1346 – John the Blind, King of Bohemia (1310-46), Count of Luxemburg, dies at the Battle of Crécy at 50
1595 – Antonio, Prior of Crato, claimant to the throne of Portugal (b. 1531)
1723 – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch microbiologist, microscopist who was the first to observe bacteria and protozoa and naturalist (Philosophical Transactions), dies at 90
1813 – Daniel Gottlob Turk, German composer, dies at 63
1849 – Jacques- Féréol Mazas, French composer, conductor and violinist, dies at 66
1865 – Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer (Comet Encke), dies at 73
1943 – Ted Ray, British golfer (British Open 1912, US Open 1920), dies at 66
2000 – Lynden Pindling, Bahamas ‘Father of the Nation’ Prime Minister of Bahamas (1967-92), dies at 70
2007 – Edward Brandt Jr., American physician and public health official, dies at 74
2023 – Bob Barker, American TV game show host (The Price is Right, 1972-2007; Truth or Consequences, 1956-75), actor (Happy Gilmore), and animal rights activist, dies at 99
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 25th August 2025
471 – Gennadius I, Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 458)
1482 – Margaret of Anjou, Queen consort of England by marriage to King Henry VI, major figure during the War of the Roses, dies at 52
1925 – Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf, Austro-Hungarian field marshal, dies at 72
1939 – (Charles) “Babe” Siebert, Canadian NHL ice hockey player, 1925-39, 3X All-Star (Montreal Maroons, Boston Bruins, and 2 other teams), drowns in Lake Huron at 35
1968 – Stan McCabe, Australian cricket batsman (39 Tests, @ 48.21, 6 x 100, HS 232; NSWCA), dies of a fractured skull at 58
1985 – Samantha Smith, American peace activist and actress (invited to the Soviet Union during Cold War), dies in plane at 13
1990 – Morley Callaghan, Canadian writer and radio personality, dies at 87
1997 – Robert Pinget, French novelist (The Interrogation) and playwright, dies at 78
1998 – Lewis F. Powell Jr., American Supreme Court justice (1972-87), dies at 90
2002 – Dorothy Hewett, Australian writer (b. 1923)
Famous Deaths for 24th August 2025
1313 – Henry VII, Roman Catholic German King (1308-1313) and Holy Roman Emperor (1312-13), dies of fever
1516 – Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri, Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, fought the Portuguese and the Ottomans, dies at the Battle of Marj Dabiq at 75 or 76
1712 – Thomas Bullis, Jr. English organist and composer, dies at 54 (burial date)
1982 – Giorgio Abetti, Italian astronomer (Solar physics), dies at 99
1990 – Sergei Dovlatov, Russian writer, dies at 48
1997 – (Vincente) “Tete” Montoliu, Catalonian jazz pianist, dies at 64
1998 – E. G. Marshall [Everett Eugene Grunz], American actor (12 Angry Men, The Defenders), dies of lung cancer at 84
2018 – Robin Leach, English TV host (Life Styles of Rich and Famous), dies at 76
2024 – Don Wert, American baseball third baseman (MLB All Star and World Series 1968 Detroit Tigers), dies at 86
2024 – William Reynolds, American actor (The Gallant Men; All That Heaven Allows), dies at 90
Famous Deaths for 23rd August 2025
1540 – Guillaume Budé, French scholar and humanist, first keeper of the royal library at the Palace of Fontainebleau, dies at 73
1723 – Antoine Mouque, Flemish composer, organist and singer, dies at 64
1884 – LeRoy Pope Walker, American lawyer and 1st Confederate States Secretary of War (1861), dies at 67
1982 – Alberto Cavalcanti, Brazilian director (Herr Puntila), dies at 85
1986 – Charles Janssens, Belgian actor (Mira, Malpertuis), dies at 80
1990 – David Rose, American Emmy Award-winning composer (“The Stripper”; “Holiday For Strings”), and orchestra leader (The Red Skelton Show), dies at 80
1994 – Richard Jock Kinneir, British graphic designer (modern road signs), dies at 77
2007 – William John McKeag, Canadian politician, Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (1970-76), dies at 79
2012 – Steve Van Buren, Honduran-American Pro Football HOF halfback (5 × First-team All-Pro; 4 × NFL rushing yards leader; 4 × NFL rushing TDs leader; Philadelphia Eagles), dies from pneumonia at 91
2020 – Charlie Persip, American jazz drummer (Dizzy Gillespie; The Jazz Statesmen; Billy Eckstine), dies at 91
Famous Deaths for 22nd August 2025
1711 – Louis François, duc de Boufflers, French marshal (b. 1644)
1807 – Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, dies at 71
1879 – Friedrich August Kummer, German cellist, composer, and pedagogue, dies at 82
1942 – Henry Eichheim, American violinist, composer, organologist, and ethnomusicologist dies at 72
1942 – Mikhail Fokine, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, dies at 62
1990 – Thomas W. McKnew, American Vice President, Chairman, and Chairman Emeritus of the National Geographic Society (1954-90), dies of pneumonia at 94
2009 – Elmer Kelton, American Western novelist (b. 1926)
2011 – Jack Layton, Canadian politician, dies at 61
2014 – John Akers, American business executive (head of IBM, 1983-93), dies of a stroke at 79
2019 – Bobby Dillon, American NFL defensive back (second to record 50 interceptions), dies of dementia at 89
Famous Deaths for 21st August 2025
