Deaths December 31 | History by KabAstro

Commodus (161-192 AD)

Emperor of Rome (180-192), murdered at 31

335 St. Silvester I, Catholic Pope, dies in office
406 Godigisel, King of the Vandals, dies in battle
439 Melania the Younger, Roman monastery founder/saint, dies at about 56
1164 Margrave Ottokar III of Styria (b. 1124)
1194 Duke Leopold V of Austria (killed at a tournament) (b. 1157)
1297 Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford, English soldier (b. 1249)
1302 Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1238)
1382 Daigaku, Zen teacher/46th head of Engakuji, dies in Kamakura Japan
1384 John Wycliffe, English religious reformer, Oxford Professor and bible translator, dies at about 56
1424 Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter, English military leader
1460 Edmund, Earl of Rutland, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England, executed at 17
1460 Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, English politician (b. 1400)
1510 Bianca Maria Sforza, wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, dies at 38
1535 William Skeffington, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1465)
1568 Shimazu Tadayoshi, Japanese warlord, dies at 75
1575 Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (b. 1502)
1583 Thomas Erastus, Swiss physician and theologist, dies at 59
1610 Ludolph van Ceulen, German mathematician (b. 1540)
1616 Jacques Le Maire, pirate/explorer (Lemaire Strait), dies at 31
1640 John Francis Regis, French priest and Roman Catholic saint, dies of pneumonia at 43
1647 Giovanni Maria Trabaci, composer, dies
1650 Dorgon, Chinese emperor (b. 1612)
1652 Frances Cecil, 2nd wife of English earl of Shaftesbury, dies
1673 Oliver St John, English statesman and judge
1679 Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (b. 1608)
1691 Dudley North, English financier and economist (wrote work advocating for free-trade), dies at 50

John Flamsteed (1646-1719)

English astronomer and 1st Astronomer Royal, dies at 73

1733 Hubert K Poot, Dutch poet (Akkerleven (Field Life); Minnezangen (Love Songs)), dies at 44
1742 Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine (1716-42), dies at 81

Richard Montgomery (1738-1775)

Irish General in Continental Army during American Revolutionary War, dies in attack on Quebec at 37

