1864 – Victor Girardey, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies in battle at 27
1895 – Samuel Bell Maxey, American Brigadier General in the Confederate Army and Senator from Texas (Democratic: 1875-87), dies at 70
1905 – Jamie Anderson, Scottish golfer (British Open 1877-79), dies at 63
1983 – Earl Averill, American Baseball HOF outfielder (6 × MLB All-Star 1933–1938; Cleveland Indians), dies at 81
1997 – Gerard McLarnon, British-Irish actor and writer (The Wrestler’s Honeymoon), dies at 82
2004 – Carl Mydans, American photojournalist (Life Magazine, 1936-72), dies at 97
2020 – Chetan Chauhan, Indian cricket batsman (40 Tests @ 31.57, 16 x 50; Maharashtra, Delhi), dies of COVID-19 at 73
2022 – Aydın Yelken, Turkish soccer forward (9 caps; Karagümrük, Fenerbahçe, Altay, İzmirspor), dies at 83
2023 – Renata Scotto, Italian soprano (Metropolitan Opera, 1965-87; La Traviata – “Violetta”) and opera director, dies at 89
2024 – Countess of Airlie [Virginia Ogilvy], British-American Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II, dies at 91
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 15th August 2026
1196 – Conrad II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1173)
1935 – Will Rogers, American humorist and actor (Judge Priest), dies in a plane crash in Alaska at 55
1972 – Jeff Pfeffer, American baseball pitcher (no-hitter Boston Doves v Cincinnati Reds 1907), dies at 84
1978 – Harrison Kerr, American composer, dies at 80
1988 – Barry Bingham Sr, American newspaper publisher (The Courier-Journal, The Louisville Times), dies at 82
2004 – Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist, (1982 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for identification of prostaglandins), dies at 88
2006 – Te Atairangikaahu, New Zealand Māori Queen for 40 years, dies at 75
2006 – Rick Bourke, Australian rugby league player (Cronulla), dies of cancer at 52
2010 – James J. Kilpatrick, American newspaper journalist and columnist (60 Minutes), dies at 89
2013 – Jacques Vergès, French lawyer known as “The Devil’s Advocate” (defended Klaus Barbie and Carlos the Jackal), dies of a heart attack at 88
Famous Deaths for 14th August 2026
1040 – King Duncan I of Scotland, killed in battle at ca. 39 years
1573 – Saitō Tatsuoki, Japanese warlord (b. 1548)
1870 – David Farragut, American Admiral (“Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”), dies at 69
1943 – Joe Kelley, American Baseball HOF left fielder (NL stolen base leader 1896 Baltimore Orioles) and manager (Cincinnati Reds, Boston Doves), dies at 71
1970 – Vano Muradeli, Soviet Georgian composer (The Great Friendship; Our Leader), and pedagogue, dies at 62
1992 – (Samuel) “Tony” Williams, American pop singer (The Platters, 1953-59 – “Only You”; “Great Pretender”), dies at 64
2000 – Cuan McCarthy, South African cricketer (36 Test wkts for South Africa, 1 career no-ball), dies at 71
2005 – Christmas Tinto, South African ANC and UDF leader, dies at 79
2010 – Terje Stigen, Norwegian author (Det siste paradiset), dies at 88
2025 – Dawie Snyman, South African rugby union utility back (10 Tests; Western Province RFU), dies at 76
Famous Deaths for 13th August 2026
1382 – Eleanor of Aragon, wife of John I of Castile, dies giving birth to her third child at 24
1617 – Johann Jakob Grynaeus, Swiss Protestant Calvinist clergyman, and theologian, dies at 76
1749 – Johann Elias Schlegel, German critic and dramatic poet, dies at 30
1955 – John Klenner, American pianist, composer, and songwriter (“Just Friends”, “Heartaches”), dies at 56
1992 – Jan Elburg, Dutch poet (Through the Night), dies at 72
2000 – Antony Duff, British WWII submarine commander, diplomat, (1946-80), intelligence officer (Director of MI5, 1985-88), and advocate for the homeless, dies at 80
2006 – Payao Poontarat, Thai Olympic boxer (b. 1957)
2007 – Brian Adams, aka Demolition Crush, American professional wrestler (b. 1964)
2008 – Henri Cartan, French Mathematician, dies at 104
2012 – Joan Roberts [Josephine Seagrist], American radio and stage actress (Oklahoma!), dies of congestive heart failure at 95
Famous Deaths for 12th August 2026
1158 – Anselm of Havelberg, Brandenburg bishop of Havelberg (1129-55), dies at about 58
1885 – Georg Curtius, German classical linguist, dies at 65
1944 – Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., brother of President John F. Kennedy, killed in action in plane explosion over Blythburgh, East Suffolk, England at 29
1955 – James B. Sumner, American chemist (Nobel 1946 – discovered that enzymes can be crystallized), dies at 67
1988 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist (Gray, SAMO), dies of a drug overdose at 27
1996 – Victor Ambartsumian, Russian astronomer (Stalin Prize 1946, 50), dies at 87
2008 – Donald Erb, American composer known for large orchestral works, dies at 81
2010 – Paul Ryan Rudd, American stage and screen actor (Beacon Hill; Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye), dies at 70
2010 – Guido de Marco, 6th president of Malta, 45th President of the United Nations General Assembly (b. 1931)
