Famous People Who Died Today

Anna Nicole Smith was one of those Playboy Playmates whose personal lives gained more attention than their professional achievements. She made headlines at the age of 27 when she married the 89-year old J. Howard Marshall. Despite denying media speculation that she married him for his money, she was involved in a legal battle over his property after Howard's death. She died of drug overdose at the age of 39.

Russian philosopher Peter Kropotkin was a passionate advocate of anarcho-communism. He was also an activist, revolutionary, economist, and sociologist. He was arrested and imprisoned for his activism in 1874. However, he managed to escape and lived in exile for over 40 years in different countries across Europe. He returned to Russia after the Russian Revolution in 1917. 

French virologist Luc Montagnier is known for discovering the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which led him to jointly receive the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Montagnier also made headlines promoting controversial and unverified claims related to vaccinations, homeopathy and COVID-19 pandemic, which he argued as man-made and possibly a result of an attempt to create an HIV/AIDS vaccine.

One of the most popular Irish-born British novelists, Iris Murdoch is remembered for her psychological novels, which had a good dose of sexuality, philosophy, morality, and comic elements. While she won the Booker Prize for The Sea, the Sea, the Oxford alumnus had also worked for the HM Treasury and the UN.

The grandson of J.P. Morgan founder John Pierpont Morgan, Sr., Henry Sturgis Morgan co-founded the multinational investment company Morgan Stanley. A Harvard alumnus, he also headed the Morgan Library & Museum as its president and chairman. A sailing enthusiast, too, he was part of the New York Yacht Club.

Ghanaian businesswoman Esther Afua Ocloo, better known as the founder of Women’s World Banking, had stepped into the world of business with less than a dollar. She initially sold marmalade in Ghana and then moved to England to learn food processing, eventually turning into a microlending pioneer.

Lepa Radić was a Yugoslav Partisan best remembered for her involvement in the resistance movement opposing the Axis powers during World War II. In 1951, she was posthumously honored with the Order of the People's Hero for her role during the Second World War. Lepa Radić was executed at age 17 for firing at German troops.

Dennis Gabor was a Hungarian-British physicist and electrical engineer best remembered for inventing holography. His invention earned him the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971. Gabor won several awards during his lifetime. After his demise, many awards are given in his honor. The Dennis Gabor Award and Gabor Medal are some of the awards that are named after him.

Fritz Todt was a German civil engineer and architect. A senior Nazi, Todt oversaw the construction of Reichsautobahnen, a controlled-access highway, and also served as the Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition. Before the start of the Second World War, Todt initiated a military-engineering company called Organisation Todt that oversaw the construction of many Nazi concentration camps. 

Ong Teng Cheong was a Singaporean architect and politician. He is known for his service as the fifth President of Singapore from 1 September 1993 to 31 August 1999. Ong Teng Cheong also held important ministerial positions; he served as the Minister for Labour from 1981 to 1983 and then as Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore from 1985 to 1993.

Slovenia’s national poet, France Prešeren was one of the pioneers of Romanticism in Europe. He also penned the first ballad and epic of his country. Though he initially studied law, he later soared to fame with works such as Sonetni venec and brought in elements of ghazal and pattern poetry to Slovenian literature.

English author and freelance critic Margaret Forster is best remembered for her bestselling novel Georgy Girl, which was made into a film later. She also penned biographies and contributed to BBC Radio 4 programs. She had also been a Booker Prize judge but mostly remained away from book-signing events.

Murad IV, who ruled as the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, was infamous for his cruelty. He took over the throne at 11 and subsequently came to be known for his exploits in the Ottoman–Safavid War, which changed the map of the Caucasus.

Violette Verdy was a French ballet dancer, teacher, choreographer, and writer. From 1958 to 1977, Verdy served as the principal dancer for the New York City Ballet where she was a star. She also served as the director for popular ballet companies like the Boston Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet. During her lifetime, Verdy was honored with several awards.

Felix Hoffmann was a German chemist best remembered for re-synthesizing diamorphine, which was later popularized as heroin. Hoffmann is also known for synthesizing aspirin, although it is still unclear whether he synthesized it on his own or under the direction of Arthur Eichengrün. In 2002, Felix Hoffmann was inducted into the US National Inventors Hall of Fame. 

Born to a businessman and diplomat father in Bulgaria, Fritz Zwicky was initially sent to Switzerland to study commerce but ended up deviating to math and physics. He then moved to the U.S. to work with Caltech and gained fame for his research on what he called the supernova.

While he once worked as a flight lieutenant in the RAAF, actor Allan Cuthbertson was later typecast in roles of stern military officials, dignitaries, or other high-ranking officials. He first gained fame as Romeo in a Boltons production of Romeo and Juliet and later as Colonel Hall in Fawlty Towers.

Although considered the foremost promoter of Impressionism in Germany, painter and printmaker Max Liebermann never fully detached himself from his subject matters.  Known for his works on the life and labor of the poor, including peasants, urban laborers, and orphans, portraying their plight through paintings like The Flax Spinners., he successfully maintained the narrative tradition of the German art.   

Protestant theologian David Strauss was 12 when he joined a seminary to study theology. Known for his works such as Das Leben Jesu, or The Life of Jesus Critically Examined, he criticized the Gospels and the miracles associated with Christ, thus inspiring future studies on the historical Jesus.

Walther Bothe was a German nuclear physicist. He began his career as Max Planck's teaching assistant at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. His life was disrupted by World War I, during which he served in the military. He later resumed his career in science and went on to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1954, shared with Max Born. 

Robert Robinson was a British organic chemist best remembered for winning the 1947 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his research on anthocyanins and alkaloids. Robinson is credited with inventing the symbol for benzene; discovering the molecular structures of penicillin and morphine; founding the journal Tetrahedron. Robert Robinson was also the recipient of the Davy Medal, Royal Medal, and Copley Medal.

Phyllis Ayame Whitney was an American writer best remembered for writing mystery novels. Dubbed the Queen of the American Gothics, Whitney won an Edgar Award for her book The Mystery of the Haunted Pool in 1961. In 1988, she was honored with the Grand Master Award by the Mystery Writers of America for her overall contribution.