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

Famous Deaths on September 29

  • 855 Lotharius I, Romanian-French emperor (signed Treaty of Verdun), dies
  • 1360 Joan I, Countess of Auvergne, queen of France (1350-60), dies at 34
  • 1364 Charles, Duke of Brittany ("the Saint" beatified 1904), killed in the Battle of Auray at 44 or 45
  • 1530 Andrea del Sato [d'Agnolo di Franceszo], Italian painter, dies at 44

Gustav Vasa (1496-1560)

King of Sweden (1523-60) who abolished Sweden's elective monarchy, dies at 64

  • 1598 Floris van Pallandt, Dutch Count of Culemborg, dies at about 61
  • 1619 Hans Lippershey, Dutch spectacle maker, credited inventor of the telescope, buried aged 48 or 49
  • 1637 Lorenzo Ruiz, Filipino-Chinese saint, dies of trial by torture by Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan at 42
  • 1642 René Goupil, French Jesuit Catholic missionary, one of the Canadian Martyrs, 1st canonized Catholic martyr in North America, killed by Mohawks at 34
  • 1703 Charles de Saint-Évremond, French soldier who fled to exile in England, essayist and man of letters, dies at 90
  • 1800 Michael Denis, Austrian poet, bibliographer and lepidopterist, dies at 71
  • 1804 Michael Hillegas, American merchant and first Treasurer of the United States (1775-89), dies at 75
  • 1825 Daniel Shays, American officer in the American Revolution and leader of Shay's Rebellion, dies at 78

Ferdinand VII (1784-1833)

King of Spain (1808, 1813-33) who lost nearly all of Spain's possessions in Latin America, dies at 48

  • 1860 Chapin A. Harris, American dentist who founded the America Society of Dental Surgeons, dies at 54
  • 1862 William "Bull" Nelson, Union general-major, murdered after an argument by fellow Union officer General Jefferson C. Davis at 38
  • 1864 Hiram Burnham, American Union army officer (Chancellorsville), dies in Battle of Chaffin's Farm at 49 or 50
  • 1867 Sterling "Old Pap" Price, American lawyer, U.S. Army Brigadier General and politician (11th Governor of Missouri), dies at 58
  • 1873 John Ancrum Winslow, American naval officer (Mexican–American War), dies at 61
  • 1887 Bernhard von Langenbeck, German surgeon and founder of Langenbeck's Archives of Surgery, dies at 76
  • 1889 Louis Faidherbe, French general and colonel administrator in Senegal, dies at 71
  • 1900 Samuel Fenton Cary, American politician and temperance movement leader (Rep-IR-Ohio), dies at 86
  • 1902 William McGonagall, Scottish-Irish poet infamous as an extremely bad poet and considered the worst in British history (The Tay Bridge Disaster, The Famous Tay Whale), dies at 77
  • 1908 Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Brazilian writer (Epitaph of a small winner), dies at 69
  • 1910 Winslow Homer, American painter known for his marine scenes (Breezing Up), dies at 74

Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913)

French-born German engineer who invented the diesel engine, disappears at 55 aboard the ship Dresden in the English Channel

  • 1914 Jean Bouin, French middle distance runner (Olympic silver 1912), dies fighting in WWI at 25
  • 1915 Luther Orlando Emerson, American composer, dies at 95
  • 1915 Rudi Stephan, German composer (Die ersten Menschen), dies fighting in World War I at 28
  • 1925 Léon-Victor-Auguste Bourgeois, French Prime Minister (1895-96), Nobel Peace Prize 1920 as President of Council of the League of Nations ), dies at 74
  • 1925 Runar Schildt, Finnish writer (Galgmannen), dies at 36
  • 1927 Arthur Achleitner, German writer, dies at 69
  • 1927 Willem Einthoven, Dutch physiologist and inventor of the electrocardiodiogram (Nobel Prize in Medicine 1924), dies at 67
  • 1928 Ernst Steinitz, German mathematician, dies at 57
  • 1928 Lido Manetti [Arnold Kent], Italian-born American actor, dies in a car accident at 29
  • 1929 Giitji Tanaka, Japanese baron, general and Premier (1927-29), dies at 66

Ilya Repin (1844-1930)

Ukrainian-Russian painter (Barge Haulers on the Volga, Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan, Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks), dies at 86

