Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Arts & Music

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Doc Watson

Arthel Lane Watson

United States

1923 – 2012 (89 years old)

Blind American folk, bluegrass, and country guitarist whose astonishing flatpicking speed, warm baritone singing, and deep Appalachian heritage won eight Grammy Awards and the National Medal of Arts.

Deep Gap, United States

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Arts & Music

10

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Robin Gibb

Robin Hugh Gibb

🌐 Isle of Man

1949 – 2012 (62 years old)

Legendary British-Australian singer-songwriter whose unmistakable vibrato tenor was a core pillar of the Bee Gees, co-writing immortal classics on the 40-million-selling Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.

Thame, United Kingdom

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Sciences & Discovery

13

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Eugene Polley

Eugene Joseph Polley

United States

1915 – 2012 (96 years old)

American engineer at Zenith Radio Corporation who invented the Flash-Matic in 1955, the world's first wireless television remote control, changing the way humanity consumes media.

Hillside, United States

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Arts & Music

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Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Germany

1925 – 2012 (86 years old)

German lyric baritone acclaimed as one of the supreme classical vocalists of the 20th century, renowned for his unmatched diction and interpretive mastery across over 400 recorded Schubert Lieder.

Berlin, Germany

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Arts & Music

11

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Donna Summer

LaDonna Adrian Gaines

United States

1948 – 2012 (63 years old)

Crowned the undisputed 'Queen of Disco', whose powerhouse vocals and collaborations with Giorgio Moroder on I Feel Love, Hot Stuff, and Last Dance revolutionized electronic dance and pop music.

Nashville, United States

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Arts & Music

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Warda Al-Jazairia

وردة الجزائرية (وردة فتوكي)

France

1939 – 2012 (72 years old)

Legendary Algerian diva who sold over 100 million records across the Arab world, celebrated for her patriotic hymns to Algerian independence and immortal romantic classics composed by Baligh Hamdi.

Algiers, Algeria

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Literature & Poetry

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Carlos Fuentes

Carlos Fuentes Macías

Panama

1928 – 2012 (83 years old)

Mexican novelist and diplomat, central titan of the Latin American Boom, celebrated for The Death of Artemio Cruz, Where the Air Is Clear, and Terra Nostra.

Paris, France

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History

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Philip Moore

Philip Moore

Guyana

1921 – 2012 (90 years old)

Master Guyanese sculptor and painter who sculpted the monumental 1763 Monument (Cuffy) in Georgetown.

Corentyne, Berbice, Guyana

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Arts & Music

12

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Donald Dunn

Donald Carl Dunn

United States

1941 – 2012 (70 years old)

Legendary American bass guitarist and cornerstone of Stax Records whose groovy, syncopated basslines with Booker T. & the M.G.'s anchored timeless soul masterpieces by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and the Blues Brothers.

Memphis, United States

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Politics

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Legesse Wolde-Hanna

Legesse Wolde-Hanna

Ethiopia

c. 1928 – 2012 (84 years old)

Pioneering educational reformer and civic administrator who dedicated five decades to establishing secondary schools, teacher training colleges, and public libraries across Ethiopia's rural provinces.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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Politics

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Gunnar Sønsteby

Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby

Norway

1918-01-11 – 2012-05-10 (94 years old)

Norway's most decorated citizen and war hero who commanded the elite Oslo Gang resistance sabotage unit during World War II, operating under code name 'Kjakan' (No. 24).

Oslo, Norway

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Sports & Athletics

35

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Carroll Hall Shelby

Carroll Hall Shelby

United States

1923 – 2012 (89 years old)

American automotive designer, racing driver, and entrepreneur who won the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans and created the iconic AC Cobra and Shelby Mustang.

Dallas, Texas, United States

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Sports & Athletics

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Rashidi Yekini

Rashidi Yekini

Nigeria

1963 – 2012 (48 years old)

Legendary Nigerian footballer and all-time national team top scorer who scored Nigeria's first-ever FIFA World Cup goal in 1994, celebrated worldwide for his iconic goal celebration shaking the net in tears.

Ira, Nigeria

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Arts & Music

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Adam Yauch

Adam Nathaniel Yauch

United States

1964 – 2012 (47 years old)

Founding member 'MCA' and bassist of the groundbreaking hip-hop trio Beastie Boys, filmmaker, and Buddhist activist who organized the Tibetan Freedom Concerts.

New York City, United States

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Sports & Athletics

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Junior Seau

Ti'aina Baul Seau Jr.

United States

1969 – 2012 (43 years old)

One of the greatest and most passionate linebackers in American football history, a twelve-time Pro Bowler and beloved icon of the San Diego Chargers whose posthumous CTE diagnosis ignited national reforms in head injury safety.

Oceanside, United States

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Arts & Music

10

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Levon Helm

Mark Lavon Helm

United States

1940 – 2012 (71 years old)

Soulful American drummer and lead vocalist for The Band, whose authentic Delta roots gave life to The Weight, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and Up on Cripple Creek.

Woodstock, United States

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Arts & Music

11

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Dick Clark

Richard Wagstaff Clark

United States

1929 – 2012 (82 years old)

Legendary American radio and television personality known as 'America's Oldest Teenager', who introduced rock and roll into mainstream culture as host of 'American Bandstand' and rang in four decades of New Year celebrations with 'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve'.

Pacific Ocean, United States

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Arts & Music

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Aleksandr Porokhovshchikov

Александр Шалвович Пороховщиков

Russia

1939 – 2012 (73 years old)

Distinguished Russian stage and screen actor and director, People's Artist of the Russian Federation, renowned for his aristocratic bearing, deep voice, and roles in classics including Nikita Mikhalkov's 'At Home Among Strangers'.

Dmitrovsky District, Russia

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