1772 – Johann Friedrich Struensee, German physician of Christian VII of Denmark, dies at 34
1883 – William M. Browne, American Confederate politician and Brigadier General, dies at 59
1887 – Carl Ferdinand Pohl, German-Austrian music historian, organist, and composer, dies at 67
1945 – Claretta Petacci, Italian mistress of Mussolini, executed at 33
1945 – Roberto Farinacci, Italian fascist, dies at 52
1955 – Lode Cantens, Flemish playwright (Gnomes of the City), dies at 43
1987 – Ben Linder, American engineer, murdered by Contras in Nicaragua at 27
1995 – Henry C. Rogers, American publicist, dies at 81
2014 – Jack Ramsay, American Hall of Fame basketball coach (Portland Trail Blazers, 1977 NBA Champions), dies from cancer at 89
2021 – Madeline Davis, American activist and the first openly lesbian delegate to a Democratic national convention, dies of complications of a stroke at 80
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 27th April 2026
1599 – Maeda Toshiie, Japanese general, dies at 61
1702 – Jean Bart, French naval captain, privateer, and sea hero (Escape from Plymouth), dies at 51
1876 – George Aiken, American playwright and actor famous for writing the most popular stage adaptation of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, dies at 45
1927 – Albert J. Beveridge, American politician and historian (Progressive leader, Senator Indiana 1899-1911), dies at 64
1982 – Tom Tully, American radio, stage, and screen actor (The Caine Mutiny; Shane), dies at 73
1992 – Olivier Messiaen, French composer (L’Ame en Bourgeon; St Francois d’Assise), dies at 83
1996 – William Colby, American C.I.A. director (1973-76), dies at 76
1996 – Joan Sterndale-Bennett, British actress (Brighton Rock, Those Fantastic Flying Fools), dies at 82
1998 – John Bassett, Canadian publisher and media baron, dies at 47
1998 – Godfrey Kenton, English actor (The Tempest, Well’s Theater), dies at 96
Famous Deaths for 26th April 2026
1922 – Hans Sommer, German theatre composer, dies at 84
1944 – Violette Morris, French athlete and spy for Nazi Germany, dies at 51
1951 – Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist, dies at 82
1958 – Joan Collette, Dutch graphic artist and painter (New Church, Delft), dies at 68
1965 – Aaron Avshalomov, Russian-Jewish-American composer (Kuan Yin; The Great Wall), conductor (Shanghai Municipal Orchestra, 1943-46), and librarian, dies at 70
1983 – Bronislaw Kaper, Polish-American Academy Award-winning film composer (Green Dolphin Street; Lili; The Brothers Karamazov), dies at 81
2007 – Edward Seidensticker, American historian and translator of Japanese and classical works, dies at 86
2013 – Len Rempt-Halmmans de Jongh, Dutch politician (House of Representatives, 1975-79, 1982–94), dies at 85
2018 – Charles Neville, American vocalist and saxophonist (Neville Brothers), dies of pancreatic cancer at 79
2025 – Andy Bey, American jazz singer and pianist (Horace Silver; Gary Bartz), dies at 85
Famous Deaths for 25th April 2026
1295 – Sancho IV, the Brave, scholar/king of Castile/Leon, dies
1828 – Johannes Goldberg, Dutch politician and first Agent of the National Economy, dies at 64
1911 – Emilio Salgari, Italian novelist (b. 1862)
1946 – Joseph Vine, cricketer (batted in two Tests Eng v Aust 1911-12), dies
1949 – Jankel Adler, Polish painter and printmaker, dies at 53
1972 – George Sanders, Russian actor (All About Eve-Academy Award 1950), commits suicide at 65
1995 – Ginger Rogers [Virginia McMath], American vaudeville, stage and screen dancer, singer (Top Hat), and Academy Award-winning actress (Kitty Foyle; Stage Door), dies at 83
1999 – Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, Irish journalist, author, sports official and 6th President of the International Olympic Committee (1972-80), dies at 84
2023 – Sir Winfried Bischoff, German-British banker and chairman of Lloyds Banking Group, dies at 81
2023 – Vera Krepkina, Russian athlete (Olympic gold USSR long jump 1960; WR 4×100m relay 1956, tied WR 100m 11.3s 1958), dies at 90
Famous Deaths for 24th April 2026
1731 – Daniel Defoe, English novelist (Robinson Crusoe), dies at about 70
1776 – Carolus van de Abeele, Flemish Jesuit, dies at 84
1852 – Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet and leading figure in Russian literature, dies at 69
1945 – Hubert Bath, British film score and light music composer (Cornish Rhapsody), and music director, dies at 61
1957 – Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff, Dutch politician (Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies 1926-31), dies at 84
1961 – Lee Moran, American actor (Circus Clown), dies of heart ailment at 72 (b. 1888)
1967 – Frank Overton, American actor (Fail Safe; 12 O’Clock High (TV series, not film)), dies of a heart attack at 49
1988 – Bob Newson, South African cricket fast bowler (3 Tests, 4 wickets; Transvaal; Rhodesia), dies at 87
2000 – Alma Heflin, American commercial airplane test pilot and child psychologist, dies at 89
2021 – Christa Ludwig, German soprano (Vienna State Opera, 1955-94; Metropolitan Opera, 1959-93), dies at 93
Famous Deaths for 23rd April 2026
1014 – Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, dies in battle at Clontarf at 72 or 73
1728 – Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco, Spanish organist, composer (La púrpura de la rosa), and maestro de capilla (Catedral de Lima, Peru, 1676-1707), dies at 83
