February 8, 2007: Anna Nicole Smith Dies

February 8, 2007: Anna Nicole Smith dies of a prescription drug overdose at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in the Miami suburb of Hollywood, Florida, just 5 months after the birth of her daughter Dannielynn -- which was itself followed 3 days later by the death of her son Daniel Smith, also from an accidental overdose.

She was born on November 28, 1967, in Houston, as Vickie Lynn Hogan. She grew up to be a busty blonde, and so she decided to pattern herself after Marilyn Monroe: She changed her name, she made her hair blonder, and she went into modeling, then acting.

Unlike Marilyn, who turned Hugh Hefner's offer down, she actually did pose nude for Playboy magazine, becoming the centerfold for May 1992, and was named Playmate of the Year for 1993. This led to print ads for Guess jeans, among other products. By this point, she had already been married and divorced once. Her son, Daniel Smith, was born in 1986.

In 1994, at age 26, she married J. Howard Marshall, an 89-year-old petroleum billionaire. People called her a gold digger. He died a little over a year later, and the challenging of his will by his relatives led to a court case that remained unresolved at the time of her death.

She went on to become a spokeswoman for the dietary supplement brand TrimSpa, losing 70 pounds. From 2002 to 2004, she starred in The Anna Nicole Show, a reality show on the cable network E! But it did her no favors: It made her look dumb, and possibly even mentally ill. People began to wonder if she was on drugs. As it turned out, she was, legally prescribed ones.

On September 7, 2006, in the Bahamas, Smith gave birth to a daughter, whose name was listed on the birth certificate as Dannielynn Birkhead. This would suggest that her father was Smith's ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead. But the certificate listed the father as Howard K. Stern, Smith's lawyer (no relation to Howard Stern the radio show host).

Smith and her son Daniel, now 20, seemed overjoyed at the birth. But just 3 days later, Daniel died, from a combination of drugs, including methadone and antidepressants. Smith never recovered emotionally, and she may have subconsciously increased her drug intake until it caused her own death.

UPDATE: Despite having followed her mother into modeling, Dannielynn Birkhead appeared to have become an intelligent kid with a regular life. Interviewed at the 2026 Kentucky Derby, at age 19, she said that she was in college, studying forensic science.

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February 8, 2007 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. Football season had ended the preceding Sunday, with Super Bowl XLI, and the Indianapolis Colts' win over the Chicago Bears. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 93-78 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 109-101 in double overtime at the Ford Center (now the Paycom Arena) in Oklahoma City.

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Chicago Bulls, 86-77 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California.

And there were 10 games in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders, 2-0 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins, 5-2 at the TD Banknorth Garden (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-4 in a shootout at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-3 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. Dainius Zubrus scored the winning goal, with 2:32 left in overtime.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2 at the Nashville Arena (now the Bridgestone Arena).

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1 at Scotiabank Place (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Calgary Flames, 2-1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Florida Panthers, 4-2 at the Xcel Energy Center (now the Grand Casino Arena) in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Detroit Red Wings, 1-0 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Colorado Avalanche, 6-3 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.