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

Famous Deaths on September 7

  • 355 Claudius Silvanus, Roman Frankish general who tried to usurp Constantius II, murdered by soldiers
  • 1134 Alfonso I de Strijdvaardige, king of Aragon (1104-34), dies
  • 1151 Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, conquered Normandy, dies at 38
  • 1362 Joan of The Tower, English princess and Queen consort of Scotland, dies at 41
  • 1559 Robert Estienne, French printer (b. 1503)
  • 1625 Rombout Hogerbeets, Dutch lawyer and City Solicitor of Leiden, dies at 64
  • 1644 Guido Bentivoglio, Italian statesman (b. 1579)
  • 1655 Tristan l'Hermite, French dramatist and poet, dies (birth date unknown)
  • 1657 Arvid Wittenberg, Swedish count, field marshal and privy councilor (b. 1606)
  • 1719 John Harris, English writer (Lexicon Technicum, first English Encyclopedia) (b. c. 1666)
  • 1721 Bernhard Albinus, German-Dutch court-physician (Frederick of Prussia), dies at 68
  • 1729 William Burnet, British-born American statesman (b. 1688)
  • 1731 Yevdokiya Lopukhina, Tsarina of Russia as the first wife of Peter I of Russia, dies at 62
  • 1775 Johann Georg Holzbogen, German violinist and composer, dies at 48
  • 1799 Jan Ingenhousz, Dutch-English physiologist (discovering photosynthesis) and personal physician of Maria Theresa, dies at 68
  • 1799 Louis Guillaume Lemonnier, French botanist and contributor to the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, dies at 82
  • 1809 Caroline Schelling [Michaelis], German Romantic poet and critic, dies at 46
  • 1809 Phra Bat Somdet Phra Phutthayotfa Chulalok Maharat [Rama I], King of Thailand, founder of Chakri dynasty, dies at 72
  • 1819 Jean-Louis Duport, French cellist and composer, dies at 69
  • 1820 Court Lambertus van Beyma, Frisian regent and leader of the Frisian patriots, dies at 67
  • 1838 Joseph Panny, Austrian violinist and composer, dies at 43
  • 1845 Isabella Colbran, wife of Italian composer Gioachino Rossini, dies
  • 1871 Cowper Phipps Coles, English inventor (revolving gun turret), drowns at 51
  • 1871 Mehmed Ali Pasha, Turkish marshal and statesman, dies fighting in Albania at 50
  • 1872 Antoni Stolpe, Polish pianist and composer, dies at 21
  • 1881 Sidney Lanier, American poet and composer, dies of tuberculosis at 39
  • 1891 Lorenzo Sawyer, 9th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California, dies at 71
  • 1892 John Greenleaf Whittier, American Quaker poet and advocate for the abolition of slavery, dies at 84
  • 1893 Hamilton Fish, American politician (Governor of New York), dies at 85
  • 1902 Franz Wüllner, German conductor and composer, dies at 70
  • 1907 Sully Prudhomme, French poet and the 1st winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1901, dies at 68
  • 1909 Eugene Lefebvre, French aviator pioneer (1st stunt pilot and 1st pilot to die flying a plane), dies test piloting a Wright A aircraft at 30
  • 1910 William Holman Hunt, English painter (Light of the World), dies at 83
  • 1914 Peter O'Brien, Irish lawyer and judge, dies at 73
  • 1920 Simon-Napoléon Parent, Canadian politician and 12th Premier of Quebec (1900-05), dies at 64
  • 1921 Alfred William Rich, English watercolor painter, dies at 65
  • 1922 William Stewart Halsted, American pioneering surgeon (introduced anesthesia and antisepsis while addicted to cocaine and opium), dies at 69 [1]
  • 1925 John Wesley Work Jr., 1st African-American collector of folk songs and spirituals, dies at 52 or 54
  • 1925 René Viviani, French historian and 61st Prime Minister of France (1914-15), dies at 61

Edward Grey (1862-1933)

British Liberal statesman and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1905-16), dies at 71

