1740 – Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (1711-40), dies after falling ill on a hunting trip at 55
1931 – Emánuel Moór, Hungarian composer, pianist, and inventor of musical instruments, dies at 68
1957 – Jack Buchanan, British theatre and film actor, singer, dancer, and producer (The Band Wagon), dies from spinal cancer at 66
1994 – (Charles) Robert Medley, English abstract and figurative style painter, dies at 88
1998 – Franz Tumler, Austrian writer (Cloak, Aufruf), dies at 86
1999 – Ron Smith, English trade union leader (British Postal Workers), dies at 84
2011 – Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan revolutionary, political theorist and dictator (1969-2011), beaten to death in captivity by a Misratan militia at about 69
2014 – Pavle Merku, Italian-Slovene composer and ethnomusicologist, dies at 87
2020 – Bill Mathis, American football halfback (AFL All Star 1961, 63; New York Titans/Jets), dies at 81
2023 – Haydn Gwynne, English film and stage actress (Drop the Dead Donkey, Billy Elliot the Musical, Windsors), dies at 66
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 19th October 2025
1682 – Thomas Browne, English philosopher and writer (Garden of Cyrus), dies at 77
1902 – Jim Younger, American outlaw and member of the James-Younger Gang, commits suicide at 54
1912 – E. B. Dwyer, Austalian-born cricketer (Sussex bowler 1906-09), dies at 36
1992 – Petra Kelly, German politician found dead, apparent victim in murder-suicide at 44
1993 – Dionisio Herrero, Spanish air force general, murdered
1997 – Harold French, British director and actor (The Cavalier of the Streets, Trio, Quartet), dies at 97
1999 – Nathalie Sarraute [Tcherniak], French writer (Childhood; Portrait of a Man Unknown; The Golden Fruits), dies at 99
2001 – Jagernath Lachmon, Surinamese politician, dies at 85
2013 – Ronald Shannon Jackson, American avant-garde jazz and funk drummer, and composer (Cecil Taylor; Last Exit; Decoding Society), dies of leukemia at 73
2016 – Yvette Chauviré, French ballerina (Paris Opera Ballet, 1930-56), actress, and dance teacher, dies at 99
Famous Deaths for 18th October 2025
1817 – Etienne-Nicolas Méhul, French opera composer, dies at 54
1864 – David Bell Birney, American businessman, lawyer, and Major General (Union Army), dies at 39
1959 – Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian athlete (Olympic gold marathon 1928), dies of gun wounds at 61
1973 – Frank Knight, TV announcer (Chronoscope), dies at 79
1982 – Bess Truman (née Elizabeth Wallace), US First Lady (1945-52), dies of congestive heart failure at 97
1991 – Gunnar Sønstevold, Norwegian jazz pianist, and orchestral and film score composer (Litany In Atlanta; The Dorian Cage), dies at 78
1991 – Jan Christiaanse, Dutch university professor, and politician (Senate, 1973-77, 1979-91; resident of Dutch political party CDA), dies at 59
1993 – Lois Kibbee, American actress (Edge of Night), dies of a brain tumor at 71
2007 – Kumiko Ida, Japanese classical pianist, dies of meningitis at 38
2010 – Marion Brown, American jazz alto saxophonist, (Marion Brown Quartet; John Coltrane -“Ascension”; Artie Schepp), avant garde composer, writer, and ethnomusicologist, dies at 79
Famous Deaths for 17th October 2025
1174 – Queen Petronila of Aragon (b. 1135)
1897 – Isidor Dannström, Swedish composer, dies at 84
1901 – George Godfrey, Canadian boxer (“Old Chocolate” – World Colored Heavyweight Champion 1883-88), dies of tuberculosis at 48
1921 – Katherine Griffith [Kiernan], American actress (Pollyanna, Fast Company), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 45
1958 – Paul Outerbridge, American photographer, dies at 63
1979 – John Stuart, Scottish actor (Kittie, Superman, Number Seventeen), dies at 81
1981 – David Guion, American pianist, composer, and cowboy, dies at 88
1994 – Barbara Grigor, Scottish filmmaker and art entrepreneur, dies at 50
2007 – Joey Bishop [Gottlieb], American TV talk show host (Joey Bishop Show) and member of the “Rat Pack” group of entertainers, dies at 89
2024 – Mitzi Gaynor [Francesca von Gerber], American actress, singer, and dancer (Anything Goes; South Pacific), dies at 93
Famous Deaths for 16th October 2025
1594 – William Allen, English cardinal/founder seminary of Douai, dies at 62
1877 – Theodore Barrière, French dramatist (b. 1823)
1972 – Leo G. Carroll, British actor (Topper; Strangers On A Train; The Man From U.N.C.L.E.), dies at 85
1983 – Øivin Fjeldstad, Norwegian conductor and composer, dies at 80
1984 – Peggy Ann Garner, American actress (Little Women, Daisy Kenyon), dies of cancer at 53
1987 – Dana Suesse, American musician and songwriter (“You Ought To Be In Pictures”), dies at 77
2005 – John Baines Johnston, British diplomat (British High Commissioner to Rhodesia just before independence, High Commissioner of Malaysia), dies at 87
2012 – Eddie Yost, American MLB player, dies from cardiovascular disease at 86
2013 – Ed Lauter, American actor (The Artist, The Number 23), dies from mesothelioma at 74
2024 – Patti McGee, American skateboarder (first female pro skateboarder; first Women’s US C’ship 1964; first woman inducted IASC Skateboarding HOF), dies of a stroke at 79