1783 Gualtherus van Doeveren, Dutch physician, and educator, dies at 53
1799 Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and writer, dies at 76
1802 Francis Lewis, Welsh-American merchant and US Founding Father (signed the Declaration of Independence), dies at 89
1802 Hugo Franz Karl Alexander von Kerpen, German composer, dies at 53
1809 Franz Ignaz Beck, composer, dies at 75
1818 Jean-Pierre Duport, French composer and cellist, dies at 77
1848 Oliver Shaw, early American composer, dies at 69
1859 Luigi Ricci, Italian composer, dies at 54
1862 James Edward Rains, American lawyer and Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies in Battle of Stone's River at 29
1862 Joshua Woodrow Sill, US Union brigadier general, dies in Battle of Stone's River at 31
1864 George Mifflin Dallas, American politician (11th Vice President of the United States) and United States Minister to Russia, dies at 72
1872 Aleksis Kivi, Finnish writer and poet (Kanervala), dies at 38
1877 Alberto Mazzucato, composer, dies at 64
1877 Gustave Courbet, French realist painter (Demoiselles the la Seine), dies at 58
1880 Arnold Ruge, German political philosopher and writer, dies at 78
1882 Leon Michel Gambetta, French attorney and 37th Prime Minister of France (1881-82), dies at 44
1886 Charles Pierre Schimpf, Dutch general (Governor of Suriname 1855-59), dies at 74
1888 Samson Raphael Hirsch, German Orthodox rabbi and intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism, dies at 80
1889 Ion Creanga, Moldavian-born Romanian fairy tale author (Amintiti the Copilarie) author, dies at 52
1890 Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican war heroine (Costa Rica's first woman in the military), dies at 74
1893 Jacob Gijsbert de Hoop Scheffer, Dutch vicar and theologian, dies at 74
1894 Thomas J Stieltjes, mathematician (Stieltjes-integral), dies at 38
1896 Leland Hone, Irish cricket wicketkeeper (1 Test; first Irishman to represent England; MCC), dies at 43
1900 Hannibal Goodwin, Episcopal priest who patented a method for making film used in Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope, dies at 78
1907 Jules de Trooz, Belgium politician and Prime Minister of Belgium (1907), dies in office at 50
1910 Archibald Hoxsey, American pioneer aviator (worked for the Wright brothers), dies at 26
1910 John Bevins Moisant, American pioneer aviator, first to cross English Channel with passenger and a cat, killed in New Orleans whose present day airport was originally name for him, dies at 42
1916 Alice Ball, African American chemist (developed treatment for leprosy), dies at 24
1916 Ernst Rudorff, composer, dies at 76
1920 Albert Roelofs, Dutch painter/etcher, dies at 43
1921 Boies Penrose, American politician (U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (1897-1921)), dies at 61
1921 József Kiss, Hungarian literary (Zsido Dalok), dies at 78
1922 Richard Zeckwer, German-American organist, composer (The Bride of Messina), and educator (Philadelphia Musical Academy, 1876-1917), dies at 72
1936 Miguel de Unamuno Jugo, Span philosopher/poet (Cancionero), dies at 72
1936 William Frederick Archdall Ellison, Irish clergyman and astronomer (director of the Armagh Observatory), dies at 72
1938 Richard Nicolaas Roland Holst, Dutch artist and painter, dies at 70
1941 Sigwart Aspestrand, Norwegian composer, dies at 85
1945 Don Douglas, Scottish actor (The Black Castle), dies at 40
1946 Frederik "Frits" Tartaud, Dutch actor, and husband of Dutch actress Alida Klein, dies at 89
1947 Franz Ritter von Epp, German general and Nazi official (Reichsstatthalter for Bavaria 1933-45), dies awaiting trial at Nuremberg at 79

Malcolm Campbell (1885-1948)

British motor racer (world land and water speed record holder), dies of a stroke at 63

1950 Charles Koechlin, French composer (The Jungle Book), dies at 83
1950 Karl Renner, Austrian President (1918-20, 45-50), dies at 80
1951 H. Guy Bedwell, American thoroughbred trainer (North American champion in wins x 7; earnings 1918-19; first Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton), dies at 76
1951 Maxim Litvinov [Meir Genoch Moiseyevich Wallach] Russian statesman, revolutionary and diplomat (People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs.1930-39, Soviet Ambassador to the US 1940-43), dies at 75
1951 Philipp Abraham Kohnstamm, Dutch philosopher and physicist, dies at 76
1953 Albert Plesman, Dutch aviation pioneer and founder (KLM), dies at 64
1954 Peter Van Anrooy, Dutch conductor and composer (Piet Hein Rhapsodie), dies at 75
1958 Gustav Hermann Unger, German composer, dies at 72
1960 Germaine Loosveldt, Flemish actress (Trees die Upright), dies at 69
1960 Semyon Bogatyrev, Russian and Soviet musicologist and composer (completed a symphony abandoned by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky), dies at 70
1960 Semyon Semyonovich Bogatiryov, composer, dies at 70
1964 Gertrude Michael, American actress (Cleopatra, Menace, Club Havana, caged), dies from undisclosed causes at 53
1964 Ólafur Thors, Icelandic Prime Minister (5 times between 1942-63), dies at 72
1966 Nipo T. Strongheart, Native American activist, lecturer and film consultant (Pony Soldier), dies at 75
1966 Pieter Geyl, Dutch historian (History of the Dutch Race), dies at 79
1967 Arthur Mailey, Australian cricket spin bowler (21 Tests, 99 wickets; 10/66 v Gloucestershire 1921), dies at 81
1968 Carl Ahues, German Chess Master (1950), dies at 85
1968 George Lewis [Joseph Zenon], American jazz clarinetist and bandleader (Bunk Johnson; Preservation Hall Jazz Band; "Burgundy Street Blues"), dies at 68
1968 Sabin Drăgoi, Romanian composer, dies at 74
1969 Joseph A Yablonski, American labor leader, and candidate for United Mine Workers (UMW) president, murdered in his home by hitmen hired by then-president of UMW. at 59
1969 Salvatore Baccaloni, Italian operatic bass buffo singer (Metropolitan Opera, 1940-62), and actor (Merry Andrew; Rock-a-Bye Baby), dies at 69
1970 Cyril Scott, English composer and author (Alchemist), dies at 91
1971 Marin Sais, American actress (b. 1890)
1971 Pete Duel [Deuel], American stage and screen actor (Gidget; Love on a Rooftop; Alias Smith and Jones), commits suicide at 31
1971 Vikram Sarabhai, Indian physicist (b. 1919)

