Deaths February 15 | History by KabAstro

Ferdinand II (1578-1637)

King of Bohemia & Hungary and German Emperor (1619-37), dies at 58

1660 Klaas Geritsz Compaen, Dutch buccaneer and merchant, dies at 72
1701 Adam Drese, German Baroque viola da gamba player, composer, and kapellmeister dies at 80
1713 Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, writer, dies
1738 Matthias Braun, Czech sculptor (b. 1684)
1744 František Václav Míča, Czech conductor and composer, dies at 49
1759 Alexander von Papenhoven, Flemish religious sculptor, dies at 89
1761 Carlo Cecere, Italian composer, dies at 54
1772 Christian Gottlieb Ziegler, German organist, kapellmeister, and composer, dies at 69
1775 Peter Dens, Flemish Catholic theologian, dies at 84
1778 Johann Gottlieb Gorner, German composer, dies at 80
1781 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German critic and dramatist (1st ever dramaturge), dies at 52
1820 Pierre-Joseph Cambon, French member of Committee of Salut Public, dies at 63
1820 William Ellery, US attorney (signed US Declaration of Independence), dies at 92
1832 Hardenack Otto Conrad Zinck, Danish flautist, composer, choral director, and music educator (Blaagaard Seminarium, 1791-1811), dies at 85
1835 Henry Hunt, British politician, radical reformer (universal suffrage) dies at 61
1839 Chevalier de Lorimier, Quebec notary (b. 1803)
1841 Sibrandus Stratingh, Dutch phyisican and chemist (electrical car), dies at 53
1843 Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general and leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821-29), dies at 72

Henry Addington (1757-1844)

1st Viscount Sidmouth, British Prime Minister (Tory: 1801-04), dies at 86

1847 Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician (geometry), dies at 52
1848 Hermann von Boyen, Prussian field marshal (b. 1771)
1849 Pierre François Verhulst, Belgian mathematician (logistic curve), dies at 44
1857 Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (Kamarinskaya; Ruslan and Ludmilla), dies at 53
1865 Nicholas Wiseman, 1st Archbishop of Westminster (1850-65), dies at 62
1869 Mirza Ghalib, Indian poet (b. 1796)
1885 Leopold Damrosch, German-American composer, and conductor (New York Oratorio Society; New York Symphony), dies at 52
1891 Claudius W. Sears, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 74
1896 E. J. Nicholson [Eliza Jane], American publisher (New Orleans' "Daily Picayune"), dies at 47
1902 Wilhelmina Albregt-Engelman, Dutch actress, dies at 68
1903 Julie Verstraete-Lacquet, Flemish actress, dies at 69
1905 Lewis Wallace, US diplomat/writer (Ben Hur), dies at 77
1910 Albert Fuchs, Swiss-German composer, dies at 51
1911 Theodor Escherich, German pediatrician (b. 1859)
1916 Nikolay Lodizhensky, Russian diplomat and composer, dies at 73
1917 Charles A van Ophuysen, Dutch orientalist, dies at 60
1918 Vernon Castle [Blyth] English-American vaudeville, stage, and screen ballroom dancer, and fighter pilot, dies in a plane crash at 30
1919 Pieter Klazes Pel, Dutch physician (Pel-Ebstein fever), dies at 66
1921 Hans Haym, German conductor, dies at 60
1922 Clara [G Meijer-]Wichmann, German-Dutch anarchist and feminist, dies at 36
1923 Josephine Beall Bruce, African-American activist (NACW), dies at 69
1924 Lionel Monckton, British composer (Edwardian musical comedy), dies at 62

