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

Famous Deaths on July 13

  • 574 John III, Italian Pope (561-74), dies
  • 939 Leo VII, Italian Pope (936-39), dies
  • 1024 Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (1014-24) and King of Germany (1002-24), dies at 51
  • 1105 Rashi [Rabbi Shlomo Yitzaki], Jewish intellectual, dies
  • 1205 Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury and Justicier of England
  • 1309 Jan I van Nassau, bishop of Utrecht, dies
  • 1357 Bartolus de Saxoferrato Italian jurist (b. 1313)
  • 1380 Bertrand du Guesclin, French King of Granada, dies at about 60
  • 1399 Peter Parler, German architect (b. 1330)
  • 1402 Jianwen, 2nd Emperor of the Ming Empire (1398-1402), dies at 24
  • 1551 John Wallop, English soldier and diplomat (b. 1490)
  • 1621 Albert VII, Archduke of Austria and cardinal-archbishop of Toledo, dies at 61
  • 1626 Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester, English statesman, dies at 62
  • 1628 Robert Shirley, English adventurer (b. 1581)
  • 1629 Caspar Bartholin the Elder, Danish physician, theologian, writer on anatomy, dies at 44
  • 1640 Henry Casimir I, Dutch count of Nassau-Dietz and Stadholder of Freisland, dies a day after being injured at the Battle of Hulst at 28
  • 1683 Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex, English statesman (b. 1631)
  • 1693 Hendrik Trajectinus, Count of Solms, Dutch lieutenant-general (b. 1636)
  • 1705 Titus Oates, English Protestant conspirator, dies at 55
  • 1755 Edward Braddock, British General, dies of his wounds from the Battle of Fort Duquesne (near present day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), during French & Indian War at 60
  • 1760 Conrad Weiser, Pennsylvania's ambassador to the Native Americans, dies at 63
  • 1761 Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shogun (b. 1712)

James Bradley (1693-1762)

English astronomer, 3rd Royal, discovered Earth's nutation motion, dies at 69

  • 1777 Guillaume Coustou Jr, French sculptor (Apollo/Mars/Venus), dies at 61
  • 1785 Stephen Hopkins, American politician who signed the US Declaration of Independence, dies at 78
  • 1789 Victor de Riqueti, marquis de Mirabeau, French economist, dies at 73

Jean-Paul Marat (1743-1793)

French journalist and revolutionary (Friend of the People periodical), is murdered by Charlotte Corday in a bath at 50

  • 1807 Henry Benedict Stuart, Jacobite claimant to the throne of England (b. 1725)
  • 1813 Johann Friedrich Peter, Dutch-born American composer, dies at 67
  • 1844 Johann Baptist Gansbacher, Austrian composer, dies at 66
  • 1854 José María Vargas, Venezuelan doctor, botanist and 2nd President of Venezuela (1835-36), dies at 68
  • 1859 Rufus Choate, American lawyer (Hall of Fame), dies at 59
  • 1860 John Ackersdijk, Dutch state house builder, dies at 69
  • 1861 Robert Selden Garnett, US Confederate Brigadier General, dies at 41
  • 1863 John S. Bowen, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 32
  • 1877 Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler, German politician and bishop of Mainz, dies at 65
  • 1882 Johnny Ringo, American Gunfighter (b. 1850)
  • 1889 Carli Zoeller, German composer, dies at 49
  • 1889 Robert Hamerling, Austrian poet (b. 1830)
  • 1890 John C. Frémont, American army officer, explorer of the American West and presidential candidate, dies at 77
  • 1894 Juventino Rosas, composer, dies at 26
  • 1896 August Kekule von Stradonitz, German chemist who discovered structure of benzene ring, dies at 66
  • 1901 Peter Jackson, Australian heavyweight boxer (International Boxing Hall of Fame), dies from tuberculosis at 40
  • 1903 August Reissmann, Prussian composer, dies at 77
  • 1922 Martin Dies, American politician (b. 1870)
  • 1923 Asger Hamerik [Hammerich], Danish composer, and educator (Peabody Institute, 1878-91), dies at 80
  • 1924 Alfred Marshall, English economist (Principles of Economics), dies at 81
  • 1925 Gerben Postma, Frisian-Dutch poet (Swealtsjeblommen - Swallowtail Flowers) and lexicograper (Lytse Fryske Spraekleare - Little Frisian Language Learner), dies at 78

Kate Sheppard (1847-1934)

New Zealand suffragette and the most prominent member of New Zealand's women's suffrage movement, dies at 87

  • 1936 Izydor Lotto, composer, dies at 91
  • 1936 José Calvo Sotelo, Spanish politician (Minister of Finance 1925-30, his murder helped lead to civil war), murdered at 43
  • 1937 Emmett Dalton, American outlaw of the Old West (The Dalton Gang in the American Old West, dies at 66
  • 1939 Margaret Johnson, American jazz pianist known as "Countess" and "Queenie" (Andy Kirk's Clouds of Joy; Lester Young), dies of tuberculosis at 20
  • 1943 Kurt Huber, German college professor and member of anti-Nazi resistance group Weisse Rose (White Rose), executed by guillotine at 50

Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946)

American photographer and art dealer (Camera Work), dies at 82

  • 1947 Warwick Armstrong, cricketer (50 Tests 1901-21, 2863 runs), dies at 68

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)

Austrian-American composer (Verklärte Nacht - Transfigured Night; 2nd Quartet), and painter associated with the expressionist movement, dies at 76

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954)

Mexican painter who explored questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender and race in Mexican society, dies of a pulmonary embolism at 47

  • 1954 Grantland Rice, American sportswriter (New York Herald Tribune 1914-30, Colliers 1925-37), dies from a stroke at 73
  • 1954 Irving Pichel, American actor and director ("Madame Butterfly"; "Oliver Twist"), dies at 63
  • 1955 Beulah Ecton Woodard, African-American sculptor, dies at 59
  • 1955 Ruth Ellis, last English woman (murderess), executed by hanging
  • 1956 Vladimir Grigor'yevich Zakharov, Soviet-Russian composer, dies at 54
  • 1958 Karl Erb, German tenor, dies on his 81st birthday
  • 1960 Anna Blaman, Dutch writer (Life & Death), dies at 55
  • 1960 Joy Davidman, American poet, writer and wife of C. S. Lewis, dies at 45
  • 1960 Joy Gresham, American writer (b. 1915)
  • 1965 Photis Kontoglou, Greek writer, painter and iconographer, dies at 69
  • 1966 Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, dies at 82
  • 1967 Cornelis A. Eman, Aruban politician (chairman State of Aruba Peoples Party), dies at 51
  • 1967 Tom Simpson, English road cyclist (World C'ship gold road race 1965; Olympic bronze 1956), dies of combination of alcohol & mixed amphetamines during Tour de France at 29
  • 1969 Madiba Thembekile, Nelson Mandela's son, dies in a car accident at 24

Leslie Groves (1896-1970)

American army engineer who directed the Manhattan Project and construction of the Pentagon, dies of a heart attack at 73

  • 1973 Marțian Negrea, Romanian conductor, composer (The Glacier from Scărișoara), and teacher, dies at 80
  • 1973 Willy Fritsch, German actor (Spies, Women in the Moon), dies from a heart attack at 72
  • 1974 Patrick Blackett, British physicist (Nobel 1948 - nuclear reaction), dies at 76
  • 1975 Owen Wynne, South African cricketer (6 Tests for South Africa 1948-50), lost at sea at 56
  • 1976 Frederick Hawksworth, GWR Chief mechanical engineer. (b. 1884)
  • 1976 Joachim Peiper, German military leader (SS, by assassination; b. 1915)
  • 1976 Max Butting, German composer, dies at 87
  • 1978 Antonio Veretti, composer, dies at 78
  • 1979 Corine Griffith, dies at 84
  • 1980 Seretse Khama, 1st President of Botswana (1966-80), dies of pancreatic cancer at 59
  • 1981 Kirby Stone, American jazz combo leader (Kirby Stone Four - "Baubles Bangles & Beads"), dies at 63
  • 1982 Edith Heerdegen, German actress (Serpent's Egg, Monpti), dies at 69
  • 1982 John Alexander, actor (Alien PI), dies at 85
  • 1982 Michael Blankfort, American writer, producer and director, dies at 74
  • 1983 Gabrielle Roy, French Canadian author (The Tin Flute, Street of Riches), dies at 73
  • 1984 John Davis, American weightlifter (Olympic gold bantamweight 1948, heavyweight 1952), dies from cancer at 63
  • 1986 Joseph "Coke" Escovedo, Mexican-American percussionist (Santana; Malo; Azteca), dies from cirrhosis at 45
  • 1987 Patience Collier, dies
  • 1988 Huub Bals, Dutch film promotor, dies at 51
  • 1988 Samuel L Mendel, oldest US war veteran, dies at 104
  • 1989 Abdul Rahman Qassemlu, Iran Kurds leader, murdered
  • 1989 Arnaldo Ochoa Sanchez, Cubans general, executed
  • 1990 Lois Moran Young, American actress (Stella Dallas) dies of cancer at 81
  • 1991 Cor Ria Leeman, Flemish (youth)writer, dies
  • 1992 Alex Wojciechowicz, American College/Pro Football HOF center, linebacker (Fordham Uni; NFL C'ship 1948, 49; First-team All-Pro 1939, 44; NFL 1940s All-Decade Team; Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles), dies at 76
  • 1993 Davey Allison, American auto racer (Daytona 500 1992), dies in a plane crash at 32
  • 1993 Edwin "Rick" Bakker, author (Rick's Report/AIDS Diary), dies at 31
  • 1994 Bob Payton, American pizza magnate (The Chicago Pizza Pie Factory), dies at 50
  • 1994 Eddie Boyd, American blues piano player, singer, and songwriter ("Five Long Years"), dies at 79
  • 1994 Jimmie Reese, American baseball infielder and coach (LA Angels Hall of Fame), dies of aspiration pneumonia and respiratory failure at 92
  • 1995 Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish toy manufacturer (Lego Group), dies at 75
  • 1996 Pandro S. Berman, American film producer, dies at 91
  • 1996 Walter Hassan, British automotive engineer, dies at 91
  • 1997 Alexandra Danilova, Russian-American ballerina (The Turning Point), dies at 92
  • 1997 Michael Jaffe, English professor and museum director (Fitzwilliam Museum), dies at 74
  • 1997 Miguel Ángel Blanco, Spanish politician (b. 1968)
  • 1998 Red Badgro, American Pro Football Hall of Fame end and coach (NY Giants) and baseball outfielder (St. Louis Browns), dies after a fall at 95
  • 2002 Yousuf Karsh, Turkish-born Armenian photographer (b. 1908)
  • 2003 Compay Segundo [Máximo Muñoz-Telles], Cuban trova guitarist, singer, and composer (Buena Vista Social Club), dies at 95
  • 2004 Arthur Kane, American musician (New York Dolls), dies from advanced leukemia at 55
  • 2004 [Karl] Carlos Kleiber, Austrian-Argentine conductor (Bavarian State Orchestra, 1968-97), dies at 74
  • 2005 Mickey Owen, American baseball catcher (4 × MLB All-Star 1941–44 Brooklyn Dodgers), dies at 89
  • 2006 Red Buttons [Aaron Chwatt], American comedian (The Red Buttons Show), and Academy Award-winning actor (Sayonara; The Poseidon Adventure), dies from cardiovascular disease at 87
  • 2007 Ilja Zeljenka, Slovak composer (Oświęcim), dies at 74
  • 2007 Zdeněk Lukáš, Czech composer, dies at 78
  • 2008 Bronisław Geremek, Polish social historian and politician (b. 1932)

