22 year-old Vesna Vulović, a flight attendant for Yugoslavia’s JAT Airlines, reported for work on January 25, 1972. When she arrived, she was told that she wasn’t even on the schedule and that she was confused with another flight attendant named Vesna. Nevertheless, Vesna was anxious to travel to Denmark and she took the shift anyway.

While waiting to board Flight 367, Vesna and her colleagues watched the passengers deplane from the flight that had just landed. Vensa noticed one man looking particularly annoyed as he passed by on his way into the terminal. Thinking nothing of it, she boarded the plane with the rest of the crew and began welcoming new passengers.

Forty-five minutes into the flight, a bomb exploded in the baggage compartment and tore through the plane. The aircraft broke apart and rained debris over the Czechoslovakian village of Srbská Kamenice. Bruno Honke, a local and one-time army medic, instinctively ran out to the wreckage. He heard screams and discovered Vensa, in her blood-covered turquoise uniform, pinned under a food trolley. Bruno kept her alive until more rescuers arrived. All of the passengers and crew of JAT Flight 367 died, except for Vensa Vulović. Investigators determined that the food trolley and Vensa’s history of low blood pressure contributed to her survival. She was entered, dubiously, into the Guinness Book of Records for surviving a fall from the highest distance without a parachute. Vensa fell 33,330 feet.

After a lengthy hospital stay and grueling rehabilitation, Vensa returned to her job as a flight attendant – much to the surprise of the many admirers she gained in the wake of her incident. However, she was eventually fired from the airline for participating in anti-government demonstrations, specifically against Serbian statesman Slobodan Milošević.

Vensa, who suffered from “survivor’s guilt,” began chain smoking and it greatly affected her health. In December 2016, friends and family became concerned when Vensa stopped answering phone calls. A locksmith was called to break into her apartment — where she was discovered dead. Vensa was 66 years old.

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In the 1930s, Freddie Oversteegen and her older sister Truus watched their parents hide political refugees from the Nazis, eventually leading them to safety. The sisters were inspired to continue the work of their parents, especially as the Nazi stronghold became tighter and more oppressive.

As teenagers, the Oversteegen sisters joined up with the Dutch Resistance. First, they distributed anti-Nazi leaflets. Then, they offered assistance and sanctuary to those fleeing from the Nazis. In 1941, a massive Nazi crackdown on Dutch workers further infuriated Freddie and Truus. They joined a secret fighting cell and learned military-caliber combat techniques. Once fully equipped to battle their enemies, Freddie and Truus devised a unique plan. The sisters would frequent bars and taverns that were known hangouts for Nazi soldiers. They would flirt with the soldiers, enticing them into nearby woods with the promise of an “intimate encounter.” Once secluded, the Oversteegens’ comrades would emerge from the shadows and execute the Nazis. After a while, Freddie and Truus were shooting the soldiers themselves. In addition, the sisters rigged bridges with explosives and smuggled Jewish children out of concentration camps.

After the war, Freddie and Truus each married and raised familes. Truus named her daughter after a fallen colleague, Hannie Schaft (“The Girl with the Red Hair,” who died a martyr fighting Nazis and taunting her persecutors right up until her demise). Truus became an artist and eventually wrote a memoir of her war experience. She passed away in 2016.

Freddie served on the board of the Hannie Schaft Foundation, which was founded by Truus. She passed away in 2018, one day before her 93rd birthday.

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Laura Nyro had the career that she wanted. On her terms. She regularly turned down invitations to perform live. She passed on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. She passed on Saturday Night Live. She briefly considered becoming the lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears after the departure of original singer Al Kooper — but she turned that offer down as well.

Laura supplied hits for The Fifth Dimension, Peter, Paul & Mary, Three Dog Night and Barbra Streisand. Although she recorded a number of albums herself, the majority of her success came from recordings of her songs by other singers. Often reclusive, Laura wrote songs for herself, to reflect how she felt.

She influenced a wide variety of performers including Elton John, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Todd Rundgren and even Alice Cooper.

In 1996, Laura was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She passed away the following year at the age of 49 — the same age as her mother, who also passed away from ovarian cancer.

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Richard Simmons was most definitely “in on it.”

The so-called “fitness guru” was an outspoken, flamboyant celebrity who gained legions of loyal fans from his “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” weight-loss videos. His fame made him a staple on television for decades. He had a recurring role on the popular soap opera General Hospital, as well a guest roles on episodic television as a slew of game shows. Ricard was a regular guest on David Letterman’s television talk show and on Howard Stern’s radio show. On both, he was regularity the butt of jokes and the object of  ceaseless ridicule. Richard would grow silent at the insults, pouting and threatening to leave the show, but he stayed… and returned often… only to meet the same treatment. He was a riot and he appeared to be in on the joke… in an “Andy Kaufman” sort of way.

He loved to meet and mingle with his fans and he made it a point to personally answer fan mail.

In 2016, Richard totally withdrew from public life. This led to speculation that he was being mistreated and held hostage by his housekeeper. In 2017, LA Police made a welfare check at Richard’s Beverly Hills home, later issuing the statement: “Mr. Simmons is “perfectly fine” and that “right now he is doing what he wants to do and it is his business.”

A relentless campaign by comedian/actor Pauly Shore for a possible biopic prompted a rare post from Richard on Facebook, explaining that he no longer had a manager or a publicist and he has not given anyone permission to produce a filmed story of his life.

Richard passed away from complications from a fall in his home, just one day after his 76th birthday.

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