Notable people who died on April 1 include: John XV, Shen Zong, Hugh of Châteauneuf, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Amalric II.

Notable Deaths on April 1

Q: What is Giorgio Chinaglia known for?

Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian-American soccer player and radio host (born 1947)

2012 — Giorgio Chinaglia

Italian-American soccer player and radio host (born 1947)

April 1 has seen 90 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 996 – 2025. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · April 1 — Wikipedia

Notable Deaths 90 people 996 – 2025

Did you know

Chinaglia led Lazio to the club's first league championship in the 1973–74 season, during which he was also the league's leading scorer

Did you know

Chinaglia was the first player in Italian football history to be called up internationally from the second division.

Did you know

He grew up and played his early football in Cardiff, Wales, and began his career with Swansea Town in 1964

Did you know

He played international football for Italy, making 14 appearances and scoring 4 goals between 1972 and 1975, including two appearances at the 1974 FIFA World Cup

Did you know

Giorgio Chinaglia was an Italian footballer who played as a striker

John XV

pope of the Catholic Church

Pope John XV was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from August 985 until his death. A Roman by birth, he was the first pope who canonized a saint. The origins of the investiture controversy stem from John…

996

Shen Zong

Chinese emperor (born 1048)

Emperor Shenzong of Song, personal name Zhao Xu, was the sixth emperor of the Song dynasty of China. His original personal name was Zhao Zhongzhen but he changed it to "Zhao Xu" after he acceded to the throne. He…

1085

Hugh of Châteauneuf

French bishop (born 1053)

Hugh of Châteauneuf, also called Hugh of Grenoble, was the Bishop of Grenoble from 1080 to his death. He was a partisan of the Gregorian reform and opposed to the Archbishop of Vienne, later Pope Callixtus II.

1132

Eleanor of Aquitaine

queen of France and England (born 1122)

Eleanor of Aquitaine was duchess of Aquitaine from 1137 to 1204, queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As the reigning…

1204

Amalric II

king of Cyprus and Jerusalem

Aimery of Lusignan, erroneously referred to as Amalric in earlier scholarship, was the first king of Cyprus from 1196 and the king of Jerusalem as the husband of Queen Isabella I from 1198 to his death. He was a capable…

1205

Abaqa Khan

ruler of the Mongol Ilkhanate (born 1234)

Abaqa Khan, was the second Mongol ruler (Ilkhan) of the Ilkhanate. The son of Hulagu Khan and Lady Yesünčin and the grandson of Tolui, he reigned from 1265 to 1282 and was succeeded by his brother Ahmed Tekuder. Much of…

1282

Nuno Álvares Pereira

Portuguese general (born 1360)

Dom Nuno Álvares Pereira, OCarm, known as Constable of Portugal, was a Portuguese general who played a decisive role in the 1383–1385 Crisis that assured Portugal's independence from Castile. He later became a mystic…

1431

Blanche I

queen of Navarre and Sicily (born 1387)

Blanche I was Queen of Navarre from the death of her father, King Charles III, in 1425 until her own death. She had been Queen of Sicily from 1402 to 1409 by marriage to King Martin I, serving as regent of Sicily from…

1441

Zbigniew Oleśnicki

Polish cardinal and statesman (born 1389)

Zbigniew Oleśnicki, known in Latin as Sbigneus, was a high-ranking Roman Catholic clergyman and an influential Polish statesman and diplomat. He served as Bishop of Kraków from 1423 until his death in 1455. He took part…

1455

Francisco de Peñalosa

Spanish composer (born 1470)

Francisco de Peñalosa was a Spanish composer of the middle Renaissance.

1528

Sigismund I

king of Poland (born 1467)

Sigismund I the Old was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. He was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the son of Casimir IV and younger brother of Kings John I Albert and…

1548

Alonso Mudarra

Spanish guitarist and composer (born 1510)

Alonso Mudarra was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance, and also played the vihuela, a guitar-shaped string instrument. He was an innovative composer of instrumental music as well as songs, and was the composer of the…

1580

Cristofano Allori

Italian painter and educator (born 1577)

Cristofano Allori was an Italian painter of the late Florentine Mannerist school, painting mostly portraits and religious subjects.

1621

Franz Egon of Fürstenberg

Bavarian bishop (born 1625)

Franz Egon von Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg was a German count in the Holy Roman Empire. He was prime minister for Maximilian Henirich, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, and at the same time worked for Louis XIV of France…

1682

Floyer Sydenham

English scholar and academic (born 1710)

Floyer Sydenham was an English scholar of Ancient Greek.

