875 – Ado of Vienne, French archbishop of Vienne, dies at about 75
1669 – Nathaniel Fiennes, English politician (b. circa 1608)
1921 – Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (Samson et Dalila; Organ Symphony), dies of a heart attack at 86
1944 – Philip Guedalla, English barrister and historian, dies at 55
1985 – Dick Pollard, cricketer (England fast-medium bowler 1946-48), dies
1985 – Paul Castellano, American organized-crime chief, shot dead at a NYC restaurant at 70
1994 – Mary Durack, Australian author and historian (Kings in Grass Castles and Keep Him My Country), dies at 81
2003 – Gary Stewart, American country singer (She’s Actin’ Single), commits suicide by shooting himself in the neck at 59
2006 – Taliep Petersen, South African singer and composer (b. 1950)
2021 – Taniela Moa, Tongan rugby union halfback (20 caps; Auckland Blues, Section Paloise RUFC), dies at 36
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 15th December 2023
1598 – Philip van Marnix, Flemish ruler of St Aldegonde/poet, dies at 58
1621 – Charles d’Albert, duc of Luynes, French courtier, favourite of Louis XIII and Constable of France, dies at 43
1934 – Maggie L. Walker, African-American teacher and businesswoman (1st female Bank President), dies at 69
1953 – Kishio Hirao, Japanese composer, dies at 46
1971 – Paul Pierre Lévy, French mathematician (b. 1886)
1984 – Frank Spedding, Canadian chemist whose uranium extraction process helped make possible the first atomic bomb, dies at 82
1986 – Serge Lifar, Russian-French dancer, choreographer (Paris Opera Ballet), dies at 81
1991 – Ray Smith, British actor (And Then You Die), dies at 55
2008 – León Febres Cordero, Ecuadorian politician (President of Ecuador 1984-88), dies at 77
2011 – Christopher Hitchens, English author and journalist (Vanity Fair, New Statesman), dies of oesophageal cancer aged 62
Famous Deaths for 14th December 2023
1553 – Hanibal Lucić, Croatian writer, dies at 68
1651 – Pierre Dupuy, French historian and scholar, dies at 69
1735 – Thomas Tanner, English bishop and antiquarian (b. 1674)
1760 – Kacic Miosic, Croatian poet (Razgovar Ugodni Naroda Slovinskoga), dies at 56
1823 – Vincenzo Cuoco, Italian historian (Naples Revolution 1799), dies at 53
1985 – Charlie Bachman, American College Football Hall of Fame guard and coach (Notre Dame, Florida, Michigan State), dies at 93
1991 – John Arlott, British cricket commentator and writer (BBC), dies of emphysema at 77
1997 – Owen Barfield, British philosopher of language, dies at 99
2016 – Garrett K. Gomez, American jockey (US Champion Jockey by earnings 2006-09; Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey 2007-08), dies of a drug overdose at 44
2021 – Jethro [Geoffrey Rowe], British stand-up comedian (This Train Don’t Stop Camborne Wednesdays), dies of lymphoma complicated by Covid-19 at 73
Famous Deaths for 13th December 2023
1603 – François Viète, French mathematician dies in Paris (b. 1540)
1909 – Innokenty Annensky, Russian poet, critic and interpreter, dies of a heart attack at 54
1945 – Robert van Genechten, Dutch Nazi (NSB), commits suicide
1958 – Brand Dirck Ochse, Dutch filmmaker and co-founder (Polygoon), dies at 66
1961 – Grandma Moses [Anna Mary Robertson], American primitive painter (Old Oaken Bucket), dies at 101
1965 – Robert Frederick Sink, United States Army Officer (WWII, Korean War and Vietnam War), dies at 60
1975 – Cyril Delevanti, British actor (Soylent Green, The Night of the Iguana), dies at 88
1991 – Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues, French writer (La Marge), dies at 82
2008 – John Drake, New Zealand rugby union footballer (b. 1959)
2009 – Paul A. Samuelson, American economist (1970 Nobel Prize for Economics, 1947 John Bates Clark Medal), dies at 94
Famous Deaths for 12th December 2023
1821 – Phoebe Hessel, English woman who disguised herself as a man to serve in the British Army, probably to be with her lover, Samuel Golding, dies at 108
1956 – Lorenzo Perosi, composer, dies at 83
1960 – Christopher Hornsrud, Prime Minister of Norway (3 weeks), dies at 101
1961 – Daiun Sogaku Harada, Zen founder of Sanbo Kyodan lineage, dies at 91
1995 – Andrew Olle, broadcaster, dies at 48
1995 – James Altgens, JFK assassination photographer, dies at 76
1995 – Mary Bruce, American tap dance teacher, dies at 95
2004 – George Hunter, South African boxer (Olympic gold light heavyweight 1948), dies at 77
2008 – Tassos Papadopoulos, Cypriot lawyer and politician (President, 2003-08), dies at cancer at 74
2020 – Charley Pride, American country singer (Sweet Country), dies of COVID-19 complications at 86
