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

Famous Deaths on July 1

  • 251 Decius, Roman Emperor (249-251), 1st Roman Emperor to be killed by a foreign enemy, dies in the Battle of Abritus at about 50 (b. 201)
  • 251 Herennius Etruscus, joint Roman Emperor with his father Decius, dies fighting in the Battle of Abritus (b. ca. 227)
  • 868 Ali al-Hadi, 10th Shia Imam, dies at 39
  • 1109 Alfonso VI, King of Castile and Leon (conquered Toledo) (b. c. 1040)
  • 1277 Baibars, Mameluk sultan of Egypt (b. 1223)
  • 1378 Jan I V van Arkel, bishop of Utrecht/Luik, dies
  • 1523 Hendrik Voes, Flemish priest and church reformer, burned at the stake
  • 1523 John of Esschen, Flemish priest and church reformer, burned at the stake
  • 1589 Christophe Plantin, French-Belgian book publisher (Officina Plantiniana), dies
  • 1592 Marc A Ingegneri, Italian violinist and composer (Responsoria), dies at about 56 [birth date uncertain]
  • 1614 Isaac Casaubon, English classical scholar (Atheneaus), dies at 55
  • 1622 William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, English peer and politician who helped stop the Gunpowder Plot, dies at around 47
  • 1627 Nathaniel Bacon, English painter, dies at 41
  • 1662 Simon Ives, English organist, lyra-violist, and court composer (King Charles I), dies at 61
  • 1681 Oliver Plunkett, Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and last Catholic martyr (later beatified) to die in England, hanged, drawn and quartered for treason at Tyburn at 55
  • 1691 Marc'Antonio Pasqualini, Italian composer, dies at 77
  • 1723 William van de Pose, Governor of Cape Colony (1699-1797), dies at about 59
  • 1736 Ahmed III, 23rd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1703-30), dies at 62
  • 1742 Bohuslav Matěj Černohorský, Czech monk and composer, dies at 58
  • 1774 Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, English corrupt politician (Chiswick), dies at 68
  • 1776 Francis Salvador, 1st Jew to die in American Revolutionary War

Charles Watson-Wentworth (1730-1782)

2nd Marquis of Rockingham, British Prime Minister (Whig: 1765-66, 1782), dies in an influenza epidemic at 52

  • 1784 Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, German composer (Sinfonia 64), and son of J.S. Bach, dies at 73
  • 1805 Georg Ritschel, German composer, dies at 60
  • 1819 Jemima Wilkinson [Publick Universal Friend], American preacher, founded Universal Friends sect, dies at 66

Mahmud II (1785-1839)

30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1808-39), dies of tuberculosis at 53

  • 1847 George F Kersting, German painter, dies at 61
  • 1855 Antonio Rosmini-Serbati, Italian philosopher and priest (founder Institute of Charity), dies at 58

Charles Goodyear (1800-1860)

American chemist and manufacturing engineer who invented the vulcanization process for rubber, dies at 59

  • 1863 John Fulton Reynolds, American Union general-major, dies in the Battle of Gettysburg at 42
  • 1876 Mikhail Bakunin, Russian revolutionary anarchist, dies at 62
  • 1877 William Henry Davenport, American stage magician, claimed to be a spirit medium, dies at 36
  • 1883 Manuel Gregorio Tavárez, Puerto Rican composer, dies at 39
  • 1884 Allan Pinkerton, Scottish-American barrel maker, private detective (co-founder of Pinkerton Agency), abolitionist, and spy, dies at 64
  • 1885 Hermann von Fehling, German chemist (Fehling's solution), dies at 73
  • 1894 Julius van Zuylen van Nyevelt, Dutch minister of Foreign affairs, dies at 77

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)

American author (Uncle Tom's Cabin), dies at 85

  • 1904 George Frederic Watts, British painter and sculptor of the Symbolist movement ("Hope"; "Love and Life"), dies at 87
  • 1910 Marius Petipa, French ballet dancer and choreographer (Casse-noisette), dies at 92

Harriet Quimby (1875-1912)

American pioneering aviator, 1st woman in the US to receive a pilot certificate and to cross the English Channel, dies in a plane crash at 37 after her biplane unexpectedly pitched forward and threw her and her passenger to their deaths [1]

