Died On October 20th

The 31st president of the United States, Herbert Hoover, was sworn into the office in 1929, the year the Great Depression struck the American economy. Earlier, Hoover was a successful mining engineer and had earned a reputation of a humanitarian who fed numerous Europeans during and after WWI. His policies during the depression, though, could not provide relief to people.

World renowned stage magician James Randi, better known by his stage name, The Amazing Randi, had been drawn to magic while recovering from a bicycle accident. He later dropped out of high school to become a road magician. He is also fond of debunking theories of paranormal activity.

English theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate Paul Dirac OM FRS, counted among leading physicists of the 20th century, made fundamental contributions in the early development of quantum electrodynamics and quantum mechanics. He derived the Dirac equation while the modern theory of antimatter began with one of his papers. His book The Principles of Quantum Mechanics remains an influential monograph on the subject.

Richard Francis Burton was a British explorer, soldier, and scholar. He is best remembered for his explorations in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Along with John Hanning Speke, Burton was the first European to witness the Great Lakes of Africa. A prolific writer, Burton wrote several scholarly articles about numerous subjects like sexual practices, falconry, human behavior, travel, and ethnography.

Sergei Bondarchuk was a Soviet and Russian actor, screenwriter, and film director. One of the leading personalities of Russian cinema during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Bondarchuk is best remembered for his period dramas, including War and Peace and Waterloo. Sergei Bondarchuk's work earned him numerous international accolades, including the Golden Globe Award.

American scientist Harlow Shapley is best-remembered for ascertaining correct position of Sun within Milky Way Galaxy and for heading the Harvard College Observatory. He determined the size and shape of the Milky Way Galaxy and the Sun’s position within it using the Cepheid variable stars and wrote the Liquid Water Belt that provided scientific acceptance to Hubertus Strughold’s ecosphere theory.

Porn tycoon Bob Guccione was the founder of the iconic Penthouse adult magazine. While he initially managed a laundromat chain and then drew cartoons for various publications, he later soared to fame with Penthouse and even photographed his models. A string of bad investments, including a failed casino, brought about his downfall.

Much before his daughter Maria Theresa’s birth, Emperor Charles VI’s Pragmatic Sanction enabled his future daughter to succeed him, due to the lack of male heirs. Though he was always busy fighting, he apparently did it all to bring about peace. He had also unsuccessfully attempted to conquer Spain.

Russian mathematician Andrey Kolmogorov lost his mother at birth and was raised by his aunts. His talent in mathematics was discovered when he joined the Moscow State University to study history and math, while simultaneously studying metallurgy elsewhere. His greatest contribution to mathematics was in the field of probability theory.

Shigeru Yoshida had been the prime minister of Japan in the face of Allied occupation after World War II. Born to an entrepreneur and a geisha, he had later been adopted by a friend of his father’s. He is best known for the Yoshida Doctrine, which ushered in economic prosperity.

Apart from being a rabbi, Shlomo Carlebach, or Reb Shlomo, mesmerized people with his musical talent. “The singing rabbi,” known for his Hasidic-style songs, was also associated with the Baal teshuva movement. Following his death, scores of women accused him of sexual harassment. He also inspired the musical Soul Doctor.

Farooq Leghari was a Pakistani politician best remembered for serving as the eighth President of the country from 1993 until his resignation in 1997. Farooq Leghari also served as the Minister for Water and Power from 1988 to 1990.

José Batlle y Ordóñez was a Uruguayan politician best remembered for his service as the President of Uruguay on two occasions. He held the president's office from 1903 to 1907 and again from 1911 to 1915. He was also appointed as the acting president in 1899. Batlle is credited with modernizing the country by introducing extensive welfare state reforms.

Sister Emmanuelle was a human rights worker and Catholic Religious Sister. She is best remembered for her work that aimed at helping the poor in Egypt and Turkey. Emmanuelle, who was born to a French father and a Belgian mother, was granted Egyptian citizenship in 1991 for her work in Egypt. She was also renowned for her unorthodox religious views.

Russian historian Mikhail Ivanovich Rostovtzeff is best-known for producing significant works on ancient Roman and Greek history. He emerged as an influential authority on ancient-history of South Russia and Ukraine while working in Russia. The term caravan city is believed to have been coined by him. Noted books of Rostovtzeff include Dura-Europos and Its Art and Skythien und der Bosporus.

Czech-American biochemist Carl Ferdinand Cori’s interest in science was not surprising, with him being a zoologist’s son. Along with his wife, Gerty Cori, and Argentine physiologist Bernardo Houssay, Cori won the Nobel Prize for finding out that glycogen is an energy storehouse of the body.

Swiss-American theologian Philip Schaff is remembered for his works such as The Creeds of Christendom. He believed that the positive aspects of both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism could be blended into an ecumenical form of spirituality. He later founded and headed the American Society of Church History.