Famous People Who Died Today

Richard Nixon is the only American president in the history so far to resign from the office. His name is synonymous with the infamous Watergate scandal which led to his resignation. But his regime saw several positives too, such as end to the U.S involvement in the Vietnam War, improvement in the relationship with Soviet Union and China, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Ansel Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist. Best known for capturing the beauty of the American West, Adams helped found the Group f/64. He also formulated a photographic technique called the Zone System, which helped photographers come up with clearer images. For his photographic work and advocacy for environmental conservation, Ansel Adams was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Pat Tillman was an American football player who represented the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. Tillman's decision to join the US Army after the September 11, 2001 attacks proved to be costly as he died in Afghanistan as a result of friendly fire. He became the first football player since Bob Kalsu to be killed in combat.

Miguel de Cervantes was a Spanish writer best known for his work Don Quixote, which is considered one of the high points of world literature. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists of all time and the greatest writer to ever write in the Spanish language. His works have influenced other works of art like music and paintings.

Richard Trevithick was a British mining engineer and inventor. A pioneer of rail transport and steam-powered vehicles, Trevithick is credited with developing the first working railway steam locomotive and the first high-pressure steam engine. He was a highly respected figure in the fields of engineering and mining during the peak of his career.

Best known for playing detectives such as The Falcon and Sherlock Holmes, British actor Tom Conway also appeared in 2 Tarzan movies and a few Val Lewton cult horror movies. His performance in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents was appreciated by critics. He also voiced a role in 101 Dalmatians.

Mircea Eliade was a Romanian fiction writer, historian of religion, professor at the University of Chicago, and philosopher. His stories and novels have been adapted into films, such as The Bengali Night, which was directed by Nicolas Klotz. His works have also influenced writers all over the world.

Noted for series like Weavers’ Revolt and Peasants’ War, sculptor and graphic artist, Käthe Kollwitz, came in contact with the urban poor when she moved into Berlin's working class area. Touched by their plight, she soon started portraying them through her etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, and drawings, quickly becoming a powerful advocate for those suffering from social injustice, war, and inhumanity.

Famous for his designs of car and airplane engines, fifteen years old Frederick Henry Royce learned engineering through hands-on during his apprenticeship at Great Northern Railway Company rather than through education. At twenty-one, he started his own engineering business, manufacturing electrically driven cranes, dynamos, and motors, eventually drawing the attention of C.S. Rolls, co-founding the Rolls Royce Company with him.

Jack Cardiff was a British cinematographer, photographer, and TV and film director. He is best remembered for his color cinematography for directors like John Huston, Alfred Hitchcock, and Powell and Pressburger. Jack Cardiff is also credited with directing critically acclaimed films like Sons and Lovers, which received Best Director nomination at the Academy Awards.

Pasang Lhamu Sherpa was a Nepalese mountaineer. In 1993, she became the first Nepalese woman to reach the peak of Mount Everest. However, she lost her life while descending. Pasang Lhamu Sherpa was honored posthumously in various ways by mountaineers around the world. She also became the first woman to receive the prestigious Nepal Tara by the King of Nepal.

Emilio Segrè was an Italian-American physicist who is credited with discovering a subatomic antiparticle called antiproton, for which he received the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics in 1959. He is also credited with discovering the elements astatine and technetium. Also a prolific photographer, Emilio Segrè documented people and events which are preserved at the American Institute of Physics.

Born to Italian immigrants, Scottish artist Eduardo Paolozzi is best known for revolutionizing pop art with his unique artwork that makes use of materials such as magazines, bottles, and even boxes. His works include sculptures, collages, and prints. He was also knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Apart from being a journalist and a rugby player, Andries Treurnicht had also served as a Dutch Reformed Church minister for 14 years. While he initially led the National Party, he later established the Conservative Party. An apartheid supporter, he wanted a separate land for the whites in South Africa.

Mohammad-Taqi Bahar was a renowned Iranian scholar, poet, historian, journalist, politician, and Professor of Literature. Counted among the most influential cultural icons of modern Iran, Bahar had a strong impact on the progression of modern Persian poetry and literature through his literary magazine Majaleh-ye Dāneshkadeh. Bahar is also known as the father of another great historian and mythologist Mehrdad Bahar. 

Shalimar Seiuli was a dancer and sex worker who achieved notoriety in 1997 when she was seen riding along with actor Eddie Murphy in the latter's SUV. Seiuli was subsequently arrested on prostitution charges and the story was sensationalized by the media. At the age of 21, Seiuli passed away after suffering severe head trauma due to an accidental fall.

Lois Lilienstein was a musician who was part of the famous Canadian children's music group, Sharon, Lois & Bram. The group's first album One Elephant, Deux Éléphants became one of Canada's fastest-selling children's albums of all time. In 2012, she was honored with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal along with Sharon and Bram.

Known as Haiti’s Shakespeare, Oswald Durand was an iconic Haitian literary figure who is also considered Haiti’s national poet. Mostly a romantic poet, he had been a journalist and politician, too. He was also made the president of the Chamber of Deputies. Choucoune remains one of his best-known works.