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Notable Deaths on April 26
92 people
499 – 2023
April 26 has seen 92 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 499 – 2023. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
2010 — Mariam A. Aleem
Egyptian graphic designer and academic (born 1930)
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Aleem became a full professor in 1975 and led the Design Department from 1985 to 1990
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She received her Bachelor of Arts from the Faculty of Fine Arts Cairo in 1954 and her Master of Fine Arts in graphic printing 1957 from the University of Southern California
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Beginning in 1958, Aleem taught printmaking at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria
Did you know
Aleem was an Egyptian artist and art professor specializing in printed design
Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei ( 魏孝文帝), personal name Tuoba Hong (拓跋宏), later Yuan Hong (元宏), was an emperor of China's Northern Wei dynasty, reigning from September 20, 471 to April 26, 499.
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499
645
Umayyad caliph (born 602)
Mu'awiya I was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the…
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680
Year 757 (DCCLVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 757 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent…
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757
general of the Tang Dynasty
Chen Jingxuan (陳敬瑄) was a general of the Tang dynasty of China, who came to control Xichuan Circuit (西川), headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan by virtue of his being an older brother of the eunuch Tian Lingzi, who…
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893
962
Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His de jure reign spanned the years from 1155 through 1158, though arguably he effectively maintained imperial power…
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1192
Archbishop of Canterbury
Simon Islip was an English prelate. He served as Archbishop of Canterbury between 1349 and 1366.
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1366
Korean civil minister, diplomat and scholar (born 1338)
Chŏng Mongju, also known by his art name P'oŭn (포은), was a Korean statesman, diplomat, philosopher, poet, calligrapher and reformist of the Goryeo period. He was a major figure of opposition to the transition from the…
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1392
Flemish painter (born 1378)
Robert Campin now usually identified with the Master of Flémalle, was a master painter who, along with Jan van Eyck, initiated the development of early Netherlandish painting, a key development in the early Northern…
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1444
Italian ruler (born 1453)
Giuliano de' Medici was the second son of Piero de' Medici and Lucrezia Tornabuoni. As co-ruler of the Florentine Republic, with his brother Lorenzo the Magnificent, he complemented his brother's image as the "patron of…
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1478
Japanese shōgun (born 1465)
Ashikaga Yoshihisa was the 9th shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1473 to 1489 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshihisa was the son of the eighth shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa with his wife Hino…
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1489
French physician (born 1497)
Jean François Fernel was a French physician who introduced the term "physiology" to describe the study of the body's function. He was the first person to describe the spinal canal. The lunar crater Fernelius is named…
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1558
Swedish statesman and military man (born 1622)
Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie was a Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three of the five offices counted as the Great Officers of…
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1686
1st Baron Somers, English jurist and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (born 1651)
John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, was an English jurist and Whig statesman. Somers first came to national attention in the trial of the Seven Bishops where he was on their defence counsel. He published tracts on political…
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1716
Irish nun and educator, founded the Presentation Sisters (born 1718)
Honora "Nano" Nagle was an Irish Catholic religious sister who served as a pioneer of Catholic education in Ireland despite legal prohibitions. She founded the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary,…
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1784
Russian general (born 1721)
Count Pyotr (Petr) Ivanovich Panin was a Russian soldier who later served as a general-in-chief in the Imperial Russian Army.
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1789
German music publisher (born 1748)
Bernhard Peter Schott was a German clarinetist and music publisher. He founded the predecessor of Schott Music, a major German music publishing company which continues to this day.
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1809
American actor, assassin of Abraham Lincoln (born 1838)
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated United States president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth theatrical…
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1865
German general (born 1815)
Ludwig Samson Heinrich Arthur Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen was a Bavarian general.
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1881
Estonian-English author and poet (born 1860)
Graf Eric Stanislaus Stenbock was a Baltic Swedish poet and writer of macabre fantastic fiction.
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1895
Norwegian-French author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1832)
Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the…
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1910
American actor (born 1863)
John Bunny was an American actor. Bunny began his career as a stage actor, but transitioned to a film career after joining Vitagraph Studios around 1910. At Vitagraph, Bunny made over 150 short films – many of them…
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1915
American diarist (born 1858)
Ida Frances Hunt Udall was an American diarist, homesteader, and teacher in territorial Utah and Arizona. A lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Udall participated in the church's…
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1915
Portuguese poet and writer (born 1890)
Mário de Sá-Carneiro was a Portuguese poet and writer. He is one of the best known authors of the Geração de Orpheu, and is usually considered their greatest poet, after Fernando Pessoa.
