Discover more from Morning Martini
9/6/2022: Ivermectin Works!
PLUS: Moon Mission Scrapped, Again; Selfies With the Pope; and Run Kim Run
Today is Tuesday, September 6, 2022.
It is the 249th day of the year.
116 days remain.
TRENDING
Saturday was US Bowling League Day.
Sunday was National Wildlife Day.
Adele landed in Twitter’s Top 10 Trends Sunday after winning five Emmys at the Creative Arts Emmy awards over the weekend. More in Casting Call.
Bed Bath & Beyond CFO was trending Sunday after news broke that Gustavo Arnal dumped to his death. More in Deaths.
Monday was National Cheese Pizza Day.
Aaron Judge was trending Monday after hitting his 54th home run of the season. He is now tied with Alex Rodriguez for the most homers in a season by a Yankee since 1961.
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HIT LIST
Battle of the Billionaires
ELON MUSK sent some lowkey shade at JEFF BEZOS on Monday.
AS YOU MAY KNOW: Amazon Prime recently released “The Rings of Power,” a prequel to “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings,” based on material written by original author J.R.R. Tolkein. Bezos is reportedly a huge Lord of the Rings nerd, and shelled out all kinds of money to get the rights to produce the series.
ANYWAY: Musk tweeted Monday, “Tolkein is turning in his grave,” and added, “Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both. Only Galadriel is brave, smart and nice.”
MEANWHILE: Amid his less-than-veiled shots across Bezos’ bow, Musk went on a tear pointing out all the bots there are on Twitter. He shared an article suggesting up to 80% of user accounts are fake, and quipped, “On a [cost-per-bot] basic, this deal is awesome.”
AS YOU MAY RECALL: Musk has tried to pull out of his proposal to buy Twitter, citing fraudulent data from the platform about how many of its users are actual, real people.
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Bank of America has announced a new mortgage program designed to make home ownership more attainable in minority communities.
The loans require 0% down and have no closing costs and are made based only on location and income; they won’t even check the borrower’s credit score.
WORTH ASKING: Where have we heard this one before, and how did that go over? Asking for 2008.
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A Mississippi man has been arrested after stealing a plane from a municipal airport and then threatening to crash it into a Walmart.
Cory Wayne Patterson works for Tupelo Aviation, where he assists in fueling aircraft. The job got him access to the Beechcraft King Air C90 in the early hours Saturday at Tupelo Regional Airport.
He eventually landed in a field and was arrested and charged with grand larceny and making terroristic threats. He’s also expected to face federal charges.
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NASA is expected to make a decision this week about when it will attempt to launch the Artemis I mission again. There are additional launch windows later this month and in October, but they may not yet commit to those.
Last weekend’s launch was scrapped because of a fuel leak.
Officials have ruled out a lauch today, which is at the end of their current window.
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A study out of Brazil published in medical journal Cereus shows that regular use of ivermectin reduced the likelihood of death from contracting covid by 92%.
WORTH NOTING: The National Institute of Health has not added the drug on its approved list of covid treatments. Some viral posts in recent days suggested otherwise.
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The Dow lost 337 points (1.07%) on Friday to close at 31,318. The S&P lost 42 points (1.07%) to close at 3,924 while the Nasdaq lost 154 points (1.31%) to close at 11,630.
🛢 West Texas Intermediate was trading at $88.82 yesterday. Brent Crude was trading in the mid-$90s.
MEANWHILE: OPEC has announced it will cut production by 100,000 barrels a day next month.
⛽ The national average price of a gallon of gas was $3.78 on Monday.
₿ Bitcoin fell more than $240 on Monday, trading around $19,750.
🛩 There were 2,382 flights delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Monday and 95 such cancellations.
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CHARTS
Top 5 Songs on iTunes:
Elton John & Britney Spears, “Hold Me Closer”
David Guetta & Bebe Rexha, “I’m Good (Blue)”
OneRepublic, “I Ain’t Worried”
Evanescence, “Bring Me to Life”
Blasterjaxx & Timmy Trumpet, “Narco”
Top 5 Songs on Spotify:
Harry Styles, “As It Was”
OneRepublic, “I Ain’t Worried”
Post Malone & Doja Cat, “I Like You (A Happier Song)”
Bizarrap & Quevedo, “Quevedo: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol 52”
Lizzo, “About Damn Time”
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DEATHS
GUSTAVO ARNAL has died.
