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

Famous Deaths on September 18

  • 31 Sejanus, Roman head of praetorian guard, executed

Domitian (51-96 AD)

Roman Emperor (81-96), assassinated by court officials at 44

  • 887 Pietro I Candiano, Doge of Venice (killed in battle)
  • 993 Arnulf vanf Gent, Westfries earl (988-93), dies in battle
  • 1137 Erik II Eimune [Onvergetelijke], King of Denmark (1134-37), murdered
  • 1180 Louis VII, King of France (1137-1180), dies at 59 or 60
  • 1261 Conrad van Hochstaden, archbishop of Cologne, dies
  • 1426 Hubert [Huybrecht] van Eyck, Flemish painter, brother of Jan van Eyck (The Ghent Altarpiece), dies
  • 1524 Charlotte of Valois, Princess of France as second daughter of King Francis I and his wife Claude, dies at 7

Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598)

Japanese daimyō and warrior known as Japan's second "great unifier", dies at 61

Membertou (c. 1507-1611)

Micmac chief (1st chief of a First Nations community to be converted by Catholic missionaries), dies [1]

  • 1630 Melchior Klesl, Austrian cardinal and statesman (b. 1552)
  • 1663 Joseph of Cupertino, Italian saint, dies at 60
  • 1675 Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine (1624-75), dies at 71
  • 1684 Joannes Antonides van der Goes, Dutch poet (Ystroom), dies at 37
  • 1721 Matthew Prior, English poet and diplomat, dies at 57
  • 1721 Nathaniel Crew, English influential bishop (Bishop of Oxford and Durham), dies at 88
  • 1722 André Dacier, French classical scholar (b. 1651)
  • 1735 Justus van Effen, Dutch writer (founded Holland Spectator), dies at 51
  • 1775 Andrew Foulis, Scottish bookseller and printer, dies at about 63
  • 1783 Benjamin Kennicott, English churchman and Hebrew scholar, dies at 65

Leonhard Euler (1707-1783)

Swiss mathematician (Euler's Constant), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 76

  • 1792 Gottlieb August Spangenberg, German theologist and missionary (organized Moravian Church in North America), dies at 88
  • 1797 Louis-Lazare Hoche, French revolutionary general, dies
  • 1818 Olof Swartz, Swedish botanist (work on pteridophytes), dies at 57
  • 1827 Robert Pollok, Scottish poet (The Course of Time), dies of TB at 28
  • 1830 William Hazlitt, English critic and essayist, dies at 52
  • 1831 Peter Hansel, German Austrian composer and violinist, dies at 60
  • 1857 Karol Kurpiński, Polish composer (Pygmalion; Kalmora, or The Paternal Right of the Americans), conductor (Warsaw Opera, 1810-40), and pedagogue, dies at 72
  • 1860 Casimiro de Abreu, Brazil, poet (Meus oito anos), novelist and playwright (Camoes e o jau), dies at 21
  • 1860 Joseph Locke, English railway and civil engineer, dies at 55
  • 1866 Young Marshall Moody, American Brigadier General in the Confederate Army, dies of yellow fever at 44
  • 1872 Charles XV, King of Sweden and Norway (1859-72), dies at 46

Dion Boucicault (1820-1890)

Irish actor and playwright (London Assurance; The Poor of New York), dies at 69 [or 67, birth year disputed]