1787

Benjamin Pierce

American soldier and politician, 11th Governor of New Hampshire (born 1757)

Benjamin Pierce was an American politician who twice served as the governor of New Hampshire from 1827 to 1828 and from 1829 to 1830. Pierce fought during the American Revolutionary War before becoming a…

1839

Antonios Kriezis

Greek Navy officer and Prime Minister of Greece (born 1796)

Antonios Kriezis was a captain of the Hellenic navy during the Greek War of Independence and a Prime Minister of Greece from 1849 to 1854.

1865

Giuditta Pasta

Italian soprano (born 1797)

Giuditta Angiola Maria Costanza Pasta was an Italian opera singer. A soprano, she has been compared to the 20th-century soprano Maria Callas.

1865

Frederick Denison Maurice

English theologian and academic (born 1805)

John Frederick Denison Maurice, commonly known as F. D. Maurice, was an English Anglican priest and theologian. He was a prolific author and one of the founders of Christian socialism. Since the Second World War,…

1872

John C.W. Daly

English-Canadian soldier and politician (born 1796)

Lieutenant-Colonel John Corry Wilson Daly was a Canadian politician, businessperson, militia officer, and the first Mayor of Stratford, Ontario.

1878

David Wilber

American politician (born 1820)

David Wilber was a United States representative from New York.

1890

Alexander Mozhaysky

Russian soldier, pilot, and engineer (born 1825)

Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaysky was an admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy, an aviation pioneer, and a researcher and designer of heavier-than-air craft.

1890

Rube Waddell

American baseball player (born 1876)

George Edward "Rube" Waddell was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-hander, he played for 13 years, with the Louisville Colonels, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago Orphans in the National League,…

1914

Charles Wells

English founder of Charles Wells Ltd (born 1842)

Captain Charles Wells was the British founder of Charles Wells Ltd, which became the largest privately owned brewery in the United Kingdom, and the progenitor of the Wells Baronets of Felmersham.

1914

Scott Joplin

American pianist and composer (born 1868)

Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the "Maple Leaf…

1917

Walter Simon

German banker and philanthropist (born 1857)

Walter Simon was a German banker, councillor and philanthropist active in Königsberg and Tübingen.

1920

Charles I

emperor of Austria (born 1887)

Charles I and IV was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from November 1916 until the monarchy was abolished in November 1918. He was the last of the monarchs…

1922

Jacob Bolotin

American physician (born 1888)

Jacob W. Bolotin was the world's first totally blind physician.

1924

Lloyd Hildebrand

English cyclist (born 1870)

Lloyd Augustin Biden Hildebrand was a British-born racing cyclist who competed in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Hildebrand was still a British citizen in 1900, although he lived in France for much of his…

1924

Stan Rowley

Australian sprinter (born 1876)

Stanley Rupert Rowley was an Australian sprinter who won four medals at the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was born in Young, New South Wales and died in Manly, New South Wales.

1924

Noah Beery

Sr., American actor (born 1882)

Noah Nicholas Beery was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of character actor Noah…

1946

George II

king of Greece (born 1890)

George II was King of Greece from 27 September 1922 until 25 March 1924, and again from 25 November 1935 until his death on 1 April 1947.

1947

Charles R. Drew

American physician and surgeon (born 1904)

Charles Richard Drew was an American surgeon and medical researcher. He researched in the field of blood transfusions, developing improved techniques for blood storage, and applied his expert knowledge to developing…

1950

Recep Peker

Turkish soldier and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Turkey (born 1889)

Mehmet Recep Peker was a Turkish military officer and politician. A heavy-handed modernist, he served in various ministerial posts and finally as the Prime Minister of Turkey between 1946 and 1947.

