1660 – Peter Scriverius, Dutch lawyer and historian, dies at 84
1758 – François d’Agiçncourt, French composer (b. 1684)
1865 – Robert Fitzroy, English admiral and scientist, dies at 59
1982 – Taisen Deshimaru, Japanese founder of several Zen centers in France, dies at 67
1994 – Richard Scarry, American children’s book writer and illustrator (What Do People Do All Day?), dies at 74
2003 – Mark Berger, University of Kentucky professor (b. 1955)
2007 – Kevin Mitchell, American football player (b. 1971)
2009 – Ron Richards, British record producer (Gerry and The Pacemakers; The Hollies), dies at 80
2010 – Gerry Ryan, Irish radio broadcaster (b. 1956)
2023 – Jock Zonfrillo, Scottish chef (Masterchef Australia judge), dies at 46
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 29th April 2024
1768 – Georg Brandt, Swedish chemist and minerologist, dies at 73
1943 – Sidney Keyes, English poet (Foreign Gate), dies fighting during WWII at 20
1951 – Jules Verstraete [Julien Gustave de Graef], Flemish actor (rubber, The Three Wishes), dies at 67
1959 – Kenneth Anderson, British general (Operation Torch – North Africa), dies at 67
1964 – Albert Saverys, Flemish painter, dies at 77
2011 – David Mason, British orchestral, solo and session trumpet player (The Beatles “Penny Lane”), dies of leukemia at 85
2014 – Bob Hoskins, English actor (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), dies from pneumonia at 71
2020 – Denis Goldberg, South African anti-apartheid activist (convicted alongside Mandela), dies at 87
2021 – Courtney Hall, American NFL center (San Diego Chargers), dies at 52
2021 – Zhang Enhua, Chinese soccer defender (65 caps; Dalian Wanda FC, Grimsby Town), dies from cardiac arrest at 48
Famous Deaths for 28th April 2024
1498 – Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, English politician, dies at 40
1865 – Samuel Cunard, Canadian-British shipping magnate and founder (1st regular Atlantic steamship line), dies at 77
1964 – Rolf de Maré, Swedish art collector and museum director, dies at 75
1983 – Ron James, Australian cricketer (NSW’s Sheffield Shield captain 1949-50), dies at 62
1984 – Glen H. Taylor, American senator, dies at 80
2002 – Alexander Lebed, Russian general, dies at 52
2002 – Lou Thesz, American professional wrestler, dies at 86
2016 – Conrad Burns, American politician (Senate-R-Montana 1989-2007), dies at 81
2021 – Michael Collins, American Major General USAF and astronaut (Gemini 10, Apollo 11), dies of cancer at 90
2023 – Taini Jamison (née Royal), New Zealand netball coach (New Zealand 1967-71; World C’ship 1967), dies at 95
Famous Deaths for 27th April 2024
630 – King Ardashir III of Persia, Sasanian shah of Iran, dies at 9
1813 – Zebulon Pike, American brigadier general and explorer (Pike’s Peak), dies in battle at 34
1927 – Albert J. Beveridge, American politician and historian (Progressive leader, Senator Indiana 1899-1911), dies at 64
1975 – Nicholas Soussanin, Russian-American actor (Last Command, Captain Fury), dies at 86
1979 – Alfred Kantorowicz, German-Jewish historian and journalist (Spanish Diary), dies at 79
1990 – Bella Spewack, Hungarian-American playwright (Kiss Me Kate), dies at 91
1992 – Sol K. Bright, Hawaiian steel-guitar player, singer (Hollywaiians), and songwriter (“Hawaiian Cowboy”), dies at 72
2005 – Red Horner, Canadian Hockey HOF defenceman (Stanley Cup 1932 Toronto Maple Leafs), dies at 95
2012 – Bill “Moose” Skowron, American baseball first baseman (8 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1956, 58, 61, 62 NY Yankees, 1963 LA Dodgers), dies from lung cancer at 81
2015 – Suzanne Crough, American child actress (The Partridge Family), dies at 52
Famous Deaths for 26th April 2024
1784 – (Honora) “Nano” Nagle, Irish Catholic educator and religious order founder (Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, aka Presentation Sisters), dies of tuberculosis at about 66.