  • 1891 William Ferrel, American mathematician (b. 1817)
  • 1896 Armand-Hippolyte-Louis Fizeau, French physicist, dies at 75
  • 1903 Theodore Furchtegott Kirchner, German composer, dies at 79
  • 1904 Herbert von Bismarck, German politician, son of Otto, dies at 54
  • 1905 George MacDonald, Scottish poet and sci-fi author (Princess & Curdie), dies at 80
  • 1908 Dickey Pearce, American baseball shortstop (pioneer shortstop position; introduced bunt) and manager (NY Mutuals, St. Louis Brown Stockings), dies at 72
  • 1911 Peter Stolypin, 3rd Prime Minister of Russia (1906-11), shot and murdered at the Kiev Opera House aged 49
  • 1915 Susan La Flesche Picotte, American physician (first Native American woman to receive a medical degree), dies of cancer at 50 [1]
  • 1918 Ernest Farrar, English composer and musician, dies fighting on the Western Front during WWI at 33
  • 1924 Francis H. Bradley, British idealist philosopher (Appearance and Reality), dies at 78
  • 1929 Hermann Gradener, German composer, dies at 85
  • 1931 Hazrat Babajan, a Baloch Muslim saint (b. c. 1806)
  • 1934 Marie Shotwell, American actress (Sally of the Sawdust), dies at 54
  • 1939 Gwen John, Welsh painter, dies at 63
  • 1939 Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish writer, painter, and photographer (b. 1885)
  • 1943 William S. Harley, American mechanical engineer and businessman (co-founder of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company), dies of heart failure at 62
  • 1944 Anthony Stefanich, British boxer and Army captain, killed in battle at Arnhem, Netherlands at 27
  • 1944 Hendrikus Colijn, Dutch army officer and Anti-Revolution Party (ARP) politician (Prime Minister, 1925-26 & 1933-39), dies at 75
  • 1944 Robert Cole, US army Lt, Colonel shot by a sniper in battle at Best, Netherlands at 29
  • 1945 "Blind" Willie Johnson, American gospel blues singer and guitarist ("Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground"), dies of malarial fever, syphilis and blindness at 48
  • 1949 Frank Morgan [Francis Wuppermann], American silent and sound film character actor (The Wizard of Oz; The Affairs of Cellini), dies of a heart attack at 59
  • 1952 Hippoliet Daeye, Belgium painter (Dreamy), dies at 79
  • 1953 Charles de Tornaco, Belgian racing driver, dies at 26
  • 1956 Adélard Godbout, Canadian politician (15th Premier of Quebec), dies at 63
  • 1959 Harvey Glatman, American rapist and serial killer, executed in the gas chamber of San Quentin State Prison, in Marin County, California at 31
  • 1960 John Evans, English cricket batsman (1 Test) and author ('The Escaping Club'), dies at 71

Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961)

Swedish public servant, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations (1953-61) and posthumous Nobel Peace Prize winner (1961), dies in a plane crash in Africa at 56

  • 1962 Therese Neumann, German stigma, dies at 64
  • 1964 Clive Bell, English art critic, dies at 83
  • 1964 J. Frank Dobie, American folklorist and newspaper columnist, dies at 75
  • 1964 Sean O'Casey, Irish playwright (The Plough and the Stars), dies at 84
  • 1965 Marshall Field IV, American newspaper publisher (owned Chicago Daily News), dies at 49
  • 1966 Fernand Lamy, French composer, dies at 85
  • 1966 Jeno Vecsey, Hungarian composer, dies at 57
  • 1967 John Cockcroft, English physicist (development of Radar, Nobel Prize 1951 for 1st particle accelerator, Director of Atomic Energy Research Establishment), dies at 70
  • 1968 Franchot Tone, American actor (Mutiny on the Bounty, Advise & Consent), dies from lung cancer at 63
  • 1968 Francis McDonald, American actor (Will-Adv of Champion), dies at 77
  • 1968 Willem Kooiman, Dutch theologist and church historian, dies at 65
  • 1969 Rudolph Wagner-Regeny, Hungarian German composer, dies at 66

Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970)

American rock guitarist ("Purple Haze"; "Vvoodoo Chile"; "The Wind Cries Mary"), dies from asphyxiation at 27