1950

Jussi Kekkonen

Finnish captain and businessman (born 1910)

Uuno Johannes (Jussi) Kekkonen was a Finnish major, CEO and the younger brother of President of Finland Urho Kekkonen. Jussi Kekkonen fought successfully in the Winter War in the direction of Kuhmo but lost his sight…

1962

Agnes Mowinckel

Norwegian actress (born 1875)

Agnes Mowinckel was a Norwegian actress and theatre director. Born in Bergen into a distinguished family, she became Norway's first professional stage director. A pioneer in bringing painters to the theatre, she used…

1963

Helena Rubinstein

Polish-American businesswoman (born 1870)

Helena Rubinstein was a Polish-American businesswoman, art collector, and philanthropist. A cosmetics entrepreneur, she was the founder and eponym of Helena Rubinstein Incorporated cosmetics company, which made her one…

1965

Brian O'Nolan

Irish author (born 1911)

Brian O'Nolan, whose pen names included Flann O'Brien, was an Irish Civil Service official, novelist, playwright and satirist, who is now considered a major figure in twentieth-century Irish literature. Born in…

1966

Lev Landau

Azerbaijani-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1908)

Lev Davidovich Landau was a Soviet physicist who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics. He was considered as one of the last scientists who were universally well-versed and made seminal…

1968

Kathleen Lonsdale

Irish crystallographer and prison reformer (born 1903)

Dame Kathleen Lonsdale was an Irish crystallographer, pacifist, and prison reform activist. She proved, in 1929, that the benzene ring is flat by using X-ray diffraction methods to elucidate the structure of…

1971

Max Ernst

German painter and sculptor (born 1891)

Max Ernst was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic training, but…

1976

Eua Sunthornsanan

Thai singer-songwriter and bandleader (born 1910)

Eua Suntornsanan was a singer, Thai composer and bandleader of the Suntaraporn Band. He was a pioneer in introducing Western music into Thai culture. He started the trend of international style Thai music, or Phleng…

1981

Marvin Gaye

American singer-songwriter (born 1939)

Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. was an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Commonly referred to as the "Prince of Motown" and "Prince of Soul", he helped to shape the sound of Motown and soul…

1984

Elizabeth Goudge

English author (born 1900)

Elizabeth de Beauchamp Goudge FRSL was an English writer of fiction and children's books. She won the Carnegie Medal for British children's books in 1946 for The Little White Horse. Goudge was long a popular author in…

1984

Erik Bruhn

Danish actor, director, and choreographer (born 1928)

Erik Belton Evers Bruhn was a Danish ballet dancer, choreographer, artistic director, actor, and author.

1986

Edwin Boston

English clergyman, author, and railway preservationist

Edwin Richard Boston, known as Teddy Boston, was a Church of England clergyman and author. He built a narrow gauge railway in the grounds of his Rectory at Cadeby, Leicestershire, and was immortalised as the "Fat…

1986

Henri Cochet

French tennis player (born 1901)

Henri Jean Cochet was a French tennis player. He was a world No. 1 ranked player, and a member of the famous "Four Musketeers" from France who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

1987

Martha Graham

American dancer and choreographer (born 1894)

Martha Graham was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer responsible for creating the Graham technique.

1991

Jaime Guzmán

Chilean lawyer and politician (born 1946)

Jaime Jorge Guzmán Errázuriz was a Chilean constitutional law professor, politician, and founding member of the conservative Independent Democratic Union party. In the 1960s, he strongly opposed the University Reform…

1991

Michael Havers

Baron Havers, English lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (born 1923)

Robert Michael Oldfield Havers, Baron Havers,, was a British barrister and Conservative politician. He was knighted in 1972 and appointed a life peer in 1987.

1992

Alan Kulwicki

American race car driver (born 1954)

Alan Dennis Kulwicki, nicknamed "Special K" and "the Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner with Polish origin. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to…

1993

Robert Doisneau

French photographer (born 1912)

Robert Doisneau was a French photographer. From the 1930s, he photographed the streets of Paris. He was a champion of humanist photography and, with Henri Cartier-Bresson, a pioneer of photojournalism.

1994

H. Adams Carter

American mountaineer, journalist, and educator (born 1914)

Hubert Adams "Ad" Carter was an American mountaineer, language teacher and was editor of the American Alpine Journal for 35 years.

1995

Francisco Moncion

Dominican American ballet dancer, choreographer, charter member of the New York City Ballet (born 1918)

Francisco Monción was a Dominican-born American ballet dancer and choreographer who was a charter member of the New York City Ballet. Over the course of his long career, spanning some forty years, he created roles in…

1995

Lucie Rie

Austrian-English potter (born 1902)

Dame Lucie Rie, was an Austrian-born, independent, British studio potter. She is known for her extensive technical knowledge, her meticulously detailed experimentation with glazes and with firing and her unusual…

1995

Mário Viegas

Portuguese actor and poetry reciter (born 1948)

António Mário Lopes Pereira Viegas was a Portuguese actor, theatre director and reciter. He is considered one of the best actors of his generation and one of Portugal's greatest poetry reciters.

