1722 – Pierre Varignon, French mathematician (b. 1654)
1939 – Anthony Fokker, Dutch aviation pioneer and aircraft manufacturer (Eindecker monoplanes, Fokker Triplane), dies of pneumococcal meningitis at 49
1944 – Charles Dana Gibson, American illustrator (Gibson Girl), dies at 77
1945 – Mogens Klitgaard, Danish author (Brunkul), dies at 39
1948 – Seishirō Itagaki, Japanese military officer and politician (War Minister, 1938-39), hanged for war crimes at 63
1951 – Alfrēds Kalniņš, Latvian organist, composer (Baņuta), conductor, and pedagogue, dies at 72
1994 – Charles Shirley, American big band jazz arranger (Stan Kenton; Les Elgart), and alcoholism counselor, dies of a heart attack at 74
2000 – Victor Borge [Borge Rosenbaum], Danish-American comedian and pianist, dies at 91
2013 – Mikhail Kalashnikov, Russian general and inventor of the AK-47, dies at 94
2019 – Alan Harrington, Welsh soccer defender (11 caps; Cardiff City 348 games), dies at 86
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 22nd December 2025
1893 – Johann Czerski, German chaplain, dies at 80
1902 – Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Austro–German psychiatrist and author (Psychopathia Sexualis), dies at 62
1961 – Elia Dalla Costa, Italian cardinal who helped organize a rescue network for Jewish people during the Holocaust, dies at 89
1965 – Al Ritz [Albert Joachim], American vaudevillian (The Ritz Brothers), dancer and actor (The Gorilla;, Hi’ya, Chum; Straight, Place and Show), dies of a heart attack at 64
1971 – Godfried Bomans, Dutch humorist, TV personality and writer (Eric), dies at 58
1997 – Johnny Coles, American jazz trumpeter (Little Johnny C), dies at 71
2006 – Elena Mukhina, Russian gymnast (3 x World C’ship gold 1978; 2 x World Cup gold 1977), dies of complications from quadriplegia at 46
2011 – James Ramseur, one of Bernhard Goetz’s assailants in 1984, overdoses on drugs at 45
2012 – Arkady Vorobyov, Russian weightlifter (Olympic gold Middle-heavyweight 1956, 60), dies at 88
2022 – Anton Tkáč, Slovak track cyclist (Olympic gold Czechoslovakia men’s match sprint 1976; World C’ship gold 1974, 78), dies at 71
Famous Deaths for 21st December 2025
1927 – Jack Saunders, cricketer (79 wickets-14 Tests for Aust 1902-08), dies
1950 – Hattie Wyatt Caraway, American politician (1st woman elected to US Senate, Senator for Arkansas 1931-45), dies at 72
1967 – Louis Washkansky, 18 days after 1st heart transplant, dies at 55
1969 – Georges Catroux, French Army general, French Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1945-48) and Grand Chancellor of the Légion d’honneur (1954-69), dies at 92
1983 – Paul de Man, Belgian literary critic, dies at 64
1992 – Albert King [Nelson], American blues guitarist and singer (BB King and Friends; Blues Alive), dies of a heart attack at 69
1996 – Margaret E Rey, author of children’s books, dies at 90
2001 – Dick Schaap, American Emmy Award-winning sportscaster, journalist, and author (Bo Knows Bo: Instant Replay), dies from complications during hip replacement surgery at 67
2005 – Elrod Hendricks, American baseball player and coach (b. 1940)
2023 – Robert Solow, American economist who developed the Solow–Swan model of economic growth (Nobel Prize, 1987), dies at 99
Famous Deaths for 20th December 2025
1073 – Dominic of Silos, Spanish Benedictine monk and Roman Catholic saint, dies at 73 [exact birthdate uncertain]
1524 – Thomas Linacre, English scholar and physician
1676 – Joannes Galle, Flemish engraver and printer, dies at 76
1749 – Pakubuwono II, susuhunan of Mataram Java, dies
1819 – Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis, French composer, dies at 50
1983 – John Vivyan, American actor (Mr Lucky, Wrong Man, Imitation of Life), dies at 68
1991 – Walter Chiari [Annicchiarico], Italian actor (Bellissima; The Little Hut), dies of a heart attack at 67
2000 – Mirza Ghulam Hafiz, Bangladesh statesman, politician, and philanthropist (b. 1920)
2000 – Adrian Henri, British poet and founder of poetry-rock group (Liverpool Scene), dies at 68
2011 – Barry Reckord, Jamaican playwright (Skyvers, You in Your Small Corner), dies at 85
Famous Deaths for 19th December 2025
1737 – James Louis Sobieski, Crown Prince of Poland, dies at 70
1957 – John Van Druten, English playwright (I Remember Mama, I am a Camera) and theater director, dies at 56
1959 – Walter Williams, American, claimed to be last survivor of the US Civil War, dies at 117 (age disputed)
1967 – Alfred Courtens, Belgian sculptor, dies at 78
1982 – Frederick Terman, American professor of engineering at Stanford University known as the “father of Silicon Valley”, dies at 82
1993 – Antoon Veerman, Dutch ARP asst sect of Education (1973-75), dies at 77
1995 – Ruth Nita Barrow, 1st female Governor-General of Barbados (1990-95), dies at 79
2000 – Rob Buck, American musician (10,000 Maniacs), dies at 42
2015 – Douglas Dick, American actor and psychologist (Rope, Waterfront), dies at 95
2019 – Shahdon Winchester, Trinidadian soccer winger (27 caps; Murciélagos), dies in a traffic collision at 27
