We're counting our blessings, then

Composer Giuseppe Verdi died on this day in 1901. He once said:

"Oh blessed a thousand times the peasant who is born, eats and dies without anybody bothering about his affairs."

"Giuseppe Verdi died on 27 Jan 1901 after a debilitating stroke six days earlier. A funeral befitting a king was in the planning but in accordance with Verdi's wishes he was buried, without grandeur, beside his wife Giuseppina Strepponi on a damp, foggy morning. However, one month later there was a great public funeral when both caskets, again according to his wishes, were moved to the Casa di Riposa after State approval had been met.

"It should be noted that some of the more notable biographies on Verdi give different versions and dates of the events that surrounded his death.."

(From HistoricOpera.com. Visit the site to see these different versions.)