1996

Makar Honcharenko

Ukrainian footballer and manager (born 1912)

Makar Mykhaylovych Honcharenko, was a Ukrainian football player and coach. During his career, he played as a forward for a number of clubs, but most noticeably for Dynamo Kyiv. Honcharenko is best known for being the…

1997

Rozz Williams

American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1963)

Rozz Williams was an American singer and songwriter known for his work with the bands Christian Death, Shadow Project, and the industrial project Premature Ejaculation. Christian Death is cited by some as a pioneer of…

1998

Jesse Stone

American pianist, songwriter, and producer (born 1901)

Jesse Albert Stone was an American rhythm and blues musician and songwriter whose influence spanned a wide range of genres. He also used the pseudonyms Charles Calhoun and Chuck Calhoun. His best-known composition as…

1999

Trịnh Công Sơn

Vietnamese guitarist and composer (born 1939)

Trịnh Công Sơn was a Vietnamese musician, songwriter, painter and poet. He is widely considered to be Vietnam's best songwriter. His music explores themes of love, loss, and anti-war sentiments during the Vietnam War,…

2001

Simo Häyhä

Finnish soldier and sniper (born 1905)

Simo Häyhä, often referred to by his nickname The White Death, was a Finnish military sniper during the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union in World War II. He used a Finnish-produced M/28-30 rifle and a…

2002

Leslie Cheung

Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor (born 1956)

Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing was a Hong Kong singer and actor. One of the most influential cultural icons in the Sinophone world, Cheung was known for his debonair demeanour, flamboyant screen characters, and avant-garde,…

2003

Ioannis Kyrastas

Greek footballer and manager (born 1952)

Giannis Kyrastas was a Greek footballer and a later manager.

2004

Carrie Snodgress

American actress (born 1945)

Caroline Louise Snodgress was an American actress. She is best remembered for her role in the film Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award as well as winning…

2004

Paul Bomani

Tanzanian politician and diplomat, 1st Tanzanian Minister of Finance (b 1925)

Paul Lazaro Bomani was a Tanzanian politician and ambassador to the United States and Mexico.

2005

Robert Coldwell Wood

American political scientist and academic (born 1923)

Robert Coldwell Wood was an American political scientist, academic and government administrator, and professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). From 1965 to 1969, Wood served as…

2005

In Tam

Cambodian general and politician, 26th Prime Minister of Cambodia (born 1916)

In Tam was a Cambodian politician who once served as the prime minister of the Khmer Republic. He served in that position from 6 May 1973 to 9 December 1973, and had a long career in Cambodian politics.

2006

John Forsythe

American actor (born 1918)

John Lincoln Forsythe was an American stage, film/television actor, producer, narrator, and drama teacher whose career spanned six decades. He also appeared as a guest on several talk and variety shows and as a panelist…

2010

Tzannis Tzannetakis

Greek soldier and politician, 175th Prime Minister of Greece (born 1927)

Tzannis Tzannetakis was a Greek politician who was briefly Prime Minister of Greece during the political crisis of 1989. He also served as a submarine commander in the Hellenic Navy.

2010

Lionel Bowen

Australian soldier, lawyer, and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia (born 1922)

Lionel Frost Bowen AC was an Australian politician. He was the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1977 to 1990 and served as the sixth deputy prime minister of Australia in the Hawke government from…

2012

Miguel de la Madrid

Mexican banker, academic, and politician, 52nd President of Mexico (born 1934)

Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado was a Mexican politician and lawyer affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 59th president of Mexico from 1982 to 1988.

2012

Moses Blah

Liberian general and politician, 23rd President of Liberia (born 1947)

Moses Zeh Blah was a Liberian politician. He served as the 28th vice president of Liberia under President Charles Taylor and became the 23rd president of Liberia on 11 August 2003, following Taylor's resignation. He…

2013

Karen Muir

South African swimmer and physician (born 1952)

Karen Muir was a South African competitive swimmer. Born and raised in Kimberley, she attended the Diamantveld High School, where she matriculated in 1970.

2013

King Fleming

American pianist and bandleader (born 1922)

Walter "King" Fleming was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was born in Chicago, Illinois.

