From politicians and political dissidents to civil rights activists to a Nobel prize-winning physicist, the world said goodbye to a number of notable names this year.
Among the newsmakers who died in 2024 were controversial figure O.J. Simpson, the football star and actor turned celebrity murder defendant, who was eventually acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend in a trial that mesmerized the public; Lilly Ledbetter, an icon of the equal pay movement and the namesake of landmark wage discrimination legislation; and Peter Higgs, the physicist who won a Nobel prize for proposing the existence of the “God particle.”
Here are more notable names who died in 2024, organized by date.
MORE: Singers, actors and other entertainers we lost in 2024
In Memoriam: Newsmakers who died in 2024
JANUARY
Zvi Zamir, 98. A former director of Israel’s Mossad spy service who warned that Israel was about to be attacked on the eve of the 1973 Mideast war. Jan. 2.
Dexter Scott King, 62. He dedicated much of his life to shepherding the civil rights legacy of his parents, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Jan. 22.
Charles Osgood, 91. He anchored “CBS Sunday Morning” for more than two decades, was host of the long-running radio program “The Osgood File” and was referred to as CBS News’ poet-in-residence. Jan. 23.
N. Scott Momaday, 89. A Pulitzer Prize-winning storyteller, poet, educator and folklorist whose debut novel “House Made of Dawn” is widely credited as the starting point for contemporary Native American literature. Jan. 24.
Jean Carnahan, 90. She became the first female senator to represent Missouri when she was appointed to replace her husband following his death. Jan. 30.
FEBRUARY
Hage Geingob, 82. Namibia’s president and founding prime minister who played a central role in what has become one of Africa’s most stable democracies after returning from a long exile in Botswana and the United States as an anti-apartheid activist. Feb. 4.
Bob Beckwith, 91. A retired firefighter whose chance encounter with the president amid the rubble of ground zero became part of an iconic image of American unity after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Feb. 4.
John Bruton, 76. A former Irish prime minister who played a key role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland. Feb. 6.
Sebastián Piñera, 74. The two-time former president of Chile faced social upheaval followed by a pandemic in his second term. Feb. 6. Helicopter crash.
Seiji Ozawa, 88. The Japanese conductor amazed audiences with the lithe physicality of his performances during three decades at the helm of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Feb. 6.
Robert Badinter, 95. He spearheaded the drive to abolish France’s death penalty, campaigned against antisemitism and Holocaust denial, and led a European body dealing with the legal fallout of Yugoslavia’s breakup. Feb. 9.
Bob Edwards, 76. He anchored National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” for just under 25 years and was the baritone voice who told many Americans what had happened while they slept. Feb. 10.
Alexei Navalny, 47. The fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests. Feb. 16.
Hydeia Broadbent, 39. The HIV/AIDS activist came to national prominence in the 1990s as a young child for her inspirational talks to reduce the stigma surrounding the virus she was born with. Feb. 20.
Jacob Rothschild, 87. The financier and philanthropist was part of the renowned Rothschild banking dynasty. Feb. 26.
Nikolai Ryzhkov, 94. A former Soviet prime minister who presided over botched efforts to shore up the crumbling national economy in the final years of the USSR. Feb. 28.
Brian Mulroney, 84. The former Canadian prime minister forged close ties with two Republican U.S. presidents through a sweeping free trade agreement that was once vilified but is now celebrated. Feb. 29.
MARCH
Iris Apfel, 102. A textile expert, interior designer and fashion celebrity known for her eccentric style. March 1.
Akira Toriyama, 68. The creator of the best-selling Dragon Ball and other popular anime who influenced Japanese comics. March 1.
Chris Mortensen, 72. The award-winning journalist covered the NFL for close to four decades, including 32 as a senior analyst at ESPN. March 3.
David E. Harris, 89. He flew bombers for the U.S. military and broke barriers in 1964 when he became the first Black pilot hired at a major U.S. airline. March 8.
Paul Alexander, 78. A Texas man who spent most of his life using an iron lung chamber and built a large following on social media, recounting his life from contracting polio in the 1940s to earning a law degree. March 11.
David Mixner, 77. A longtime LGBTQ+ activist who was an adviser to Bill Clinton during his presidential campaign and later called him out over the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy regarding gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer personnel in the military. March 11.
Lou Whittaker, 95. A legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, and who taught generations of climbers during his more than 250 trips up Mount Rainier, the tallest peak in Washington state. March 24.