H. H. Asquith (1852-1928)

British Prime Minister (Liberal: 1908-16), dies at 75

1932 Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress (Henrik Ibsen's plays), dies at 66
1939 Foppe G. Scheltema, Dutch lawyer, dies at 47
1939 Henri Jaspar, 27th Prime Minister of Belgium (1927-31), dies at 68
1939 Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Russian painter (b. 1878)
1942 Guido Adler, Bohemian-Austrian musicologist (Still in the Music), dies at 91
1942 Stanislav Binički, Serbian composer, dies at 69
1943 William Victor Harris, American composer, dies at 73
1946 Cornelius Johnson, American high jumper (Olympic gold 1936), dies from bronchopneumonia at 32
1946 Louis "Putney" Dandridge American jazz pianist and singer (Heatin' Up Harlem), dies at 44
1959 Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist (Nobel 1928), dies at 69
1961 Dudley Richards, American figure skater (U.S. Pairs champion, 1961), dies in a plane crash at 29
1961 Jack Whiting, American actor and singer (Marge & Gower Champion Show), dies at 59
1961 Laurence Owen, American figure skater (U.S. and North American champion), dies in a plane crash at 16

Maribel Vinson (1911-1961)

American figure skater (9 time US National Champion) and coach, dies in a plane crash at 49

1961 Maribel Yerxa Owen, American figure skater (U.S. Pairs champion, 1961), dies in a plane crash at 20
1962 Vladimir Sokoloff, Russian actor (Road to Morocco, Cloak & Dagger), dies at 72
1964 Robert L. Thornton, American businessman and politician (b. 1880)

Nat King Cole (1919-1965)

American jazz pianist and pop vocalist ("Unforgettable", "Mona Lisa"), dies of cancer at 49

1966 Camillo Torres, Colombian priest/guerrilla fighter, dies
1966 Gerard Ciołek, Polish architect, dies at 56
1967 Antonio Moreno, Spanish actor and director (It, Careers), dies at 79
1967 J. Frank Duryea, American inventor (Duryea Motor Wagon Company, first auto built in the US), dies at 97
1967 William C Bullitt, 1st US ambassador in USSR, dies at 76
1968 Little Walter [Marion Walter Jacobs], American blues singer-songwriter and harmonica player, dies as the result of a fight at 37
1969 Charles "Pee Wee" Russell, American jazz clarinet and saxophone player, dies at 62
1970 Hugh Dowding, commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, dies at 87
1971 Marian Koval, Soviet Russian composer, dies at 63
1972 Edgar Snow, American author and journalist (Battle for Asia), dies at 66
1972 Jef [Josephus CF] Last, Dutch poet/Indonesian politician, dies at 73
1973 Tim Holt [Charles John Holt III], American actor (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre), dies of bone cancer at 54
1973 Wallace "Wally" Cox, American comedian and actor (Mister, Underdog, Peepers, Hollywood Squares), dies of a heart attack at 48
1974 Kurt Magnus Atterberg, Swedish composer, dies at 86
1978 Alex Bradford, American gospel composer and singer (Your Arms Too Short To Box With God), dies of a stroke at 51
1978 Ilka Chase, American actress (Masquerade Party, Trials of O'Brien), dies at 72
1981 Karl Richter, German composer and conductor, dies at 54
1981 Mike Bloomfield, American musician (Electric Flag), dies of a drug overdose at 37
1981 Thomas Beversdorf, American classical composer ("Of Walruses, Cheesecake, and Morse Code"), and educator (Indiana University, 1949-80), dies of asthma complications at 56
1982 Ralph Teetor, American automotive engineer (1st blind engineer in the US, inventor of cruise control), dies at 91
1984 Avon Long, American actor (Roots: Next Generation;The Sting; Harry and Tonto), dies of cancer at 73

Ethel Merman (1908-1984)

American Tony and Grammy Award-winning stage and screen singer ("There's No Business Like Show Business"), and actress (It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World), dies of brain cancer at 76

