1871 – George Stevens, English jockey (record 5 Grand National wins), dies from fractured skull at 38
1873 – François George-Hainl, French cellist and composer, dies at 65
1951 – Alain [Emile-Auguste Chartier], French philosopher and writer, dies at 83
1959 – Max Rousié, French rugby footballer, dies in a car crash at 46
1990 – Robert Noyce, American inventor (co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel Corporation in 1968), dies at 62
1992 – Philip Dunne, founder (Screen Writers Guild), dies of cancer at 84
1994 – David Stove, Australian philosopher (b. 1927)
1999 – Junior Braithwaite, Jamaican musician (The Wailers) (b. 1949)
2003 – Fred Blassie, American professional wrestler (b. 1918)
2023 – Jacques Rozier, French film director (Adieu Philippine; Du côté d’Orouët), dies at 96
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 1st June 2024
1873 – Joseph Howe, Canadian politician (3rd Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia), dies at 68
1938 – Ödön von Horváth, Hungarian writer (A Child of Our Time), dies at 36
1942 – Vladislav Vančura, Czech writer (Rozmarné léto), dies at 50
1970 – Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italian poet (Hermeticism) and journalist, dies at 82
1973 – Harvey S. Firestone Jr, American tire manufacturer, dies at 75
1983 – Anna Seghers [Netty Reiling], German author (The 7th Cross), dies at 82
1983 – Charles Tham, of Saxon-Coburg-Gotha, count of Flanders/Prince, dies
1991 – David Ruffin, American soul musician and early lead singer for The Temptations (My Girl; Ain’t Too Proud to Beg), dies of a drug overdose at 50
1992 – Howard Ralston, actor (Pollyana), dies
1996 – Stephen Jones, English art historian, dies of cancer at 41
Famous Deaths for 31st May 2024
1198 – Moses ben Solomon Ha-Cohen, rabbi of Mainz, dies
1551 – Aristotele “Basiano” da Sangallo, Italian set designer, dies
1747 – Andrei Osterman, Russian statesman (b. 1686)
1891 – Antoine-Aimé Dorion, Canadian politician and jurist (joint premier of Canada 1858, 1863-64), dies at 73
1960 – Willem Elsschot [Alfons Josephus de Ridder], Flemish writer (Kas), dies at 78
2000 – Johnnie Taylor, American RandB and multi-genre singer (“Disco Lady”; “I Believe In You”), dies at 66
2009 – Danny La Rue, Irish drag entertainer, dies at 81
2010 – William A. Fraker, American cinematographer (b. 1923)
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
2019 – Roky Erickson [Roger Kynard], American musician (The 13th Floor Elevators – “Starry Eyes”; “Don’t Slander Me”), dies at 71
Famous Deaths for 30th May 2024
1770 – François Boucher, French painter (b. 1703)
1945 – Irma Laplasse, Flemish farmer/nazi collaborator, executed
1957 – Toivo R Pekkanen, Finnish writer (Black Ecstasy), dies
1966 – Bob Thompson, African American painter, dies of a drug overdose at 28
1967 – Claude Rains, British actor (Invisible Man, Casablanca), dies at 77
1977 – Claire Goll, German-French writer, dies at 86
1981 – Don Ashby, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1955)
1994 – Marcel Bich, Italian-French baron and pen manufacturer (Bic), dies at 79
2008 – Boris Shakhlin, Russian gymnast (Olympic gold, 1956, 1960, 1964; World Champion, 1958; European Champion, 1955), dies at 76
2013 – Elliot del Borgo, American music educator (SUNY/Crane School of Music, 1966-95) and composer (1980 Winter Olympics), dies at 74
Famous Deaths for 29th May 2024
1788 – Jacques Aliamet, French etcher and engraver, dies at 61
1866 – Winfield Scott, American army general (Union) and presidential candidate, dies at 79
1882 – Vasily Perov, Russian painter (b. 1833)
1914 – Paul von Mauser, German weapon designer, dies at 75
1995 – Margaret Chase Smith, American politician (U.S. Senator from Maine), dies at 97
1998 – Eric St Eval Atkinson, West Indian cricketer (bro of Denis WI pace bowler 1958-59), dies at 70
2005 – Oscar Brown, American singer, songwriter (“Brown Baby”; “Forbidden Fruit”), playwright, and poet, dies from complications of osteomyelitis at 78
2011 – Bill Clements, American politician, Governor of Texas (1987-91), dies at 94
2015 – Doris Hart, American tennis player (6 x Grand Slam singles titles; 29 x GS doubles titles), dies at 89
2021 – Keith Mullings, American boxer (WBC and lineal light middleweight titles 1998), dies at 53
Famous Deaths for 28th May 2024
1317 – Guy van Avesnes/Henegouwen, bishop of Utrecht, dies at about 63