Joe Lieberman, 82. The former U.S. senator of Connecticut nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in the disputed 2000 election and almost became Republican John McCain’s running mate eight years later. March 27. Complications from a fall.
William D. Delahunt, 82. The longtime Massachusetts congressman was a Democratic stalwart who postponed his retirement from Washington to help pass former President Barack Obama’s legislative agenda. March 30.
APRIL
Lou Conter, 102. The last living survivor of the USS Arizona battleship that exploded and sank during the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. April 1.
John Sinclair, 82. A poet, music producer and counterculture figure whose lengthy prison sentence after a series of small-time pot busts inspired a John Lennon song and a star-studded 1971 concert to free him. April 2.
The Rev. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, 94. An influential pastor and civil rights leader who used his tenure at one of Los Angeles’ oldest churches to uplift the predominantly Black neighborhoods following one of the country’s worst race riots. April 5.
Peter Higgs, 94. The Nobel prize-winning physicist proposed the existence of the so-called “God particle” that helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang. April 8.
Ralph Puckett Jr., 97. A retired Army colonel awarded the Medal of Honor seven decades after he was wounded leading a company of outnumbered Army Rangers in battle during the Korean War. April 8.
O.J. Simpson, 76. The decorated football superstar and Hollywood actor who was acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend but later found liable in a separate civil trial. April 10.
William Strickland, 87. A longtime civil rights activist and supporter of the Black Power movement who worked with Malcolm X and other prominent leaders in the 1960s. April 10.
Robert MacNeil, 93. He created the even-handed, no-frills PBS newscast “The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour” in the 1970s and co-anchored the show with his late partner, Jim Lehrer, for two decades. April 12.
Faith Ringgold, 93. An award-winning author and artist who broke down barriers for Black female artists and became famous for her richly colored and detailed quilts combining painting, textiles and storytelling. April 12.
Bob Graham, 87. A former U.S. senator and two-term Florida governor who gained national prominence as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks and as an early critic of the Iraq war. April 16.
Terry Anderson, 76. The globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years. April 21.
William Laws Calley Jr., 80. As an Army lieutenant, he led the U.S. soldiers who killed hundreds of Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre, the most notorious war crime in modern American military history. April 28.
MAY
Dick Rutan, 85. He, along with copilot Jeana Yeager, completed one of the greatest milestones in aviation history: the first round-the-world flight with no stops or refueling. May 3.
Kim Ki Nam, 94. A North Korean propaganda chief who helped build personality cults around the country’s three dynastic leaders. May 7.
Pete McCloskey, 96. A pro-environment, anti-war California Republican who co-wrote the Endangered Species Act and co-founded Earth Day. May 8.
Ralph Kennedy Frasier, 85. The last surviving member of a trio of African American youths who were the first to desegregate the undergraduate student body at North Carolina’s flagship public university in the 1950s. May 8.
Alice Munro, 92. The Nobel laureate was a Canadian literary giant who became one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history’s most honored short story writers. May 13.
Peter Buxtun, 86. The whistleblower who revealed that the U.S. government allowed hundreds of Black men in rural Alabama to go untreated for syphilis in what became known as the Tuskegee study. May 18.
Ebrahim Raisi, 63. The Iranian president was a hard-line protege of the country’s supreme leader who helped oversee the mass executions of thousands in 1988 and later led the country as it enriched uranium near weapons-grade levels, launched a major attack on Israel and experienced mass protests. May 19. Helicopter crash.
Hossein Amirabdollahian, 60. Iran’s foreign minister and a hard-liner close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard who confronted the West while also overseeing indirect talks with the U.S. over the country’s nuclear program. May 19. Helicopter crash.
Ivan F. Boesky, 87. The flamboyant stock trader whose cooperation with the government cracked open one of the largest insider trading scandals in the history of Wall Street. May 20.
Morgan Spurlock, 53. The documentary filmmaker and Oscar nominee whose most famous works skewered America’s food industry and who notably ate only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet. May 23. Complications of cancer.
Robert Pickton, 74. A Canadian serial killer who took female victims to his pig farm during a crime spree near Vancouver in the late 1990s and early 2000s. May 31. Injuries from a prison assault involving another inmate.
JUNE
Tin Oo, 97. One of the closest associates of Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as a co-founder of her National League for Democracy party. June 1.
David Levy, 86. An Israeli politician born in Morocco who fought tirelessly against deep-seated racism against Jews from North Africa and went on to serve as foreign minister and hold other senior governmental posts. June 2.