1984 Leamon Hunt, American Director General of Multinational Force and Observers (international peacekeepers) in Sinai, assassinated Red Brigade communists in Rome, at 56
1987 Jimmy Holiday, American soul singer ("How Can I Forget"; Baby I Love You"), and songwriter ("Put A Little Love In Your Heart"), dies of heart failure at 42
1987 Osmo Lindeman, Finnish jazz pianist, film score composer, pedagogue, and electronic music pioneer, dies at 57
1988 Gardiner Means, US economist, dies at 91
1988 Gerard Holt, architect, dies at 83
1988 Neil R. Jones, American sci-fi writer (Space War, Twin Worlds), dies at 78
1988 Richard Feynman, American theoretical physicist known for his work on quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics (1965 Nobel), dies of liposarcoma at 69
1990 Henry Brandon [Heinrich von Kleinbach], German-American character actor (The Searchers; Assault on Precinct 13; Drums of Fu Manchu), dies of a heart attack at 77
1990 Jack Fletcher, American actor (Calucci's Department, Once Upon a Mattress), dies of a heart attack at 68
1991 Gary Gears, Chicago disk jockey, dies at 46 of a heart attack
1991 Luis Escobar, Spanish actor (Don Juan My Love), dies at 78
1992 María Elena Moyano, Peruvian activist (b. 1960)
1992 William Schuman, American composer (Pulitzer Prize, 1943), and administrator (Juilliard, 1945-61; Lincoln Center, 1961-68), dies at 81
1993 George Wallington [Giacinto Figlia], Italian-American jazz pianist, composer ("Lemon Drop"; "Godchild"), and bandleader, dies at 68
1994 Andrei Tsjikatilo [Rostov Ripper], Russian mass murdered, executed
1994 George "Tiger" Haynes, American jazz guitarist (The Three Flames), and stage and screen actor (The Wiz; In the Heat of the Night), dies at 79
1994 Maria Britneva, Russian actress (A Room with a View, Maurice), dies of heart failure 72
1995 Joseph Ortiz, French-Algerian extremist and rebel (barricade uprising), dies at 77
1995 Lord Taylor of Hadfield, British President of Taylor Woodrow Group, dies at 90
1995 Nabila Diahnine, Algerian architect/feminist, murdered at 33
1995 Sahnoun Jawhari, Tunisian Annahda-leader, dies at 40 in jail
1995 Seymour Berry, 2nd Viscount Camrose, British Conservative Lower house leader (1941-45), dies at 85
1996 Bruno Ferenc Straub, Hungarian biochemist and statesman, dies at 82
1996 Margaret Courtenay, Welsh actress, singer and entertainer (Royal Flash, Duet for One), dies of cancer at 72
1996 McLean Stevenson, American actor (M*A*S*H, 1972-75 - "Col. Henry Blake"; Hello Larry), dies of a heart attack at 66
1996 Oscar Abrams, community organiser, dies at 58
1996 Tommy Rettig, American actor (Jeff's Collie, Lassie), dies of a heart attack at 54
1998 Arthur Cohn, American composer and writer on music, dies at 87
1998 Martha Gellhorn, American novelist and journalist who was one of the first female war correspondents (Reuters), dies at 89
1998 Samuel Curran, British physicist (invented scintillation counter, 1st Vice Chancellor Strathclyde University - UK's 1st technological university), dies at 85
1998 Valentin Yershov, Soviet Russian cosmonaut, dies at 69
1999 Big L [Lamont Coleman], American rapper (Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous), murdered at 24 after being shot 9 times in the face and chest in a drive-by shooting
1999 Henry Way Kendall, American physicist (Nobel 1990-pioneering investigations concerning deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, which have been of essential importance for the development of the quark model in particle physics), dies at 72
1999 Jan Masseus, Dutch composer, dies at 86
2001 Boris Goldovsky, Russian-American conductor, educator (Tanglewood, 1942-62), and opera broadcast commentator (Metropolitan Opera, 1946-85), dies at 92
2002 Garry Weston, English businessman (Associated British Foods), dies at 74
2002 Howard K. Smith, American print and broadcast journalist, dies from pneumonia at 87

Kevin Smith (1963-2002)

