1807 – Jean Luzac, Dutch journalist, newspaper editor (Gazette de Leyde), and Patriot, dies in a gunpowder barge explosion at 60
1960 – Nevil Shute [Norway], English-Australian novelist (On the Beach, Town like Alice), dies at 60
1992 – Harry van Doorn, Dutch politician (KVP/KRO-chairman/PPR/CRM), dies at 76
1994 – Robert Horen, American stage and screen actor, dies of cancer at 68
2003 – Paul Pender, American boxer (World Middleweight Champion 1960–61; The Ring Middleweight Champion 1962–63 Retired; Lineal Middleweight Champion 1962–63 Retired), dies at 72
2007 – Alice Coltrane [née McLeod], American jazz harp, piano, and organ player (Journey in Satchidananda), dies of respiratory failure at 69
2019 – Bonnie Guitar [Buckingham], American guitarist, singer and record executive (Dark Moon), dies at 95
2022 – Everett Lee, American violinist, and theater and classical conductor (Cosmopolitan Little Symphony, 1947-55; Norrkoping Symphony, 1962-72), dies at 105
2024 – Bev Dovey, English rugby union prop (2 Tests; Bristol RFC 184 games; Western Counties, Gloucestershire), dies at 85
2025 – Robert Machray, American stage and screen character actor, dies of complications from dementia at 79
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 11th January 2026
1856 – Nikolai I Nadezjdin, Russian archaeologist, dies [NS=Jan 23]
1891 – Georges-Eugene, Baron Haussmann, French administrator and architect, dies at 81
1901 – Vasily Kalinnikov, composer influenced by folksong, dies of tuberculosis at 34
1966 – Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indian politician and Prime Minister of India (1964-66), dies under suspicious circumstances at 61
1983 – Erik Løchen, Norwegian jazz musician and film director (The Chasers, Remonstrance), dies at 58
1994 – Roger “Ram” Ramirez, American jazz piano player and composer, dies at 80
1999 – Brian Moore, Irish novelist (Catholics, Doctor’s Wife), dies at 77
2013 – Robert Kee, British journalist, historian and broadcaster (Panorama; Ireland: A Television History), dies at 93
2016 – Kenneth Corfield, English industrialist (CEO Standard Telephones and Cables), dies at 91
2022 – Rosa Lee Hawkins, American pop singer (The Dixie Cups – “Chapel Of Love”; “Iko Iko”), dies from surgery complications at 76
Famous Deaths for 10th January 2026
1883 – Samuel Mudd, American physician (imprisoned for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth), dies of pneumonia at 49
1901 – Sir James Dickson, Premier of Queensland, Australian Minister for Defence (b. 1832)
1967 – Emerson Treacy, American actor (California Straight Ahead, Prowler), dies after surgery at 66
1968 – Josue Teofilo Wilkes, Argentine composer, dies at 85
1997 – Shiv Verma, Indian revolutionary soldier and Marxist, dies at 88
2008 – (Walter) “Pete” Candoli, American jazz, big band, and session trumpeter (Woody Herman; Stan Kenton; Henry Mancini; The Brothers Candoli), dies of prostate cancer at 84
2013 – Christel Adelaar, Dutch actress (Pipo the Clown – “Mammaloe”), dies of lung cancer at 77
2015 – Michael Wright, British academic and Vice-Chancellor of Aston University (1996-2006), dies of cancer at 67
2017 – Clare Hollingworth, British war correspondent who was the first to report on the outbreak of WWII, dies at 105
2017 – (Armando) “Buddy” Greco, American jazz and pop singer (“Ooh! Look-A There, Ain’t She Pretty”; “The Lady Is A Tramp”), pianist, and television personality (Away We Go), dies at 90
Famous Deaths for 9th January 2026
1679 – Werner Fabricius, German composer, dies at 45
1964 – Halide Edib Adevar/Salih, Turkish feminist (Handan), dies at about 80
1979 – Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian engineer and architect (Nuove Struttura), dies at 87
1993 – Sir Paul Hasluck, Governor-General of Australia (b. 1905)
1995 – Gisela Mauermeyer, German discus thrower (Olympic gold 1936), dies at 81
1999 – Jim Peters, English long-distance runner who was 1st to complete a marathon in under 2 hours 20 minutes, dies at 80
2005 – Koji Hashimoto, Japanese film director (Sayonara Jupiter), dies at 68
2018 – Karin von Aroldingen, German ballet dancer (NYC Ballet), dies at 76
2020 – Pete Dye, American golf course designer (TPC at Sawgrass, Crooked Stick, Oakwood CC), dies of Alzheimer’s disease at 94
2023 – Ferenc Mészáros, Hungarian soccer goalkeeper (29 caps; Vasas SC 252 games), dies at 72
Famous Deaths for 8th January 2026
1825 – Eli Whitney, American inventor (Cotton Gin), dies of prostate cancer at 59
1900 – Billy Bates, English cricket all-rounder (15 Tests, 5 x 50, 50 wickets, BB 7/28, hat-trick 1883; Yorkshire CCC), dies from pneumonia at 44
1987 – Nana Joshi, Indian cricket wicket-keeper (12 tests, 27 dismissals, 1 x 50; Maharashtra CC), dies at 60
1994 – Jay Blackton, American conductor and arranger (Guys and Dolls; Oklahoma!), dies at 84
1997 – George Handy [Hendleman], American bebop jazz arranger, pianist and composer Handyland, U.S.A.), dies at 76
2002 – Dave Thomas, American businessman who founded Wendy’s Restaurants, dies at 69
2012 – Alexis Weissenberg, Bulgarian born pianist (Levintritt Prize, 1948), and composer, dies at 82
2015 – Richard Meade, British equestrian (3 x Olympic gold eventing 1968, 72; World C’ship gold team 1970, 82), dies from cancer at 76
