
Robert N. Hall, whose discoveries led to microwave ovens, died in 2016 - NaOH
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/obituaries/robert-n-hall-96-whose-inventions-are-everywhere-is-dead.html
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Stratoscope
> _In a 2012 interview for this obituary, he talked about the pleasure he took
> in a life of science._

That has to be one of the eeriest and most flattering calls one could ever
receive:

"Hi, I'm from the New York Times, and I would like to interview you for your
obituary."

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sp332
They try to be circumspect about it, like "Hey famous person, I haven't heard
about you for a while. What have you been up to?" but it's still pretty
obvious what it's about.

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nickm12
This is fascinating. I've never seen an obituary published so long after
someone's death before.

~~~
sparky_z
Indeed. I can only think of one other, which probably holds the record.

[https://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21571379-richard-
pla...](https://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21571379-richard-plantagenet-
englands-most-controversial-king-was-officially-rediscovered-february)

~~~
NaOH
None of the obituaries come close to matching the elapsed time of Richard III,
but the NY Times has started publishing obituaries of overlooked individuals
since the paper started publishing in 1851.

[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/obituaries/overlook...](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/obituaries/overlooked.html)

~~~
nickm12
This is a different thing, though. In the case of Robert Hall, the NYT had
written the obituary ahead of time, as is typical practice, but the passing
was not even noted.

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aerovistae
He died in 2016, to be clear.

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sizzzzlerz
You mean the Done bell only went off now?

