Famous People Who Died Today

Orville Wright was an aviation pioneer who alongside his brother, Wilbur, built and flew the world's first successful motor-operated airplane, the Wright Flyer, a heavier-than-air aircraft. The three-axis control system developed by the brothers remains standard on fixed-wing aircraft of all kinds. Orville also served on the board of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).

The American civil rights activist was an ideal foil for her famous husband Martin Luther King Jr. in promoting racial equality. The author and singer led the Women's Movement and fought for the rights of the LGBT community. She was also known for mobilising African-Americans during the 1960 US presidential election. She founded the King Centre, a not-for-profit organization.

An Indian lawyer and anti-colonial nationalist, Mahatma Gandhi was a major figure in India’s fight for independence from British rule. He is renowned for his employment of non-violent resistance and civil disobedience methods. Despite his popularity, he had numerous detractors as well and was assassinated in 1948. He is widely considered the Father of the Nation in India.

Ferdinand Porsche was an Austrian-German automotive engineer. He is credited with founding one of the most popular car companies in the world, Porsche AG. He is also credited with creating the Lohner-Porsche mixed hybrid, the first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle. During World War II, Porsche was a prominent contributor to the German war effort.

Marianne Faithfull is an English singer, actress, and songwriter. Faithfull emerged as one of the most prominent female music artists during the 1960s when the United States was happily embracing the British Invasion. However, her professional achievements were overshadowed by heroin addiction, homelessness, and an eating disorder in the 1970s. Nevertheless, Marianne Faithfull staged a comeback and became successful.

American engineer, physicist and Nobel laureate John Bardeen is the only person who received the Nobel Prize in Physics twice. He shared the first Nobel with William Shockley and Walter Brattain in 1956 for inventing the transistor, and the second with Leon N Cooper and John Robert Schrieffer in 1972 for proposing the BCS theory, a microscopic theory of superconductivity.

French composer Francis Poulenc was most self-taught, as he was not encouraged to join a music school by his pharmaceutical manufacturer father. Part of the legendary “Les Six” of French music, Poulenc was also a skilled pianist. He is also remembered for the opera Les dialogues des Carmélites.

Granville Woods was 10 when he began working at a machine shop, while continuing his studies at a night school. He grew up to become a steam locomotive engineer and earned the nickname the Black Edison for his countless inventions, most of which were related to electrical systems for railways.

Pierre Boulle was a French novelist best remembered for writing such novels as Planet of the Apes and The Bridge over the River Kwai, which were adapted into highly successful and award-winning films. Planet of the Apes inspired the creation of popular themed toys and animated series. His works have also inspired several French films like Le Point de mire.

Osceola led the Seminole tribe of Native Americans in their resistance against the U.S. attempt of moving them out of Florida and into the land west of Mississippi. He was eventually deceived by a fake truce attempt, captured, and transported to Fort Moultrie, where he passed away.

Milos Milos was a Serbian-born American stunt double, actor, and bodyguard for Alain Delon. He is best remembered for his portrayal of a naval officer in the American comedy film The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming. Milos Milos also played the titular role in the 1966 American horror film Incubus before committing suicide at the age of 24.

Zahir Raihan was a noted Bangladeshi short story writer, novelist and filmmaker. Director of Jeebon Theke Neya (1970) and Stop Genocide (1971) he also participated in the 1969 mass uprising and was possibly killed in 1972 by the opponent of Liberation War.

Known as the father of the pill, Carl Djerassi is best remembered for chemically synthesizing a steroid mimic of the hormone progesterone, which paved the way for the production of contraceptive pills.  That apart, he made important contributions to the synthesis of antihistamines, pest control, mass spectrometry etc. Also a successful author, he wrote several non-fictions, novels, dramas and poems.

Joseph Jacobs was an Australian literary critic, folklorist, social scientist, translator, writer, and historian. A notable publisher of English folklore, Jacobs' work is credited with popularizing some of the most renowned versions of English fairy tales like Jack the Giant Killer and Jack and the Beanstalk. Jacobs was widely regarded as one of the world's leading experts on English folklore.

Initially an economics professor, Taikichiro Mori later became a billionaire real-estate developer. After quitting academics, he built a real-estate empire in Tokyo, named the Mori Building Company. He surpassed Bill Gates to become the richest man in the world, with a fortune worth $16 billion, in 1992.

Jorn Donner was a Finnish writer, film producer, director, actor, and politician. He is best remembered for producing the 1982 period drama film Fanny and Alexander, which won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, making Jorn Donner the first and only Finn to date to receive an Oscar. He is also known for his novel Father and Son.

American operatic tenor Richard Cassilly is chiefly remembered for his roles in the plays of Richard Wagner and also excelled in his interpretations of operas by Puccini and Verdi. He was mostly associated with London’s Royal Opera and New York’s Metropolitan Opera. He also taught at Boston University.

Arnold Gehlen was a German sociologist, philosopher, and anthropologist. He is credited with influencing numerous contemporary German thinkers like Peter L. Berger, Niklas Luhmann, and Hans Blumenberg. Arnold Gehlen also served as a teacher in prestigious institutions like the University of Vienna and the University of Königsberg.

Fritzi Massary was an Austrian-American actress and soprano singer. One of the most popular operetta singers in Vienna and Berlin, Massary also performed in places like London and Belgium. Fritzi Massary is also remembered for her collaboration with popular composers like Oscar Straus and Noël Coward.