Brigitte Bierlein, 74. The former head of Austria’s Constitutional Court became the country’s first female chancellor in an interim government in 2019. June 3.
Paul Pressler, 94. A leading figure of the Southern Baptist Convention who was accused of sexually abusing boys and young men and later settled a lawsuit over the allegations. June 7.
The Rev. James Lawson Jr., 95. An apostle of nonviolent protest who schooled activists to withstand brutal reactions from white authorities as the Civil Rights Movement gained traction. June 9.
Lynn Conway, 86. A pioneer in the design of microchips that are at the heart of consumer electronics who overcame discrimination as a transgender person. June 9.
George Nethercutt, 79. The former U.S. congressman was a Spokane lawyer with limited political experience when he ousted Democratic Speaker of the House Tom Foley as part of a stunning GOP wave that shifted national politics to the right in 1994. June 14.
Kazuko Shiraishi, 93. A leading name in modern Japanese “beat” poetry, she was known for her dramatic readings — at times with jazz music. June 14.
JULY
Jim Inhofe, 89. A powerful fixture in Oklahoma politics for over six decades, the Republican U.S. senator was a conservative known for his strong support of defense spending and his denial that human activity is responsible for the bulk of climate change. July 9.
Tommy Robinson, 82. A former U.S. congressman who gained notoriety as an Arkansas sheriff for tactics that included chaining inmates outside a state prison to protest overcrowding. July 10.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer, 96. The diminutive sex therapist became a pop icon, media star and best-selling author through her frank talk about once-taboo bedroom topics. July 12.
Lou Dobbs, 78. The conservative political pundit and veteran cable TV host was a founding anchor for CNN and later was a nightly presence on Fox Business Network for more than a decade. July 18.
Nguyen Phu Trong, 80. He was general secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party and the country’s most powerful politician. July 19.
Sheila Jackson Lee, 74. The longtime congresswoman from Texas helped lead federal efforts to protect women from domestic violence and recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday. July 19.
Edna O’Brien, 93. Ireland’s literary pride and outlaw scandalized her native land with her debut novel “The Country Girls” before gaining international acclaim as a storyteller and iconoclast that found her welcomed everywhere from Dublin to the White House. July 27.
Francine Pascal, 92. A onetime soap opera writer whose “Sweet Valley High” novels and the ongoing adventures of twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield and other teens captivated millions of young readers. July 28.
Betty Prashker, 99. A pioneering editor of the 20th century who as one of the first women with the power to acquire books published such classics as Kate Millett’s “Sexual Politics” and Susan Faludi’s “Backlash” and helped oversee the careers of Jean Auel, Dominick Dunne and Erik Larson among others. July 30.
Ismail Haniyeh, 62. Hamas’ top leader in exile landed on Israel’s hit list after the militant group staged its surprise Oct. 7 attacks. July 31. Killed in an airstrike in Iran.
AUGUST
Susan Wojcicki, 56. A pioneering tech executive who helped shape Google and YouTube. Aug. 9.
Wallace “Wally” Amos, 88. The creator of the Famous Amos cookie empire went on to become a children’s literacy advocate. Aug. 13.
Ruth Johnson Colvin, 107. She founded Literacy Volunteers of America, was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and received the nation’s highest civilian award: the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Aug. 18.
Salim Hoss, 94. The five-time former Lebanese prime minister served during some of the most tumultuous years of his country’s modern history. Aug. 25.
Leonard Riggio, 83. A brash, self-styled underdog who transformed the publishing industry by building Barnes & Noble into the country’s most powerful bookseller before it was overtaken by the rise of Amazon.com. Aug. 27.
Edward B. Johnson, 81. As a CIA officer, he traveled into Iran with a colleague to rescue six American diplomats who fled the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran. Aug. 27.
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, 69. As New Zealand’s Māori King, he was the seventh monarch in the Kiingitanga movement. Aug. 30.
SEPTEMBER
Linda Deutsch, 80. A special correspondent for The Associated Press who for nearly 50 years wrote glittering first drafts of history from many of the nation’s most significant criminal and civil trials including Charles Manson, O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson. Sept. 1.
Jim Sasser, 87. He served 18 years in the U.S. Senate and six years as ambassador to China. Sept. 10.
Alberto Fujimori, 86. His decade-long presidency began with triumphs righting Peru’s economy and defeating a brutal insurgency only to end in autocratic excess that later sent him to prison. Sept. 11.