Roberto Clemente (1934-1972)

Puerto Rican Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (15 x MLB All Star; World Series 1960, 71 [MVP]; Pittsburgh Pirates), dies in a plane crash at 38

1974 Donalee Tabern, American scientist and inventor of Pentothal - world's most widely used anesthetic, dies at 74 [1]
1975 Donal Michalsky, American composer, dies in a fire at 47
1977 Nora Marlowe, actress (Sara-Gov & JJ), dies at 62
1977 Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah, ruler of Kuwait (b. 1924)
1980 Arthur Wellard, English cricket all-rounder (2 Tests, 7 wickets, BB 4/81; Somerset CCC), dies at 78
1980 Bob Shawkey, American baseball pitcher (World Series 1923, 27; AL ERA leader 1920, New York Yankees), dies at 90

Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980)

Canadian writer and 'prophet of the digital age' (the medium is the message), dies at 69

1980 Raoul Walsh, American director (High Sierra), dies at about 88
1981 Frantisek Chaun, Czech pianist, composer, painter, and actor, dies at 60
1982 Kurt Otto Friedrichs, German-American mathematician, and educator (Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences), dies at 82
1983 Frank Link, actor (Burns & Schreiber Comedy Show), dies at 46

Ricky Nelson (1940-1985)

American pop-rock star ("Hello Mary Lou"; "It's Late"; "Garden Party") and actor (The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet), dies in a plane crash at 45

1985 Mal Matheson, New Zealand cricket fast bowler (2 Tests) and rugby union Test referee (Australia v NZ 1946), dies at 79
1985 Sam Spiegel, American film producer (On the Waterfront, The Bridge on the River Kwai), dies at 84
1986 Lester Trimble, American composer, music critic and educator, dies at 63
1986 Lloyd Haynes, American actor (Room 222- "Pete Dixon"), and screenwriter, dies of lung cancer at 52 [1]
1987 Randall Garrett, American author (Too Many Magicians; Takeoff!), dies after a long illness at 60
1990 Dalton Cathey, American actor dies of AIDS at 44
1990 George Allen, American Pro Football HOF coach, 1966-78 (NFL Coach of the Year 1967, 71; Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins), dies of heart failiure at 72
1990 Vasily Grigoryevich Lazarev, Soviet Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz 12, Soyuz 18A), dies at 62
1991 Felicja Blumental, Polish-Brazilian concert pianist (Villa-Lobos' Piano Concerto No. 5; Penderecki's Partita for Harpsichord), dies at 83
1991 Georges Poulet, French-Belgian critic (Temps Humain), dies at 89
1993 Arthur Dreifuss, director and producer (Murder in Amsterdam), dies at 85
1993 Brandon Teena, American trans man and hate crime victim, murdered at 21
1993 Lambert Fokkema, founder Dutch Export Combination, dies at 80
1993 Thomas J. Watson Jr., American businessman (President of IBM, 1952-71), and US Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1979-81), dies of a stroke at 79
1993 Zviad Gamsachurdia, President of Georgia SSR (1991-1993), suicide at 54
1994 BAM "Bob" Schreiner, airline owner (S Aviation Group), dies at 79
1994 Harri Webb, Welsh poet and nationalist, dies at 74
1994 Leigh Bowery, Australian performance artist and designer, dies of AIDS at 33
1994 Leo Fuchs, Polish-born Jewish American actor (The Six Million Dollar Man, Avalon), dies at 83