The Bed Bath & Beyond CFO reportedly jumped to his death from the 18th floor of New York City’s “Jenga” tower on Friday afternoon.
His death comes just after the company announced plans to close 150 stores, cut jobs and overhaul its merchandising strategy in an effort to save the business.
Arnal was being sued for allegedly inflating the company’s stock price in a “pump and dump” scheme. The lawsuit was filed a week before his death.
He was 52.
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PAT STAY has died.
The rapper was killed early Sunday morning in Nova Scotia, Canada. According to his brother, he was stabbed in downtown Halifax.
He was 36.
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BABY NEWS
Actors PETER FACINELLI, 48, and LILY ANNE HARRISON, 33, welcomed their first child, a son, on Monday,
“Happy ‘Labor’ Day,” Facinelli wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of the baby holding his finger. The couple did not share any other details.
While the child is the couple’s first, Facinelli is also dad to Luca, 25, Lola, 19, and Fiona, 15, whom he shares with his ex-wife, actress JENNIE GARTH.
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Model ADRIANA LIMA, 41, has welcomed her first child with boyfriend, director ANDRE LEMMERS, also 41.
The little boy, named Cyan Lima Lemmers, arrived on August 29.
Lima is also mom to daughters Valentina, 12, and Sienna, 9, who she shares with ex-husband MARKO JARIC.
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RELATIONSHIPS
“Teen Mom” stars JADE CLINE, 25, and SEAN AUSTIN, 29, are engaged.
He popped the question while surrounded by candles, roses, their friends and family.
The couple are parents to 4-year-old daughter Kloie, who appears on the MTV reality show.
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SICK BAY
JANE FONDA has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The actress announced the news on Instagram Friday, while revealing that she has begun chemotherapy treatment.
“This is very treatable cancer,” she wrote. “I feel very lucky.”
She later added that she will not let her diagnosis “interfere with “climate activism.”
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WEDDINGS
“Bachelor” alum AMANDA STANTON, 32, married 30-something realtor MICHAEL FOGEL in an intimate ceremony on Friday.
The pair got engaged last December.
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Actress JORDANA BREWSTER, 42, and ValueAct Capital CEO MASON MORFIT, 44, tied the knot in Santa Barbara, California on Saturday.
Following the ceremony, the newlyweds took off in a blue Acura Integra, which many recognized as Brewster’s ride from the “Fast & Furious” films.
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THE SWAMP
Remember that photo that leaked last week that showed all the folders seized by FBI jackboots from former President DONALD TRUMP’s private home at Mar-a-Lago?
Turns out most of them were empty.
As The Hill reports, “the government detailed that interspersed with Trump’s personal belongings were 48 empty folders with classified banners as well as another 42 empty folders.”
MEANWHILE: A Florida judge has granted Trump’s request for a “special master” to review all the content and the feds cannot continue to review any of the documents until he or she has decided what is privileged documentation and what isn’t.
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President JOE BIDEN visited Milwaukee’s Laborfest activities Monday, where at one point during his speech he was interrupted by a heckler. When the crowd tried to shoo the protestor away, Biden said, “Let him go…. Look, everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”
IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE: Here’s verbatim what Biden said during his creepy Thursday night address: “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
THE NEXT DAY: A reporter asked Biden, “Do you think all Trump supporters are a threat to the country?”
“I don’t consider any Trump supporter a threat to the country.”
WATCH: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CiILuZegCzo/?igshid=MTUyMWE5Zjg%3D
IT GETS WORSE: Here’s what he tweeted on Sunday: “MAGA proposals are a threat to the very soul of this country.”
WORTH ASKING: What’s the difference between a Trump supporter and a MAGA Republican? Aren’t the two inherently linked?