  • 1933 Margaret Talmadge, American actress, dies at 72
  • 1937 Ray Ewry, American track and field athlete (8 Olympic golds 1900, 04, 08), dies at 63
  • 1939 Samuel Dickstein, Polish mathematician, dies in WWII bombing at 88
  • 1941 Friedrich Angel, German mathematician (group theory), dies at 79
  • 1950 Balthazar Huibrecht Verhagen, Dutch dramatist and writer, dies at 69
  • 1950 Clara Ford, American suffragette supporter and wife of industrialist Henry Ford, dies at 84
  • 1951 Bradley Barker, American silent actor and film director, dies at 68
  • 1951 Thomas Cahill, American soccer coach and administrator (first coach US men's national team), dies at 86
  • 1952 John Cobb, British speed record holder (World Land Speed Record 1938-39, 47), dies attempting to break world Water Speed Record at Loch Ness, Scotland, at 52
  • 1954 William John Gruffydd, Welsh poet and scholar, dies at 73
  • 1959 Bruce Bairnsfather, British cartoonist (Old Bill), dies at 72
  • 1959 Harold Huber [Huberman], American radio, stage, a,d screen actor (I Cover Times Square), dies at 49
  • 1960 Franz Arnold, German writer, dies at 82
  • 1961 Reinhard Herbig, German archaeologist (Etruscan, Ancient Greece and Rome), dies at 63
  • 1962 Patrick Corry, developed self-rotating rock drill, dies in the Bronx
  • 1962 Robert Burton, American actor (The Big Heat, Compulsion, A Man Called Peter), dies from cancer at 67
  • 1966 Maurits Uyldert, Dutch poet and writer (Motion), dies at 75
  • 1967 Carson McCullers, American author (Heart is a Lonely Hunter), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 50
  • 1967 Ludwig Donath, Austrian actor (Torn Curtain, Sirocco, Jolson Sings Again), dies of leukemia at 67
  • 1968 Eddie Wilcox, American jazz pianist, arranger, and bandleader (Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra), dies at 59
  • 1968 Paul Radmilovic, Welsh swimmer (Olympic gold GB 4×200m freestyle 1908; gold GB water polo 1908, 12, 20), dies at 82
  • 1970 Edward Everett Horton, American vaudeville, stage, silent and sound screen character actor (Top Hat), and narrator (Fractured Fairy Tales - The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show), dies of cancer at 84
  • 1973 W. H. Auden [Wystan Hugh Auden], British-American poet (The Age of Anxiety), dies at 66

Casey Stengel (1890-1975)

American Baseball HOF outfielder (World Series 1921, 22 NY Giants) and manager (7 x World Series NY Yankees; NY Mets 1st manager), dies of cancer at 85

