![Buzz Aldrin in 2001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Buzz_Aldrin_in_2001.jpg)
A historical event can be defined as any occurrence from the past regardless of significance, with the term "
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
" an
umbrella term
In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In other wor ...
relating to past events and any associated memories, discoveries, collections, organizations, presentations, and/or interpretations of them. This differs from a historic event which is often less inclusive, and stands out as having made a significant impact on history itself.
The following is a list of notable people documented as the last living individuals to have witnessed, survived or participated in significant historical events or who were the last living members of a historic group that directly contributed to such an event (e.g.
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
scientists). Excluded from this list are last living
survivors of wars,
speakers of languages, and others who are already recorded on pages representing more narrow categories.
Before 1701
1701–1800
1801–1850
1851–1900
1901–1915
1916–1930
1931–1945
1946–1960
1961–1999
2000–present
Images of select individuals
A few of the individuals listed above are pictured here, for visual reference. Each picture is captioned.
Image:Gerard ter Borch d. J. 013.jpg, Portrait of Gaspar de Bracamonte, 3rd Count of Peñaranda
Gaspar de Bracamonte y Guzmán, 3rd Count of Peñaranda ( es, Gaspar de Bracamonte y Guzmán, tercer Conde de Peñaranda) (c. 1595 – 14 December 1676) was a Spanish diplomat and statesman.
Life
Bracamonte was born in Peñaranda de Bracamonte ...
by Gerard ter Borch
Gerard ter Borch (; December 1617 – 8 December 1681), also known as Gerard Terburg (), was a Dutch genre painter who lived in the Dutch Golden Age. He influenced fellow Dutch painters Gabriel Metsu, Gerrit Dou, Eglon van der Neer and Johanne ...
(ca. 1645–48). He was the last diplomat who had participated in the Peace of Westphalia. Pictured in 1647/48, aged ~30.
File:Millvina dean-april 1999.jpg, Millvina Dean
Eliza Gladys Dean (2 February 1912 – 31 May 2009), known as Millvina Dean, was a British civil servant, cartographer, and the last living survivor of the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'' on 15 April 1912. At two months old, she was also the yo ...
, was the last surviving passenger of the before its sinking in 1912. Pictured in 1999, aged 87.
File:Walter Walsh 101.jpg, Living to the age of 106, Walter Walsh
Walter Rudolph Walsh (May 4, 1907 – April 29, 2014) was an FBI agent, USMC shooting instructor and Olympic shooter. Walsh joined the FBI in 1934, serving during the Public enemy era, and was involved in several high-profile FBI case ...
was the last member of the FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
teams that captured Arthur Barker
Arthur R. "Doc" Barker (June 4, 1899 – January 13, 1939) was an American criminal, the son of Ma Barker and a member of the Barker-Karpis gang, founded by his brother Fred Barker and Alvin Karpis. Barker was typically called on for violent ac ...
and killed Al Brady
Alfred James "Al" Brady (October 25, 1910 – October 12, 1937) was an Indiana-born armed robber and murderer who became one of the FBI's "Public Enemies" in the 1930s. He and an accomplice were shot dead in an ambush by FBI agents in downtown Ban ...
.
See also
*
List of last known speakers of languages
An extinct language may be narrowly defined as a language with no native speakers and no descendant languages. Under this definition, a language becomes extinct upon the death of its last native speaker, the terminal speaker. A language like La ...
*
List of sole survivors of aviation accidents and incidents
This list includes sole survivors of aviation accidents and incidents that involved 10 or more onboard. Within this list, "sole survivor" refers to a person who survived an air accident in which all other aircraft occupants died as a direct conseq ...
*
List of last surviving veterans of military insurgencies and wars
*
List of last surviving veterans of military operations
This is a chronological list of the last known surviving veterans of battles, sieges, campaigns, and other military operations throughout history. The listed operations span from the 5th century BC to the end of World War II. Excluded from this li ...
*
List of last surviving World War I veterans by country
This is a list of the last known surviving veterans of the World War I, First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918) who lived to 2009 or later, along with the last known veterans for countries that participated in the war. Veterans are def ...
*
List of last surviving World War II veterans
*
List of the last surviving American slaves
Slavery existed in the United States since European colonizers brought Africans to English North America in Jamestown in 1619 (still at the time of the Thirteen Colonies), until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Consti ...
*
List of last surviving Canadian war veterans
This is an incomplete list of the last surviving veterans of Canadian wars. The last surviving veteran of any particular war, upon his death, marks the end of a historic era. Exactly who ''is'' the last surviving veteran is often an issue of con ...
*
Last European veterans by war This is an incomplete list of the last surviving European veterans of several wars. The last surviving veteran of any particular war, upon his death, marks the end of a historic era. Exactly who ''is'' the last surviving veteran is often an issue o ...
*
Last surviving United States war veterans
This is an incomplete list of the last surviving veterans of American wars. The last surviving veteran of any particular war, upon their death, marks the end of a historic era. Exactly who ''is'' the last surviving veteran is often an issue of co ...
Notes
References
{{Longevity
Last survivors of historical events
A historical event can be defined as any occurrence from the past regardless of significance, with the term "history" an umbrella term relating to past events and any associated memories, discoveries, collections, organizations, presentations, ...
Survivors of historical events
Historical events