  • 1916 William Booth, English Test cricket batsman (WWI 2 Tests), dies at the Somme at 39
  • 1925 Erik Satie, French pianist and composer (Music In The Shape OF A Pear; Dreamy Fish), dies at 59
  • 1925 Jan P. Veth, Dutch painter, etcher, lithographer and art historian, dies at 61
  • 1929 Henry Johnson, American soldier of 369th regiment (aka Harlem Hell Fighters), 1st US WWI soldier to receive the Croix de guerre after fighting a German raid in hand-to-hand combat to rescue a fellow soldier (posthumous Medal of Honour, 2015), dies of myocarditis at 36

Alice Mary Robertson (1854-1931)

American educator, social worker and 2nd woman in US Congress, dies at 77

  • 1939 Louis Davids [Simon David], Dutch cabaret artist and comedian, dies at 65
  • 1943 Auguste Reitsma, Dutch resistance fighter (census director), executed
  • 1943 C Bakker, Dutch resistance fighter (census bureau), executed
  • 1943 C L Barentsen, Dutch resistance fighter (census bureau), executed
  • 1943 Coos Hartogh, Dutch resistance fighter (census bureau), executed
  • 1943 Cor Roos, Dutch resistance fighter (census bureau), executed
  • 1943 Henri Halberstadt, Dutch resistance fighter (census dir), executed
  • 1943 Johan Brouwer, Dutch writer, Hispanist, and anti-Nazi resistance fighter, executed at 45
  • 1943 Koen Limperg, Dutch resistance fighter (census bureau), executed
  • 1943 Sam Bloemgarten, Dutch resistance fighter (census bureau), executed
  • 1943 Willem Arondeus, Dutch resistance fighter (census bureau), executed
  • 1943 Willem Brouwer, Dutch resistance fighter (census bureau), executed
  • 1944 Carl Mayer, Austrian-Jewish actor (Dreaming Lips, Ariane, Sunrise), dies of cancer at 49
  • 1947 Clarence Lucas, Canadian composer, dies at 80
  • 1948 Achille Varzi, Italian auto racer (14 Grand Prix wins), dies in practise crash at 43
  • 1950 Eliel Saarinen, Finnish-American architect (Helsinki Central Station; Cranbrook Educational Community (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan), designer, and educator, dies at 76
  • 1950 Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, Swiss musician and educator (Dalcroze erythmics), dies at 84
  • 1952 Fráňa Šrámek, Czech poet, novelist, playwright, and anarchist, dies at 74
  • 1953 Azzedine Bey, Tunisian heir to the throne, murdered
  • 1953 Jacob D du Toit [Totius], South African poet/theologist, dies
  • 1958 Harry Nicholls Holmes, American chemist (crystallized vitamin A), dies at 78
  • 1958 Rudolf von Laban, Czech-German choreographer (modern dance), dies at 78
  • 1961 Louis-Ferdinand Céline, French writer (Die Nacht), dies at 67
  • 1963 Camille Chautemps, French politician (Prime Minister of France 1930, 1933-34, 1937-38), dies at 78
  • 1964 Pierre Monteux, French-American conductor (Boston Symphony, 1919-24; Concertgebouw, 1924–34; Orchestre Symphonique de Paris, 1929–38; San Francisco Symphony, 1936–52, London Symphony, 1961-64), dies at 89
  • 1965 Claude Thornhill, American pianist, arranger (Andre Kostelanetz; Tony Bennett), composer ("Snowfall"), and bandleader ("A Sunday Kind of Love"), dies of a heart attack at 56
  • 1965 Wally Hammond, England cricket batsman (7,249 Test runs @ 58.45), dies of a heart attack at 62
  • 1966 Pauline Boty, English artist, dies of cancer at 29
  • 1968 Virginia Weidler, American child actress (Babes on Broadway, All This & Heaven Too), dies of heart disease at 42
  • 1971 (William) Lawrence Bragg, English physicist, Nobel Prize for Physics, 1915 - crystalline structure analysis), dies at 81 [1]
  • 1971 Learie Constantine, West Indian cricket all-rounder, lawyer and politician (UK's first black peer), dies of a heart attack at 69 [1]
  • 1973 Laurens Hammond, American engineer and musical instrument inventor (Hammond organ), dies at 78
  • 1973 Mario Labroca, Italian composer, dies at 76