1614 – Elizabeth Báthory, Hungarian countess and the world’s most prolific female serial killer, dies at 54
1813 – Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, Queen consort of Sweden, dies at 67
1814 – Benjamin Thompson, American physicist and inventor (Royal Institution of Great Britain), dies at 61
1867 – Juan Álvarez, Mexican revolutionary leader (President of Mexico 1855), dies at 77
1870 – Ma Xinyi Viceroy of Liangjiang of the late Qing Dynasty in China (b. 1821)
1898 – Niccolò van Westerhout, Italian composer, dies at 40
1919 – Laurence Doherty, British tennis player (Wimbledon 1902-06, US Nationals 1903), dies of toxemia at 43
1943 – Henrik Pontoppidan, Danish writer (Peter Gelukkige, Nobel 1917), dies at 86
1995 – James Truitte, American ballet dancer (Lester Horton; Alvin Ailley), dies at 72
2015 – Anna Kashfi [Joan O’Callaghan], Welsh actress and 1st wife of Marlon Barando, dies at 80
Famous Deaths for 20th August 2025
1153 – Bernard of Clairvaux, French monk and saint (founded Clairvaux abbey, preached famous sermon advocating for the Second Crusade), dies (b. 1090)
1936 – Edward Weston, English-born American electrical engineer who invented the portable voltmeter, dies at 86
1968 – Earl Sande, American HOF jockey (Triple Crown 1930 Gallant Fox; 3 x Kentucky Derby; 5 x Belmont Stakes; 1 x Preakness Stakes; 3 x US Champion Jockey by earnings; US Champion Trainer by earnings 1938), dies at 69
1974 – Ilona Massey [Hajmássy], Hungarian-American film, stage, and radio actress and singer (Ilona Massey Show), dies of cancer at 64
1989 – George Adamson [Baba ya Simba – “Father of Lions”], British conservationist (Born Free), murdered in Kenya at 82
1991 – Lenore Strunsky Gershwin, widow of Ira Gershwin, dies at 90
2002 – Harry Wich, Dutch painter and set designer, dies at 76
2008 – Gene Upshaw, American NFL guard (Oakland Radiers) and NFLPA leader, dies at 63
2016 – Brian Rix [Lord Rix], British actor and activist (Mencap), dies at 92
2024 – Al Attles, American Basketball HOF coach (NBA C’ship 1975 GS Warriors; NBA All-Star Game HC 1975, 76) and point guard (GS Warriors), dies at 87
Famous Deaths for 19th August 2025
1601 – Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia and Moldovia (Romanian national hero), assassinated at 42 or 43
1851 – Gioseffo Catrufo, Italian composer, dies at 80
1945 – Tomas Burgos, Chilean philanthropist (founder of Villa Lo Burgos), dies at 69
1974 – Rodger Davies, United States ambassador to Cyprus, murdered at 53 by Greek Cypriot gunmen during a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia
1981 – Jessie Matthews, English actress (Gangway, First a Girl), dies at 74
1983 – Aleksandar Ranković, Yugoslavic partisan and 1st Vice President of Yugoslavia (1963-66), dies at 73
1986 – Jaap [Jacobus Albertus Wilhelmus] Burger, Dutch politician and chairman (PvdA), dies at 81
1992 – Norvel Lee, American boxer (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 67
2010 – Michael Been, American rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter (The Call – “Let the Day Begin”), dies of a heart attack at 60
2021 – Bill Freehan, American baseball catcher (11 x All Star; World Series 1968; 5 x Gold Glove; Detroit Tigers), dies from dementia at 79
Famous Deaths for 18th August 2025
1803 – James Beattie, Scottish poet and philosopher (Essay on Truth), dies at 67
1916 – Edward D Pain, English journalist (NY World), dies in battle at 36
1952 – Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, Chilean Jesuit saint (b. 1901)
1968 – Arthur Marshall, American ragtime piano player and composer (“Swipesy Cakewalk” with Scott Joplin; “The Peach”), dies at 86
1980 – Norman Cazden, American composer, educator, and music theorist, dies at 65
1996 – Hugo Gabriel Gryn, British Reform rabbi, dies at 66
2007 – Michael Deaver, Reagan Administration Deputy White House Chief of Staff, dies at 69
2017 – Zoe Laskari, Greek actress, dies at 72
2023 – Garry Adey, English rugby union number 8 (2 Tests; Leicester Tigers 381 games) and businessman (Executive Chairman The Adey Group), dies at 78
2024 – Phil Donahue, American Emmy Award-winning daytime TV talk show host (The Phil Donahue Show), dies at 88
Famous Deaths for 17th August 2025
1676 – Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, German writer (Simplicius Simplicissimus), dies
1865 – Johann Nepomuk Poissl, Bavarian composer, dies at 82
1896 – Bridget Driscoll, 1st person in Great Britain to die in an auto-accident
1966 – Michael Garrison, American TV producer (Crowded Sky), dies after a fall at 43
1971 – Wilhelm List, German field marshal during World War II who was convicted of war crimes, dies at 91
1990 – Pearl Bailey, American Tony and Emmy Award-winning stage and screen actress, singer and dancer (Hello, Dolly!), dies of a heart attack at 72
1995 – “Wild Bill” Davis, American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger, dies at 76
1998 – Tadeusz Slusarski, Polish track and field athlete (b. 1950)
2008 – Franco Sensi, Italian oil tycoon and president of A.S. Roma, dies at 82
2020 – Boyd Grant, American college basketball coach (PCAA Coach of the Year 1978, 81, 82; Fresno State, Colorado State), dies from a stroke at 87