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Hahn Otto (b. 1879-08-03 / d. 1968-07-28)
He was a German chemist who received the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering nuclear fission. He is considered a pioneer of radioactivity and radiochemistry. Glenn T Seaborg deemed Hahn "the father of nuclear chemistry". Hahn was also called the "founder of the atomic age" by his contemporaries and, officially, by the senate and the members of the Max Planck Society.
At the end of World War II in 1945 Hahn was suspected of working on the German nuclear energy project to develop an atomic reactor or an atomic bomb. But his only connection was the discovery of fission, he did not work on the program. Hahn and nine German physicists (including Max von Laue, Werner Heisenberg and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker) were interned at Farm Hall, Godmanchester, near Cambridge, England. While they were there, the German scientists learned of the dropping of the American atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9. Hahn was on the brink of despair, as he felt that because he had discovered nuclear fission he shared responsibility for the death and suffering of hundreds of thousands of Japanese people. Early in January 1946, the group was allowed to return to Germany.
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65
Born 1959-12-31. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Cancer
Val Edward Kilmer was an American actor. Initially a stage actor, he found fame after appearances in comedy films Top Secret! (1984) and Real Genius (1985), and later in the military action film Top Gun (1986) and the fantasy film Willow (1988). Kilmer gained acclaim for his portrayal of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's The Doors (1991). In 2015, Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer. He subsequently underwent a tracheal procedure that damaged his vocal cords, leaving him with severe difficulty speaking. He also underwent chemotherapy and two tracheotomies, and died of pneumonia in 2025.
66
Born 1956-06-22. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Infection
François Hadji-Lazaro was a French actor, musician and producer. Hadji-Lazaro was born in Paris 15eme. He founded the French independent label Boucherie Productions (1985–2001) and played in many bands such as Les Garçons Bouchers (1986–1995) and Pigalle (1986–2018). Hadji-Lazaro appeared in more than 20 films since 1987, including a lead role in Cemetery Man. Hadji-Lazaro had a remarkable collaboration with Roland Topor that lead to the album "François détexte Topor". Hadji-Lazaro died from septicemy at the age of 66.
85
Born 1938-01-25. Domain:Art. Cause of death:Heart
Leiji Matsumoto (Japanese: 松本零士, Hepburn: Matsumoto Reiji, born Akira Matsumoto (松本晟)) was a Japanese manga artist, and creator of several anime and manga series. His wife Miyako Maki is also a manga artist. Matsumoto was famous for his space operas such as Space Battleship Yamato and Galaxy Express 999. His style was characterized by mythological and often tragic storylines with strong moral themes, noble heroes, feminine heroines, and a love of strange worlds and melancholy atmosphere.
66
Born 1955-12-24. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Cancer
Clarence Alfred Gilyard Jr. was an American university professor, actor, and author. As a performer, he appeared in film, television, and stage productions; some sources give his middle name as Alfred. Gilyard was known for his roles as second private investigator and right-hand man Conrad McMasters to Ben Matlock (played by Andy Griffith) on the legal drama series Matlock from 1989 to 1993; Pastor Bruce Barnes in the first two Left Behind movies; Cordell Walker's (played by Chuck Norris) Texas Ranger partner, James "Jimmy" Trivette, in the 1990s crime drama Walker, Texas Ranger; Theo, the terrorist computer expert in Die Hard; and Lieutenant (junior grade) Evan "Sundown" Gough in Top Gun.
84
Born 1937-05-15. Domain:Politics. Cause of death:Age
Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, Albright was the first woman to hold the post. Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Albright immigrated to the United States after the 1948 communist coup d'état when she was eleven years old. Her father, diplomat Josef Korbel, settled the family in Denver, Colorado, and she became a U.S. citizen in 1957. Albright graduated from Wellesley College in 1959 and earned a PhD from Columbia University in 1975, writing her thesis on the Prague Spring. She worked as an aide to Senator Edmund Muskie from 1976 to 1978, before serving as a staff member on the National Security Council under Zbigniew Brzezinski. She served in that position until 1981, when President Jimmy Carter left office. After leaving the National Security Council, Albright joined the academic faculty of Georgetown University in 1982 and advised Democratic candidates regarding foreign policy. Following the 1992 presidential election, Albright helped assemble President Bill Clinton's National Security Council. She was appointed United States ambassador to the United Nations from 1993 to 1997, a position she held until elevation as secretary of state. Secretary Albright served in that capacity until President Clinton left office in 2001. Albright served as chair of the Albright Stonebridge Group, a consulting firm, and was the Michael and Virginia Mortara Endowed Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in May 2012. Albright served on the board of the Council on Foreign Relations. Albright died from cancer in Washington, D.C., at the age of 84.
