The Browser's Book of Endings presents the amusing, the surprising, and the generally little- known stories behind the terminations of practi- cally everything and everybody. Illustrated with more than 100 drawings, diagrams, and archival photographs, with an extensive reference list and index, this is the most readable and complete compendium of deliciously trivial and profound facts about history's endings.

Excerpts:
Famous Last Words

The End of the World

Death Styles of the Rich and Famous



Estates of American Presidents Quiz:

Some died wealthy, a few penniless. Guess their estate values...(answers given).
  • George Washington, who wanted to free his slaves but for his widow’s sake didn’t, left…$530,000.
  • Thomas Jefferson, who held off death to expire on the Fourth of July...$200,000.
  • James Madison, who contrived to keep his high-spending widow, Dolley, from poverty…Less than $100,000.
  • James Monroe, the White House’s first heavy drinker left…an estate in bankruptcy.
  • Andrew Jackson, sick and senile, spent his final days singing “Auld Lang Syne.” Estate: $150,000.
  • Martin Van Buren sold off assets to keep his sons from fighting over them. Estate: $250,000.
  • William Henry Harrison’s two-hour inaugural address (the longest in history) lead to the shortest presidency (31 days). Estate value: None.
  • John Tyler, whose body lay for years in an unmarked grave, left...More than $100,000.
  • Franklin Pierce, who literally drank himself to death, left...$70,000.
  • Bachelor president James Buchanan (perhaps gay) left one of the largest estates up to his time: $310,000.
  • Abraham Lincoln, who had to be buried in six feet of solid concrete, left …$83,000.
  • Ulysses S. Grant died penniless, but assured his window a fortune. How?
  • James Garfield, shot by an assassin but killed by his doctors, left… $61,000.
  • Former hangman Grover Cleveland left ...$250,000.
  • Benjamin Harrison, who had the White House wired for electricity, left …$375,000.
  • Assassinated William McKinley, whose murdered body was decomposed with sulfuric acid, left ...$215,000.
  • Theodore Roosevelt wrote the first ‘modern’ will and left… $811,000.
  • Woodrow Wilson, whose wife usurped the presidency during his stork and prompted the 25th Amendment on ‘Disability and Succession,’ left……$600,000.
  • Warren Harding, who left his mistress and illegitimate daughter out of his will, left… $930,000.
  • Calvin Coolidge, the only president with Indian blood, left...$500,000.
  • Herbert Hoover, who repeatedly redrafting his will, left…...$8 Million.
  • Four-term President Franklin D. Roosevelt left……$1.9 Million.
  • Harry Truman left bequests of as little as $5 and an estate of……$610,000.
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose surgery guaranteed his death, left…...$2.8 Million.
  • John F. Kennedy, the wealthiest president up to this time, put an upper limit on his widow’s spending and left...$10 Million.
  • Lyndon Johnson willed his wife nothing, but left an estate of……$10 million.
  • Richard N. Nixon, who resigned from office, left presidential papers and tapes valued at?…In excess of $10 million.

Back