1679 – Werner Fabricius, German composer, dies at 45
1964 – Halide Edib Adevar/Salih, Turkish feminist (Handan), dies at about 80
1979 – Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian engineer and architect (Nuove Struttura), dies at 87
1993 – Sir Paul Hasluck, Governor-General of Australia (b. 1905)
1995 – Gisela Mauermeyer, German discus thrower (Olympic gold 1936), dies at 81
1999 – Jim Peters, English long-distance runner who was 1st to complete a marathon in under 2 hours 20 minutes, dies at 80
2005 – Koji Hashimoto, Japanese film director (Sayonara Jupiter), dies at 68
2018 – Karin von Aroldingen, German ballet dancer (NYC Ballet), dies at 76
2020 – Pete Dye, American golf course designer (TPC at Sawgrass, Crooked Stick, Oakwood CC), dies of Alzheimer’s disease at 94
2023 – Ferenc Mészáros, Hungarian soccer goalkeeper (29 caps; Vasas SC 252 games), dies at 72
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 8th January 2026
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
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