1612 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar (founder of the Bodleian Library), dies at 66
1896 – Joseph Barnby, English conductor and composer, dies at 57
1942 – Pablo Luna, Spanish composer (De España vengo), dies at 61
1963 – Gustave Garrigou, French cyclist (Tour de France 1911), dies at 78
1963 – Jean Felix Piccard, Swiss scientist, explorer and balloonist (1st flight into stratosphere, by balloon), dies on his 79th birthday
1976 – Ray Nance, American jazz trumpeter, violinist, and vocalist (Duke Ellington Orchestra, 1940-63 – “Take the ‘A’ Train”, “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”; Earl Hines), dies at 62
1995 – Walter Allen, English writer and literary critic, dies at 83
1997 – Pietro Cavallero ‘the laughing bandit’, Italian bandit, dies at 68
2006 – Henry McGee, British actor and comedian (No, That’s Me Over Here!, The Benny Hill Show), dies at 77
2007 – Yelena Romanova, Russian athlete (Olympic gold Unified Team 3,000m 1992), dies at 43
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 27th January 2026
1763 – Johann Theodor of Bavaria, Prince-Bishop of Regensburg, Freising and Liège, dies at 59
1802 – Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg, German lieder and ballad composer, and conductor, dies at 42
1864 – Leo von Klenze, German neoclassical architect (Walhalla), dies at 59
1962 – Percy LeSueur, Canadian hockey goaltender (inventor large goalie glove and LeSueur net), dies at 80
1984 – Lou Crosby, American actor, and radio and TV announcer (Lum and Abner; The Lawrence Welk Show), dies at 69
1987 – Allison Danzig, American sports writer (Tennis Pictorial History, NY Times), dies at 88
1989 – Bayani Casimiro, Filipino dancer and actor [Okey Ka Fairy Ko!], dies at 70
1995 – Geoffrey Parsons, Australian-British concert pianist, accompanist, and harpsichord player. dies of cancer at 65
1996 – Olga Havlová (nee Šplíchalová) Czech political activist (First Lady of the Czech Republic, 1993-96; First Lady of Czechoslovakia, 1989-92), dies of cancer at 63
2004 – Jack Paar, American comedian and TV host of the Jack Paar Show and The Tonight Show (1957-62), dies at 85
Famous Deaths for 26th January 2026
1803 – Georg von Pasterwiz, Austrian composer, dies at 72
1878 – Ernst Heinrich Weber, German anatomist and physiologist (one of the founders of experimental psychology), dies at 82
1942 – Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician (Hausdorff space), dies at 73
1975 – Lubov Orlova, Russian actress (Moscow Laughs; Man of Music; Tanya), dies at 74
1976 – João Branco Núncio, Portuguese Bullfighter (b. 1901)
1992 – Okke Jager, Dutch theologist, writer and poet, dies at 63
2003 – Valeriy Brumel, Soviet Olympic athlete (b. 1942)
2012 – Dimitra Arliss [Arlys], American actress (Rich Man Poor Man II, The Sting), dies at 79
2016 – Colin Vearncombe, British singer-songwriter (Black – “Wonderful Life”), dies from injuries in a car accident at 53
2020 – Bob Shane, American folk vocalist (Kingston Trio – “Tom Dooley”), dies at 85
Famous Deaths for 25th January 2026
1627 – Louis Hébert, French apothecary, kings attorney and colonist of New France, dies at 51 or 52
1906 – Pierre-Lambert Goossens, Belgian archbishop of Mechelen and Cardinal Primate of Belgium, dies at 78
1963 – Wilson Kettle, of Newfoundland, dies at 102, leaving 582 living descendants
1991 – Lillian Bond, English-American actress (Air Mail, Pick-up, Blond Cheat), dies at 83
1995 – John Smith, American actor (Cimarron City, Laramie, 7 Angry Men), dies at 63
1997 – Jim Boyd, American boxer (Olympic gold light-heavyweight, 1956), dies at 66
2013 – Zekkariyas [Cecil Womack], American soul songwriter, singer, and record producer (Womack and Womack – “Teardrops”), dies at 64
2022 – Heinz Werner Zimmermann, German contemporary sacred music composer (Prosalieder; Missa profana), and educator, dies at 91
2023 – B. V. [Balkrishna] Doshi, Indian architect (Pritzker Prize, 2018), dies at 95
2023 – Cindy Williams, American actress (Laverne and Shirley – “Shirley; American Graffiti), dies at 75
Famous Deaths for 24th January 2026
1376 – Richard FitzAlan, 3rd Earl of Arundel, English military leader for Edward III during Hundred Years’ War dies at 62 or 63
1805 – Giacomo Conti, Italian composer, dies at 50
1905 – William Sellers, American engineer and inventor (US standard screw thread), dies at 80
1929 – Willem Royaards, Dutch theater director (Adam in Ballingschap), dies at 62
1975 – Larry Fine, American actor and comedian (3 Stooges), dies at 72
1986 – Gordon MacRae, American singer and actor (Oklahoma!, Carousel), dies of pneumonia at 64
1991 – John M. Kelly, Irish politician and academic (b. 1931)
1991 – Harold “Shot” Jackson, American country dobro player, and pedal steel guitarist (Roy Acuff), and guitar designer and builder (Sho-Bud), dies after his second stroke at 70
1992 – Ken Darby, American vocal arranger, lyricist, Academy Award-winning film score composer, and writer, dies at 82