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LOTTERY
No winner for Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing. Tonight’s drawing will be for a $191 million jackpot or a $105.3 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
Holiday Weekend Box Office (September 2-5)
10. Jaws: $2.7 million (re-release)
9. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero: $2.8 million (down from 5)
8. Thor: Love and Thunder: $2.9 million (up from 9)
7. Minions: The Rise of Gru: $3.8 (up from 8)
6. Beast: $4.3 million (down from 3)
5. The Invitation: $5.7 million (down from 1)
4. Bullet Train: $6.8 million (down from 2)
3. DC League of Super-Pets: $6.9 million (up from 6)
2. Top Gun: Maverick: $7 million (up from 4)
1. Spider-Man: No Way Home: $7.6 million (re-release)
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BRITNEY SPEARS’ ex-husband KEVIN FEDERLINE says the singer has not seen their sons in at least six months.
Speaking to TMZ, the former backup dancer said that SEAN PRESTON, 16 and JAYDEN JAMES, 15, have not spent time with their mom in months and don’t plan to see her anytime soon.
Federline’s comments come after Spears returned to Instagram last week to post about her sons and their feelings of “abandonment” from her.
“My love for my children has no boundaries,” she wrote.
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THE WEEKND was forced to cancel his concert in Los Angeles on Saturday after losing his voice just three songs in.
Fans were confused when he abruptly stopped singing in the middle of performing “Can’t Feel My Face” and left. He eventually walked back out on stage and emotionally explained that he “just lost [his] voice.”
“You’ll get your money back,” he told the crowd of 70,000 packed into SoFi Stadium. He also promised to return and make it up to them.
He will have time to recover, as his next show is scheduled for September 22 in Toronto.
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Colombian singer J BALVIN attended the Vitae Summit over the weekend where he took selfies with POPE FRANCIS.
Sharing the photos to Instagram, the musician captioned them “Latino Gang style.”
The purpose of the two-day event was to “leverage the arts, media and entertainment to trigger a cultural transformation that promotes the common good, universal values, and an encounter between people,” per the Vitae Global Foundation’s website.
DENZEL WASHINGTON, ANDREA BOCCELLI, and ALESSIA CARA were among the many celebs who also attended the event.
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“NCIS” actress PAULEY PERRETTE revealed on Twitter over the weekend that last September she suffered a massive stroke.
She also claimed to have “almost died from a hair dye allergy” and was the victim of an assault.
Perrette, who played Abby Sciuto, on the show for 15 years, announced her retirement from acting in 2020.
She did not share any details about what caused her health scare or whether she continues to suffer side effects from the incident.
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Insiders told Page Six over the weekend that TOM BRADY is “sad” over his spat with wife GISELE BUNDCHEN, but is focusing on being “super dad” to his kids.
As previously reported, the model left the family’s Tampa home for Costa Rica after several arguments with Brady about his decision to un-retire from the NFL.
“Gisele gets mad and says things like she’s leaving him, but in the past, they’ve always made up. But maybe this time it is more serious,” the source added.
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Disgraced actor ARMIE HAMMER is reportedly living at one of ROBERT DOWNEY JR.’s homes.
Downey has been a constant support Hammer as he deals with the fallout from several sexual assault allegations made against him. An insider recently told Vanity Fair that the “Iron Man” star footed the bill for Hammer’s stint at a Florida rehab facility last year.
As previously reported, Hammer is under investigation by the LAPD over claims that he sexually assaulted an ex-girlfriend. He has denied the allegations.
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DAVE GROHL was overcome with emotion while performing at a tribute concert for his Foofighters bandmate and longtime best friend TAYLOR HAWKINS over the weekend.
He was joined on stage by DAVE CHAPPELLE, ELTON JOHN, JASON SUDEIKIS, LIAM GALLGHER, PAUL MCCARTNEY and more to celebrate the life of the band’s late drummer.
Hawkins died unexpectedly on March 25 in Colombia earlier.
Saturday night’s concert was the first of two tributes scheduled in honor of Hawkins. The second one will take place at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on September 27.
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Reality star SPENCER PRATT says actress LISA KUDROW is “one of the worst humans” he has ever met.