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1916
Indian mathematician and theorist (born 1887)
Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar was an Indian mathematician who worked during the early 20th century. He made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions,…
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1920
English cricketer (born 1868)
William Henry Lockwood was an English Test cricketer, best known as a fast bowler and the unpredictable, occasionally devastating counterpart to the amazingly hard-working Tom Richardson for Surrey in the early County…
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1932
Latvian politician, former Prime Minister of Latvia (born 1876)
Arturs Alberings was the 6th Prime Minister of Latvia. He held office from 7 May 1926 to 18 December 1926.
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1934
Russian poet and novelist (born 1899)
Konstantin Konstantinovich Vaginov was a Russian poet and novelist.
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1934
German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1874)
Carl Bosch was a German chemist and engineer and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. He was a pioneer in the field of high-pressure industrial chemistry and founder of IG Farben, at one point the world's largest chemical…
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1940
French footballer, shot putter, and discus thrower (born 1893)
Violette Morris was a French athlete and Nazi collaborator who won two gold and one silver medal at the Women's World Games in 1921–1922. She was later banned from competing for violating "moral standards". She was…
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1944
German physician (born 1909)
Sigmund Rascher was a German Schutzstaffel (SS) doctor. He conducted deadly experiments on humans pertaining to high altitude, freezing and blood coagulation under the patronage of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, to…
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1945
German-Ukrainian general and politician, Hetman of Ukraine (born 1871)
Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadsky was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military leader and statesman who served as the hetman of the Ukrainian State throughout 1918 following a coup d'état on 29 April, of the same year. However, he…
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1945
American miner, explorer, and park ranger (born 1882)
James Larkin White was a cowboy, guano miner, cave explorer, and park ranger for the National Park Service. He is best remembered as the discoverer, early promoter and explorer of what is known today as Carlsbad Caverns…
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1946
American lawyer, judge, and politician (born 1881)
George Murray Hulbert was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who was a United States representative from New York and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District…
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1950
German physicist and academic (born 1868)
Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in both atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and mentored many students for the new era of theoretical physics.
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1951
American actor (born 1890)
Günther Edward Arnold Schneider was an American actor of the stage and screen.
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1956
Japanese martial artist, founded Shotokan (born 1868)
Gichin Funakoshi was the founder of Shotokan karate. He is known as a "father of modern karate". Following the teachings of Anko Itosu and Anko Asato, he was one of the Okinawan karate masters who introduced karate to…
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1957
Canadian poet and author (born 1882)
Edwin John Dove Pratt, who published as E. J. Pratt, was a Canadian poet. Originally from Newfoundland, Pratt lived most of his life in Toronto, Ontario. A three-time winner of the country's Governor General's Award for…
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1964
German illustrator and photographer (born 1891)
John Heartfield was a German visual artist who pioneered the use of art as a political weapon. Some of his most famous photomontages were anti-Nazi and anti-fascist statements. Heartfield also created book jackets for…
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1968
Japanese martial artist, founded aikido (born 1883)
Morihei Ueshiba was a Japanese martial artist and founder of the martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" Kaiso (開祖) or Ōsensei (大先生/翁先生), "Great Teacher".
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1969
Swedish minister and author (born 1886)
Erik Henrik Fredrik Bergman was a Swedish parish minister of the Lutheran Church and the father of diplomat Dag Bergman, novelist Margareta Bergman, and film director Ingmar Bergman.
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1970
American actress, striptease dancer, and writer (born 1911)
Gypsy Rose Lee was an American burlesque entertainer, stripper, actress, author, playwright and vedette, famous for her striptease act. Her 1957 memoir, Gypsy: A Memoir, was adapted into the 1959 stage musical Gypsy.
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1970
American actress and philanthropist (born 1902)
Irene Ryan was an American actress and comedienne who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television, and Broadway. She is most widely known for her portrayal of Daisy May "Granny" Moses, mother-in-law of Buddy…
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1973
American bullfighter (born 1903)
Sidney Franklin was the first American to become a successful matador, the most senior level of bullfighter.