83
Born 1938-09-23. Domain:Art. Cause of death:Age
Jean-Claude Mézières was a French bandes dessinées artist and illustrator. Born in Paris and raised in Saint-Mandé, he was introduced to drawing by his older brother and influenced by comics artists such as Hergé, Andre Franquin and Morris and later by Jijé and Jack Davis. Educated at the École nationale supérieure des arts appliqués et des métiers d'art, he worked upon graduation as an illustrator for books and magazines as well as in advertising. A lifelong interest in the Wild West led him to travel to the United States in 1965 in search of adventure as a cowboy, an experience that would prove influential on his later work. Returning to France, Mézières teamed up with his childhood friend, Pierre Christin, to create Valérian and Laureline, the popular, long-running science fiction comics series for which he is best known and which has proved to be influential to many science fiction and fantasy films, including Star Wars. Mézières contributed as a conceptual designer on several motion picture projects, most notably the 1997 Luc Besson film, The Fifth Element, as well as continuing to work as an illustrator for newspapers, magazines and in advertising. He also taught courses on the production of comics at the University of Paris VIII: Vincennes—Saint-Denis. Mézières received international recognition through a number of prestigious awards, most notably the 1984 Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême.
87
Born 1934-09-29. Domain:Science (Medical/Bio style). Cause of death:Age
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (/ˈmiːhaɪ ˈtʃiːksɛntmiːˌhɑːjiː/, Hungarian: Csíkszentmihályi Mihály, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃiːksɛntmihaːji ˈmihaːj]) was a Hungarian-American psychologist. He recognised and named the psychological concept of flow, a highly focused mental state conducive to productivity. He was the Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. He was the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake Forest College.
69
Born 1951-10-08. Domain:Business. Cause of death:Cancer
Maki Kaji (鍜治 真起, Kaji Maki) was the president of Nikoli Co., Ltd., a Japanese puzzle manufacturer. He is widely known as "the father of Sudoku" for his role in popularizing the number game.
87
Born 1933-09-15. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
Henry Darrow (born Enrique Tomás Delgado Jiménez) was an American character actor of stage and film known for his role as Manolito "Mano" Montoya on the 1960s television series The High Chaparral. In film, Darrow played the corrupt and vengeful Trooper Hancock in The Hitcher. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was seen in numerous guest starring television roles. Darrow replaced Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Zorro's father Don Alejandro de la Vega in the 1990s television series Zorro.
85
Born 1935-01-19. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:COVID
Soumitra Chatterjee or Soumitra Chattopadhyay was an Indian film actor. He was best known for his collaborations with Oscar-winning film director Satyajit Ray, with whom he worked in fourteen films. In 1999 Soumitra Chattopadhyay became the first Indian film personality to be conferred with the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France's highest award for artists.
82
Born 1938-02-23. Domain:Directing. Cause of death:Age
Jiří Menzel was a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography. Some of these films are adapted from works by Czech writers such as Bohumil Hrabal and Vladislav Vančura.
75
Born 1944-08-26. Domain:Politics. Cause of death:COVID
He was a French politician of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party. A close adviser of Nicolas Sarkozy since the 1990s, he was Minister under the Prime Minister in charge of the Implementation of the Recovery Plan, a special ministerial post created for two years following the global financial crisis of 2008, a tenure which commenced in December 2008. He was of Armenian descent. In the night of 28 to 29 March 2020, he died of COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic.
62
Born 1957-07-06. Domain:Science (Medical/Bio style). Cause of death:COVID
Lin Zhengbin was a Chinese physician and organ transplant expert at Wuhan Tongji Hospital. Lin graduated from Tongji Medical College in 1987, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in medicine. After graduation, he started his career at Wuhan Tongji Hospital, engaged in organ transplants for more than 30 years. He was chief physician of the Institute of Organ Transplantation of Tongji Hospital. He retired in July 2017, but was rehired by Wuhan Tongji Hospital. During the COVID-19 pandemic in China, Lin was infected with the coronavirus. He died on 10 February 2020 due to complications caused by the disease. Falun Gong supporters accused him of harvesting organs from Falun Gong practitioners.
77
Born 1942-03-05. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Age
Michael Diamond Resnick was an American science fiction writer and editor. He won five Hugo awards, and a Nebula award. He was the guest of honor at Chicon 7, the executive editor of Jim Baen's Universe and the editor and creator of Galaxy's Edge magazine.