  • 1939 Kyoka Izumi, Japanese novelist and kabuki playwright, dies at 65
  • 1940 Edmund Rumpler, Austrian automotive and airplane builder (1st Tatra car), dies at 68
  • 1942 Cecilia Beaux, American portrait painter dies at 87
  • 1944 Eduardo Sanchez de Fuentes, Cuban composer, dies at 70
  • 1946 Paul Zech, German writer, dies at 65
  • 1948 Henricus Andreas Poels, Dutch Roman Catholic theologist and social foreman, dies at 80
  • 1949 José Clemente Orozco, Mexican painter of political murals (Epic of Culture in New World), dies at 65
  • 1951 John French Sloan, American painter and etcher, dies at 80
  • 1951 María Montez [Vidal], Dominican actress known as The Queen of Technicolor (Cobra Woman, Arabian Nights), dies of heart seizure at 39
  • 1954 Bud Fisher, American cartoonist (Mutt and Jeff), dies at 69
  • 1955 Ernst Rabel, Austrian-American lawyer, human rights activist, and author (The Conflict of Laws: A Comparative Study), dies at 81
  • 1956 C. B. Fry, English cricket batsman (26 Tests, 2 x 100s; Sussex, Hampshire), dies at 84
  • 1959 Maurice Duplessis, Canadian politician, 16th Premier of Quebec, dies at 69
  • 1960 Wilhelm Pieck, German politician (co-founder German Communist Party, President of German DR 1949-60), dies at 84
  • 1961 Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy, Dutch lawyer and Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1940-45), dies at 76
  • 1962 Eiji Yoshikawa, Japanese historical novelist, dies at 70
  • 1962 Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen-Finecke], Danish baroness and writer (Out of Africa), dies at 77
  • 1962 Morris Louis, American painter (post painterly abstraction), dies at 49
  • 1964 Walter Brown, American basketball and ice hockey executive (founded and owned Boston Celtics, bought Boston Bruins), dies at 59
  • 1965 Catherine Dale Owen, American actress (Behind Office Doors), dies at 62
  • 1966 Al Kelly, American double talk comedian (Ernie Kovacs Show), dies at 67
  • 1968 Thom Kelling, Dutch singer, guitarist, and bandleader (Programa de Manha), dies at 46
  • 1969 Everett McKinley Dirksen, American politician (Senator-R-Illinois, Senate Minority Leader), dies at 73
  • 1971 Spring Byington, American actress (Lily Ruskin-December Bride), dies at 84
  • 1972 Jacques Pirenne, Belgian historian and honorary secretary of King Leopold III of Belgium, dies at 81
  • 1973 Hans Lorbeer, German writer and politician, dies at 72
  • 1976 Daniel F. Galouye, American sci-fi author (Dark Universe, Last Leap), dies at 56
  • 1977 Gustave Reese, American musicologist (Music in the Middle Ages; Music in the Renaissance), and teacher, dies at 77

Keith Moon (1946-1978)

British rock drummer (The Who - "Bell Boy"), dies of a drug overdose at 32

  • 1979 Ivor Armstrong Richards, English literary critic (The Meaning of Meaning), dies at 86
  • 1979 Janardan Navle, Indian cricket wicketkeeper (2 Tests, 1 dismissal; first Indian wicket-keeper; Hindus CC), dies at 76
  • 1982 Ken Boyer, American baseball player, coach and manager (St. Louis Cardinals), dies of cancer at 51
  • 1983 Hans Münch, Swiss conductor and composer, dies at 90
  • 1983 Henry Promnitz, South African cricketer (5-58 on debut for South Africa 1927-28), dies at 79
  • 1984 Don Tallon, Australian cricket wicket-keeper (21 Tests, 58 dismissals, 2 x 50s; Queensland CA), dies of heart disease at 68

Joe Cronin (1906-1984)

American Baseball HOF shortstop (7 x MLB All Star), manger (Boston RS, Washington Senators) and executive (AL President 1959-73), dies at 77

  • 1985 Frank "Bruiser" Kinard, American College-Pro Football HOF tackle (Ole Miss; 6 × First-team All-Pro; 5 × NFL All-Star; Brooklyn Dodgers/Tigers, Fleet City, NY Yankees), dies from Alzheimer's disease at 70
  • 1986 Ruth Polsky, American record promoter, dies after being run over by a cab at 30
  • 1986 Vladimir Alexandrovich Vlasov, Russian-Soviet conductor and composer, dies at 83

