Deaths May 5 | History by KabAstro

1678 Anna M van Schurman, Dutch poet, spoke 10 languages, dies at about 70
1702 Jacob Hintze, German composer, dies at 79
1705 Leopold I, Emperor of Holy Roman Empire (1658-1704), dies at 64
1765 August Friedrich Graun, German organist and composer, dies at about 67 (exact birthday uncertain, c. 1698)
1766 Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (b. 1684)
1801 Philippe-Lambert-Joseph Spruyt, Flemish painter and engraver, dies at 74
1808 Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist, dies at 50
1811 Robert Mylne, Scottish architect (b. 1734)

Napoléon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

French military leader and Emperor of the French (1804-14, 1815), dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena, officially from stomach cancer but rumours of arsenic poisoning persist

1827 Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (1806-27), dies at 76
1831 Friedrich Ludwig Seidel, composer, dies at 65
1837 Niccolo Antonio Zingarelli, Italian composer (Andromeda), dies at 85
1840 Gottlob Benedikt Bierey, German composer, dies at 67
1840 Matthäus Fischer, German organist and composer, dies at 76
1855 Robert Inglis, English Conservative politician known for his staunch high church views, dies at 69
1859 Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician (number theory), dies at 53
1864 Alexander Hays, US Union-general-major, dies in battle at 44
1864 John Marshall Jones, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies in battle at 43

Howard B. Cushing (1838-1871)

American military officer, dies fighting Apaches in Arizona at 32

1885 Lauro Rossi, Italian composer (I falsi monetari), dies at 73
1886 Joseph Albert, German photographer (albertotype), dies at 61
1892 August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist (b. 1818)
1892 Jan Nepomuk Škroup, Czech composer, dies at 80
1896 Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1839)
1900 Ivan Aivazovsky, Russian painter (b. 1817)
1901 Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, Parsi entrepreneur and founder of the first textile mills in India, dies at 77
1902 Bret Harte, American author (Outcasts of Poker Flat), dies at 65
1909 Pauline Staegeman, German feminist, dies
1921 Alfred Hermann Fried, German pacifist (Nobel 1911-co-founder of the German peace movement), dies at 56
1921 William Friese-Greene, British photographer and inventor (motion pictures), dies at 65
1927 Charles Boissevain, Dutch editor of Amsterdam Algemeen Handelsblad (1885-1908), dies at 84
1931 Glen Kidston, British aviator and racing driver (b. 1899)
1941 Natalija Obrenović, Queen of Serbia (b. 1859)
1942 Qemal Stafa, Albanian politician (b. 1920)
1943 Andy Minder, American jockey (Kentucky Derby 1907), dies from a heart attack at 62
1943 Gordon Hewart, British judge "Not only must Justice be done; it must also be seen to be done" (Lord Chief Justice 1922-40), dies at 73
1944 Bertha Benz [Cacilie Bertha Ringer], German inventor, automotive pioneer and wife of fellow automotive inventor Karl Benz, dies at 95
1945 Elsie Mitchell and five Sunday school students become the only people to die during World War II on US soil when they are killed by a Japanese fire balloon that lands in the forest of Gearhart Mountain, near Bly, Southern Oregon
1945 Peter Van Pels, Jewish Refugee (b. 1926)
1947 Ty LaForest, Canadian baseball player, dies at 30
1951 Eddie Dunn, comedian (Face to Face, Spin the Picture), dies at 54

Leo Diegel (1899-1951)

American golfer (PGA C'ship 1928-29), dies of throat and lung cancer at 52

1956 Karel Rudolph Gallas, Dutch lexicographer (French Dictionary), dies at 88
1957 Joseph W Kennedy, American chemist (Manhattan Project; 1 of 4 discoverers of plutonium), and educator, dies of stomach cancer at 40
1957 Mikhail Gnesin, Russian composer (Vrubel; The Youth Of Abraham), dies at 74
1958 James Branch Cabell, American novelist and essayist (Restless Heads), dies at 79

Carlos Saavedra Lamas (1878-1959)

