1471 – Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, dies in Battle of Tewkesbury at 17, becoming the only heir apparent to the English throne to ever die in battle
1770 – Christian Gottfried Krause, German composer, dies at 51
1811 – Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (b. 1776)
1859 – Joseph Diez Gergonne, French mathematician, dies at 87
1873 – William Holmes McGuffey, American professor (wrote elementary school McGuffey Readers – 120 million copies sold), dies at 72
1916 – Joseph Mary Plunkett, Irish revolutionary (b. 1887)
1972 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1886)
1980 – Kay Hammond, British actress (Blithe Spirit, 5 Golden Hours), dies at 71
1994 – Karl Francis Hettinger, American police officer (Onion Field survivor), dies at 59
2018 – Edwin G. Burrows, American historian and professor, dies at 74
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 3rd May 2025
1704 – Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Bohemian-Austrian violinist and composer, dies at 59
1707 – Michiel de Swaen, Dutch physician and poet, dies at 53
1737 – Abraham Patras, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (1735-37), dies at 65
1779 – John Winthrop, American educator at Harvard and astronomer, dies at 64
1863 – Elisha Franklin Paxton [Bull Paxton], American general (Confederate Army), dies leading Stoneville Brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville at 35
1968 – Leonid Sabaneyev, Russian composer, dies at 86
1972 – Bruce Cabot, actor (Diamonds are Forever), dies at 68
1991 – Don Whitmire, American College Football Hall of Fame tackle (Alabama, Navy – All American at both), dies at 68
2018 – Bob Prewitt, American college basketball coach (SMU Mustangs), dies at 93
2023 – Lance Blanks, American basketball guard (Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves), executive (GM Phoenix Suns 2010-13), and broadcaster (ESPN, Longhorn Network), takes his own life at 56
Famous Deaths for 3rd May 2025
1704 – Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Bohemian-Austrian violinist and composer, dies at 59
1707 – Michiel de Swaen, Dutch physician and poet, dies at 53
1737 – Abraham Patras, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (1735-37), dies at 65
1779 – John Winthrop, American educator at Harvard and astronomer, dies at 64
1863 – Elisha Franklin Paxton [Bull Paxton], American general (Confederate Army), dies leading Stoneville Brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville at 35
1968 – Leonid Sabaneyev, Russian composer, dies at 86
1972 – Bruce Cabot, actor (Diamonds are Forever), dies at 68
1991 – Don Whitmire, American College Football Hall of Fame tackle (Alabama, Navy – All American at both), dies at 68
2018 – Bob Prewitt, American college basketball coach (SMU Mustangs), dies at 93
2023 – Lance Blanks, American basketball guard (Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves), executive (GM Phoenix Suns 2010-13), and broadcaster (ESPN, Longhorn Network), takes his own life at 56
Famous Deaths for 2nd May 2025
1300 – Blanche of Artois, regent of Navarre (b. 1248)
1934 – Sergey Lebedev, Russian chemist, inventor of first commercially viable, mass-produced polybutadiene synthetic rubber for tires, and synthetic motor oil for aircraft engines, dies at 59
1957 – Tadeusz Zygfryd Kassern, Polish composer and cultural attache, dies at 53
1960 – Caryl Chessman, American kidnapper and rapist, executed in gas chamber at San Quentin (California) State Prison after 12 years of appeals at 38
1982 – Hugh Marlowe [Hipple], American actor (All About Eve, Ellery Queen), dies from a heart attack at 71
1994 – Louis Calaferte, writer (Requiem of the Innocents), dies at 65
1995 – Michael Hordern, British actor (Watership Down, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold), dies from kidney disease at 83
1996 – Emile Habibi, Palestinian Israeli writer (The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist), dies at 73
2001 – Ted Rogers, British comedian and game show host (3-2-1), dies after emergency open-heart surgery at 65
2018 – Wang Danfeng, Chinese actress, dies at 93
Famous Deaths for 1st May 2025
1471 – Thomas a Kempis, German Dutch spiritual writer (Navolging of Christ), dies at 91
1679 – Esaias Reusner, German lutenist and composer, dies at 43
1903 – Luigi Arditi, Italian violinist and composer, dies at 80
1903 – Arthur Haygarth, English cricket batsman (Middlesex and Surrey, cricket historian), dies at 77
1921 – Louis Campbell-Tipton, American composer, dies at 43
1959 – Oscar Torp, Norwegian premier, dies
1985 – George Pravda, Czech actor, dies at 68
2018 – Bob Woffinden, British journalist and author, dies of mesothelioma at 89
2022 – Charles Siebert, American television actor (One Day at A Time; Trapper John, M.D. – “Stanley”), and director, dies at 84
2024 – Austin Savage, Welsh field hockey goaltender player (1972 Olympics), dies at 84
Famous Deaths for 30th April 2025
