1362 – Machteld, countess of Holland, dies
1585 – Gregory XIII [Ugo Boncompagni], Italian pope (1572-85) who introduced the Gregorian (New Style) calendar in 1582, dies at 83
1786 – John Byron, British Royal Navy officer and explorer who circumnavigated the globe, grandfather to the poet , dies at 62
1807 – Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, German princess and composer (patron of Classical Weimar court), dies at 67
1862 – William Harvey Lamb Wallace, American lawyer and Brigadier General, dies at 40
1931 – Khalil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet (The Prophet; Broken Wings; Sand and Foam), painter, and philosopher, dies of cirrhosis of the liver, with incipient tuberculosis, at 48
1932 – André Baillon, Belgian-French author (and sabots), dies at 56
1961 – Irene Warfield, American silent screen actress (Satan Sanderson), dies at about 65 [exact birthdate unconfirmed]
2009 – Richard Arnell, English classical composer, dies at 91
2022 – Philippe Boesmans, Belgian pianist, and composer (Upon La-Mi; Reigen), dies at 85
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 9th April 2025
1747 – Simon Fraser, 12th baron Lovat, Scottish Jacobite (last man beheaded in England), beheaded for treason at 80
1852 – John Howard Payne, American actor, playwright (Fair Warning), author and creator of the hit song “Home! Sweet Home!”, dies at 60
1862 – George W Johnson, US planter/Confederate (gov-Ky), dies at about 50
1882 – Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English Pre-Raphaelite poet and painter, dies at 53
1984 – Basil Henry Blackwell, British publisher, dies
2002 – Leopold Vietoris, Austrian mathematician (b. 1891)
2005 – Andrea Dworkin, American radical feminist (Pornography: Men Possessing Women), dies of heart failure at 58
2011 – Sidney Lumet, American film director (Group, Pawnbroker, Fail Safe), dies of lymphoma at 86
2019 – Marilynn Smith, American golfer, co-founder LPGA (Titleholders Championship 1963-64), dies at 89
2020 – Dmitri Smirnov, Russian-British classical composer (Solo for Harp; Thel; Red Bells), and teacher, dies of COVID-19 at 71
Famous Deaths for 8th April 2025
217 – Caracalla, Roman emperor (198-217), murdered at 29
1725 – John Wise, American clergyman and political activist who protested against British taxes, dies at 73
1844 – Ignaz Franz von Mosel, Austrian composer, dies at 72
1974 – James Charles McGuigan, Catholic cardinal archbishop of Toronto, dies at 79
1984 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist (Nobel 1978), dies at 89
1990 – Doreen Sloane, English actress (Coronation Street), dies of cancer at 56
1995 – Maurice Allom, English cricketer (14 Test wickets-NZ debut hat-trick), dies at 89
2001 – Frank Annunzio, American politician (Rep-D-IL, 1965-93), dies of Parkinson’s disease at 86
2013 – Annette Funicello, American actress (Mickey Mouse Club; Beach Blanket Bingo), and singer (“Tall Paul”). dies from multiple sclerosis complications at 70
2021 – Diána Igaly, Hungarian sport shooter (Olympic gold women’s skeet 2004; bronze 2000), dies from COVID-19 at 56
Famous Deaths for 7th April 2025
1498 – Charles VIII, King of France (1483-98) who invaded Italy, dies after hitting his head on a door lintel at 27
1871 – Alexander of Wales, British Prince, son of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, dies at 1 day old after born prematurely
1880 – Isaac M. St. John, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 52
1881 – Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte, Corsican representative of the people, dies at 65
1936 – Marilyn Miller [Mary Ellen Reynolds], American Broadway dancer, singer, and actress (Ziegfeld Follies), dies from complications of nasal surgery at 37
1939 – Joseph Lyons, 10th Prime Minister of Australia (1932-39), dies at 59
1970 – Josina Machel, Mozambican independence activist, and wife of Mozambique’s 1st president Samora Machel, dies at 25
1984 – Frank Church, American lawyer and politician (United States Senator from Idaho), dies at 59
2009 – Philip Moore [Lord Moore of Wolvercote], British Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, dies at 88
2023 – Lasse Wellander, Swedish session and touring guitarist (Abba), dies of cancer at 70
Famous Deaths for 6th April 2025
1520 – Raphael Sanzio, Italian painter and master builder (Sistine Madonna, School of Athens), dies on his 37th birthday
1593 – John Greenwood, English Separatist Puritan, hanged for “devising and circulating seditious books” at about 37 (d.1556, exact date uncertain)
1935 – Edward Arlington Robinson, American poet, dies
1985 – Mark Lothar [Lothar Hundertmark], German composer (The Story of the Lazy Bear), dies at 82
1992 – Isaac Asimov, Russian-American scientist and sci-fi writer (I Robot; Foundation Trilogy), dies from kidney failure at 72
1994 – Dick Cary, American jazz musician, dies at 77
2011 – Nabi Bux Khan Baloch, Pakistani Sindhi scholar (compiled first Sindhi-English dictionary), dies at 93
2018 – Daniel Akaka, American educator and politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii), dies at 93
2020 – Fred Singer, Austrian-American physicist and climate change doubter, dies at 95
2021 – Hans Küng, Swiss theologian and critic of the Vatican, dies at 93
Famous Deaths for 5th April 2025
