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
Category: Famous Deaths
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
Famous Deaths for 23rd December 2025
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
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