Notable Deaths on April 15

Q: Who died on April 15?

Notable people who died on April 15 include: Suiko, Liu Bin, Lin Yanyu, Godwin, Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare (born 1094).

Q: What is Vittorio Arrigoni known for?

Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian journalist, author, and activist (born 1975)

113 people 628 – 2026

April 15 has seen 113 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 628 – 2026. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · April 15 — Wikipedia

2011 — Vittorio Arrigoni

Italian journalist, author, and activist (born 1975)

Did you know

Arrigoni was the first foreign national to have been involved in such an incident in the Gaza Strip since the kidnapping of British journalist Alan Johnston in 2007.

Did you know

He worked with the Palestinian-led International Solidarity Movement (ISM), through which he arrived in the Gaza Strip in 2008

Did you know

He maintained a website called Guerrilla Radio and also published a book about his experiences in Gaza City during the 2008–2009 Gaza War between Hamas and Israel

Did you know

In 2011, he was abducted and murdered by a group of Salafi jihadists

Did you know

Vittorio Arrigoni was an Italian journalist and activist

Suiko

emperor of Japan (born 554)

Empress Suiko was the 33rd monarch of Japan, and the country's first and longest-reigning empress regnant, according to the traditional order of succession.

628

Liu Bin

emperor of Southern Han (born 920)

Liu Bin, né Liu Hongdu (劉弘度), possibly nicknamed Shou (壽), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Shang of Southern Han (南漢殤帝), was the second emperor of the Chinese Southern Han dynasty. He reigned only…

943

Lin Yanyu

Chinese court official and eunuch

Lin Yanyu was a powerful eunuch of the Southern Han dynasty of China.

956

Godwin

Earl of Wessex (born 1001)

Godwin of Wessex was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman who became one of the most powerful earls in England under the Danish king Cnut the Great and his successors. Cnut made Godwin the first Earl of Wessex. Godwin was the father…

1053

Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare (born 1094)

Richard fitz Gilbert de Clare 3rd feudal baron of Clare in Suffolk, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. A marcher lord in Wales, he was also the founder of Tonbridge Priory in Kent.

1136

Adolf of Altena

German archbishop (born 1157)

Adolf of Altena, Adolf of Berg or Adolf of Cologne, was Archbishop of Cologne from 1193 to 1205.

1220

Richard Poore

English ecclesiastic

Richard Poore or Poor was a medieval English bishop best known for his role in the establishment of Salisbury Cathedral and the City of Salisbury, moved from the nearby fortress of Old Sarum. He served as Bishop of…

1237

Manuel Chrysoloras

Greek philosopher and translator (born 1355)

Manuel Chrysoloras was a Byzantine Greek classical scholar, humanist, philosopher, professor, and translator of ancient Greek texts during the Renaissance. Serving as the ambassador for the Byzantine emperor Manuel II…

1415

Filippo Brunelleschi

Italian sculptor and architect (born 1377)

Filippo di ser Brunellesco di Lippo Lapi, commonly known as Filippo Brunelleschi and also nicknamed Pippo by Leon Battista Alberti, was an Italian architect, designer, goldsmith, and sculptor. He is considered to be a…

1446

John IV of Chalon-Arlay

Prince of Orange (born 1443)

John IV of Chalon-Arlay or John of Chalon was a prince of Orange and lord of Arlay. He played an important role in the Mad War, a series of conflicts in which aristocrats sought to resist the expansion and…

1502

Hurrem Sultan

wife of Suleiman the Magnificent and the Haseki sultan of Ottoman Empire (born 1505)

Hürrem Sultan, also known as Roxelana, was the chief consort and legal wife of Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, mother of his successor Selim II, and the first haseki sultan of the Ottoman Empire. She became one…

1558

Wolrad II

Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg, German nobleman (born 1509)

Count Wolrad II "the Scholar" of Waldeck-Eisenberg, German: Wolrad II. 'der Gelehrte' Graf von Waldeck-Eisenberg, was Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg from 1539.

1578

Robert Persons

English Jesuit priest, insurrectionist, and author (born 1546)

Robert Persons, later known as Robert Parsons, was an English Jesuit priest. He was a major figure in establishing the 16th-century "English Mission" of the Society of Jesus.

