Who died? Why did they die? Were they assassinated or was it a natural cause? Explore through history who died when and how? Explore every day, for every moment. Learn everything about this day with a historical perspective.
Alfred Nobel, the Swedish scientist who created dynamite and organised the Nobel Prize ceremony on this date, died at the age of 63 in 1896.
Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born on October 21, 1833, in Stockholm, Sweden. Alfred Nobel is well-known for the yearly prizes he bestows in research, literature, and ...
Ashok Kumar, an Indian actor, died from persistent asthma at the age of 90 in 2001.
Ashok Kumar died on December 10, 2001, at the age of 90, at his home in Chembur, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He died as a result of heart failure. Kumudlal Ganguly...
M.S. (Madurai Shanmukhavadivu) Subbulakshmi, the first Indian vocalist to be given the Bharat Ratna, died in 2004 at the age of 88.
Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi is a name that has become synonymous with Carnatic music. This immaculate vocalist, whose voice had almost heavenly power, is ...
Ravi Shankar, a Bengali Brahmin sitar maestro and Indian classical music composer, died in 2012 at the age of 92.
Pandit Ravi Shankar was an Indian composer and musician best known for popularising the Indian classical instrument Sitar around the world. Shankar grew up learnin...
In 1799, George Washington, an American Founding Father, military leader who commanded the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and the first President of the United States, died at the age of 66.
George Washington died between ten and eleven o'clock at night on December 14, 1799. His wife, who sat at the foot of the bed, his friends Dr. Craik and Tobias...
Vallabhbhai Patel, an Indian freedom warrior and politician, died in 1952 at the age of 75.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was a leader of the Indian National Congress till his death. Many historians, like Ramchandra Guha, find it hilarious that Patel is being ...
Walt Disney, an American animator and producer, dies of lung cancer at the age of 65 in 1966.
Disney's involvement in Disney World came to an end in late 1966, when he was diagnosed with lung cancer in his left lung, the result of a lifetime practise of...
Colonel Harland Sanders, the American inventor of Kentucky Fried Chicken, died in 1980 at the age of 90.
Colonel Harland David Sanders is an American businessman best known for inventing the fast food chicken restaurant Kentucky Fried Chicken (commonly known as KFC) a...
Kim Jong-il, North Korea's supreme leader from 1994 to 2011, died of a suspected heart attack in 2011 at the age of 70.
According to North Korean press reports, Kim Jong-il died around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, December 17. (6:30 Friday evening Washington time). His death was broadcast...
Emily Bronte, an English author, dies of TB at the age of 30 in 1848.
Emily Jane Bronte was an English author and poet best known for her one and only novel, Wuthering Heights, which is today regarded as a classic of English lit...
Sacagawea, the Shoshone interpreter for the Lewis and Clark expedition, dies at the age of 24 in 1812.
Sacagawea served as an interpreter and guide for Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's westward voyage from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. Sacagawe...
Autar Singh Paintal, an Indian medical scientist, died in 2004 at the age of 79.
The authentic men in whom nature has succeeded are the great ones. They are not extraordinary – they are in the proper sequence, as they should be. Autar Sin...
F. Scott Fitzgerald, an American novelist, dies of a heart attack at the age of 44 in 1940.
Fitzgerald, Francis Scott Key, is a well-known author of short tales and novels. He is largely recognised as one of the best writers to emerge from American soil i...
Samuel Beckett, an Irish-French writer, died in 1989 at the age of 83.
Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was a novelist, dramatist, short storey writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator fro...
P. V. Narasimha Rao, the ninth Prime Minister of India, died of a heart attack in 2004 at the age of 83.
Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (June 28, 1921 – December 23, 2004) was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as India's ninth Prime Minister fro...
Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer and viceroy of Cochin, dies at the age of 55 in 1524.
Vasco da Gama is primarily remembered for becoming the first person to sail from Europe to India by circumnavigating Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Da Gama landed...
C. Rajagopalachari, India's liberation warrior and the country's first Governor General, died in 1972 at the age of 94.
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari was a distinguished Indian politician, freedom fighter, statesman, and lawyer. He was India's last Governor-General and the first I...
Charlie Chaplin, a British actor and comedian, died in Switzerland in 1977 at the age of 88.
Charlie Chaplin, the film actor, director, and writer, was one of cinema's most creative inventors. His portrayal of "the tramp," a sympathetic comed...
In 2006, at the age of 73, James Brown, the American R&B, gospel, soul, and funk vocalist regarded as 'The Godfather of Soul,' died of heart failure.
James Joseph Brown was a well-known American musician who made significant contributions to the development of several musical genres, including soul music, funk m...
George Michael, an English singer-songwriter and pop sensation, died in 2016 at the age of 53 from suspected heart failure.
George Michael, born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, was an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was a major pop performer in the 1980s and 1990s, win...
Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's 12th Prime Minister and the first female leader of a Muslim country, was murdered by a suicide bomber in Rawalpindi in 2007.
Benazir Bhutto was the first Muslim woman to head a country. On December 27, 2007, a 15-year-old suicide bomber named Bilal assassinated Bhutto. She had barely com...
Gustave Eiffel, the French engineer in chief of the Eiffel Tower, died in 1923 at the age of 91.
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was a civil engineer from France. He gained his mark as a graduate of the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures with many bridges...
Pierre Cardin, an Italian-French fashion designer, dies at the age of 98 in 2020.
Iconic French designer Pierre Cardin, known for his avant-garde fashions in the 1960s and 1970s, died on December 29, 2020, at the age of 98. The French Academy of...
Grigori Rasputin, a Russian monk and companion of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, was killed by reactionary Russian aristocracy in 1916 at the age of 47.
The assassination of Rasputin, Russia's iconic "Mad Monk," provides fuel for a wonderful historical storey that combines truth and mythology. However...
Saddam Hussein, the President of Iraq, was hung in Baghdad in 2006 at the age of 69.
Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging on the morning of Eid al-Adha, December 30, 2006, for crimes against humanity. It is a day that will live on in the minds of...