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1976
1976
American author and illustrator (born 1897)
Armstrong Wells Sperry was an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. His books include historical fiction and biography, often set on sailing ships, and stories of boys from Polynesia, Asia and…
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1976
Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer (born 1893)
Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge was an Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer. The daughter of the producer and playwright Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West End by the…
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1980
1981
American pianist, composer, and bandleader (born 1904)
William James "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first…
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1984
American actor (born 1911)
William Broderick Crawford was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Willie Stark in the film All the King's Men (1949), which earned him an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Often cast in…
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1986
American actress (born 1898)
Bessie Love was an American-British actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned nearly seven decades—from silent…
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1986
Bulgarian painter (born 1899)
Dechko Uzunov was a Bulgarian painter. He was born in Kazanluk and died in Sofia at the age of 87. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
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1986
1987
English lawyer and politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons (born 1923)
John Ernest Silkin was a British left-wing Labour politician and solicitor.
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1987
American model, actress, comedian, and producer (born 1911)
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, actress, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by Time in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for her work in all four of these…
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1989
French-American composer and conductor (born 1904)
Noël Léon Marius Arnaud, known professionally as Leo Arnaud, was a French American arranger, composer, and trombonist. He composed "Bugler's Dream", which is used as the theme by television networks presenting the…
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1991
American composer and conductor (born 1910)
Carmine Valentino Coppola was an American composer, flutist, pianist, and songwriter who contributed original music to the films The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, The Black Stallion,…
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1991
Jr., American novelist and historian, (born 1901)
Alfred Bertram "Bud" Guthrie Jr. was an American novelist, screenwriter, historian, and literary historian known for writing western stories. His novel The Way West won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and his…
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1991
Canadian lawyer and politician, 26th Premier of New Brunswick (born 1931)
Richard Bennett Hatfield was a Canadian politician who served as the premier of New Brunswick from 1970 to 1987. He was the longest-serving premier in New Brunswick history.
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1991
Japanese martial artist, founded Kyokushin kaikan (born 1923)
Masutatsu Ōyama, commonly known outside Japan as Mas Oyama, was a Korean-Japanese karateka. He was the founder of Kyokushin Karate, considered the first and most influential style of full contact karate.
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1994
American screenwriter and producer (born 1918)
Stirling Dale Silliphant was an American screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his screenplay for In the Heat of the Night, for which he won an Academy Award in 1967, and for creating the television…
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1996
English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1957)
Adrian Kelvin Borland was an English singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer, best known as the frontman of post-punk band The Sound.
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1999
English journalist and television personality (born 1961)
Jill Wendy Dando was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She spent most of her career at the BBC and was the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997. At the time of her death, her…
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1999
Jamaican-Canadian academic and politician (born 1930)
Rosemary Brown was a Canadian politician, social worker, and human rights advocate. As a member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly from 1972 to 1986, she was the first black woman elected to a legislature in…
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2003
South Korean poet and author (born 1984)
Yun Hyon-seok was a South Korean LGBT poet, writer, and activist. He wrote under the pen names Yuk Wu-dang and Seolheon, and was also known by his nickname Midong or Donghwa.
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2003
Irish environmentalist, co-founded the World Wide Fund for Nature (born 1904)
Edward Max Nicholson was a pioneering environmentalist, ornithologist and internationalist, and a founder of the World Wildlife Fund.
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2003
Jr., American author, poet, and screenwriter (born 1928)
Hubert "Cubby" Selby Jr. was an American novelist. Two of his books, Last Exit to Brooklyn (1964) and Requiem for a Dream (1978), were adapted into films, both of which he appeared in.
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2004
American actor (born 1919)
Mason Adams was an American actor. From the late 1940s until the early 1970s, he was heard in numerous radio programs and voiceovers for countless television commercials, the latter of which he resumed in the 1980s and…
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2005
Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (born 1925)
Elisabeth Domitien served as the prime minister of the Central African Republic from 1975 to 1976. She was the first and to date only woman to hold the position, and was the first woman to serve as prime minister of a…
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2005
Austrian-Swiss actress (born 1926)
Maria Margarethe Anna Schell was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance in Helmut…
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2005
Paraguayan journalist, author, and academic (born 1917)
Augusto Roa Bastos was a Paraguayan novelist and short story writer. As a teenager he fought in the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, and he later worked as a journalist, screenwriter and professor. He is best…
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2005
American businessman, created the MPAA film rating system (born 1921)
Jack Joseph Valenti was an American political advisor and lobbyist who served as a Special Assistant to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. He was also the longtime president of the Motion Picture Association of America.…
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2007
Hungarian footballer (born 1938)
Árpád Orbán was a Hungarian Olympic champion football player.
