Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

Famous Deaths on August 18

  • 353 Decentius, Roman usurper against Western Emperor Constantius II
  • 440 Sixtus III, Italian Pope (432-40), dies
  • 472 Flavius Ricimer, Germanic general who effectively ruled Western Roman Empire (456-472), dies
  • 849 Walafrid Strabo, German monk and theologian

Genghis Khan (c. 1162-1227)

Mongolian warlord who founded the Mongol Empire, dies at around 65

  • 1236 Theodorus Van Celles, monastery founder (Kruisheren), dies
  • 1258 Theodore II Lascaris, Emperor of the Empire of Nicaea
  • 1276 Adrian V [Ottobono Fieschi], Italian Pope (7/11-8/18/1276), dies
  • 1318 Clare of Montefalco, Italian Abbess and religious leader, dies at about 40 (exact birthdate uncertain, born c. 1268)
  • 1430 Thomas de Ros, 8th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, English soldier and politician, drowned at 23
  • 1503 Alexander VI [Rodrigo de Borja], Spanish Pope controversial for acknowledging his children (1492-1503), dies at 72

Paul IV (1476-1559)

Pope (1555-59), dies at 83

  • 1563 Étienne de La Boétie, French judge and writer, dies at 32
  • 1613 Giovanni Artusi, Italian composer
  • 1620 Wanli, Emperor of Ming Dynasty, dies at 56
  • 1634 Urbain Grandier, French priest (b. 1590)
  • 1642 Guido Reni, Italian Baroque painter, dies at 66
  • 1645 Eudoxia Streshneva, Tsarina of Mikhail I of Russia (b. 1608)
  • 1652 Benjamin G Cuyp, historical painter, dies at about 40
  • 1683 Charles Hart, British Shakespearean actor, dies
  • 1707 William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, English statesman and Whig politician (1661-84), dies at 67
  • 1712 Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers, English soldier
  • 1761 François Gaspard Adam, French sculptor (garden sculptures), dies at 51
  • 1765 Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (1745-65), dies at 56
  • 1797 Josiah Spode, English potter and founder of Spode pottery works, dies at 64
  • 1803 James Beattie, Scottish poet and philosopher (Essay on Truth), dies at 67
  • 1809 Matthew Boulton, English manufacturer and engineer (b. 1728)
  • 1811 Johann Heinrich Zang, German composer and organist, dies at 78
  • 1815 Chauncey Goodrich, American politician (b. 1759)
  • 1840 Antony Christiaan Winand Staring, Dutch lawyer and poet (Jaromir), dies at 73
  • 1842 Louis de Freycinet, French explorer and navigator (published the first map to show a full outline of the coastline of Australia in 1811), dies at 62
  • 1850 Honoré de Balzac, French novelist (La Comédie Humaine), dies at 51
  • 1853 Peter Lichtenthal, Austrian composer, musicologist, and physician, dies at 73
  • 1858 William Austin Burt, American scientist, surveyor and inventor who patented America's first typographer (typewriter) and the equatorial sextant, dies at 66
  • 1863 Thomas Welsh, US Union brigadier general (Antietam), dies at 39
  • 1870 Felix Salm-Salm, Prussian/US prince/brigadier general, dies in battle
  • 1887 Orson Squire Fowler, American phrenologist and lecturer, dies at 77
  • 1889 Jacques Damala [Aristides Damalas], Greek military officer and actor, dies from an overdose at 34
  • 1894 William Charles Levey, Irish conductor and composer, dies at 57
  • 1896 Frederick Crouch, British-American cellist, composer ("Kathleen Mavourneen"), Confederate soldier, and music teacher, dies at 88
  • 1896 Richard Avenarius, German philosopher (founded the epistemological theory of knowledge known as empirical criticism), dies at 52
  • 1901 Richard Kleinmichel, composer, dies at 54
  • 1907 John Kerr, Scottish physicist and pioneer in the field of electro-optics (electro-visually Kerr-effect), dies at 82
  • 1916 Edward D Pain, English journalist (NY World), dies in battle at 36
  • 1919 Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian distillery founder (Seagram Distilleries), dies at 78
  • 1934 Delilah Beasley, American author and the 1st Black female newspaper columnist (Oakland Tribune, The Negro Trial-Blazers of California), dies of heart disease at 61

Walter Chrysler (1875-1940)

American automotive pioneer (Chrysler Corporation) and thoroughbred breeder, dies at 65