2020 – Bill Yeoman, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (University of Houston 1962-86; record 160–108–8), dies from kidney failure and pneumonia at 92
Famous Deaths for 11th August 2026
1890 – John Henry Newman, British thologian (Tract 90), educator, poet (Dream of Gerontius), Anglican priest, Catholic priest, cardinal and saint, dies of pneumonia at 89
1942 – Richard Heinrich Stein, German composer, and music theorist (La musica moderna), dies at 60
1952 – Riccardo Martin, American tenor and composer, dies at 77
1965 – Ethel Larcombe, British tennis player (Wimbledon 1912), dies at 86
1969 – Miriam Licette [Lycett], British operatic soprano, voice teacher, and arts patron, dies at 83
1974 – Maria Maksakova (née Sidorova), Soviet Russian operatic mezzo-soprano (Bolshoi Theatre, 1923–1953), dies at 72
1991 – Rodolfo Cornejo, Filipino classical pianist, composer, and conductor, dies at 82
1991 – Helmut Walcha, blind German organist (church music), dies at 83
2008 – Fred Sinowatz, Austrian politician (Chancellor of Austria, 1983-86; Vice-Chancellor, 1981-83; Minister of Education 1971-83), dies at 79
2015 – Harald Nielsen, Danish soccer forward (14 caps; Olympic silver 1960; Frederikshavn fI, Bologna FC), dies at 73
Famous Deaths for 10th August 2026
1589 – Maarten Schenck Nideggen, Dutch army leader, drowned at about 49
1730 – Sebastien de Brossard, French composer and music theorist, dies at 74
1910 – Joe Gans, American boxer (world lightweight champion 1902–08; International Boxing HOF), dies of tuberculosis at 35
1973 – Douglas Kennedy, American actor (Dark Passage, The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold), dies of cancer at 57
1987 – I W Able, CEO (United Steel Workers of America, 1965-77), dies at 87
1996 – Rex Tucker, British TV writer and director of early “Doctor Who”, dies at 83
1996 – Adriano Mandarino Hypolito, priest, dies at 78
1999 – Padma Bhushan Acharya Baldev Upadhyaya, Eminent Sanskrit Scholar in India (b. 1899)
2022 – Abdul Wadud [Ronald DeVaughn], American jazz, avant-garde, and classical cellist (Camille; By Myself), dies at 75
2022 – Fernando Chalana, Portuguese soccer winger (27 caps; Benfica, Bordeaux), dies from degenerative disease at 63
Famous Deaths for 9th August 2026
1738 – Pierre Drevet, French engraver, dies at 75
1848 – Frederick Marryat, English captain and author (Mr Midshipman Easy), dies
1898 – Gardner Quincy Colton, American lecturer who was the first to use nitrous oxide as an anesthetic in dentistry, dies at 84
1985 – (Bo) “Fred” Åkerström, Swedish folk singer, social activist, and stage actor, dies at 48
1994 – Mien van ‘t Sant, Dutch author (Mieke serial), dies at 93
2006 – Philip E. High, English sci-fi author, dies at 92
2013 – Johnny Logan, American baseball shortstop (World Series 1957 Boston / Milwaukee Braves; MLB All Star 1955, 57, 58, 59²), dies of a kidney infection at 86
2019 – Altair, Brazilian soccer defender (18 caps; Fluminense 551 games), dies at 91
2023 – Brice Marden, American painter (Grove Group, Moss Sutra With the Seasons), dies of cancer at 84
2025 – John Cruickshank, Scottish WWII war hero (Victoria Cross) and banker, dies at 105
Famous Deaths for 8th August 2026
1553 – Girolamo Fracastoro, Italian physician (b. 1478)
1824 – Friedrich August Wolf, German philologist (Prolegomena), dies at 65
1879 – Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher, dies at 83
1897 – Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss cultural historian, dies at 79
1934 – Wilbert Robinson, American Baseball HOF catcher (Philadelphia A’s, Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals) and manager (Baltimore Orioles, Brooklyn Robins), dies at 71
1984 – Ellen Raskin, American author (b.1928)
1988 – Alan Napier, British actor (The Sword in the Stone, Batman), dies at 85
1997 – Duncan Swift, English jazz pianist, dies at 74
2008 – Joseph Gelineau, French Catholic Jesuit priest and composer, dies at 87
2025 – Peter Lester, New Zealand sailor (Admiral’s Cup 1987 helmsman ‘Propaganda’; OK Dinghy World C’ship 1977) and broadcaster, dies after a heart attack at 70
Famous Deaths for 7th August 2026
1821 – Caroline of Brunswick, Queen Consort of King George IV (1820-21), dies at 53
1913 – David Popper, Bohemian composer and cellist, dies at 70
1942 – Richard Gott, British general (commandant of 8th Army), dies in battle at 43
1969 – Joseph Kosma [József Kozma], Hungarian-French film composer (Les Enfants du Paradis; The Grand Illusion), dies at 63
1970 – James McClain, American prison inmate on trial for stabbing death of a guard, shot dead during miltant assault of San Rafael, California courthouse
1984 – Esther Phillips, American singer (What a Difference a Day Makes), dies at 48
1990 – Eva Sully Block, American vaudeville actress (Kid Millions), dies of heart failure at 88
1998 – Wallace Coulter, American inventor and entrepreneur (Coulter Principle – made complete blood counts possible), dies at 85
2008 – Andrea Pininfarina, Italian engineer (CEO of Pininfarina S.p.A.), dies in a road accident at 51
2021 – Douglas Applegate, American politician (US Representative from Ohio, 1977-95), dies at 93