1163 – Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem (1143-63), son of Princess Melisende and Fulco of Anjou, husband of Theodora, dies of consumption at about 33 [birthday uncertain]
1772 – Joseph Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein and general, dies at 75
1774 – Florian Leopold Gassmann, Bohemian composer, dies at 44
1822 – Albert Casimir, Duke of Teschen and Governor of the Austrian Netherlands, dies at 83
1852 – Samuel Prout, British water color painter, dies at 68
1876 – August Söderman, Swedish composer, dies at 43
1987 – Ray Colignon (sometimes none as “Coco”), Belgian jazz and easy listening pianist, Hammond organist, and bandleader, dies at 80
2004 – Margaret Stacey, English sociologist who helped shape the distinctively British genre of empirical sociology, dies at 81
2005 – Jack Segal, American pianist and songwriter (“Scarlet Ribbons (for Her Hair)”, “When Sunny Gets Blue”, “Here’s to the Losers”), dies at 86
2010 – Max Schubel, American composer (Opus One Records), dies at 77
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 9th February 2026
1802 – Thomas Graves, 1st Baron Graves, British admiral (Seven Years’ War, American War of Independence), dies at 76
1875 – Cecil De Vere, English chess player (1st official British chess champion (1866), dies from tuberculosis at 28
1943 – World War II: Dutch fascist official Hermannus Reydon and his wife are shot by resistance members, his wife dies immediately and he dies six months later
1949 – Poul Schierbeck, Danish organist and composer, dies at 60
1994 – Jarmila Novotná, Czech-American soprano (Metropolitan Opera, 1940-56), and actress (The Search), dies at 86
2010 – Chaskel Besser, Polish-American Orthodox rabbi, dies at 86
2013 – Kåre Valebrokk, Norwegian journalist and director of TV 2, dies at cancer at 72
2018 – Jóhann Jóhannsson, Icelandic theatre, dance, and film score composer (The Theory of Everything), dies from a combination of cocaine and prescription medication at 48
2019 – Patricia Nell Warren, American novelist (The Front Runner, The Fancy Dancer), dies of cancer at 82
2023 – Lewis Spratlan, American classical composer and Pulitzer Prize winner (Life Is A Dream), dies at 82
Famous Deaths for 8th February 2026
1691 – Carlo Rainaldi, Italian architect and composer, dies at 79
1750 – Aaron Hill, English playwright and poet (Tragedy of Zara), dies at 65
1772 – Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales by marriage to Frederick, Prince of Wales, dies at 52
1910 – Hans Jæger, Norwegian writer and political activist as leader of the Kristiania Bohemians, dies at 55
1924 – Gee John, Chinese-American gangster (1st person in US to be executed by lethal gas in Nevada), executed at 29
1973 – Herbie Taylor, South African cricket batsman and captain (42 Tests; 2,936 runs @ 40.77; 7 x 100s), dies at 83
1993 – N. Shanmugathasan, Sri Lankan communist leader
2007 – Ian Stevenson, Canadian-American parapsychologist and reincarnation expert, dies at 88
2015 – Filipe Pires, Portuguese pianist, composer (Portugaliae Genesis), and educator, dies at 81
2019 – Robert Ryman, American minimalist painter and visual artist known for his white-on-white works, dies at 88
Famous Deaths for 7th February 2026
999 – Boleslaus II of Bohemia
1593 – Jacques Amyot, French humanist, translator and Abbot of Bellozanne, dies at 79
1823 – Ann Radcliffe, English Gothic novelist (The Mysteries of Udolpho, The Romance of the Forest), dies at 58
1873 – Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer (The House by the Churchyard), dies at 58
1937 – Elihu Root, American statesman (Nobel Peace Prize, 1912), dies at 91
1940 – Francis Ford, English cricketer (5 Tests for England v Australia 1894-95), dies at 73
1984 – Brooks West, American actor (Richard-My Friend Irma), dies at 67
1996 – [Isian Kehinde] I. K. Dairo, Nigerian Jùjú musician and academic, dies at 65
1999 – José Silva, American parapsychologist, author of the Silva Method and Silva UltraMind ESP System (b. 1914)
2015 – Billy Casper, American golfer (US Open 1959, 66; US Masters 1970), dies of a heart attack at 83
Famous Deaths for 6th February 2026
1593 – Ōgimachi, 106th Emperor of Japan (1557-86), dies at 75
1793 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright and librettist (Belisario, Servant of Two Masters), dies at 85
1834 – Richard Lemon Lander, British explorer, dies from his injuries sustained by a musket ball at 29
1945 – Jan Bos, Dutch resistance fighter, executed in Hoogkarspel in retribution for the unrelated killing of a Dutch Nazi guard, at 27
1958 – Frank Swift, English soccer goalkeeper and journalist (19 caps; Manchester City 376 games), dies in Munich air disaster at 44
1972 – Julian Steward, American anthropologist (cultural ecology), dies at 70
1989 – Barbara Tuchman, American historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author (Guns of August; Stilwell and the American Experience in China), dies following a stroke at 77
2010 – Ernest van der Eyken, Belgian violist, composer, and conductor .
