 Ali died on November 5 , 1937 , in Wolverhampton , England , from heart failure during a bout of <unk> . Even before his death , a rumor had circulated that the Rockefeller Institute sought to procure Ali 's stomach upon his death , and would pay as much as $ 50 @,@ 000 for it . This claim appeared in a poster advertising Ali 's impending appearance at a theater during his lifetime . After Ali 's death was reported , the rumor resurfaced as an active offer of $ 10 @,@ 000 . When a Rockefeller Institute manager was interviewed about the story , he said the offer had never been made but that nevertheless , " we should very much like to see the body . " Almina and Julian transported Ali 's body back to the United States on board the Queen Mary . According to a November 29 , 1937 article in the New York Post , upon their arrival , Almina offered her father 's body to Maryland 's Johns Hopkins University for investigation by <unk> , after which it would be transported to Egypt for interment in a mausoleum . However , The Afro @-@ American newspaper reported on December 11 , 1937 , that Johns Hopkins ' officials had declined the offer . 
