Notable People Who Died Before They Could Realize Their Full Potential

Henry Mosely

"Henry Mosely, a British physicist."

"One of the greatest physicists of the 20th century. Developed Moseley's Law that helped to define the atomic number."

"The reason why nobody has heard of him is because he [was killed by] sniper at Gallipoli when he was 27 years old."

"Isaac Asimov wrote about him: 'in view of what [Moseley] might still have accomplished ... his death might well have been the most costly single death of the War to mankind generally'."

"He's the reason why countries keep their scientists and researchers from being drafted or allowed to fight anymore."

~ Vio_

Évariste Galois

"I'd forward Évariste Galois."

"At the cutting edge of mathematics, as a teenager solved a centuries standing open problem, and created a field of mathematics which was so complex at the time that Galois' contemporaries were stymied and overlooked it's value."

"He was killed in a duel at the age of 20."

~ butts-kapinsky

Arthur Tudor

"I'm going historical. Prince Arthur Tudor. He died aged 15, leaving his younger brother Henry to become Henry VIII of England."

"Arthur was apparently more of a scholar than anything else, compared to his brother who was more into the idea of being a warrior king."

"Had Arthur survived and gone on to become King, then global history would have taken a very different turn."

~ c0_sm0

"Many of those priceless manuscripts existed nowhere outside of England because they were written in English. Back in the ninth century, the West Saxon king Alfred the Great had established an educational system where children learned to write their native language first before learning Latin."

"The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is in English because of that. Beowulf was written down in English because of that. The Old English they spoke then is practically indecipherable now except to scholars, yet English is still the best documented secular language of the early Middle Ages."

"Only a tiny sliver of that literature survives. Mostly because Henry VIII had the rest of it burned."

~ doublestitch

The Classics

"Amadeus Mozart.

"While he wasn't terribly young, I'd say his true potential life was cut in half. Imagine what music will never be or where it could have gone had he lived a longer life."

~ WhoFan

"35 IS terribly young. And throw Franz Schubert in this thread as well. Died at 31 and was writing some of the greatest music ever produced."

"Just for the final 2 movements of the Unfinished Symphony alone! Supposedly on his deathbed he said 'I have so much still to say'."

~ 8805

"And Chopin, too. Died age 39, was writing the greatest piano works ever."

~ BreadBoi-0

"Shout out to my boy Felix Mendelssohn, died at the age of 38. Wrote 4 amazing symphonies, the famous music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the greatest violin concerto in the repertoire."

"I'd give anything to see what he would have done with another 38 years."

~ Plug_5

Otis Redding

"Otis Redding."

"Based on his energy, the fact that after a short career with an amazing voice, he came back from surgery with a better one, recorded one of the great songs of the 20th century, and then immediately died."

~ TDOMW

"Otis is interesting to me. He died right before he was going to crossover to white audiences."

"What would Dock of the Bay sound like if he got to finish it and realize his vision (he had kind of a Pet Sounds vision for the full album)?"

"If he didn’t die, would soul have lost so much ground to funk in the 1970s?"

"And would Stax Records still be around and thriving, instead of closing in the mid-1970s?"

"All interesting questions."

~ ChocolateOrange21

Alan Turing

"Alan Turing—died for the worst f*cking reason and what happened to him was a travesty."

~ Far-Polaris

"Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts. He accepted hormone treatment with DES, a procedure commonly referred to as chemical castration, as an alternative to prison."

"Turing died on 7 June 1954, 16 days before his 42nd birthday, from cyanide poisoning. An inquest determined his death as a suicide."

~ DimesOHoolihan

"If you're unfamiliar with Turing and what he did for the world (and also the punishment he had to endure after the fact), I highly recommend watching The Imitation Game."

"It's a phenomenal movie, and Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role of Turing amazingly. It really drives home how extra terrible his death was, considering all of the good he did for the war effort."

"We likely would have lost the war (or struggled through it for a lot longer, and lost many more innocent lives) if not for him."

~ TenFoxxe

Roberto Clemente

"Roberto Clemente was going to be a great humanitarian and role model after he retired. Charity and helping the people of the Caribbean and Latin-America was really important to him and he spent almost all his free time doing charity work.

"He played 18 seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 13 seasons as an All-Star, played in 15 All-Star games, 12 Gold Glove Awards."

"Clemente was the first Caribbean and first Latin-American player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was the first for many things in his career."

"MLB was only integrated for 8 years when Clemente started playing in 1955. What Jackie Robinson did for Black players, Clemente did for Caribbean and Latin-American players. Just think of all the MLB stars he paved the way for."

"The Roberto Clemente Award is given to the player who 'best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team'."

