Died On December 18th

A popular actor and comedian, Chris Farley's struggle with alcohol and drug addiction led to his suspension from the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) on many occasions. He eventually died of a drug overdose at the age of 33, much like his idol John Belushi, who too died of a drug overdose at the same age!

Kim Jong-hyun was a South Korean record producer, singer-songwriter, author, and radio host. Kim was the principal vocalist of the popular boy band Shinee before he committed suicide at the age of 27. In 2018, his family members established the Shiny Foundation in an attempt to help struggling young artists.

Majel Barrett was an American actress best known for playing Christine Chapel in Star Trek: The Original Series. She also played important roles in the subsequent Star Trek series like The Next Generation. She became known as the First Lady of Star Trek due to her association with Star Trek and her marriage to the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry.

Bobby Jones was an American amateur golfer and lawyer. One of the most important personalities in the history of golf, Jones founded or co-founded the Augusta National Golf Club as well as the Masters Tournament. He also helped design the Augusta. Bobby Jones’ innovations, which he brought to the Masters Tournameny, have been used in professional golf tournaments around the world.

Joseph Barbera was an American animator, cartoon artist, storyboard artist, director, and producer. He is credited with co-producing Tom and Jerry along with William Hanna while working at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Barbera is also credited with co-founding the popular animation studio Hanna-Barbera which produced world-renowned programs like Scooby-Doo, The Flintstones, and The Smurfs. Hanna-Barbera's shows have been translated into over 28 languages.

Vaclav Havel was a Czech statesman, poet, playwright, and author. He is best remembered for his service as the President of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003. He also served as the President of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until its dissolution in 1992. Havel was a recipient of several awards including the Gandhi Peace Prize and Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Mandy Rice-Davies was a British model and a showgirl, best remembered for her involvement in the Profumo affair that damaged the credibility of Harold Macmillan's Conservative government in early 1960s. Later, she opened a restaurant and a nightclub in Tel Aviv and publishing three books including her autobiography. She also appeared in a number of films and television productions.  

French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck acquired his love for plants while serving as a soldier in the French army. Following an injury, he quit his military career but retained his love for botany. He later taught zoology, studied the classification of invertebrates, and also coined the term biology.

Nazi World War II pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel hated academics but loved skiing as a young man. He is believed to have destroyed 519 Soviet tanks and even got a leg amputated. Post-war, he went to Argentina briefly, wrote books, and also became an entrepreneur after returning to Germany.

Mark Felt served as the FBI associate director from 1972 to 1973. He was widely suspected of being Deep Throat, the anonymous source who provided The Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein vital information regarding the Watergate scandal, and eventually owned up a few years before his death.

German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder is best remembered as a significant figure of the Sturm und Drang literary movement. Born into poverty and largely self-educated till 17, he later became a disciple of Immanuel Kant and was associated with Enlightenment and Weimar Classicism. He was eventually ennobled.

One of the first female architects from Austria, Lilia Skala later also became a reputed actor, winning an Academy Award nomination for her film Lilies of the Field. She had also worked in Broadway plays such as Letters to Lucerne and in soaps such as Claudia: The Story of a Marriage.

Award-winning German computer scientist Konrad Zuse created the world's first program-controlled computer, named Z1. He then moved on to Z3, the first fully functional programmable computer in the world, and Z4, the first commercial digital computer in the world. Post-retirement, he spent most of his time painting.

Theodosius Dobzhansky was a Ukrainian-American geneticist and evolutionary biologist. He played a key role in shaping modern synthesis in the field of evolutionary biology.  His 1937 book, Genetics and the Origin of Species, is a seminal work on modern synthesis. He was the recipient of several awards, including the US National Medal of Science and the Franklin Medal.  

Susan Travers was a British ambulance driver and nurse. She is best remembered for her service in the French Red Cross during World War II. She also played an important role during the First Indochina War, serving in French Indochina.

Physicist Nathan Rosen was born tom Jewish parents in New York. The MIT alumnus later gained recognition in the scientific circle for co-authoring a paper with Albert Einstein, which laid down what is now known as the wormhole, or the Einstein-Rosen bridge. He was also instrumental in establishing various institutes.

Dennis W. Sciama was a British physicist credited to have played a major role in the development of British physics following World War II. He is considered a co-father of modern cosmology and supervised the doctoral works of many famous cosmologists, including Martin Rees and Stephen Hawking.  He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1983. 

Nur Jahan was the chief consort of Mughal emperor Jahangir. She reigned as Badshah Begum of the empire from 1620 to 1627. Nur Jahan is often credited with influencing Jahangir's decisions for much of his reign. She is also remembered for her strength and courage and her skills in hunting ferocious tigers. Her life has inspired many books and movies.

Alexei Kosygin was a Soviet-Russian statesman who played an important role during the Cold War. From 1964 to 1980, Kosygin was the Premier of the Soviet Union, a position that enabled him to become one of the most influential policymakers in the Soviet Union during the mid-1960s. Today, Kosygin is considered a prominent figure in both Soviet and Russian history.