Famous People Who Died Today

An Australian actor, Heath Ledger grabbed limelight in America with the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You. However, it was role in Brokeback Mountain that made him a star and earned him comparisons with greats actors like Marlon Brando. The brilliant actor gave his last performance as Joker in The Dark Knight which became a massive success.

Baseball player Hank Aaron, also known as Hammer or Hammerin' Hank, is remembered for his stint with the MLB teams Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers. He also competed as part of the Negro League team Indianapolis Clowns. He was named to The Sporting News 100 Greatest Baseball Players.

The era of Lyndon B Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, saw the passage of many important laws pertaining to civil rights, gun control and social security.  Also, his ‘war on poverty’ helped millions to rise above the poverty line. However, he was criticised for the escalation of the Vietnam War.

Telly Savalas was an American singer and actor. He was characterized by his deep, resonant voice and bald head. In a career spanning 40 years, he is best known for her role in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service   He is also considered  asone of the greatest TV stars ever. As a philhellene and philanthropist, Savalas supported various Hellenic causes.

Ursula K. Le Guin was an American author. In a career spanning almost six decades, Ursula wrote about political and social themes like race and sexuality. Throughout her career, Ursula had a major influence on speculative fiction. Her book A Wizard of Earthsea is credited with inspiring ideas like 'wizard school', which was later popularized in the Harry Potter series.

Duke Kahanamoku was an American competitive swimmer and surfer. He is credited with popularizing the ancient Hawaiian surfing. As a swimmer, Kahanamoku won three gold medals in two different Olympics. Kahanamoku was inducted into both the Surfing Hall of Fame and International Swimming Hall of Fame. He has been also inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame.

Herbert Marshall was an English actor best remembered for playing important roles in popular Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s. He was one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood at the peak of his career. In 1960, Herbert Marshall was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the film industry.

Part of the Camden Town Group of painters, who showcased both Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, German-born British painter Walter Sickert liked painting both people and scenes. His work Jack the Ripper's Bedroom gave rise to speculations that he could have been either the killer or his accomplice.

A pioneer of physical anthropology, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach laid down one of the first racial classification systems for humans after studying human skulls, dividing mankind into five racial groups. Born into a family of academics, he was a prodigy. He was against scientific racism, though his theory promoted the degenerative hypothesis.

Benedict XV became Bishop of Rome at the outbreak of the First World War and his pontificate was mostly occupied with several issues of the war. He declared neutrality of the Holy See and made unsuccessful efforts to mediate peace between both sides. He later succeeded in re-establishing relation between France and the Vatican and promulgated Code of Canon Law.

Abbe Pierre was a French Catholic priest and a member of the Resistance during World War II. Born into a wealthy Catholic family, he entered the Capuchin Order as a teenager and renounced all his inheritances. Later on, he founded the Emmaus movement to help poor and homeless people. He remained active until his death at the age of 94.

Mary Ludwig Hays, an American brave heart who is considered to have fought at the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778 during the American War of Independence, is mostly identified as the woman behind the legend of Molly Pitcher. She reportedly took her husband's place working a gun after he was wounded and brought water to troops at the battle  

Camille Jordan was a French mathematician best remembered for his influential Cours d'analyse and his foundational work in group theory. He also served as an educator, teaching at prestigious institutions like the Collège de France and École Polytechnique. The asteroid 25593 Camillejordan is named in his honor.

Not only was Harald Bohr the younger brother of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Niels Bohr, but he was also a renowned mathematician in his own right. He is remembered for his research on periodic functions. Interestingly, he was also part of the silver-winning Danish football team at the 1908 London Olympics.

Mike Hawthorn was a British racing driver best remembered as the first Formula One World Champion from the United Kingdom; he achieved the feat when he won the world championship in 1958. Having been affected by the demise of his friend Peter Collins in the 1958 German Grand Prix, Mike Hawthorn announced his retirement after winning the F1 title.  

Chinese philosopher and poet Wang Chongyang is remembered as one of the pioneers of the Quanzhen School. He finds mention in wuxia novels such as the Condor trilogy. A believer of Taoism, he had a group of seven disciples, who came to be known as the Seven Immortals.

Japanese surrealist author Kōbō Abe is remembered for his Kafka-esque style and his bestselling novels such as The Woman in the Dunes. Though he studied medicine, pushed into it by his physician father, he never practiced. The Akutagawa Prize winner was also initially a communist but was later expelled.

Part of the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century, Swedish painter Carl Larsson is best remembered for his iconic painting Midvinterblot, or Midwinter Sacrifice. Born to a poor casual laborer, he had a tough childhood and began working as an illustrator at age 18.

One of the rare female Expressionist authors, Else Lasker-Schüler is best remembered for plays such as Die Wupper. Known for her bohemian and eccentric lifestyle, she fled the Nazis and moved first to Switzerland and then to Jerusalem. Owing to her extravagant expenses, she died in poverty.

Mechanical engineer Joseph Whitworth is best remembered for devising the British Standard Whitworth system for screw threads. He contributed a lot to the development of Owens College, introduced a scholarship, and left most of his fortunes to the people of Manchester. He was also made a baronet of the U.K.

Anne Hébert was a French Canadian poet and author who won the Governor General's Award, which is regarded as Canada's top literary honor, on three occasions. During her career, she also won other prestigious awards like the Molson Prize and the Ludger-Duvernay Prize. Hébert's works have been translated into many languages, including Spanish, English, and German.

Xiao Hong was a Chinese writer who used pen names like Lingling and Qiao Yin. She was subjected to dramatic situations during her lifetime, which encouraged film director Huo Jianqi to make a biopic of Xiao Hong titled Falling Flowers. Xiao Hong's life and career have also inspired another biopic titled The Golden Era, which was directed by Ann Hui.

Hungarian poet Sándor Weöres got his first poems published in his early teens and then worked as a librarian and a freelance author. The Kossuth Prize winner is best remembered for his works such as Psyché and The Tower of Silence. Many of his poems were later turned into musical pieces.

Paul Walden was a chemist best remembered for his work in stereochemistry. He is credited with inventing the stereochemical reaction, which came to be known as Walden inversion. Over the course of his illustrious career, Paul Walden was honored with several prestigious awards, including the Gmelin-Beilstein Medal in 1954.

Chaïm Perelman was a Polish-born philosopher of law who spent most of his life in Brussels, Belgium. He is counted amongst the most important argumentation theorists of the 20th century. He studied at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and was appointed a lecturer in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the same institute. He was married to Fela Perelman.