Famous People Who Died Today

Lena Horne was an American singer, actress, dancer, and civil rights activist. Horne's 70-year acting career was embellished with several prestigious awards, such as Grammy Awards. Her life and career were depicted in many stage shows, where she was portrayed by actresses like Leslie Uggams, Nikki Crawford, and Ryan Jillian.

Keith Whitley was an American singer whose career was cut short by his sudden death at the age of 34. Before his death, due to alcohol intoxication, Whitley recorded two albums, which spawned 12 chart-busting singles. His third and final studio album was released posthumously.

Friedrich Schiller was a German poet, physician, philosopher, playwright, and historian. Schiller is best remembered for his friendship with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the two discussed issues concerning aesthetics. Schiller's discussions with Goethe paved the way for a period, which came to be known as Weimar Classicism. Friedrich Schiller is also widely regarded as Germany's most prominent classical playwright.

Edmond O'Brien was an American film director and actor. During his illustrious career, that spanned almost four decades, O'Brien recieved several prestigious awards like an Academy Award and Golden Globe Awards. He also has a couple of stars on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer, Tenzing Norgay, was one of the first two individuals known to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the other being Edmund Hillary. He was named one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century by Time magazine. In his later years, he became the first Director of Field Training of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute.

Brenda Fassie was a South African dancer, singer, songwriter, and activist. Renowned for her bold on-stage antics, Fassie earned the nickname Madonna of The Townships. Also dubbed the Queen of African Pop, Brenda Fassie won five South African Music Awards and three Kora Awards during her illustrious career. She was also named in the Top 100 Great South Africans list.

Known for his pathbreaking Gay-Lussac's Law, French chemist-physicist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac was also the first, along with his colleague Alexander von Humboldt, to discover that water is composed of one part of oxygen and two parts of hydrogen. His name is one of the 72 that adorn the Eiffel Tower.

Italian DJ Roberto Concina, better known as Robert Miles, redefined dream-house music. Born into a military family in Switzerland, he mastered the piano and started DJ-ing as a teen. His chartbusting track Children was inspired by a set of photos taken by his father in war-torn Yugoslavia.

Christian Democracy member Aldo Moro had served as the Italian prime minister and had also held important portfolios such as foreign affairs and public education. He was also a University of Bari professor of law, initially. He was abducted and killed by left-wing terrorists known as The Red Brigades.

Part of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, Benjamin Lincoln had worked on his family farm before joining the army. After he and his 7,000 men surrendered in Charleston, he was freed in a prisoner exchange program and later became the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts.

While some scholars believe Dieterich Buxtehude was born in Denmark, others claim he was from Germany. The composer and organist was a significant figure of the Baroque period and had Johann Sebastian Bach as his student. As a church musician, he also composed for family events and festivals.

Scottish singer-songwriter Scott Hutchison is remembered as the founder of the indie rock band Frightened Rabbit. Though he had initially studied illustration, he later switched to his old love for the guitar and stepped into music. He was found dead by Scottish police after going missing for 2 days.

After leading the coup of 1980, Turkish military commander Kenan Evren took over as the 7th president of Turkey. Following his retirement, he settled in Marmaris and mastered oil painting. Evren died before his final conviction and sentencing in the trial for the 1980 coup.

Freya Stark was an Anglo-Italian travel writer and explorer. One of the first non-Arabs to explore the southern Arabian Desert, Stark penned down over 24 books on her travels in Afghanistan and the Middle East. She also wrote many essays and autobiographical works. In 1968, Freya Stark embarked on her last expedition to Afghanistan at the age of 75.

Born into the mafia family of Luigi Impastato, Giuseppe Impastato, or Peppino, is remembered for breaking apart from his family and beginning anti-mafia activities. He launched the magazine L’Idea Socialista and the radio station Radio Aut. He ran for elections, too, but was later assassinated.

Obafemi Awolowo was a Nigerian nationalist and statesman. He played a key role in Nigeria's independence movement. He began his career as a journalist and edited several publications. He later studied law and entered politics. As a politician, he was respected for his exemplary integrity and strong character. The Obafemi Awolowo Foundation was founded in his memory in 1992.

Wouter Weylandt was a Belgian cyclist who was part of two professional teams, namely Quick-Step–Davitamon and Leopard Trek. He won a couple of races before dying in a crash while competing in the third stage of the Giro d'Italia in 2011. He was 26 years old at the time of his death.

Hungarian banker and economist Alexandre Lamfalussy was not just an Oxford doctorate but had also taught at institutes such as Yale. He was also associated with the Bank for International Settlements and was the Frankfurt-based European Monetary Institute’s first president. He had also been a BIS economic advisor.