Signed to a recording contract at the age of 12, Aaliyah became an overnight R&B sensation. At the height of her stardom, a fatal plane crash ended her life.
1979-2001
1912-2001
Entrepreneur Mary Kay, founder of Mary Kay Inc., built a profitable business from scratch that created new opportunities for women to achieve financial success.
1918-2001
1924-2001
Mohamed Atta is believed to have been the pilot of the first plane that crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
1968-2001
Singer Perry Como is best known for his warm baritone crooning which came to characterize popular music in the 40s and 50s.
1912-2001
1930-2001
Dale Earnhardt was a champion stock car driver with NASCAR who won seven championships. He died in the final lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001
1951-2001
Dale Evans was the longtime screen partner and wife of singing cowboy Roy Rogers. She wrote several hit songs, including "Happy Trails to You."
1912-2001
1917-2001
1910-2001
George Harrison was lead guitarist of The Beatles as well as a singer-songwriter on many of their most memorable tracks.
1943-2001
1913-2001
1917-2001
J.J. Johnson was a 20th century jazz musician and composer regarded as one of the greatest trombonists in history.
1924-2001
Novelist Ken Kesey wrote One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, which in the U.S. became one of the most widely read books of the 1960s.
1935-2001
The winner of two Oscars, Jack Lemmon was one of Hollywood’s finest actors, known for his roles in films like Some Like it Hot and The Odd Couple.
1925-2001
American jazz pianist and composer John Lewis was a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet, one of the longest-lived and best-received groups in jazz history.
1920-2001
Writer and aviation pioneer Anne Morrow Lindbergh was married to aviator Charles Lindbergh. The couple’s child was kidnapped for ransom and murdered in 1932.
1906-2001
Henry Lee Lucas was a murderer best known for allegedly killing hundreds of people in the 1960s and '70s, though only three (including his mother) were confirmed.
1936-2001
1927-2001
Timothy McVeigh was convicted of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in American history. He was executed for his crimes.
1968-2001
1906-2001
Carroll O’Connor played Archie Bunker on the groundbreaking 1970s sitcom All in the Family. His comedic portrayal of a working-class bigot brought political and social issues into the popular dialogue of the time.
1924-2001
1935-2001
Anthony Quinn was an Oscar-winning Mexican-American actor known for his roles in Viva Zapata!, Lust for Life and Zorba the Greek.
1915-2001
Artist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth became the king of California custom car culture in the 1950s and '60s with his Beatnik Bandit model and characters like Rat Fink.
1932-2001
1934-2001
Sherwood Schwartz created two of television's most enduring comedies: Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch.
1916-2001
1906-2001
Musician, Isaac Stern was a famous violinist and was responsible for discovering Yo-Yo Ma.
1920-2001
Nguyen Van Thieu was elected president of South Vietnam in 1967, but was forced to flee when his government surrendered to the North in 1975.
1924-2001
Actor Ray Walston enjoyed a successful acting career and is best known for his character Uncle Martin O'Hara on the CBS series My Favorite Martian.
1914-2001
1909-2001
Iannis Xenakis was a Greek avant-garde composer of electronic music and musique concrete.
1922-2001