Did you know about George Bernard Shaw
With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, and was awarded the 1925 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Notable Deaths on November 2
November 2 has 92 recorded notable deaths across history, from 1083 to 2024. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
1950 — George Bernard Shaw
Irish author, playwright, and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1856)
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
92 source records
1083 – 2024
Today in history
Major events on November 2
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 2022 A peace agreement is signed between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front, ending the Tigray War. Source
- 2000 Expedition 1 arrived at the International Space Station for the first long-duration stay onboard. From this day to present, a continuous human presence in space on the station remains uninterrupted. Source
Did you know about Eva Cassidy
In 1992 she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by a 1996 live solo album titled Live at Blues Alley.
Did you know about Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Zayed served as the governor of Eastern Region from 1946 until he became the ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966, and served as the first president of the United Arab Emirates from its independence on 2 December 1971 until his death in 2004.
Did you know about Theo van Gogh
Theo van Gogh directed Submission: Part 1, a short film written by Somali writer and politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, which criticised the treatment of women in Islam in strong terms.
Did you know about James Thurber
Thurber was hired by The New Yorker in early 1927, and soon became a prolific and popular contributor.
More major people who died on November 2
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1996
Eva Cassidy
American singer (born 1963)
Eva Marie Cassidy was an American singer and musician. She was known for her interpretations of jazz, folk, and blues music, sung with a powerful, emotive soprano voice. In 1992 she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by a 1996 live solo album titled Live at Blues Alley. Although she had been honored by the Washington Area Music Association, she was virtually unknown outside her native Washington, D.C. area at the time of her death from melanoma at the age of 33 in 1996.
2004
Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
the 1st president and founder of the UAE (born 1918)
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was an Emirati politician, philanthropist, and the founding father of the United Arab Emirates. Zayed served as the governor of Eastern Region from 1946 until he became the ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966, and served as the first president of the United Arab Emirates from its independence on 2 December 1971 until his death in 2004. He is referred in the United Arab Emirates as the Father of the Nation for being the principal driving force behind the unification of the United Arab Emirates.
2004
Theo van Gogh
Dutch actor, director, and producer (born 1957)
Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch film director. He directed Submission: Part 1, a short film written by Somali writer and politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, which criticised the treatment of women in Islam in strong terms. On 2 November 2004, he was murdered by Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch-Moroccan Islamist who objected to the film's message. The last film Van Gogh had completed before his murder, 06/05, was a fictional exploration of the assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn. It was released posthumously in December 2004, a month after Van Gogh's death, and two years after Fortuyn's death.
1961
James Thurber
American humorist and cartoonist (born 1894)
James Grover Thurber was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist, and playwright. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, and attended Ohio State University (OSU), leaving in 1918 without graduating. He spent over a year in Paris, working for the US State Department as a code clerk, and on his return to Columbus in 1920 was hired as a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch. He married his first wife, Althea Adams, in 1922. Thurber was hired by The New Yorker in early 1927, and soon became a prolific and popular contributor.
1991
Mort Shuman
American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1936)
Mortimer Shuman was an American singer, pianist and songwriter, best known as co-writer of many 1960s rock and roll hits, including "Viva Las Vegas". He also wrote and sang many songs in French, such as "Le Lac Majeur", "Papa-Tango-Charly", "Sha Mi Sha", "Un Été de Porcelaine", and "Brooklyn by the Sea" which became hits in France and several other European countries. Shuman wrote over 500 songs, including those for Ben E. King, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Andy Williams, and Janis Joplin. He was also responsible for the English-language production of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. Shuman was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
1981
Wally Wood
American author, illustrator, and publisher (born 1927)
Wallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as Weird Science, Weird Fantasy, and MAD Magazine from its inception in 1952 until 1964, as well as for T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and work for Warren Publishing's Creepy. He drew a few early issues of Marvel's Daredevil and established the title character's distinctive red costume. Wood created and owned the long-running characters Sally Forth and Cannon.
1970
Richard Cushing
American cardinal (born 1895)
Richard James Cushing was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of Boston from 1944 to 1970 and was made a cardinal in 1958. Cushing's main role was as fundraiser and builder of new churches, schools, and institutions. Unlike his predecessor, he was on good terms with practically the entire Boston elite, as he softened the traditional confrontation between the Catholic Irish and the Protestant upper-class. He built useful relationships with Jews, Protestants, and institutions outside the usual Catholic community. He helped presidential candidate John F. Kennedy deflect fears of papal interference in American government if a Catholic became president.
1933
Gao Qifeng
Chinese painter (born 1889)
Gao Qifeng was a Chinese painter who co-founded the Lingnan School with his older brother Gao Jianfu and fellow artist Chen Shuren. Orphaned at a young age, Gao spent much of his childhood following Jianfu, learning the techniques of Ju Lian before travelling to Tokyo in 1907 to study Western and Japanese painting. While abroad, Gao joined the revolutionary organization Tongmenghui to challenge the Qing dynasty; after he returned to China, he published the nationalist magazine The True Record, which later fell afoul of the Beiyang government. Although offered a position in the Republic of China, Gao chose to focus on his art. He moved to Guangzhou in 1918, taking a series of teaching positions that culminated with an honorary professorship at Lingnan University in 1925. Falling ill in 1929, Gao left the city for Ersha Island, where he took students and established the Tianfang Studio.
