They were told the dragon was dead. They learned it from the Ravens that came to the mountain.
Smaug Died
Dale was a town on the southern slopes of the Lonely Mountain. It was destroyed when the dragon Smaug arrived in the region, and its inhabitants built a new town called Esgaroth which was suspended above the waters of Long Lake on pilings. After Smaug died, Bard Bowman rebuilt Dale and ruled there.
Thorin Oakenshield
bard shot him with an arrow in his weakspot
Smaug's layer is in the heart of the Misty Mountains.
Fili and Kili died on the battlefield. Thorin was wounded and died shortly after.
Elizabeth - biblical figure - died in -0##.
No, even though he was able to accompany the elves to the blessed land, as a hobbit he is still mortal and will have eventually died.
He dies at the end of the book. He almost died, while Fili and Kili died defending Thorin, but then he died in the war.
Tim Brown - figure skater - died in 1989.
Charles Dickinson - historical figure - died in 1806.
Lev Mikhailov - figure skater - died in 2004.