1864 – Peter A. Porter, US Union colonel (8th NY), dies in the Battle of Cold Harbour at 36
1900 – Mary Kingsley, English ethnographer and explorer who became the first European to enter parts of Gabon, Africa, dies of typhoid at 37
1981 – Eric Dalton, South African cricket batsman (15 Tests, top score 117), dies at 74
1983 – Ypk van der Fear, Dutch writer (Reade Runen), dies at 75
1986 – Arthur Charles Ernest Hoérée, Belgian-French composer, dies at 89
1987 – Will Sampson, American-Muscogee rodeo performer, actor (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: The Yellow Rose; The White Buffalo), and painter, dies of post-surgery kidney failure at 54
1998 – Joseph C. Harsch, American newscaster (Background), dies at 93
2000 – William E. Simon, American businessman, US Secretary of Treasury under Nixon, dies at 72
2014 – Elodie Lauten [Genevieve Schecroun], French-American composer (The Death of Don Juan), dies of cancer at 63
2022 – John Porter, American politician (Rep-R-IL, 1980-2001), dies at 87
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 2nd June 2025
1948 – Viktor Brack, German Nazi physician and war criminal, executed by hanging at 43
1961 – George S. Kaufman, American playwright (This is Show Business), dies at 72
1976 – Juan José Torres, former President of Bolivia, assassinated in the frame of Operation Condor
1987 – Andres Segovia, Spanish classical guitarist and composer, dies at 94
1993 – French JFM of Thiel, Dutch 2nd chamber chairman (1963-72), dies at 86
2006 – Keith Smith, English professional rugby player (b. 1952)
2009 – David Eddings, American fantasy writer (Belgariad, Malloreon), dies at 77
2015 – Irwin Rose, American biologist (Nobel Prize Chemistry 2004), dies at 88
2020 – Wes Unseld, American Basketball HOF center (NBA C’ship, Finals MVP 1978; NBA MVP 1969; 5 x NBA All-Star; Washington Bullets) and coach (Washington Bullets), dies from pneumonia at 74
2020 – Arrogate, American thoroughbred racehorse (Breeders’ Cup Classic, World’s Best Racehorse 2016; Pegasus World Cup, Dubai World Cup 2017), dies at 7
Famous Deaths for 1st June 2025
1710 – David Mitchell, Scottish admiral in the British Royal navy (b. 1642)
1795 – Pierre-Joseph Desault, French anatomist (b. 1744)
1846 – Gregory XVI [Bartolomeo Alberto Mauro Cappellari], Pope (1831-1846), dies at 80
1876 – Hristo Botev, Bulgarian poet and revolutionary, dies at 28
1973 – Helen Parkhurst, American educator (The Dalton Plan), dies at 86
1996 – Stephen Jones, English art historian, dies of cancer at 41
2001 – Queen Aiswarya of Nepal, killed by her son Dipendra in the Nepalese Royal Massacre at 51
2004 – William Manchester, American historian (Death of a President), dies at 82
2006 – Rocío Jurado, Spanish singer and actress, dies at 59
2008 – Tommy Lapid, Israeli journalist and politician (b. 1931)
Famous Deaths for 31st May 2025
1076 – Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria and the last Anglo-Saxon earl, beheaded after rebelling against William the Conquorer
1246 – Isabella of Angouleme, queen consort of King John of England (1200-16) and Countess of La Marche, dies at about 58
1847 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister and 1st moderator (Free Church of Scotland 1843-47), dies at 67
1906 – Hermann Schell, German theologist and philodopher (Gott und Geist), dies of a heart attack at 56
1996 – Elsbeary Hobbs, American rocker (Drifters), dies at 59
2010 – Rubén Juárez, Argentine bandoneonist, dies of cancer at 62
2010 – Chris Haney, Canadian journalist who created the board game “Trivial Pursuit”, dies at 59
2017 – Jiří Bělohlávek, Czech conductor (Czech Philharmonic, 1990-92 and 2012-17; Prague Philharmonia, 1993-2005; BBC Symphony, 2006-12), dies of cancer at 71
2020 – Christo [Javacheff], Bulgarian artist and wrapper (Running Fence), dies at 84
2021 – Phil Johnstone, British songwriter, keyboardist, and record producer (Robert Plant), dies at 63
Famous Deaths for 30th May 2025
1809 – Johan B Scheffer, portrait painter, dies at about 43
1922 – David Mendes Chumaceiro, Curacaos poet (Adelfas), dies at 45
1935 – Lothar Windsperger, German composer and editor, dies at 49
1938 – Raden Soetomo, Indonesian freedom fighter, dies at 49
1944 – Jessie Ralph, American stage, silent and sound screen actress (The Good Earth; San Francisco: The Bank Dick), dies at 79
1946 – Louis Slotin, Canadian Physicist and Chemist (Manhattan Project, Los Alamos) who assembled the plutonium core for ‘Trinity’, the first detonated atomic device, dies of radiation poisoning at 35 (b. 1910)
1977 – Claire Goll, German-French writer, dies at 86
2006 – Shohei Imamura, Japanese film director, won 2 Palme d’Or awards for “The Ballad of Narayama” and “The Eel”, dies at 79