John Ashton, 76. The veteran character actor who memorably played the gruff but lovable police detective John Taggart in the “Beverly Hills Cop” films. Sept. 26.
Hassan Nasrallah, 64. The Hezbollah leader who transformed the Lebanese militant group into a potent paramilitary and political force in the Middle East. Sept. 27. Killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Humberto Ortega, 77. The Nicaraguan guerrilla fighter and a Sandinista defense minister who later in life became a critic of his older brother President Daniel Ortega. Sept. 30.
Ken Page, 70. A stage and screen actor who starred alongside Beyoncé in “Dreamgirls,” introduced Broadway audiences to Old Deuteronomy in “Cats” and scared generations of kids as the voice of Oogie Boogie, the villain of the 1993 animated holiday film “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Sept. 30.
OCTOBER
Megan Marshack, 70. An aide to Nelson Rockefeller who was with the former New York governor and vice president when he died under circumstances that spurred intense speculation. Oct. 2.
Tim Johnson, 77. The former U.S. senator was the last Democrat to hold statewide office in South Dakota and was adept at securing federal funding for projects back home during his nearly three decades in Washington. Oct. 8.
Ethel Kennedy, 96. The wife of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy raised their 11 children after he was assassinated and remained dedicated to social causes and the family’s legacy for decades thereafter. Oct. 10.
Lilly Ledbetter, 86. A former Alabama factory manager whose lawsuit against her employer made her an icon of the equal pay movement and led to landmark wage discrimination legislation. Oct. 12.
Philip G. Zimbardo, 91. The psychologist behind the controversial “Stanford Prison Experiment” that was intended to examine the psychological experiences of imprisonment. Oct. 14.
Yahya Sinwar, 61. The Hamas leader who masterminded the surprise Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel that shocked the world and triggered the longest, deadliest and most destructive war in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Oct. 16. Killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Thelma Mothershed Wair, 83. One of nine Black students who integrated a high school in Arkansas’ capital city of Little Rock in 1957 while a mob of white segregationists yelled threats and insults. Oct. 19.
Teri Garr, 79. The quirky comedy actor rose from background dancer in Elvis Presley movies to co-star in such favorites as “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie.” Oct. 29. Multiple sclerosis.
Colm McLoughlin, 81. An Irishman who landed in the deserts of the United Arab Emirates and helped lead Dubai Duty Free into becoming an airport retail behemoth generating billions of dollars. Oct. 30.
NOVEMBER
Bernard “Bernie” Marcus, 95. The co-founder of The Home Depot, a billionaire philanthropist, and a big Republican donor. Nov. 4.
Elwood Edwards, 74. He voiced America Online’s ever-present “You’ve got mail” greeting. Nov. 5.
Reg Murphy, 90. A renowned journalist whose newsgathering career included stints as an editor and top executive at newspapers in Atlanta, San Francisco and Baltimore — and who found himself the subject of national headlines when he survived a politically motivated kidnapping. Nov. 9.
Bela Karolyi, 82. The charismatic, if polarizing, gymnastics coach turned young women into champions and the United States into an international power in the sport. Nov. 15.
Arthur Frommer, 95. His “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day” guidebooks revolutionized leisure travel by convincing average Americans to take budget vacations abroad. Nov. 18.
Fred Harris, 94. A former U.S. senator from Oklahoma, presidential hopeful and populist who championed Democratic Party reforms in the turbulent 1960s. Nov. 23.
Barbara Taylor Bradford, 91. A British journalist who became a publishing sensation in her 40s with the saga “A Woman of Substance” and wrote more than a dozen other novels that sold tens of millions of copies. Nov. 24.
Mary McGee, 87. A female racing pioneer and subject profiled in the Oscar-contending documentary “Motorcycle Mary.” Nov. 27.
Prince Johnson, 72. The Liberian former warlord and senator whose brutal tactics shocked the world. Nov. 28.
Ananda Krishnan, 86. One of Malaysia’s richest tycoons with a vast business empire including telecommunications, media, petroleum and real estate. Nov. 28.
Lou Carnesecca, 99. The excitable St. John’s coach whose outlandish sweaters became an emblem of his team’s rousing Final Four run in 1985 and who was a treasured figure in New York sports. Nov. 30.
DECEMBER
Debbie Nelson, 69. The single mother of rapper Eminem whose rocky relationship with her son was known widely through his hit song lyrics. Dec. 2.
Nikki Giovanni, 81. The poet, author, educator and public speaker went from borrowing money to release her first book to spending decades as a literary celebrity. Dec. 9.