Pratt detailed an alleged conversation between his wife, HEIDI MONTAG, and the “Friends” star, who he referred to as her character Phoebe, that took place at an A-list party in 2009.
He said that Phoebe approached Montag and told her that she needs to get away with her because he is “going to murder her.” She later added that he has “eyes of a serial killer.”
The conversation started after a fan asked him to name the rudest celebrity he’s ever met.
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CASTING CALL
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is Amazon Prime Video’s most-watched premiere ever.
More than 25 million tuned in globally to the series’ debut, marking the largest audience in the streamer’s 15-year history, according to Deadline.
“Rings of Power,” based on J.R.R. TOLKIEN’s “The Lord of the Rings” books, premiered on Thursday in 250 countries and territories.
SCORE!: The show got an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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ADELE and EMINEM are one award away from EGOT status.
Both took home at least one Emmy over the weekend at the Creative Arts Emmy awards ceremony in Los Angeles. He won for Outstanding Variety Special, while she took home five for her “One Night Only” show from last year.
A Tony award may be the hardest to win for entertainers who don’t typically do theater work -- like these two for example. Though they could write songs for Broadway shows and win that way.
Some EGOT winners include, Whoopi Goldberg, John Legend, Rita Moreno, Mel Brooks.
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LEBRON JAMES and DRAKE are being sued for $10 million by the former head of the NBA players union, who claims that they stole the rights to a movie about a segregated hockey league.
BILLY HUNTER says he holds the exclusive legal rights to produce any movie about Canada’s old Colored Hockey League, and LeBron and Drake went behind his back to sign a deal with the authors of a book that their “Black Ice” documentary is based on.
The authors claim that they did not do anything shady as a documentary is different from a movie, which is what they say Hunter purchased the rights to.
Hunter is now suing LeBron and Drake for a cut of the documentary’s profits plus $10 million in damages.
The two celebs have not commented on the accusation.
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COURT CASES
A Los Angeles judge has tossed the case involving the man whose infant image was featured on the cover of Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album.
SPENCER EDEN claimed in legal docs that the nude shot of him swimming toward a dollar bill on fish hook was basically child porn.
Judge FERNANDO OLGUIN ruled that Elden waited too long to take legal action and tossed the suit.
BACKSTORY: Then four-month-old Elden was featured on the cover because his father was friends with the photographer. His family was paid $200. Prior to claiming “emotional trauma,” Eden had the album title tattooed on his chest and recreated the picture in 2016 for the album’s 25th anniversary.
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
KIM KARDASHIAN left ASHTON KUTHER in the dust during a recent Peloton workout for his new show “Our Future Selves.”
While Kutcher is currently training for a marathon, Kim -- who admittedly is not a runner -- shocked even herself as she kept a 7-minute mile pace.
“Our Future Selves” features the former “That 70’s Show’ star and famous friends who sweat it out during Peloton sessions led by head instructor ROBIN ARZON.
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
MEGHAN MARKLE and PRINCE HARRY left the safety of their Montecito mansion over the weekend to host the One Young World summit in Manchester yesterday.
The gig was their first joint working visit in England since leaving the UK in March 2020.
While only being a “stone’s throw away” from his brother PRINCE WILLIAM, insiders told The Sun there are no plans for them to meet up.
WORTH NOTING: The couple flew commercial, leaving their private jet behind in California.
SOME LIKE MEG: OnePoll UK surveyed 2001 adults in the US last week. Of them, two-thirds responded favorably toward the Duchess.
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SPORTS
SERENA WILLIAMS ended her US Open run with a third-round defeat on Friday.
In a post match interview she thanked her fans, her father and her sister VENUS WILLIAMS, saying “She’s the only reason Serena Williams existed.”
She also seemingly left the door open for a potential return, saying “You never know.”
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Read A Book Day
National Coffee Ice Cream Day
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ON THIS DATE
1522 - The first recorded ship to circumnavigate the globe docks in San Ucar de Barrameda in Spain.
The Vittoria was only one of five ships under the command of Ferdinand Magellan to return to Europe after setting sail almost 3 years prior. Magellan didn’t make it either. He died in the Philippines during the voyage.
