10 People Who Are Only Famous Because of Their Death

Plenty of modern historical figures went unappreciated in their time. From Van Gogh to Emily Dickinson, sometimes it takes longer than one lifespan for people to come around.

However, few famous people were only famous because of their deaths. This means that if they hadn’t died when or how they had, we almost certainly wouldn’t know their names today. As unfortunate as their deaths are, the circumstances surrounding their demise have intrigued and horrified readers for years, decades, and even centuries.

Here are 10 people who are only famous because of their deaths.

Related: Ten Ways Massive Death Tolls Have Affected Human Society

10 Chris McCandless

Author Jon Krakauer’s 1996 novel Into the Wild was met with instant acclaim and is an international bestseller. It’s even been adapted into a feature film.

So it’s safe to say that Chris McCandless, the subject of the non-fiction book, has become a sort of celebrity. McCandless left home at age 24 to live in the Alaskan wilderness. Krakauer details his life and his impact on those who met him, as well as the reason a well-off young man would carelessly endanger his own life. McCandless perished in the forest despite multiple warnings from locals not to go alone.

Into the Wild is an intriguing look into the circumstances that made McCandless essentially kill himself. Was that truly his intent, or was he just foolhardy enough to think he could live away from modern society with no resources? His story and death in an abandoned Fairbanks bus have helped the book sell millions of copies in 30 languages.^[1]

9 Tank Man

Even though we don’t know his identity, the Tiananmen Square “tank man” is world famous.

On June 4, 1989, the Chinese government cracked down on pro-democracy protestors who had been demonstrating for weeks in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. An unknown number of people, mostly presumed to be students and youths, were killed, with even more being injured.

One day later, a brave, unidentified man stood down multiple army tanks as they trundled down Chang’an Avenue. At that moment, Time Magazine photographer Stuart Franklin snapped a photo. The man’s bravery in the face of oppression led him to become a symbol of the Chinese resistance to authorizationism.

Though the photo suggests the tank ran the man over, they actually stopped and spoke to him. No one knows the fate of the anonymous protestor, but most sources agree the man was “disappeared” by the Chinese government.^[2]

8 Joseph Smith

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was truly founded on a bloody night in 1844. It was at this time that Joseph Smith, the man who claimed to have found and translated the word of God into the Book of Mormon.

Just as how the LDS Church is controversial today, with its strict rules and strictures, frontier Americans did not take kindly to Smith’s new teachings. Especially the ones that allowed him to have multiple wives. While being held in jail, an angry mob stormed the prison and shot Smith multiple times.

Leadership was then passed on to Smith’s close friend, Bringham Young. It is Young who is most associated with the church today, even having a university dedicated to him. Though Smith would undoubtedly be hailed as a prophet among Mormons regardless of his death, without his brutal martyred ending, it’s unlikely Young would have led the church to prominence, pronouncing Smith as their beloved first president.^[3]

7 Joan of Arc

Born in France in 1412, Joan of Arc is the patron saint of soldiers, prisoners, and those needing faith. Though she lived an extraordinary life, leading the French army to victory during the Hundred Years’ War as just a humble peasant girl, it’s her death that brings her true fame.

The nineteen-year-old claimed to have visions of the Archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine. After being captured by the English, she refused to denounce her visions and was convicted of heresy. As punishment, she was sentenced to death and burned at the stake, all while professing her faith to God. She was canonized as a saint in 1920 due to her steadfast faith in the face of death and is one of the Catholic Church’s most iconic female figures.^[4]

6 Jefferey Epstein

While Jefferey Epstein wasn’t exactly unknown before his death, the financier only became a household name due to the suspicious circumstances of his suicide.

Because of his relationship with prominent celebrities and politicians such as Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, Epstein’s involvement in sex trafficking ushered in a huge scandal. He was sent to jail but allegedly killed himself shortly after. The timing of his death meant he did not have time to testify against anyone or reveal important information, leading many to believe he may have been killed. An autopsy confirmed homicidal strangulation was likely.

“Epstein didn’t kill himself” became an internet meme in 2019 after the sudden death, appearing frequently on TikTok and Instagram.^[5]

5 Giles Corey

Despite popular belief, no one was burned at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials. Though women in England had been burned centuries earlier, the infamous 1692 Massachusetts hysteria saw 19 hangings and 5 deaths in custody. And one death by pressing.

Giles Corey is perhaps the most famous martyr of the Salem Witch Trials. After being arrested for witchcraft, Corey refused to plead guilty and was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment in the form of being crushed to death by rocks. After adding rocks on top of the elderly man, he would be asked to confess to his crimes. Each time, he would respond, “More weight.”

He died proclaiming his innocence and is memorialized by a Henry Wordsworth Longfellow poem, an 1893 play, and as a prominent character in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.^[6]

4 Elizabeth Short

Better known as the Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short’s gruesome death remains a mystery to this day. The 22-year-old was found dead in Los Angeles with all blood drained from her body, leaving her with a ghostly pale look. Her mouth had been slashed in such a way she seemed to be smiling, and all of her intestines were removed.

The horrifyingly gory details of her murder terrified the country and was highly publicized, inspiring multiple films and TV shows. Short had been an aspiring actress, and though she never found fame in life, her beauty and tragic end made the Black Dahlia a household name.^[7]

3 JonBenet Ramsay

The mysterious death of JonBenet Ramsay has become a cultural juggernaut. When the six-year-old child beauty queen was found dead in her family’s basement with a fractured skull, conspiracy theories began to form.

Suspicion fell on every member of her family, including her nine-year-old brother. A ransom note was found, but there was no evidence of forced entry into the house. These odd circumstances and the tragically young age of JonBenet drew worldwide attention. The case remains unsolved today, but not for lack of trying/ Dozens of movies, books, and documentaries have offered their own theories for JonBenet’s murder.^[8]

2 Kitty Genovese

If you’ve ever studied the bystander effect, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Kitty Genovese. While walking home one night in Queens, Kitty was stabbed by Winston Moseley.

What happened next is not entirely known, but witnesses report hearing her scream for help, and Moseley left the scene. Kitty attempted to drag herself to safety, but Moseley returned a few minutes later to rape and rob her before delivering a fatal blow.

As gruesome as this tragedy is, it’s not why Kitty’s death is infamous. According to the New York Times, 38 witnesses either saw or heard the crime happen but made no attempt to intervene. If just one of these witnesses had acted or called the police, there’s a chance Moseley would not have returned for Kitty, and she could have survived.

The idea that “someone else would help,” leaving individuals at no fault, became known as the bystander effect or Kitty Genovese Syndrome. Today, many of the details of this event are highly contested. The original New York Times article and witness testimonies were probably exaggerated. Regardless, Kitty Genovese has gone down in history as the woman no one fought to save.^[9]

1 Emmett Till

In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Mississippi when he allegedly flirted with, touched, or whistled at a white woman. Two nights later, the teenager was kidnapped by the woman’s brother and husband. They brutally beat him before shooting him in the head and throwing his body into a nearby river.

Despite an abundance of evidence, including the two perpetrators eventually admitting to the murder, an all-white jury found them not guilty. The lack of justice and the pettiness of the crime for which he was killed gave his death national attention. It helped spark the Civil Rights Movement, as Americans used Till as a spokesman for the thousands of Black people who were unfairly jailed and lynched throughout the country’s history.

Till has gone down in history as a martyr, an ordinary boy whose unjust death served as a catalyst for equal rights for Black Americans. Tens of thousands attended his funeral, which was an open casket at his mother’s request. In 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law an act that made lynching a federal hate crime—the Emmett Till Antilynching Act.^[10]