Famous People Who Died Today

Francis Bacon was a Renaissance philosopher and author who was known as the Father of Empiricism, because of his belief in the scientific method and theory that scientific knowledge can only be created through inductive reasoning and experience. He was later knighted and served as the first Queen's counsel.

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect who designed over 1,000 structures in a career spanning 70 years. A pioneer of organic architecture, Wright influenced three generations of architects by playing a critical role in the 20th century's architectural movements. His structure Fallingwater is called America's best architectural work and Wright is considered the greatest architect America has ever produced.

Known for founding the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a legendary poet and painter of the 19th century. His illustrations also adorned the books of his poet sister Christina Rossetti. Known for volumes such as The House of Life, he also influenced the Aesthetic movement.

While Wilhelm Canaris became one of Hitler’s most trusted secret agents, he was actually supplying information to Britain all along. He went down in history as a man who was hanged twice for treason, first as part of torture for a few moments, and then for good.

Charles Van Doren was an American editor and writer. Van Doren played a major role in exposing the quiz show scandal of the 1950s when he confirmed that the producers of the quiz show Twenty-One had given him the correct answers. The quiz show scandal and Charles Van Doren's participation in it inspired the 1994 detective docudrama Quiz Show.

Hans Oster was a German military officer who served as a general in Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany. Oster was one of the most important members involved in the German resistance to Nazism. One of the key participants of the Oster Conspiracy, Oster was also involved in the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944.

Sadegh Hedayat was an Iranian translator and writer best remembered for his book The Blind Owl, which inspired the 1987 French film La Chouette aveugle. Hedayat was one of the earliest writers from Iran to make literary modernism an important aspect of his work and career. Sadegh Hedayat's life and career have inspired several documentary films like From No. 37.

Educated at Oxford, poet Edward Thomas spent a considerable time working rather reluctantly as a journalist and penning nature studies and critiques of 19th-century authors. An encounter with Robert Frost inspired him to write poems. He was killed in action in Arras, France, during World War I.

Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat was a Scottish military leader who served as the chief of Clan Fraser of Lovat. A Jacobite, Simon Fraser was among the Highlanders who were defeated at the Battle of Culloden and later sentenced to death after being convicted of treason against the Crown.  

Mikael Agricola was a Finnish Lutheran clergyman. Referred to as the father of literary Finnish, Agricola is credited with founding literary Finnish. Mikael Agricola is also credited with translating the New Testament into Finnish and producing the hymns and prayer book used regularly in Finland's new Lutheran Church. 

Vera Zorina was a Norwegian actress, ballet dancer, and choreographer. She is best remembered for her ballet performances, which were choreographed by her husband George Balanchine, in films like On Your Toes, I Was an Adventuress, The Goldwyn Follies, and Louisiana Purchase.   

Paolo Soleri was an Italian architect and educator who taught at the Arizona State University's College of Architecture. He is credited with establishing the Cosanti Foundation and also introduced the concept of arcology, a synthesis of ecology and architecture. A respected architect, Paolo Soleri won several prestigious awards like the American National Design Award and AIA Gold Medal.

Indonesian politician Sutan Sjahrir was also the country’s 1st prime minister. He was a key figure in the Indonesian struggle for independence and later supported the Western constitutional democracy. He had also served as the foreign minister and interior minister of Indonesia. He was named a National Hero of Indonesia.

Stanisław Wojciechowski was a major figure in the Polish independence movement against Russia and later also served as the president of Poland. The Polish Peasant Party member had initially also contributed to the socialist periodical Przedświt. Though friends with Józef Piłsudski, he later disagreed with him, and eventually resigned.

Vilhelm Bjerknes was a Norwegian meteorologist and physicist who is counted among the pioneers of the present-day practice of weather forecasting. The primitive equations, which are used today in numerical climate modeling and weather prediction, were formulated by him. Vilhelm Bjerknes also developed the Bergen School of Meteorology, which played a major role in advancing meteorology in the early-20th century.

Benedetto Castelli, a Benedictine priest and a student of Galileo, later became a math professor at the University of Pisa. His On the Measurement of Water Currents is considered a fundamental work in hydraulics. He was the first to work on the principle of the barometer and sustained vacuum.

A pioneer of abstract art in Canada, Japanese-Canadian painter Kazuo Nakamura is best known as a founder-member of the artists’ collective Painters Eleven. Fond of simplicity and monochrome, he also experimented with science and symmetry. He had survived a British Columbia internment camp as a teenager during World War II.

Egon Bondy was a Czech philosopher, poet, and writer. One of the most important figures of the Prague underground, Bondy published about 30 books of poetry and 20 novels. Despite the existential background of his work, Egon Bondy's texts are considered fresh and entertaining. 

Ramsey Clark was an American activist, lawyer, and federal government official. From 1967 to 1969, he served as US Attorney General under the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. Ramsey Clark is remembered for heading several progressive activism campaigns and opposing the U.S. War on Terror, labeling it as a war against Islam. In 1992, he won the Gandhi Peace Award.