Famous People Who Died in May a to z

Jane Addams co-founded one of the first settlements in the United States, the Hull House in Chicago, Illinois, and was named a co-winner of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize.

James Agee was a film critic for TIME magazine, penned the screenplay for The African Queen, and won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize for his novel A Death in the Family.

Actor Eddie Albert starred in films like The Sun Also Rises and Roman Holiday as well as the TV show Green Acres.

Nancy Astor (1879–1965) was the first woman to serve in the British Parliament, where she advocated temperance, women's rights and German appeasement.

Outlaw Clyde Barrow and his partner, Bonnie, robbed banks and store owners during the Depression and were believed to be responsible for at least 13 murders.

Children's book writer Frank Baum created the popular Wizard of Oz series. Ruth Plumly Thompson continued to write the series after his death.

Arnold Beckman was an American chemist who founded Beckman Instruments and funded the first silicon transistor company, giving rise to Silicon Valley.

Mary McLeod Bethune was an educator and activist, serving as president of the National Association of Colored Women and founding the National Council of Negro Women.

Osama bin Laden is a terrorist extremist who planned the attacks on the World Trade Center and is intent on driving Western influence from the Muslim world.

Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to graduate from medical school in the United States. She became a leading public health activist during her lifetime.

Army nurse Florence Blanchfield is best known for her struggle to attain full military rank, and for equal rights in the military.

Isabella Blow was a British fashion director and style icon known for wearing flamboyant hats, many by designer Philip Treacy.

One of Great Britain's leading male actors in the 1950s, Dirk Bogarde is known for his complex roles in the dark films Death in Venice (1912), Victim (1961) and The Night Porter (1974).

Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, served as queen of England in the 1530s. She was executed on charges of incest, witchcraft, adultery and conspiracy against the king.

Napoleon Bonaparte was a military general who became the first emperor of France. His drive for military expansion changed the world.

Sandro Botticelli was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance-era. He contributed to the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and painted the immortal The Birth of Venus.

Milton Bradley was a businessman and a manufacturer of toys and board games. He founded Milton Bradley Co.

Anne Brontë, sister of fellow writers Emily and Charlotte, penned the classic 19th century novels Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Dr. Joyce Brothers was a famous psychologist and multimedia personality known for dispensing frank advice on relationships, intimacy, sexuality and self-worth.

Chuck Brown, known as the "Godfather of Go-Go," played with Jerry Butler and The Earls of Rhythm in the early 1960s, and later joined Latin-American band Los Latinos. His hit songs include "I Need Some Money" and "Bustin' Loose."

Jeff Buckley was an American singer-songwriter who became widely known for his stirring cover of the Leonard Cohen song "Hallelujah."

Bruce Cabot built a sizeable career out of supporting roles, often playing villainous characters over a four-decade span.

Theologian John Calvin was the leading French Protestant Reformer and the most important figure in the second generation of the Protestant Reformation.

Venustiano Carranza was a revolutionary during Mexico's civil war and became the Mexican Republic's first president in 1917.

Kit Carson was an American frontiersman, trapper, soldier and Indian agent who made an important contribution to the westward expansion of the United States.

June Carter Cash was a Grammy-winning country singer who was married to and performed with country music star Johnny Cash.

Charles IX was King of France from 1560 until 1574 during the turbulent time of the Wars of Religion.

As Secretary of the Treasury under Lincoln, Salmon P. Chase implemented the National Banking Act and was the sixth chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Caryl Chessman is best known for his controversial conviction for sex crimes and his execution in 1960.

Psychologist and educator Kenneth Bancroft Clark was the first black president of the American Psychological Association.

Joseph Gordon Coates was the prime minister of New Zealand 1925–1928, who later instituted rigorous policies to combat the economic depression of the 1930s.

Diminutive television star Gary Coleman made "What'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" a household catch-phrase in the 1980s.

Ronald Colman was an Academy Award-winning British actor.

Famed Italian explorer Christopher Columbus discovered the "New World" of the Americas on an expedition sponsored by King Ferdinand of Spain in 1492.