2014

Jacques Le Goff

French historian and author (born 1924)

Jacques Le Goff was a French historian and prolific author specializing in the Middle Ages, particularly the 12th and 13th centuries.

2014

Rolf Rendtorff

German theologian and academic (born 1925)

Rolf Rendtorff was Professor of Old Testament at the University of Heidelberg from 1963 to 1990. He was one of the more significant German Old Testament scholars from the latter half of the twentieth-century and…

2014

Nicolae Rainea

Romanian footballer and referee (born 1933)

Nicolae Rainea, nicknamed The Locomotive of the Carpathians, was a Romanian football referee and player. Among the most highly regarded referees of his generation, he is considered one of the best international…

2015

Lonnie Brooks

American blues singer and guitarist (born 1933)

Lonnie Brooks was an American blues singer and guitarist. The musicologist Robert Palmer, writing in Rolling Stone, stated, "His music is witty, soulful and ferociously energetic, brimming with novel harmonic…

2017

Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Soviet and Russian poet and writer (born 1932)

Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko was a Soviet and Russian poet, novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, publisher, actor, editor, university professor, and director of several films.

2017

Steven Bochco

American television writer and producer (born 1943)

Steven Ronald Bochco was an American television writer and producer. He developed a number of television series, mostly crime dramas, including Hill Street Blues; L.A. Law; Doogie Howser, M.D.; Cop Rock; and NYPD Blue.

2018

Vonda N. McIntyre

American science fiction author (born 1948)

Vonda Neel McIntyre was an American science fiction writer and biologist.

2019

Lou Conter

American naval commander (born 1921)

Louis Anthony Conter was an American naval officer who was a lieutenant commander and naval aviator in the United States Navy. At the time of his death, he was the last living survivor of the sinking of the USS Arizona…

2024

Vontae Davis

American football player (born 1988)

Vontae Ottis Davis was an American professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini and was selected by…

2024

Joe Flaherty

American actor, writer, and comedian (born 1941)

Joseph Flaherty was an American actor, writer, and comedian. In television, Flaherty starred on the Canadian sketch comedy SCTV from 1976 to 1984 and as Harold Weir on Freaks and Geeks (1999). His film roles include the…

2024

Sami Michael

Iraqi-born Israeli writer and human rights activist (born 1926)

Sami Michael was an Iraqi-Israeli author, having migrated from Iraq to Israel at the age of 23. From 2001, Michael was the President of The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI).

2024

Ed Piskor

American comic book artist (born 1982)

Edward R. Piskor Jr. was an American alternative comics cartoonist. Piskor was known primarily for his work on Hip Hop Family Tree, X-Men: Grand Design, and the Red Room trilogy. Piskor also co-hosted the YouTube…

2024

Mohammad Reza Zahedi

Iranian senior military officer (born 1960)

Mohammad Reza Zahedi was an Iranian military officer. A senior figure within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), he had previously commanded the IRGC Aerospace Force and the IRGC Ground Forces, and was…

2024

Val Kilmer

American actor (born 1959)

Val Edward Kilmer was an American actor. Initially a stage actor, he later found fame as a leading man in films in a wide variety of genres, including comedies, dramas, action adventures, westerns, historical films,…

2025

Johnny Tillotson

American singer-songwriter (born 1938)

Johnny Tillotson was an American singer-songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored nine top-ten hits on the pop, country, and adult contemporary Billboard charts, including "Poetry in…

2025

April 1 in the Blog

Tesla's Lab Fire — April 1, 1895

Nikola Tesla lost 14 years of research in a lab fire on April 1, 1895, in New York City, changing his life's work forever.

Read the full story

Notable deaths

Who died on April 1?

Giorgio Chinaglia — Italian footballer (1947–2012)

FeaturedGiorgio Chinaglia

Death year2012

Known forHe grew up and played his early football in Cardiff, Wales, and began his career with Swansea Town in 1964

Deaths on this date90 (996 – 2025)

Explore April 1

Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.

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Also on April 1 in History

2026

The Artemis II lunar flyby mission launches, marking the first crewed flight above low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. Wikipedia →

2016

The 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict begins along the Nagorno-Karabakh Line of Contact. Wikipedia →

2011

After protests against the burning of the Quran turn violent, a mob attacks a United Nations compound in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of fourteen people, including seven UN workers. Wikipedia →

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2012 — Giorgio Chinaglia

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