22
Born 1996-01-10. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Murder
Tara Fares was a controversial Iraqi model and beauty blogger. On 27 September 2018, she was shot three times by an unknown gunman in Baghdad while driving her Porsche Boxster convertible. She was taken to hospital, where she died. Iraq's Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji stated that those responsible for her murder were members of "an extremist Shiite group" who had received dishonourable discharges from different armed factions. However, the names of any suspects had still not been released as of October 2020. Numerous conspiracy theories have circulated about her death. Many people reject the government’s reason and blame the murder on the young woman's freedom, which bothered many extremist militias. The exhibition of her tattoos and her naked photos on his social networks have always been taken for provocation by religious population. Her death was followed by numerous death threats against other Iraqi social media stars, with the same lifestyle as Tara.
92
Born 1926-02-28. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
Kin Sugai (菅井きん, Sugai Kin) was a Japanese actress. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 9th Hochi Film Award for The Funeral. Sugai is famous for her role in the jidaigeki drama Hissatsu series.
56
Born 1961-07-20. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Cancer
Ji Chunhua, sometimes romanized as Gai Chun Wa, was a Chinese actor and action choreographer. Just like Jet Li and Yu Chenghui, he was a Mainland China-trained wushu athlete who started his acting career in the 1982 Hong Kong martial arts blockbuster Shaolin Temple. Ji had alopecia totalis and often appeared as bald villains in movies (many starring Jet Li) and TV series.
54
Born 1964-03-09. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Murder
Tomomitsu Niimi was an Aum Shinrikyo member convicted for his participation in the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway and a number of other crimes. He was Aum's "minister of internal affairs". Judge Yujiro Nakatani said that his Aum-related crimes began in 1989 with the strangulation killing of Shuji Taguchi, who had attempted to flee from the cult. He also murdered anti-cult lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto and Sakamoto's wife and son the same year.
78
Born 1940-04-04. Domain:Art. Cause of death:Age
Robby Müller NSC, BVK, was a Dutch cinematographer. Known for his use of natural light and minimalist imagery, Müller first gained recognition for his contributions to West German cinema through his acclaimed collaborations with Wim Wenders. Through the course of his career, he worked closely with directors Jim Jarmusch, Peter Bogdanovich, Barbet Schroeder, and Lars Von Trier, the latter with whom he pioneered the use of digital cinematography. His work earned him numerous accolades and admiration from his peers. He died at the age of 78, having suffered from vascular dementia for several years.
74
Born 1944-03-24. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Pneumonia
Ronald Lee Ermey was an American actor, voice actor, drill instructor and Marine. He achieved fame for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Ermey was also a United States Marine Corps staff sergeant and an honorary gunnery sergeant. Ermey was often typecast in authority figure roles, such as Mayor Tilman in the film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in Prefontaine, Sheriff Hoyt in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, Jimmy Lee Farnsworth in Fletch Lives, a police captain in Se7en, plastic army men leader Sarge in the Toy Story films, Lt. "Tice" Ryan in Rocket Power, a prison warden in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, and John House in House. On television, Ermey hosted two programs on the History Channel: Mail Call, in which he answered viewers' questions about various military issues both modern and historic; and Lock n' Load with R. Lee Ermey, which concerned the development of different types of weapons. He also hosted GunnyTime on the Outdoor Channel. Ermey died at a hospital in Santa Monica, California, from complications related to pneumonia on the morning of April 15, 2018, twenty-two days after his 74th birthday. His funeral was held in Arlington National Cemetery on Friday, January 18, 2019, where his ashes are buried.
88
Born 1929-01-01. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Pneumonia
He was a Japanese actor best known for playing Godzilla in twelve consecutive films, starting from the original Godzilla (1954) until Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972). He also played various other giant monsters in Kaiju films, including Mothra and The War of the Gargantuas and also appeared in a minor role in the Akira Kurosawa film Seven Samurai. In 2018, asteroid 110408 Nakajima was named in his memory. The film Godzilla: King of the Monsters was dedicated to his memory.
43
Born 1973-09-09. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:orphan disease
He was a French tennis player. The left-hander reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 22 in April 1999, winning 2 singles titles and reaching the semifinals of Monte Carlo in 1999. Golmard finished his career with over $2.2 million in prize money. Among the many notable players he beat on the ATP Tour are former World No. 1s Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Gustavo Kuerten, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Marcelo Ríos and Carlos Moyá, as well as Grand Slam champions Richard Krajicek, Goran Ivanišević, Albert Costa, Gastón Gaudio, Thomas Johansson and Michael Chang. He announced in 2014 that he was diagnosed with motor neuron disease, which causes muscle paralysis, and died of the disease.