Famous Deaths for 15th October 2025
892 – al-Mu’tamid, Abbasid caliph (870-92), dies at about 50
1595 – Abu al-Faiz ibn Mubarak Faizi, Persian-Dutch East iIndies poet, dies at 48
1789 – John Morgan, American physician-in-chief of Continental Army and co-founder of the Medical College at the University of Pennsylvania, the first medical school in Colonial America, dies at 54
1900 – Zdeněk Fibich, Czech classical composer (Šárka; Hippodamia; Moods, Impressions, and Reminiscences), dies at 49
1930 – Herbert Henry Dow, American chemical industrialist (Dow Chemical), dies from cirrhosis of the liver at 64
1965 – Buster Moten [Ira Smith], American jazz accordionist (Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra – “South”, “Moten Swing”), dies at 61
1994 – Hannes Wustinger, Austrian race car driver, dies in a crash during a race at 29
2012 – Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia (1941-55 and 1993-2004), Chief of State (1960-70), independence campaigner and film producer, dies from a heart attack at 89
2018 – Cicely Berry, British theatre director (Royal Shakespeare Company) and voice coach, dies at 92
2019 – Hossein Dehlavi, Persian composer, conductor and teacher (Sarbaz; Plectrum Orchestra), dies of Alzheimer complications at 92
Famous Deaths for 14th October 2025
1619 – Samuel Daniel, English poet (b. 1562)
1909 – Gottfred Matthison-Hansen, Danish composer, dies at 76
1960 – Abram F. Joffe, Russian physicist (crystal), dies at 79
1969 – Arnie Herber, American Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback (NFL C’ship 1930, 31, 36, 39; First-team All-Pro 1932, 35, 36; Green Bay Packers, NY Giants), dies at 59
1971 – Norman Steenrod, American mathematician (algebraic topology), dies at 61
2006 – Maurice Grosse, British paranormal investigator known for the ‘Enfield Haunting’ case, dies at 87
2015 – Mathieu Kérékou, Dictator and President of Benin (1973-91, 1996-2006), dies at 82
2019 – Sulli [Choi Jin-ri], South Korean K-pop singer (f(x)) and actress (Fashion King), takes her own life at 25
2020 – Fred Dean, American Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end (Pro Bowl 1979–81, 83; First-team All-Pro 1980, 81; Super Bowl 1981, 84; SD Chargers, SF 49ers), dies from COVID-19 at 68
2022 – Robbie Coltrane [Anthony Robert McMillan], Scottish comedian and BAFTA Award-winning actor (Cracker; Harry Potter films; Nuns on the Run), dies at 72
Famous Deaths for 13th October 2025
1652 – Abraham Verhoeven, Flemish printer/newspaper publisher, dies
1890 – Samuel Freeman Miller, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, dies at 74
1917 – Florence La Badie, American silent film actress, dies of injuries from automobile accident at 29
1938 – E. C. Segar, American cartoonist (Popeye), dies at 43
1948 – Samuel S. Hinds, American actor (Raven, Test Pilot), dies at 73
1966 – Clifton Webb [Webb Parmelee Hollenbeck], American actor (Razor’s Edge, Laura), dies of a heart attack at 76
1970 – Julia Culp, Dutch mezzo-soprano, dies at 90
1979 – Rebecca Clarke, British-American violist and classical composer (Morpheus), dies at 93
2009 – Daniel Melnick, American television and film producer (Get Smart; Ages of Man; Roxanne), and studio executive, dies at 77
2011 – Barbara Kent, Canadian born – U.S. silent film actress and WAMPAS Baby Stars (b.1907)
Famous Deaths for 12th October 2025
1679 – William Gurnall, English writer (b. 1617)
1685 – Gerard Brandt, Dutch theologist, poet and historian, dies at 59
1685 – Christoph Ignaz Abele, Austrian jurist (b. 1628)
1817 – Johann Franz Xaver Sterkel, German organist, pianist, kapellmeister, composer, and priest, dies at 66
1938 – Hugh Massie, Australian cricket batsman and captain (9 Tests; NSW), dies at 84
1954 – George Welch, American World War II flying ace (Medal of Honor nominee) and test pilot, dies in a plane crash of his experiential F-100 Super Sabre at 36
1969 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian figure skater (Olympic gold 1928, 32, 36), and actress (My Lucky Star), dies from leukemia at 57
1989 – Franco Luambo [Makiadi], Congolese jazz and rumba guitarist, composer, and bandleader (TPOK Jazz), dies from AIDS at 51
2008 – Marta Pan, Hungarian-French sculptor (Great spiral), dies at 85
2015 – Armin Kircher, Austrian organist, composer, and conductor, dies of heart failure at 48
Famous Deaths for 11th October 2025
1617 – Franchois Vranck, economist/writer (Deduction), dies at about 62
1850 – Louise of Orléans, Queen of Belgium (1832-50), Wife of Leopold I, dies of TB at 38
1891 – Irish nationalist Charles Stewart Parnell’s funeral held at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, attended by more than 200,000
1940 – Vito Volterra, Italian mathematician and physicist, dies at 80
1942 – Leonid Nikolayev, Russian-Soviet pianist and composer, dies at 64
1977 – Mason Gross, professor (Think Fast, 2 for the Money), dies at 66
1984 – K. M. Rangnekar, Indian cricketer (33 runs at 5 50 for India), dies at 67
1990 – Douglas Edwards, American newscaster (CBS Evening News, FYI), dies of cancer at 73
1996 – Lars Ahlfors, Finnish mathematician (b. 1907)
2021 – Tony DeMarco, American boxer (NBA, NYSAC, The Ring welterweight titles 1955), dies at 89