OJ Simpson’s “trial of the century” for the 1994 murders of his ex-wife and her friend exposed divisions over race and law enforcement and presented an intersection of sports, crime, entertainment and class that was difficult to turn away from.

His death in April ended a life dominated by the investigation of the murders. But he was just one of many influential and notable people who died in 2024.

Alexei Navalny, who died in prison in February, was a bitter political opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin. And the music industry lost a titan in producer Quincy Jones, who died in November.

People have also died that have had far-reaching impacts on Alabama, according to an Associated Press report on some notable figures who died in 2024:

Peter Buxtun86, died May 18:
The whistleblower who revealed in the so-called Tuskegee Study that the US government allowed hundreds of black men in rural Alabama to go untreated for syphilis.

Buxtun is hailed as a hero by scientists and public health ethicists for bringing to light the most notorious medical research scandal in U.S. history. Documents he provided to The Associated Press and the subsequent investigation and reporting led to a public outcry that ended the study in 1972.

In his complaints to federal health officials, he drew comparisons between the Tuskegee study and medical experiments that Nazi doctors conducted on Jews and other prisoners.

Federal scientists did not believe they were guilty of the same moral and ethical sins, but after the Tuskegee study was exposed, the government instituted new rules for conducting medical research. Today, the study is often blamed for some African Americans’ reluctance to participate in medical research.

Buxtun died of Alzheimer’s disease in Rocklin, California, in May.

Lilly Ledbetter86, died October 12th:
A former Alabama factory manager whose lawsuit against her employer made her an icon of the equal pay movement and led to groundbreaking pay discrimination legislation.

Ledbetter’s discovery that she was being paid less than her male colleagues for the same work at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Alabama led to her lawsuit, which ultimately failed when the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that her appeal was too late had submitted.

The court ruled that workers must file a lawsuit within six months of receiving a discriminatory paycheck – in Ledbetter’s case, years before she learned of the inequality through an anonymous letter.

Two years later, former President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which gave workers the right to sue within 180 days of receiving any discriminatory paycheck, not just the first.

According to a brief statement from her family and an obituary sent by the team behind a film about her life, Ledbetter died in October after a short illness surrounded by her loved ones. She leaves behind two children, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Bobby Allison86, died November 9th:
He was a founder of racing’s “Alabama Gang” and a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Allison moved to fourth on the NASCAR Cup Series wins list in October when chairman Jim France named him the winner of the 1971 Meyers Brothers Memorial at Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina.

The sanctioning body updated its record books to reflect the decision, giving Allison 85 wins and removing him from a duel with Darrell Waltrip.

Allison was inducted into NASCAR’s second Hall of Fame class in 2011. He was NASCAR champion in 1983, finished second in the series title race five times and won the Daytona 500 three times.

It wasn’t just his driving that helped put NASCAR on the map. His infamous fight with Cale Yarborough in the final laps of the 1979 Daytona 500 was one of the sport’s defining moments.

He died last month at home in Mooresville, North Carolina. A cause of death was not given, but Allison’s health had been declining for years.

Click here to read more about the Associated Press Roll Call report on notable people who died in 2024.