Famous Deaths for 18th December 2025
1787 – Soame Jenyns, British writer (View of the Internal Evidence of the Christian Religion) and Member of Parliament (1741-80), dies at 83
1892 – Richard Owen, English zoologist (Dinosauria), dies at 88
1901 – William F. Perry, American Brigadier General in the Confederate Army (Civil War), dies at 78
1915 – Henry Enfield Roscoe, English chemist (vanadium and photochemistry), dies at 82
1937 – Robert W. Bingham, American newspaper proprietor, attorney and ambassador to the UK (1933-37), dies of cancer at 66
1977 – Cyril Ritchard, Australian actor (Peter Pan; Hans Brinker), dies at 80
1977 – Walter Breedveld, Dutch writer (Een schip vergaat), dies at 76
2004 – Vijay Hazare, Indian cricket batsman and captain (30 Tests, 7 x 100, HS 164no; Maharashtra, Central India, Baroda, Holkar), dies at 89
2007 – Jack Linkletter, American TV host (Haggis Baggis, Hootenanny), dies at 70
2022 – Count Desmond [Edward Benjamin], American sword swallower, dies at 81
Famous Deaths for 17th December 2025
1651 – Wolfgang Schonsleder, German composer (Missa super Laudate), and clergyman, dies at 81
1811 – John Antes, American composer and missionary, dies at 71
1881 – Lewis H Morgan, US ethnologist (Iroquois-indians), dies at 62
1891 – Msiri, ruler of the Garanganze Kingdom, Congo (Katanga), dies in battle against Belgian funded expedition
1892 – George Brayton, American engineer who developed the Brayton Cycle combustion engine, dies at 62
1946 – Constance Garnett, English translator of Russian (first to translate Chekhov and Dostoevsky into English), dies at 84
1967 – Barry Byrne, American architect (Church of St. Francis Xavier in Kansas City), dies at 83
1992 – Günther Anders, German Jewish philosopher, dies at 90
1994 – Jan Wiegel, director and producer (Uninhabitable Country), dies at 64
2011 – Kim Jong-il, Supreme Leader of North Korea (1994-2011), dies of a suspected heart attack at 70
Famous Deaths for 16th December 2025
1783 – Yoriyuki Arima, Japanese mathematician (approximated the value of pi and its square, pi^2), dies at 68
1858 – Richard Bright, English physician (Bright’s disease/nephritis), dies at 69
1861 – Karol Joseph Lipinski, Polish composer and virtuoso violinist, dies at 71
1928 – Elinor Wylie, American poet and writer (b. 1885)
1935 – Thelma Todd, actress (Horse Feathers, Bohemian Girl), dies of 30
1940 – William Wallace, Scottish composer, dies at 80
1944 – Philip Guedalla, English barrister and historian, dies at 55
1991 – Ferdinando Orlandi, Italian actor (The House with Laughing Windows), dies at 66
2020 – Kálmán Sóvári, Hungarian soccer defender (17 caps; Újpesti Dózsa, VM Egyetértés), dies at 79
2022 – Siniša Mihajlović, Serbian soccer defender (63 caps Yugoslavia; RS Belgrade, Roma, Sampdoria, Lazio) and manager (Serbia, Bologna, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, AC Milan, Torino), dies from leukemia at 53
Famous Deaths for 15th December 2025
1598 – Philip van Marnix, Flemish ruler of St Aldegonde and poet, dies at 58
1699 – Henrik van Reede tot Drakenstein, Dutch botanist and VOC official, dies at about 63
1831 – Paulus Roelof Cantz’laar, Dutch naval officer, and colonial governor (Curaçao, 1820-28; Dutch West Indies, 1828-31), dies at 60
1880 – Carlo Boncompagni di Mombello, Italian minister of Justice, dies at 76
1924 – T. Frank Appleby, American politician (U.S. House of Representatives – (R) New Jersey, 1921-23), dies at 60
1968 – Antonio J. Barrette, French Canadian politician, premier of Quebec, dies at 69
1984 – Jan Peerce [Jacob Pincus Perelmuth], American tenor (NBC Symphony, 1938-55; NY Metropolitan Opera, 1941-67; “Bluebird of Happiness”), dies at 80
1986 – Serge Lifar, Russian-French ballet dancer (Ballet Russes, 1923-29), ballet master (Paris Opera Ballet, 1930-44 and 1947-58), and choreographer, dies at 81
2009 – Carolyn DeZurik, American country and polka singer and yodeler (The Cackle Sisters; Prairie Ramblers; The Polka Chips), dies at 90
2022 – Shirley Eikhard, Canadian Juno Award-winning country singer-songwriter (Something to Talk About), dies of cancer at 67
Famous Deaths for 14th December 2025
1886 – Antoni Wincenty Rutkowski, Polish-Russian composer, dies at 27
1951 – Coretté Alefred [Hardy], American-Russian-Soviet jazz, spiritual and pop lyrical and dramatic soprano, dancer, and actress, dies at 70
1958 – Joseph Vandemeulebroek, Belgian politician (Mayor of Brussels,1939-41 and 1944-56), dies at 82
1967 – Frank Moran, American heavyweight boxer and film actor, dies of a heart attack at 80
1989 – Konrad Lechner, German cellist, composer, and conductor, dies at 78
1990 – Hope Sansberry, American actress (Rats are Coming), dies at 94
1998 – Annette Strauss, American philanthropist, dies at 74
2000 – Ralph Louis Wain, British agricultural scientist, dies at 89
2003 – Don Conicannon, British miner, labor union official and politician (Member of Parliament, 1966-87), dies at 73
2012 – Klaus Köste, German gymnast, dies at 69