Milestones
DIED
Borrowing the name from his parents' coffee shop in Japan, Hiroaki (Rocky) Aoki founded the first Benihana steak house in New York City in 1964, incorporating his homeland's teppanyaki style of cooking that called on chefs to perform with a flourish in front of guests. While his company later grew to nearly 100 restaurants worldwide, Aoki's ambition wasn't limited to restaurants. A man with diverse interests, Aoki was once a member of Japan's Olympic wrestling team, a driver in the notorious (and illegal) cross-country Cannonball Run and one of the few people to traverse the Pacific in a hot-air balloon. He was 69.
She is best known for portraying Scarlett O'Hara's younger sister Suellen in 1939's Gone With the Wind, but during her career, actress Evelyn Keyes appeared in nearly 50 films. She gave notable performances in movies including The Jolson Story, but despite her onscreen successes, she never managed to land a career-changing role. Still, Keyes made the most of her time in Hollywood in other ways, famously dating some of the most sought-after men of her day. She was 91.
Considered by many the father of modern cardiac surgery, Dr. Michael DeBakey pioneered techniques and devices that revolutionized his field, and still persist today. In 1932, while in medical school, DeBakey invented a pump that became a critical part of machines that later enabled open-heart surgery. He was one of the first to recognize the link between smoking and lung cancer, and he performed the first successful coronary bypass. An adamant perfectionist, DeBakey also provided medical advice to some of the most influential leaders of the 20th century, including President John F. Kennedy and Russian leader Boris Yeltsin. He was 99.