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Actor, producer, narrator, and drama teacher, John Forsythe, began his six-decade-long career in the entertainment industry in the 1940s. Initially a small-time actor, he built a strong reputation as a character actor over the years and branched out into teaching and production as well. He also appeared as a panelist on numerous game shows.
American singer Marvin Gaye is one of the most successful black artists ever and his albums have sold in millions. His success reached great heights with the 1972 song What's Going On. The 1982 single Sexual Healing was the biggest hit of his career and was a chartbuster. He was tragically shot dead by his father after a family altercation.
Born into a middle-class African-American family, Charles R. Drew initially excelled in football and track and field, and ended up earning athletic scholarships to fund his studies. He grew up to be a renowned surgeon and revolutionized the storage of blood plasma in blood banks.
Max Ernst was a German painter, graphic artist, sculptor, and poet. A pioneer of the Dada movement, Ernst played an important role in popularizing surrealism during the early-20th century. He is also credited with inventing a couple of techniques, namely frottage and grattage. In 2005, the Max Ernst Museum was opened in his honor in Brühl, Germany.
Martha Graham was a modern dancer and choreographer who revolutionized American dance. She developed what later became known as the Graham technique, a modern dance movement style and pedagogy. She had an extensive career spanning over 70 years. The Martha Graham School, founded in 1926, is the oldest school of dance in USA.
Nobel Prize-winning Russian physicist Lev Landau is remembered for his pathbreaking research in quantum mechanics. A math prodigy, he had learned calculus at 13. He failed to receive his Nobel in person due to a near-fatal car crash which caused him injuries that eventually caused his death 6 years later.
Cantopop pioneer Leslie Cheung was born to a tailor who worked for celebrities such as Alfred Hitchcock. Educated in the U.K., he later began a singing career in Hong Kong and then moved to Canada. After an illustrious 26-year career, he committed suicide by jumping from the Mandarin Oriental hotel.
Jolie Gabor, also known as Mama Jolie, was a renowned socialite and the mother of the actor sisters Zsa Zsa, Magda, and Eva Gabor. Born into a family of famous Hungarian jewelers, she herself owned multiple jewelry shops in Hungary and later established her business in the US.
Robert Doisneau was a French photographer best remembered for making photographs on the streets in the 1930s. A pioneer of photojournalism, Doisneau was an ardent advocate of humanist photography. Robert Doisneau was the recipient of prestigious awards, such as the Kodak Prize, Niépce Prize, and Balzac Prize. His 100th birthday was honored with a Google Doodle on 14 April 2012.
Philipp Mainlander was unfortunately born out of marital rape and was later forced by his father to train to be a merchant. However, while working in Italy, he devoted himself to writing. His works include the iconic The Philosophy of Redemption. He eventually committed suicide by hanging.
Known for his short stories and plays reflecting the life in Budapest, author Ferenc Molnár never identified with any particular literary movement. His best-known works include the short story anthology Muzsika and the novel The Paul Street Boys. Initially an aspiring lawyer, he later worked as a war correspondent.
Pediatrician Leila Denmark made headlines when she retired at age 103, after a career spanning over seven decades. She was the oldest practicing pediatrician in the world and the first woman pediatrician from Georgia. She was also the third-oldest living person in the U.S. when she died.
Abdul Rahman of Negeri Sembilan reigned as the first Paramount Ruler of the Federation of Malaya from 31 August 1957 to 1 April 1960. He also served as the second Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan and eighth Yamtuan of Seri Menanti. Since 1967, his portrait has been featuring on Malaysian Ringgit banknotes and several places are named after him.
Maha Bandula was a military leader best remembered for his association with the Royal Burmese Armed Forces, where he served as the commander-in-chief from 1821 until his demise in 1825. He played an important role in the First Anglo-Burmese War. Maha Bandula is widely regarded as a national hero for his resistance against the British.
Though Patrick Juvet had begun playing the piano at age 7, he also had a successful career as a model in Germany later. The Swiss disco singer is best remembered for his chartbusting track I Love America. Though openly bisexual, he also revealed in his memoir that he preferred men over women.
Efraín Ríos Montt was a Guatemalan politician and military officer. From 1982 to 1983, he served as the 26th president of Guatemala. His brief tenure as the de facto president was one of the bloodiest periods during the then-ongoing Guatemalan Civil War. In 2013, he was sentenced to 80 years in prison for crimes against humanity and genocide.
Isamu Akasaki was a Japanese physicist and engineer. Isamu, who specializes in semiconductor technology, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014 along with Shuji Nakamura and Hiroshi Amano. Isamu Akasaki also won other prestigious awards like the Kyoto Prize, IEEE Edison Medal, Charles Stark Draper Prize, and Asia Game Changer Award.
Best remembered for his law on solutions, also known as the Raoult’s law, François-Marie Raoult taught at the University of Grenoble till his final days. His contributions to chemistry earned him recognitions such as the Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur and the Davy Medal.
Jalil Mammadguluzadeh was an Azerbaijani writer and satirist. He is credited with founding a satirical magazine called Molla Nasraddin, which had a great influence on the genre of satire in the Central Asia and Middle East. Best remembered as one of the earliest women's rights activists in Azerbaijan, Jalil Mammadguluzadeh played a key role in establishing Azerbaijan's first women's magazine.
