1918 – Sybe Kornelis Bakker, Dutch Christian socialist and reformed preacher, dies at 42
1933 – William “Kid” Gleason, American baseball utility (St. Louis Browns, NY Giants, Philadelphia Phillies) and manager (Chicago White Sox, during “Black Sox” scandal), dies from a heart condition at 66
1961 – Bob Catterall, South African cricket batsman (24 Tests, 3 x 100s, HS 120; Transvaal, Natal), dies at 60
1977 – Erroll Garner, American jazz pianist (Misty), dies at 53
1991 – Irving Johnson, American sail training pioneer and adventurer, dies at 85
1995 – Manuel Rivera, Spanish painter and co-founder (El Paso), dies at 67
2007 – Paek Nam-sun, North Korean Foreign Affairs minister, dies at 77
2007 – A. Richard Newton, Australian-born technology pioneer and professor, dies at 55
2014 – Elizabeth Jane Howard, English novelist (The Cazalet Chronicles), dies at 90
2018 – Rick Hall, American record producer, songwriter, and creator of the “Muscle Shoals sound” (FAME Studio), dies of prostate cancer at 85
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 1st January 2026
1907 – Cyrill Kistler, German composer, educator, and music theorist, dies at 58
1964 – Alf Hall, South African cricket fast bowler (7 Tests, 40 wickets), dies at 67
1968 – Andy Oberlander, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Dartmouth College; National C’ship 1954), dies at 62
1981 – Mauri Rose, American auto racer and three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 (1941, 1947-48), dies at 74
1994 – Arthur Porritt, New Zealand athlete (Olympic bronze 100m 1924) and 11th governor-general of New Zealand 1967-72, dies at 93
2006 – Bryan Harvey, American musician (House of Freaks), dies at 49
2013 – Christopher Martin-Jenkins, British cricket journalist and broadcaster (President MCC; BBC Radio), dies of cancer at 67
2020 – Jaap Schröder, Dutch violinist, conductor, musicologist, and pedagogue (Academy of Ancient Music), dies at 94
2021 – Mark Eden [Douglas Malin], British actor (Alan Bradley in “Coronation Street”), dies at 92
2022 – Dan Reeves, American football coach (AP NFL Coach of the Year 1993 NY Giants, 1998 Atlanta Falcons; Denver Broncos), dies from complications of dementia at 77
Famous Deaths for 31st December 2025
1679 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (b. 1608)
1799 – Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and writer, dies at 76
1818 – Jean-Pierre Duport, French composer and cellist, dies at 77
1872 – Aleksis Kivi, Finnish writer and poet (Kanervala), dies at 38
1921 – József Kiss, Hungarian literary (Zsido Dalok), dies at 78
1941 – Sigwart Aspestrand, Norwegian composer, dies at 85
1964 – Ólafur Thors, Icelandic Prime Minister (5 times between 1942-63), dies at 72
1997 – Floyd Cramer, American Country Music Hall of Fame pianist (“Last Date”, “On the Rebound”), dies of cancer at 64
2007 – Ettore Sottsass, Italian architect, industrial engineer, furniture and product designer, dies at 90
2022 – Benedict XVI [Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger], German Catholic Pope (2005-13), dies at 95
Famous Deaths for 30th December 2025
1460 – Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, claimant to the English throne killed in Battle of Wakefield at 49 (b. 1411)
1591 – Pope Innocent IX [Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti], 230th Catholic pope (1591), dies at 72
1621 – Saint Job of Maniava, Ukrainian Orthodox Saint (b. 1550)
1895 – LP Hartley, British writer, dies
1982 – Alberto Vargas, Peruvian-American painter, primarily of “pin-up girls”, dies at 86
1995 – Clarence Satchell, American funk saxophonist (Ohio Players – “Fire”;”Love Rollercoaster”), dies of a brain aneurysm at 55
2010 – Roger Milliken, American millionaire (CEO of Milliken and Company), dies at 95
2012 – Carl Woese, American microbiologist (defining the Archaea) and academic, dies of pancreatic cancer at 84
2015 – Donald Barron, Scottish accountant and CEO (Midland Bank), dies at 94
2018 – Larry Austin, American classical and electronic composer and educator, dies at 88
Famous Deaths for 29th December 2025
1634 – John Albert Vasa, Polish bishop, dies at 22
1737 – Joseph Saurin, French mathematician (b. 1659)
1926 – Rainer Maria Rilke, Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist (Ana, The City, Duino Elegies), dies at 51
1975 – Euell Gibbons, American outdoorsman and proponent of natural diets (b. 1911).
