1863 – Job Plimpton, American composer and organ builder, dies at 79
1917 – Moritz von Bissing, Prussian general, dies at 73
1947 – Benny Leonard, American boxer (world lightweight title 1917-25), dies from a heart attack at 51
1949 – Will Hay [William Thomson Hay], British comedian, actor and amateur astronomer, dies from a stroke at 60
1956 – Floyd Smith, American aviator and inventor of the modern parachute, dies at 71
1996 – Hubert Opperman, Australian road cyclist, politician (multi-distance world records), dies of heart failure at 91
2013 – Storm Thorgerson, British graphic designer and music video director (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, The Cranberries), dies of cancer at 69
2015 – Joseph Lechleider, American electrical engineer (invented DSL/high speed internet technology), dies at 82
2020 – François Lafortune Jr., Belgian rifle shooter (7 x Olympic Games 1952-1976, 50m Rifle, Prone Position), dies from Parkinson’s disease at 87
2022 – Sid Mark [Fliegelman], American disc jockey and ‘Frank-ophile’ (The Sounds of Sinatra, 1960-2022), dies at 88
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 17th April 2026
485 – Proclus, Greek mathematician, dies in Athens [or Apr 14]
1835 – William Henry Ireland, English forger (Shakespearean manuscripts), dies
1896 – Sophus Tromholt, Danish astrophysicist and photographer (portraits of the Kven and Sami people), dies at 44
1941 – Al Bowlly, South African-British dance band vocalist (“Midnight, The Stars, And You”), and bandleader, dies in a German bombing raid of London at 43
1975 – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian philosopher and leader, Second President of India (1962-67), dies at 86
1983 – Felix Pappalardi, American rock music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist (Mountain – “Mississippi Queen”), shot and killed by his wife, Gail, at 43
1992 – Arthur “Skeets” Herfurt, American jazz and session saxophonist and clarinetist (Dorsey Brothers; Benny Goodman; Lawrence Wlek), dies at 80
2004 – [Andrew] Bruce Boa, Canadian actor (The Empire Strikes Back), dies of cancer at 73
2008 – Danny Federici, American rock organist, accordionist, and glockenspieler (E Street Band), dies of melanoma at 58
2018 – Tom McBride, Irish traditional and country music singer-songwriter, and band leader (Big Tom and the Mainliners), dies at 81
Famous Deaths for 16th April 2026
1113 – Sviatopolk II of Kiev, Russian prince (b. 1050)
1687 – George Villiers, 2nd duke of Buckingham, English statesman and poet, dies at 59
1993 – Jan Meefout, Dutch sculptor (Resting Woman, Elephant), dies at 77
1995 – Iqbal Masih, Pakistani child slave labourer, activist (b. 1982)
1997 – Ray Green, American composer and publisher, dies at 88
1999 – Nicholas Cayzer, British shipping magnate (British and Commonwealth Shipping), dies at 89
2002 – Ruth Fertel, American restaurateur (Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Louisiana), dies at 75
2010 – Daryl Gates, LAPD Chief, dies at 83
2011 – Harold Volkmer, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri, dies at 80
2016 – Peter Tolson, English rock guitarist (Pretty Things), dies at 64
Famous Deaths for 15th April 2026
1881 – Sophia Perovskaya, Soviet icon, aristocrat, and socialist revolutionary (Narodnaya Volya), who helped orchestrate the successful assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, executed by hanging at 27
1937 – Ned Hanlon, American Baseball HOF center fielder (NL pennant 1887 Detroit Wolverines) and manager (5 × NL pennant Baltimore Orioles, Brooklyn Superbas), dies at 79
1983 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch author (The Hiding Place) and Holocaust survivor, dies at 91
1993 – Harry Alexander, Australian cricket fast bowler (1 Test, Bodyline series 1933, 1 wicket; Victoria), dies at 87
2005 – Ken Funston, South African cricket batsman (18 Tests, 5 x 50, HS 92; NE Transvaal, Transvaal, Orange Free State), dies at 79
2013 – Jo Roland [Rolando Bonardelli], Swiss pop singer and TV personality (Rendez-vous), known as the ‘Swiss Perry Como’, dies at 80
2015 – Jonathan Crombie, Canadian actor (Anne of Green Gables), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 48
2017 – Sylvia Moy, American songwriter (“My Cherie Amour”; “This Old Heart Of Mine”; “It Takes Two”), dies of pneumonia at 79
2017 – Clifton James, American actor (Live and Let Die, Silver Streak), dies at 96
2019 – Owen Kay Garriott, American electrical engineer and NASA astronaut (Skylab 3, STS 9), dies at 88
Famous Deaths for 14th April 2026
1345 – Richard Aungerville [Richard de Bury], English bishop, writer (The Philobiblon) and one of the first English book collectors, dies at 58
1578 – James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, consort of Mary I of Scotland
1865 – Rafael Carrera, Guatemalan military commander and Dictator of Guatemala (1844–48, 1851–65), dies at 50
1941 – Guillermo Kahlo, German-Mexican photographer and father of Frida Kahlo, dies at 69
1978 – Frank Raymond [F.R.] Leavis, British literary critic (Culture and Environment), dies at 82
1987 – Karl Höller, German composer, dies at 79
1992 – David Miller, American film director (Billy the Kid), dies of cancer at 82
