• U.S.

Milestones, Jun. 14, 1976

3 minute read
TIME

Died. Martha Mitchell, 57, whose late-night telephone ramblings with reporters about the horrors of the Nixon Administration turned out to be considerably more than hallucinations; of cancer of the bone marrow; in Manhattan (see THE NATION).

Died. Jacques Monod, 66, Nobel Prize laureate for his research into the mechanics of heredity, which led him to claim that man is a cosmological accident; of blood disease; in Cannes. A Resistance fighter, molecular biologist and, since 1971, director of the Pasteur Institute in Paris, he helped solve the riddle of how cells develop into unique structures like hair or the heart. In his bestselling 1970 book Chance and Necessity, he argued that there is neither god nor grand design in the universe: “Chance alone is at the source of all novelty, all creation”. His critics found his philosophy chilling and pessimistic. But like his friend Albert Camus, he seemed to find a transcendent freedom in the lack of hope. “Man knows at last that he is alone in the universe’s unfeeling immensity,” he wrote. “His destiny is nowhere spelled out, nor is his duty. The kingdom above or the darkness below: it is for him to choose.”

Died. Mitsuo Fuchida, 73, the Japanese Imperial Navy pilot who led the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that jolted the U.S. into World War II on Dec. 7, 1941; of diabetes; in Kashirhara, Japan. Six months after radioing his jubilant message of success (“Torn! Torn! Torn!”) from Hawaii, Fuchida was severely wounded in the battle of Midway and spent the rest of the war as a staff officer. A chance encounter with a missionary in 1949 converted him to Christianity. He became a prolific writer of religious tracts and war histories, including Midway, the Battle That Doomed Japan, a close-up view of the Japanese forces in their moment of decisive defeat.

Died. Jean Paul Getty, 83, oil tycoon and one of the world s wealthiest men; of heart failure; in Surrey, England (see BUSINESS).

Died. Max Carey, 86, former Pittsburgh Pirate and Brooklyn Dodger outfielder who stole a spot in the Hall of Fame by swiping 738 bases during a 20-year career in the majors that ended in 1933; of cancer; in Miami. Noting Carey’s better success ratio, some baseball observers rate him above legendary Base Bandit Ty Cobb, who finished his 24-year American League career with 892 steals. But while in one year Cobb was thrown out 38 times in 134 attempts, Carey, in 1922, stole 51 bases in 53 attempts.

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com