1583 – Pirro Ligorio, Italian architect/painter/archaeologist, dies at 83
1893 – John Abbott, 3rd Prime Minister of Canada (Conservative: 1891-92), dies of brain cancer at 72
1944 – Paul Ladmirault, French composer, dies at 66
1993 – Paul Grégoire, French Canadian Archbishop of Montreal, dies at 82
1995 – Terry Southern, American writer and screenwriter (Dr. Strangelove, Easy Rider), dies at 71
2002 – William Mitchell, British physicist, dies at 77
2014 – Donald Cameron Watt, British historian (How War Came: The Immediate Origins of the Second World War, 1938–1939), dies at 86
2018 – Sangharakshita [Dennis Lingwood], Buddhist Philosopher, Founder of the Western Buddhist Order, dies at 92
2019 – Ron Fairly, American baseball utility (MLB All Star 1973 Montreal Expos, 1977 Toronto Blue Jays; World Series 1959, 63, 65 LA Dodgers) and broadcaster (California Angels radio/television; KNBR SF Giants), dies from cancer at 81
2020 – Jan Myrdal, Swedish writer and journalist (Albania Defiant), dies at 93
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 29th October 2025
1618 – Walter Raleigh, English scholar, poet, historian and explorer, beheaded for treason at about 64
1824 – Charles Pinckney, American Founding Father, planter and Governor of South Carolina (1789-92; 1796-98; 1806-08), dies at 67
1853 – William Richard Bexfield, English composer, dies at 29
1924 – Peter Verigin, Russian Doukhobor leader (led Doukhobor community in Canada), dies, possibly assassinated in an explosion on a train at 65
1933 – Paul Painlevé, French Prime Minister (1917, 1925), dies at 69
1957 – Rosemarie Nitribitt, German call girl, strangled in her apartment in an unsolved murder at 24
1973 – Heathcote Dicken Statham, English organist, composer, and conductor, dies at 83
1986 – Sem Presser, Dutch press photographer, dies at 68
1986 – Mimis Fotopoulos, Greek actor (b. 1913)
2016 – John D. Roberts, American chemist, received American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (2013), dies at 98
Famous Deaths for 28th October 2025
1649 – Blanche Arundell, English noblewoman (led defense of Wardour Castle during English Civil War), dies at 65 or 66
1875 – William Howard Glover, English composer, dies at 56
1899 – Grant Allen, Canadian writer (Woman Who Did), dies at 51
1965 – Ben Barka, Moroccan opposition leader, kidnapped and murdered in Paris
1984 – Knut Nordahl, Swedish soccer midfielder (26 caps; AS Roma; Olympic gold 1948), dies at 64
1984 – Giuseppe Savagnone, Italian composer, dies at 81
1986 – Eddie Waring, British rugby league broadcaster (BBC 1958-81), dies from dementia at 76
1994 – Sjlomo Goren, Polish/Israeli supreme rabbi, dies
2020 – Billy Joe Shaver, American country singer-songwriter (“When I Get My Wings”), dies of a stroke at 81
2022 – D. H. Peligro [Darren Henley], American punk rock drummer (Dead Kennedys, Red Hot Chili Peppers,1988), dies from head injury after a fall at 63
Famous Deaths for 27th October 2025
1743 – Christoph von Graffenried, Swiss nobleman and explorer who founded New Bern, British Province of Carolina (1710), dies at 82
1858 – Ida Laura Pfeiffer, Austrian explorer and travel writer who made two round the world trips, dies at 61
1897 – Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, granddaughter of George III, grandmother of Edward VIII and George VI and great-grandmother of Elizabeth II, dies at 63
1942 – Helmuth Hübener, German anti-Nazi activist and pamphleteer, executed for treason at 17
1975 – Rex Stout, American detective writer (Nero Wolfe), dies at 88
1977 – Peg Leg Sam [Arthur Jackson], American country blues harmonica player, singer and comedian, dies at 65
1988 – Charles Hawtrey, English actor (Carry On films), dies near London at 73
1992 – David Bohm, American-born physicist, philosopher, and neuropsychologist (b. 1917)
2002 – Charles O. Whitley, American politician (Rep-D-NC, 1977-87), dies at 75
2013 – Lou Reed, American rock singer-songwriter (Velvet Underground – “Sweet Jane”; solo -“Take A Walk On The Wild Side”), dies from liver disease at 71
Famous Deaths for 26th October 2025
578 – Moon Jaguar, 10th ruler of the Maya city of Copán (in modern Honduras), dies after a reign of 25 years
1440 – Gilles de Rais, French marshal, killer of 140 children, hanged
1923 – Charles Proteus Steinmetz, German-American electrical engineer (development of alternating current), dies at 58
1944 – Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria (b. 1857)
1978 – George “Jackie” Grant, West Indian cricketer (West Indian captain 1930-35), dies at 71
1993 – H Hardenberg, writer, dies
1999 – Hoyt Axton, American songwriter, singer (“No No Song”; “Joy To The World”; “I’ve Never Been To Spain”), and actor (McCloud; Gremlins; The Rousters), dies of a heart attack at 61
2006 – Tillman Franks, American country music bassist, songwriter and artist manager (Webb Pierce), dies at 86
2011 – Daniel B. Burke, American media executive who helped spearhead the acquisition of ABC by Capital Cities, dies of complications from Type 1 diabetes at 82
2021 – Umberto Colombo, Italian soccer midfielder (3 caps; Juventus, Atalanta), dies at 88
