Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

H.G. Wells

Herbert George Wells

England

1866 – 1946 (79 years old)

Visionary English author and social prophet revered as the 'Father of Science Fiction' for The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, and The Invisible Man.

English Channel, United Kingdom

5 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

8

🕯️ 2,680

Jack Johnson

John Arthur Johnson

United States

31 March 1878 – 10 June 1946 (68 years old)

John Arthur 'Jack' Johnson was a historic boxing pioneer who broke the color barrier in 1908 to become the first African-American World Heavyweight Champion in history. Defying the racism of the Jim Crow era with supreme defensive counter-punching and an unapologetic, flamboyant lifestyle, he defended his title against James J. Jeffries in the 1910 'Fight of the Century', sparking nationwide social upheaval.

Franklinton, North Carolina, United States

8 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

Alexander Alekhine

Александр Александрович Алехин

Russia

1892 – 1946 (53 years old)

Fourth World Chess Champion famed for his ferocious attacking combinations and the only world champion to die while holding the world title.

Paris, France

3 Full Record →

2,843

🕯️ 174

Gilbert N. Lewis

Gilbert Newton Lewis

United States

1875 – 1946 (70 years old)

Colossal physical chemist who discovered the covalent bond, created Lewis dot structures, and generalized acid-base theory.

El Cerrito, California, United States

2,843 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

6

🕯️ 1,040

Mabel Thorp Boardman

United States

12 October 1860 – 17 March 1946 (85 years old)

Mabel Thorp Boardman was an American philanthropist and civic organizer who led the total administrative reorganization of the American Red Cross under a federal congressional charter in 1905. Serving as the organization's de facto executive leader for over four decades, she transformed the Red Cross from a small volunteer group into a massive, professionally funded national disaster relief agency.

Washington, D.C., United States

6 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

John Langalibalele Dube

South Africa

1871 – 1946 (74 years old)

Educator, editor, and the founding first president of the South African Native National Congress (later the ANC) in 1912.

Inanda, South Africa

3 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

5

Harry Lloyd Hopkins

Harry Hopkins

United States

1890 – 1946 (55 years old)

Travailleur social américain devenu le bras droit de Franklin D. Roosevelt, directeur de la WPA procurant un emploi et la dignité à plus de 8 millions de chômeurs démunis.

Grinnell, Iowa, United States

5 Full Record →

2,984

🕯️ 100

Thomas Hunt Morgan

United States

1866 – 1945 (79 years old)

American geneticist whose 'Fly Room' experiments proved that chromosomes carry the physical units of heredity, winning the 1933 Nobel Prize.

Altadena, California, United States

2,984 Full Record →

Plutarco Elias Calles

Plutarco Elías Calles

Mexico

1877 – 1945 (68 years old)

President of Mexico who founded the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) that ruled Mexico for seven decades, and whose fierce enforcement of anti-clerical laws provoked the Cristero War.

Mexico City, Mexico

3 Full Record →

Arts & Music

11

🕯️ 915

Béla Viktor János Bartók

Bartók Béla

Hungary

25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945 (64 years old)

Visionary Hungarian composer and ethnomusicology pioneer who recorded thousands of genuine Eastern European and Turkish folk melodies, integrating their asymmetrical meters and modal scales into revolutionary works like the Concerto for Orchestra.

New York City, United States

11 Full Record →

2

Stefan Banach

Austria-Hungary

1892 – 1945 (53 years old)

Polish mathematician widely regarded as one of the twentieth century's most influential figures, who founded modern functional analysis and introduced complete normed vector spaces (Banach spaces).

Lviv, Ukraine

2 Full Record →

Subhas Chandra Bose

সুভাষচন্দ্র বসু (নেতাজি)

British India

1897 – 1945 (48 years old)

Revolutionary Indian nationalist leader revered as 'Netaji' (Respected Leader), who established the Indian National Army (INA) and proclaimed the Azad Hind Provisional Government with the battle cry 'Jai Hind!'.

Tokyo, Japan

3 Full Record →

4,755

🕯️ 84

Robert H. Goddard

Robert Hutchings Goddard

United States

1882 – 1945 (62 years old)

Father of modern rocketry who designed, constructed, and successfully launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket in 1926.

Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

4,755 Full Record →

Resistance & Human Rights

John Curtin

John Joseph Curtin

Australia

1885 – 1945 (60 years old)

Fourteenth Prime Minister of Australia (1941–1945) who successfully led Australia through the darkest perils of World War II, defied Winston Churchill to recall Australian troops to defend the homeland, and forged the historic alliance with the United States.

Perth (Western Australia), Australia

3 Full Record →

Hannie Schaft

Jannetje Johanna Schaft

Netherlands

1920 – 1945 (24 years old)

Dutch resistance fighter celebrated as 'The Girl with the Red Hair' who carried out targeted assassinations of Nazi officials and collaborators.

Overveen, Netherlands

3 Full Record →