1686 – Johann Quirsfeld, German composer, dies at 43
1772 – Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-Austrian physician (Austrian Empress Maria Theresa’s personal physician), dies at 72
1853 – Branko Radicevic, Serbian poet (1st Serbian Uprising), dies of tuberculosis at 29
1939 – Frans “Sas” van Aerschot, Flemish operetta actor (Paljas), dies at 73
1980 – Terence Fisher, English film director (Hammer Films), dies at 76
1980 – Kazimierz Kuratowski, Polish mathematician known for his work on topological and metric structures, dies at 84
1983 – Luther Tucker, American blues guitarist, dies of a heart attack at 57
1987 – Bruce Marshall, Scottish writer, dies at 87
2005 – J.J. Pickle, American politician (Rep-D-Texas, 1963-95), dies at 91
2024 – Willie Mays, American Baseball Hall of Fame center fielder (24 x MLB All Star; 12 x Gold Glove Award; 660 career HRs, NL MVP 1954, 65; NY/SF Giants, NY Mets), dies of heart failure at 93
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 17th June 2026
1501 – John I Albert [Jan I Olbracht], Polish sovereign (King of Poland, 1492-1501; Duke of Głogów, 1491-98), dies at 41
1565 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, 13th Japanese shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate (1545-65), dies at 29
1734 – Duke of Berwick, French general strategist, dies in battle
1965 – Arnold Meijer, Dutch leader of fascist Dutch National and Black Front, dies at 60
1978 – Cully Richards, actor (Don’t Call Me Charlie), dies at 68
1981 – Richard O’Connor, British general (b. 1889)
1987 – Dick Howser, American baseball shortstop (MLB All Star All-Star 1961, 61²; KC A’s) and manager (World Series 1977, 78 NY Yankees; KC Royals 1985), dies of brain cancer at 51
2002 – J. Carter Brown, American art director (Washington National Gallery), dies at 67
2007 – Paul Hodder-Williams, British publisher (Hodder and Stoughton), dies at 97
2015 – Ron Clarke, Australian athlete (17 x WRs, 5,000m, 10,000m, 20,000m; 2, 3, 6, 10 miles) and politician (mayor Gold Coast), dies from kidney failure at 78
Famous Deaths for 16th June 2026
1671 – Stenka Razin, Cossack rebel leader, tortured and executed in Moscow
1707 – Marie d’Orleans-Longueville, Duchess de Nemours, sovereign princess of Neuchâtel and writer (b. 1625)
1752 – Joseph Butler, English philosopher, dies at 60
1928 – Mark Keppel, Superintendent of Los Angeles County Schools from 1902-1928, dies at 61
1929 – Vernon Louis Parrington, American author (Romantic Revolution, Pulitzer 1928), dies at 57
1939 – Chick Webb, American jazz drummer and big band bandleader (introduced Ella Fitzgerald), dies of Pott’s disease (tuberculosis of the spine), at 34
1946 – Ludwig Winder, Austrian-Czech writer and journalist, dies of heart disease at 57
1970 – Heino Eller, Estonian composer (Koit (Dawn); Videvik (Twilight)), pedagogue (Tallinn Conservatory, 1940 -70), and teacher of Arvo Pärt, dies at 83
1981 – John S Knight, American journalist and publisher (Knight Newspapers), dies at 86
1996 – David Mourão-Ferreira, Portuguese poet (Cancioneiro de Natal) and film maker, dies at 69
Famous Deaths for 15th June 2026
1772 – Louis-Claude Daquin [d’Acquin], French organist and composer (La Rose), dies at 77
1893 – Ferenc Erkel, Hungarian composer (Himnusz), dies at 82
1958 – François de Vries, Dutch economist, dies at 74
1961 – Giulio Cabianca, Italian racing driver (b. 1923)
1985 – Len Hopwood, cricketer (took 0-155 in two Tests Eng v Aust 1934), dies
1993 – James Hunt, English auto racer (Formula 1 World Drivers Champion 1976), dies of a heart attack at 45
1993 – Vera, scarf/linen designer, dies of cardiac arrest at 87
1996 – Clare Grundman, American composer and arranger (An Irish Rhapsody), dies at 83
2015 – Kirk Kerkorian, American CEO and “father of the mega-resort” (MGM, UA), dies at 98
2017 – John Robert Jones [John Dalmas], American sci-fi author (White Regiment, Lizard War), dies at 90
Famous Deaths for 14th June 2026
1824 – Agustín de Betancourt, Spanish civil engineer (steam engines, hot air balloons), dies at 68
1938 – William Wallace Campbell, American astronomer and Director of Lick Observatory, dies at 76
1989 – Pete de Freitas, British drummer (Echo and the Bunnyman), dies in a motorcycle accident at 27
1991 – Peggy Ashcroft, British actress (A passage to India), dies at 83
1994 – Mark Alexander Lees, English rowing coach, dies at 38
1995 – Rory Gallagher, Irish rock guitarist (See Here), dies at 47
2002 – June Jordan, Caribbean-American playwright and poet (His Own Where), dies at 65
2008 – Jamelão, Brazilian samba singer (b. 1913)
2016 – Ann Morgan Guilbert, American actress (The Dick Van Dyke Show – “Millie Helper”; The Nanny – “Yetta”), dies at 87
2020 – Noel Kelly, Australian rugby league hooker (25 Tests; Queensland, NSW, Western Suburbs) and coach (Western Suburbs, North Sydney), dies from a stroke at 84
Famous Deaths for 13th June 2026
1810 – Johann Gottfried Seume, German writer (Spaziergang nach Syrakus), dies at 47
1881 – Joseph Škoda, Bohemian physician, dies at 75
1899 – [Robert] Lawson Tait, Scottish-born pioneering surgeon performed first salpingectomy for ectopic pregnancy, dies at 54
1958 – Edwin Keppel Bennett, English writer (Built in Jerusalem’s Wall: A Book in praise of Jerusalem), dies at 70
1965 – David Drummond, Australian politician, dies at 75
1972 – Georg von Bekesy, Hungarian-American physician and physiologist (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1961 – work on the inner ear), dies at 73
1993 – (Donald) “Deke” Slayton, American US Air Force pilot and NASA astronaut (Mercury Seven; Apollo–Soyuz Test Project), dies of brain cancer at 69
2005 – Lane Smith, American actor (b. 1936)
2007 – Oskar Morawetz, Czech-Canadian composer (From the Diary of Anne Frank), dies at 90
2008 – Tim Russert, American television journalist and host of NBC’s Meet the Press, dies at 58
Famous Deaths for 12th June 2026
918 – Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, ruled Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia who expanded her kingdom (911-918), dies
1565 – Adrianus Turnebus, French classical scholar, dies of tuberculosis at about 53
1567 – Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1490)
1930 – Dyce Willcocks, cricketer (“Grand Old Man” of Canadian cricket), dies
1962 – John Ireland, English composer and pianist (Epic March), dies at 82
1968 – Fidelio Friedrich Finke, Bohemian German composer, dies at 76
1976 – Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, Prime Minister of South Vietnam, dies at 68
1983 – Norma Shearer, Canadian-American actress (Escape, Romeo and Juliet), dies at 82
1994 – Nicole Brown Simpson, German-American ex-wife of O.J. Simpson, murdered at 35
2022 – Buster Welch, American cutting horse trainer (4 x NCHA World Championship; 5 x NCHA World Championship Futurity), dies at 94
Famous Deaths for 11th June 2026
1249 – Aleydis of Schaarbeek, Flemish prioress, mystic and saint, dies
1488 – James III, King of Scots (1460-88), killed in battle or assassinated soon after at Milltown near Bannockburn at 36
1879 – William, Prince of Orange, Dutch crown prince of the Netherlands, dies of typhus at 39
1913 – Machmud Shevket Pasha, Turks grand vizier, murdered
1924 – Theodore Dubois, French composer, dies at 86
1992 – Scotty Sachs, actor (Hanoi Hilton), dies of gunshot wounds at 39
1993 – Muriel C. Bradbrook, English writer (Rise of Common Player), dies at 84
2005 – Ghena Dimitrova, Bulgarian operatic soprano, dies of cancer at 64
2006 – George Washington, American boxing trainer (Riddick Bowe; Mark Breland), dies of heart failure at 79
2017 – Rosalie Sorrels, American traditional folk singer-songwriter (“Up Is A Nice Place To Be”; “Nevada Moon”), dies at 83
Famous Deaths for 10th June 2026
1424 – Duke Ernest of Austria (b. 1377)
1934 – Frederick Delius, British composer (A Mass of Life, Brigg Fair; In a Summer Garden), dies at 72
1944 – Willem Jacob van Stockum, Dutch physicist and mathematician, dies at 33
1971 – Michael Rennie, British actor (The Day the Earth Stood Still), dies at 61
2003 – Phil Williams, Welsh politician and scientist (b. 1939)
2013 – Barbara Vucanovich, American politician (1st Latina elected to the US House – (R) Nevada 1983-97), dies at 91
2016 – Gordie Howe, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame right wing (23-time NHL All Star; NHL: Detroit Red Wings; WHA: Houston Aeros), dies of a stroke at 88
2016 – Margaret Heldt, American hairdresser who created the beehive hairstyle, dies at 98
2019 – Ib Nørholm, Danish organist, composer (Aspects of Sand and Simplicity), choral conductor, and educator, dies at 88
2022 – Jorge Spedaletti, Chilean soccer forward (5 caps; Everton Viña del Mar, Universidad de Chile Santiago, Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata), dies at 74
Famous Deaths for 9th June 2026
1877 – Hugh W. Mercer, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 68
1954 – Alain LeRoy Locke, African-American writer and philosopher “Father of the Harlem Renaissance”, dies at 68
1974 – Phillips Tead, American character actor (The Front Page; Lightnin’; Fighting Blade; The Adventures of Superman – “Professor Pepperwinkle), dies at 80
1982 – Hank Ladd, TV host (Arrow Show, Waiting for the Break), dies at 74
1991 – Charles Loloma, painter/sculptor, dies
2004 – Brian Williamson, Jamaican Gay Activist (b. 1945)
2004 – “Rosey” Roosevelt Brown, American football player, dies at 71
2006 – Drafi Deutscher, German Schlager singer, dies of heart failure at 60
2007 – Frankie Abernathy, American reality TV personality (The Real World: San Diego), dies of cystic fibrosis at 25
2024 – Frank Carroll, American figure skating coach (Linda Fratianne, Michelle Kwan, Evan Lysacek; World Figure Skating HOF), dies of cancer at 85