2009 – Maurice Druon, French writer and journalist (Prix Goncourt), dies at 90
2015 – Percy Sledge, American soul singer (“When A Man Loves A Woman”), dies at 73
2018 – Daedra Charles, American Women’s Basketball HOF forward (NCAA C’ship 1989, 91 Uni of Tennessee; LA Sparks), dies at 49
Famous Deaths for 13th April 2026
1517 – Tuman bay II, last Mamelukken sultan of Egypt, dies at 40
1728 – Johann Christoph Schmidt, German composer, dies at 63
1794 – Nicolas Chamfort, French writer, dies at 53
1855 – Henry De la Beche, English geologist, dies at 59
1864 – Johann Schneider, German composer and organist, dies at 74
1882 – Bruno Bauer, German theologian, dies at 72
1911 – John McLane, American politician, dies at 59
1970 – William H. Johnson, African-American artist of the Harlem Renaissance (Flowers; Training for War), dies of pancreatic hemorrhage at 67
1997 – Foffie Williams, West Indian cricket all-rounder (4 Tests; 9 wickets, 1 x 50; Barbados), dies at 83
1997 – Ann Craft, British social worker, scholar, and advocate for disability rights (Ann Craft Trust), dies at 53
Famous Deaths for 12th April 2026
1687 – Ambrose Dixon, Virginia Colony pioneer
1795 – Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general, dies at 84
1845 – Hendrik Marcus de Kock, Dutch general and politician (Lieutenant Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies 1826-30), dies at 65
1942 – Johannes Evert Akkeringa, Dutch painter and etcher, dies at 81
1959 – Ernest Willem Mulder, Dutch conductor, composer, and teacher, dies at 60
1973 – Arthur Freed, American Academy Award-winning lyricist and film producer (An American in Paris; Gigi; Singin’ in the Rain), dies from heart attack at 78
1981 – Hans Chemin-Petit, German composer, dies at 78
2013 – Michael France, American screenwriter, dies from complications from diabetes at 51
2020 – John Horton Conway, British mathematician (cellular automaton Game of Life), dies of COVID-19 complications at 82
2020 – Stirling Moss, British auto racer (16 x F1 Grand Prix; World F1 Drivers C’ship runner-up 1955-58; 12 Hours of Sebring 1954) and broadcaster (ABC F1, NASCAR), dies at 90
Famous Deaths for 11th April 2026
1648 – Matthäus Appelt, German composer, dies at 53
1712 – Richard Simon, French Oratorian priest, biblical critic and orientalist (Histoire Critique du Vieux Testament / Critical History of the Old Testament), dies at 73
1838 – Piet Uys [Petrus Lafras Uys], Dutch Afrikaner Voortrekker pioneer (the Great Trek from Cape of Good Hope to interior South Africa), killed during the Battle of Italeni against the Zulus at 40
1908 – Henry Bird, English Chess player and author (b. 1829)
1974 – Charles Curtis “Curt” Conway, American actor (Raw Deal; The Twilight Zone), dies of a heart attack at 60
1980 – Charlotte Henry, American actress (Alice in Wonderland; Babes In Toyland; Jungle Menace), dies of cancer at 66
1992 – Robert Houben, Belgian politician (Minister of Public Health, 1958), dies at 86
1996 – Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet, French advertising magnate and Founder of Publicis Groupe, dies at 89
2006 – Proof [DeShaun Holton], American rapper (D12), shot to death in billiard game dispute at 32
2025 – Max Romeo [Smith], Jamaican reggae singer and songwriter, dies of heart complications at 80
Famous Deaths for 10th April 2026
1008 – Notger, Benedictine monk and 1st Prince-Bishop of Liège (972-1008), dies
1834 – John Macarthur, Australian pastoralist, helped found wool industry in Australia, dies at 66
1932 – André Baillon, Belgian-French author (and sabots), dies at 56
1974 – Patricia Collinge, dies at 81
1997 – Michael Dorris, American novelist (A Yellow Raft in Blue Water; The Broken Cord ). and scholar (Dartmouth), commits suicide at 52
2010 – Maria Kaczyńska, Polish economist and First Lady of Poland, is killed in the crash of a Polish Air Force Tu-154 at 67
2017 – Banner Thomas, American rock bassist (Molly Hatchet), dies of a heart attack at 63
2023 – Al Jaffee, American comic strip cartoonist and illustrator (MAD Magazine), dies at 102
2024 – Ted Toleman, British motor sport executive (founder Toleman Racing F1 team), dies at 86
2025 – Leo Beenhakker, Dutch soccer manager (Ajax, Feyenoord, Real Madrid, Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, Poland), dies at 82
Famous Deaths for 9th April 2026
491 – Zeno, Eastern Roman Emperor (474-75, 476-91), dies at 66
1483 – Edward IV, King of England (1461-70, 71-83), dies of unknown causes at 40
1917 – Edward Thomas, poet, killed in WW I
1948 – Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian politician (b. 1903)
1978 – Vivian McGrath, Australian tennis player (Australian C’ship 1937), dies at 62
1991 – Maurice Binder, American photographer and film title designer (James Bond Movies), dies at 73
2011 – Jerry Lawson, American electronic engineer, considered the ‘the father of the video game cartridge, dies from complications of diabetes at 70
2013 – Emilio Pericoli, Italian pop singer (“Al di là”, “Quando, quando, quando”), dies at 85
2015 – Pim Lier, Dutch lawyer and illegitimate son of Prince Consort Henry, dies at 96
2025 – David Sassoon, Iraqi-British fashion designer best known for dressing Princess Diana, dies at 92