Famous Deaths for 11th December 2023
1888 – John Rylands, English cloth merchant and philanthropist (Rylands and Sons, Manchester’s 1st multi-millionaire), dies at 87
1950 – Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and computing pioneer, dies at 57
1953 – Albert Coates, English conductor and composer (Eagle; Pickwick), dies at 78
1964 – Percy Kilbride, American stage and screen actor (The Egg and I; Ma and Pa Kettle films), dies at 76
1978 – Vincent du Vigneaud, American chemist and (1955 Nobel Prize for Chemistry – for work on sulphur compounds), dies at 77
1990 – Fernand Collin, Belgian economist and banker, dies at 92
1995 – Arthur Mullard, English actor, comedian and singer (Romany Jones), dies at 82
1998 – [James] Lynn Strait, American singer (Snot), dies in a car accident at 30
2014 – Hans Wallat, German opera conductor, dies at 85
2016 – Sid O’Linn, South African cricketer (soccer for South Africa 1947, cricket 1960), dies at 89
Famous Deaths for 10th December 2023
1508 – René II, Duke of Lorraine, dies at 57
1524 – Henry van Zutphen, Dutch Augustine/Luthern minister, burned to death
1746 – Teodorico Pedrini, also known as De Lige, Italian Vincentian priest, musician, composer, and missionary at the imperial court of China (1711-46), dies at 75
1946 – Walter Johnson, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (3 x Triple Crown of Pitching; World Series 1924; AL MVP 1913, 24; Washington Senators), dies from a brain tumour at 59
1988 – Richard Castellano, American actor (The Godfather, Lovers and Other Stranger), dies at 55
1992 – Dan Maskell, English tennis commentator (b. 1908)
1993 – Maroun Bagdadi, Lebanese film director (Little Wars, Veiled Man), dies in an accident at 43
1995 – Phillip Piratin, British communist MP, dies at 88
1996 – John Duffey, bluegrass guitarist, dobro, and mandolin player (Country Gentlemen), dies of a heart attack at 62
2012 – Iajuddin Ahmed, Bangladeshi President, dies from heart surgery complications at 81
Famous Deaths for 9th December 2023
1674 – Edward Hyde 1st earl of Clarendon, English PM (1660-67), dies at 65
1793 – Yolande de Polastron, Duchess de Polignac, French aristocrat, dies at 44
1814 – Jose Angel Lamas, Venezuelan composer, dies at 39
1925 – Eugène Gigout, French organist (St Augustin de Paris, 1863-1925), and composer (10 pièces pour orgue), dies at 81
1930 – Rube Foster, American Baseball HOF manager and executive (Negro National League pennant 1920–22, 26; Chicago American Giants), dies from insanity at 51
1957 – Carswell Adams, sportscaster (Your Sports Special), dies
1974 – Jorge Croner de Vasconcelos, Portuguese composer, dies at 64
1982 – Paul Godwin, Polish-Dutch violinist, dies at 80
1998 – Archie Moore, American light-heavyweight boxing champion (1952-60), dies at 84
2014 – José Feghali, Brazilian concert pianist (Van Cliburn Gold Medalist, 1985), takes his own life at 53
Famous Deaths for 8th December 2023
1854 – George Cayley, English inventor who founded science of aerodynamics (built 1st glider to carry a person), dies at 80
1870 – Thomas Brassey, English civil engineering contractor, dies at 65
1982 – Kenneth Goncalves, Suriname deacon and pro-democracy advocate murdered by the military
1982 – Frank Wijngaarde, Suriname journalist and pro-democracy advocate murdered by the military
1991 – (Wilbur) “Buck” Clayton, American jazz trumpet player (Count Basie; Billie Holiday; Lester Young), and bandleader, dies at 80
1994 – Antônio Carlos Jobim [Tom Jobim], Brazilian singer-songwriter and composer (Getz/Gilberto), dies from pulmonary embolism at 67
1995 – Carl Marsden, bodyguard, dies at 36
2000 – Marvin Leath, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas’s 11th district), dies at 69
2018 – Rosanell Eaton, American voting rights advocate, dies at 97
2021 – Jacques Zimako, French soccer forward (13 caps; Saint-Étienne, Sochaux, Bastia), dies at 69
Famous Deaths for 7th December 2023
1383 – Wenceslaus, Duke of Brabant, dies
1793 – Joseph Bara, French revolutionary (b. 1780)
1839 – Jan August Vitasek, Bohemian composer working in Prague, dies at 69
1938 – Harry Moses, cricketer (6 Tests for Australia 1887-95), dies
1979 – Mari Andriessen, Dutch sculptor (Dock Worker), dies at 82
1985 – Robert Graves, English writer and poet (King Jesus), dies at 90
1992 – Ruth Corbett Thom, dies after long illness at 78
2004 – Frederick Fennell, American conductor (Time and Winds), dies at 90
2018 – Belisario Betancur, Colombian politician, President of Colombia (1982-86), dies at 95
2020 – Chuck Yeager, American test pilot who was the 1st man to break the sound barrier, dies at 97