A. J. P. Taylor (1906-1990)

English historian (The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848–1918, Origins of the Second World War), dies at 84

  • 1990 Earle E. Partridge, United States Air Force 4-star general during Korean War, dies at 90
  • 1991 Archie Menzies, English playwright and composer (Under Your Hat), dies at 87
  • 1991 Ben Piazza, American actor (Santa Barbara; The Blues Brothers; Dallas), dies of cancer at 58
  • 1991 John Crosby, American columnist and detective writer dies at 79
  • 1991 John H. Lawrence, American physician (nuclear medicine pioneer), dies at 87
  • 1992 Henry Ephron, American screenwriter (Daddy Long Legs), dies at 81
  • 1992 Indra Kamadjojo [Broekveld], Indon/Dutch dancer (Stille Kracht), dies
  • 1992 Leo van der Kar, Dutch businessman (founder of Sports Fund), dies at 79
  • 1993 Guy Overton, New Zealand cricket fast bowler (3 Tests, 9 wickets), dies at 74
  • 1993 Lefty Dizz [Walter Williams], American Chicago-style blues guitarist and singer, dies of esophageal cancer at 56
  • 1994 Dennis Morgan [Stanley], American actor (21 Beacon Street), dies at 85
  • 1994 Eric Crozier, British theater producer and librettist (worked with Benjamin Britten), dies at 79
  • 1994 Godfrey Quigley, Irish actor (Barry Lyndon, Educating Rita, Rooney), dies at 71
  • 1994 James Clavell, British-American novelist (Tai-Pan; Shogun; Noble House; King Rat), screenwriter (The Fly; The Great Escape), and film director (King Rat; To Sir, with Love), dies of comoplications of a stroke while battling cancer at 72
  • 1994 Terence Young, British film director (Dr No, Thunderball), dies of at 79
  • 1995 Gordon DeMarco, American writer and activist, dies at 51
  • 1996 Niccolo Castiglioni, Italian pianist and composer, dies at 64
  • 1997 Alex Macintosh, British BBC presenter and actor (Hell Fight), dies at 72
  • 1997 Bill Strannigan, American all-round athlete and basketball coach (Uni of Wyoming), dies at 78
  • 1997 Derek Taylor, Beatles publicist, dies of cancer at 65
  • 1997 George Crockett Jr., American attorney (founded 1st racially integrated law firm) and politician (Rep-D-MI, 1980-91), dies at 88

Mobutu Sese Seko (1930-1997)