94
Born 1922-12-21. Domain:Science (Math style). Cause of death:Age
She was a French mathematician and physicist. She founded a summer school at Les Houches in the French Alps. For this and her publications, she was awarded the American Society of the French Legion of Honour 2007 Medal for Distinguished Achievement. Attendees at the summer school included over twenty students who would go on to be Nobel Prize winners, including Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Georges Charpak, and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, who identify the school for assisting in their success.
81
Born 1935-12-21. Domain:Art. Cause of death:Age
He was a Belgian comics artist in the Marcinelle school tradition. He was best known for his series featuring a cute, playful and adventurous little girl, Sophie. A creator of his own series Sophie, and Ginger, and noted for his work with Starter and Uhu-man, he is known for his collaborations and assistance to the work of André Franquin during a long career at the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Spirou, working on Spirou et Fantasio and Gaston Lagaffe, on which he shared co-authorship for several years.
87
Born 1929-07-15. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Age
He was a British racing driver. Stewart was regarded by Jim Clark as a highly-strung individual who “at the wheel was as relaxed as anyone”. His only appearance in a World Championship Grand Prix came at the 1953 RAC British Grand Prix, in which - due to ignition failure - he failed to finish.
72
Born 1944-10-25. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
He was a French actor. He was active in theater where he was also a director, as well as in cinema, television and dubbing. He is known in animation for being the voice of Commissioner James "Jim" Gordon in most animated films and series as well as in Batman video games.
87
Born 1929-06-11. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Age
Maurice Vanderschueren, better known as Maurice Vander was a French jazz keyboardist. Vander worked in the 1950s with Don Byas, Django Reinhardt, Bobby Jaspar, Jimmy Raney, Stephane Grappelli, Chet Baker, and Kenny Clarke. He won the Prix Django Reinhardt in 1962. In the 1960s he was a session musician for Roger Guerin, Pierre Gossez, and Boulou Ferré, and played with Claude Nougaro and Ivan Jullien. He played with Baker again in the late 1970s and with Johnny Griffin; his later work included performing and recording with Clarke, Richie Cole, Art Farmer, and Benny Powell. Vander is the adoptive father of Christian Vander (musician).
93
Born 1923-05-24. Domain:Directing. Cause of death:Age
He was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility. He made 40 predominately B-movies for the Nikkatsu Company between 1956 and 1967, working most prolifically in the yakuza genre. His increasingly surreal style began to draw the ire of the studio in 1963 and culminated in his ultimate dismissal for what is now regarded as his magnum opus, Branded to Kill (1967), starring notable collaborator Joe Shishido. Suzuki successfully sued the studio for wrongful dismissal, but he was blacklisted for 10 years after that. As an independent filmmaker, he won critical acclaim and a Japanese Academy Award for his Taishō Trilogy, Zigeunerweisen (1980), Kagero-za (1981) and Yumeji (1991). His films remained widely unknown outside Japan until a series of theatrical retrospectives beginning in the mid-1980s, home video releases of key films such as Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter in the late 1990s and tributes by such acclaimed filmmakers as Jim Jarmusch, Takeshi Kitano, Wong Kar-wai and Quentin Tarantino signaled his international discovery. Suzuki continued making films, albeit sporadically. In Japan, he is more commonly recognized as an actor for his numerous roles in Japanese films and television. He died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
72
Born 1944-07-25. Domain:Music. Cause of death:cancer (colorectal)
She was a Japanese pianist. Nakamura lived in Mita, Tokyo with her husband Kaoru Shōji, one of the winners of Akutagawa Prize. Shōji had mentioned Nakamura by name in his novel Akazukin-chan Ki wo Tsukete. The two subsequently met in person and married. She was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2014, and suspended her performances for treatment. She briefly performed again in the spring of 2016, and her final performance was on 8 May 2016 in Sumoto, Kumamoto Prefecture.
78
Born 1937-12-11. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Heart attack
He was an American poet, novelist, and essayist. He was a prolific and versatile writer publishing over three dozen books in several genres including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature. He wrote screenplays, book reviews, literary criticism, and published essays on food, travel, and sport. Harrison indicated that, of all his writing, his poetry meant the most to him.