Argentine politician (Nobel Peace Prize 1936), dies at 80

1960 Sulho Ranta, Finnish composer, dies at 58
1962 Ernest Tyldesley, English cricket batsman (14 Tests, 3 x 100, 6 x 50, HS 138; Lancashire CCC), dies at 73
1963 Heinrich Gebhard, German-born American composer, dies at 84
1963 Jacobus JP Old, architect/co-founder (Stijl), dies at 73
1964 Howard Zahniser, American environmental activist (father of Wilderness Act), dies of heart failure at 58
1968 Albert Dekker, American stage and screen character actor (Dr. Cyclops; Beau Geste; The Wild Bunch), and politician, dies of accidental suffocation at 62
1971 Alice Tissot, French actress (Italian Straw Hat), dies of cancer at 81
1971 Harry Moorman, Dutch vice-admiral (KVP), dies at 71
1971 Petro Scaglione, Italian procureur-general, killed by Mafia
1971 Violet Jessop, Titanic survivor (b. 1887)
1972 [Reverend] Gary Davis, American blues and folk guitarist (A Little More Faith), dies of a heart attack at 76
1976 Thomas Burnett Swann, American sci-fi author (Day of Minotaur), dies of cancer at 47
1977 Ludwig Erhard, German politician (CDU, as Chancellor of Germany 1963-66 led German "economic miracle"), dies at 80
1977 Sam Lanin, American sweet jazz arranger and bandleader (Roseland Orchestra; The Ipana Troubadors), dies at 85
1978 Harold Gilligan, English cricket batsman (4 Tests; captain 1929-30 Tour of NZ), dies at 81
1979 Shirley O'Hara, actress (Wild Party), dies at 68
1980 Edmond Vandercammen, French-Belgian painter and poet (Grand Combat), dies at 79

Bobby Sands (1954-1981)

Irish IRA member and leader of the hunger strike at Maze Prison, dies in the 66th day of his hunger strike at 26

1982 Cal Tjader, American Latin jazz vibraphonist, dies of a heart attack at 56
1983 Horst Schumann, German Nazi physician who oversaw concentration camp x-ray sterilization and gas chamber murder of Jews, as well as euthanasia centers to kill feeble and ill people, dies at 77
1983 John Williams, British actor (Family Affair, Dial M for Murder), dies at 80
1983 Olin Dutra, American golfer (PGA C'ship 1932, US Open 1934), dies at 82
1985 Sir Donald Bailey, British civil engineer (b. 1901)
1986 John William Haussermann Jr., American composer, dies at 76
1986 Rui Coelho, Portuguese composer, dies at 94
1988 George Rose, British actor and singer (Beacon Hill; Holocaust), dies at 68
1988 Michael Shaara, American author (Killer Angels), dies of a heart attack at 59
1988 Tamara Pos, Suriname/Dutch activist
1989 Frank Easton, cricket wicket-keeper (NSW 1933-39), dies
1991 William De Acutis, American actor (9½ Weeks, Other People's Money), dies from a brain lymphoma at 33
1992 Ben Frommer, Polish actor (Scarface, Battlestar Galactica), dies at 78
1992 Dick Yarmy, American character actor (Get Smart; Kentucky Fried Movie; Mork & Mindy), dies of lung cancer at 58
1992 Jean-Claude Pascal, French actor (Golden Salamander), dies at 64
1992 Stefano d'Arrigo, Siciilian writer, dies at 72
1993 Balak Brahmachari [Marxist Godman], Indies guru, dies at 73
1993 Dermot Boyle, Marshal of the Royal Air Force, dies at 88
1993 Dick Metz, American golfer (US Open 1938 runner-up; 10 PGA Tour titles), dies at 84
1993 Irving Howe, American writer and critic (Dissent), dies at 72
1993 Lenore Kingston Jenson, dies of cancer at 79
1994 Hein Salomonson, architect, dies at about 83
1994 Joe Layton, American director (Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip), dies at 63
1995 Anthony Wagner, Officer of Arms at the College of Arms in London, dies at 86
1995 Bernard Benjamin Gillis, British judge, dies at 89
1995 James Pack, British naval officer and museum curator (POrtsmouth), dies at 81
1995 Lionel Alexander Bethune [Alastair] Pilkington, British engineer (float glass), dies at 75

Mikhail Botvinnik (1911-1995)