Woody Strode (1914-1994)

American football end (LA Rams, Calgary Stampeders) and actor (Posse, Cotton Club, Vigilante, Scream), dies of lung cancer at 80

1995 Calvin/Hobbes, (comic strip), dies
1995 Eduardo Hernández Moncada, Mexican composer and pianist, dies at 96
1996 61 law enforcement officers, killed by felons in US this year
1996 Ann Susan Hills, freelance journalist, dies at 55
1996 David Sinclair, actor (Love & Hate), dies at 62
1996 Frederico Davia, Italian operatic basso singer, and artistic director, dies at 63
1996 Michael Roberts, English historian ("The Military Revolution: 1560-1660"), dies at 88
1996 Philip Manson-Bahr, English zoologist and specialist in tropical medicine, dies at 85
1996 Wesley Addy, American actor (Kiss Me Deadly, Bostonians, Loving), dies at 83
1997 76 law enforcement officers, killed by felons in US this year
1997 Billie Dove [Lilian Bohny], American actress (Black Pirate, Stolen Bride), dies at 96
1997 Dominique de Menil, French-American arts patron (Menil Collection Houston) and human rights advocate, dies at 89
1997 Floyd Cramer, American Country Music Hall of Fame pianist ("Last Date"; "On the Rebound"), dies of cancer at 64
1997 Michael Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy, dies in ski accident at 39
1999 Elliot Richardson, American attorney and administrator (Secretary of Defense, 1973; Attorney General, 1973; Ambassador to UK, 1975-76; Secretary of Commerce, 1976-77), and WWII veteran, dies of cerebral hemorrhage at 79
2000 Alan Cranston, American politician (US Senator from California, 1969-93), dies at 86
2000 Eddy Shaver, American country-rock guitarist and songwriter, dies of a heroin overdose at 38
2000 José Greco, Italian-born American flamenco dancer and choreographer, dies of heart failure at 82
2001 Eileen Heckart, American actress (Butterflies Are Free, Doll's House, Trauma Center), dies of lung cancer at 82
2001 John Grigg, 2nd Baron Altrincham, British writer and historian, dies at 77
2002 D. J. Enright, English poet and novelist (Some Men are Brothers), dies at 82
2002 Kevin Macmichael, Canadian guitarist, songwriter and record producer (Cutting Crew - "(I Just) Died in Your Arms"), dies of lung cancer at 51
2003 Arthur R. von Hippel German physicist (pioneer in the study of dielectrics, ferromagnetic and ferroelectric materials, and semiconductors and was a codeveloper of radar during World War II), dies at 105
2003 Paula Raymond, American actress and model (The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms), dies at 79
2004 Gérard Debreu, French-American economist (Nobel 1983), dies at 83
2005 Enrico di Giuseppe, American tenor, dies of cancer at 73
2005 Phillip Whitehead, British politician (b. 1937)
2006 Liese Prokop, Austrian pentathlete (Olympic silver 1968), dies at 65
2007 Bill Idelson, American actor (b. 1919)
2007 Ettore Sottsass, Italian architect and designer (b. 1917)
2007 Kathryn Ish, American actress (b. 1936)
2007 Markku Peltola, Finnish actor (The Man Without A Past), and art-rock bassist and singer (Motelli Skronkle), dies at 51
2007 Michael Goldberg, American painter (b. 1924)
2007 Milton L. Klein, Canadian politician (b. 1910)
2007 Tommy Dickson, British footballer (b. 1929)
2007 Tony Elliott, American football player (b. 1959)
2008 Donald E. Westlake, American author (The Hunter), dies at 75
2009 Earl Gaines, American R&B, soul, and electric blues singer (It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)), dies at 74
2011 Omus Hirshbein, classical music impresario and music director, dies at 77
2013 Al Porcino, American big band jazz and session trumpeter (Woody Herman, Stan Kenton), dies after a fall at 88
2013 James Avery, American actor, dies from complications from surgery at 68
2013 John Fortune [John C. Wood], English satirist and comedian (Bremner, Bird and Fortune), dies at 74
2014 Charles Kelly, British police (Chief Constable of Staffordshire, 1976-96), dies of cancer at 84
2015 Beth Howland, American actress (Vera - Alice, Company), dies at 74
2015 Dal Richards, Canadian musician, bandmaster and composer (discovered Michael Bublé), dies at 96 [1]

