1512 – Bayezid II, Ottoman Sultan (1481-1512), dies at 62
1883 – Edward Sabine, Irish astronomer (b. 1788)
1944 – Robert van Spaendonck, Dutch resistance fighter, dies at 27
1954 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian Hockey HOF defenceman (Stanley Cup 1934 Chicago Black Hawks, 1935 Montreal Maroons) and politician (MP Trinity), dies from a heart attack at 54
1962 – Jules Van de Leene, Belgian painter, dies at 75
1973 – Jacques Lipchitz, Polish-French-American painter and cubist sculptor, dies at 81
1995 – Ron Weatherburn, British jazz pianist, dies at 61
2006 – Édouard Michelin, CEO of tire manufacturer Michelin (b. 1963)
2010 – Kieran Phelan, Irish senator (b. 1949)
2022 – Andy Fletcher, British synthesizer and bass player (Depeche Mode – “Just Can’t Get Enough”), dies of an aortic dissection at 60
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 25th May 2023
946 – Edmund the Older, king of Wessex/England (939-46), dies
1452 – John Stafford, English Archbishop of Canterbury (1443-52), dies
1848 – Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German writer (b. 1797)
1964 – Vasily Andreyevich Zolotaryov, Russian composer (Rhapsodie hébraïque; Prince Lake), and teacher, dies at 92
1985 – Harold Hecht, American choreographer, dies at 77 of cancer
1996 – Laurence Marks, English journalist, dies at 67
1996 – Bernard Sendall, British deputy director general of British Independent Television Authority and author (Independent Television in Britain), dies at 83
2006 – Otto Zykan, Austrian pianist and composer, dies at 71
2011 – Paul Splittorff, American MLB pitcher and broadcaster (KC Royals), dies of oral cancer at 64
2018 – Piet Kee, Dutch organist and composer, dies at 90
Famous Deaths for 24th May 2023
1425 – Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, Scottish politician (b. 1362)
1734 – Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
1751 – William Hamilton, of Gilbertsfield, poet, dies
1826 – Friedrich Fesca, German violinist and composer, dies of tuberculosis at 37
1850 – Jane Porter, novelist (Scottish Chiefs), dies at 74
1876 – Henry Kingsley, English/Australian writer, dies at 46
1950 – Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, British general, dies at 67
1963 – Elmore James, American blues slide guitarist, dies of a heart attack at 45
1976 – Melle Oldeboerrigter, Dutch painter and cartoonist, dies at 65
1994 – Yehuda Mor-Mirkovsky, Israeli kibbutz-founder, dies at 96
Famous Deaths for 23rd May 2023
1524 – Ismail I, Shah of Persia, converted Iran from Sunni to Shi’ah, dies at 36
1834 – Charles Wesley, English organist and composer, dies at 76
1874 – Silvain van de Weyer, 1st Belgian foreign minister to Britain, dies at 72
1875 – Johann Wilhelm Mangold, German composer, dies at 78
1893 – Anton von Schmerling, Austrian statesman, dies at 87
1960 – Georges Claude, French engineer and inventor (neon light), dies at 89
1967 – Carl-Henrik Norin Swedish jazz saxophonist, and composer (“Mississippi Mood”), dies at 47
1969 – Jimmy McHugh, American composer (“I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”; “On the Sunny Side of the Street”; “I’m In The Mood For Love”), dies at 74
1979 – Hubert van Doorne, auto manufacturer (DAF Trucks), dies at 79
2010 – Jose Lima, Dominican baseball player (b. 1972)
Famous Deaths for 22nd May 2023
1921 – Marie Wilton, Lady Bancroft, British Victorian theater manager, actress, and novelist, dies at about 82
1965 – Christopher Stone, first disc jockey in the United Kingdom (b. 1882)
1967 – Josip Plemelj, Slovenian mathematician, dies at 93
1977 – Gijs van Hall, Dutch politician and Mayor of Amsterdam (1957-67), dies at 73
1988 – Giorgio Almirante, Italian fascist (member of parliament (1948-87)), dies at 73
1996 – Duncan Montgomery Stewart, academic, dies at 66
2001 – Whitman Mayo, American actor (Grady Wilson-“Sanford and Son”), dies at 70
2004 – Richard Biggs, American actor (b. 1960)
2008 – Robert Asprin, American author (b. 1946)
2015 – Marques Haynes, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame guard (Harlem Globetrotters), dies at 88
Famous Deaths for 21st May 2023
1524 – Thomas Howard 2nd duke of Norfolk, general/premier, dies at about 80
1542 – Hernando de Soto, Spanish conquistador and 1st European to discover the Mississippi River, dies of a fever while searching for gold, near the Mississippi River at about 46
1860 – Johannes Frederik Fröhlich, Danish violinist and composer, dies at 53