2002 – Elie Hobeika, Lebanese Forces militia commander (b. 1956)
Famous Deaths for 23rd January 2026
1622 – William Baffin, English navigator (1st European to discover Baffin Bay) and explorer, dies of a gunshot wound at in an attack on Qeshm, island of Hor about 38
1785 – Matthew Stewart, Scottish mathematician (b. 1717)
1879 – Adolf Jensen, German composer, dies of tuberculosis at 42
1893 – Phillips Brooks, American Episcopal bishop and composer (Little Town of Bethlehem), dies at 57
1975 – Karel Paul van der Mandele, Dutch financier, director (Rotterdam Bank), administrator, and economist, dies at 94
1978 – Vic Ames, American singer (Ames Brothers – “Tammy”), dies in a car accident at 52
2002 – Igor Kipnis, American harpsichordist, pianist, conductor, and educatordies of renal cancer at 71
2015 – Guy Gallo, American poet, playwright, and screenwriter (Under the Volcano), dies of cancer at 59
2019 – Jonas Mekas, American avant garde filmmaker and film critic, dies at 96
2023 – Carol Sloane [Morvan], American jazz singer, dies from complications of a stroke at 85
Famous Deaths for 22nd January 2026
1581 – Joost de Damhoudere, Flemish lawyer (Praxis rerum criminalium), dies at 73
1666 – Shah Jahan, 5th Mughal Emperor of India (1628-58) who built the Taj Mahal for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, dies at 74
1767 – Johann Gottlob Lehmann, German minterologist and geologist, dies at 47
1879 – Anthony Durnford, British colonel, dies in Battle of Isandlwana
1931 – Alma Rubens, American actress (Humoresque), dies of Lobar pneumonia and bronchitis at 33
1978 – Herbert Sutcliffe, British cricketer (54 Tests for England 4555 runs), dies at 83
2000 – Anne Hébert, French Canadian author and poet (Kamouraska), dies at 83
2007 – Ngô Quang Trưởng, South Vietnamese general (b. 1929)
2007 – Liz Renay [Pearl Elizabeth Dobbins], American actress (Desperate Living), dies at 80
2019 – Charles Vandenhove, Belgian architect (Standard-Omnisporthal, Liège), dies at 91
Famous Deaths for 21st January 2026
879 – Boudouin with the Iron Arm, earl of Flanders, dies
1344 – Prince Narinaga, 2nd and last Japanese shōgun of the Kenmu Restoration (1335-7), dies at about 18 (b. circa 1326) [death date disputed]
1722 – Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, English supporter of William III of England (b. 1661)
1948 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian light opera composer, dies at 72
1966 – Shane Paltridge, Australian politician and minister for the Liberal Party, dies of cancer at 56
1977 – John Vincent, American composer, dies at 74
1984 – Giannis Skaribas, Greek writer, dramatist, and poet (b. 1893)
1996 – Jordan Christopher, American stage and screen actor (Angel, Angel, Down We Go; Secrets of Midland Heights), dies of a heart attack at 55
2007 – U;Nee [Lee Hye-ryeon], Korean pop artist, commits suicide at 25
2019 – Kaye Ballard, American stage and screen actress, comedienne, and singer (Mothers-in-Law – “Kaye”), dies at 93
Famous Deaths for 20th January 2026
882 – Louis II/III the Younger, German king (876-82), dies
1770 – Charles Yorke, British politician and Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, dies by suicide at 47
1838 – Pierre-Louis Hus-Desforges, French composer and cellist, dies at 64
1905 – Stanislaw Pilinski, French pianist and composer, dies at 65
1952 – Arthur Farwell, American composer, dies at 74
1996 – David Robin Francis Guy Greville, 8th Duke of Warwick, dies at 61
2007 – Anatol Rapoport, Ukrainian-American mathematician and biologist (game theory), dies at 95
2009 – Dante Lavelli, American Pro Football HOF end (NFL C’ship 1950, 54, 55 Cleveland Browns; First-team All-Pro 1953; 3 × Pro Bowl), dies at 85
2018 – Jim Rodford, English rock bassist (Argent, 1969-76; The Kinks, 1978-96; Zombies, 2004-18), dies after a fall at 76
2021 – Ted Thompson, American football linebacker (Houston Oilers) and executive (GM Green Bay Packers 2005-17), dies from autonomic disorder at 68
Famous Deaths for 19th January 2026
639 – Dagobert I, king of Austrasia, Soissons, Burgundy and Neustrië, dies at about 36
1647 – Johan van Beverwijck, Dutch writer and town physician of Dordrecht (Treasure of Health, Treasure of Disease), dies at 52
1862 – Felix Zollicoffer, American journalist and Confederate Brigadier General, killed in action at the Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky at 49
1865 – Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French philosopher and anarchist (b. 1809)
1893 – Julius Eichberg, German composer, dies at 68
1894 – Francois Haverschmidt, Dutch writer (Snikken en grimlachjes), dies at 58
1971 – Harry Shields, American musician (b. 1899)
2006 – Wilson Pickett, American RandB singer (“In The Midnight Hour”; “Funky Broadway”), dies of a heart attack at 64
2017 – H. Boyd Woodruff, American microbiologist whose research led to antibiotics, dies at 99
2023 – Norbert Sattler, Austrian slalom canoeist (World C’ship gold K-1 team 1971, K-1 1973; Olympic silver K-1 1972), dies at 71