1610

George Calvert

1st Baron Baltimore, English politician, English Secretary of State (born 1580)

George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore was an English politician. He achieved domestic political success as a member of parliament and later Secretary of State under King James I. He lost much of his political power after…

1632

Patriarch Joseph of Moscow

Russian patriarch

Joseph was the sixth Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, elected after an unusual one and a half year break.

1652

Simon Dach

German poet and hymnwriter (born 1605)

Simon Dach was a German lyrical poet and hymnwriter, born in Memel, Duchy of Prussia.

1659

Françoise d'Aubigné

Marquise de Maintenon, French wife of Louis XIV (born 1635)

Françoise d'Aubigné, known first as Madame Scarron and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon, was a French noblewoman and the second wife of King Louis XIV from 1683 until his death in 1715. Although she was never…

1719

Jacopo Riccati

Italian mathematician and academic (born 1676)

Jacopo Francesco Riccati was a Venetian mathematician and jurist from Venice, known for his widely influential work on solving differential equations. He is best known for having studied the equation that bears his name.

1754

Rosalba Carriera

Italian painter (born 1673)

Rosalba Carriera was an Italian Rococo painter. In her younger years, she specialized in portrait miniatures. Carriera would later become known for her pastel portraits, helping popularize the medium in…

1757

Archibald Campbell

3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Court of Session (born 1682)

Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, was a British army officer, judge, politician and merchant. He was styled Lord Archibald Campbell from 1703 to 1706, and as the Earl of Ilay from 1706 until 1743, when he…

1761

William Oldys

English historian and author (born 1696)

William Oldys was an English antiquarian and bibliographer.

1761

Peder Horrebow

Danish astronomer and mathematician (born 1679)

Peder [Nielsen] Horrebow (Horrebov) was a Danish astronomer. Born in Løgstør, Jutland to a poor family of fishermen, Horrebow entered the University of Copenhagen in 1703. He worked his way through grammar school and…

1764

Madame de Pompadour

mistress of King Louis XV (born 1721)

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and remained influential…

1764

Mikhail Lomonosov

Russian chemist and physicist (born 1711)

Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries were the atmosphere of Venus and the law of…

1765

Giuseppe Bonno

Austrian composer (born 1711)

Giuseppe Bonno was an Austrian composer of Italian origin.

1788

Ignacije Szentmartony

Croatian priest, mathematician, and astronomer (born 1718)

Ignacije Szentmartony was a Croatian Jesuit priest, missionary, mathematician, astronomer, explorer and cartographer.

1793

Arthur Aikin

English chemist and mineralogist (born 1773)

Arthur Aikin was an English chemist, mineralogist and scientific writer, and was a founding member of the Chemical Society. He first became its treasurer in 1841, and later became the society's second president.

1854

Sylvester Jordan

Austrian-German lawyer and politician (born 1792)

Franz Sylvester Jordan (1792–1861) was a German politician and lawyer.

1861

Abraham Lincoln

16th President of the United States (born 1809)

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War, defeating the Confederate States and playing a…

1865

Matthew Arnold

English poet and critic (born 1822)

Matthew Arnold was an English poet and cultural critic. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School, and brother of both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and…

1888

Father Damien

Belgian priest and saint (born 1840)

Damien De Veuster, popularly known as Father Damien or Saint Damien of Molokai, was a Belgian Catholic priest in the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He ministered to a leper colony in Molokaʻi,…

1889

Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui

New Zealand commander and politician

Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui was a Māori military commander and noted ally of the government forces during the New Zealand Wars. First known as Te Rangihiwinui, he was later known as Te Keepa, Meiha Keepa, Major Keepa or…

1898

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

Thomas Andrews Jr. was a British businessman and shipbuilder, who was managing director and head of the drafting department of the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Ireland.

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

John Jacob Astor IV was an American business magnate, real estate developer, and investor who was a member of the Astor family and also the Livingston family. A writer, as well as a lieutenant colonel in the…

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

Archibald Willingham DeGraffenreid Clarendon Butt was an American Army officer and aide to presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. After a few years as a newspaper reporter, he served two years as the…

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

Jacques Heath Futrelle was an American journalist and mystery writer. He is best known for writing short detective stories featuring Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, also known as "The Thinking Machine" for his…

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

Benjamin Guggenheim was an American businessman, who was a wealthy member of the Guggenheim family. He was among the most prominent American passengers aboard the British ocean liner RMS Titanic and perished along with…

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

Henry Birkhardt Harris was a Broadway producer and theatre owner who died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic. His wife was the future producer Renee Harris, who survived the sinking and lived until 1969.

