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
Category: Famous Deaths
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
Famous Deaths for 2nd January 2026
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
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