1792 – Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, German theologian and adventurer, dies at 50
1823 – Joseph Nollekens, English sculptor (portrait busts, patronized by George III), dies at 85
1986 – Harold Arlen [Hyman Arluck], American popular song composer (“Over the Rainbow”; “It’s Only A Paper Moon”; “Stormy Weather”), dies of cancer at 81
1986 – Otto Preminger, Austro-Hungarian-American theatre and film director, producer (Laura; Advise and Consent; Anatomy of A Murder), and actor (Stalag 17), dies of lung cancer at 80
1999 – Tullio Pandolfini, Italian water polo athlete (Olympic gold, 1948), dies at 84
2011 – Max van der Stoel, Dutch politician and Minister of Foreign Affairs (PvdA), dies at 86
2022 – Orrin Hatch, American politician (US Senator from Utah (R), 1977-2019) longest-serving Utah US Senator, dies at 88
2025 – Jonnie Boer, Dutch chef with three Michelin Stars and a pioneer of the New Nordic food movement, dies of a pulmonary embolism at 60
Famous Deaths for 22nd April 2026
835 – Kūkai, Japanese Buddhist monk and poet (founded Shingon school of Buddhism), dies at 60
1951 – Horace Donisthorpe, British entomologist (British Ants), dies at 81
1976 – Frutuoso de Lima Viana, Brazilian pianist and composer, dies at 79
1982 – Melville Bell Grosvenor, American photographer and president of National Geographic Society, dies at 80
1989 – Emilio G. Segrè, Italian physicist and Nobel laureate (discovered the elements technetium, astatine and the sub-atomic antiparticle antiproton), dies at 84 of a heart attack
2003 – Martha Griffiths, U.S. Congresswoman, dies at 91
2005 – (John) Norman Bird, British stage, wireless, and screen character actor (Worzel Gummidge, 1979–81 – “Mr Braithwaite”), dies at 80
2009 – Jack Cardiff, British cinematographer (Black Narcissus), dies at 94
2022 – Guy Lafleur, Canadian Hockey HOF right wing (5 x Stanley Cup, 2 x NHL MVP, NHL Playoff MVP Montreal Canadiens; NY Rangers, Quebec Nordiques), dies of lung cancer at 70
2025 – Keith Stackpole, Australian cricket batsman (43 Tests, 7 x 100, 14 x 50, HS 207; Victoria), dies at 84
Famous Deaths for 21st April 2026
1868 – Henry James O’Farrell, Australian would-be assassin of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh
1898 – Louis Théodore Gouvy, French-German composer, dies at 78
1920 – Maria Stanford, American pioneering educator and professor, dies at 83
1970 – Earl Hooker, American blues slide guitar player (“Blue Guitar”), dies of tuberculosis at 40
1973 – Arthur Fadden, 13th Prime Minister of Australia, dies at 79
1990 – Erté [Romain de Tirtoff], Russian-French artist and designer, dies at 97
1995 – Bob Wyatt, English cricket all-rounder and captain (40 Tests, 2 x 100, HS 149, 18 wickets; Warwickshire CCC, Worcestershire CCC), dies at 93
2007 – Lobby Loyde [John Lyde], Australian rock guitarist and songwriter (The Purple Heart; Wild Cherries; Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs), dies at 65
2010 – Ludvigsen [Gustav Lorentzen], Norwegian pop and bilhdren;s music singer-songwriter (Knutsen and Ludvigsen), musical therapist, and UNCEF ambassador, dies of cardiac arrest at 63
2015 – Duncan Watson, British solicitor and disability activist (President of World Blind Union, 1988-92), dies at 88
Famous Deaths for 20th April 2026
1632 – Nicolas Antoine, French Protestant theologian who attempted to convert to Judaism, burned at the stake for heresy aged about 30 in Geneva, Switzerland
1769 – Pontiac, Ottawa Indian leader, murdered by a Peoria warrior at 48 or 49
1977 – Len Johnson, Australian cricket fast bowler (1 Test, 6 wickets, BB 3/8; Queensland), dies at 58
1984 – Hristo Prodanov, Bulgarian mountaineer, 13th person and 1st Bulgarian to climb Mt Everest, dies during his descent at 41 (b. 1943)
1992 – Johnny Shines, American delta blues singer and guitarist, dies at 76
1999 – “Ravishing” Rick Rude, American professional wrestler, dies at 40
2014 – Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, American boxer (famous murder conviction overturned after 19 years imprisonment), dies of prostate cancer at 76
2017 – Magdalena Abakanowicz, Polish fiber artist and sculptor, dies at 86
2018 – Avicii [Tim Bergling], Swedish musician, DJ, remixer and record producer (“Levels”; “Wake Me Up”; “Sunshine”), commits suicide at 28
2018 – Allan B. Swift, American broadcast journalist and politician (US Representative for Washington (D), 1979-95), dies at 82
Famous Deaths for 19th April 2026
1831 – Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger, German mathematician, dies at 65
1892 – Fr. Thomas Dale SSC, Anglican clergyman prosecuted for Ritualist practices in the 1870s (b. 1821)
1937 – William Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington, English historian and explorer (Spitzbergen), dies at 81
1956 – Lionel Crabb “Buster”, British Royal Navy diver (WWII), disappears presumed dead on a job for M16 at 47
1978 – Emile de Strycker, Belgian philosopher and founder of the Antwerp University Faculty of Philosophy and Literature, dies at 70
1981 – Ernst Levy, Swiss composer, dies at 85
1992 – Alice Mary Riley, entertainer, dies of cancer at 51
1995 – Igor Hajek, Czech translator and writer, dies at 64
2011 – Grete Waitz, Norwegian long distance athlete (9 x NYC Marathon titles; World C’ship gold 1983; 5 x gold World Cross Country; WR x 4), dies of cancer at 57
2020 – Peter Beard, American wildlife photographer and diarist (The End of the Game, Eyelids of Morning), found dead in Camp Hero State Park at 82