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

Wallace Henry Hartley was an English violinist, who became best known for his actions during the sinking of the Titanic. The bandleader on the Titanic during its maiden voyage, he led the eight-member band in various…

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

Charles Melville Hays was the president of the Grand Trunk Railway. He began working in the railroad business as a clerk at the age of 17 and quickly rose through the ranks of management to become the General Manager of…

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

James Paul Moody was a British merchant sailor, who served as sixth officer aboard RMS Titanic. He died when the ship sank on her maiden voyage, the only junior officer not to survive the disaster.

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

Lieutenant William McMaster Murdoch was a British sailor who was the first officer on the RMS Titanic and the officer in charge on the bridge when the ship collided with an iceberg. He was amongst the 1,500 people who…

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

John George "Jack" Phillips was a British wireless telegraphist, who served as the chief wireless operator aboard RMS Titanic during her ill-fated maiden voyage in April 1912.

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

Commander Edward John Smith was a British merchant sea captain and naval officer, who became best known as the captain of the ill-fated ocean liner RMS Titanic.

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

William Thomas Stead was an English newspaper editor who, as a pioneer of investigative journalism, became a controversial figure of the Victorian era. Stead published a series of hugely influential campaigns whilst…

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

Rosalie Ida Straus was a German-born American socialite, who was the wife of Isidor Straus, U.S. congressman and co-founder of the Macy's department store.

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

Isidor Straus was a German-born American politician and businessman, who was a co-owner of Macy's department store with his brother Nathan. He served just over a year as a member of the United States House of…

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

John Borland Thayer II was an American businessman who had a thirty-year career as an executive with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He was a director and second vice-president of the company when he died at age 49…

1912

Victims of the Titanic disaster:

Lieutenant Henry Tingle Wilde was a British Merchant Navy officer who was the chief officer of the RMS Titanic during her ill-fated maiden voyage. Wilde died during the sinking, alongside 1,500 others.

1912

János Murkovics

Slovene author, poet, and educator (born 1839)

János Murkovics was a Slovene teacher, musician, and writer in Hungary.

1917

Fritz Haarmann

German serial killer (born 1879)

Friedrich Heinrich Karl "Fritz" Haarmann was a German serial rapist and serial killer, known as the Butcher of Hanover, the Vampire of Hanover and the Wolf Man, who committed the sexual assault, murder, mutilation and…

1925

Gaston Leroux

French journalist and author (born 1868)

Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist and author of detective fiction.

1927

César Vallejo

Peruvian journalist, poet, and playwright (born 1892)

César Abraham Vallejo Mendoza was a Peruvian poet, writer, playwright, and journalist. Although he published only two books of poetry during his lifetime, he is considered one of the great poetic innovators of the 20th…

1938

Robert Musil

Austrian-Swiss author and playwright (born 1880)

Robert Musil was an Austrian philosophical writer. His unfinished novel, The Man Without Qualities, is generally considered to be one of the most important and influential modernist novels.

1942

Aristarkh Lentulov

Russian painter and set designer (born 1882)

Aristarkh Vasilyevich Lentulov was a major Russian avant-garde artist of Cubist orientation who also worked on set designs for the theatre.

1943

Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin

Russian general (born 1901)

Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin was a Soviet military commander during World War II who was responsible for many Red Army operations in the Ukrainian SSR as the commander of the Southwestern Front, and of the Voronezh Front…

1944

Hermann Florstedt

German SS officer (born 1895)

Arthur Hermann Florstedt was a German SS official who served as the third commandant of Majdanek concentration camp from November 1942 to October 1943.

1945

Radola Gajda

Montenegrin-Czech general and politician (born 1892)

Radola Gajda, born as Rudolf Geidl was a Czech military commander and politician.

