Did you know about Charles Darwin
Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.
Notable Deaths on April 19
April 19 has 89 recorded notable deaths across history, from 843 to 2026. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
1882 — Charles Darwin
English biologist and theorist (born 1809)
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
89 source records
843 – 2026
Today in history
Major events on April 19
See what else happened on this day in history.
Did you know about Benjamin Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli made the Conservatives the party most identified with the British Empire and military action to expand it, both of which were popular among British voters.
Did you know about J. G. Ballard
Ballard first became associated with New Wave science fiction for post-apocalyptic novels such as The Drowned World (1962).
Did you know about Benjamin Rush
Rush was a Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress.
Did you know about Uesugi Kenshin
Uesugi Kenshin was one of the most powerful daimyō of the Sengoku period.
More major people who died on April 19
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1881
Benjamin Disraeli
English journalist and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1804)
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, was a British statesman, Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party, defining its policies and its broad outreach. Disraeli is remembered for his influential voice in world affairs, his political battles with the Liberal Party leader William Ewart Gladstone, and his one-nation conservatism or "Tory democracy". He made the Conservatives the party most identified with the British Empire and military action to expand it, both of which were popular among British voters. He is the only British prime minister to have been born into a Jewish family.
2009
J. G. Ballard
English novelist, short story writer, and essayist (born 1930)
James Graham Ballard was an English novelist and short-story writer, satirist and essayist known for psychologically provocative works of fiction that explore the relations between human psychology, technology, sex and mass media. Ballard first became associated with New Wave science fiction for post-apocalyptic novels such as The Drowned World (1962). He later courted controversy with the short-story collection The Atrocity Exhibition (1970), which includes the 1968 story "Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan", and later the novel Crash (1973), a story about car-crash fetishists.
1813
Benjamin Rush
American physician and educator (born 1745)
Benjamin Rush was an American revolutionary, a Founding Father of the United States and signatory to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, educator, and the founder of Dickinson College. Rush was a Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress. He later described his efforts in support of the American Revolution, saying: "He aimed well." He served as Surgeon General of the Middle Department of the Continental Army and became a professor of chemistry, medical theory, and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania.
1578
Uesugi Kenshin
Japanese samurai and warlord (born 1530)
Nagao Kagetora , later known as Uesugi Kenshin , was a Japanese daimyō (magnate). He was born into the Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful daimyō of the Sengoku period. Known as the "Dragon of Echigo", while chiefly remembered for his prowess on the battlefield as a military genius and war hero, Kenshin is also regarded as an extremely skillful administrator who fostered the growth of local industries and trade, as his rule saw a marked rise in the standard of living of Echigo.
1999
Hermine Braunsteiner
Austrian-German SS officer (born 1919)
Hermine Braunsteiner Ryan was an Austrian SS Helferin and female camp guard at Ravensbrück and Majdanek concentration camps. She was the first Nazi war criminal to be extradited from the United States to face trial in West Germany. Braunsteiner was known to prisoners of Majdanek concentration camp as "the Mare" because she was said to have kicked and stomped on prisoners, thrown children by their hair onto trucks that took them to be murdered in gas chambers, hanged young prisoners, and beaten prisoners to death.
1588
Paolo Veronese
Italian painter (born 1528)
Paolo Caliari, known as Paolo Veronese, was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as The Wedding at Cana (1563) and The Feast in the House of Levi (1573). Included with Titian, a generation older, and Tintoretto, a decade senior, Veronese is one of the "great trio that dominated Venetian painting of the cinquecento" and the Late Renaissance in the 16th century. Known as a supreme colorist, and after an early period with Mannerism, Paolo Veronese developed a naturalist style of painting, influenced by Titian.
2026
George Ariyoshi
American lawyer and politician, 3rd Governor of Hawaii (born 1926)
George Ryoichi Ariyoshi was an American lawyer and politician who served as the third governor of Hawaii from 1974 to 1986. A Democrat, he was Hawaii's longest-serving governor and the first American of Asian descent to serve as governor of a U.S. state. He assumed gubernatorial powers and duties when Governor John A. Burns was declared incapacitated in October 1973 and was elected in 1974, becoming the first Asian-American to be elected governor of a U.S. state or territory. His lengthy tenure of over 13 years is a record likely to remain unbroken due to term limits enacted after he left office.
1975
Percy Lavon Julian
American chemist and academic (born 1899)
Percy Lavon Julian was an American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. Julian was the first person to synthesize the natural product physostigmine, and a pioneer in industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of the human hormones progesterone and testosterone from plant sterols such as stigmasterol and sitosterol. His work laid the foundation for the steroid drug industry's production of cortisone, other corticosteroids, and artificial hormones that led to birth control pills.
