Famous People Who Died Today

Pablo Picasso was a renowned artist whose paintings sell by millions of dollars at auctions even today, many years after his death. With masterful strokes, attractive shades and rich textures, Picasso created some of the most visually impressive arts of the 20th century. While exploring new styles and experimenting with different techniques, Picasso co-founded Cubist art style and co-invented collage.

United Kingdom’s first female Prime Minister and also the longest serving Prime Minister in the 20th century, Margaret Thatcher served three consecutive terms in the office from 1979 till 1990. Her political views and leadership approach, known as Thatcherism, got her the nickname of Iron Lady. Though controversial, she prominently ranks high in the list of the best British Prime Ministers.

Ryan White became an icon for HIV/AIDS patients in the 1980s, when he was not allowed to return to school after an AIDS diagnosis. He was apparently infected with the virus during a blood treatment for haemophilia. His case led to the passage of the Ryan White CARE Act.

Bing Russell was an American actor whose career spanned nearly 40 years. Perhaps Bing Russell's biggest contribution to the American entertainment industry is his son Kurt Russell. Also a baseball enthusiast, Russell owned the Portland Mavericks, a professional baseball team, which was featured in a 2014 documentary titled The Battered Bastards of Baseball.

WWF legend James Hellwig was better known as The Ultimate Warrior and the Dingo Warrior and won the WWF Heavyweight Championship once and the Intercontinental Championship twice. Following his retirement, he became a public speaker. Shortly before his death, he was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame.

Vaslav Nijinsky was a ballet dancer and choreographer. He is counted among the greatest male dancers of the early 20th century. He was known for the intensity of his characterizations. He was brilliant and could dance en pointe, a rare skill few male dancers of his era possessed. He suffered from mental health issues in his later life. 

Peter Higgs is a British theoretical physicist. He studied at King's College London and was awarded a Ph.D. in 1954. He went on to have a brilliant academic career and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1983. In 2013, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Belgian physicist François Englert.  

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was an Indian poet, novelist, and journalist. He is credited with composing India's national song, Vande Mataram, which personifies India as a mother goddess. The song played a major role in inspiring revolutionaries during India's struggle for independence. Dubbed Emperor of Literature, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote 14 novels alongside several poems.

Junius Spencer Morgan was an American financier and banker. The patriarch to the famous Morgan banking house, Morgan is credited with establishing J. S. Morgan & Co. in 1864. He then transformed his banking house into a financial empire with the help of his son, John Pierpont Morgan Sr. 

Nobel Prize-winning Soviet physicist Pyotr Kapitsa revolutionized science with his invention of new machines for liquefaction of gases. He is also remembered for discovering that liquid helium is superfluid. He had also served in World War I and had lost his father, wife, and children in the 1918-1919 flu epidemic.

Erich von Falkenhayn was a war leader who played a major role during World War I where he served as the Chief of the German General Staff from 1914 to 1916. He also served as the Prussian Minister of War from 1913 to 1915. Although his reputation was attacked by certain groups, many regard Falkenhayn as a great German general.

Apart from being a regent of Japan, Taishi Shōtoku, or Prince Umayado, had also enriched Japanese literature, chronicling the history of the country. He introduced the Seventeen-article constitution and also promoted Buddhism and Confucianism. He improved Japan’s diplomatic and cultural ties with China, by resuming sending envoys to the country.

Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa was a Zimbabwean politician best remembered for his service as the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia from 1 June 1979 to 18 April 1980. He also served as a bishop at the United Methodist Church (UMC).

Hungarian nobleman Ferenc Rákóczi, II was born into a Magyar noble family and was the richest landlord in Hungary and the prince of Transylvania. He played a major role in the near-successful Rákóczi's War of Independence against the Habsburg empire and is now considered one of Hungary’s national heroes.

Cedella Booker was a Jamaican singer best remembered as the mother of Bob Marley. Booker is credited with conceiving and creating an annual music event, which came to be known as the 9 Mile Music Festival. While Marley helped popularize the festival, Cedella Booker helped spread the legend of Marley far and wide by authoring two books on her son.

Charles Auguste de Bériot was a Belgian artist, violinist, and composer. De Bériot composed a significant volume of violin music which includes 10 concertos. His Romantic style of composition and pioneering violin technique make him an ideal teacher for any violin student. His pedagogical compositions are still being taught to violin students all over the world. 

English-Canadian writer Susanna Moodie is best known for her realistic depictions of her life in “the bush” or the wilderness of Canada, which was a British colony back in her time. Her most popular work remains Roughing it in the Bush. She had initially also penned several children’s stories.

Remembered for his research on molecular surface tension, physicist Loránd Eötvös also invented the torsion pendulum. Born to a famous Hungarian author and minister, Eötvös initially aspired to become a lawyer but later deviated to physics. The University of Budapest, where he taught, was later named after him.

Swedish poet Erik Axel Karlfeldt is mostly remembered for his regional poetry that portrayed the peasant life and culture of his homeland. He rejected the Nobel Prize once due to his membership of the Swedish Academy that awards the prize but was awarded the Nobel posthumously.