Singer Perry Como is best known for his warm baritone crooning which came to characterize popular music in the 40s and 50s.

Adolfo Constanzo was a serial killer in the 1980s, whose religious cult performed ritual murders. He evaded police until his 1989 assisted suicide.

Gary Cooper's movie career spanned from silent films into the 1950s. He won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Alvin York in Sergeant York.

Child actor Jackie Cooper was in the Our Gang short film series and the Little Rascals television show. He also starred in the 1931 film The Champ.

Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus identified the concept of a heliocentric solar system, in which the sun, rather than the earth, is the center of the solar system.

Joan Crawford was an Oscar-winning actress, dancer and executive. She was known for films like Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and Mildred Pierce.

Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian painter and a genius in many realms of science. He is best known for two paintings: the "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper."

Ernie Davis became the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy before his life was tragically cut short by leukemia at the age of 23.

Sammy Davis Jr. was an actor, comedian, singer and dancer, and part of the Rat Pack with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, with whom he starred in several films.

Humphry Davy was a British chemist best known for his contributions to the discoveries of chlorine and iodine. He is noted for suggesting the anesthetic use of nitrous oxide in human surgery.

Jean de La Bruyère was a 17th century French writer known for his satirical work The Characters, or the Manners of the Age, with The Characters of Theophrastus.

Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who participated in the conquests of Central America and Peru and discovered the Mississippi River.

John Deere was an American inventor and manufacturer of agricultural equipment. In 1837, Deere started an eponymous company that went on to become an international powerhouse.

Jamaican born singer Desmond Dekker was best known for creating several musical hits in the ska and reggae genres.

Jack Dempsey -- known as the "Manassa Mauler" -- was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1919-1926.

Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias led the first European expedition round the Cape of Good Hope in 1488.

While never popular in her lifetime, Emily Dickinson has become one of the most widely known, most revered poets in history.

Film actress Marlene Dietrich was known for her sultry, sex appeal. She was a major leading lady in the 1930s and 1940s.

U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles made major contributions to U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War.

Eadweard Muybridge's photography of moving animals captured movement in a way that had never been done before. His work was used by both scientists and artists.

King Edward VII took over the British throne after the death of Queen Victoria. He was a popular ruler who strengthened his country prior to World War I.

Edward VIII became king of the United Kingdom following the death of his father, George V, but ruled for less than a year. He abdicated the throne in order to marry his lover, Wallis Simpson, thereafter taking the title Duke of Windsor.

Adolf Eichmann would be executed by the state of Israel for his role as coordinator of logistics for "the final solution to the Jewish question."

An originator of big-band jazz, Duke Ellington was an American composer, pianist and bandleader who composed thousands of scores over his 50-year career.

Fashion designer Perry Ellis launched a new wave of fashion that was defined by his signature baggy look. His clothes were lauded as both classic and adventurous.

Personality development, in Erik H. Erikson's view, occurs through a series of identity crises that occur in stages that must be overcome and internalized.

Jerry Falwell is a religious leader, political activist and television evangelist. He restarted The Moral Majority Coalition in 2004.

Alice Faye was a Broadway actress and chorus girl who played the mother of Shirley Temple in several films.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was an opera singer known for his deep baritone and preeminence in the lieder.

Lester Flatt was best known for his bluegrass guitar stylings as part of the Foggy Mountain Boys and Flatt and Scruggs.

French novelist Gustave Flaubert, born in 1821, is best known for his masterpiece Madame Bovary and is renowned as a classic French realist writer.

Henry Ossian Flipper was the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. As second lieutenant with the 10th Cavalry, he was framed for embezzlement.

Sociologist E. Franklin Frazier blazed a trail in the 1940s and 50s for African American academics who studied black culture.

John Wayne Gacy is credited as one of the most vicious serial killers in U.S. history, with 33 victims.

William Lloyd Garrison was an American journalistic crusader who helped lead the successful abolitionist campaign against slavery in the United States.

French artist Paul Gauguin's bold colors, exaggerated body proportions and stark contrasts helped him achieve broad success in the late 19th century.