  • 1977 Alexander Tcherepnin, Russian pianist and composer, dies at 78
  • 1979 Ivan Wyschnegradsky, Russian microtonal composer, dies at 86
  • 1980 Bindo Maserati, Italian auto engineer and businessman (manager Maserati Racing; founder O.S.C.A. Racing), dies at 97
  • 1981 Bill Shankly, Scottish football manager (Liverpool, 1959-74), dies of a heart attack at 68
  • 1982 Monty Stratton, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1937 Chicago WS; played minor leagues with prosthetic leg; 1949 film The Stratton Story), dies from cancer at 70
  • 1982 Slinger Nitschke, Australian cricketer (2 Tests for Australia 1931-32), dies at 77
  • 1984 Marnix Gijsen [Jan-Albert Goris], Belgian writer (Lament for Agnes), dies at 85
  • 1985 Benjamin Markarian, Armenian astrophysicist (Markarian galaxies), dies at 71
  • 1986 Betty Kean, American actress (Amy Tucker-Leave it to Larry), dies at 69
  • 1987 Henry Ford II, American automotive industry businessman, grandson of Henry Ford, and son of Edsel Ford (Ford Motor Company President, 1945-60 and CEO, 1947-79), dies of pneumonia at 70
  • 1988 Charles Addams, American artist and cartoonist (New Yorker, The Addams Family) known for darkly humorous and macabre characters, dies of a heart attack at 76
  • 1989 August A. "Gussie" Busch Jr., American brewing magnate (chairman Anheuser-Busch 1946-75) and baseball executive (owner St. Louis Cardinals 1953-89), dies at 90
  • 1991 Sam Ntuli, South African trade unionist and anti-apartheid activist, assassinated
  • 1991 Zapata Jaw [Nelson Renfrum], Surinamese jazz musician, dies
  • 1992 Paul Jabara, American singer-songwriter and actor (Last Dance), dies of AIDS at 44
  • 1993 Ghuslam Wyne, Pakistani politician, Chief Minister of Punjab, murdered at 60
  • 1993 Gordon Douglas [Brickner], American film director (Our Gang; Laurel and Hardy; Young At Heart; Way...Way Out; Tony Rome; They Call Me Mister Tibbs!), dies of cancer at 85
  • 1994 Cheb Hasni, Algerian singer, murdered at 26
  • 1994 Don Watson, Australian race car driver, dies in an accident at a practice for the Bathurst 1000 at 43
  • 1994 John Heddle Nash, English operatic singer, dies at 68
  • 1994 Mehmet Topac, Turkish minister of Justice, murdered
  • 1995 Francis Johnson, British architect (country homes, churches, historic restorations), dies at 84
  • 1995 George Chesterman Phillips, British naval officer and WWII submarine commander, dies at 90
  • 1995 Gerd Bucerius, German lawyer, newspaper publisher (Die Zeit, 1946-95), and politician, dies at 89
  • 1995 Madalyn Murray O'Hair, American atheist who opposed prayer in school, murdered at 76 along with her son Jon by David Waters
  • 1995 Seger Ellis, American jazz pianist, pop vocalist, songwriter, and bandleader, dies at 91 [1]
  • 1995 Susan Fleetwood, British actress (Krays, Clash of Titans), dies of cancer at 51
  • 1996 Ethel Jane Cain, British telephonist and original UK Speaking Clock voice, dies at 87
  • 1996 Leslie Crowther, English comedian and TV host (The pPrice is Right), dies at 63
  • 1996 Shūsaku Endō, Japanese writer (Sea & Poison, Silence), dies at 73
  • 1997 Bobby Campbell, Scottish journalist and musician, dies at 55
  • 1997 Milner Gray, British graphic designer, dies at 97
  • 1997 Roy Lichtenstein, American pop artist (Drowning Girl), dies of pneumonia at 73
  • 1997 Sven-Eric Emanuel Johanson, Swedish composer, dies at 77
  • 1998 Jared High, American victim of bullying and suicide, dies at 13

Tom Bradley (1917-1998)

American politician and Mayor of Los Angeles (Democrat: 1973-93), dies at 80

  • 1998 Valston Hancock, Australian air force commander (Chief of Air Force Staff 1961-65), dies at 91
  • 2001 Frank Gasparro, American chief engraver of the US Mint (1965-81), dies at 92
  • 2001 Mabel Fairbanks, Seminole-African American figure skater and coach (US Figure Skating Hall of Fame), dies at 85 [1]

Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (1923-2001)

President of South Vietnam (1965-75), dies of a stroke at 78

  • 2002 Edmund Trebus, British hoader, (A Life of Grime), dies at 83
  • 2004 Richard Sainct, French motorcycle rally rider, dies in a crash at 44
  • 2005 Austin Leslie, American chef, the "Godfather of Fried Chicken" (b. 1934)
  • 2006 Jan Werner Danielsen, Norwegian singer, dies of heart failure at 30
  • 2006 Khalique Ibrahim Khalique, Pakistani journalist and Urdu poet and critic (b. 1926)
  • 2006 Louis-Albert Cardinal Vachon, French Canadian Catholic archbishop of Quebec (b. 1912)
  • 2006 Michael A. Monsoor, United States Navy SEAL (posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor), killed in Iraq at 25
  • 2006 Walter Hadlee, New Zealand cricket batsman (11 Tests, 1 x 100, 2 x 50; Canterbury; father of Richard, Dayle & Barry), dies from a stroke at 91
  • 2007 Lois Maxwell [Hooker], Canadian actress (Goldfinger, Dr. No, Miss Moneypenny), dies at 80
  • 2008 Hayden Carruth, American poet (The Crow and the Heart), dies at 87
  • 2008 Relus ter Beek, Dutch Labour Party politician (House of Representatives, 1971-89; Minister of Defense, 1989-94; Queen's Commissioner of Drenthe, 1995-2008), dies of lung cancer at 64
  • 2009 Greg Ladanyi, Hungarian-American record producer and recording engineer, dies of injuries sustained in a fall at 57
  • 2009 Pavel Popovich, Ukrainian cosmonaut (Vostok IV; Soyuz 14), dies at 78
  • 2009 Sperantza Vrana, Greek actress (b. 1926 or 1932)
  • 2010 Georges Charpak, Polish-French physicist who invented and developed subatomic particle detectors (Nobel 1992), dies at 86
  • 2010 Greg Giraldo, American comedian (Comedy Central Roast), dies of an overdose at 44

