Timelines for year 1841
William McKinley
Third president to be successfully assassinated (an attempt on President Andrew Jackson's life failed) and the fourth president to die in office. Ironically, all presidents to have died in office since the first (William Henry Harrison in 1841) were elected 20 years apart: Harrison in 1840, Abraham Lincoln in 1860, James Garfield in 1880, McKinley in 1900, Warren G. Harding in 1920, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 and John F. Kennedy in 1960. Ronald Reagan (elected 1980) was the victim of an assassin's bullet in 1981, but he survived and broke the 120-year curse that had plagued the U.S. Presidency. There were two unsuccessful attempts made on President Gerald Ford's life, and an attempt by Puerto Rican nationalists to assassinate President Harry S. Truman was thwarted when the assassin, who didn't know that Truman wasn't at the White House, was killed in a shootout with White House guards.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The sixth U.S. president to die in office. Ironically, all presidents to have died in office since the first (William Henry Harrison in 1841) were elected 20 years apart: Harrison in 1840, Abraham Lincoln in 1860, James Garfield in 1880, McKinley in 1900, Warren G. Harding in 1920, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940, and John F. Kennedy in 1960. Ronald Reagan (elected 1980) was the victim of an assassin's bullet in 1981, but he survived and broke the 120-year curse that had plagued the U.S. Presidency.
Charles Dickens
Owned a pet raven named Grip. Dickens introduced the loquacious raven into his serialized mystery novel "Barnaby Rudge" (1841). Edgar Allan Poe, who would later meet Dickens when he traveled to America, reviewed "Barnaby Rudge" and commented on the use of the talking raven, saying the bird should have loomed larger in the plot. Literary experts surmise that the talking raven of "Barnaby Rudge" inspired Poe's most famous poem, "The Raven", published in 1845. After Grip died in 1841, Dickens had the bird mounted. It now resides at the Free Library on Logan Circle in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
John F. Kennedy
Fourth U.S. president to be successfully assassinated (unsuccessful assassination attempts had been made on Presidents Andrew Jackson and 'Harry S Truman', and on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt) and the seventh president to die in office. Ironically, all presidents to have died in office since the first (William Henry Harrison in 1841) were elected 20 years apart: Harrison in 1840, Abraham Lincoln in 1860, James Garfield in 1880, William McKinley in 1900, Warren G. Harding in 1920, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940, and Kennedy in 1960. Ironically, Kennedy and his retinue had been aware of this "20-year curse" on the Presidency. Ronald Reagan (elected 1980) was the victim of an assassin's bullet in 1981, but he survived and broke the 120-year curse that had plagued the U.S. Presidency.
Warren G. Harding
The fifth U.S. president to die in office. Ironically, all presidents to have died in office since the first (William Henry Harrison in 1841) were elected 20 years apart: Harrison in 1840, Abraham Lincoln in 1860, James Garfield in 1880, McKinley in 1900, Warren G. Harding in 1920, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940, and John F. Kennedy in 1960. Ronald Reagan (elected 1980) was the victim of an assassin's bullet in 1981, but he survived and broke the 120-year curse that had plagued the U.S. Presidency.
Marisa Berenson
Her father was Robert L. Berenson, a U.S. diplomat of Lithuanian-Jewish descent (original family name Valvrojenski). He was related to legendary art critic Bernard Berenson, an expert in Italian Renaissance. Her mother was Countess Maria Luisa (Marisa) Yvonne Radha (aka "Gogo") de Wendt de Kerlor. Gogo was the daughter of Swiss-French Count Wilhelm de Wendt de Kerlor and fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli. Born in Rome, Schiaparelli was the daughter of Celestino Schiaparelli (1841-1919), of Italian stock, and wife, of Egyptian stock. (Her great-uncle was Giovanni Schiaparelli, an astronomer who discovered the canals of Mars). When Schiaparelli married Count Wilhelm, they relocated to Greenwich Village where Gogo was born. He soon fled, and Elsa's career in fashion designing began. She was hugely successful in Paris, second only to Coco Chanel and she even collaborated with Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau. (Marisa herself maintained the tradition, becoming a top model in the 60s both in Europe and in New York).