George Steinbrenner (1930-2010)

American businessman and MLB team owner (New York Yankees), dies from a heart attack at 80

  • 2010 Manohari Singh, Indian saxophonist and part of R.D. Burman's band (b. 1931)
  • 2011 Allan Jeans, Australian football player and coach (b. 1933)
  • 2011 Jerry Ragovoy, American songwriter ("Piece Of My Heart"; "Time Is On My Side"; "Pata Pata"), and record producer, dies following a stroke at 80
  • 2012 Jerzy Kulej, Polish light welterweight boxer and politician, dies from a heart attack at 71
  • 2012 Richard Darryl Zanuck, American Academy Award-winning film producer, dies from a heart attack at 77

Cory Monteith (1982-2013)

Canadian actor and singer (Glee; Monte Carlo), dies of heroin and alcohol overdose at 31

  • 2013 Laurie Ann Frink, American big band jazz trumpeter and educator, dies of cancer at 61 [1]
  • 2014 Lorin Maazel, American conductor (Cleveland Orchestra, 1972-82; Orchestre National de France, 1977-91; NY Philharmonic 2001-09), dies at 84
  • 2014 Nadine Gordimer, South African author and Nobel laureate, dies at 90
  • 2014 Thomas Berger, American novelist, dies at 89
  • 2015 Gerhard Zwerenz, German writer and politician, dies at 90
  • 2016 Bernardo Provenzano, Mafia Boss (Cosa Nostra), dies in a prison hospital at 83
  • 2016 Héctor Babenco, film director (Kiss of the Spider Woman), dies at 70

Liu Xiaobo (1955-2017)

Chinese writer and human rights activist, dies from liver cancer at 61

  • 2018 Nancy Barbato Sinatra, first wife and life-long friend of Frank Sinatra, dies at 101
  • 2020 Chuck Hulse, American auto racer (USAC Champ Car Series, 26 x top 10 finishes), dies at 92
  • 2020 Grant Imahara, American TV Mythbuster, dies of a brain aneurysm at 49
  • 2020 Pat Quinn, Scottish soccer forward (4 caps; Motherwell, Hibernian) and manager (East Fife, FH), dies at 84
  • 2020 [Zindziswa] Zindzi Mandela, South African politician and poet, dies at 59
  • 2021 Shirley Fry, American tennis player (French Open 1951; Wimbledon, US Open 1956; Australian Open 1957; 11 x Grand Slam doubles titles; world #1 1956), dies at 94
  • 2021 Yashpal Sharma, Indian cricket batsman (37 Tests; 2 x 100s; 42 ODIs), dies from a heart attack at 66
July 13 Highlights