  • 1942 Erwin Schulhoff, Czech-Russian composer and pianist (Ogelala), dies of tuberculosis at 48 in a German concentration camp in Wülzburg, Bavaria
  • 1943 Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, Russian-Azerbaijani general, dies at 78
  • 1943 Hans Jeschonnek, German air force general/chief-staff, commits suicide
  • 1944 Ernst "Teddy" Thalmann, leader of German KPD, dies
  • 1944 Jacques Roumain, Haitian writer (Gouverneurs de la Rosée), dies at 37
  • 1945 Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian revolutionary and nationalist, dies of injuries from a plane crash at 48
  • 1946 Georg Åberg, Swedish athlete (Olympic silver triple jump; bronze long jump 1912), dies at 53
  • 1949 Paul J Mares, US jazz trumpetist/composer (Tin Roof Blues), dies at 49
  • 1950 Julien Lahaut, chairman Belgian Communist Party, murdered
  • 1952 Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, Chilean Jesuit saint (b. 1901)
  • 1952 Ralph Byrd, American actor (Dick Tracy TV Show, SOS Coast Guard), dies from a heart attack at 43
  • 1957 Wawrzyniec Żuławski, Polish composer, dies during an alpine rescue mission on Mont Blanc, in the Alps, at 41
  • 1961 Learned Hand, American Chief Judge of US Court of Appeals, dies at 89
  • 1961 Leonhard Frank, writer, dies at 78
  • 1962 Cleo Ridgely, silent screen actress (I Remember Mama), dies at 68
  • 1966 Isaac Keesing, Dutch publisher and founder (System Keesing), dies at 80
  • 1966 Watze Cuperus, Frisian author (Struggle & Blessing), dies at 75
  • 1968 Arthur Marshall, American ragtime piano player and composer ("Swipesy Cakewalk" with Scott Joplin; "The Peach"), dies at 86
  • 1968 Cy Walter, American jazz pianist (Three's Company), dies of cancer at 52
  • 1969 Laci Boldemann, Swedish composer, dies at 48
  • 1969 Mildred Davis, American silent screen actress (Grandma's Boy; Haunted Spooks; I Do!), dies of coronary disease at 68
  • 1969 Otto Stern, German-American physicist (Stern-Gerlach-experiment, Nobel 1943), dies at 81
  • 1980 Norman Cazden, American composer, educator, and music theorist, dies at 65
  • 1981 Anita Loos, American screenwriter, novelist (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) and playwright, dies at 88
  • 1982 Beverly Bayne, American actress (Romeo & Juliet, Passionate Youth), dies at 87
  • 1983 Nikolaus Pevsner, German-born art historian (b. 1902)
  • 1988 Alexandr V Shchukin, Russian cosmonaut, dies in SU-26 crash at 42

Frederick Ashton (1904-1988)

British choreographer (Cinderella), dies at 83

  • 1989 Bert Oosterbosch, Dutch cyclist, dies at 32
  • 1989 Imry Németh, Hungarian athlete (Olympic gold hammer throw 1948, bronze 1952; WR 1959 59.88m), dies at 72
  • 1989 Luis Carlos Galan, Colombian presidential candidate, murdered
  • 1990 B F Skinner, American psychologist (Skinner Box), dies of Leukemia at 86
  • 1990 Grethe Ingmann (née Clemmensen), Danish pop singer (Eurovision, 1963), dies of cancer at 52
  • 1990 Raf Reymen, Flemish actor (Huisvuil, Het glas water), dies at 64
  • 1991 Clarence Hutchenrider, American jazz clarinetist (Casa Loma Orchestra), dies at 83
  • 1991 Rick Griffin, American artist and a leading designer of psychedelic posters in the 1960s (Grateful Dead), dies in a motorcycle accident on his Harley at 47
  • 1991 Vaughn Shoemaker, US cartoonist (John Q Public, Pulitzer), dies
  • 1992 Christopher McCandless, subject of the book Into the Wild (b. 1968)
  • 1992 Gerard Sonder, Dutch radio host (AVRO), dies
  • 1992 John Sturges, American film director (Gunfight at the OK Corral), dies of emphysema at 82
  • 1993 Alf Bold, German festival programmer, dies of AIDS at 47
  • 1994 Gottlob Frick, German opera singer, dies at 88
  • 1994 Judy Ann Scott-Fox, literary agent, dies at 56
  • 1994 Richard Laurence Millington Synge, British biochemist (Nobel 1952), dies at 79
  • 1995 Andrew Wilkinson, British pediatrician and the first Professor of Paediatric Surgery in the UK, dies at 81
  • 1995 James Maxwell, American actor and director (The Portrait of a Lady, The Shadow of the Tower, The Evil of Frankenstein), dies at 66
  • 1996 Geoffrey Dearmer, British poet, dies at 103
  • 1996 Hugo Gabriel Gryn, British Reform rabbi, dies at 66
  • 1998 Otto Wichterle, Czech chemist and inventor of the soft contact lens, dies at 84 [1]
  • 1998 Persis Khambatta, Indian actress (Star Trek, Megaforce), dies of a heart attack at 49
  • 2000 Maurice Evans, English soccer wing half (Reading, 407 games) and manager (Shrewsbury Town, Reading, Oxford United), dies from a heart attack at 63
  • 2001 David Peakall, British scientist (b. 1931)
  • 2002 Dean Riesner, American film and television screenwriter (Bill and Coo), dies at 83
  • 2003 Tony Jackson, British bass player (The Searchers, 1962-64 - "Sugar And Spice"), dies from a combination of diabetes, heart disease, and cirrhosis of the liver at 65
  • 2004 Elmer Bernstein, American film music composer (The Magnificent Seven; To Kill A Mockingbird; The Age Of Innocence; Thoroughly Modern Millie), dies at 82
  • 2004 Hiram Fong, American businessman and politician (U.S. Senator from Hawaii), dies at 97
  • 2004 Joe Dodge, American jazz drummer (Dave Brubeck Quartet, 1953-56), dies at 82
  • 2005 Chri$ Ca$h [Christopher Bauman], American professional wrestler, dies in a motorcycle accident at 23
  • 2005 Gao Xiumin, Chinese comedy actress (b. 1959)
  • 2006 Fernand Gignac, Canadian singer and actor (b. 1934)
  • 2006 Jamie Astaphan, Caribbean-born physician (b. 1946)
  • 2007 Lucien Jarraud, Canadian radio host, dies at 84
  • 2007 Michael Deaver, Reagan Administration Deputy White House Chief of Staff, dies at 69
  • 2008 Pervis Jackson, American pop and R&B singer (The Spinners, 1954-2008 - "Games People Play"), dies of brain and liver cancer at 70

