Famous People Who Died Today

John Bonham was an English drummer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential and greatest rock drummers in history, Bonham was part of the world-renowned rock band Led Zeppelin. He influenced several drummers like Joey Kramer, Dave Grohl, Ian Mosley, Neil Peart, and Tommy Lee among other famous drummers. Bonham is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.

Arnold Palmer was an American golfer who won 62 PGA Tour titles in a career spanning over 60 years. Nicknamed The King, Palmer is considered one of the most charismatic and greatest players in the history of professional golf. He is seen as the first superstar who helped popularize the sport in the television age, which started in the '50s.

José Fernández was a Cuban-American baseball player who played for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball from 2013 to 2016. Renowned for his skills as a pitcher, José had four pitches in his armory: a four-seam fastball, a slurve, a changeup, and a sinker. He died at the age of 24 when a speedboat, which he was piloting, crashed.

Mary Astor was an American actress best remembered for her portrayal of Brigid O'Shaughnessy in the 1941 film noir The Maltese Falcon. During an illustrious career that spanned several decades, Mary Astor overcame personal difficulties and achieved great success, eventually winning an Oscar under the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance in the 1941 drama film The Great Lie.

Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan environmental, social, and political activist. She achieved popularity after becoming the first African woman to be honored with the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. She is credited with founding a non-governmental organization called The Green Belt Movement (GBM), which focuses on women's rights and environmental conservation.

German novelist Erich Maria Remarque is best remembered for his landmark novel All Quiet on the Western Front. Born in the late 1890s, he was conscripted into the German Imperial Army during World War I. His wartime experiences later motivated him to write what would become his seminal work. He also authored many other poignant novels.

John B. Watson was the first to introduce the theory of behaviorism to psychology. He believed human behavior, like animal behavior, should be studied under objective and experimental conditions. One of his experiments included conditioning the fear of white rats into an 11-year-old boy he named Little Albert.

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam was an Indian playback singer, music director, actor, television presenter, film producer, and voice-over artist. Widely regarded as one of the most gifted singers of his generation, Balasubrahmanyam received six National Film Awards in an illustrious singing career that spanned more than five decades. He was posthumously honored with the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award.

Agnes von Kurowsky was an American nurse who served during the First World War in an American National Red Cross hospital in Milan. She is credited with inspiring Ernest Hemingway's character Catherine Barkley in his 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms. Agnes von Kurowsky and Ernest Hemingway's love story was portrayed in the 1996 movie In Love and War.

Johann Heinrich Lambert was a Swiss polymath whose contributions to the fields of physics, mathematics, map projections, astronomy, and philosophy are considered important by many scholars. He is credited with introducing hyperbolic functions into trigonometry. He is also credited with inventing a hygrometer, which is used to measure the quantity of water vapor in soil and air.

Legendary Czech composer Julius Fučík, also known as the Bohemian Sousa, initially played the bassoon for the Austro-Hungarian Regiment and then bagged a job with the German opera theater in Prague. His best-known marches include the Florentine March and Entrance of the Gladiators. He spent his final years in Berlin.

Best known for co-developing the Modigliani–Miller theorem, Nobel Prize-winning economist Franco Modigliani initially studied law. Son of a Jewish physician in Italy, he fled the fascist rule of his country and moved to the U.S., and later served MIT as a professor. He also laid down the life-cycle hypothesis.

Austrian forest caretaker, naturalist, pseudoscientist, biomimicry experimenter, inventor and philosopher, Viktor Schauberger came up with his own concepts based on his observations of nature. He mentioned in the Implosion magazine that the propeller was incorrectly designed by the aeronautical and marine engineers.

American abolitionist Elizabeth Van Lew is best-known for developing and running an extensive and efficient spy-ring for Union Army during American Civil War. She was the first person in Richmond who raised the US flag in the city after it fell to US forces in April 1865. She later served as Postmaster General of Richmond and modernized the city's postal-system.

One of the most prominent modern Welsh poets, R. S. Thomas is remembered for his cold style of depicting the reality of his country. Born to a sailor, he grew up in port towns and grew up to become an Anglican priest. Many of his poems contain the character Iago Prytherch.

Pope Clement VII was head of the Catholic Church from 1523 to 1534. He also served as the ruler of the Papal States and is considered the most unfortunate of the popes as his reign was marked by military, political, and religious struggles. Despite his troubled papacy, Pope Clement left a remarkable cultural legacy, having commissioned artworks by personalities like Michelangelo.

Paul Ehrenfest was an Austrian-Dutch theoretical physicist. A close associate of Albert Einstein, whom he had met during his visit to Prague in 1912, Ehrenfest frequently hosted Einstein in Leiden where he was serving as a professor. Paul Ehrenfest is best remembered for his work in the field of statistical mechanics.

Jacob Schiff was a German-born American banker, philanthropist, and businessman. He is credited with financing the expansion of American railroads. Jacob Schiff also played an important role during the Russo-Japanese War where he helped finance the Japanese military efforts.  

Spanish artist, sculptor, and architect César Manrique had dropped out of his architecture school because he didn’t like its technical regulations. He later studied painting in Madrid. His creations in Lanzarote, such as the Jameos del Agua and his own house, mingle effortlessly with the volcanic formations of the Canary Islands.

Spanish Jesuit priest, philosopher, and theologian Francisco Suárez was born to an affluent lawyer and had initially studied law. However, he joined the Jesuits later, following which he taught philosophy and theology. Known for writing Disputationes Metaphysicae, he was a prime figure of the School of Salamanca movement.

Born to pianist parents Robert and Clara Schumann, Eugenie Schumann grew up to be not just a fine pianist but also an author, who had penned her memoir, The Schumanns and Johannes Brahms. It is believed, she was in a long-term lesbian relationship with Austrian singer Marie Fillunger.

Lotta Crabtree was an entertainer, actress, and comedian who became one of the most beloved and wealthiest American entertainers during the late-19th century. She was also a well-known philanthropist; she left an estate worth $4 million for a charitable trust as part of her will. Dubbed The Nation's Darling, Lotta Crabtree's life and career inspired the 1951 film Golden Girl. 

Czech-born actor Jan Triska, who later moved to the US, was know for his roles in films such as Ronin, Lunacy, and Up and Down. The 3-time Czech Lion-nominated actor moved back to the Czech Republic after the 1989 Velvet Revolution. He also delivered an award-winning performance in a production of King Lear.

Tapio Rautavaara was a Finnish singer, actor, and athlete. He is best remembered for winning the gold medal in the javelin throw event at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. A former world champion, Rautavaara also won a bronze medal at the 1946 European Championships in Oslo. As a musician, Rautavaara is credited with inspiring other musicians like Ville Valo.  

Turkish singer-poet and bard Neşet Ertaş, who specialized in traditional and folk music, was also skilled in playing the bağlama. The son of Turkish folk poet and singer Muharrem Ertaş, he followed in his father’s footsteps. He had also taught music in Germany and was named UNESCO’s National Living Human Treasure.