, also against Wednesday, on April 17, 1961.
Willie Mays, who turns 88 today, the last surviving player from the Bobby Thomson Game, October 31, 1951. 68 years.
Horst Eckel, 87, the earliest surviving player for a World Cup-winning team, West Germany, who beat Hungary at the Wankdorf Stadium in Berne, Switzerland, July 4, 1954. 65 years.
Francisco Gento, age 85, the last surviving player from the 1st European Cup Final, at Parc des Princes, Paris, June 13, 1956. 63 years. He is also the only man to win 6 European Cups, all with Real Madrid.
Don Larsen, 89, the last surviving player from the perfect game that he pitched for the Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series, still the only no-hitter in World Series history, October 8, 1956. 63 years.
Jerry Lee Lewis, 83, the last surviving Sun Records performer from the "Million Dollar Quartet" reunion, in Memphis, December 4, 1956. Elvis Presley died in 1977, Carl Perkins in 1998, Johnny Cash in 2003. After all he's done to himself, I don't know how Jerry Lee is still alive. He, Little Richard and Don Everly are the last 3 surviving charter inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1986, 33 years.
Edward "Whitey" Ford, 90, the last surviving player among the Yankees who were involved in what became known as "The Copacabana Incident" at the Copacabana nightclub in Midtown Manhattan, May 16, 1957. 62 years. Billy Martin died in 1989, Mickey Mantle in 1995, Hank Bauer in 2007, Johnny Kucks in 2013 and Yogi Berra in 2015. The wives of all except Martin, then between marriages, were also there. I don't know if Mrs. Bauer or Mrs. Kucks is still alive, but Mrs. Mantle, Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Berra have all since died.
John Lewis, 79, the last surviving speaker at the March On Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. 56 years. He was then the Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and since 1987 has been a U.S. Representative from a district based in Atlanta.
Jacques Rose, 72, the last surviving perpetrator of the October Crisis in Quebec, which began on October 5, 1970. 48 years.
There are still 4 living people who walked on the Moon: Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, 89, Apollo 11, July 20, 1969; David Scott, 86, Apollo 15, July 31, 1971; Charles Duke, 83, Apollo 16, April 21, 1972; and Harrison Schmitt, 83, Apollo 17, December 14, 1972. 46 years.