Jason Collins, Amy Lowell, Robert Rauschenberg

Died: Jason Collins (2026), Amy Lowell (1925), Robert Rauschenberg (2008)

Died on this day

An NBA player whose decision to come out made a private truth a public milestone in men’s sport.

A forceful advocate of modern poetry, she wrote intimate love poems inspired by her life with Ada Dwyer Russell.

He put a stuffed goat in a car tyre and called it art – and his relationships with Cy Twombly and Jasper Johns shaped American art.