25. The King of Ragtime died of advanced stage syphilis
Scott Joplin was a prolific composer of ragtime music during his relatively short lifetime, including among them Maple Leaf Rag. By the time of the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 ragtime was a nationwide craze in the United States, and though Joplin’s compositions sold well and his performances drew large crowds, he was unable to stay out of debt. In 1916 he began exhibiting signs of dementia and the following year he was admitted into an asylum, suffering from the tertiary stage of syphilis. He died in the mental institution in 1917 at the age of 48. Fifty-five years later he re-emerged in the public eye when his music was used in the soundtrack of the motion picture The Sting.