Juan Perón (1895-1974)

Argentine military officer and President of Argentina (1946-55, 73-74), dies of a heart attack at 78

  • 1974 Kick Smit, Dutch soccer striker and manager (29 caps; HFC Haarlem), dies at 62
  • 1976 Anneliese Michel, German woman said to be possessed by demons (b. 1952)
  • 1977 (Robert) "Baby Boy" Warren, American blues singer and guitarist, dies of a heart attack at 57
  • 1978 Kurt Student, German Luftwaffe general (b. 1890)
  • 1979 Richard Ward, African American actor (Death of a Salesman, Beacon Hill), dies of a heart attack at 64
  • 1979 Vsevolod Bobrov, Soviet ice hockey left wing (Olympic gold 1956) and soccer striker (3 caps), dies at 56
  • 1980 Charles P. Snow, English novelist (Death Under Sail, Strangers and Brothers) and physical chemist, dies at 74
  • 1981 Carlos de Oliveira, Portuguese writer (b. 1921)
  • 1981 George Voskovec [Jirí Wachsmann], Czech actor (12 Angry Men, Somewhere in Time), dies from a heart attack at 76
  • 1981 Marcel Breuer, Hungarian-born modernist architect and furniture designer (Wassily Chair), dies at 79 [1]
  • 1981 Rushton Moreve [Morey], American bass player (Steppenwolf - "Magic Carpet Ride"), dies at in a car accident at 32
  • 1982 John Everett Watts, American composer (Elegy for Chimney),new music promoter (Composers & Choreographers Theater), synthesizer player, and educator (New School, 1969-82), dies at 51
  • 1982 Ray Scarborough, American MLB pitcher (All Star 1950), dies at 64
  • 1982 Vera [A Veronica] Bondam, actress, dies at 86
  • 1983 Erich Juskowiak, German footballer, dies at 56
  • 1983 R. Buckminster Fuller, American architect and inventor (geodesic dome), dies at 87
  • 1983 Sandy Mosse, American jazz tenor saxophonist, and bandleader (Pieces of Eight), dies at 54
  • 1984 Moshé Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-Israeli engineer and physicist (founder of the Feldenkrais method), dies at 80
  • 1985 Pauli Murray, African American poet and civil rights activist, dies at 74
  • 1986 Roy Poole, actor (Winds of War), dies at 62
  • 1987 Snakefinger [Philip Lithman], British singer and songwriter. guitarist, and violinist (The Residents), dies of a heart attack at 38
  • 1988 Hellmuth Christian Wolff, German composer, teacher, musicologist, and painter, dies at 82
  • 1988 Lex van Delden [Alexander Zwaap], Dutch composer (The Bird of Freedom), and writer (Canto della Guerra), dies at 68
  • 1988 Robert Riefling, Norwegian concert pianist and pedagogue (Royal Danish Academy, 1967-88; Norwegian Academy of Music from ,1973-88), dies at 76
  • 1989 Chauncey Haughton, American jazz clarinetist, and saxophonist (Blanche Calloway; Chick Webb; Cab Calloway), dies at 80
  • 1989 William Ching, actor (Moonlighter, Terror in Haunted House), dies
  • 1990 Anna Palk, actress (Play it Cool, Frozen Dead), dies of cancer at 48
  • 1990 Jurriaan Schrofer, graphic designer, dies
  • 1991 Joost Baljeu, painter/founder-editor Structure, dies

Michael Landon (1936-1991)

American actor (Bonanza - "Little Joe"; Little House on the Prairie - "Charles"; Highway to Heaven - "Jonathan"), dies of pancreatic cancer at 54