1948

Wallace Beery

American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1885)

Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in Grand Hotel (1932), as the pirate…

1949

Clara Blandick

American actress (born 1880)

Clara Blandick was an American character, film, stage and theater actress. She is best known to today's audiences as Aunt Em in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer classic film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz (1939). As a character…

1962

Arsenio Lacson

Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (born 1912)

Arsenio Hilario Sison Lacson Sr. was a Filipino lawyer, journalist and politician who gained widespread attention as the 17th Mayor of Manila and the first to be democratically elected. An active executive likened by…

1962

Edward Greeves

Jr., Australian footballer (born 1903)

Edward Goderich "Carji" Greeves Jr. was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL), now known as the Australian Football League (AFL). He won the…

1963

Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury

Bengali politician, writer, journalist, first health minister of East Pakistan (born 1906)

Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury was a politician, journalist, footballer and writer from erstwhile East Bengal, now Bangladesh, who served in the political spheres of British India and Pakistan.

1966

Totò

Italian comedian (born 1898)

Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi De Curtis di Bisanzio, best known by his stage name Totò, or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed il principe della risata, was an Italian…

1967

Gurgen Boryan

Armenian poet and playwright (born 1915)

Gurgen Mikayeli Boryan, was an Armenian poet and playwright.

1971

Friedebert Tuglas

Estonian author and critic (born 1886)

Friedebert Tuglas, born Friedebert Mihkelson or Michelson, was an Estonian writer and critic who introduced Impressionism and Symbolism to Estonian literature.

1971

David Brand

Australian politician, 19th Premier of Western Australia (born 1912)

Sir David Brand KCMG was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving premier of Western Australia, in office from 1959 to 1971, and was state leader of the Liberal Party from 1957 to 1972.

1979

Raymond Bailey

American actor and soldier (born 1904)

Raymond Thomas Bailey was an American actor on the Broadway stage, films, and television. He is best known for his role as greedy banker Milburn Drysdale in the television series The Beverly Hillbillies.

1980

Jean-Paul Sartre

French philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905)

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French philosophy and…

1980

Arthur Lowe

English actor (born 1915)

Arthur Lowe was an English actor. His acting career spanned 37 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom Dad's Army from 1968…

1982

Tommy Cooper

Welsh comedian and magician (born 1921)

Thomas Frederick Cooper was a Welsh prop comedian, actor, entertainer and magician. He was large and lumbering at 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and habitually wore a red fez when performing. He served in the British Army for…

1984

Jean Genet

French novelist, poet, and playwright (born 1910)

Jean Genet was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the…

1986

Kenneth Williams

English actor and screenwriter (born 1926)

Kenneth Charles Williams was a British actor and comedian. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main cast in 26 of the 31 Carry On films and appeared in…

1988

Hu Yaobang

Chinese soldier and politician, former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (born 1915)

Hu Yaobang was a Chinese politician who was a high-ranking official of the People's Republic of China. He held the top office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1981 to 1987, first as Chairman from 1981 to 1982,…

1989

Greta Garbo

Swedish-American actress (born 1905)

Greta Garbo was a Swedish and American actress. She was a leading star during Hollywood's silent and early golden eras. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses of all time, she is known for her melancholic and…

1990

Leslie Charteris

English author and screenwriter (born 1907)

Leslie Charteris, was a British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter. He was best known for his many books chronicling the adventures of his hero Simon Templar, alias "The Saint".

1993

John Tuzo Wilson

Canadian geophysicist and geologist (born 1908)

John Tuzo Wilson was a Canadian geophysicist, geologist and professor at the University of Toronto who achieved worldwide acclaim for his contributions to the theory of plate tectonics. He added the concept of hot…

1993

William Congdon

American-Italian painter and sculptor (born 1912)

William Grosvenor Congdon was an American painter who became notable as an artist in New York City in the 1940s, but lived most of his life in Europe.

1998

Pol Pot

Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (born 1925)

Pol Pot was a Cambodian politician, revolutionary, and dictator who ruled Democratic Kampuchea from 1975 until his overthrow in 1979 during the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. Under his reign, his administration oversaw the…

1998

Harvey Postlethwaite

English engineer (born 1944)

Harvey Ernest Postlethwaite was a British engineer and Technical Director of several Formula One teams during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He died of a heart attack in Spain while supervising the testing of the aborted…

1999

Edward Gorey

American poet and illustrator (born 1925)

Edward St. John Gorey was an American writer, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for books by other writers. His characteristic…

2000

Joey Ramone

American singer-songwriter (born 1951)

Jeffrey Ross Hyman, known professionally as Joey Ramone, was an American singer, songwriter, and the lead vocalist and founding member of the punk rock band Ramones, with Johnny Ramone and Dee Dee Ramone. His image,…

2001

Damon Knight

American author and critic (born 1922)

Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He wrote "To Serve Man", a 1950 short story adapted for The Twilight Zone. He was married to fellow writer Kate Wilhelm in 1963.