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2008
Austrian-American paranormal investigator and author (born 1920)
Hans Holzer was an American writer and parapsychologist. He wrote more than 120 books on supernatural and occult subjects for the popular market as well as several plays, musicals, films, and documentaries, and hosted a…
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2009
Swiss engineer and businessman (born 1942)
Urs Felber, a pioneer of furniture design, was the CEO of Vitra USA. Felber was also the board director for several companies including Swissflex and was chairman and principal shareholder for the furniture company…
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2010
American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1950)
Phoebe Snow was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs "Poetry Man" and "Harpo's Blues", and her credited guest vocals on Paul Simon’s "Gone at Last". She was…
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2011
English boxer and trainer (born 1938)
Terence George Spinks MBE was an English boxer, who won the gold medal in the flyweight division at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. In the final he defeated Mircea Dobrescu of Romania on points. He was…
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2012
American actress and educator (born 1930)
Jacqueline Victoire Brookes was an American film, television, and stage actress, best known for her work both off-Broadway and on Broadway.
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2013
American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1931)
George Glenn Jones was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice and phrasing. For the last two…
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2013
Canadian men's rights advocate (born 1948)
Earl Silverman was a Canadian domestic abuse survivor, activist and men's rights advocate who founded the Men's Alternative Safe House (MASH), the only privately funded domestic abuse shelter for men in Canada, and the…
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2013
American physicist and academic (born 1936)
Gerald Stanford "Gerry" Guralnik was the Chancellor’s Professor of Physics at Brown University. In 1964, he co-discovered the Higgs mechanism and Higgs boson with C. R. Hagen and Tom Kibble (GHK). As part of Physical…
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2014
Jr., American historian and author (born 1927)
Paul Leroy Robeson Jr. was an American author, archivist and historian.
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2014
2014
American actress (born 1919)
Jayne Meadows was an American stage, film and television actress, as well as an author and lecturer. She was nominated for three Emmy Awards during her career and was the wife of original Tonight Show host Steve Allen.…
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2015
Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1930)
Joseph René Marcel Pronovost was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. He played in 1,206 games over 20 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons for the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs between 1950…
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2015
2016
American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter (born 1944)
Robert Jonathan Demme was an American filmmaker. His career of directing, producing, and screenwriting spanned more than 30 years and 70 feature films, documentaries, and television productions. In addition to being an…
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2017
German composer and musician (born 1947)
Klaus Schulze was a German electronic music pioneer, composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried and was a member of the Krautrock bands Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and the Cosmic Jokers before…
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2022
American politician, 24th Governor of New Mexico (born 1934)
Jerry Apodaca was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as the 24th governor of New Mexico from 1975 to 1979 and chair of the president's council on physical fitness and sports from 1978 to 1980.
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2023
Singaporean drug trafficker (born 1977)
Tangaraju Suppiah was a Singaporean convicted drug trafficker who was charged in February 2014 with abetting the trafficking of about 1 kg (2.2 lb) of cannabis. Prior to his arrest in 2014, Tangaraju had been to prison…
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2023
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Notable deaths
Who died on April 26?
Mariam A. Aleem — Egyptian artist (1930–2010)
FeaturedMariam A. Aleem
Death year2010
Known forAleem was an Egyptian artist and art professor specializing in printed design
Deaths on this date92 (499 – 2023)
Explore April 26
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Also on April 26 in History
2025
A car ramming attack at a Lapu-Lapu Day festival kills 11 people and injures at least 30 in Vancouver, Canada. Wikipedia →
2015
Nursultan Nazarbayev is re-elected President of Kazakhstan with 97.7% of the vote, one of the biggest vote shares in Kazakhstan's history. Wikipedia →
2005
See all events on April 26
Cedar Revolution: Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country (Syrian occupation of Lebanon). Wikipedia →
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