Natalie Cole (1950-2015)

American Grammy Award-winning pop vocalist ('This Will Be"; "Pink Cadillac"; "Miss You Like Crazy"; "Unforgettable"), dies of heart failure at 65

2015 Wayne Rogers, American actor (M*A*S*H, 1972-75 - "Capt. 'Trapper' John McIntyre"; House Calls), dies of pneumonia at 82
2016 William Christopher, American comedian and actor (M*A*S*H & AfterMASH - "Father Mulcahy"), dies at 84
2017 Maurice Peress, American conductor (Kansas City Philharmonic, 1974-80), dies at 87
2018 Dean Ford (Thomas McAleese), Scottish singer-songwriter (Marmalade), dies from complications relating to Parkinson's disease at 72 [1]
2018 Urban "Urbie" Green, American jazz trombonist (Woody Herman; Buck Clayton; Hugo Montenegro), dies at 92
2019 Basil Watts, English rugby league second rower (5 Tests Great Britain, 1 England; World Cup 1954; York RLFC), dies at 93
2019 Christian Kellens, Belgian jazz trombonist, dies at 94
2020 Joan Micklin Silver, American film director (Hester Street; Crossing Delancey), dies at 85
2020 Richard Thornburgh, 76th United States Attorney General (1988-91) and 41st Governor of Pennsylvania (dealt with Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown), dies at 88 [1]
2020 Tommy Docherty, Scottish soccer midfielder (25 caps; Preston North End) and manager (Chelsea, QPR, Scotland, Manchester United), dies at 92

American Emmy Award-winning comic actress with the longest TV career of a female entertainer (The Mary Tyler Moore Show - "Sue Ann Nivens"; Golden Girls - "Rose"; The Proposal), dies after suffering a stroke at 99 [1]

2021 Billy Turner Jr., American thoroughbred trainer (Triple Crown 1977 Seattle Slew), dies from prostate cancer at 81
2021 Juraj Filas, Slovak composer (Oratio Spei (Prayer of Hope)), dies of COVID-19 at 66
2021 Liisa Pohjola, Finnish concert pianist and music professor, dies at 85
2022 Anita Pointer, American pop and R&B singer (The Pointer Sisters - "He's So Shy"; "I'm So Excited"), dies at 74
2022 Barry Lane, English golfer (European Masters 1993; Andersen Consulting World C'ship of Golf 1995), dies from cancer at 62

Benedict XVI (1927-2022)

German Catholic Pope (2005-13), dies at 95 [1]

2022 Jeremiah Green, American drummer (Modest Mouse), dies of cancer at 45
2022 Sergei Bautin, Belarusian ice hockey defenceman (Olympic gold Unified Team 1992; Winnipeg Jets, Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks), dies at 55
2023 Ana Ofelia Murguía, Mexican actress (Mamá Coco-Coco; La Reina de la Noche), dies at 90