Brazil abolished slavery on 13 May 1888, the last country in the Americas to do so. A century later, to the day, the trumpeter Chet Baker died in Amsterdam.
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Brazil and Chet Baker 2
1888Brazil abolishes slaveryGolden Law ends slavery throughout the empirePrincess Isabel, acting as regent, signed the Lei Aurea (Golden Law) on 13 May 1888, immediately and unconditionally abolishing slavery in Brazil. Brazil was the last country in the Americas to end slavery, freeing roughly 700,000 enslaved people without compensation to owners. The law's passage contributed to the fall of the Brazilian monarchy the following year.
1988Chet Baker dies in AmsterdamOn 13 May 1988, Chet Baker's body is found on the pavement below the window of his room at the Hotel Prins Hendrik in Amsterdam. He is 58. The cause of death is blunt force trauma consistent with a fall. Whether he fell, jumped or was pushed has never been definitively established. He had cocaine and heroin in his system. He leaves behind a body of recordings of incomparable beauty, three former wives, several children, and a myth as large as any in jazz -- the beautiful boy who fell and kept falling, and who played like an angel throughout.