  • 1992 Francisco Mendes, Guinea-Bissauan politician (b. 1933)
  • 1993 Ray Elliott, Irish rock and jazz saxophonist, flutist, and keyboard player (Them), dies of brain cancer at 54
  • 1994 Johanna Ader-Appels, resistance fighter/author, dies
  • 1995 Bruce Mitchell, South African cricket opening batsman (42 Tests), dies at 86
  • 1995 Ronald Farrow, radio producer and priest, dies at 49
  • 1995 Wolfman Jack [Robert Weston Smith], American disc jockey (The Midnight Special), dies from a heart attack at 57
  • 1996 Alfred Marks, British actor and comedian (Desert Mice; Scream & Scream Again), dies at 75
  • 1996 Margaux Hemingway, American fashion model and actress (Lipstick), commits suicide with an overdose of phenobarbital, at 42
  • 1996 Michael Fraser, British Conservative Party political administrator, dies at 80
  • 1996 Steve Tesich, Serbian-American Academy Award-winning screenwriter (Breaking Away; The World According To Garp), and playwright, dies of a heart attack at 53
  • 1996 William T. Cahill, American politician, 46th Governor of New Jersey (1970-74), dies at 84
  • 1997 Joshua Hassan, Gibraltarian lawyer and politician (Chief Minister of Gibraltar, 1964-69, and 1972-87), dies at 81
  • 1997 Robert Mitchum, American actor (Out of the Past, Winds of War, North & South), dies of lung cancer and emphysema at 79
  • 1998 Lucy Reed [Dollinger], American jazz vocalist (Woody Herman; Charlie Ventura), dies at 77
  • 1999 Dennis Brown, Jamaican reggae singer ("Money In My Pocket"), dies of a collapsed lung, after a heart attack, at 42
  • 1999 Edward Dmytryk, Canadian film director (Carpetbaggers, Young Lions, Caine Mutiny), dies at 90
  • 1999 Forrest Mars Sr., American candy magnate (Mars, Inc.), dies at 95
  • 1999 Guy Mitchell [Albert George Cernik], American singer and actor (Red Garters, 3 Redheads from Seattle), dies at 72
  • 1999 Jack Moroney, Australian cricket batsman (7 Tests, 2 x 100, HS 118; NSWCA), dies at 81
  • 1999 Joshua Nkomo, Zimbabwean revolutionary (ZAPU), and Matabeleland politician (Vice-President of Zimbabwe, 1990-99), dies of prostate cancer at 82
  • 1999 Sylvia Sidney, American actress (b. 1910)
  • 2000 Michael "Cub" Koda, American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist (Brownsville Station - "Smokin' In The Boys Room'), dies of kidney disease at 50M
  • 2000 Sarah Payne, British murder victim (b. 1992)
  • 2000 Torbjörn Lundquist, Swedish classical and film score composer, conductor, and musicologist, dies at 79
  • 2000 Walter Matthau, American actor and comedian (The Odd Couple, Bad News Bears), dies at 79
  • 2001 Nicolay G. Basov, Soviet physicist who specialized in quantum electronics (laser, maser) and 1964 Nobel laureate, dies at 78
  • 2003 Herbie Mann, American jazz flutist ("Hijack"; Push Push; Memphis Underground), dies at 73
  • 2003 N!xau, Namibian actor (b. 1944)
  • 2003 Wesley Mouzon, American boxing trainer (Roy Jones Jr., Dwight Muhammad Qawi), dies of kidney cancer at 75

Marlon Brando (1924-2004)

American actor (The Godfather; A Streetcar Named Desire; On the Waterfront), dies at 80

  • 2004 Peter Barnes, English writer (b. 1931)
  • 2004 Todor Skalovski, Macedonian shoral and orchestral conductor, and composer, dies at 95
  • 2005 Gus Bodnar, Canadian NHL center (NHL record 3 assists in 21 seconds 1952), dies at 82

Luther Vandross (1951-2005)

American soul singer, songwriter ("Endless Love"; "Dance With My Father"), and vocal arranger (David Bowie - Young Americans), dies of a heart attack at 54

