Catherine Cookson her sickbed. It was conducted by Mike Neville. Catherine Cookson died at the age of 91, sixteen days before her 92nd birthday, at her home in Newcastle. Her novels, many written from her sickbed, continued to be published posthumously until 2002. Tom died on 28 June 1998, just 17 days later. He had been hospitalised for a week and the cause of his death was not announced. He was 86 years old. In March 2008, the Dame Catherine Cookson Memorial Garden was unveiled in the grounds of South Tyneside District Hospital in South Shields, based on the theme of a
Death rates in the 20th century The crude death rate represents the total number of deaths per year per thousand people. Comparatively, the crude death rate in the year 1900 was 17.2 deaths/1,000 population and 9.6 deaths/1,000 population in 1950 in America. CIA – The World Fact Book Throughout the 20th century in the developed world, the leading causes of death transitioned from infectious diseases such as influenza, to degenerative diseases such as cancer or diabetes. In 1900, the leading cause of death in the United States was influenza with 202.2 deaths per 100,000 people followed by tuberculosis with 194.4, which is a curable illness today.