(Youth and Music Orchestra of Antwerp, 1963-76), dies at 96
2017 – “Professor” Irwin Corey, American comedian (Car Wash: Doc), dies at 102
2022 – Vi Redd, American jazz alto saxophone player, vocalist, and educator, dies at 93
Famous Deaths for 5th February 2026
1758 – Bernhard Christian Weber, German composer, dies at 45
1807 – Pasquale Paoli, Corsican freedom fighter, dies at 80
1825 – Pierre Gaveaux, French composer, dies at 64
1924 – Alexis Hollander, German conductor and composer, dies at 83
1958 – H. M. Tomlinson, British writer (Under red ensign), dies at 84
1960 – Louis Stricker, South African cricketer (South African open bat in 13 Tests 1909-12), dies at 75
2007 – Leo T. McCarthy, American politician and 43rd Lieutenant Governor of California (1983-1995) (b. 1930)
2013 – Stuart Freeborn, English motion picture make-up artist, dies at 98
2016 – Ray Colcord III, American film and television composer (Boy Meets World; Heartwood), and session keyboardist (Don McLean, Lou Reed), dies of pancreatic cancer at 66
2019 – Guy Webster, American celebrity portrait photographer, album cover artist (The Byrds; The Mamas and the Papas; Taj Mahal; Rolling Stones), and educator, dies of liver cancer and diabetes complications at 79
Famous Deaths for 4th February 2026
1640 – Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom, Dutch seascape painter, dies (b. 1562)
1815 – Jacob van Strij, Dutch cartoonist and graphic artist, dies at 58
1936 – Wilhelm Gustloff, German leader of the Swiss Nazi party (b. 1895)
1943 – Frank Calder, British-Canadian 1st NHL president, dies at 65
1954 – Václav Vačkář, Czech composer, known for his marches, conductor, and musicologist, dies at 72
1968 – Gerard den Brabander [Jan Gerardus Jofriet], Dutch poet (Three on One Platform, The Hollow Man), dies at 67
1995 – Betty Davis, British dance teacher of Dame Margot Fonteyn, dies
2001 – J. J. Johnson, American jazz trombonist and composer, dies at 77
2006 – Betty Friedan (née Goldstein), American writer (The Feminine Mystique), and feminist (1st President of NOW, 1966-70), dies of congestive heart failure at 85
2008 – Stefan Meller, Polish diplomat and 9th Minister of Foreign Affairs (2005-06), dies at 65
Famous Deaths for 3rd February 2026
1602 – Paulus Melissus, German humanist Neo-Latin writer, translator, diplomat, and composer, dies at 62
1803 – Pedro Rodríguez de Campomanes, 1st Count of Campomanes, Spanish economist and politician, dies at 79
1813 – Samuel Ashe, American 9th Governor of North Carolin (1795-8), dies at 87
1960 – Ferdinando “Fred” Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor, dies in an automobile accident at 38
1962 – Werner Bock, German writer, dies at 68
1989 – Lionel Newman, American film music composer (Hello Dolly!, Star Wars, Cleopatra), dies from cardiac arrest at 73
1998 – Karla Faye Tucker, American murderer, executed at 38
2006 – Tilo Medek [Müller-Medek], German composer (Die Todesfuge), musicologist, and music publisher, dies at 66
2021 – Jean-Pierre Bastiat, French rugby union lock (32 Tests; US Dax), dies from a stroke at 71
2024 – Aston Barrett, Jamaican reggae bassist (Bob Marley and the Wailers – “I Shot the Sheriff”; Burning Spear), sound engineer, and producer, dies of heart failure after a series of strokes at 77
Famous Deaths for 2nd February 2026
1802 – Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, British statesman (b. 1713)
1867 – Forceythe Willson, American poet (The Old Sergeant), dies at 29
1973 – Hendrik Elias, Flemish historian and Mayor of Ghent (1941-44), dies at 70
1982 – Paul Desruisseaux, Canadian lawyer and politician (Senator for Wellington, Quebec), dies at 76
1994 – Zilner Randolph, American jazz trumpeter, arranger, and music educator, dies at 95
1994 – Stephen Barclay, American actor (Pride of the Plains), dies at 75
1997 – Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (grandmaster 1952), dies at 83
2007 – Eric von Schmidt, American folk/blues singer-songwriter (b. 1931)
2022 – Roy Purdon, New Zealand harness-racing trainer (21 x NZ trainers premierships; 4 x NZ cup winners; 54 x Group One wins), dies at 94
2025 – Gene Barge, American RandB and rock saxophonist, known as “Daddy G” (Gary Bonds – “Quarter to Three”, Fontella Bass – “Rescue Me”, Jackie Wilson – “Your Love Keeps Lifting Me (Higher and Higher)”), dies at 98
Famous Deaths for 1st February 2026
1718 – Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, English politician, helped lead Glorious Revolution to put William III on the throne, dies at 57
1761 – Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, French Jesuit prince and historian, dies at 78
1916 – Anton Simon, Russian composer, dies at 65
1944 – Martin Lunssens, Belgian composer, dies at 72
1954 – Julius P. Hoste, Belgian journalist, daily newspaper publisher (Last News), and politician (Minister of Education, 1936-38; Senator 1949-54), dies at 69
1959 – Madame Sul-Te-Wan [Nellie Crawford], American actress (The Birth of a Nation, Uncle Tom’s Cabin), dies of a stroke at 85
1977 – Edmond Hamilton, American sci-fi author (“City at World’s End”; “The Star Kings”), dies at 72
1989 – Elaine de Kooning, American artist, dies at 70
1992 – Irving Kaufman, American federal judge (Rosenberg Case), dies at 81
2017 – Desmond Carrington, British radio host (The Music Goes Round), dies at 90