Tony Curtis (1925-2010)

American actor (The Defiant Ones; Some Like It Hot; Spartacus), dies at 85

  • 2011 Hella Haasse, 'Grande Dame of Dutch Literature' (Oeroeg, The Tea Lords), dies at 93
  • 2011 Sylvia Robinson, American singer (Mickey & Sylvia - "Love Is Strange"; solo - "Pillow Talk"), record producer, and record label executive (Sugar Hill Records), dies of congestive heart failure at 76
  • 2013 Dov Noy, Polish-born Jewish scholar of Jewish folklore, dies at 92 [1]
  • 2013 L. C. Greenwood, American football player, dies from kidney failure at 67
  • 2014 Dan Goossen, American boxing promoter (Michael Nunn, Terry Norris, James Toney), dies of liver cancer at 64
  • 2015 Phil Woods, American jazz saxophonist and composer (Steely Dan's "Doctor Wu"; Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are"), dies of emphysema at 83
  • 2017 Dmitry Smolsky, Belarusian orchestral, choral, theater and pop music composer, and teacher (Belarusian State Academy of Music, 1962-2014), dies at 80
  • 2017 Ludmila Belousova, Russian figure skater (Olympic gold USSR pairs 1964, 68; World C'ship gold pairs 1965, 66, 67, 68 [Oleg Protopopov]), dies at 81
  • 2018 James "Big Jim" Wright, American Grammy and Dove Award-winning keyboardist, composer, arranger, and record producer (Sound of Blackness; Mariah Carey), dies at 52
  • 2018 Otis Rush, American blues musician (Right Place, Wrong Time), dies from complications from an earlier stroke at 83
  • 2019 Larry Willis, American jazz pianist and composer, dies of an aneurysm at 76
  • 2020 (Francis) Rocco Prestia, American funk-rock bassist (Tower of Power),dies at 69
  • 2020 19-year-old Indian Dalit rape victim dies two weeks after being gang raped by upper-caste men in Hathras district, ignites widespread protest
  • 2020 Aster Berkhof [Louis Van de Bergh], Flemish writer (Furious Christ), dies at 100
  • 2020 Doyle Royal, American collegiate soccer coach (NCAA C'ship 1968; University of Maryland 1946-73) and tennis coach (U of Maryland 1954-80), dies at 101
  • 2020 Helen Reddy, Australian-American rock vocalist ("I Am Woman"; "You And Me Against The World"), dies at 78 [1]
  • 2020 Isidora Žebeljan, Serbian classical, opera, and film composer, dies at 53
  • 2020 John Whittaker, New Zealand rugby league utility back (26 Tests; Wellington; Warrington), dies from cancer at 70
  • 2020 Justin Connolly [D'Arcy-Dawson], British classical and electro-acoustic composer (Diaphony; The Garden of Forking Paths), dies at 87
  • 2020 Mac Davis, American country music singer-songwriter ("Baby, Don't Get Hooked On Me"; "In The Ghetto"; "I Believe In Music") and actor (North Dallas Forty), dies following heart surgery at 78 [1]
  • 2020 Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, 5th Emir of Kuwait (2006-2020), Commander of the Kuwait Military Forces, dies at 91
  • 2021 Bronius Kutavičius, Lithuanian composer (The Gates of Jerusalem; Lokys) and teacher (Čiurlionis School of Art, 1975-2000), dies at 89
  • 2021 Dom Alexandre José Maria dos Santos, Mozambican Roman Catholic Cardinal, Mozambique's 1st black priest, dies at 97 [1]
  • 2021 Glyn Moses, Welsh rugby league fullback (2 caps Wales. 9 Great Britain; Salford, St. Helens), dies at 93
  • 2021 Heiko Salzwedel, German cycling coach (est. Australian Institute of Sport Road Cycling/MTB program; German, Danish, British Cycling), dies at 64
September 29 Highlights