1935 – Jane Addams, American pacifist, social activist, feminist, author, co-founder of ACLU (Nobel Prize for Peace, 1931), dies at 65
1935 – Hugo de Vries, Dutch botanist and geneticist who rediscovered Mendel’s theory of heredity and for his work on genes (The Mutation Theory), dies at 87
1949 – Klaus Mann, German-American author (Mephisto), dies at 42
1954 – János Hammerschlag, Hungarian composer, dies at 68
1978 – Jo Spier [Joseph Spier], Dutch cartoonist and water color painter, dies at 77
1996 – Laurence Dowdall, Scottish lawyer, dies at 91
2022 – Marco Cornez, Chilean soccer goalkeeper, (20 caps; FC Deportivo Palestino, Universidad Católica, Everton de Viña del Mar), dies from stomach cancer at 64
Famous Deaths for 20th May 2023
1648 – Władysław IV Vasa, King of Poland (1632-48), dies of kidney stones at 52
1713 – Thomas Sprat, English writer (b. 1635)
1793 – Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturalist and writer, dies at 73
1900 – Gustav Heinrich Graben-Hoffman, composer, dies at 80
1923 – Hans Goldschmidt, German chemist, dies
1969 – Fred Sherman, American actor (Chain Lightning), dies after a stroke at 64
1972 – Cornelis Jakob van der Klauw, Dutch biologist and zoologist, dies at 78
1973 – Jarno Saarinen, Finnish motorcycle racer (b. 1945)
2020 – Stephen A. DiMauro, American thoroughbred racing jockey, trainer, breeder and owner (Eclipse Award 1975; Lady Pitt, Dearly Precious, Nassipour, Wajima), dies from cancer at 87
2022 – Roger Angell, American literary editor and baseball journalist (The New Yorker), dies of congestive heart failure at 101
Famous Deaths for 19th May 2023
1531 – Jan Łaski, Polish statesman and diplomat (b. 1456)
1903 – Arthur Shrewsbury, English cricket batsman (23 Tests [7 captain]; 1277 runs @ 35 47; Nottinghamshire), dies at 47
1984 – Bill Holland, American auto racer (Indianapolis 500 1949; runner-up 1947, 48, 50), dies at 76
1988 – Virginia Farmer, actress (Cyrano de Bergerac), dies at 90
1998 – (Edwin) “Ted” Astley, British arranger, bandleader, and film and television composer (The Mouse That Roared; The Saint), dies at 76
2004 – Tony Randall [Leonard Rosenberg], American actor (The Odd Couple), dies aged 84
2006 – Freddie Garrity, English pop singer (Freddie and the Dreamers – “I’m Telling You Now”), dies at 69
2007 – Bernard Blaut, Polish soccer midfielder (36 caps; KP Legia Warsaw, FC Metz) and manager (UAE), dies at 67
2009 – Robert F. Furchgott, American pharmacologist (co-winner Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1998), and educator, dies at 92
2009 – Nicholas Maw, British composer, dies at 73
Famous Deaths for 18th May 2023
1733 – Georg Böhm, German organist and composer, dies at 71
1807 – John Douglas, Scottish Anglican bishop and man of letters, dies at 86
1953 – Tom Killick, English cricketer (at the crease 2 Tests for Eng 1929), dies at 69
1965 – Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis, Dutch historian of science (biography of Archimedes), dies at 72
1975 – Leroy Anderson, American composer (Syncopated Clock), dies at 66
1993 – Heinrich Albertz, German theologist and mayor of Berlin (1966-67), dies at 78
1996 – Simon Weinstock, English businessman and racehorse owner, dies at 44
2002 – David “Davey Boy” Smith, English professional wrestler (WWF Intercontinental Championship; British Bulldogs), dies of a heart attack at 39
2013 – Steve Forrest, American actor (SWAT), dies at 87
2021 – Charles Grodin, American stage and screen actor (Heartbreak Kid; Midnight Run; Ishtar: Beethoven series), writer, and talk show host, dies of bone marrow cancer at 86
Famous Deaths for 17th May 2023
1807 – John Gunby, Maryland Soldier in the American Revolutionary War (b. 1745)
1839 – Archibald Alison, Scottish author (b. 1757)
1851 – Adriaan van Bevervoorde, Dutch journalist (Treason), dies at 31
1886 – John Deere, American blacksmith and manufacturer (founded Deere and Company), dies at 82
1927 – Harold Geiger, U.S. Army aviation pioneer (b. 1884)
1964 – Steve Owen, American Pro Football Hall of Fame tackle (NY Giants) and coach (NFL C’ship 1927, 34, 38; NY Giants), dies at 66
1972 – Sir Gordon Lowe, British tennis player, Member of Parliament (Australasian C’ship 1915), dies at 87
2004 – Ezzedine Salim, leader of Iraqi Governing Council (b. 1943)
2007 – Lloyd Alexander, author (b. 1924)
2021 – Héctor Silva, Argentine rugby union number 8 (24 caps; Los Tilos) and coach (Argentina 1985-87), dies from COVID-19 at 76