732 – Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, Arab Tihamite Governor of Andalusia, killed in combat at the Battle of Tours
1659 – Abel Tasman, Dutch seafarer and explorer (1st European to sight Tasmania, New Zealand and Fiji), dies around the age of 55
1691 – Isaac de Benserade, French poet, dies at 77
1938 – Lord Hawke [Martin Hawke], English cricket batsman (5 Tests; Yorkshire CCC, Cambridge Uni CC, MCC), dies at 78
1983 – Ralph Richardson, English actor (Anna Karenina, Doctor Zhivago), dies of a stroke at 80
1993 – Catherine Collard, French concert pianist (Schumann; Brahms), and teacher, dies of cancer at 46
1993 – Owen Saunders, English mathematician and mechanical engineer, dies at 89
2021 – Luis de Pablo, Spanish composer, and musicologist, dies at 91
2023 – Terry Dischinger, American College Basketball HOF guard (Purdue; 3 x NBA All-Star; NBA Rookie of the Year 1963 Baltimore Bullets; Detroit Pistons; Olympic gold 1960), dies at 82
2024 – Gunnar Eggen, Norwegian harness racer (Oslo Grand Prix, Olympiatravet, March of Dimes Trot 1988), dies at 78
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 9th October 2025
1562 – Gabriel Fallopius [Fallopio], Italian anatomist and early advocate for the use of condoms (Observationes anatomicae), dies at 39
1747 – David Brainerd, American missionary to the Native Americans, dies at 29
1793 – Jean Joseph Marie Amiot, French missionary (b. 1718)
1831 – Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greek diplomat, first head of state of independent Greece (1828-31) and founding father of modern Greece, assassinated at 55
1868 – Howell Cobb, American politician (U.S. Secretary of Treasury), dies at 53
1940 – Wilfred Grenfell, British medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador, dies at 75
1955 – Alice Joyce, American actress (Song O’ My Heart), dies at 65
1972 – Miriam Hopkins, actress (Carrie, Barbary Coast), dies at 69
1998 – Ian Johnson, Australian cricket spin bowler and captain (45 Tests; 109 wickets), dies at 80
2016 – Andrzej Wajda, Polish film director (Ashes and Diamonds, Man of Iron), dies at 90
Famous Deaths for 8th October 2025
1606 – John VI the Elder, Count of Nassau, father of 24, dies at 69
1820 – Henri Christophe, President of Haiti (1807-11) and King of Haiti (1811-20), dies at 53
1834 – François-Adrien Boieldieu, French opera composer known as ‘the French Mozart’ (La dame blanche – The White Lady), dies at 58
1941 – Gus Kahn, German-American lyricist (“It Had to Be You”; “Makin’ Whoopee”; “I’ll See You in My Dreams”), dies of a heart attack at 54
1969 – Eduardo Ciannelli, Italian actor (Foreign Correspondent, Gunga Din), dies at 80
1978 – Karl Swenson, American actor (Lars Hanson-Little House on the Prairie), dies of a heart attack at 70
1988 – Ernst Hermann Meyer, German composer, dies at 82
2002 – Phyllis Calvert [Bickle], British actress (Crash of Silence, The Man in Grey), dies at 87
2017 – Jerry Kleczka, American politician (Rep-D-WI, 1984-2005), dies at 73
2024 – Tim Johnson, American Democratic politician and senator from South Dakota (1997-2015), dies at 77
Famous Deaths for 7th October 2025
290 – [Christian] Sergius, Roman soldier and martyred saint, decapitated
1639 – Johannes Isacius Pontanus, Dutch teacher and historian (1st history of Amsterdam), dies at 68
1792 – George Mason, American statesman (Bill of Rights) and founding father, dies of natural causes at 66
1924 – Clemens Baeumker, German historian (Patristischen Philosophie), dies at 71
1956 – Clarence Birdseye, American inventor and founder of the modern frozen food industry (Birdseye), dies of a heart attack at 69
1990 – Juan Jose Arevalo, President of Guatemala (1945-51), dies
2001 – Alf Gover, English cricket fast bowler (4 Tests; Surrey CCC) and coach (Frank Tyson, Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Ian Bishop; Surrey), dies at 93
2001 – Jimmie Lloydd [Logdon], American country and rockabilly singer, dies at 79
2021 – (Frederick) “Rick” Jones, Canadian-British children’s television presenter (Play School; Fingerbobs), and folk musician (Meal Ticket – “Better Believe It Babe”), dies of esophageal cancer at 84
2022 – Bill Nieder, American athlete (Olympic gold shot put 1960, silver 1956), dies at 89
Famous Deaths for 6th October 2025
1661 – Guru Har Rai, seventh Sikh Guru
1840 – François Budan de Boislaurent, French mathematician, dies at 80
1874 – Thomas Tellefsen, Norwegian pianist and composer, dies at 50
1885 – Thomas Talbot, American politician, 31st Governor of Massachusetts, dies at 67
1966 – Sydney Chatton, English actress (Once Upon a Horse), dies of a heart attack at 48
2006 – Valentin Muratov, Russian gymnast (4 gold, 1 silver medals 1952, 1956 Olympics), dies at 78
2006 – Puck Brouwer, Dutch athlete (b. 1930)
2007 – James “Bud” Ekins, American film stuntman (The Great Escape; Bullitt), dies at 77
2010 – Lex van Delden, Dutch actor (Soldier of Orange), dies at 63
2018 – Montserrat Caballé, Spanish bel canto operatic soprano, and unlikely pop star (with Freddie Mercury – “Barcelona”), dies at 85
Famous Deaths for 5th October 2025
1112 – Sigebert of Gembloux, French chronicler
1564 – Pierre de Manchicourt, Flemish composer, dies at about 54 [birth date uncertain]
