Famous People Who Died Today

Tupac Amaru Shakur, popularly known as 2Pac or Makaveli, is considered as one of the greatest American rappers of all time. Talent and trouble went hand in hand in Shakur’s journey to fame; the higher Shakur rose in his iconic status, the deeper he became entangled in gang violence and an infamous rivalry, which sadly led to his untimely demise.

Frank Vincent was an American actor, author, and musician best known for appearing in many Martin Scorsese movies, such as Raging Bull, Casino, and Goodfellas. Known for his large frame, Frank Vincent was often cast to play the role of gangsters. In 1999, his service to the entertainment industry was honored with an Italian American Entertainer of the Year Award.

Noor Inayat Khan was a British spy who served in a secret British World War II organization called Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the war. She was also the first female radio operator to be sent into occupied France from the UK to aid the French Resistance. She was subsequently caught and executed at a Nazi concentration camp.

The Paris-born French-Swiss director and screenwriter had the reputation of adding new dimensions to filmmaking with his experimentation, a trend which came to be known as the French New Wave. The director of acclaimed films like Breathless, My Life to Live and Pierrot le Fou, Jean-Luc Godard was married to actress Anna Karina. He is regarded as an all-time great director.

Ludwig Feuerbach was a German philosopher and anthropologist. He is best remembered for his work, The Essence of Christianity, which strongly influenced generations of future thinkers like Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Friedrich Engels, and Sigmund Freud among others. Ludwig Feuerbach advocated atheism and his thought was influential in the progression of historical materialism.

Artist Charlotte Johnson Wahl is the mother of British prime minister Boris Johnson and British journalist Rachel Johnson. She is known for her portraits and her signature style that mirrors the Vorticist style. Her creations have been featured at the Bethlem Museum of the Mind.

Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna is remembered for his iconic frescoes and paintings such as St. Sebastian, Painted Room, and The Agony in the Garden. Known as the first fully Renaissance artist from Northern Italy, he began his artistic journey as an apprentice of Francesco Squarcione.

Radio astronomer and physicist Antony Hewish is best known for his Nobel Prize-winning research on pulsars. Apart from teaching at Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, he has also served as an advisory council member for the Campaign for Science and Engineering. He also has six honorary degrees to his credit.       

Italo Svevo was an Italian writer, playwright, novelist, short story writer, and businessman. Svevo was regarded as a pioneer of psychological fiction. He is remembered for his work La coscienza di Zeno, which is considered his magnum opus. Svevo is widely regarded as an important writer of the 20th century whose works had an influence on later generations of writers.

Although he had been part of the Olympic silver-winning Czechoslovakian ice hockey team, Jaroslav Drobny gained more fame as a tennis player. He achieved the rare feat of having played Wimbledon for four different countries: Czechoslovakia, Bohemia-Moravia, Egypt, and, Britain. He also won 130 singles titles throughout his career.

August Krogh was a Danish professor who taught at the University of Copenhagen between 1916 and 1945. He is best remembered for receiving the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1920. Apart from his contributions to medicine, August Krogh is also remembered for co-founding the popular multinational pharmaceutical company, Novo Nordisk. 

Venezuelan American writer, politician, activist and Olympian Peter Miguel Camejo Guanche competed as a yachtsman with his father for Venezuela in the Star class at the 1960 Summer Olympics. His political pursuits included running for the 1976 presidential election, for Governor of California thrice (2002, 2003, 2006) and for the vice-presidential spot during the 2004 United States presidential election.

Walter Bonatti was an Italian explorer, mountain climber, and journalist. He made a solo climb of a new route on the southwest pillar of the Aiguille du Dru in August 1955, among other achievements. He retired from mountaineering at the age of 35 and pursued a career as a reporter. He also wrote several books on mountaineering.    

Saby Kamalich was a Peruvian-Mexican actress best remembered for playing the title role in a Peruvian telenovela titled Simplemente María. Over the course of her illustrious career, Saby Kamalich also played important roles in popular Mexican film productions, such as Valente Quintero, where she portrayed Leonor Carrillo.

Arab-American author Ameen Rihani started his career as a bookkeeper in Manhattan. He later also toured as an actor with a Shakespearean theater group. His written works include the English novel The Book of Khalid and Arabic works such as Al-Rīḥāniyyāt. He was a significant part of the Mahjar literary movement.

Alexandre Herculano was a Portuguese historian and novelist. He is often credited with introducing Romantic literature to Portugal. An important historian, Alexandre Herculano enjoyed national recognition similar to that of France's Victor Hugo.

French hip-hop and house musician and producer/remixer of hip-hop and electronic dance music, Mehdi Favéris-Essadi, more famous as DJ Mehdi, is best-remembered as a DJ. Signing to the cross-genre label Ed Banger Records, founded by friend Pedro Winter, DJ Mehdi spawned EPs like I Am Somebody and Lucky Girl EP and albums like Lucky Boy and Lucky Boy at Night.  

Four-time Alabama governor George Wallace was known for his segregationist views. He ran for president multiple times. After an assassination attempt that left him paralyzed, he softened his stance on segregation and appointed two black members in the same cabinet. He remains the fourth longest-tenured U.S. governor in history.