  • 1973 Mary Wigman, German dancer, choreographer, and teacher, dies at 86
  • 1973 Nora Nicholson, British actress (Blue Lagoon, Crow Hollow), dies at 80
  • 1974 Edna Best, English actress (Key, Calendar, Escape), dies at 74
  • 1975 Fairfield Porter, American painter, dies at 68
  • 1975 Pamela Brown, British actress (Cleopatra, I Know Where I'm Going!, Beckett), dies from pancreatic cancer at 58
  • 1977 Paul Bernays, Swiss mathematician (b. 1888)
  • 1980 Katherine Anne Porter, American writer (Ship of Fools), dies at 90
  • 1982 Clyde McCullough, American baseball catcher (MLB All Star 1948, 53; Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates) and coach, dies at 65
  • 1982 Pei Wenzhong, Chinese anthropologist and archaeologist (Peking Man), dies at 78
  • 1985 Gerald Holtom, British artist and graphic designer (Nuclear Disarmament (ND) logo, which later became an international peace symbol), dies at 71
  • 1987 Américo Tomás, Portuguese admiral and politician (13th President of Portugal 1958-74), dies at 92
  • 1991 Rob Tyner [Robert Derminer], American hard rock singer (MC5 - Kick Out The Jams), dies of a heart attack at 46
  • 1992 Earl Van Dyke, American jazz and session piano, Hammond B-3, and harpsichord player (Motown Records' Funk Brothers, 1964-72), dies of prostate cancer at 62
  • 1992 Franz Schmid, German climber (1st to ascend northside of Matterhorn 1931), dies at 87
  • 1992 Lona Andre [Launa Anderson], American actress (Death in the Air, Case of Baby Sitter), dies at 77
  • 1994 Franco Moschino, Italian fashion designer, dies from AIDS complications at 44
  • 1995 Donald Davie, English Movement poet and literary critic, dies at 73 [1]
  • 1995 Oleg Tverdokhleb, Ukrainian athlete (b. 1969)
  • 1996 Vera Brodsky Lawrence, American concert pianist (CBS Symphony) and musicologist (Joplin; Gottschalk), dies at 87
  • 1997 Harry Boyne, British parliamentary journalist, dies at 87
  • 1997 James "Jimmy" Witherspoon, American jump blues singer (Ain't Nobody's Business), dies at 77
  • 1998 Leonid Kinskey, Russian actor (Casablanca, Duck Soup), dies at 95
  • 2001 Ernie Coombs, American-Canadian children's entertainer (Mr. Dressup), dies at 73
  • 2002 Andres Burnier [Catharina Irma Dessaur], Dutch criminologist and author (Jongensuur), dies at 71
  • 2002 Bob Hayes, American athlete (Olympic gold 100m, 4x100m relay 1964) and Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver (3 x Pro Bowl; Dallas Cowboys), dies of kidney failure at 59
  • 2002 Ernest Sidey, British air marshal (General of RAF Medical Services, Honorary Surgeon to the Queen), dies at 89
  • 2002 Mauro Ramos, Brazilian football player (b. 1930)
  • 2003 Bob Mitchell, British politician (b. 1927)
  • 2003 Emil Fackenheim, German Holocaust survivor and philosopher (b. 1916)
  • 2004 Marvin Mitchelson, American celebrity attorney, dies at 76
  • 2004 Norman Cantor, Canadian historian (b. 1929)
  • 2004 Russ Meyer, American film director (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!), dies at 82
  • 2005 Marv Grissom, American baseball pitcher, coach (MLB All Star 1954, NY, SF Giants), dies at 87
  • 2005 Michael Park, British Rally co-driver (b. 1966)
  • 2006 Edward J. King, 66th Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1925)
  • 2007 Pepsi Tate [Huw Smith], Welsh glam-rock bassist (Tigertailz), dies of pancreatic cancer at 42
  • 2008 Humberto Solás, Cuban film director and writer (Lucia), dies at 66
  • 2009 Oliver Wright, British diplomat, UK Ambassador to Germany and the US, dies at 88 [1]
  • 2010 Bobby Smith, English soccer centre forward (15 caps; Tottenham Hotspur 271 games, 176 goals), dies at 77
  • 2011 Kurt Sanderling, German conductor (East Berlin Symphony 1960-77), dies at 98
  • 2012 Jack Kralick, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1964; no hitter 1962; Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians), dies from complications of strokes at 77

Steve Sabol (1942-2012)

American filmmaker (35 Emmy awards - NFL Films), dies from brain cancer at 69

Ken Norton (1943-2013)

American boxer (WBC heavyweight champion 1978; famous Muhammad Ali trilogy; International Boxing HOF), dies at 70

  • 2013 Lindsay Cooper, British bassoonist, oboe player, and composer (Henry Cow; News From Babel; Feminist Improvising Group), dies from complications of multiple sclerosis at 62
  • 2013 Lisa Otto, German soprano (Berlin State Opera, 1951-85), dies at 93
  • 2013 Richard C. Sarafian, American director and actor (Foley Square), dies from complications from pneumonia at 83
  • 2018 Judith Kazantzis, English poet and feminist, dies at 78
  • 2018 Robert Venturi, American architect (Vanna Venturi House) and theorist (inspired Postmodernism), dies at 93 [1]
  • 2019 Fernando Ricksen, Dutch soccer midfielder (12 caps; Glasgow Rangers), dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at 43

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020)

American jurist and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1993-2020), dies of pancreatic cancer at 87

  • 2021 Neil McCarthy, American college basketball coach (Weber State Uni 1974-85, New Mexico State Uni 1985-97), dies at 82
  • 2022 Mustafa Dağıstanlı, Turkish freestyle wrestler (Olympic gold 57kg 1956, 62kg 1960; World C'ship gold 1954, 57, 59), dies at 91
  • 2023 Henty Boucha, Ojibwa-American NHL and WHA ice hockey forward, 1972-77 (Olympic silver, 1972; Detroit Red Wings and 3 other teams). dies at 72
  • 2023 Marinho Peres, Brazilian soccer defender & captain (15 caps; Portuguesa, Santos, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Galícia) and manager (Botafogo, El Salvador, Belenenses, Sporting, Santos), dies at 76
September 18 Highlights