1893
Daniel Payne
American educator and bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (born 1811)
Daniel Alexander Payne was an American bishop, educator, college administrator and author. A major shaper of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), Payne stressed education and preparation of ministers and introduced more order in the church, becoming its sixth bishop and serving for more than four decades (1852–1893) as well as becoming one of the founders of Wilberforce University in Ohio in 1856. In 1863, the AME Church bought the college and chose Payne to lead it; he became the first African-American president of a college in the United States and served in that position until 1877.
1959
Michael Considine
Irish-Australian trade union leader and politician (born 1885)
Michael Patrick Considine was an Irish-born Australian politician and unionist. He represented the seat of Barrier in the House of Representatives from 1917 to 1922. A controversial figure, Considine was pressured to resign from the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He won in 1919 as an independent before joining the Socialist Labor Party in 1920, but his seat was abolished for the 1922 election and he was defeated in an attempt to transfer to the seat of Darling.
1961
Harriet Bosse
Swedish-Norwegian actress (born 1878)
Harriet Sofie Bosse was a Swedish–Norwegian actress. A celebrity in her day, Bosse is now most commonly remembered as the third wife of the playwright August Strindberg. Bosse began her career in a minor company run by her forceful older sister Alma Fahlstrøm in Kristiania. Having secured an engagement at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, the main drama venue of Sweden's capital Stockholm, Bosse caught the attention of Strindberg with her intelligent acting and exotic "oriental" appearance.
2012
Han Suyin
Chinese-Swiss physician and author (born 1916)
Rosalie Matilda Kuanghu Chou was a Chinese-born Eurasian physician and author better known by her pen name Han Suyin. She wrote in English and French on modern China, set her novels in East and Southeast Asia, and published autobiographical memoirs which covered the span of modern China. These writings gained her a reputation as an ardent and articulate supporter of the Chinese Communist Revolution. She lived in Lausanne, Switzerland, for many years until her death.
2013
Clifford Nass
American author and academic (born 1958)
Clifford Ivar Nass was a professor of communication at Stanford University, co-creator of The Media Equation theory, and a renowned authority on human-computer interaction (HCI). He was also known for his work on individual differences associated with media multitasking. Nass was the Thomas M. Storke Professor at Stanford and held courtesy appointments in Computer Science, Education, Law, and Sociology. He was also affiliated with the programs in Symbolic Systems and Science, Technology, and Society.
1935
Jock Cameron
South African cricketer (born 1905)
Jock Cameron was a South African cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s. A tragic figure owing to his premature death when probably the best wicket-keeper in the world, Cameron is often forgotten today but regarded by those who know about him as one of the best wicket-keepers in the history of cricket. Cameron was also a brilliant, hard-hitting middle-order batsman who once hit Hedley Verity for thirty runs off one over.
1944
Thomas Midgley Jr.
American chemist and engineer (born 1889)
Thomas Midgley Jr. was an American mechanical and chemical engineer. He played a major role in developing leaded gasoline and some of the first chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), better known in the United States by the brand name Freon; both products were later banned from common use due to their harmful impact on human health and the environment. He was granted more than 100 patents over the course of his career.
1483
Henry Stafford
2nd Duke of Buckingham, English politician, Lord High Constable of England (born 1454)
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, was an English nobleman known as the namesake of Buckingham's rebellion, a failed but significant collection of uprisings in England and parts of Wales against Richard III of England in October 1483. He was executed without trial for his role in the uprisings. Stafford is also one of the primary suspects in the disappearance of Richard's nephews, the Princes in the Tower.
1863
Theodore Judah
American engineer (born 1826)
Theodore Dehone Judah was an American civil engineer who was a central figure in the original promotion, establishment, and design of the first transcontinental railroad. He found investors for what became the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR). As chief engineer, he performed much of the route survey work to determine the best alignment for the railroad over the Sierra Nevada, which was completed six years after his death.
2012
Shreeram Shankar Abhyankar
Indian-American mathematician and academic (born 1930)
Shreeram Shankar Abhyankar was an Indian American mathematician known for his contributions to algebraic geometry. At the time of his death, he held the Marshall Distinguished Professor of Mathematics Chairman at Purdue University, and was also a professor of computer science and industrial engineering. He is known for Abhyankar's conjecture of finite group theory. His later research was in the area of computational and algorithmic algebraic geometry.
2018
Raymond Chow
Hong Kong film producer (born 1927)
Raymond Chow Man-wai was a Hong Kong film producer and executive. He was responsible for successfully launching martial arts and the Hong Kong cinema onto the international stage. As the founder of Golden Harvest, he produced some of the biggest stars of the martial arts film genre, including Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. In 2020, he was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame.