1630 – Christian I, German Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg who led an army of 21,000 Bohemians at the Battle of White Mountain, dies at 61
1679 – John van Kessel, Flemish painter, dies at 53
1910 – Ignacio Mariscal, Mexican lawyer and diplomat (Secretary of Foreign Affairs), dies at 80
1937 – Yi Sang, Korean author and poet (Dying Words, Wings, Child’s Bone), dies of tuberculosis in a Japanese prison camp at 26
1983 – Dutch Leonard, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1940, 43, 44, 45, 51; Brooklyn Dodgers, Washington Senators, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs), dies of congestive heart failure at 74
1995 – Anton Murray, South African cricket all-rounder (10 Tests; 1 x 100; 18 wickets), dies at 72
2006 – Henderson Forsythe, American actor (As the World Turns, Crisis at Central High), dies at 88
2016 – Warren Davis, American doo-wop singer (The Monotones – “The Book of Love”), dies at 77
2019 – Alan García, President of Peru (Peruvian Aprista Party: 1985-90, 2006-11), commits suicide by shooting himself as police try to arrest him on corruption charges at 69
2022 – James Olsen, American stage and screen actor (Rachel, Rachel; Moon Zero Two; The Andromeda Strain), dies at 91
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 16th April 2025
1879 – Peter Kosler, German-Slovenian lawyer and cartographer who made the first map of Slovene land (Kosler’s Map), dies at 55
1904 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet, dies at 16
1916 – Tom Horan, Australian cricket all-rounder (15 Tests, 1 x 100, 11 wickets; Victoria CA), dies a 62
1928 – Henry Birks, Canadian businessman and founder of Henri Birks and Sons, dies at 87
1938 – Bertram Mills, British circus proprietor (Bertram Mills Circus), dies at 70
1959 – Charles Halton, British stage actor (Dr Cyclops, Tugboat Annie Sails Again), dies at 83
2007 – Kevin Granata, American professor of Engineering (b. 1961)
2011 – Gerry Alexander, West Indian cricket wicket-keeper (25 Tests, top score 108, 90 dismissals), dies at 82
2016 – Charlie Hodge, French Canadian goalkeeper (Montreal Canadians), dies at 82
2021 – Mike Mitchell, American rock guitarist (The Kingsmen -“Louie, Louie”), dies on his 77th birthday
Famous Deaths for 15th April 2025
1502 – Jan IV of Chalon-Arnay, prince of Orange and lord of Arlay, dies at 59
1865 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President (Republican: 1861-65), dies from gunshot wounds at 56
1888 – Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (Dover Beach), dies at 65
1949 – Wallace Beery, American circus performer (Ringling Brothers Circus) and actor (Alias a Gentleman, Dinner at 8), dies from a heart attack at 64
1984 – Alexander Trocchi, Scottish writer, dies at 58
1988 – Youri Egorov, Soviet classical pianist, dies at 33
1990 – Ulrich Becher, German writer and playwright, dies at 80
1993 – Harry Alexander, Australian cricket fast bowler (1 Test, Bodyline series 1933, 1 wicket; Victoria), dies at 87
1995 – Harry Shoulberg, American expressionist painter, dies at 91
1995 – Cleo Brown, American jazz pianist, dies at 85
Famous Deaths for 14th April 2025
911 – Sergius III, Italian Pope (904-11), dies
1578 – James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, consort of Mary I of Scotland
1692 – Carlos de Gurrea, Spanish viceroy (Spanish Netherlands), dies
1865 – Rafael Carrera, Guatemalan military commander and Dictator of Guatemala (1844–48, 1851–65), dies at 50
1914 – Hubert Bland, English author and socialist (co-founder of the Fabian Society), dies of a heart attack at 59
1974 – Al Morgan, American jazz double-bassist (Cab Calloway; Fats Waller; Louis Jordan), dies at 65
1990 – Thurston Harris, American pop vocalist (The Sharps, Little Bitty Pretty One), dies of a heart attack at 58
2000 – Phil Katz, American computer programmer (Zip file format), dies from the effects of alcoholism at 37
2004 – Micheline Charest, French Canadian television producer (b. 1953)
2023 – Ken Archer, Australian cricket batsman (5 Tests; Queensland CA), dies at 95
Famous Deaths for 13th April 2025
1822 – Gaetano Valeri, Italian composer, dies at 61
1919 – Phoebe Hearst, American philanthropist and suffragist, dies at 76
1925 – Elwood Haynes, American automotive pioneer (built one of 1st US autos), dies at 67
1944 – Cécile Chaminade, French pianist and 1st female composer awarded with Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur (1913), dies at 86
1952 – [Rosalie] Julia Cuypers, Flemish actress (Adelaarsjong), dies at 79
1960 – Beverly Kenney American jazz singer (“I Hate Rock n’ Roll”; “Born To Be Blue”), takes her on life at 28
1986 – Stephen Stucker, American actor (Trading Places, Airplane), dies at 38
1996 – George Mackay Brown, Scottish poet and playwright, dies at 74
2005 – Johnnie Johnson, American blues and jazz piano player (Chuck Berry’s band), dies of kidney problems and pneumonia at 80
2022 – Gloria Parker [Rosenthal], American marimbist, glasspiel player, songwriter (Clap Your Hands and Shake Your Blues Away), and bandleader, dies at 100
Famous Deaths for 12th April 2025
238 – Gordian II, Roman co-Emperor with his father Gordian I, killed in battle at Carthage
1777 – Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French satirical novelist (The Skimmer), dies at 70
1878 – William Magear Tweed “Boss Tweed”, American politician and corrupt New York fraudster, dies in prison of pneumonia at 55
1921 – William Strang, Scottish painter and engraver (illustrated Bunyan, Coleridge and Kipling), dies at 62
1946 – August Borms, Flemish nazi collaborator, executed at 67
2000 – Niaz Ahmed, Pakistani cricket fast bowler (2 Tests, 3 wickets; Dacca, Public Works Dep’t, East Pakistan, Railways; only East Pakistani to play Test cricket), dies at 54
2006 – Puggy Pearson, American poker player (World Series of Poker Main Event 1973; 4 x World Series of Poker bracelets), dies from heart failure at 77
2013 – Robert Byrne, American chess player (FIDE Grandmaster), dies from Parkinson’s disease at 84
2016 – Anne Jackson, American stage actress (Twice Around the Park), dies at 90
2019 – Georgia Engel, American actress (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, 1972-77 – “Georgette”; Hot In Cleveland, 2011-15 -“Mamie-Sue”), dies at 70
Famous Deaths for 11th April 2025
1240 – Llywelyn ab Iorwerth the Great, monarch of Wales (1194-1240), dies
1512 – Gaston de Foix, French pretender to Navarra throne, dies in battle
1648 – Matthäus Appelt, German composer, dies at 53
1729 – Manuel de Egues, composer, dies at 71
1861 – Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet (Mexican national anthem), dies at 37
1918 – Arthur E Ochse, South African cricket batsman (2 Tests; Transvaal), dies in action WWI at 48
1973 – (Edward) “Ted” de Corsia, American actor (The Naked City; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), dies at 69
2008 – Merlin German, United States Marine
2011 – Billy Bang [William Walker], American free jazz violinist and composer, dies of lung cancer at 63
2011 – Lacy Gibson, American Chicago-style blues guitarist, singer and songwriter (“Switchy Titchy”), dies of a heart attack at 74
Famous Deaths for 10th April 2025
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
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