1950 – Frederic Lewy, German neurologist (b. 1885)
1960 – Alfred L. Kroeber, American anthropologist and author (Anthropologist looks at History), dies at 84
1965 – Gustaf Adolf Tiburtius Bengtsson, Swedish composer, dies at 79
1986 – Emanuel Sayles, American jazz banjo player (Preservation Hall Jazz Band), dies at 79
1996 – Seymour Cray, American inventor (Cray Research, Cray I supercomputer), dies after a car accident at 71
1997 – Brian Pillman, American professional wrestler, dies at 35
2004 – William H. Dobelle, American biomedical engineer (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2013 nominee), dies at 62
2011 – Bert Jansch, Scottish folk guitarist, singer, dulcimer player, and songwriter dies of lung cancer at 67
Famous Deaths for 4th October 2025
1838 – Eleanore Sophia Maria Westenholz, German composer, dies at 79
1862 – William Duncan Smith, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 36
1952 – Keith Murdoch, Australian journalist and newspaper owner, founded Murdoch media, dies at 67
1966 – Sherman Billingsley, American bootlegger and nightclub owner (Stork Club – NYC), dies at 66
1979 – Christina Spierenburg, Dutch singer, dies at 56
1996 – Silvio Piola, Italian soccer striker (34 caps, 30 goals; Lazio), dies at 83
2004 – Rio Diaz, Filipino actress and TV hosts (b. 1959)
2021 – Eddie Robinson, American baseball first baseman (MLB All Star 1949, 51–53; Washington Sens, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia A’s) and executive (GM Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves), dies at 100
2023 – Giannis Ioannidis, Greek basketball coach (12 × Greek League C’ship; 6 × Greek Cup winner; GS Larissas, Aris, Olympiacos, AEK, Greece 1982–90), dies at 78
2024 – Jack Colwell, Australian pop singer-songwriter, vocal arranger and music director (Polyphony Choir), dies at 34
Famous Deaths for 3rd October 2025
1862 – Pleasant Adam Hackleman, Union brigadier general, dies in battle at 47
1929 – Gustav Stresemann, German chancellor (1923) who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926, dies of a stroke at 51
1936 – John Heisman, American football coach (legalised forward pass, originated the center-snap; Heisman Trophy named after him), dies from pneumonia at 66
1967 – Woody Guthrie [Woodrow Wilson], American folk singer-songwriter (“This Land Is Your Land”), peace activist, and father of Arlo, dies of Huntington’s disease at 55
1983 – Kurt Kusenberg, German writer (Wein Auf Lebenszeit), dies at 79
1989 – Hans Deutgen, Swedish archer (World C’ship gold individual 1947, 48, 49, 50; team 1948), dies at 72
2012 – (Kathryn) “Kathi” McDonald, American blues and rock singer (Ike and Tina Turner Revue; Big Brother and The Holding Company), and songwriter, dies at 64
2016 – Joan Marie Johnson, American pop singer (The Dixie Cups – “Chapel Of Love”; “Iko Iko”), dies of congestive heart failure at 72
2016 – Ljupka Dimitrovska, Macedonian-Croat pop singer (“Adio”), dies at 70
2023 – Bob Wagner, American college football coach (University of Hawaiʻi 1988-95), dies at 76
Famous Deaths for 2nd October 2025
1729 – Arnold Boonen, Dutch portrait painter, dies at 60
1901 – Rudolph Koenig, German physicist, dies at 68
1902 – John Whiteaker, American farmer, soldier (Mexican-American War), goldminer, politician (1st Governor of Oregon, 1859-62; US Representative, 1879-81), and judge, dies at 82
1919 – Ernest Halliwell, South African cricket wicketkeeper (8 Tests), dies at 55
1931 – Thomas Lipton, Scottish yachtsman (5-time America’s Cup challenger) and tea merchant (Lipton Tea), dies at 81
1985 – (Georgios) “George” Savalas, Greek-American actor (Kojak; Kelly’s Heroes), dies of leukemia at 58
1998 – D. French Slaughter Jr, American politician (Rep-R-VA, 1985-91), dies at 73
2003 – John T. Dunlop, U.S. Secretary of Labor (b. 1914)
2005 – August Wilson [né Kittel], American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (Fences; The Piano Lesson), dies of liver cancer at 60
2020 – Bob Gibson, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (NL Cy Young Award 1968, 70; NL MVP 1968; 9 x MLB All Star; St. Louis Cardinals), dies from pancreatic cancer at 84
Famous Deaths for 1st October 2025
1684 – Pierre Corneille, French poet and dramatist (El Cid, Horace), dies at 42
1704 – Cornelis Dusart, Dutch painter and engraver, dies at 44
1837 – Robert Clark, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from New York (1819-21), dies at 60
1936 – Oscar Da Costa, West Indian cricket all-rounder (5 Tests), dies at 29
1961 – Donald Cook, American actor (Too Young To Go Steady), dies at 60
1988 – Sacheverell Sitwell, English writer (People’s Palace), dies at 90
1992 – Petra Kelly, German politician (co-founder of German Green Party), activist, and writer (Nonviolence Speaks to Power), killed by her lover in murder-suicide at 44 (date approximate)
2004 – Richard Avedon, American photographer (Harper’s Bazaar, The New Yorker), dies at 81
2007 – Ned Sherrin, English broadcaster, author and stage director (b. 1931)
2017 – Arthur “Art” Janov, American psychologist and psychotherapist notable for creating primal therapy (The Primal Scream), dies of natural causes at 93