1787 – Leopold Mozart, Austrian violinist, composer, father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, dies at 67
1914 – Adolf Sonnenfeld, Polish violinist and composer, dies at 76
1927 – Boris Kustodiev, Russian painter (b. 1878)
1964 – John Finley Williamson, American choral conductor (Westminster Choir College, 1920-58), dies at 76
1987 – Charles Ludlam, American playwright and actor (Big Easy), dies at 44
1995 – Daniela Rocca, Italian actress (Battle of Austerlitz), dies at 57
1996 – Julian Krein [Yulian Kreyn], Russian composer (Razrusheniye (Destruction)), and musicologist, dies at 83
2014 – David Nadien, American concert and session violin virtuoso, dies of pneumonia at 88
2019 – Andre Asriel, Austrian-German classical and film score composer, dies at 97
Famous Deaths for 27th May 2024
1797 – Gracchus Babeuf, French utopian socialist, dies at 36
1910 – Robert Koch, German pioneering bacteriologist (TB, Cholera, Nobel Prize 1905), dies at 66
1964 – Jawaharlal Nehru, 1st Prime Minister of India (1947-64) and important leader of the Indian independence movement, dies of an assumed heart attack at 74
1983 – (Arnoldus) Arnold van Wyk, South African concert pianist and composer (Nagmusiek – Night Music), dies at 67
1985 – Kay Campbell, actress (All My Children), dies at 80
1986 – Gaston Duribreux, Flemish writer (Sour Dove), dies at 82
1991 – Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist (International Bruckner Society; Mozart’s Requiem), and educator (Vienna University, 1932-73), dies at 86
2006 – Paul Gleason, American actor (Breakfast Club, Die Hard), dies of lung cancer at 67
2007 – Gretchen Wyler, American actress, dancer (Silk Stockings), and animal rights activist, dies at 75
2021 – William Jay Sydeman, American avant-garde composer, dies at 93
Famous Deaths for 26th May 2024
1831 – Ciro Menotti, Italian patriot (b. 1798)
1832 – François-Louis Perne, French composer, dies at 59
1871 – Aimé Maillart, French opera composer (Les Dragons de Villars), dies at 54
1933 – Horatio Bottomley, British financier and politician (b. 1860)
1943 – Edsel Ford, American President of Ford Motor Company (1919-1943) and son of Henry Ford, dies of stomach cancer aged 49
1954 – Franz Pfemfert, German journalist and writer, dies at 74
1995 – Severn Darden, American actor (Luv; The President’s Analyst; Saturday the 14th), dies at 65
1996 – Matima Kinuani Mpiosso, Zairen rock guitarist (Zaika Langa-Langa), dies at 45
2003 – Gerald S. Hawkins, English-American astronomer (archaeoastronomy), dies at 75
2021 – Patrick Sky [Lynch], American musician, folk singer, songwriter, record producer, and uilleann bagpiper (Songs That Made America Famous), dies of cancer at 80
Famous Deaths for 25th May 2024
992 – Mieszko I, Grand Duke and ruler of Poland (960-992), dies at around 61
1934 – Gustav Holst, English composer (The Planets; Ode to Death), dies at 59
1935 – Sir Frank Watson Dyson, English astronomer, dies at 71
1965 – Sonny Boy Williamson II [Aleck Miller], American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, dies at 65
1974 – Donald Crisp, British actor and director (How Green Was My Valley, Pollyana), dies at 91
2007 – Bill Johnston, Australian cricket fast/spin bowler (40 Tests, 160 wickets @ 23.91; Victoria), dies at 85
2008 – Georgette Amowitz, French choreographer and educator, dies at 78
2008 – J. R. Simplot, American potato farmer (b. 1909)
2009 – Haakon Lie, Norwegian politician (b. 1905)
2023 – Frank Handlen, American artist of marine subjects, dies at 106
Famous Deaths for 24th May 2024
1670 – Ferdinand II, ruler of Toscane, dies at 59
1681 – Nicodemus Tessin the Elder, Swedish architect (Drottningholm Palace), dies at 65
1843 – Sylvestre François Lacroix, French mathematician, dies at 78
1850 – Jane Porter, novelist (Scottish Chiefs), dies at 74
1994 – Jean-Pierre Plooij, Dutch writer and playwright (Duvelsmoer verhalen; Patience; Bird House), dies at 48
1994 – John Barrington Wain, English author and poet (Hurry on Down), dies at 69
2005 – Arthur Haulot, Belgian journalist (b. 1913)
2010 – Paul Gray, American heavy metal bassist (Slipknot), dies of a drug overdose at 38
2010 – Ray Alan, English ventriloquist and television entertainer (Lord Charles), dies at 79
2022 – Thomas Ulsrud, Norwegian curler (World C’ship gold [skip] 2014; Olympics silver 2010), dies from cancer at 50