LAST OF THEIR KIND

LAST DEATH FROM SMALLPOX
In September, 1978, Janet Parker, an English medical photographer, was exposed to smallpox as the result of a laboratory accident. She subsequently died. On May 8, 1980, the World Health Organization declared smallpox eradicated. Some samples remain in laboratories in Atlanta and Moscow. When scientists destroy the samples the smallpox virus will become the first life form intentionally eliminated from the earth.

LAST KING OF EGYPT
On July 23, 1952, the military overthrew the government of King Farouk. Although he never reigned, his 17-year-old son succeeded him and became the last king of Egypt.

LAST US PIRATE HANGING
The last person hanged in the US for being a pirate was Capt. Nathaniel Gordon, in New York City on March 8, 1862. Gordon had been smuggling slaves into the US.

LAST SURVIVING US REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIER
Daniel Bakeman, the last surviving soldier of the Revolutionary War, died at the age of 109 on April 5, 1869.

LAST MEMBER OF THE BACH FAMILY
The last descendant of the prolific musical Bach family died on Christmas Day, 1845.

LAST PASSENGER PIGEON
The last passenger pigeon, named Martha, died in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. Her stuffed body is on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution.

LAST KING OF POLAND
Stanislaw II August Poniatowski, last king of Poland, ruled from 1764 to 1795.

LAST MARRIED POPE
Adrian II (867-872) was the last married Catholic pope. He was actually married before he became pope, but refused to adopt celibacy or give up his wife when he ascended the papal throne.

LAST SURVIVING US CIVIL WAR SOLDIER
Walter Williams, who died on December 19, 1959 at the age of 117, was acknowledged to be the last surviving Civil War Veteran, however, investigators failed to find his Confederate service record.

LAST VIET NAM WAR DEATH
The last American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Kelton Rena Turner, an 18-year old Marine. He was killed in action on May 15, 1975, two weeks after the evacuation of Saigon, in what became known as the Mayaguez incident.

LAST DODO BIRD
The last dodo bird died in 1681.

LAST SHAH OF IRAN
Reza Pahlevi, the last Shah Mohammed of Iran, fled Iran to Egypt in 1979. Iran was declared an Islamic Republic after more than 2,500 years as an independent monarchy

LAST NOVEL OF AGATHA CHRISTIE
The last novel published by Agatha Christie was "Murder from the Past." She wrote it around 1940 but specified in her will that it was to be published after her death. She died in 1976.

LAST WWI DEATH
The last soldier killed in World War I was Pvt. Henry Gunther of Baltimore, MD. The official end of the shooting was supposed to coincide with the signing of the armistice at 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918. Pvt. Gunther was with Company A, 313th Infantry, 79th Division of the US Army as it advanced upon Metz near the German border. Gunther's platoon ran into an ambush. Enraged by the enemy machine-gun fire, Gunther charged the German position with fixed bayonet. At the very moment that a messenger arrived with word that the war was ending at 11:00 a.m., Gunther was shot through the left temple and left side, at 11:01. General Pershing's order of the day named him as the last American killed in the war. Posthumously, he received the Distinguished Service Cross.

LAST KING OF AUSTRIA / HUNGARY
Charles I, last emperor of Austria and king of Hungary, abdicated Nov. 11-13, 1918. He had ruled from 1916 to 1918. He died in 1922.

LAST EMPEROR OF THE AZTECS
The last Aztec emperor was Montezuma II, who reigned from 1502 to 1520. He allowed Hernando Cortes to enter the capital of Tenochtitlan without a battle and was taken prisoner. He died under mysterious circumstances.

LAST MEMBER OF THE BONAPARTE FAMILY
The last member of the famous Bonaparte family, Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, died in 1945, of injuries sustained from tripping over his dog's leash.

LAST BRITISH VICEROY OF INDIA
India's last British viceroy, or governor-general, was Lord Louis Mountbatten, from August 1947 to June 1948.

LAST EMPEROR OF  CHINA
Henry Pu-yi, from 1908 to 1912, was the last emperor of China. This ended the reign of the last imperial dynasty to rule China, the Ch'Ing.

LAST KING OF FRANCE
Louis Philippe, in 1848, was the last king of France.

LAST BRITISH MONARCH WHO COULDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH
George I, King of England from 1714 to 1727, was a German prince who succeeded to the throne at the age of 54. He could neither write nor speak the English language.

LAST OF THE MEDICI FAMILY
Gian Gastone de Medici, who died in 1737, was the last male member of de Medici family.

LAST KING OF ROMANIA
On December 30, 1947, King Michael, the last reigning monarch in Eastern Europe was forced from his throne by revolutionaries who established the People's Republic, with a constitution modeled after the Soviet Union's.

LAST CZAR OF RUSSIA
Nicholas II, shot to death with his family in 1918, was the last of the czars of Russia, and of the Romanov dynasty, which had ruled Russia for more than 300 years.

LAST KING OF SIAM
During the reign of King Prajadhipok of the Chakri dynasty, a coup on June 24, 1932 put an end to Siam's absolute monarchy, establishing a constitutional monarchy dominated by the military.

LAST DOGE OF VENICE / GENOA
The last Venetian doge, Lodovico Manin, retired 1797 and the last Genoese doge in 1804. The doges were the Chief Magistrates in the ancient constitutions of Venice and Genoa. The first doge of Venice was appointed 697 with absolute power (modified 1297), and from his accession dates Venice's prominence in history.