Famous People Who Died in Accidents a to z

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.

Thomas Andrews was the principle architect for the infamous RMS Titanic. He died in the sinking, on April 15, 1912.

Financier John Jacob Astor IV was the great-grandson of John Jacob Astor. He helped build the Waldorf-Astoria hotel and died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

Francis Bacon was an English Renaissance statesman and philosopher, best known for his promotion the scientific method.

Musician and politician Sonny Bono was once wed to singer Cher and in 1994 was elected to U.S. Congress as a representative from California.

Subhas Chandra Bose was a 20th century organizational and military leader who fought for India’s freedom from British rule.

Ron Brown was a lawyer and Democratic politician who served as commerce secretary under the administration of President Bill Clinton.

Thomas Byles, a Catholic priest, was a victim of the RMS Titanic disaster.

Algerian born writer Albert Camus won the Nobel Prize for literature in part due to his embrace of existentialism in books like The Stranger.

George Washington Carver was a prominent African-American scientist and inventor. Carver is best known for the many uses he devised for the peanut.

Folk singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, famous in the 1970s for hits like "Cat's in the Cradle," was also a philanthropist dedicated to fighting world hunger.

Patsy Cline was a celebrated country singer best known for her crossover hits, including "Crazy" and "Walking After Midnight."

In 1922, aviator Bessie Coleman became the first African American woman to stage a public flight in America. Her high-flying skills always wowed her audience.

French physicist Pierre Curie was of founding fathers of modern physics and is best known for being a pioneer in radioactive studies.

Actor and cultural icon James Dean starred in East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant. He was killed in a tragic car accident at age 24.

John Denver was one of the most successful singer-songwriters of the 1970s. His hits include "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and "Thank God I'm a Country Boy."

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

Charles Drew was an African-American surgeon who pioneered methods of storing blood plasma for transfusion and organized the first large-scale blood bank in the U.S.

Isadora Duncan was a trailblazing dancer and instructor whose emphasis on freer forms of movement was a precursor to modern dance techniques.

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

Dodi Fayed was an Egyptian heir and film producer who dated and was dled with Princess Diana of Wales in a Paris car crash.

Jacques Futrelle was a journalist and mystery writer who created the character Professor Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen, also known as "The Thinking Machine." He died in the Titanic disaster.

Yuri Gagarin was a Soviet cosmonaut who in 1961 became the first man to travel into space

Antoni Gaudí was a Barcelona-based Spanish architect whose free-flowing works were greatly influenced by nature.

Marvin Gaye was a soul singer-songwriter with Motown in the 1960s and 1970s. He produced his own records and often addressed controversial themes.

Sidney Leslie Goodwin died as a small child in the sinking of the Titanic, with his identity being discovered almost a century later via DNA analysis.

A highly popular film actress in the 1950s, Grace Kelly starred in movies such as Dial M for Murder and To Catch a Thief. She married Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

Gus Grissom transitioned from successful Air Force test pilot to NASA astronaut, despite a controversial landing in the Liberty Bell 7.

Benjamin Guggenheim was an heir in the wealthy Guggenheim family. Following a trip to Europe, he decided to sail on the maiden voyage of the Titanic.

World Wrestling Federation fans knew Owen Hart as "the Rocket" or "the Blue Blazer." He died tragically during a pre-match publicity stunt when he fell 90 feet.

Charles Melville Hays was president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and a victim of the Titanic disaster of 1912.

William Holden was an actor who perfected the role of the cynic who acts heroically in spite of his scorn or pessimism.

Buddy Holly was a singer/songwriter whose records, conveying a sense of the wide-open spaces of West Texas and unstoppable joie de vivre, remain vital today.

Steve Irwin was a famous Australian wildlife enthusiast who was at the helm of the popular Crocodile Hunter series.

Brian Jones was a guitarist for rock-and-roll band the Rolling Stones.

Casey Jones was a railroad engineer known for his speed who died in 1900, when he collided with another train. He was immortalized as an American folk hero with the release of Wallace Saunders's song "The Ballad of Casey Jones."