New Zealand actor (Ares-Hercules), dies at 38 after falling from a prop tower

2004 Jan Miner, American actress (Crime Photographer), dies at 86
2004 Jens Evensen, Norwegian minister and jurist (b. 1917)
2005 Pierre Bachelet, French singer and songwriter, dies of lung cancer at 60
2005 Sam Francis, American far-right conservative columnist and editor (The Washington Times, 1991-95), dies after unsuccessful heart surgery at 57
2006 Andrey Petrov, Soviet-Russian classical and film score composer (Creation of the World), dies at 75
2007 Ray Evans, American lyricist ("To Each His Own"; "Mona Lisa"; "Silver Bells"; "Mister Ed"), dies at 92
2007 Robert Adler, Austrian-American inventor (remote control for television), dies at 93
2007 Walker Edmiston, American actor (Star Trek, Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, The Dukes of Hazzard), dies at 81
2008 Amnon Netzer, Iranian-Israeli historian (b. 1934)
2008 Ashley Callie, South African actress (b. 1976)
2009 Dr. Diether H. Haenicke, university president (b. 1935)
2009 Joe Cuba [Gilberto Calderón], Puerto-Rican-American salsa and boogaloo conga player and bandleader, dies at 77
2010 Adam Kaczyński, Polish pianist and composer, dies at 76
2010 Art Van Damme, American jazz accordionist (Chicago Jazz), dies at 89
2011 Francois Nourissier, French journalist and writer (Un petit bourgeois; La crève), dies at 83
2011 Joe Frazier, American baseball outfielder (Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles) and manager (NY Mets 1976–77), dies at 88
2012 Charles Anthony [Caruso], American tenor, dies from kidney failure at 82
2012 Lina Romay, Spanish actress (Conan the Barbarian), dies at 57
2016 George Gaynes, Dutch-Finnish-American singer, stage and screen actor (Tootsie; Police Academy; General Hospital), dies at 98
2016 Louis Lane, American conductor (Akron, 1959-83; Lake Erie Opera, 1964-72), and educator (Cleveland Institute, 1982-2004), dies at 72
2016 Vanity [Denise Matthews], Canadian R&B singer, Prince protege ("Nasty Girl"), actress (52 Pick Up), and evangelist dies of kidney failure at 57
2018 Vaclovas Paketūras, Lithuanian composer (The Sun Is Setting; Polyphonic Pieces), dies at 90
2018 Wynn Irwin, American actor (Lotsa Luck, Sugar Time), dies at 85

Gene Littler (1930-2019)

American golfer (1961 US Open, 29 PGA Tour titles), dies at 88

2019 Kofi Burbridge, American blues-rock keyboardist and flute player (Derek Trucks Band, 1999-2019; Tedeschi Trucks Band, 2010-2019), dies of heart issues at 57
2019 Lee Radziwiłł Ross (née Bouvier), American socialite, interior decorator, and hereditary princess-by-marriage, dies at 85
2020 A. E. Hotchner, American editor, novelist and playwright, dies at 102 [1]
2020 Caroline Flack, British television presenter (Love Island), commits suicide at 40
2020 David Sturtevant Ruder, American lawyer, college professor, and 23rd chairman of Security & Exchange Commission (1987-89), dies at 90
2021 (Juan) "Johnny" Pacheco, Dominican-American salsa flutist, bandleader, composer, record producer and label executive (Fania Records), dies at 85 [1]
2021 Leopoldo Luque, Argentine soccer striker (43 caps; River Plate), dies from COVID-19 at 71
2021 Vincent Jackson, American NFL wide receiver (Pro Bowl 2009, 11, 12; SD Chargers, TB Buccaneers), dies at 38
2022 (Alokesh) "Bappi" Lahiri, Indian disco and film music composer, singer, and record producer, dies of a lung infection at 69
2022 Józef Zapędzki, Polish sport shooter (Olympic gold 25m rapid fire pistol 1968, 72), dies at 92

P. J. O'Rourke (1947-2022)

American journalist and satirist (Parliament of Whores; National Lampoon), dies of lung cancer at 74

2022 Rustam Akramov, Uzbek soccer coach (Uzbekistan 1992-94; India 1995-97), dies at 73
2023 Paul Berg, American biochemist (development of recombinant DNA techniques, Nobel Chemistry 1980), dies at 96