2021 – Eva Badura-Skoda, German-Austrian musicologist (Mozart-Interpretation), dies at 91
2023 – Bernard Kalb, American journalist, moderator, lecturer and author, one of the most respected broadcast journalists of his time (CBS News, New York Times), dies at 100
Famous Deaths for 7th January 2026
1721 – Rochus Aerts, Flemish sculptor, dies [or 1739]
1887 – Abraham van Lier, Dutch theater director (Grand Théâtre des Variétés), dies at 73
1951 – René Guénon, French-Egyptian metaphysician, traditionalist and author, dies at 64
1984 – Alfred Kastler, French physicist (Nobel 1966 – Hertzian resonances within atoms), dies at 81
1988 – Michel Auclair [Vladimir Vujović], German actor (Funny Face; The Day of the Jackal), dies at 65
1993 – Richard Branda, American actor (You Are There, Two-Minute Warning), dies of colon cancer at 57
1994 – Bobby Pratt, American jazz trombone and piano player, dies at 67
2000 – Gary Albright, American professional wrestler (b. 1963)
2005 – Rosemary Kennedy, American sister of President John F. Kennedy who underwent a frontal lobotomy, dies at 86
2024 – Duncan Hales, New Zealand rugby union three-quarter (4 Tests; Canterbury RFU, Manawatu RFU), dies at 76
Famous Deaths for 6th January 2026
1685 – Malachias Siebenhaar, Bohemian-German composer, dies at 68
1689 – Seth Ward, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1617)
1829 – Josef Dobrovský, Czech linguist known for “History of the Bohemian Language and Literature”, dies at 75
1936 – Charles Stoneham, American owner of the NY Giants), dies at 59
1941 – Franz Hessel, German writer (Spazieren in Berlin (Walking in Berlin), poet, and translator (Marcel Proust), dies from complications of a stroke suffered while in an internment camp, at 60
1961 – Regina Ullmann, Swiss poet and writer, dies at 76
1986 – Louis Lebeer, Belgian art historian, engraver, and academic, dies at 90
1991 – Ada Moore, entertainer, dies of cancer at 64
1994 – Morty the Moose, American character actor (Northern Exposure), dies at 6
2022 – Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor, first black actor to win Oscar for Best Actor (“Lillies in the Field”; “To Sir With Love”; “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”), director (Stir Crazy), civil rights advocate, and diplomat, dies at 94
Famous Deaths for 5th January 2026
1465 – Charles, Duke of Orléans, French poet and noble who spent 25 years as a prisoner of war, dies at 70
1891 – Emma Abbott, American soprano, dies at 40
1946 – George “Slim” Summerville, American actor (All Quiet on the Western Front, Keystone Cops), dies of a stroke at 53
1982 – Harvey Lembeck, American stage and screen actor (The Phil Silvers Show; Stalag 17; Beach Party films), dies of a heat attack at 58
1995 – Mansour Sattari, Iranian Brigadier General and commandant (Iran Air Force), dies at 46
2006 – Joseph Pichler, American child actor (Beethoven’s 3rd, The Fan), disappears at 18
2014 – Jerry Coleman, American MLB second baseman, dies from complications from brain bleeding and surgery at 89
2018 – Jerry Van Dyke, American actor (My Mother the Car, Coach), dies at 86
2018 – Antonio Valentín Angelillo, Italian-Argentinian footballer who played for both Argentina and Italy, dies at 80
2024 – McCanna “Mac” Anthony Sinise, son of Gary Sinise, passes away from chordoma at 33
Famous Deaths for 4th January 2026
1707 – Louis Willem I, Margrave of Baden-Baden, dies at 51
1874 – Thomas Gregson, Premier of Tasmania (b. 1798)
1953 – Arthur Hoyt, American actor and director (Gold Dust Gertie, Goldie Get Along), dies at 79
1955 – (Jan Derk) Domela Nieuwenhuis Nyegaard, Dutch vicar, writer, and political activist (Young Flanders), dies at 84
1981 – Ruth Lowe, Canadian pianist and composer (“I’ll Never Smile Again”), dies at 66
1995 – Robert Clifford Latham, English Pepys scholar, dies at 82
2001 – Les Brown, American big band bandleader (His Band of Renown – “Sentimental Journey”), dies at 88
2004 – John Toland, American political writer (Rising Sun, Pulitzer 1971), dies at 91
2005 – Guy Davenport, American author, artist, and scholar (b. 1927)
2008 – Mort Garson, Canadian-American composer (“Our Day Will Come”) and Moog synthesizer pioneer, dies of renal failure at 83
Famous Deaths for 3rd January 2026
1501 – Ali-Shir Nava’i, Timurid poet and writer (Mahbub ul-Qulub) considered a founder of early Turkic literature, dies at 59
1767 – Luca Antonio Predieri, Italian composer and violinist, dies at 78
1795 – Josiah Wedgwood, English pottery designer and manufacturer (Wedgwood), dies at 64
1882 – William Harrison Ainsworth, English writer (Guy Fawkes), dies at 76
1942 – Pauline Beersmans [PLJM van Cuyck], Flemish actress, dies at 70
1967 – Jack Ruby [Jacob Rubenstein], American nightclub owner who murdered assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, dies of pulmonary embolism at 55
1976 – Mateusz Gliński, Polish conductor, musicologist (Scriabin, Chopin), composer, and pedagogue (Winsdor University), dies at 83
2011 – Fadil Hadžić, Croatian film director, dies at 88
2012 – Harold Zirin, American astronomer, dies at 82
2012 – Robert L. Carter, American civil rights activist and judge (Brown v. Board of Education, NAACP v. Alabama), dies after complications from a stroke at 94