535 – Amalaswintha, queen of Ostrogoths, murdered in the bath at about 37
1792 – Hans Adolf Friedrich von Eschstruth, composer and lawyer, dies at 36
1958 – Alvan T. Fuller, American automotive dealer and politician, 50th Governor of Massachusetts (1925-29) during Sacco and Vanzetti case, dies at 80
1993 – Tommy Caton, English footballer (b. 1962)
1996 – Hélène Cordet, French actress (The Limping Man), dies at 78
2003 – Peter “Possum” Bourne, New Zealand race car driver, dies at 47
2007 – Tom Cartwright, English cricket medium pace bowler (5 Tests, 15 wickets, BB 6/94; Warwickshire CCC, Somerset CCC), dies at 71
2016 – Phil Ryan, Welsh keyboardist and composer (Man; Pete Brown), dies at 69
2020 – Rishi Kapoor, Indian Bollywood actor and director (Bobby, Do Dooni Chaar), dies at 67
2021 – Anthony Payne, British composer (Phoenix Mass; Visions and Journeys), critic, and musicologist, dies at 84
Famous Deaths for 29th April 2025
1768 – Georg Brandt, Swedish chemist and minerologist, dies at 73
1864 – Abraham Gesner, Canadian geologist (inventor of kerosene), dies at 66
1925 – Edward J. McKeever, American baseball executive (co-owner Brooklyn Dodgers), dies of influenza at 66
1961 – (Gilbert) “Cisco” Houston, American folk singer, and guitarist, dies of stomach cancer at 42
1979 – Hardie Gramatky, American author and animator (Little Toot), dies at 72
1994 – William “Bill” Quinn, American actor (Star Trek, The Birds, Rifleman, All in the Family), dies of natural causes at 81
1995 – Robert Gibb, British zoo and theme park creator (Flamingo Land; Pleasure Island), dies in a car accident at 57
2005 – Mariana Levy, Mexican telenovela actress (Living in Love, Wild Rosa), dies at 39 after suffering a heart attack during a robbery attempt
2012 – Shukri Ghanem, Libyan Prime Minister, dies at 69
2014 – Bob Hoskins, English actor (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), dies from pneumonia at 71
Famous Deaths for 28th April 2025
1498 – Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, English aristocrat, dies during an anti-tax riot at about 40 [exact birthday unkinkown, c. 1458]
1887 – Carl Ferdinand Pohl, German-Austrian music historian, organist, and composer, dies at 67
1969 – Johannes Röntgen, Dutch composer, dies at 70
1970 – Ed Begley, American actor (12 Angry Men, The Unsinkable Molly Brown), dies at 69
1979 – Feliks Roderyk Łabuński, Polish composer, dies at 86
1981 – Cliff Battles, American College/Pro Football HOF halfback (West Virginia Wesleyan College; 3 x First-Team All-Pro; NFL rushing yards leader 1932, 37; Boston Braves/Redskins, Washington Redskins), dies at 70
1987 – Åke Olof Sebastian Uddén, Swedish violist, composer and educator (Royal College Of Music, 1934-70), dies at 84
2009 – Vern Gosdin, American country singer (“Set ‘Em Up Joe”), dies after a stroke at 74
2013 – Lonnie Turner, American rock and blues bassist (Steve Miller Band – “Fly Like An Eagle”), dies of lung cancer at 66
2020 – Bobby Lewis, American rock and roll singer (“Tossin’ and Turnin'”), dies at 95
Famous Deaths for 27th April 2025
1758 – Jan Francisci, Slovak composer, dies at 66
1794 – William Jones, British orientalist and jurist, dies at 47
1871 – Sigismond Fortune Francois Thalberg, Austrian composer, dies at 59
1881 – Ludwig von Benedek, Austrian general, dies at 76
1938 – Edmond Rubbens, Belgian minister to Colonies, dies at 44
1952 – Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician, dies at 86
1992 – Olivier Messiaen, French composer (L’Ame en Bourgeon; St Francois d’Assise), dies at 83
1992 – Sol K. Bright, Hawaiian steel-guitar player, singer (Hollywaiians), and songwriter (“Hawaiian Cowboy”), dies at 72
1993 – Hans Sahl, German-American anti-Nazi Jewish writer (Tie Exil im Exil), dies at 90
2015 – Gene Fullmer, American boxer (World Middleweight title 1957; NBA [WBA] World Middleweight title 1959-62), dies at 83
Famous Deaths for 26th April 2025
1907 – Joseph Hellmesberger Jr., Austrian composer, violinist, and conductor, dies of kidney failure at 52
1918 – Cecil Coles, Scottish organist and composer (Behind the Lines), killed during WWI by sniper fire while recovering casualties on the Western Front at 29
1944 – Violette Morris, French athlete and spy for Nazi Germany, dies at 51
1965 – Aaron Avshalomov, Russian-Jewish-American composer (Kuan Yin; The Great Wall), conductor (Shanghai Municipal Orchestra, 1943-46), and librarian, dies at 70
1970 – Paul Celan, Romanian-born writer, dies at 49
1976 – Neil McCallum, British-Canadian actor (Pete-Saber of London), dies at 45
1995 – Hugh Morton, Baron Morton of Shuna, Scottish lawyer and judge, dies at 65
1996 – Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter (In the Heat of the Night, Perry Mason), dies at 78
2004 – Claude “Fiddler” Williams, American jazz violinist and guitarist (Twelve Clouds of Joy; Count Basie), dies at 96
2015 – Marcel Pronovost, Canadian Hockey HOF defenceman (11 x NHL All Star games; Stanley Cup 1950, 52, 54, 55 Detroit RWs, 1967 Toronto MLs), dies at 84