2002

Byron White

American football player, lawyer, and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (born 1917)

Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White was an American lawyer and professional football halfback who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1962 to 1993. At the time of his retirement, he…

2002

Mitsuteru Yokoyama

Japanese illustrator (born 1934)

Mitsuteru Yokoyama was a Japanese manga artist. Considered to be one of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of manga and anime, his works have had a significant impact in the creation and…

2004

Brant Parker

American illustrator (born 1920)

Brant Julian Parker was an American cartoonist. He co-created and drew The Wizard of Id comic strip until passing the job on to his son, Jeff Parker, in 1997. Cartoonist Johnny Hart, his co-creator, continued writing…

2007

Krister Stendahl

Swedish bishop, theologian, and scholar (born 1921)

Krister Olofson Stendahl was a Swedish theologian, New Testament scholar, and Church of Sweden Bishop of Stockholm. He also served as dean, professor, and professor emeritus at Harvard Divinity School.

2008

Clement Freud

German-English journalist, academic, and politician (born 1924)

Sir Clement Raphael Freud was a British broadcaster, writer, politician and chef. The son of Ernst L. Freud and grandson of Sigmund Freud, Clement moved to the United Kingdom from Nazi Germany as a child and later…

2009

László Tisza

Hungarian-American physicist and academic (born 1907)

László Tisza was a Hungarian-born American physicist who was Professor of Physics Emeritus at MIT. He was a colleague of famed physicists Edward Teller, Lev Landau and Fritz London, and initiated the two-fluid model of…

2009

Salih Neftçi

Turkish economist and author (born 1947)

Salih Nur Neftçi was a leading expert in the fields of financial markets and financial engineering. He served many advisory roles in national and international financial institutions, and was an active researcher in the…

2009

Jack Herer

American author and activist (born 1939)

Jack Herer, sometimes called the "Emperor of Hemp", was an American cannabis rights activist and the author of the 1985 book The Emperor Wears No Clothes. Herer founded and served as the director of the organization…

2010

Michael Pataki

American actor and director (born 1938)

Michael Pataki was an American actor of stage, film and television.

2010

Paul Bogart

American director and producer (born 1919)

Paul Bogart was an American television director and producer. Bogart directed episodes of the television series 'Way Out in 1961, Coronet Blue in 1967, Get Smart, The Dumplings in 1976, All in the Family from 1975 to…

2012

Dwayne Schintzius

American basketball player (born 1968)

Dwayne Kenneth Schintzius was an American basketball player who played eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born in Brandon, Florida and attended the University of Florida, where he helped…

2012

Benjamin Fain

Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (born 1930)

Benjamin Fain was an Israeli physicist, professor-emeritus, and former refusenik.

2013

Richard LeParmentier

American-English actor and screenwriter (born 1946)

Richard LeParmentier was an American actor who lived and worked primarily in the United Kingdom, best known for his role as Admiral Motti in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) and the acerbic police officer Lt.…

2013

Jean-François Paillard

French conductor (born 1928)

Jean-François Paillard was a French conductor.

2013

John Houbolt

American engineer and academic (born 1919)

John Cornelius Houbolt was an aerospace engineer credited with leading the team behind the lunar orbit rendezvous (LOR) mission mode, a concept that was used to successfully land humans on the Moon and return them to…

2014

Eliseo Verón

Argentinian sociologist and academic (born 1935)

Eliseo Verón was an Argentine sociologist, anthropologist and semiotician, and professor of communication sciences at Universidad de San Andrés. His work is known mainly in Spanish and French-speaking countries.

2014

Jonathan Crombie

Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (born 1966)

Jonathan Crombie was a Canadian actor and voice-over artist, best known for playing Gilbert Blythe in CBC Television's 1985 telefilm Anne of Green Gables and its two sequels.

