The 1940s

1941 85 years ago

Ilmar Raud, Estonian chess player (born 1913)

Ilmar Raud was an Estonian chess master.

Ilmar Raud, Estonian chess player (born 1913)

1941 85 years ago

Špiro Bocarić, Serbian painter, victim of Genocide of Serbs

Spiridon "Špiro" Bocarić was a Serb painter.

Špiro Bocarić, Serbian painter, victim of Genocide of Serbs

1941 85 years ago

Lew Fields, American actor and producer (born 1867)

Lew Fields was an American actor, comedian, vaudeville star, theatre manager, and producer. Partnering with Joe Weber, they formed the comedy double-act of Weber and Fields. He als…

Lew Fields, American actor and producer (born 1867)

1941 85 years ago

Bohdan Lepky, Ukrainian poet and scholar (born 1872)

Bohdan Teodor Nestor Sylvestrovych Lepky was a Ukrainian writer, poet, scholar, public figure, and artist.

Bohdan Lepky, Ukrainian poet and scholar (born 1872)

1941 85 years ago

George Lyman Kittredge, American scholar and educator (born 1860)

George Lyman Kittredge was a professor of English literature at Harvard University. His scholarly edition of the works of William Shakespeare was influential in the early 20th cent…

George Lyman Kittredge, American scholar and educator (born 1860)

1941 85 years ago

José Quiñones Gonzales, Peruvian soldier and pilot (born 1914)

José Abelardo Quiñones Gonzáles was a Peruvian military aviator who posthumously became a national hero for his actions at the Battle of Zarumilla during the Ecuadorian–Peruvian Wa…

José Quiñones Gonzales, Peruvian soldier and pilot (born 1914)

1941 85 years ago

Henri Lebesgue, French mathematician and academic (born 1875)

Henri Léon Lebesgue was a French mathematician known for his theory of integration, which was a generalization of the 17th-century concept of integration—summing the area between a…

Henri Lebesgue, French mathematician and academic (born 1875)

1941 85 years ago

Alfred Henry O'Keeffe, New Zealand painter and educator (born 1858)

Alfred Henry O'Keeffe, was a New Zealand artist and art teacher, who spent the majority of his life in Dunedin. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, he was one of the…

Alfred Henry O'Keeffe, New Zealand painter and educator (born 1858)

1941 85 years ago

Hugo Celmiņš, Latvian politician, former Prime Minister of Latvia (born 1877)

Hugo Celmiņš was a Latvian politician, a public employee, agronomist, twice the Prime Minister of Latvia. Arrested and deported to the USSR after the Soviet occupation of Latvia in…

Hugo Celmiņš, Latvian politician, former Prime Minister of Latvia (born 1877)

1941 85 years ago

Mihály Babits, Hungarian poet and author (born 1883)

Mihály Babits was a Hungarian poet, writer, essayist, and translator. His poems are well known for their intense religious themes. His novels such as “The Children of Death” (1927)…

Mihály Babits, Hungarian poet and author (born 1883)

1941 85 years ago

Richard Goss, Executed Irish Republican (born 1915)

Richard (Richie) Goss (1915–1941) was an executed Irish Republican born to Patrick Goss and Margaret Clinton who had married at Inniskeen Roman Catholic Church In 1909. His parents…

Richard Goss, Executed Irish Republican (born 1915)

1941 85 years ago

Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon, English soldier and politician, 56th Governor General of Canada…

Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon, styled as the Earl of Willingdon between 1931 and 1936, was a British Liberal politician and administrator who served as Governo…

Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon, English soldier and politician, 56th Governor General of Canada…

1941 85 years ago

Maximilian Kolbe, Polish martyr and saint (born 1894)

Maximilian Maria Kolbe, OFM Conv. was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, priest, missionary, and martyr. He volunteered to die in place of a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek in …

Maximilian Kolbe, Polish martyr and saint (born 1894)

1941 85 years ago

Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1861)

Rabindranath Tagore, was a British Indian poet, author, playwright, musician, composer, philosopher, social reformer, painter, and one of the foremost figures of the Bengal Renaiss…

Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1861)

1941 85 years ago

Bobby Peel, English cricketer and umpire (born 1857)

Robert Peel was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire between 1883 and 1897. Primarily a left-arm spin bowler, Peel was also an effective l…

Bobby Peel, English cricketer and umpire (born 1857)

1941 85 years ago

Paul Sabatier, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1854)

Paul Sabatier was a French chemist, born in Carcassonne. In 1912, Sabatier was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Victor Grignard. Sabatier was honoured for his work i…

Paul Sabatier, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1854)

1941 85 years ago

Peder Oluf Pedersen, Danish physicist and engineer (born 1874)

Peder Oluf Pedersen was a Danish engineer and physicist. He is notable for his work on electrotechnology, his cooperation with Valdemar Poulsen on the developmental work on Wire re…

Peder Oluf Pedersen, Danish physicist and engineer (born 1874)

1941 85 years ago

Thomas Bavin, New Zealand-Australian politician, 24th Premier of New South Wales (born 1874)

Sir Thomas Rainsford Bavin, was an Australian lawyer and politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1927 to 1930. He was born in New Zealand and arrived in Australia …

Thomas Bavin, New Zealand-Australian politician, 24th Premier of New South Wales (born 1874)

1941 85 years ago

Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian poet and author (born 1892)

Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva was a Russian poet. Her work is some of the best known in twentieth-century Russian literature. She lived through and wrote about the Russian Revolution o…

Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian poet and author (born 1892)

1941 85 years ago

Lloyd Seay, American race car driver (born 1919)

Carl D. "Lightning" Lloyd Seay was an early stock car racing driver from Dawsonville Georgia. NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. described Seay as the "best pure race driver I ever saw…

Lloyd Seay, American race car driver (born 1919)

1941 85 years ago

Rafailo Momčilović, Serbian Orthodox hegumen and painter (born 1875)

Rafailo Momčilović was a Serbian Orthodox cleric, abbot of the Šišatovac Monastery, and painter. He was murdered in the Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia which …

Rafailo Momčilović, Serbian Orthodox hegumen and painter (born 1875)

1941 85 years ago

Mario García Menocal, Cuban lawyer and politician, President of Cuba (born 1866)

Aurelio Mario Gabriel Francisco García Menocal y Deop was the 3rd President of Cuba, serving from 1913 to 1921. His term as president saw Cuba's participation in the Allies in Worl…

Mario García Menocal, Cuban lawyer and politician, President of Cuba (born 1866)

1941 85 years ago

Hans Spemann, German embryologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1869)

Hans Spemann was a German embryologist who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1935 for his student Hilde Mangold's discovery of the effect now known as embryoni…

Hans Spemann, German embryologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1869)

1941 85 years ago

Christian Rakovsky, Bulgarian physician, journalist, and politician, Soviet Ambassador to France (born 1873)

Christian Georgiyevich Rakovsky, Bulgarian name Krastyo Georgiev Rakovski, born Krastyo Georgiev Stanchov, was a Bulgarian-born socialist revolutionary, a Bolshevik politician and …

Christian Rakovsky, Bulgarian physician, journalist, and politician, Soviet Ambassador to France (born 1873)