Gary Gygax is now dead as General Franco:

Gary Gygax, who co-created the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons and helped start the role-playing phenomenon, died Tuesday at his home in Lake Geneva, Wis. He was 69.

Gygax and Dave Arneson developed Dungeons & Dragons in 1974 using medieval characters and mythical creatures. The game known for its oddly shaped dice became a hit, particularly among teenage boys with vivid imaginations, and eventually was turned into video games, books and movies.

This is the man who, other than religious figures, is responsible for more teenage boys not getting laid than any other person in history.

But at least he gave them something to do, while not having a sex life or developed social skills.

Inventor of Gatorade Dies at 80

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Dr. Robert Cade, who invented Gatorade and sparked the multibillion-dollar sports drink industry, died Tuesday of kidney failure. He was 80.

His death was announced by the University of Florida, where he and other researchers created Gatorade in 1965 to help the school’s football players replace carbohydrates and electrolytes lost through sweat while playing in swamp-like heat.

A question from former Gator Coach Dwayne Douglas sparked their research, Cade said in a 2005 interview with The Associated Press. He asked, “Doctor, why don’t football players wee-wee after a game.”

“That question changed our lives,” Cade said.

Cade’s researchers determined a football player could lose up to 18 pounds during the three hours it takes to play a game. They also determined 90 to 95 percent of the weight loss was water. Plasma volume decreased by 7 percent and blood volume about 5 percent. Sodium and chloride were excreted in the sweat.

Using their research, and about $43 in supplies, they concocted a brew for players to drink while playing football.

“It sort of tasted like toilet bowl cleaner,” said Dana Shires, one of the researchers who sampled the first batch.