Famous Deaths for 25th October 2025
1907 – Edmund Hart Turpin, English composer, dies at 72
1910 – Willie Anderson, Scottish golfer (US Open 1901, 1903-05), dies of epilepsy at 31
1939 – Cornelis JK van Aalst, president Dutch Business Society, dies at 73
1968 – Rudolf Forster, Austrian actor (Threepenny Opera), dies at 83
1972 – Johnny Mantz, American auto racer (Southern 500, 1950, first 500-mile race in NASCAR history), dies in a car accident at 54
1988 – Johnnie Richardson, American RandB musician (Johnnie and Joe), dies at 53
1989 – Mary McCarthy, American novelist (Group), dies, at 77
1989 – Gerard Walschap, Flemish writer (Men of Goods), dies at 91
1992 – Roger Miller, American Grammy and Tony Award-winning country singer-songwriter (“King of the Road”; “Dang Me”), fiddler, and guitarist, dies of cancer at 56
2002 – Rene Thom, French mathematician, 1958 Fields Medal for work in topology, dies at 79
Famous Deaths for 24th October 2025
1667 – Godefroy Wendelin, Flemish astronomer, the crater Vendelinus on the Moon is named after him, dies at 87
1669 – William Prynne, English Puritan leader (b. 1600)
1889 – Loisa Puget, French composer, dies at 79
1942 – Arthur Dolphin, cricketer (1 Test England 1921, 1 run, 1 catch), dies
1971 – Carl Ruggles, American composer (Evocations), dies at 95
1993 – Ben Scholtens, historian (Gaama Duumi), murdered at 39
1998 – Mary Calderone, American physician and founder of Planned Parenthood, dies at 94
2011 – John McCarthy, American computer scientist (coined the term “artificial intelligence,” created the Lisp programming language), dies at 84
2022 – Ashton Carter, American military civilian official (Secretary of Defense, 2015-17), and academic administrator, dies of a heart attack at 68
2023 – Anderl Molterer, Austrian alpine skier (Olympic silver Giant slalom, bronze Downhill 1956; Hahnenkamm Race 1959), dies at 92
Famous Deaths for 23rd October 2025
1874 – Abraham Geiger, German theologian and leader of Reform Judaism, dies at 64
1903 – Francis Ellingwood Abbot, American theologian (Scientific Theism), dies at 66
1976 – Leonard Lee, American vocalist (Shirley and Lee – “I’m Gone”), dies at 40
1997 – Luther Simjian, Armenian-American Inventor (teleprompter and first self-posing portrait camera), dies at 92
2003 – Tony Capstick, English actor, comedian, and musician. dies of an aneurysm at 59
2006 – Lebo Mathosa, South African entertainer (b. 1977)
2007 – (Mustaf) “John” Ilhan, Turkish-Australian entrepreneur (Crazy John’s mobile phones), dies of a hereditary heart condition at 42
2009 – Lou Jacobi, Canadian actor and comedian (Irma la Douce, The Dean Martin Show), dies at 95
2013 – Bill Mazer, American sports broadcaster (New York institution in sports reporting; sports trivia expert), dies at 92
2015 – Jimmy Roberts, Canadian ice hockey defenceman (NHL All Star 1965, 69, 70; Stanley Cup 1965, 66, 73, 76, 77; Montreal Canadiens), dies at 75
Famous Deaths for 22nd October 2025
1494 – Gian Galeazzo, Italian duke of Milan (1476-94), dies
1674 – Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Dutch painter, dies at 53
1707 – Cloudesley Shovell, British Commander-in-Chief of the British fleet, drowns in Scilly Naval disaster at 57
1881 – Janis Cimze, Latvian composer, Father of Latvian choir music, dies at 67
1954 – Oswald de Andrade, Brazilian author (one of the modernist Group of Five), dies at 64
1970 – René Schneider, Chilean general/supreme commander, murdered
1989 – Roland Winters [Winternitz], American actor (Mama; The Smothers Brothers; Jet Pilot; Meet Millie), dies at 84
1996 – Matthew Harding, businessman/football supporter, dies at 42
1999 – Martin Donnelly, New Zealand cricket batsman (7 Tests, 1 x 100, 4 x 50, HS 206; Wellington, Canterbury) and rugby union centre (1 Test England 1947), dies at 82
2006 – Choi Kyu-hah, President of South Korea, dies at 87
Famous Deaths for 21st October 2025
1500 – Go-Tsuchimikado, 103rd Emperor of Japan (1464-1500), dies at 58
1687 – Edmund Waller, English poet (Song: Go, lovely rose) and politician, dies at 81
1861 – Edward Dickinson Baker, British-American attorney, politician (US Senator from Oregon, 1860-61; US Representative from Illinois, 1845-47, 1849-51), and Union Army officer, dies in the US Civil War Battle of Balls Bluff, Virginia at 50
1881 – Eduard Heine, German mathematician known for the Heine-Borel theorem, dies at 60
1944 – Alois Kayser, German missionary to Nauru (b. 1877)
1945 – Henry Armetta, Italian-American actor (The Black Cat, Bell for Adano, Big Store), dies from a heart attack at 57
1955 – Roy Minnett, Australian cricket all-rounder who played 9 Tests, 3 x 50, 11 wickets; NSW, dies at 69
1978 – Mel Street, American country music singer-songwriter (“Lovin’ on Back Streets”, “Lovin’ on Borrowed Time”), dies of a self-inflicted gunshot on his 45th bithday
1995 – Jose Ignacio Cabrujas, Venezuelan playwright and writer ‘Maestro of the Telenovelas’, dies at 58
2019 – Willie Brown, American Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback, coach and executive (Super Bowl 1976, 80, 84; Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders), dies at 78