2008 – Boris Shakhlin, Russian gymnast (Olympic gold, 1956, 1960, 1964; World Champion, 1958; European Champion, 1955), dies at 76
2022 – David Holford, West Indian cricket all-rounder (24 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 105no, 51 wickets, BB 5/23; Barbados), dies at 82
Famous Deaths for 29th May 2025
1511 – Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres, Spanish Governor of the Indies (1501-09), dies at 50 or 51
1790 – Israel Putnam, American Revolutionary War general (Battle of Bunker Hill), dies at 72
1862 – Franciszek Wincenty Mirecki, Polish composer, conductor and pedagogue, dies at 71
1921 – Abbott Handerson Thayer, American painter and naturalist (paintings of angels), dies at 71
1951 – Dimitrios Levidis, Greek composer, dies at 66
1961 – Uuno Klami, Finnish composer (Psalmus; Kalevala Suite), dies of a heart attack while sailing at 60
1972 – Margaret Ruthven Lang, American composer (Irish Love Song), dies at 104
2012 – Mark Minkov, Russian Soviet theater and film score composer, dies at 67
2015 – Henry Carr, American athlete (Olympic gold 200m, 4x400m 1964) and football safety (NY Giants), dies at 72
2021 – B.J. Thomas, American singer (“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head”; “Hooked On A Feeling”; “Growing Pains Theme”), dies of lung cancer at 78
Famous Deaths for 28th May 2025
1672 – John Trevor, English politician (b. 1626)
1811 – Henry Dundas, British minister (b. 1742)
1878 – John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, British Prime Minister (Whig: 1846-52 and 1865-66), dies at 85
1900 – George Grove, English biblical scholar and misicographer, dies at 79
1964 – John Finley Williamson, American choral conductor (Westminster Choir College, 1920-58), dies at 76
1979 – William Edmonson, American bass harmony and gospel vocalist (Southernaires), radio, stage and screen actor (Thirty Years Later), dies at 76
1980 – Rolf Nevanlinna, Finnish mathematician (b. 1895)
1990 – Joseph Hardy, American character actor (Husbands; The Clock), dies at 71
1996 – Jimmy Rowles [Hunter], American jazz pianist and composer (The Peacocks), dies of cardiac arrest at 77
2021 – Mark Eaton, American basketball center (NBA All-Star 1989; NBA Defensive Player of the Year 1985, 89; Utah Jazz), dies after a bicycle accident at 64
Famous Deaths for 27th May 2025
1564 – John Calvin [Jehan Cauvin], Protestant religious reformer and theologian (Calvinism), dies at 54 (b. 1509)
1708 – Jacques Danican Philidor, French composer, dies at 51
1831 – Jedediah Smith, American explorer (b. 1799)
1939 – Joseph Roth, Austrian-Jewish journalist (Fluctuate ohne Ende), dies of pneumonia at 44
1963 – Lambrakis, Greek EDA-parliament leader, murdered
1969 – Jeffrey Hunter, American actor (Star Trek Cage, The Searchers), dies of an intracranial hemorrhage at 43
1986 – Isma’il Raji’ al-Faruqi, Palestinian-born philosopher (b. 1921)
2006 – Paul Gleason, American actor (Breakfast Club, Die Hard), dies of lung cancer at 67
2011 – Jeff Conaway, American actor and singer (Taxi – “Bobby”; Grease – “Kenickie”; Babylon 5 – “Zack”), dies of pneumonia and sepsis at 60
2011 – Gill Scott-Heron, American writer, poet and singer (“Whitey on the Moon”), dies at 62
Famous Deaths for 26th May 2025
1824 – Capel Lofft, English writer (b. 1751)
1881 – Jakob Bernays, German philologist (b. 1824)
1883 – Abdelkader El Djezairi, Algerian leader, scholar and national hero (b.1808)
1948 – Theodore Morell, German doctor, Hitler’s personal physician, dies at 61
1955 – Alberto Ascari, Italian auto racer (World F1 champion 1952, 53), dies in a testing accident at 36
1959 – Joe Kelly, American radio and television host (Quiz Kids, 1949-53), dies at 57
1967 – Antoon Spinoy, Belgian politician, dies at 60
1976 – Martin Heidegger, German philosopher (Being and Time), dies at 86
1996 – Halka Grossman, Israeli resistance fighter and politician, dies at 76
2022 – Ray Liotta, American actor (Goodfellas; Field of Dreams: Cop Land), dies of heart failure at 67
Famous Deaths for 25th May 2025
709 – Aldhelm, Abbot of Malmesbury, Bishop of Sherborne. English poet and scholar (b. cica 639)
1632 – Adam Tanner, Austrian mathematician and philosopher, dies at 60
1927 – Payne Whitney, American businessman (b. 1876)
1954 – Robert Capa, Hungarian war photographer and photojournalist, dies of injuries from a landmine explosion at 40
1964 – Vasily Andreyevich Zolotaryov, Russian composer (Rhapsodie hébraïque; Prince Lake), and teacher, dies at 92
1996 – David W. Howe, American test pilot (X-14) and WWII flying ace, dies at 77
2004 – Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher (b. 1917)
2006 – Otto Zykan, Austrian pianist and composer, dies at 71
2010 – Alexander Belostenny, Ukrainian basketball player (b. 1959)
2012 – Edoardo Mangiarotti, Italian fencer (6x Olympic gold, 1936-1960), dies at 93