Different people have different timelines for their achievements. Some, like Colonel Sanders, open their first restaurant at 55, coming to fame late in life. And some manage to become world famous by their early twenties, leave behind a colossal creative legacy - and then pass away like a meteorite in the night sky.
Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, Alexander the Great, Jim Morrison, John Belushi - the question is rather that the people around them didn't feel how young they actually were when they passed away. And this viral thread in the AskReddit community is about exactly such people. Many of whom we have already actually outlived...
More info: Reddit
#1
The musicians on Titanic, who played on ‘til the end? Most of them were in their early twenties. Young guys with really bright futures ahead of them. Jock Hume, one of the violinists, had a pregnant fiancée back home in Scotland! The oldest was Wallace Hartley, and he was only 33 years old!
Their legend and sacrifice looks a bit different when you realize how young they all were. Brave as hell.
Image credits: gdmaria
#2
Freddie Mercury was only 45, I just surpassed him in age.
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#3
Mozart died at 35. He composed over 800 works.
Image credits: applestem
In fact, world history knows examples of people who achieved fame at completely different ages - both very young and extremely old. For example, the famous Byzantine commander Narses was an ordinary courtier in the emperor's palace until he was 74 years old - and only by chance did he discover his great military talent.
But still, situations when a person achieves a lot in this life at a relatively early age are much more common. And people manage to do so much in the short time allotted to them on this Earth that later, when we read their biographies, we are actually amazed - did they really die so young?
#4
Princess Diana, I think she was only 35.
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#5
Bruce lee was only 32, crazy right.
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#6
Tupac was only 25 when he died.
Image credits: SnooCauliflowers5174
A significant part of the people presented in this list are representatives of art who led, let's say, not the healthiest lifestyle. The so-called "27 Club", which includes celebrities who passed away at this age, has acquired wide (and sad) fame. It is believed that the "27 Club" appeared in the 20th century, but in fact, similar cases occurred earlier.
It's just that the modern world, with its fixation on numbers and celebrities, simply couldn't ignore the fact that three rock'n'roll superstars (Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin) died at the same age, 10 months apart. And later, many began to consider the number "27" almost 'fatal' for the music stars.
#7
Van Gogh was only 37 when he died.
Image credits: choose2hope
#8
Joan of Arc was only 19 when they burned her to death.
Image credits: Himeh_Canknow
#9
Buddy Holly died at 22. He left enough unfinished recordings and transcriptions behind that his label was able to release Buddy Holly singles for 10 years after his death.
Image credits: probably-the-problem
However, deaths at a young age were more of a pattern in the old days - especially considering the state of medicine at the time. "We shouldn't forget that a couple of centuries ago there were no antibiotics or basic hygiene rules - even among doctors during abdominal surgeries," says Valery Bolgan, a historian and editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian news agency Intent, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment here.
"And the average life expectancy in the old days was much shorter - so, for example, Mozart's death, which happened at the age of 35, was not perceived by his contemporaries as something out of the ordinary. Moreover, 35 years at the end of the 18th century was perceived as maturity and a rather respectable age."
And adulthood for many people began much earlier, Valery also says. "Teen years several centuries ago were already considered the age when a person was perceived as a true adult. The same Alexander the Great became a king at the age of 20. It's just now, when people's life expectancy has increased significantly, we perceive history differently."
#10
Martin Luther King was only 39. Marilyn Monroe was 36.
Image credits: Competitive_Crew_983
#11
Bob Marley was only 36.
Image credits: 12345_PIZZA
#12
James Dean was 23.
Image credits: Impossible_Inside_42
And still, when a person passes away at such a young age, literally in a couple of years doing so many wonderful things that many of us are not destined to do in our entire lives - this cannot but cause sadness. So let's just scroll this list to the very end, pay tribute to the memory of the famous people mentioned here - and maybe try to do something outstanding ourselves. After all, the examples of Narses and Colonel Sanders are also damn inspiring!
#13
Otis Redding was 26. Had just recorded “Dock of the Bay,” but didn’t live to see it released.
Listening to his music, it is absolutely astounding that his incredibly soulful voice belonged to someone so young.
Image credits: MerryTexMish
#14
Steve Irwin was only 44.
“That’s a ripe old age for a Crocodile Hunter!”
-Norm; about 2 days after Steve was killed.
Image credits: doeldougie
#15
John Candy (uncle Buck) was only 44 when he died.
Image credits: No-Independence-6842
#16
Elvis. 42.
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#17
Franz Kafka was about to turn 41. Most of his works were published after his death and against his last will, so he didn’t even get to see his success.
Judith Barsi was only 10 when she was murdered by her father shortly after finishing her lines for Anne-Marie in "All Dogs Go to Heaven“.
Image credits: Midnight1899
#18
Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison were all 27.
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#19
Alexander the Great was 32.
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#20
Mama Cass from the Mama's and the Papa's was only 32.
Image credits: DefendTheStar88x
#21
Al Capone was only 48 when he died. He was just 26 when he became the crime boss of Chicago.
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#22
Aaliyah. 22.
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#23
I always think about John Keats being 25 when he died. From the same disease that killed two members of his family too, he had months of knowing he was dying and even wrote his own gravestone.
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#24
River Phoenix, 23.
#25
John Belushi. Hard to believe he was only 33 and I've out lived him.
Image credits: Inner_thoughts_loud
#26
Robert Wadlow - tallest man in the world died of a foot infection at age 22. He went to high school with my husband's grandparents. He was 8' 11.1" tall when he died. He had to go up the stairs at school sideways.
#27
Ritchie Valens he was 17! Could’ve passed for 30.
#28
The Notorious BIG was only 24. He always seemed a lot older due to his huge size, deep voice and intimidating presence.
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#29
Patsy Cline was 30. Plane crash.
#30
Pocohontas was 22, Sacagawea was 24. They both were influential in American history while enduring abuse from white men (John Smith, John Rolfe, the men who kidnapped Pocohontas and those who forced her to convert to Christianity. Sacagawea’s husband Toussaint Charbonneau).
Image credits: Middle-Merdale
#31
Still can’t believe Hank Williams Senior was only 29 when he died.
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#32
Sid Vicious was only 21.
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#33
Tutankhamun died at 18-19!
#34
Judy Garland was only 47.
#35
Jim Croce was 30 when he died in a plane crash.
Image credits: ExposedTamponString
#36
Richard III was 32 when he died at the Battle of Bosworth.
#37
Jon Bonham and Keith Moon were 32.
Cliff Burton was 24.
#38
Selena, was only 23 she could have been massive.
#39
Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales and elder brother of Henry VIII, was 15 when he died.
Image credits: Blackbirds_Garden