2015

Surya Bahadur Thapa

Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (born 1928)

Surya Bahadur Thapa was a Nepali politician and a five-time Prime Minister of Nepal. He served under three different kings in a political career lasting more than 50 years.

2015

Clifton James

American actor (born 1920)

George Clifton James was an American actor of film, theatre, and television. He was best known to screen audiences for his various character roles, including prison floorwalker Carr in Cool Hand Luke (1967), Sheriff…

2017

Emma Morano

Italian supercentenarian, last person verified born in the 1800s (born 1899)

Emma Martina Luigia Morano was an Italian supercentenarian. She was the world's oldest living person from 13 May 2016 until her death on 15 April 2017, aged 117 years and 137 days. She was also the last living person…

2017

R. Lee Ermey

American actor (born 1944)

Ronald Lee Ermey was an American actor and U.S. Marine drill instructor. He achieved fame for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best…

2018

Vittorio Taviani

Italian film director and screenwriter (born 1929)

Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani, collectively referred to as the Taviani brothers, were Italian film directors and screenwriters who collaborated on numerous film productions.

2018

Bilquis Edhi

Pakistani philanthropist and wife of Abdul Sattar Edhi (born 1947)

Bilquis Bano Edhi was a Pakistani nurse who helped save the lives of over 16,000 children. During her career as a nurse and marriage to Abdul Sattar Edhi, she was one of the most active philanthropists in Pakistan. She…

2022

Henry Plumb

British politician and farmer (born 1925)

Charles Henry Plumb, Baron Plumb, was a British politician and farmer who went into politics as a leader of the National Farmers' Union. He later became active in the Conservative Party and was elected as a Member of…

2022

Liz Sheridan

American actress (born 1929)

Elizabeth Ann Sheridan was an American actress. While best known for her roles as the nosy neighbor, Mrs. Ochmonek, on the sitcom ALF (1986–1990), and Jerry's mother, Helen, in Seinfeld (1990–1998), her decades-long…

2022

Whitey Herzog

American professional baseball outfielder and manager (born 1931)

Dorrel Norman Elvert "Whitey" Herzog was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager, most notable for his Major League Baseball (MLB) managerial career.

2024

Josip Manolić

Croatian politician, prime minister, and speaker of the Chamber of Counties (born 1920)

Josip "Joža" Manolić was a Croatian politician and communist revolutionary during World War II in Yugoslavia. He served as a high-ranking official of the Yugoslav State Security Administration and later as Prime…

2024

Wink Martindale

American DJ, radio personality, and TV personality (born 1933)

Winston Conrad "Wink" Martindale was an American disc jockey, radio personality, game show host and television producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he was known for his outgoing and jovial demeanor and his booming…

2025

José Santamaría

Uruguayan-Spanish footballer and manager (born 1929)

José Emilio Santamaría Iglesias was a professional football player and manager. A central defender, he spent his 18-year club career with Nacional and Real Madrid, winning 12 titles with the latter including four…

2026

April 15 in the Blog

Jackie Robinson's Historic Debut — April 15, 1947

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African American player in Major League Baseball, breaking the sport's color barrier with the Brookl...

Read the full story

Notable deaths

Who died on April 15?

Vittorio Arrigoni — Italian journalist and peace activist (1975–2011)

FeaturedVittorio Arrigoni

Death year2011

Known forHe worked with the Palestinian-led International Solidarity Movement (ISM), through which he arrived in the Gaza Strip in 2008

Deaths on this date113 (628 – 2026)

Explore April 15

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

Events on April 15 Birthdays on April 15 Deaths on April 15 April 15 quiz

Also on April 15 in History

2026

Ten people and the perpetrator are killed and twelve others injured in a mass shooting at a school in Onikişubat, Turkey. Wikipedia →

2021

A mass shooting occurs at a FedEx Ground facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, killing nine and injuring seven. Wikipedia →

2019

The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire. Wikipedia →

See all events on April 15

April 14 April 16

Explore notable deaths on the interactive calendar.

Open the Calendar All Blog Posts

Notable Deaths on April 15

2011 — Vittorio Arrigoni

April 15 in the Blog

Who died on April 15?

Explore April 15

Also on April 15 in History

History runs on facts, and this project runs on coffee!