1984 – Sidney Garfield, American physician and pioneer of health maintenance organizations (Kaiser Permanente), dies at 78
2008 – Freddie Hubbard, American jazz trumpet player (b. 1938)
2018 – Bill Watson, Australian cricketer (NSW and Australian opening batsman mid-1950s), dies at 87
2019 – LaDell Andersen, American college basketball coach (Utah State, BYU), dies at 90
2023 – Maurice Hines, American tap-dancer, choreographer, actor, and theater director, dies at 80
2024 – George Folsey Jr., American film editor (Coming to America; The Blues Brothers), dies of complications of pneumonia at 85
Famous Deaths for 28th December 2025
1779 – Gennaro Manna, Italian composer, dies at 64
1808 – Anne Horton, scandalous English Duchess of Cumberland and Strathearn, wife of Prince Henry, brother of George III, dies at 65
1948 – Mahmoud El Nokrashy Pasha, Egyptian politician and the 27th Prime Minister of Egypt (1946-48), assassinated at 60 by veterinary student and Muslim Brotherhood member Abdel Meguid Ahmed Hassan
1961 – Edith Wilson, American 1st lady (1915-21) second wife of Woodrow Wilson, dies at 89
1977 – Charlotte Greenwood, American actress (Oklahoma; Moon Over Miami), dies at 87
1982 – Frederick Douglass Hall, American composer, dies at 84
1990 – Walter Burle Marx, Brazilian pianist and composer, dies at 88
2006 – Komei Abe, Japanese composer, dies at 95
2012 – Emmanuel Scheffer, Israeli soccer coach (Israel 1968–70, 78–79; only World Cup appearance 1970), dies at 88
2019 – Carley Ann McCord, American sports reporter (Cox Sports TV; in-game host New Orleans Pelicans, New Orleans Saints), dies in a plane crash at 30
Famous Deaths for 27th December 2025
1812 – Joanna Southcott, an English self-described religious prophetess.
1894 – Francis II, last King of the Two Sicilies before Italian Unification, dies at 58
1916 – Nicolai Soloviev, Russian music critic and composer, dies at 70
1959 – Alfonso Reyes, Mexican writer (Simpatías y diferencias) and diplomat (Higenia Cruel), dies at 70
1988 – Fox Harris, actor (Alienator, Warlords, Sid and Nancy), dies
1993 – Michael Callen, American AIDS activist, singer-songwriter, and author, dies of complications related to AIDS at 38
1997 – Buxton Orr, Anglo-Scottish composer, dies at 73
2002 – George Roy Hill, American Academy Award-winning film director (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; The Sting; Slap Shot; A Little Romance; The World According to Garp), dies from complications of Parkinson’s disease at 81
2021 – April Ashley, English model and one of the earliest British people known to have had sex reassignment surgery, dies at 86
2023 – Herb Kohl, American businessman (Kohls department stores; Milwaukee Bucks, 1985-2014), politician (US Senator (D) from Wisconsin, 1989-2013), and philanthropist, dies at 88
Famous Deaths for 26th December 2025
1827 – Jan David Holland, composer, dies at 81
1919 – William Ruffin Cox, American Confederate general and US Secretary of State (1893-1900), dies at 88
1965 – Nico Donkersloot, Dutch literary and writer, dies at 63
1988 – Pablo Sorozábal, Spanish composer, dies at 91
1988 – John Loder, actor (Sabotage, Java Head), dies at 90
1999 – Shankar Dayal Sharma, Indian politician and 9th President of India (1992-97), dies at 81
2005 – Bill DeArango, American jazz guitarist (Charlie Ventura; Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis; “Slam” Stewart), dies at 85
2007 – Andrew Grima, Italian-born British jeweller known for his modern designs, dies at 86
2010 – Albert Ghiorso, American nuclear scientist who co-discovered 12 elements, dies of heart failure at 95
2024 – Richard Parsons, American businessman and chief executive officer of Time Warner (2002-07), dies of cancer at 76
Famous Deaths for 25th December 2025
1406 – Henry III, King of Castile and León (1390-1406), dies at 27
1765 – Václav Prokop Diviš, Czech theologian and natural scientist, dies at 67
1992 – Ted Croker, English football administrator (Secretary English Football Association 1973-89), dies at 68
1994 – Zail Singh, Indian politician, (7th President of India 1982-87), dies of injuries from a motor accident at 78
1997 – Anatoli Boukreev, mountaineer, dies at 39
1997 – Denver Pyle, American actor (The Dukes of Hazzard, The Andy Griffith Show), dies of lung cancer at 77
1997 – Giorgio Strehler, Italian opera and theatre director, dies at 76
1998 – John Pulman, English snooker player (World Champion 1957-68; News of the World Snooker Tournament 1954, 57, 58), dies after a fall at 75
2000 – Willard Van Orman Quine, American philosopher and logician in the analytic tradition, dies at 92
2022 – Fabián O’Neill, Uruguayan soccer midfielder (19 caps; Nacional, Cagliari, Juventus), dies from chronic liver disease at 49
Famous Deaths for 24th December 2025
1904 – Julien Dillens, Flemish sculptor (Anspach Monument), dies at 55
1935 – Alban Berg, Austrian composer (Wozzeck; Lulu), dies of sepsis at 50
1938 – Bruno Taut, German architect (b. 1880)
1976 – Victor Stanitsin, actor (War and Peace, Jubilee), dies at 79
1994 – Julie Haydon [Donella Donaldson], American actress (Scoundrel), dies at 84
1996 – Ted Leadbitter, British politician (Labour), dies at 77
2004 – Johnny Oates, American MLB baseball catcher, 1970-81 (Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and 3 other teams), and manager, 1991-2001 (Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers), dies of brain cancer at 58
2008 – Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist (The Clash of Civilizations) and presidential adviser, dies at 81
2020 – Geoff Stephens, English songwriter and record producer (“The Crying Game”; The New Vaudeville Band – “Winchester Cathedral”, “There’s a Kind of Hush”), dies of complications from COVID-19 at 86
2021 – J.D. Crowe, American bluegrass banjo player and bandleader (The New South), dies at 84