Ken Flores (1996–2025), stand-up comedian

Ken Flores was a stand-up comedian and the creator of the Chicago comedy showcase LatinXL.

Tom Verlaine (1949–2023), songwriter, guitarist and Television co-founder

Tom Verlaine was a singer, songwriter, and musician best known as the frontman for the New York-based 1970s punk band, Television.

Mel Mermelstein (1926–2022), Holocaust survivor who challenged deniers

Mel Mermelstein was a Holocaust survivor who successfully sued a group of Holocaust deniers and prompted a judge to declare that the many deaths were fact.

Paul Crutzen (1933–2021), Nobel laureate who warned of ozone depletion

Paul Crutzen was a scientist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995 for his study of the damaged ozone layer.

Cicely Tyson (1924–2021), award-winning star of “Sounder,” “The Help”

Cicely Tyson, the award-winning actress whose film, television, and theater roles included “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” “Roots,” "King," "Sounder," and “The Help,” died Thursday, her family announced.

Discover the legacies of the Challenger astronauts

On January 28, 1986, Americans turned on their TVs to watch the launch of Space Shuttle Challenger. The shuttle’s flight would turn out to be heartbreakingly brief before tragedy struck. Seventy-three seconds into the Challenger’s flight, the shuttle exploded. All seven astronauts on board were killed.

Paul Farnes (1918–2020), last surviving WWII Battle of Britain flying ace

Paul Farnes was a fighter pilot for the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, the last of the flying aces who fought the Battle of Britain during World War II. The fighter pilots who flew in the Battle of Britain were known as “The Few,” recalling Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s famous speech praising them: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” Farnes was a sergeant during the battle, later promoted several times until he was wing commander as the war ended, and his eight kills merited him the title of ace. Two other Battle of Britain fighter pilots survive, neither of them aces. In addition to the Battle of Britain, Farnes fought in the Battle of France as well as in North Africa.

Marj Dusay (1936–2020), soap opera regular

Marj Dusay was a soap opera veteran who starred on five different soaps including “Capitol, “All My Children” and “Guiding Light.” She played an alien named Kara on the original “Star Trek” in an episode titled “Spock’s Brain” in which she steals his brain to take back to her planet. Dusay also played Blair’s mother on the sitcom “Facts of Life.” She made her big screen debut in the 1967 Elvis movie “Clambake” and appeared on many television shows including “The Odd Couple,” “Mod Squad,” and “Get Smart.”

Gene Sharp (1928–2018), founder of the Albert Einstein Institution

Influential advocate of nonviolent resistance…

Coco Schumann (1924–2018), holocaust survivor and renowned jazz guitarist

Forced to perform at concentration camps in the “Ghetto Swingers” band.

Signe Toly Anderson (1941 - 2016), Jefferson Airplane founding member

Signe Toly Anderson, a singer who was one of the original members of the Jefferson Airplane, has died. She was 74. Anderson died Jan. 28 at her home in Beaverton, Oregon. Her daughter, Onateska Ladybug Sherwood Anderson, confirmed the death. She said her mother had chronic obstructive lung disease. Anderson left the band after its first record and after giving birth to her first child; she was replaced by Grace Slick. Anderson performed live with the band Oct. 15, 1966, for two sets. She offered a farewell to the fans, saying, "I want you all to wear smiles and daisies and box balloons. I love you all."

Paul Kantner (1941 - 2016), Jefferson Airplane guitarist and songwriter

Paul Kantner, a founding member of the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, has died at 74, according to the San Francisco Gate.

Christa McAuliffe: Teacher, Astronaut

On Jan. 28, 1986, teacher Christa McAuliffe nearly became the first civilian in space.

Zora Neale Hurston: Genius of the South

In the summer of 1973, a young writer made a pilgrimage south to Fort Pierce, Florida, to visit the final resting place of an artist whose novels, plays and essays had inspired so much of her own writing. She arrived at the Garden of Heavenly Rest to find the segregated cemetery abandoned, weed-choked and overgrown with brambles, and it took her some time to locate the unmarked grave she sought. But find it she did, and before leaving she placed the stone she and a fellow scholar had paid for with their own money. The marker was modest, but its message was not.

Astrid Lindgren and Pippi Longstocking: Brightening Gloomy Childhoods

Astrid Lindgren wrote dozens of books during her career, but she’s best remembered for giving the world Pippi Longstocking.