1827 – Bernardo Ottani, Italian composer, dies at 90
1951 – Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist, dies at 82
1970 – Paul Celan, Romanian-born writer, dies at 49
1976 – Neil McCallum, British-Canadian actor (Pete-Saber of London), dies at 45
1976 – Sid James [Solomon Joel Cohen], South African-born British character and comedy actor (Hancock’s Half Hour, Carry On), dies from a heart attack at 62
1980 – Cicely Courtneidge, Australian-born British actress (Double Exposure), dies at 87
1981 – Jim Davis, American actor (Dallas – “Jack Ewing”), dies at 65
1997 – John Beal [James Andrew Bliedung], American actor (10 Who Dare, I Am the Law, Les Misérables), dies at 87
1997 – Gene Ames, American singer (Ames Brothers), dies of cancer at 73
Famous Deaths for 25th April 2024
1800 – William Cowper, English pre-romantic poet (Olney Hymns), dies at 68
1905 – Jacob Olie, Dutch photographer, dies at about 70
1915 – Frederick William Seward, United States Assistant Secretary of State (b. 1830)
1925 – George Stephănescu, Romanian composer, dies at 81
1937 – Michał Drzymała, Polish peasant rebel (Drzymała’s wagon), dies at 79
1976 – Alexander Brailowsky, Russian-French pianist (Chopin specialist), dies at 80
1994 – Talaat Yassin Hamman, militant Muslim leader, shot dead at 32
2000 – Neils Viggo Bentzon, Danish pianist and composer (The Tempered Piano), dies at 80
2003 – Samson Kitur, Kenyan athlete (b. 1966)
2019 – Manuel Lujan Jr., American politician (Rep-R-NM, 1969-89), dies at 90
Famous Deaths for 24th April 2024
1622 – Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Swiss friar, martyr, and saint, dies at 44
1852 – Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet (b. 1783)
1924 – George Street, English cricket wicket-keeper (1 Test, 1 dismissal; Surrey CCC, MCC), dies in a road accident at 34
1942 – Leonid Kulik, Russian mineralogist who led the first research expedition to study the Tunguska meteor site, the largest impact event in recorded history, dies of typhus in a Nazi prison camp at 58
1960 – Max von Laue, German physicist who discovered the diffraction of X-rays by crystals, dies at 80
2004 – Winson Hudson, American civil rights activist (rural Mississippi), dies at 87
2004 – Estée Lauder [Josephine Esther Mentzer], American entrepreneur (Estée Lauder cosmetics), dies of cardiopulmonary arrest at 97
2005 – Fei Xiaotong, Chinese sociologist (b. 1910)
2005 – Ezer Weizman, President of Israel (b. 1924)
2009 – Rev. Timothy Wright, American gospel singer (Been There Done That), and pastor, dies from injuries sustained in a car crash at 61
Famous Deaths for 23rd April 2024
990 – Ekkehart II [Palatinus], Swiss monk at the Abbey of Saint Gall known for his poetry, dies
1616 – William Shakespeare, English poet and playwright (Romeo and Juliet; Macbeth: Hamlet), dies at about 52
1762 – Johann Samuel Endler, German composer, musician, and conductor, dies at 67
1774 – Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich, German painter, dies at 61
1827 – Johanna Cornelia Wattier-Ziesenis, Dutch actress (Phaedra, Lady Macbeth), dies at 65
1853 – Auguste Laurent, French chemist who laid the foundations of organic chemistry, dies of tuberculosis at 45
1960 – Toyohiko Kagawa, Japanese Christian social reformer and writer, dies at 71
1985 – Sam Ervin, American politician (U.S. Senator from North Carolina) and Watergate committee chairman, dies at 88
2012 – Tommy Marth, American rock saxophone player (the Killers, 2008-2010), dies of self-inflicted gunshot at 33
2019 – Johan Witteveen, Dutch economist, Minister of Finance (1963–65; 1967–71) and managing director of the IMF (1973-78), dies at 97
Famous Deaths for 22nd April 2024
536 – St. Agapetus I, Bishop of Rome (535-36), dies at 46
1355 – Eleonora Plantagenet, daughter of King Edward II, dies at 36
1616 – Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra, Spanish author (Don Quixote), dies of likely diabetes at 68
1844 – Henri-Montan Berton, French composer, dies at 76
1933 – Henry Royce, English industrialist and automobile founder (Rolls-Royce), dies at 70
1976 – Frutuoso de Lima Viana, Brazilian pianist and composer, dies at 79
1983 – Earl “Fatha” Hines, American jazz pianist and bandleader (Deep Forest), dies at 79
1994 – Jack Bently, English trombonist, dies at 80
1996 – Harold “Jug” McSpaden, American golfer, course designer (17 PGA Tour wins), dies of carbon monoxide poisoning at 87
2023 – Mike Coulman, English rugby union prop (9 Tests England, 1 British and Irish Lions; Moseley RUFC) and rugby league front rower (3 Tests GB, 5 England; Salford RLFC), dies at 78
Famous Deaths for 21st April 2024
1898 – Louis Théodore Gouvy, French-German composer, dies at 78
1910 – Mark Twain [Samuel Clemens], American author (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer), dies at 74
1981 – Harry Lee, cricketer (scored 18 and 1 in only Test for England), dies
1982 – Joe Sawyer [Sauers], Canadian actor (Adventures of Rin Tin Tin – “Sgt. Biff O’Hara”), dies of liver cancer at 75
1985 – Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-American fashion designer (monokini, miniskirt), dies of cancer at 62
1992 – Robert Harris, American criminal and murderer, executed in a gas chamber at 39 in San Quentin State Prison, California
2000 – Neal Matthews, Jr., American singer (The Jordanaires), dies at 70
2005 – Gerry Marshall, British auto racer (625 x overall and class saloon wins), dies from heart failure at 63
2013 – Leopold Engleitner, Austrian Holocaust survivor, dies at 107
2013 – Chrissy Amphlett, Australian singer- songwriter (Divinyls – “I Touch Myself”), dies of breast cancer at 53