Died On June 16th

German-born American aerospace engineer and space architect, Wernher Von Braun, worked in Nazi Germany's rocket development program as a young man. After World War II, he moved to the United States where he became a pioneer of rocket and space technology in the nation. In his later career, he became director of the newly formed Marshall Space Flight Center.

Best known as the father of modern epidemiology, British doctor John Snow revolutionized medical science with his study of London’s Broad Street cholera outbreak of 1854. His research contributed to the development of London’s sewage and water systems and led to the reduction in cholera cases.

English statesman and soldier John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough was the second son of Sir Winston Churchill and is remembered for his contribution to wars such as the Monmouth Rebellion and the War of the Spanish Succession. He was once imprisoned in the Tower of London for Jacobitism.

Empress Kōjun was an Empress consort of Japan. As the wife of Emperor Shōwa, Kōjun was one of the most important members of the Imperial House of Japan. She reigned as empress consort from 1926 to 1989, becoming the longest-serving empress consort in the history of Japan. Kōjun performed her ceremonial duties and accompanied Emperor Shōwa on his foreign tours.

Indian Bengali chemist Prafulla Chandra Ray founded the country’s first pharma company, Bengal Chemicals. Educated in Calcutta and Edinburgh, he later worked from his home, a room on the first floor of the college where he taught. Knighted for his achievements, he donated generous sums to the Brahmo Samaj initiatives.

American surgeon and pharmacist Crawford Long is best-known as the inventor of modern anaesthetics in the West. Long is believed to be the first to apply inhaled sulfuric ether as a general anaesthesia. He applied it for the first time in 1842 for removing a tumour from a patient’s neck and went on to perform several other surgeries using ether anaesthetic.

Ronald Neame was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer. Over the course of his career, Neame received several Academy Award nominations under various categories. Ronald Neame's contributions to the film industry earned him the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in 1996.

Elmer Ambrose Sperry is best remembered for inventing gyroscopic compasses and stabilizers, which revolutionized navigation technology back in his time. His products had been of great use to the U.S. Navy. His illustrious career had witnessed him gain over 400 patents through his eight manufacturing companies.

Known as the Oskar Schindler of musicians, Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman toured all across Europe and North America. He established the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, which recruited thousands of hapless Jewish musicians who would’ve been killed had they stayed back in Europe. His iconic Gibson ex-Huberman Stradivarius violin was stolen twice but recovered later.

Pioneering Austrian diver Hans Hass was a skilled marine biologist and underwater filmmaker who was considered one of the first to film marine life such as coral reefs, stingrays, and sharks. Known for his award-winning documentary Under the Red Sea, he also personally investigated the disappearance of prime minister Harold Holt at Portsea.

Haiti’s 4th prime minister, Marc Bazin also led the country as its provisional president in the early 1990s. He had been Haiti’s finance minister, too, and had also represented Haiti in the WHO. He had worked with the World Bank and the United Nations, too.

Stenka Razin was a Cossack leader best remembered for leading a major revolt against the tsarist bureaucracy that ruled southern Russia in the 1670s. His objective was to preserve the independence of the Cossacks. Razin's movement turned political and he became a popular symbol of peasant unrest in Russia. Although his movement failed, Razin became a cultural icon in Russia.

Twelfth-century German bishop Saint Benno was imprisoned for opposing King Henry IV. Though deposed initially, he later reconciled and was restored. He is revered as the patron saint of the city of Munich and of fishermen and weavers. His images show him holding a fish with keys between its gills.

Apart from being a physician and the first Dutch psychiatrist to gain international fame, Frederik Willem van Eeden was also an author. Known for inventing the term lucid dream, he later penned books that revolved around themes such as symbolism and psychiatric experiences. He also translated Tagore’s works into Dutch.

Felicia Montealegre was a Chilean actress whose professional achievements were overshadowed by her personal life, thanks to her marriage with popular American conductor, composer, and pianist Leonard Bernstein. She was married to Bernstein from 1951 until her death in 1978.