James Dean
By the age of twenty-four, James Dean was an iconic Hollywood actor and a young adult idol that was becoming a household name. In 1955, he went to his death in a car accident, and he’s now buried in Fairmount, Indiana, in Park Cemetery. While Hollywood had claimed him, his hometown was still in Indiana.
He’s buried beneath a simple headstone that has his name and his birth and death dates. The headstone is also covered with lipstick kiss marks from adoring fans. We kind of hope they wash it frequently…but we also kind of hope they don’t. The cemetery holds a festival every year in his honor.
Jesse James
Perhaps one of the most infamous outlaws, Jesse James, was known for robbing stagecoaches, banks, and trains. By the time of his death in 1882, he was already a celebrity in the Wild West. Fellow outlaw Robert Ford killed James, and after his death, crowds gathered in the small house in St. Joseph, Missouri, for the last look at James’ body.
His memorable gravestone was written by his mother and reads, “Murdered Apr. 3, 1882, By a Traitor and Coward Whose Name is Not Worthy to Appear Here.”
Michael Jackson
When you're as big as Michal Jackson, you don't need your name or anything witty written on your tombstone. After the King of Pop's sudden death in 2009, his remains sit unmarked at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in California.
Though there's nothing that suggests that this is Jackson's grave, it is filled with flowers and fans' gifts. Rather unsurprisingly, the area is blocked off from visitors and protected by security at all times.
Babe Ruth
Known as Babe, George Herman Ruth Jr. is one of baseball's most legendary players. His death at the age of fifty-three from cancer came as a big shock to baseball fans in 1948. While he was lying in state at Yankee Stadium, more than seventy-seven thousand people came to see him.
He's buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne, New York, and his gravestone attracts crowds of Yankee and baseball fans. Visitors will often leave gifts of baseballs, caps, and flags. The gravestone has a large relief of Christ and a child, and other than the standard details, it doesn't boast.
Karl Marx
People are quite divided on Marx. Some believe him to be a man of the people that helped save millions from their overlords; others consider him the founder of an ideology that resulted in the deaths of many, many, many more millions of people. Regardless of your opinion, there's no denying his gravestone is a grand affair.
The German philosopher had an enormous impact on modern history, and though he died statelessly, he was laid to rest in England's East Highgate cemetery. The site has a large tombstone that is topped with his famously stern and hirsute countenance. If you visit, just know that he's judging you.