  • 2005 Renaldo "Obie" Benson, American singer (The Four Tops - "I Can't Help Myself"), and songwriter ("What's Going On"), dies from lung cancer at 69
  • 2006 Fred Trueman, England cricket fast bowler (England 67 Tests, 307 wickets), dies of small cell carcinoma at 75
  • 2006 Ryutaro Hashimoto, Japanese politician (Prime Minister of Japan 1996-98), dies at 68
  • 2008 John Pont, American college football coach (Miami, Yale, Northwestern, Indiana), dies at 80
  • 2008 Mel Galley, English guitarist (Whitesnake; Phenomena), dies of esophageal cancer at 60
  • 2009 Alexis Argüello, Nicaraguan boxer (3-weight world champion), dies of self inflicted gun wound at 57
  • 2009 Karl Malden [Mladen George Sekulovich], American actor (Streets of San Francisco; A Streetcar Named Desire; American Express commercials), dies of natural causes at 97
  • 2009 Marwa El-Sherbini, Egyptian housewife (b. 1977 or 1976)
  • 2009 Mollie Sugden, English actress (Are You Being Served?), dies at 86
  • 2009 Onni Palaste, Finnish writer, dies at 91
  • 2010 (Jacqueline) "Ilene" Woods, American radio singer and actress (Disney's Cinderella), dies from complications of Alzheimer's disease at 81
  • 2010 Don Coryell, American College/Pro Football HOF coach (NCAA Division champion 1966, 67, 68 San Diego State; St. Louis Cardinals, SD Chargers), dies at 85
  • 2011 Leslie Brooks, American actress (b. 1922)
  • 2012 Evelyn Lear, American operatic soprano, dies at 86
  • 2012 Loyd Gentry, American thoroughbred trainer (Kentucky Derby 1967 Proud Clarion), dies of heart failure at 86
  • 2013 John Stanford, American college baseball coach/administrator (Middle Tennessee), dies at 77
  • 2013 William H. Gray III, American politician (Rep-D-PA, 1978-1991), dies at 71
  • 2014 Jean Garon, Quebec economist and politician, dies at 76
  • 2014 Oscar C. Yatco, Filipino violinist and conductor, dies at 82
  • 2014 Walter Dean Myers, African-American author, dies at 76
  • 2015 Lawrence Herkimer, American "Grandfather of Cheerleading" (founded National Cheerleading Association, patented the pom-pom), dies at 89
  • 2015 Sir Nicholas Winton, British humanitarian ('British Schindler' - saved 669 children from Nazis), dies at 106 [1] [2]
  • 2015 Val Doonican [Michael Valentine], Irish singer and entertainer, dies at 88
  • 2017 Heathcote Williams [John Henly Heathcote Williams], British poet, actor and political activist, dies at 75
  • 2017 Norman Dorsen, American lawyer, human rights advocate and president of the American Civil Liberties Union, dies of complications from a stroke at 86
  • 2018 Dame Gillian Lynne [Pyrke], British dancer, choreographer and actress, known for Broadway work on "Cats" and "The Phantom of the Opera," dies at 92
  • 2018 Peter Firmin, British children's book illustrator and puppet maker (The Saga of Noggin the Nog; Clangers), dies at 89
  • 2019 Bogusław Schaffer, Polish composer and playwright, dies at 90 [1]

Everton Weekes (1925-2020)

West Indian cricket batsman (48 Tests; 4,455 runs @ 58.61, 15 x 100s), dies at 95

  • 2020 Hugh Downs, American TV journalist (20/20, Concentration), dies at 99
  • 2020 Ida Haendel, Polish-British-Canadian child prodigy violinist, teacher, and author (Woman with Violin), dies of kidney cancer at 91
  • 2021 Louis Andriessen, Dutch composer (Reconstruction), dies at 82
  • 2021 Marcel Puget, French rugby union halfback and captain (17 Tests; CA Brive, Stade Toulousain, Stade Rodez Aveyron), dies from Alzheimer's disease at 80
  • 2021 Philece Sampler, American actress (Another World, 1987-89 -"Donna Love"; Days Of Our Lives, 1981-84 - "Renée"), and anime voice dubber, dies of a heart attack at 67
  • 2022 Richard Taruskin, American musicologist (Oxford History of Western Music), and educator, dies of esophageal cancer at 77 [1]
  • 2023 Christian Dalger, French soccer forward (6 caps; SC Toulon, AS Monaco FC) and manager (SC Toulon, Grenoble, Mali), dies at 73
  • 2023 Dilano van 't Hoff, Dutch race car driver (F4 Spanish Championship, 2021), dies in a crash during Regional European Championship race at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium at 18
  • 2024 Robert Towne (né Schwartz), American Academy Award-winning screenwriter (Chinatown: The Last Detail; Shampoo), and director (Personal Best; Tequila Sunrise), dies at 89 [1]
July 1 Highlights