Saturday 11th August 1956

Influential abstract impressionist painter Jackson Pollock died at age 44 in a car crash that occurred less than a mile from his home in Springs, New York, US. He was driving under the influence of alcohol when he skidded and slid off the road before crashing into a tree. One of the passengers, Edith Metzger, was also killed in the accident, while his mistress Ruth Kligman, survived.