Historical Archives & Public Figures

Percy Lavon Julian

United States

1899 – 1975 (76 years old)

Pioneering African American chemist who developed total chemical synthesis of physostigmine for glaucoma and scalable plant-based synthesis of steroid hormones such as cortisone and progesterone.

River Grove (Illinois), United States

2 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

2,781

🕯️ 41

Percy Julian

Percy Lavon Julian

United States

1899 – 1975 (76 years old)

Trailblazing African-American research chemist who pioneered the chemical synthesis of steroids, cortisone, and glaucoma medication from plants.

Elmhurst, Illinois, United States

2,781 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

1

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Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

సర్వేపల్లి రాధాకృష్ణన్

British India

1888 – 1975 (86 years old)

Second President of India and preeminent philosopher of comparative religion who interpreted Indian Advaita Vedanta to the Western academic world, celebrated nationwide on Teachers' Day.

Chennai (Tamil Nadu), India

1 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

1

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Chiang Kai-shek

蔣中正 (蔣介石)

Qing Empire

1887 – 1975 (87 years old)

Leader of the Republic of China for nearly half a century, who led the Northern Expedition, fought Imperial Japan in World War II, and retreated to Taiwan in 1949, laying the foundation for Taiwan's economic takeoff.

Daxi District (Taoyuan), Taiwan

1 Full Record →

Arts & Music

5

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Mohammed Racim

محمد راسم

Algeria

1896 – 1975 (78 years old)

Peerless Algerian artist who revived and revolutionized Islamic miniature painting and manuscript illumination, blending traditional Persian-Ottoman aesthetics with Western perspective to depict the pre-colonial glory of Algiers.

Algiers, Algeria

5 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

11

🕯️ 990

King Faisal bin Abdulaziz

فيصل بن عبد العزيز آل سعود

Saudi Arabia

1906-04-14 – 1975-03-25 (68 years old)

Transformed Saudi Arabia into a major global financial and diplomatic power while spearheading educational modernization and Pan-Islamic solidarity.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

11 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

6

🕯️ 1,480

Carl Lutz

Switzerland

30 March 1895 – 12 February 1975 (79 years old)

Carl Lutz was a Swiss diplomat who served as Vice-Consul in Budapest from 1942 to 1945. Credited with leading the largest single civilian rescue operation of the Holocaust, Lutz issued Swiss protective letters (Schutzbriefe) and placed seventy-six residential buildings under Swiss diplomatic protection, saving more than 62,000 Hungarian Jews from Nazi death camps.

Bern, Switzerland

6 Full Record →

Arts & Music

17

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Fatima Ibrahim as-Sayyid al-Biltaji

أم كلثوم

Egypt

1898 – 1975 (76 years old)

Revered as "Kawkab al-Sharq" (Planet of the East) and "The Voice of Egypt", she is universally recognized as the greatest Arabic vocal soloist in history, captivating hundreds of millions across continents.

Cairo, Egypt

17 Full Record →

Arts & Music

4,196

🕯️ 159

Farid al-Atrash

فريد الأطرش

Ottoman Empire (Syria)

1910 – 1974 (64 years old)

'King of the Oud' and Syrian-Egyptian icon of romantic longing whose melancholic voice and virtuoso playing enchanted millions.

Cairo, Egypt

4,196 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

4

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Ahmad Ismail Ali

أحمد إسماعيل علي

Egypt

1917 – 1974 (57 years old)

Egyptian Field Marshal and Minister of War who served as Supreme Commander of the Egyptian and Syrian unified forces during the 1973 October War, coordinating the strategic crossing of the Suez Canal.

Cairo, Egypt

4 Full Record →

Resistance & Human Rights

7

🕯️ 980

Oskar Schindler

Czech Republic

28 April 1908 – 9 October 1974 (66 years old)

German industrialist and member of the Nazi Party who saved the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and munitions factories in Poland and the Czech lands, spending his entire fortune on bribes.

Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany

7 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

2,531

🕯️ 178

Virginia Apgar

United States

1909 – 1974 (65 years old)

American physician who created the Apgar score, revolutionizing newborn care and dramatically reducing infant mortality worldwide.

Westfield, New Jersey, United States

2,531 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

1,316

🕯️ 179

James Chadwick

Sir James Chadwick

United Kingdom

1891 – 1974 (82 years old)

British physicist who discovered the neutron in 1932, paving the way for nuclear fission and atomic power.

Cambridge, United Kingdom

1,316 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

1

🕯️ 0

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

1 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

2

🕯️ 0

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

2 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

4

🕯️ 0

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

4 Full Record →

Arts & Music

9

🕯️ 980

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

9 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

3

🕯️ 0

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

3 Full Record →

Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries