1508 – Ludovico Sforza [il Moro], Italian duke of Milan, dies at 55
1960 – James Montgomery Flagg, American illustrator, dies at 82
1970 – Emmy van Lokhorst, author, dies at 78
1971 – Chips Rafferty [John William Pilbean Goffage], Australian actor (Wake in Fright, Desert Rats), dies from a heart attack at 62
1976 – Ruth McDevitt, actress (Jo-All in the Family), dies at 80
2001 – Ramon Bieri, American actor (Badlands, The Andromeda Strain), dies at 71
2006 – Alex Toth, American cartoonist (b. 1928)
2007 – Izumi Sakai, Japanese pop singer (Zard – “Makenaide (Please Don’t Lose)”), dies from head injuries after a fall, while undergoing cancer treatments at 40
2013 – Bill Pertwee, British actor (Dad’s Army), dies at 86
2021 – William Jay Sydeman, American avant-garde composer, dies at 93
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 26th May 2022
1512 – Bayezid II, Ottoman Sultan (1481-1512) dies at 62
1908 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Indies theologist (Ahmadiyya motion), dies at 69
1976 – Martin Heidegger, German philosopher (Being and Time), dies at 86
1993 – Carleton Morse, radio dramatist (One Man’s Family), dies at 91
1999 – Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor and entrepreneur, dies at 93
2008 – Sydney Pollack, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (Out of Africa, Tootsie) dies at 73
2010 – Christopher Moran, British Air Chief Marshal (b. 1956)
2013 – Jack Vance, American sci-fi author, dies at 96
2018 – Ted [Samuel Frederick] Dabney, American electrical engineer and founder of Atari (Pong), dies at 81
2021 – Patrick Sky [Lynch], American musician, folk singer, songwriter, record producer, and uilleann bagpiper (Songs That Made America Famous), dies of cancer at 80
Famous Deaths for 25th May 2022
1085 – Gregory VII [Ildebrando], Pope (1073-85), dies
1935 – Sir Frank Watson Dyson, English astronomer, dies at 71
1936 – Ján Levoslav Bella, Slovak composer, dies at 92
1939 – Joseph Duveen, British art connoisseur (Elgin marbles), dies at 69
1954 – Robert Capa, Hungarian war photographer and photojournalist, dies of injuries from a landmine explosion at 40
1981 – Rosa Ponselle [Ponzillo], American soprano opera diva (“Casta Diva”; La Forza del Destino – “Leonora”; Metropolitan Opera, 1918-37), dies at 84
1988 – Ernst Ruska, German physicist (1986 Nobel Prize for Physics for work on electron optics, and design of the first electron microscope), dies at 81
1992 – Philip C. Habib, US diplomat (Middle-East, Asia), dies at 72
1996 – Bradley Nowell, American ska musician (Sublime), dies of a heroin overdose at 28
2018 – Bill Mallory, College Football coach (Miami, Colorado, Northern Illinois, Indiana), dies after brain surgery from a fall at 82
Famous Deaths for 24th May 2022
1351 – Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali, Sultan of Morocco (b. circa 1297)
1696 – Albertine Agnes, princess of Orange-Nassau, dies at 62
1851 – Stanko Vraz [Jakob Frass], Slovenian-Croatian poet (Grammatica), dies at 40
1881 – Samuel Palmer, British landscape painter, dies at 76
1986 – Stephen D Thorne, Lt Cmdr USN/astronaut, dies in a plane crash at 33
1986 – Yakima Canutt [Enos Edward], American rodeo cowboy, actor and director(Texas Terror), dies at 90
1995 – Harold Wilson, British Prime Minister (Labour: 1964-70, 74-76), dies of cancer at 79
2010 – Petr Muk, Czech new-wave and pop musician, and singer-songwriter (Oceán; Shalom), dies from mixing alcohol and prescription medications at 45
2010 – Raymond V. Haysbert, African-American business executive and civil rights leader (b. 1920)
2013 – Ron Davies, Welsh footballer (29 Welsh caps), dies at 70
Famous Deaths for 23rd May 2022
1701 – William Kidd, Scottish pirate legend, hanged at London’s Execution Dock at about 56
1825 – Ras Gugsa of Yejju, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia
1895 – Franz E. Neumann, German mineralogist, mathematician and physicist, dies at 96
1920 – Svetozar Boroević, Austro-Hungarian field marshal, dies at 63
1960 – Georges Claude, French engineer and inventor (neon light), dies at 89
1974 – Kathleen Cannell, American fashion and dance writer, dies at 82
1975 – Jackie “Moms” Mabley, comedienne (Amazing Grace), dies at 81
1979 – Hubert van Doorne, auto manufacturer (DAF Trucks), dies at 79
1991 – Peter Trevenen Thwaites, British Brigadier General and playwright (Love or money), dies at 74
2010 – Gane Todorovoski, Macedonian literary critic, poet, and publicist (b. 1929)
Famous Deaths for 22nd May 2022
1501 – Robert Gaguin, French writer/diplomat (Arte Metrificandi), dies at 66
1819 – Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen, Dutch naval officer and founder of Dutch Marines Corp, dies at 84
1953 – Vaclav Klicka, Czech composer, dies at 70
1965 – Bobby Watson, American comedian (Hitler Gang, Boys Town), dies at 77
1997 – A. D. Hershey, American biologist, worked with bacteriophages (Nobel 1969), dies at 88
2005 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor (Tony the Tiger), and bass singer (“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”), dies from prostate cancer at 91
2006 – Jack Fallon, Canadian-British jazz double and electric bass player, fiddler (The Beatles -“Don’t Pass Me By”), and concert promoter, dies at 90
2012 – Wesley Brown, 1st African American US Naval Academy graduate, dies at 85
2019 – Judith Kerr, British children’s writer and illustrator (The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Mog books), dies at 95
2020 – Ashley Cooper, Australian tennis player (Australian C’ships 1957-58, Wimbledon, US C’ships 1958), dies at 83
Famous Deaths for 21st May 2022
1607 – John Rainolds, English scholar (b. 1549)
1812 – Joseph Wolfl, Austrian composer, dies at 38
1973 – Carlo E. Gadda, Italian engineer and writer (War Diary), dies at 79
1978 – Jo Spier [Joseph Spier], Dutch cartoonist and water color painter, dies at 77
1988 – Sammy Davis Sr., American vaudeville dancer (Mr. Wonderful), dies at 87
1993 – John Frost, English soldier who led the defence of Arnhem Bridge during Operation Market Garden, dies at 80
1994 – Cliff Wilson, snooker player, dies at 60
1996 – Bobby Tulloch, ornithologist, dies at 67
2000 – Mark R. Hughes, American entrepreneur (b. 1956)
2013 – Frank Comstock, American arranger (Les Brown), and theme composer (Rocky and His Friends), dies at 90
Famous Deaths for 20th May 2022
1444 – Bernardino of Siena, Italian priest and Franciscan missionary, dies at 63
1825 – Papaflessas, Greek priest and government official (b. 1788)
1917 – Valentine Fleming, Scottish politician (b. 1887)
1940 – Amar Singh, Indian cricket all-rounder (7 Tests, 28 wickets; India’s first half-century in Test cricket), dies of pneumonia at 29
1940 – Joris van Severen, Flemish politician and founder of the Alliance of Dietsche National Solidarists, dies at 45
1949 – Randolph West, American biochemist, known for the Dakin-West reaction (b. 1890)
1976 – Syd Howe, Canadian Hockey HOF left wing (Stanley Cup 1936, 37, 43 Detroit Red Wings), dies from throat cancer at 64
1991 – Julian Orbon De Soto, Cuban composer, dies at 65
1998 – Robert Normann, Norwegian jazz guitar pioneer, accordionist, and composer, dies at 81
2009 – Arthur Erickson, Canadian architect (b.1924)
Famous Deaths for 19th May 2022
1531 – Jan Łaski, Polish statesman and diplomat (b. 1456)
1821 – Camille Jordan, French politician (b. 1771)
1885 – Peter W. Barlow, English engineer (b. 1809)
1901 – Marthinus Wessels Pretorius, 1st president of the Republic South Africa, dies at 81
1915 – Bob Ferguson, Scottish golfer (British Open 1880-82), dies at 69
1944 – Godfrey Wilson, British Anthropologist of social change and colonial problems in Africa, commits suicide as a conscientious objector in WW II
1958 – Ronald Colman, British actor (Lost Horizon, The Prisoner of Zenda, Phantom Shot), dies at 67
1997 – Millie, dog of US President George H. W. Bush (Millie’s Book), dies at 12
2009 – Herbert York, American physicist (b. 1921)
2021 – Lee Evans, American athlete (Olympic gold men’s 400m, 4x400m relay 1968), dies from stroke complications at 74
Famous Deaths for 18th May 2022
1410 – Rupert, King of Germany (1400-10), dies at 58
1551 – Domenico di Pace Beccafumi, Italian Mannerist painter, dies at 65
1780 – Charles Hardy, British governor of Newfoundland, dies at 66
1799 – Pierre de Beaumarchais, French polymath and dramatist (The Marriage of Figaro, Barber of Seville), dies at 67
1800 – Alexander Suvorov, Russian general, dies at 70
1832 – Bonafacio Asioli, Italian composer, dies at 62
1974 – Dan Topping, American baseball team owner (NY Yankees), dies at 61
2004 – Elvin Jones, American jazz drummer (Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme”), dies of heart failure at 76
2006 – Andrew Martinez, American activist (U.C. Berkeley’s “Naked Guy”), dies at 33
2020 – Marko Elsner, Slovenian soccer defender (14 caps Yugoslavia, 2 Slovenia; Red Star Belgrade), dies at 60