1723 – J Fischer von Erlach, Austrian architect (Hofburg, Vienna), dies at 66
1952 – Charles Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway (1922-41), dies at 80
1986 – Manly Wade Wellman, sci-fi author (Devil’s Planet), dies at 82
2001 – Malcolm Shepherd [2nd Baron Shepherd], Politician (L) and Leader of the House of Lords (1974-76), dies at 82
2004 – Sławomir Rawicz, Polish soldier (b. 1915)
2020 – Margaret Burbidge, British-American astronomer and educator (faint object spectrograph of the Hubble Space), dies at 100
2020 – Ed Biles, American football coach (College: Xavier 1962-68; NFL: Houston Oilers 1981-83), dies from leukemia at 88
2021 – Philip K Chapman, Australian astronaut (Apollo 14 support), dies at 86
2022 – Joaquim Carvalho, Portuguese soccer goalkeeper (6 caps; Sporting CP), dies at 84
2022 – Bobby Rydell [Ridarelli], American pop singer (“Wild One”; “Wildwood Days”), and actor (Bye Bye Birdie), dies of pneumonia at 79
Famous Deaths for 4th April 2025
1930 – Vladimir Majakovski, Russian poet, dies
1961 – Simion Stoilow, Romanian mathematician (b. 1873)
1970 – Victor Otto Stomps, German writer and publisher, dies at 72
1980 – Woodrow Wilson “Red” Sovine, American country music singer, dies following a heart attack leading to a car crash at 62
1983 – Jacqueline Logan, American actress and silent film leading lady (WAMPAS Baby Star), dies at 78
1985 – Kate Roberts, Welsh nationalist and Welsh language writer, dies at 94
1991 – Max Frisch, Swiss writer and playwright (I’m Not Stiller, Firebugs), dies at 79
1992 – Samuel Reshevsky, Polish-American chess grandmaster (World C’ship 3rd 1948; 8 x US C’ship gold), dies of a heart attack at 80
2011 – Scott Columbus, American heavy metal drummer (Manowar, 1983–91 and 1994–2008), takes his own life at 54
2018 – Gertrude Jeannette, African American taxi driver, playwright and film and stage actress (Shaft, Cotton Comes to Harlem), dies at 103
Famous Deaths for 3rd April 2025
1680 – Shivaji Bhonsle [Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj], Indian warrior and founder of the Maratha Empire, dies of fever and dysentery around the age of 52
1728 – James Anderson, Scottish lawyer (b. 1662)
1747 – Francesco Solimena, Italian painter, dies at 89
1797 – Nonnosus Madlseder, German composer and Benedictine Monk, dies at 66
1917 – Arthur Graeme West, British writer and war poet (The Diary of a Dead Officer), killed by a sniper at about 25
1962 – Benny “Kid” Paret, American welterweight boxer, dies after a fight at 24
2001 – Lester “Big Daddy” Kinsey, American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, dies at 74
2016 – Bill Henderson, American jazz singer (“Señor Blues”), and actor (Dreams – “Torpedo”), dies at 90
2020 – Tom Dempsey, American NFL kicker (Pro Bowl, First-team All-Pro 1969; New Orleans Saints; longest winning field goal, 63 yards), dies of COVID-19 complications at 73
2022 – June Brown, British actress (EastEnders, 1985–93 and 1997–2020 – “Dot”; Sitting Target), dies at 95
Famous Deaths for 2nd April 2025
1791 – Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, French revolutionary (influential member of the National Constituent Assembly), dies of natural causes at 42
1910 – Boyd Alexander, English explorer and ornithologist (Niger to the Nile), murdered in a dispute with locals in Africa at 37
1923 – Michel Théato, Luxembourgian athlete (Olympic gold representing France, marathon 1900), dies at 45
1938 – Alice Berend, writer, dies
1979 – Ivan Barrow, Jamaican cricket wicketkeeper (11 Tests; first West Indian Test century-maker in England), dies at 68
1992 – Juanito, Spanish soccer forward (34 caps; Real Madrid 284 games, 85 goals), dies in car crash at 37
2009 – Peter Anderson, English footballer (Plymouth Argyle), dies at 72
2009 – Clifford “Bud” Shank, American jazz saxophonist and flute player, dies of a pulmonary embolism at 82
2013 – Chuck Fairbanks, American football coach (New England Patriots 1973-78; University of Oklahoma 1967-72, University of Colorado 1979-81), dies from brain cancer at 79
2018 – Winnie Mandela [Winnie Madikizela-Mandela], South African anti-apartheid activist and ANC politician, dies of a long illness at 81
Famous Deaths for 1st April 2025
1580 – Alonso Mudarra, Spanish composer, composed the first music for the guitar, dies at about 70
1865 – Giuditta Pasta, Italian soprano, dies at 67
1872 – Frederick Maurice, English theologian (Church of England), dies at 66
1901 – François-Marie Raoult, French physicist and chemist (Law of Raoult), dies at 70
1987 – Henri Cochet, French tennis player (French Open 1926, 28, 30, 32; Wimbledon 1927, 29; US Open 1928), dies at 85
1993 – Juan of Borbon y Battemberg, father of king Juan Carlos I, dies
2007 – Herb Carneal, American sports broadcaster (Minnesota Twins 1962-2006; Ford C. Frick Award 1996), dies of congestive heart failure at 83
2013 – Basia Johnson (née Barbara Piasecka), Polish-American domestic servant, philanthropist, humanitarian, art collector, and heir to Johnson and Johnson fortune, dies at 76
2014 – Joe “Speedo” Frazier, American doo-wop vocalist (Impalas – “Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)”), dies at 70
2024 – Vontae Davis, American football cornerback (Pro Bowl 2014, 15; Indianapolis Colts), dies at 35