Historical Archives & Public Figures

Francis Jean Blanche

France

1921 – 1974 (52 years old)

Beloved French comic genius, actor, poet, and radio satirist whose legendary partnership with Pierre Dac (Signé Furax), nonsensical canulars, and roles in Les Tontons Flingueurs and Les Barbouzes delighted millions.

Éze (Alpes-Maritimes), France

0 Full Record →

Politics

0

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Amin al-Husseini

أمين الحسيني

Palestine

1897 – 4 July 1974 (77 years old)

Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and leader of the Arab Higher Committee who dominated Palestinian politics from the 1920s through the 1948 war.

Beirut, Lebanon

0 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

33

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Juan Domingo Peron

Juan Domingo Perón

Argentina

1895 – 1974 (78 years old)

Three-time President of Argentina who founded Peronism (Justicialism), championing the rights of the working-class 'descamisados', nationalizing railways, and dominating 20th-century Argentine politics.

San Vicente (Buenos Aires), Argentina

33 Full Record →

Military

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Guy Simonds

Great Britain

23 April 1903 – 9 June 1974 (71 years old)

Brilliant Canadian field commander in WWII who conceived the Kangaroo armored carrier and led the liberation of the Scheldt estuary.

Toronto, Canada

0 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

37

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Miguel Angel Asturias

Miguel Ángel Asturias Rosales

Guatemala

1899 – 1974 (74 years old)

Guatemalan novelist and poet who pioneered magical realism through Mayan mythology and political critique, winning the 1967 Nobel Prize in Literature for El Senor Presidente and Men of Maize.

Paris, France

37 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

34

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Messali Hadj

مصالي الحاج

Algeria

1898 – 1974 (76 years old)

Pioneering Algerian nationalist statesman venerated as the 'Father of Modern Algerian Nationalism', who founded the Étoile Nord-Africaine in 1926 and was the first to demand total unconditional independence from France.

Tlemcen, Algeria

34 Full Record →

Politics

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Kung'u Karumba

Kungu Karumba

Kenya

1902-01-01 – 1974-06-01 (72 years old)

Kapenguria Six anti-colonial freedom fighter who managed Mau Mau logistics in the Rift Valley and mysteriously disappeared in Uganda in 1974 while pursuing business.

Limuru, Kenya

0 Full Record →

Arts & Music

39

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Edward Kennedy 'Duke' Ellington

Duke Ellington

United States

29 April 1899 – 24 May 1974 (75 years old)

Preeminent American composer and big-band leader who elevated jazz to a fine art over five decades with more than a thousand compositions, including Take the 'A' Train, Mood Indigo, and Black, Brown and Beige.

New York City, United States

39 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

34

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Allal al-Fassi

علال الفاسي

Morocco

1910 – 1974 (64 years old)

Preeminent Moroccan statesman, Islamic legal scholar, poet, and founder of the Istiqlal (Independence) Party, who championed political liberation, constitutional democracy, and cultural authenticity.

Rabat, Morocco

34 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

68

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Ayub Khan

محمد ایوب خان

Pakistan

1907 – 1974 (66 years old)

Second President of Pakistan and its first military ruler, who seized power in the 1958 coup, introduced Basic Democracies, industrialized Pakistan's economy, and constructed the capital city of Islamabad.

Haripur (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Pakistan

68 Full Record →

Arts & Music

5

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A. Y. Jackson

Alexander Young Jackson

Canada

1882 – 1974 (91 years old)

Montreal-born founder of the Group of Seven who bridged French and English Canadian art, traveling thousands of miles by snowshoe and boxcar to paint the rural villages of Charlevoix and the Arctic.

Kleinburg (Vaughan, Ontario), Canada

5 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

4

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Cora Sandel

Sara Cecilie Görvell Fabricius

Norway

1880-12-20 – 1974-04-03 (93 years old)

Celebrated Norwegian author and painter who wrote the acclaimed semi-autobiographical Alberta trilogy, portraying female artistic independence and provincial stifling.

Uppsala, Sweden

4 Full Record →

Cinema

0

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Françoise Rosay

Françoise Bandy de Nalèche

France

1891 – 1974 (82 years old)

Commanding and aristocratic French actress whose six-decade career spanned silent and sound cinema, acclaimed for her starring roles in La Kermesse héroïque and Un carnet de bal, and who broadcast for the BBC Free French in London.

Suresnes (Hauts-de-Seine), France

0 Full Record →

Arts & Music

33

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Louis Kahn

Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky

Estonia

1901 – 1974 (73 years old)

Estonian-born American architect celebrated for his monumental, poetic brick and concrete structures that fused archaic spirituality, geometric purity, and natural daylight.

New York City, United States

33 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

5

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Tim Horton

Canada

12 January 1930 – 21 February 1974 (44 years old)

Legendary Maple Leafs defenseman renowned as the strongest man in hockey, four-time Stanley Cup champion, and founder of the Tim Hortons coffee franchise.

Toronto, Canada

5 Full Record →

Science

0

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Matilde Hidalgo de Procel

Matilde Hidalgo Navarro

Ecuador

1889-09-29 – 1974-02-20 (84 years old)

Trailblazing feminist hero and physician who in 1921 became Ecuador's first female medical doctor, and in 1924 became the first woman to vote in a national election in Latin American history.

Guayaquil, Ecuador

0 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

2

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Syed Mujtaba Ali

সৈয়দ মুজতবা আলী

Historical India

1904-09-13 – 1974-02-11 (69 years old)

Celebrated Bengali travel writer, polyglot linguist, and master humorist whose delightful travel classic 'Deshe Bideshe' ('In a Land Far from Home') captured Afghanistan on the eve of the 1929 civil war.

Dhaka, Bangladesh

2 Full Record →