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Obituary

A large pumpkin sculpture by Yayoi Kusama, on view at the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in 2023. The Japanese artist died this month.

Yayoi Kusama Created Fantastical ‘Infinity Mirror Rooms’ That Became the Art World’s Most Famous Backdrops. Her Work Spanned Counterculture to the Cosmos

The Japanese artist, who died on August 14 at 97, sought solace from hallucinations in her art, developing a visual language of polka dots, pumpkins and mirrors that entranced the world

Dolly Parton in 1978

Dolly Parton Was One of the Biggest Stars in the History of Country Music. She Wanted to Be Remembered as a Songwriter

After growing up in poverty, she became famous for her legendary songs, big heart and larger-than-life style. But the iconic musician insisted that “the songs lead to everything else”

Gunther von Hagens wearing his signature black fedora

This Man Turned Human Corpses Into Popular Museum Displays. Now, the Creator of These Controversial ‘Body Worlds’ Has Donated His Own Body to Science

Gunther von Hagens, who invented plastination, a method of preserving bodies by replacing their natural fluids with polymers, recently died at age 81

Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott on display ahead of a Christie's auction in 2019

Who Were the Couples That Posed for David Hockney’s Famed Double Portraits?

One of his subjects was a cousin I never knew. I wanted to learn more about the large-scale portraits that helped define the English artist’s legacy

Gordon S. Wood was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama in 2011. 

America's 250th Anniversary

Four Reasons You Should Know More About Gordon S. Wood, the Scholar of the American Revolution Who Died This Week at Age 92

The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, who wrote of the “radicalism” of the country’s founding, was killed in a car collision in a parking lot

The Painter in His Bed etc., Georg Baselitz, 2023

After World War II, This German Artist Turned the Art World Upside Down—Literally, by Inverting His Paintings

Georg Baselitz, the renowned painter who played with perspective and flipped canvases on their head, died recently at age 88

Pearl Fryar in his topiary garden

Born to a Family of Sharecroppers, This Topiary Artist Overcame Discrimination to Become the ‘Picasso of Plants’

Self-taught artist Pearl Fryar, who died this month at age 86, got his start when he tried to win an award from his local garden club. He ended up becoming a celebrity in the horticultural world

The Reverend Jesse Jackson attends an event commemorating the 20th anniversary of the March on Washington.

Jesse Jackson Witnessed Martin Luther King Jr.’s Assassination. Here’s How He Carried the Torch for the Civil Rights Movement Into the Future

He emerged as a leader in the 1960s and championed unity among marginalized groups across the U.S.

Claudette Colvin, photographed here in 1998, helped end segregation on public transportation.

Women Who Shaped History

Months Before Rosa Parks Made Headlines, Claudette Colvin Refused to Give Up Her Seat for a White Woman on a Segregated Bus

Colvin, a lesser-known figure who took a stand against racial discrimination as a teenager in Montgomery, Alabama, has died at age 86

Jane Goodall visiting a chimpanzee rescue center in 2018 in Entebbe, Uganda

Jane Goodall, Legendary Primatologist and Anthropologist, Dies at 91

She was considered the world’s leading expert on chimpanzees and was renowned for her global conservation efforts

Joseph McNeil speaks about the Woolworth’s sit-in in a 2023 interview.

Joseph McNeil, Member of ‘Greensboro Four’ Who Protested Segregation at Lunch Counters, Dies at 83

McNeil and three other Black freshmen held a famous sit-in at Woolworth’s in 1960, which inspired peaceful protests across the country

Donald McPherson flew during the United States' Okinawa campaign in Japan.

Last Known Surviving American Ace Pilot From World War II Dies at 103

Donald McPherson shot down five planes in the Pacific theater in the final years of the war, earning him the title of “ace”

Jim Lovell while training for the Apollo 13 mission

Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 Commander Who Thrived Under Pressure, Dies at 97

The space explorer was determined throughout his life, says Teasel Muir-Harmony, the curator of the Apollo Collection at the National Air and Space Museum

John Tyler was 63 when his 13th child was born in 1853. That child, Lyon Gardiner Tyler Sr., was 75 when Harrison Ruffin Tyler was born in 1928.

Last Surviving Grandson of President John Tyler, Who Took Office in 1841, Dies at 96

When Harrison Ruffin Tyler’s grandfather was born 235 years ago in 1790, George Washington had just become the nation’s first president

Pope Francis greets crowds in St. Peter's Square in 2014.

Five Ways Pope Francis, Religious Leader Who Pushed to Modernize the Catholic Church, Was a Man of Firsts

The pontiff, who died on Easter Monday at age 88, strived to make the church more inclusive. But critics believed his reforms either went too far or not far enough

James Earl Carter, Jr. by Robert Clark Templeton, 1980

The Lasting Legacy of Jimmy Carter, Dead at 100

Smithsonian curators remember and honor the 39th president’s uncompromising idealism

Elizabeth Francis received a plaque for being the oldest living Texan at her 114th birthday celebration last year.

America’s Oldest Living Person, Elizabeth Francis, Dies at 115. She Was a Supercentenarian and ‘Houstonian Icon’

Since her birth in 1909, Francis lived through two world wars, segregation, the fall of the Soviet Union, multiple pandemics and the invention of the cellphone

James Earl Jones famously lent his deep, sonorous voice to Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise and Mufasa in The Lion King.

Darth Vader Didn’t Come Alive Until James Earl Jones Gave Him a Voice

The prolific American actor, who died on September 9, recorded his dialogue for the first “Star Wars” film in less than three hours

Akira Endo discovered the first statin, a class of molecule that decreases the production of cholesterol. He died June 5 at the age of 90.

Akira Endo, Biochemist Who Found a Way to Fight Heart Disease, Dies at 90

Endo’s research paved the way for the development of drugs to treat high cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attacks or strokes

Taken in December 1968 during NASA's Apollo 8 mission, William Anders' iconic "Earthrise" photograph galvanized environmental movements and inspired people on Earth.

William Anders, NASA Astronaut Who Captured Iconic ‘Earthrise’ Photograph, Dies at 90

The Apollo 8 lunar module pilot also served in the U.S. Air Force and worked extensively on nuclear energy projects

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