From the summit of Everest, the top of the world, to the intricate workings of the human heart. From outer galaxies to the dungeons of Stalin's gulag.

Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to stand atop the world's highest mountain. Dr. Michael DeBakey developed treatments for heart disease that prolonged the lives of millions.

Arthur C. Clarke carried readers and moviegoers light years into space and centuries into the future. Alexander Solzhenitsyn bravely revealed the horrors of the Soviet prison system.

They are some of the remarkable people who died in 2008.

Mildred Loving changed history in 1967 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld her right, as a black woman, to marry a white man. Madelyn Payne Dunham helped raise her grandson Barack Obama and died just two days before he was elected president.

Charleton Heston brought a larger-than-life quality to screen roles as Ben-Hur and Michelangelo. Paul Newman combined rebellion and blue-eyed charm in films that reflected changing social attitudes.

William F. Buckley and Tim Russert informed their journalism with a love of politics and respect for the issues. Anne Armstrong opened doors for women in government service, while Jesse Helms, Howard Metzenbaum and Tom Lantos were powerful voices in Congress.

The world of science lost Dr. Judah Folkman, cancer researcher; Edward Lorenz, father of chaos theory; and Albert Hofmann, discoverer of LSD.

We said good-bye to Watergate's "Deep Throat," chess master Bobby Fischer and the people who helped bring you the Slinky, Hula Hoop, transcendental meditation, Dungeons and Dragons, the Egg McMuffin, Precious Moments figurines and Baskin-Robbins ice cream. To the men who coined "rhythm and blues" and "sci fi," and to entertainers named Eartha, Cyd and Bo.

Here, a roll call of some of the notable people who died in 2008. (Cause of death cited for younger people if available.)

JANUARY:

Erich Kaestner, 107. Believed to be Germany's last World War I veteran. Jan. 1.

Dr. Pramod Karan Sethi, 80. Inventor of low-cost artificial foot that helped millions in developing nations. Jan. 6.

Philip Agee, 72. Renegade CIA agent whose naming of operatives led to law against exposing spies. Jan. 7.

Sir Edmund Hillary, 88. He conquered Mount Everest; one of 20th century's greatest adventurers. Jan. 11.