The ship survived a trip around the southern tip of South America, across the Pacific Ocean; a run-in with natives on the Philippine island of Cebu; a sail through the Indian Ocean and around the Cape of Good Hope. The Vittoria finally landed in Seville a couple days later.
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1666 - The Great Fire of London is finally extinguished.
Flames broke out four days earlier.
St. Paul’s Cathedral and most of the city were destroyed.
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1781 - Benedict Arnold solidifies his reputation as a traitor to America when he orders that New London, Connecticut be burned to the ground.
Only 25 soldiers were there to protect the garrison, which was built to hold supplies. With pressure from Arnold's forces and other loyalists, the Continentals were soundly outnumbered, and forced to retreat.
Under Arnold's orders, the British soldiers burned down every building in the small town.
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1819 - Thomas Blanchard is granted a patent for the profile lathe, which allows him to efficiently construct gun stocks. The machine did the work of 13 smiths, drastically reducing the time and cost of production.
Blanchard was eventually hired to produce gun parts at an armory in Springfield Massachusetts. The patent was extended twice, through 1948.
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1901 - President McKinley is shot while attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.
Leon Czolgosz ("CHA-glotz") was the culprit. He was an unemployed anarchist from Detroit.
With his gun hidden under a handkerchief disguised as a bandage, Czolgosz approached the president and fired twice, hitting McKinley in the abdomen and the ribs.
Security quickly contained the gunman. An ambulance arrived for McKinley 11 minutes later.
There was no electricity at the hospital, and doctors were unable to locate the bullet, so McKinley was sewn back up with the slug inside him. He died September 14th, after making an apparent recovery.
Ironically, an X-Ray machine was on display at the exhibition, but was not used since its side-affects were unknown.
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1946 - The All-America Football Conference's first game is played between the Cleveland Browns and Miami Seahawks.
The NFL-alternative was founded by Chicago Tribune sports editor Arch Ward in 1944.
At first, 8 teams would play 14 games in a double round-robin.
The league actually enjoyed better average attendance than the NFL, but was eventually absorbed by the NFL anyway. Three teams survived: The Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Colts.
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1995 - Cal Ripken plays in his 2,131st consecutive MLB game.
The streak broke Lou Gehrig's record.
President Clinton and V.P. Al Gore were on hand to witness the milestone, along with Joe DiMaggio.
Ripken finished his career with 2,632 games played. He ended on his own terms in September 1998.
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1997 - Nearly half the planet tunes in to watch the funeral of Princess Diana.
Elton John was on hand to perform a re-written version of "Candle in the Wind," which was originally a tribute to Marilyn Monroe.
The renamed song, "Candle in the Wind 1997," is one of the best-selling singles of all time.
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2017 - Hurricane Irma makes landfall on the Caribbean Islands of Barbuda, Sent Maartens and British Virgin Islands.
The first Category 5 storm of the season, Irma caused widespread damage throughout the Caribbean and the Florida Keys.
It would be the most intense hurricane to hit the States since Katrina in 2005.
The intensity of the storm would lead to the creation of the word “Irmageddon” to describe the damage left behind.
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BIRTHDAYS
Asher Angel - actor, “Andi Mack” - 20
Pearce Joza - actor, “Zombies” & “ How to Beat a Bully” - 20
Julian Newman - basketball player - 21
Lil Xan - rapper - 26
John Wall - basketball player - 32
Max George - pop singer, The Wanted - 34
Graham Wardle - actor, “Heartland” - 36
Braun Strowman - wrestler - 39
Pippa Middleton - sister to Kate - 39
Foxy Brown - rapper - 44
Anika Noni Rose - actress, “Dreamgirls” - 50
Justina Machado - actress, “Six Feet Under” & “One Day at a Time” - 50
Idris Elba - actor, “The Wire” & “Beasts of No Nation” - 50
Macy Gray - soul singer - 55
Roger Waters - rock singer, Pink Floyd - 79
Born on This Date
Terrence Clarke - basketball player - 2001 (d. 2021)
Dolores O’Riordan - rock singer - 1971 (d. 2018)
Marquis de Lafayette - war hero - 1757 (d. 1834)
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