843
Judith of Bavaria
Frankish empress
Judith of Bavaria was the Carolingian empress as the second wife of Louis the Pious. Marriage to Louis marked the beginning of her rise as an influential figure in the Carolingian court. She had two children with Louis, Gisela and Charles the Bald. The birth of her son led to a major dispute over the imperial succession, and tensions between her and Charles' half-brothers from Louis' first marriage. She eventually fell from grace when Charles' wife, Ermentrude of Orléans, rose to power. She was buried in 843 in Tours.
1903
Oliver Mowat
Canadian politician, third Premier of Ontario, eighth Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (born 1820)
Sir Oliver Mowat was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and Ontario Liberal Party leader. He served for nearly 24 years as the third premier of Ontario. He was the eighth lieutenant governor of Ontario and one of the Fathers of Confederation. He is best known for defending successfully the constitutional rights of the provinces in the face of the centralizing tendency of the national government as represented by his longtime Conservative adversary, John A. Macdonald. This longevity and power was due to his manoeuvring to build a political base around Liberals, Catholics, trade unions, and anti-French-Canadian sentiment.
1044
Gothelo I
duke of Lorraine
Gothelo, called the Great, was the duke of Lower Lorraine from 1023 and of Upper Lorraine from 1033. He was also the margrave of Antwerp from 1005 and count of Verdun. Gothelo was the youngest son of Godfrey I, Count of Verdun, and Matilda, daughter of Herman, Duke of Saxony. On his father's death, he received the march of Antwerp and became a vassal of his brother, Godfrey II, who became duke of Lower Lorraine in 1012. Gothelo succeeded his brother in 1023 with the support of the Emperor Henry II, but was opposed until Conrad II forced the rebels to submit in 1025. When the House of Bar, which ruled in Upper Lorraine, became extinct in 1033, with the death of his cousin Frederick II, Conrad made Gothelo duke of both duchies, so that he could assist in the defence of the territory against Odo II, count of Blois, Meaux, Chartres and Troyes. It was during this time 1033-1034, that Gothelo clashed with Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders, concerning the march of Ename.
2023
Ron Hamilton
American musician (born 1950)
Ronald Allen Hamilton, also known as "Patch the Pirate", was an American Christian musician, composer, preacher, and radio personality. He was president and owner of Majesty Music, a Christian music publisher, and the creator of the Patch the Pirate Adventure series. Hamilton became affectionately known as "Patch the Pirate" when he began wearing an eye patch after losing his left eye to cancer in 1978. He published hundreds of songs and hymns and wrote numerous cantatas, plays, and children's stories.
2012
Levon Helm
American musician and actor (born 1940)
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm was an American musician and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for The Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Helm was known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, multi-instrumental ability, and creative drumming style, highlighted on many of the Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".
1940
Jack McNeela
Irish Republican Army, died on hunger strike
Jack McNeela was an Irish republican and a senior member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) from Ballycroy, County Mayo, Ireland. McNeela was one of 22 Irish republicans who died on hunger-strike. As a young man, McNeela was an athlete in County Mayo and participated in Gaelic games. He came from a family of four brothers and two sisters. His brother Paddy was also a leader in the IRA, holding the position of Quartermaster general in Dublin.
1988
Kwon Ki-ok
Korean pilot (born 1901)
Kwon Ki-ok was a Korean aviator. She is the first Korean female pilot and one of the first female pilots to fly in China. Her name in Chinese is Quan Jiyu. Kwon went into exile in China during the Japanese occupation of Korea and became a lieutenant colonel in the Republic of China's air force. She returned home after the liberation of Korea and became a founding member of the Republic of Korea Air Force.
2013
François Jacob
French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1920)
François Jacob was a French biologist. He shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Jacques Monod and André Lwoff "for their discoveries concerning genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis". He and Monod originated the idea that control of enzyme levels in all cells occurs through regulation of transcription. For his work in the French Resistance, he received the Cross of Liberation, the Légion d'honneur and Croix de guerre.
2021
Jim Steinman
American composer, lyricist (born 1947)
James Richard Steinman was an American composer, lyricist and record producer. He also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer. His work included songs in the adult contemporary, rock, dance, pop, musical theater, and film score genres. He wrote albums for Bonnie Tyler and Meat Loaf, including Bat Out of Hell, and also wrote and produced Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell and Tyler's Faster Than the Speed of Night.
1833
James Gambier
1st Baron Gambier, Bahamian-English admiral and politician, 36th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (born 1756)
Admiral of the Fleet James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, was a Royal Navy officer and colonial administrator. After seeing action at the capture of Charleston during the American Revolutionary War, he saw action again, as captain of the third-rate HMS Defence, at the battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars, gaining the distinction of commanding the first ship to break through the enemy line.
1791
Richard Price
Welsh-English preacher and philosopher (born 1723)
Richard Price was a British moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer and pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the French and American Revolutions. He was well-connected and fostered communication between many people, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Washington, Mirabeau and the Marquis de Condorcet. According to the historian John Davies, Price was "the greatest Welsh thinker of all time".