Died On February 2nd

A U.S. Navy SEAL sniper, Chris Kyle was the recipient of one Silver Star Medal and a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. He was a respected figure who had performed many acts of heroism. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2009. In an unfortunate turn of events, he was murdered by a former Marine in 2013.

Bertrand Russell was a British polymath and Nobel laureate. His work, which is spread across various fields, has had a considerable influence on philosophy, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, mathematics, linguistics, and logic. Russell is also credited with leading the revolt against idealism in Britain and is regarded as one of the founders of analytic philosophy.

Actor, dancer, singer, and filmmaker, Gene Kelly, was one of the most popular Hollywood figures in the 1940s and 1950s. Among his other achievements, he is credited to have popularized the genre of musical films in Hollywood. As a filmmaker, he often experimented with camera techniques and special effects. He received an Academy Honorary Award in 1952.

Donald Pleasence was an English actor best remembered for his portrayal of Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the popular 1967 James Bond movie You Only Live Twice. His performance in the film was later parodied by Canadian actor Mike Myers in the Austin Powers film series. Donald Pleasence was also an important theatre actor; he received four Tony Award nominations.

Fred Perry was a British tennis player. A former world No. 1, Perry won three successive Wimbledon Championships from 1934. He won eight Grand Slam tournaments, including a Career Grand Slam. He was the first player and only British player to date to achieve a Career Grand Slam. Also a table tennis player, Perry was the world champion in 1929.

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was an Italian composer who had a long-lasting influence on the evolution of secular music in Europe. He is also credited with the development of counterpoint. His life and career inspired a 2009 Italian/German music film titled Palestrina - Prince of Music.

Alistair Maclean was a Scottish novelist best remembered for writing popular adventure stories. Having sold more than 150 million copies, Alistair Maclean is widely regarded as one of the best-selling fiction authors. Many of his works, including Where Eagles Dare, Ice Station Zebra, and The Guns of Navarone, have been made into popular films.

Julia Morgan was an American engineer and architect who is credited with designing over 700 buildings in California. She was the first woman to study at the Beaux-Arts de Paris and the first woman to be honored with the AIA Gold Medal, which was conferred upon her posthumously. She also received a posthumous induction into the California Hall of Fame.

While BAFTA-winning veteran actor Margaret John initially wished to be a vet or a nurse, her aversion to blood made her choose acting. Known for her role in Pobol y Cwm, she was one of the 31 actors to be part of both the Doctor Who series of the 1960s and the 2000s.

Joshua Lederberg was an American molecular biologist best remembered for his work in the field of artificial intelligence, microbial genetics, and the US space program. In 1958, Lederberg won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine when he was just 33; he won the prize for discovering bacterial conjugation. In 2006, he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Initially part of the Moscow Art Theatre, Russian director-actor Vsevolod Meyerhold is remembered for pioneering avant-garde theories of symbolism in theater. He also paved the path for biomechanics in Russian theater and created masterpieces such as The Magnificent Cuckold. He was executed, and his wife was murdered, during the Great Purge.

Greek-origin German mathematician Constantin Carathéodory is best remembered for his work on concepts such as real functions and the calculus of variations. Initially an engineer working for a British project in Egypt, he later switched to study math. He also taught at the universities of Berlin and Munich.

Ondrej Nepela was a Slovak figure skater best remembered for representing Czechoslovakia at the Olympic Games and World Championships. He won a gold medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics and three gold medals, one each at the 1971, 1972, and 1973 World Championships. Ondrej Nepela also won five gold medals at the European Championships during his career.

Bosnian-Serbian poet and author Aleksa Šantić is remembered for his iconic poems such as The Asra and Emina. Apart from writing 800 poems and several plays, he had also contributed to the literary magazine Zora. His works reflected his anti-establishment views and also depicted various social issues.

Legend has it that Joanna II, the Queen of Naples, often got her lovers killed by throwing them inside a cellar or feeding them to a crocodile after satiating her pleasure, only to protest her good name. She came to power at age 41, after her brother Ladislaus’s death.