Famous People Who Died Today

Merchant and statesman, John Hancock, served as the president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776, owing to this position. A rich man, he used his wealth to support the colonial cause during the American Revolution. He also used his influence to ratify the United States Constitution in 1788.

Franklin Pierce was an American politician who served as the 14th president of the US. A northern Democrat, Franklin Pierce's actions leading up to the American Civil War are believed to have contributed to the commencement of the war. Scholars and historians rank Pierce as one of the least memorable and worst US presidents.

Prescott Bush was an American politician and banker. He is best remembered for his service as the US Senator from Connecticut from 4 November 1952 to 3 January 1963. Prescott Bush is also remembered as the father of former President George H. W. Bush.

Willy Brandt was a German statesman and politician. From 1964 to 1987, he led the Social Democratic Party of Germany. From 1969 to 1974, Brandt served as chancellor of West Germany. In 1971, he was honored with the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to achieve reconciliation between the countries of Eastern Europe and West Germany.

John Monash was an Australian military commander during World War I. He played a major role in the Gallipoli campaign, which took place from February 1915 to January 1916 on the Gallipoli peninsula. John Monash is widely regarded as the most popular commander in Australian history and one of the most prominent allied generals of World War I.

Jayaprakash Narayan was a theorist, political leader, socialist, and Indian independence activist. Often referred to as the Hero of Quit India Movement, Jayaprakash Narayan was honored with the prestigious Magsaysay Award in 1965 for Public Service. He was posthumously honored with India's highest civilian award—The Bharat Ratna—in 1999.

Best known for penning the children’s classic Bambi, Felix Salten was forced to flee Vienna during the Nazi regime and eventually settled in Switzerland. His books were banned in Austria after Germany annexed the country, but that didn’t dent his popularity as an author. He was a skilled hunter, too.

Johnny Kidd was an English singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his association with the rock and roll group, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, where he was the lead vocalist. Thanks to one of his most popular songs, Shakin' All Over, Johnny Kidd was one of the few British rockers to achieve international fame before the Beatles.

Engineer William Mahone wasn’t just a railway tycoon associated with the Norfolk–Petersburg Railroad but was also part of the Confederate Army. He was one of the major leaders of Virginia’s Readjusters, a coalition of African-Americans and financially backward whites. The US senator later sided with the Republican Party.

Maria Konopnicka was a Polish poet, children's writer, novelist, translator, critic, journalist, and activist for Polish independence and women's rights. Counted among the most prominent poets of Poland's Positivist period, Maria Konopnicka first gained prominence after the publication of her poem In the Mountains. A number of memorials and statues have been erected across Poland in her honor.

Apart from being the daughter of legendary Indian playback singer Asha Bhosle’s daughter, Varsha Bhosle was also a singer and journalist in her own right. She wrote for The Times of India and The Sunday Observer, among other publications. Four years after a failed suicide attempt, she shot herself to death.

Cameroonian writer Mongo Beti is remembered for his controversial satirical novels such as Le Pauvre Christ de Bomba. Expelled from his missionary school in Mbalmayo for his vocal nature, he later studied at the Sorbonne. His works also spoke about colonialism, negritude, and the ill-effects of French Catholic missionary activities.

Miguel Grau Seminario was a Peruvian naval officer best remembered for his role in the Battle of Angamos, which was part of the War of the Pacific. Nicknamed Gentleman of the Seas, Miguel Grau Seminario is also remembered for his chivalrous and kind treatment of defeated enemies.

Brazilian-born Greek-origin painter and sculptor Constantine Andreou initially worked as a carpenter in Athens and later focused on sculpting. A scholarship took him to France, where he established himself as a fine painter. Apart from introducing new techniques of painting, he also launched a foundation to help budding artists.

Anthropologist William Edward Hanley Stanner contributed immensely to studies on Indigenous Australians. He was also one of the men behind the Canberra-based Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies and taught at the Australian National University. An Aboriginal rights activist, he is said to have coined the term the Great Australian Silence.

Jacob Neusner redefined the study of Judaism in the U.S. at a time when theological studies focused on Christianity. A Harvard alumnus, he later attended the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He not only ushered in new techniques of critical examination of Judaism but also translated countless Jewish texts.

Richard Whately was an English logician, academic, rhetorician, economist, theologian, and philosopher. His influential work Elements of Logic, which popularized the study of logic in the United States of America and in Britain, inspired several logicians including Charles Sanders Peirce, who read the book when he was 12 years old.