Lech Kaczynski was a politician who served as president of Poland until his sudden death in a plane crash in 2010.

Andrew Kehoe was a mass murderer who went on a 1927 killing spree that included dynamiting the Bath, Michigan Consolidated School, killing 37 children.

Carolyn Bessette Kennedy married John F. Kennedy Jr. and was considered a trendsetter and fashion icon. She died in a small plane crash in 1999.

Later the publisher of political magazine George, JFK Jr. was the first child ever born to a president-elect, the son of JFK and Jacqueline Kennedy,

Sam Kinison was an American comedian best known for his crass humor and trademark scream. The Grammy-nominated comedian received his first break from fellow comedian Rodney Dangerfield.

Heath Ledger was an Academy Award-winning, Australian actor best known for his roles in Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight. He died of an accidental prescription drug overdose in 2008.

Brandon Lee was an action film star and the son of actor Bruce Lee. His untimely death was caused by a prop gun accident and the set of the film The Crow.

Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes was a singer and rapper known for her work with the 1990s group TLC.

Linda Lovelace is a pornographic actress who had instant success with the 1972 film Deep Throat.

Ramon Magsaysay became the third president of the Philippines in 1953, and is credited with restoring law and order during the Philippine crisis of the 1950s.

Aristide Maillol was a French artist, mostly known as a sculptor of monumental statues of female nudes.

American professional boxer and world heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano beat Jersey Joe Walcott for the title and won an unrivaled 49 straight fights.

High school teacher Christa McAuliffe was the first American civilian selected to go into space. She died in the space shuttle Challenger’s explosion in 1986.

Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk who was a revered pacifist and author, with works like Seven Storey Mountain and Thoughts in Solitude.

The most decorated U.S. soldier of World War II, Audie Murphy returned home a hero and became an actor, starring in his own story, To Hell and Back.

American singer and songwriter Ricky Nelson was an early teen idol who acted out his real-life childhood on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

Famous 20th century artist Jackson Pollock revolutionized the world of modern art with his unique abstract painting techniques.

Steve Prefontaine is best known as the runner who once held the U.S. record in every long-distance event. He died in a car crash in 1974 at age 24.

Princess Diana was Princess of Wales while married to Prince Charles. One of the most adored members of the British royal family, she died in a 1997 car crash.

Keith Relf was a founding memeber of the Yardbirds, one of the pivotal British rock bands of the 1960s. Relf is also remembered for his unusual, untimely death.

Lamar State College of Technology

Jenni Rivera is best known for making hit albums singing in Spanish and producing several reality TV series featuring her family.

Will Rogers was an entertainer known for his folksy charm and witty one-liners. He started out in Wild West shows and eventually made his way to Broadway and films.

Betty Shabazz is best known as the wife of African-American nationalist leader Malcolm X, who was assassinated in New York City in 1965.

Known for his lyrical and long-form verse, Percy Bysshe Shelley is one of the most highly regarded English Romantic poets of the 19th century. His works include The Masque of Anarchy and Queen Mab.

Captain Edward J. Smith played a role in one of the most famous disasters at sea in history, the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.

Jazz and blues vocalist Bessie Smith's powerful, soulful voice won her countless fans and earned her the title "Empress of the Blues."

William Thomas Stead was a writer of journalistic pieces and ghost stories whose life came to an end on the Titanic.

Ted Stevens was a U.S. senator from Alaska, and the longest-serving Republican senator in American history (1968-2009).

Mexican-American musician Ritchie Valens is best known for his hit "La Bamba." His successful career was cut short when he died in a plane crash at age 17.

Italian-American actor Rudolph Valentino was admired as the “Great Lover” of the 1920s.

Daniel Webster was an American lawyer and Whig Part leader who served as a congressman and secretary of state.

Actress Natalie Wood starred in the films Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean and in West Side Story as Maria. She drowned during a boating trip in 1981.

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was Pakistani chief of Army staff, chief martial-law administrator, and president of Pakistan (1978–88).

Émile Zola was the most prominent French novelist of the late 19th century. He was noted for his theories of naturalism as expressed in Les Rougon-Macquart.