Richard Philip Feynman was born in New York City on May 11th 1918 to a middle class family that lived on the Southern tip of Manhattan. He grew up in a household where both of his parents poured into him their best qualities. His mother, Lucille, instilled in Richard a powerful sense of humor, which would be essential in forming his magnetic personality and eccentric lecturing style. His father, Melville, decided before Richard was born that if he were a boy, he would grow up to be a scientist, something that Melville himself had always wanted to be. And so...
been crushed and destroyed by the tumor, weakening him to many hours of inactivity.

In late 1987, doctors found another tumor and operated on it. But in his weakened state, he could not recover totally and he was ion constant pain. In February 1988, a gastrointestinal rupture was found which was worsened his state, but not as much as the remaining kidney failing. Under extreme pain he made to forgo the more painful dialysis and faced his mortality on February 15, 1988, at the age of 69. His last words were:

"I"d hate to die twice… it"s so boring."