Famous People Who Died Today

Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy, is widely considered as one of the greatest authors ever. After experiencing a profound moral crisis in the 1870s, Tolstoy went through a phase of spiritual awakening, which had a great impact on his subsequent works that incorporated ideas on nonviolent resistance. These works influenced personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, thereby effectively changing the course of history.

Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico, the founder of the scuola metafisica art movement, showed marked influence of his childhood spent in Greece in his work. His metaphysical paintings showcased empty cityscapes, mannequins, trains, and towers. His notable works include The Child's Brain and The Enigma of an Autumn Afternoon.

Francisco Franco overthrew the Second Spanish Republic by leading the Nationalist forces as their general during the Spanish Civil War. Subsequently, Franco ruled over Spain as a dictator from 1939 to 1975. He had such an impact as a dictator that the period between the Nationalist victory and Franco's death is known as Francoist Spain in the history of Spain.

Though a witty author, John Harington is better remembered as the inventor of the flush toilet. He was banished from the royal court for the cockiness of his language in his written works. He also earned a knighthood and later came to be known as Queen Elizabeth’s “saucy godson.”

Best remembered as the producer of the James Bond flick Thunderball, Irish director-producer Kevin McClory had a long-drawn legal battle with the author of the James Bond novel series Ian Fleming. Previously part of the British Merchant Navy, he was once stranded on a raft at sea and narrowly escaped death.

Nobel Prize-winning English scientist Francis William Aston was solely a chemist before the advent of X-rays and radioactivity made him focus on physics too. He is best remembered for inventing the mass spectrograph, or the mass spectrometer, which helped him discover 212 of the 287 natural isotopes.

Ian Smith was a politician who served as the prime minister of Rhodesia (today known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. Born to British immigrants in  the Southern Rhodesian Midlands, he was a controversial figure who personified “White Rhodesia.” While his detractors denounced him as "an unrepentant racist," his supporters hailed him as "a political visionary.” 

Renowned British politician John Prescott had not just been the deputy leader of the Labour Party but had also served as deputy prime minister of the UK. Born to a railway signalman in Wales, he moved to England at age 4. He had also initially worked as a steward on passenger liners.

Trofim Lysenko was a Soviet biologist and agronomist. Lysenko was one of the most influential supporters of Lamarckism. He also condemned Mendelian genetics and supported Lysenkoism, a political campaign that rejected natural selection. Lysenko used his political power to imprison his critics. Several Soviet scientists, including Nikolai Vavilov, who failed to renounce genetics were either imprisoned or killed.

Stefan Żeromski was a dramatist and novelist who received four nominations for the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature during his illustrious career. He was a leading Polish neoromantic writer and many of his novels like Dzieje grzechu and Przedwiośnie were adapted into films. Stefan Żeromski's works have also been translated into many languages including Croatian.

Civil engineer Sir John Fowler, 1st Baronet is best remembered for constructing the London Metropolitan Railway and for co-constructing Scotland’s Forth Bridge. He had also worked in Egypt and was the youngest to serve as the president of the Institution of Civil Engineers. His works also included locomotives and hydro-electric schemes.

Toshimitsu Obata, better known in the sumo wrestling circuit as Kitanoumi Toshimitsu, began his sumo career in middle school and created history when, at 21, he became the youngest-ever yokozuna in history. He later chaired the Japan Sumo Association and also set many records. He succumbed to colorectal cancer at 62.

A practicing physician, Henry Draper later taught at the New York University medical school. However, he later devoted all his time to his passion, astronomy, photographing celestial bodies and following in his doctor and amateur astronomer father’s footsteps. He was the first to photograph a stellar spectrum and a nebula.

A renowned Swedish operatic soprano from the 19th century, Christina Nilsson ruled the world opera scene for 20 years. She was often compared to fellow opera star Adelina Patti and finds a mention in Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. One of her most iconic roles was that of Marguerite in Charles Gounod's Faust.

Swedish painter John Bauer, best known for his portraits of dense forests and fairy tale creatures, first gained fame with the release of his book Amongst Gnomes and Trolls. Part of the Romantic nationalistic movement, he was inspired by both the Italian Renaissance and Sami cultures. He died in a shipwreck.