Dictator and President of Zaire (1965-97), dies at 66

  • 1998 John Hayes, British Naval Officer and Naval Secretary, dies at 85
  • 1999 Jim Keith, American conspiracy theorist, dies after a fall at 49
  • 2001 Billie Lou Watt, American actress (Astro Boy), dies at 77
  • 2001 Igor Buketoff, American conductor (Iceland Symphony Orchestra, 1964-65), dies at 86
  • 2001 Spede Pasanen, Finnish film director and comedian, dies at 71
  • 2002 Erma Franklin, American gospel and R&B singer ("Piece Of My Heart"), dies at 64
  • 2002 Katrin Cartlidge, English actress (Career Girls), dies of an illness at 41
  • 2002 Michael Elphick, British stage and screen actor (Gorky Park; Boon), dies of a heart attack at 55
  • 2002 Uziel Gal, Israeli firearm designer (Uzi submachine gun), dies at 78
  • 2003 Great Antonio [Antonio Barichievich], Croatian-Canadian strongman and eccentric, dies at 77
  • 2003 Warren Zevon, American rock singer-songwriter and musician ("Werewolves of London"; "Lawyers, Guns and Money"; "Excitable Boy"), dies of pleural mesothelioma at 56
  • 2004 Bob Boyd, American baseball first baseman (NgL All-Star 1947, 48, 49; first black player to sign with Chicago WS), dies at 84
  • 2005 Hope Garber, Canadian actress, dies at 81
  • 2005 Sergio Endrigo, Italian singer Marianne), dies at 72
  • 2006 Julien Schoenaerts, Flemish actor (Daens/Medea), dies at 81
  • 2006 Robert Earl Jones, American actor (The Sting, Witness, Sleepaway Camp), dies of natural causes at 96
  • 2008 Don Haskins, American College Basketball Hall of Fame coach (Texas El Paso 1961-99; NCAA Tournament 1966), dies at 78
  • 2008 Ilarion Ciobanu, Romanian actor (Ultimul cartus), dies at 76
  • 2008 Miljenko "Dino" Dvornik, Croatian singer known as "the Croatian King of Funk", dies of an overdose at 44
  • 2008 Nagi Noda, Japanese pop artist and director, dies after surgery at 34
  • 2008 Richard "Popcorn" Wylie, American R&B and soul pianist, bandleader, songwriter, and record producer, dies of congestive heart failure at 69
  • 2010 Amar Garibović, Serbian Cross Country Skier (b. 1991)
  • 2010 Barbara Holland, American author (The Joy of Drinking, Secrets of the Cat: Its Lore, Legend and Lives), dies of lung cancer at 77 [1]
  • 2010 Glenn Shadix, American actor (Beetlejuice), dies in a fall at 58
  • 2010 John Kluge, American television mogul (Metromedia) and at one time the richest person in the United States, dies at 95
  • 2011 Brad McCrimmon, Canadian ice hockey defenseman (Stanley Cup 1989 Calgary Flames; NHL All-Star 1988; Plus-Minus Award +48 1989), dies as head coach KHL Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in plane crash at 52
  • 2011 Josef Vašíček, Czech ice hockey center (World C'ship gold 2005; Carolina Hurricanes), dies in Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster at 30
  • 2011 Ruslan Salei, Belarusian ice hockey defenceman (917 NHL games; 48 internationals), dies in Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash at 36
  • 2012 Dorothy "Dottie" McGuire, American pop vocalist (McGuire Sisters - "Sincerely"; "Sugartime"), dies at 84
  • 2013 Fred Katz, American classical and jazz cellist (Chico Hamilton Quintet), and composer (Roger Corman films), dies at 84
  • 2013 Ilja Hurnik, Czech composer, dies at 90
  • 2015 Dickie Moore, American actor (Oliver Twist, Little Men), dies at 89
  • 2016 Cary Blanchard, American NFL kicker (Indianapolis Colts), dies of a heart attack at 47
  • 2016 Ken Higgs, English cricket fast bowler (15 Tests, 71 wickets, 1 x 50; Lancashire CCC, Leicestershire CCC), dies at 79
  • 2016 Norbert Schemansky, American weightlifter (Olympic gold heavyweight 1952, silver 1948, bronze 1960, 64), dies at 92
  • 2017 Gene Michael, American baseball shortstop, and general manger (NY Yankees), dies of a heart attack at 79
  • 2017 John Maxwell Geddes, Scottish composer and pedagogue, dies at 76
  • 2018 Mac Miller [Malcolm McCormick], American rapper and music producer (Best Day Ever), dies of a drug overdose at 26
  • 2018 Mickey Stratton, American National Softball HOF catcher (All World Team 1965; 5 x All American), dies at 80
  • 2021 Phil Schaap, American Grammy Award-winning jazz historian, DJ, author and educator, dies of cancer at 70
  • 2022 Anne Garrels, American broadcast journalist (ABC; NBC; NPR), dies of lung cancer at 71
  • 2022 Bernard Shaw, American television news journalist (CBS, ABC), and 1st anchor of CNN, dies of pneumonia at 82 [1]
  • 2022 Marsha Hunt, American actress (Born to the West; Cry 'Havoc'; Johnny Got His Gun), and human rights and peace activist, dies at 104
  • 2022 Piet Schrijvers, Dutch soccer goalkeeper (46 caps; FC Twente, AFC Ajax 269 games), dies at 75
  • 2023 Edward Hide, British jockey (1,000 Guineas 1972, 77; Epsom Oaks 1967; Epsom Derby 1973; St Leger Stakes 1959, 78), dies at 86
September 7 Highlights