Russian influential World Chess Champion, dies at 83

1995 Thomas Eden Binkley, musician, dies at 63
1996 Ai Qing, Chinese poet, dies at 86
1996 Beryl Burton, cyclist, dies at 58
1996 Charles H. Zimmerman, American aeronautical engineer (NACA, NASA), dies at 88 [1]
1996 David Lasser, American science fiction magazine editor (Wonder Stores, 1930-33), writer (The Conquest of Space), and workers' rights activist, dies at 94
1996 Salli Terri [Stella Tirri], Canadian-American Grammy Award-winning pop-classical-folk-exotica singer, arranger, composer (Duets with the Spanish Guitar), musicologist, and educator, dies after a series of strokes at 75
1997 Tolia Nikiprowetzky, French composer, ethnomusicologist and broadcaster of Russian heritage, dies at 80
1997 Walter Gotell, German actor (James Bond, From Russia With Love), dies at 73
1998 Syd Lawrence, British bandleader (Syd Lawrence Orchestra), dies at 74
2000 Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (Tour de France 1938, 48; Giro d'Italia 1936-7, 46), dies of a heart attack at 85
2001 Cliff Hillegass, American publisher (Cliffsnotes), dies at 83
2002 George Sidney, American film director (b. 1916)
2002 Hugo Banzer, Bolivian dictator (b. 1926)
2002 Paul Klipsch, American engineer, noted for his loudspeaker designs, dies at 98
2003 David Lewin, American composer, dies at 69
2003 Walter Sisulu, South African activist (b. 1912)
2004 José Maceda, Filipino composer and ethnomusicologist, dies at 87
2004 Ritsuko Okazaki, Japanese singer-songwriter (Kanashii Jiyū / Koi ga, Kiete Yuku), dies at 44
2005 Ted Atkinson, American jockey (US Champion 1944, 46), dies of a stroke at 88
2006 Joep de Boer, Dutch naval officer and politician (CDA), dies at 81
2006 Naushad Ali, Indian composer, and Hindi film music director, dies at 86
2007 Theodore Harold Maiman, American Inventor and engineer (created 1st working laser), dies at 79
2008 Irv Robbins, Canadian-American entrepreneur (co-founded the Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor chain), dies at 90
2008 Jerry Wallace, American country and pop singer ("Primrose Lane"; "If You Leave Me Tonight I'll Cry"), dies of heart failure at 79
2008 Thomas Boggs, American rock drummer (Box Tops), dies at 63
2010 Alfons Kontarsky, German concert pianist (best known for duo-piano performance with his brother, Aloys), dies at 77
2011 Arthur Laurents, American playwright (West Side Story: Gypsy), and screenwriter (Rope; Anastasia), dies at 93
2011 Claude Choules, British-Australian sailor and last surviving combat veteran of both World War I and World War II, dies at 110
2011 Dana Wynter, German-English actress (Airport; Invasion of the Body Snatchers), dies at 79
2011 Yosef Merimovich, Israeli football player, 1948-58, and manager, 1958-89, dies at 86
2012 "Sweet Joe" Russell, American a cappella singer (The Persuasions - "Slip Sliding Away"), dies at 72 [1]
2012 Raman Surendranath, Indian cricket fast bowler (11 Tests, 26 wickets), dies at 75
2013 Richard Barratt, British lawman (Chief Inspector of Constabulary, 1987-90; Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police, 1975–78), dies at 84
2013 Sarah Kirsch, German poet, dies at 78
2014 Butler Derrick, American politician (Rep-D-SC, 1974-95), dies at 77
2015 Craig Gruber, American rock bassist (Rainbow), dies of cancer at 63
2017 Adolph Kiefer, American swimmer (Olympic gold 100m backstroke 1936), dies at 98
2018 Aaron D. Panken, American rabbi, dies in a plane crash at 53
2018 Ermanno Olmi, Italian film director (The Tree of Wooden Clogs), dies at 86
2018 Ludwig Harig, German writer, dies at 90
2018 Rosemarie Schruder, German writer, dies at 89
2018 Stanley Falkow, American microbiologist (molecular mechanisms of infectious diseases), dies at 84
2020 Hillard "Sweet Pea" Atkinson, American R&B singer (Was (Not Was)), dies of a heart attack at 74 [1]
2020 Millie Small, Jamaican ska singer, and songwriter ("My Boy Lollipop"), dies of a stroke at 72
2021 (Ivor) "Nick" Kamen, British pop singer-songwriter (Each Time You Break My Heart; I Promised Myself), and model (Levi's), dies of bone marrow cancer at 59
2021 Del Crandall, American baseball catcher (11 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1957; 4 × Gold Glove Award; Boston/Milwaukee Braves) and manager (Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners), dies at 91
2021 George Jung [Boston George], American drug trafficker whose story was portrayed in the biopic "Blow", dies of liver and kidney failure at 78
2022 James Anderton, British policeman (Chief Constable of Manchester, 1976-91), dies at 89
2022 Leo Wilden, German soccer defender (15 caps West Germany; 1. FC Köln, Bayer Leverkusen), dies at 85
2023 Arsenio Iglesias, Spanish soccer manager (Deportivo La Coruña, Hércules, Zaragoza, Elche, Real Madrid), dies at 92
2023 Chris Strachwitz, German-born American folk, roots, and world music record producer and label founder (Arhoolie Records), dies at 91 [1]
2023 Siiri Rantanen, Finnish cross country skier (Olympic gold 3 × 5k relay 1956, bronze 1960; bronze 10k 1952), dies at 98
2023 Terry Lewis, Australian disgraced police officer (Commissioner of the Queensland Police Service, 1976-87), and convict (corruption, forgery), dies at 95
2024 César Luis Menotti, Argentine soccer manager (Argentina Winner FIFA World Cup 1978) and striker (11 caps; CA Rosario Central), dies from anemia at 85