1908–1981
William Saroyan
Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer
72years old at death
26,558days lived
56%of the people on this site died younger
William Saroyan was born on 31 August 1908 and died on 18 May 1981, aged 72 years and 260 days. That is 26,558 days in all.
When do you outlive William Saroyan?
Your birthday stays in this browser. It isn't sent anywhere.
Who lived about as long
Everyone here is ranked by days lived. These are the people just either side of William Saroyan.
Slightly shorter lives
- Erich LudendorffGerman general and politician · 1865–193772 yrs
- AverroesArab Andalusian Muslim writer and philosopher · 1126–119872 yrs
- John Couch AdamsEnglish mathematician and astronomer · 1819–189272 yrs
- Alexander VIPope of the Catholic Church 1492–1503 from the Borgia family · 1431–150372 yrs
Slightly longer lives
- Lope de VegaSpanish playwright and poet · 1562–163572 yrs
- Louis PasteurFrench chemist and microbiologist · 1822–189572 yrs
- Walt WhitmanAmerican poet, essayist and journalist · 1819–189272 yrs
- Georg CantorGerman mathematician, inventor of set theory · 1845–191872 yrs
Others who died at 72
- Confucius5th-century BCE Chinese philosopher and politician · c. 551–479 BCc. 72 yrs
- Louis PasteurFrench chemist and microbiologist · 1822–189572 yrs
- John LockeEnglish philosopher and physician · 1632–170472 yrs
- Dmitri MendeleevRussian chemist · 1834–190772 yrs
- AshokaMauryan emperor from 268 to 232 BCE · c. 304–232 BCc. 72 yrs
- Arthur SchopenhauerGerman philosopher · 1788–186072 yrs
- Isaac AsimovAmerican writer and biochemist · 1920–199272 yrs
- EpicurusAncient Greek philosopher · c. 342–270 BCc. 72 yrs
Everyone famous who died at 72
Also born on 31 August
- Maria MontessoriItalian physician and educator · 1870–195281 yrs
- Hasan NasrallahLeader of Hezbollah · 1960–202464 yrs
- Hermann von HelmholtzGerman physicist and physiologist · 1821–189473 yrs
- Wilhelmina of the NetherlandsQueen of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948 · 1880–196282 yrs
- Emperor TaishōEmperor of Japan from 1912 until 1926 · 1879–192647 yrs
- Francis de SalesFrench bishop, saint, writer and Doctor of the Church · 1567–162255 yrs
Famous people born on 31 August
Where this comes from
Dates are from Wikidata (free to use under CC0), last updated 22 October 2026. Dates in old records are sometimes disputed.
Keep score on your phone
Outlived for iPhone tracks every famous person you outlive, tells you who is next, and gives you a nudge on the day.