Kim Dae-jung (1924-2009)

8th President of South Korea (1998-2003) and 2000 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, dies at 85

  • 2009 Robert Novak, American journalist and commentator (b. 1931)
  • 2010 Benjamin Kaplan, American copyright scholar, dies at 99
  • 2010 Carlos Hugo [Charles Hugues], French-Spanish nobleman of the Bourbon-Parma family, Duke of Parma (1977-2010), and Carlist politician, dies of cancer at 80
  • 2010 Hal Connolly, American Athlete and hammer thrower (b.1931)
  • 2010 Kenneth "Kenny" Edwards, American musician and singer-songwriter (The Stone Poneys, Bryndle), dies of cancer and a blood disorder at 64
  • 2010 Scott Davis, American Announcer of Track and Field (b.1943)
  • 2012 Scott McKenzie, American singer, dies at 73
  • 2013 Dezső Gyarmati, Hungarian water polo player, dies at 85
  • 2014 Don Pardo, TV announcer (Jeopardy, Saturday Night Live), dies at 96
  • 2014 Jim Jeffords, American politician (Senator-R+I-Vermont 1989-2007, Rep-R-VT, 1975-89), dies at 80
  • 2015 (Alan) "Bud" Yorkin, American film and television producer and director (Divorce American Style; All in the Family; Sanford And Son), dies at 89
  • 2015 Louis Stokes, American politician (Rep-D-OH, 1969-99), dies at 90
  • 2015 Roger Smalley, British-Australian pianist, conductor, and composer (Gloria Tibi Trinitas), dies at 72
  • 2017 Brian Aldiss, British sci-fi author (Super-Toys Last All Summer Long, Helliconia trilogy), dies at 92
  • 2017 Bruce Forsyth, British entertainer and television presenter (The Generation Game), dies at 89
  • 2017 Zoe Laskari, Greek actress, dies at 72
  • 2018 Peter Tapsell, British Conservative Party politician (Member of Parliament, 1959-64 and 1966-2015), dies at 88
  • 2019 Jack Whitaker, American sportscaster (ABC, CBS), dies of natural causes at 95
  • 2019 Kathleen Blanco, American politician, 1st female Governor of Louisiana (2004-08), dies from cancer at 76
  • 2020 Ben Cross, English actor (Chariots of Fire, Star Trek), dies at 72
  • 2020 Dale Hawerchuk, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame center (#1 pick NHL Draft 1981; Calder Trophy 1982; Canada Cup 1987, 91; Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres), dies from stomach cancer at 57
  • 2020 Glenn Bassett, American tennis coach (UCLA 1967-93; 7 x NCAA C'ships), dies at 93
  • 2020 Hal Singer, American jazz and R&B saxophonist ("Corn Bread"), dies at 100 [1]
  • 2021 Robert Smith, American baseball administrator (President International Baseball Federation 1981-93; IOC Olympic Order), dies at 85
  • 2022 Hadraawi [Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame], Somali poet who helped preserve the Somali language, dies at 79 [1]
  • 2023 Garry Adey, English rugby union number 8 (2 Tests; Leicester Tigers 381 games) and businessman (Executive Chairman The Adey Group), dies at 78
  • 2023 James L. Buckley, American politician, Senator from New York (Conservative Party: 1971-77), dies at 100
  • 2023 Jean-Louis Georgelin, French Army General (Chief of the Defence Staff, 2006-10), and overseer of Notre-Dame-de-Paris reconstruction (2019-23), dies in a mountain climbing faux pas at 74 [1]
  • 2023 Ray Hildebrand, American pop and contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter (Paul & Paula - "Hey Paula; Land and Hildebrand), dies at 82
August 18 Highlights