Famous People Who Died Today

A versatile actor and an inspiration for a generation of black youths, Chadwick Boseman is best remembered for portraying notable real life black figures like Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall and James Brown in their biopics. His excellent performance in Black Panther, though, turned him into a household name.

Director/screenwriter John Huston is known for making his films with nominal editing and featuring novel adaptations and themes of religion, colonialism, and war. He is known for his Academy Award-winning direction in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and also appeared as an actor in films such as The Cardinal.

Junípero Serra was a Roman Catholic priest who is credited with founding the Franciscan Missions of the Sierra Gorda. He is also credited with founding nine of the 21 Spanish missions in California. On 25 September 1988, Junípero Serra was beatified in the Vatican City by Pope John Paul II. On 23 September 2015, he was canonized by Pope Francis.

Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, landscape architect, public administrator, and social critic. Dubbed the father of American landscape architecture, Frederick was responsible for co-designing several well-known urban parks including Walnut Hill Park, Prospect Park, Cadwalader Park, and Central Park. He is also remembered for his work on the landscape encircling the US Capitol building.

Saint Augustine was a philosopher, theologian, and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Roman North Africa. His writings are often credited with influencing the growth of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. He is also regarded as one of the Latin Church's most important Church Fathers in the Patristic Period. Among his many important works are Confessions and On Christian Doctrine.

With her film Sayonara, Miyoshi Umeki became the first Asian actress to win an Academy Award. Initially a night-club singer, she was later known for playing docile and submissive characters in most of her films. She also earned a Golden Globe nomination for playing Mei Li in Flower Drum Song.

The first USA-born race car driver to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, Phil Hill began racing as a mechanic before becoming a professional racer. A disciplined perfectionist in car preparation, he achieved several career victories including two Italian Grand Prix (1960 and 1961) and one Belgium Grand Prix (1961)

Known for poems such as Abou Ben Adhem, 19th-century English poet, critic, and essayist Leigh Hunt had founded the newspaper The Examiner, with his brother. Apart from critiquing the politics, theater, and art of his time, he also criticized Prince Regent George, an act that put him behind bars briefly.

Best known for his iconic book De jure belli ac pacis, or The Rights of War and Peace, Hugo Grotius was a Dutch humanist and author, who had also been a jurist. Due to his involvement in the Calvinist debate, he was exiled to France, where he penned most of his significant works.

British historian E. P. Thompson is best remembered for his iconic works such as The Making of the English Working Class. He was also a poet, a novelist, and a biographer. An anti-nuclear activist, too, he played a significant role in the formation of the New Left.  

An influential English ethical philosopher and economist of the Victorian era, Henry Sidgwick is perhaps best known for his utilitarian treatise The Methods of Ethics. He promoted higher education of women and co-founded Newnham College. He remained a member of the Metaphysical Society and co-founded and served as first president of the Society for Psychical Research.

Born in Scotland, William Lyon Mackenzie moved to Canada as a merchant but soon got involved in the country’s politics. He later stepped into journalism and launched his own newspaper, the Colonial Advocate. He spearheaded the Canadian Rebellion of 1837, a failed uprising against the Canadian government.

Czech composer and modern classical musician Bohuslav Martinů had started learning the violin at age 6. While he was dismissed from the Prague Conservatory for his poor performance, he later joined the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and then moved to Paris to study music. He later moved to the US and taught at Princeton.

British geologist William Smith, who is regarded as the Father of English Geology, is remembered for developing the science of stratigraphy. His geologic map of England and Wales was the world’s first nationwide and detailed geologic map. He was also the recipient of the first Wollaston Medal.

Journalist and historian Bruce Catton is best remembered for his books on the American Civil War. He quit his studies midway to join the navy during World War I and then became a journalist, working for publications and magazines. His A Stillness at Appomattox won him a Pulitzer Prize.

Rashid Ali al-Gaylani was an Iraqi politician best remembered for his service as the Prime Minister of Iraq on three occasions between 1933 and 1941. An ardent Arab nationalist, Rashid Ali al-Gaylani made an attempt to eliminate the British influence from Iraq by commencing a coup d'état in 1941 that deposed the pro-British regime of 'Abd al-Ilah.

Raphael Lemkin was a Polish lawyer best remembered for coining the term genocide. He is also credited with initiating the Genocide Convention, an international treaty criminalizing genocide. Interestingly, no such international law existed before Lemkin initiated the Genocide Convention. Raphael Lemkin’s work inspired American sociologist and feminist scholar Jessie Bernard whose book American Community Behavior is based on Lemkin's work.

Born in British India, Wilfred Bion grew up to be a prominent psychoanalyst. He had fought during World War I. He is best remembered for his work on group dynamics and the object relations theory. He was also part of the Tavistock group of psychologists who founded the Tavistock Institute.

Axel Oxenstierna was a Swedish statesman best remembered for his service as the Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 to 1654. Widely regarded as one of the most important and influential people in the history of Sweden, Oxenstierna played a key role in the Thirty Years' War. Over the years, he has been depicted in films, games, and literature. 

Born to an affluent landowner and politician, Hata Tsutomu initially worked with the Odakyu bus company. The Liberal-Democratic Party member later grew tired of the sluggish pace of the party and established the Japan Renewal Party. He became the prime minister of Japan, but only for 9 weeks.

Georges Lefebvre was a French historian best remembered for his work on peasant life and the French Revolution. Widely regarded as a pioneer of people's history, Lefebvre conducted extensive research regarding the role played by the peasants during the French Revolution. His research resulted in one of his most important books, The Peasants of the North During the French Revolution.

Theophanis Lamboukas was a French actor and singer who shot to fame after marrying the popular French singer Édith Piaf, who was 20 years older than him. Sarapo's career was shaped by Piaf; he was the last of her long line of discoveries, which include Yves Montand and Georges Moustaki.

Al Arbour caught the attention of his fans by becoming one of the few ice hockey players to wear eyeglasses while playing. Apart from coaching National Hockey League teams such as the New York Islanders, he also made a place on the Hockey Hall of Fame.