Today in History: Jan 24, 1965, Winston Churchill dies

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was a British politician, best known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century. Among his wartime accomplishments, he was a noted statesman and orator, an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. He is the only British prime minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature (for his six-volume historical study of World War II) and was the first person to be made an Honorary Citizen of the United States.

On 15 January 1965, Churchill suffered a severe stroke that left him gravely ill. He died at his London home nine days later, at age 90, on the morning of Sunday 24 January 1965. 

Churchill’s funeral was the largest state funeral in world history up to that point in time, with representatives from 112 nations; only China did not send an emissary. Only Ireland did not broadcast the service live on television in Europe, where 350 million people watched, including 25 million in Britain

Sources: 1, 2