Died On March 9th

The Notorious B.I.G. was a rapper and songwriter and is considered one of the best ever. His debut album Ready to Die in 1994 was critically acclaimed. He was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles in September 1996. His album Life After Death was released two weeks after his death. 

George Burns was an American actor, comedian, singer, and writer. Characterized by his cigar-smoke punctuation and arched eyebrow, which remained relevant for more than 75 years, Burns was one of the few entertainers to have achieved an equal amount of success in film, television, vaudeville, and radio. He has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

German-American poet and short story writer ,Charles Bukowski, addressed the ordinary lives of poor Americans in most of his works. Since his death, he has been the subject of many critical books and articles. His stories have inspired several films like Tales of Ordinary Madness, Crazy Love, and Factotum.

Orphaned, Matthew Henson began his journey as a cabin boy at age 12 and was later hired by Robert E. Peary as an attendant for his expeditions. He, along with Peary and 4 Inuit, were the first men to set foot on North Pole. The African-American explorer later won a Congressional Medal.

Menachem Begin was an Israeli politician who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. In this position, he signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, for which he and Egyptian politician Anwar Sadat shared the Nobel Prize for Peace. He implemented several reforms to improve the socio-economic condition of Israeli citizens and improve the general quality of life.

Hans Christian Ørsted was a Danish chemist and physicist. He was the first person to discover that electric currents can be used to create magnetic fields. His discovery was the first relationship found between magnetism and electricity. Oersted, the unit of the auxiliary magnetic field H, is named in his honor.

Indian-American neurosurgeon and author Paul Kalanithi was a brilliant student, who initially studied both English literature and human biology at Stanford and later studied medicine at Yale. He died of metastatic lung cancer but not before penning the memoir When Breath Becomes Air, a New York Times bestseller, released posthumously.

Initially aspiring to be an architect, Fernando Rey later soared to fame as a legendary actor in Spanish films. Starting his career as a movie extra, he later became a regular in the films of director Luis Buñuel. The Cannes Award-winning Spanish actor is best known for films such as The French Connection.

American women's suffrage-leader Carrie Chapman Catt  served as president of National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), and founded the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (later International Alliance of Women) and League of Women Voters. She is best-known for leading the NAWSA, organising the Winning Plan and playing a pivotal role in passing of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

English paleontologist Mary Anning is best known for the fossil collections she made in Jurassic marine fossil beds. She made major contributions to studies related to prehistoric life and the history of the Earth. As a woman in 19th-century Britain, she could not fully participate in the scientific community despite her brilliance. She gained fame after her death.

Leopold von Sacher-Masoch lent his name to the term masochism, a form of sexual deviation. Best known for his novel Venus in Furs, one of his rare books that have been translated in English, he depicted Galician romance and fantasies. He spent his final years in a mental asylum.

Harry Seidler was an Australian architect who designed over 180 buildings throughout his illustrious career that spanned almost 58 years. He won several architectural awards and honors, including Sir John Sulman Medal, The Wilkinson Award, and Civic Design Award. Harry Seidler is widely regarded as one of the most renowned exponents of Modernism's methodology in Australia.   

Anna Moffo was an American actress, television personality, and opera singer. One of the most prominent and popular lyric-coloratura sopranos of her generation, Moffo possessed a radiant and warm voice of considerable range. Apart from achieving popularity in the USA, Anna Moffo also became famous in countries like Germany and Italy. 

William I, German Emperor reigned as the king of Prussia from 1861 until his death in 1888. He also reigned as the first German emperor from 1871 to 1888. He is credited with overseeing the unification of Germany and establishing the German Empire. William's reign also witnessed the brilliance of Otto von Bismarck, who served as the former's minister president.

Nobel Prize-winning biologist Max Delbrück is remembered for his pioneering research on bacteriophages, which are viruses that infect bacteria, as part of the Phage Group, along with Salvador Luria and Alfred Hershey. The German-born scientist was a Nazi refugee who later settled in the U.S.

Iranian Azerbaijani author and philosopher Mirza Fatali Akhundov was the first literary critic and realist writer from his country. He developed the Azerbaijani alphabets and script. The 19th-century author is also remembered as the pioneer of atheism and nationalism in his country. He also criticized Islam and other religions.

South African golfer Bobby Locke had many wins in his kitty, including 15 PGA Tour events and four Open Championships. After winning his first tournament at 14, he served in the air force during World War II. He also penned the book Bobby Locke on Golf.

Better known as a novelist, playwright and poet, Bernard Binlin Dadié was also an able administrator, serving as Ivory Coast's Minister of Culture. Inspired by Africa's rich traditions, he tried to highlight them not only through his writings, but also by publishing several volumes of legends, fables, folktales, and proverbs, concurrently giving expression to Africa's desire for equality and dignity.

Noted Swedish physiologist and pharmacologist Ulf von Euler was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology (1970) for his work on discovery of neurotransmitters. A full Professor of Physiology at Karolinska Institute for over three decades, he also received the Gairdner prize, became a Foreign Member of the Royal Society and a founding member of the World Cultural Council.

Naná Vasconcelos was a Brazilian percussionist and berimbau player. He was also a vocalist. He worked as a backing musician with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Björk, and Jan Garbarek, among others. He also had a successful solo career and released over two dozen albums. He was the recipient of several awards, including eight Grammy Awards.