"His friends and teammates described him as a humble, kind man. He was 38 when he died in a plane crash delivering humanitarian aid to earthquake victims."

~ LakotaGrl

Stevie Ray Vaughn

"Stevie Ray Vaughan."

"He really got his sh*t together and seemed to really be in a good place career wise and in his personal life."

~ 1-21_Jiggawatts

"Dude played the cleanest guitar I've ever heard. No missed notes or leaning on too much feedback or too many effects or anything."

~ loptopandbingo

Steve Irwin

"Steve Irwin—I believe his conservation work would have probably spilled over into environmental issues and he seemed passionate about doing good not just fame and money."

~ No_Character_5315

"He is my inspiration."

"I was in 6th grade when he died, and it took me some time to get here, but I currently have a degree in Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries and I'm working on a second in Forestry conservation and restoration sciences."

"I'd like to think that one day I'll be able to make the world a slightly better place even if I'll never have the impact he did."

~ redwolf1219

"I think Robert and Bindi (and recently, Terri, too!) are doing great work to reach a modern audience with social media these days. Of course, nothing will ever be like The Crocodile Hunter ever again."

"That show was a gem of its time. I still grieve Steve when I watch their content, especially when they show clips of him. But it's so cool to watch his family carry on his legacy."

~ only_1_

Jeff Buckley

"Within the sphere of music, I think Jeff Buckley is unquestionably the answer."

"'Grace' is an absolute tour de force of a debut and my easy pick for best album of the 1990’s. He was an almost indescribably incredible vocalist and fantastic young songwriter who likely would have only gotten better at his craft."

"It’s such a shame he never got to finish that second album because even what we have of it contains some gems and I’m sure the finished product would have been incredible."

~ dcrico20

Buddy Holly

"Buddy Holly. Of course, he already wrote some fantastic songs, but man would it be a treat to see his songwriting in the '60s!"

"Could end up being the same or he could have grown. But it's those what-ifs!"

~ DirtlessEye

"Buddy Holly was only 22 when he died. Lennon and McCartney had not peaked by that age, so who knows where he would have gone with his music."

"Buddy would have been 30 in the summer of 1967, the Summer of Love. Maybe he’d have been out playing in a toga in Golden Gate Park with shoulder length hair and granny glasses, protesting the war in Vietnam."

"Sadly, we’ll never know."

~ AtmosphereFull2017

Douglas Adams

"Douglas Adams."

"His ability to create the most absurd possible sentences and situations and make them as funny as they are... amazing writer."

~ shapiritowastaken

"The infinite improbability drive. The hyperspace bypass. The bowl of petunias. Really knowing where your towel is."

"So much happy silliness. Might just have to dig out my copy and read it again."

~ lurkerwholeapt

Martin Luther King Jr.

"Martin Luther King Jr. People remember him as some wise old man. He was 39 when he died."

~ FredTheLynx

"Martin Luther King Jr., Anne Frank, and Barbara Walters were all born in 1929."

~ miclugo

"It's actually crazy to think MLK could have feasibly lived past the 00's, even the 10's."

"Like, can you imagine THE Martin Luther King Jr weighing in on the 2016 election as an 85-year-old man?"

"What an alternate timeline that would be."

~ thattoneman

"Or if he lived to see Obama become President."

~ Currywurst_Is_Life

Thomas Sankara

"Thomas Sankara was only 37 when he was assassinated."

"He brought through huge reforms in Burkina Faso in such a short space of time."

"He increased literacy massively and improved women's rights, also brought through vaccination programs and improved infrastructure."

"None of which was popular with the French."

~ shawbawzz

Jimi Hendrix

"Jimi Hendrix hadn't even reached his full potential when he died."

"Yet he is still regarded by many to be the best guitarist of all time."

"Imagine if he had lived."

~ CoatsBoi

"The man made sounds that no one had ever heard before in the history of humanity."

~ No_Net_1590

The Good Doctor

"My husband. He was special to me yes, but he was important to his patients. We all know about the ER docs that are dismissive, condescending, and are just all around jerks. My husband, even at his most burnt out wasn’t like that. He was the type you pray you get."

"The one that will actually listen, who will figure out what’s going on. It didn’t matter if you were female, a POC, trans, or any combination. He was listening. He was going to treat your pain. He wasn’t going to send you home until he had an answer."

"I knew this about him, but it was confirmed by the patients that left messages on his obituary page. Sure he did the usual emergency med life saving things. But a car accident is easy. There’s no argument about whether or not a patient is hurt. It’s assumed something is wrong."

~ koolchicken

It was surprising just how young some of these people were when they died.

Who else do you think was gone too soon?