Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

M. J. Coldwell

Major James William Coldwell

Great Britain

2 December 1888 – 25 August 1974 (85 years old)

Longtime leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) from 1942 to 1960 who helped establish the foundations of the Canadian welfare state.

Ottawa, Canada

1 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

2,555

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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

2,555 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

1,338

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James Chadwick

Sir James Chadwick

Great Britain

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

1,338 Full Record →

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Claudia Lars

Margarita del Carmen Brannon Vega

El Salvador

1899 – 1974 (74 years old)

One of Central America's greatest 20th-century lyric poets, author of 'Estrellas en el pozo' and 'Tierra de infancia', celebrated for luminous imagery, metaphysical grace, and evocative childhood memoirs.

San Salvador, El Salvador

0 Full Record →

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Pär Lagerkvist

Pär Fabian Lagerkvist

Sweden

1891-05-23 – 1974-07-11 (83 years old)

Swedish author and poet awarded the 1951 Nobel Prize in Literature for his profound metaphysical novels 'Barabbas' and 'The Dwarf', exploring good, evil, and the search for faith in modern times.

Danderyd, Sweden

6 Full Record →

Cinema

Francis Blanche

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

1 Full Record →

Politics

Statesmanship & Statesmen

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

1 Full Record →

33

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

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

1 Full Record →

37

Statesmanship & Statesmen

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 →

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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

35 Full Record →

Politics

Statesmanship & Statesmen

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

1 Full Record →

Arts & Music

40

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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

40 Full Record →

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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 →

76

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

76 Full Record →

Arts & Music

5

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 →

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