Did you know about Benito Mussolini
Known under his rule as Il Duce, he founded fascism in 1919 with the creation of the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, which became the National Fascist Party (PNF) in 1921.
Notable Deaths on April 28
April 28 has 116 recorded notable deaths across history, from 224 to 2024. This page lists every one of them, with the best-known people first.
1945 — Benito Mussolini
Italian journalist, fascist dictator and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Italy (born 1883)
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia · Report an error
Notable Deaths
116 source records
224 – 2024
Today in history
Major events on April 28
See what else happened on this day in history.
Did you know about John Singleton
John Singleton made his feature film debut writing and directing Boyz n the Hood (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, becoming, at age 24, the first African American and youngest nominee in the category.
Did you know about Ed Begley
Ed Begley won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) and appeared in such classics as 12 Angry Men (1957), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964).
Did you know about Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his raw, unsettling imagery.
Did you know about Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun starred in numerous Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s and appeared in supporting roles in films such as How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and Motel Hell (1980).
More major people who died on April 28
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
2019
John Singleton
American film director (born 1968)
John Daniel Singleton was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing Boyz n the Hood (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, becoming, at age 24, the first African American and youngest nominee in the category.
1970
Ed Begley
American actor (born 1901)
Edward James Begley Sr. was an American actor of theatre, radio, film, and television. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) and appeared in such classics as 12 Angry Men (1957), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964). He was twice nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, including for his portrayal of Matthew Harrison Brady in a television adaptation of Inherit the Wind, a role which, ten years before, had earned him the Tony Award. Additionally, he was a one-time Golden Globe, two-time Laurel Award, and three-time Grammy Award nominee. He is the father of the actor and environmental activist Ed Begley Jr.
1992
Francis Bacon
Irish painter (born 1909)
Francis Bacon was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his raw, unsettling imagery. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures.
1999
Rory Calhoun
American actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1922)
Rory Calhoun was an American film and television actor. He starred in numerous Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s and appeared in supporting roles in films such as How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and Motel Hell (1980).
2021
Michael Collins
American astronaut (born 1930)
Michael Collins was an American astronaut who flew the Apollo 11 command module Columbia around the Moon in 1969 while his crewmates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, made the first crewed landing on the surface. He was also a test pilot and major general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
1945
Hermann Fegelein
German general (born 1906)
Hans Otto Georg Hermann Fegelein was a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany. He was Adolf Hitler's liaison officer to Heinrich Himmler and brother-in-law to Eva Braun through his marriage to her sister Gretl.
1813
Mikhail Kutuzov
Russian field marshal (born 1745)
Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Smolensky was a field marshal of the Russian Empire. He served as a military officer and a diplomat under the reign of three Romanov monarchs: Empress Catherine II, and Emperors Paul I and Alexander I. Kutuzov was shot in the head twice while fighting the Turks and survived the serious injuries seemingly against all odds. He defeated Napoleon as commander-in-chief using attrition warfare in the Patriotic War of 1812. For the Battle of Krasnoi against Napoleon, Kutuzov received the victory title of Smolensky to add to his surname; the word Smolensky literally means "of Smolensk". Alexander I, the incumbent Tsar during Napoleon's invasion, would write that he would be remembered amongst Europe's most famous commanders and that Russia would never forget his worthiness.
1978
Mohammed Daoud Khan
Afghan commander and politician, 1st President of Afghanistan (born 1909)
Mohammad Daoud Khan, also romanized as Daud Khan or Dawood Khan, was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as prime minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 and, as leader of the 1973 Afghan coup d'état which overthrew the monarchy, served as the first president of Afghanistan from 1973 until his assassination in 1978.
2007
Dabbs Greer
American actor (born 1917)
Robert William "Dabbs" Greer was an American character actor in film and television for over 60 years. Greer appeared in nearly 100 film roles and in nearly 600 television episodes of various series. He played Mr. Jonas in Gunsmoke, Coach Ossie Weiss in the sitcom Hank, and Reverend Robert Alden in Little House on the Prairie. Greer's final film role was as the 108-year-old Paul Edgecomb, the character played by Tom Hanks in 1999's The Green Mile.
2005
Chris Candido
American wrestler (born 1971)
Christopher Barrett Candito was an American professional wrestler. Candito is best remembered for his tenures with promotions such as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and Smoky Mountain Wrestling, where he performed under the ring name Chris Candido, as well as for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Skip, one-half of the tag team The Bodydonnas. For much of his career, he performed alongside his real-life partner, Tammy "Sunny" Sytch, who acted as his valet.
1936
Fuad I of Egypt (born 1868)
Fuad I was the ruler of Egypt from 1917 to 1936. He was the last Sultan and later first King of Egypt and the Sudan. The ninth ruler of Egypt and Sudan from the Muhammad Ali dynasty, he ascended to the throne in 1917, succeeding his elder brother Hussein Kamel. He replaced the title of Sultan with King when the United Kingdom unilaterally declared Egyptian independence in 1922.
2002
Lou Thesz
American wrestler and trainer (born 1916)
Aloysius Martin Thesz, known by the ring name Lou Thesz, was an American professional wrestler and wrestling coach. Considered to be one of the last true shooters in professional wrestling and described as the "quintessential athlete" and a "polished warrior who could break a man in two if pushed the wrong way", Thesz is widely regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers and wrestling world champions in history, and possibly the last globally accepted world champion.
1993
Jim Valvano
American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (born 1946)
James Thomas Anthony Valvano, nicknamed Jimmy V, was an American college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. Valvano had a successful coaching career with multiple schools, culminating at NC State. While the head coach at NC State, his team won the 1983 NCAA Division I men's basketball title against improbable odds. Valvano is remembered for his ecstatic celebration after winning the national championship game against the heavily favored Houston Cougars.
1999
Alf Ramsey
English footballer and manager (born 1920)
Sir Alfred Ernest Ramsey was an English football player and manager. As a player, he represented the England national team and captained the side, but he is best known for his time as England manager from 1963 to 1974, which included guiding them to victory in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Knighted in 1967 in recognition of the World Cup win, Ramsey also managed his country to third place in the 1968 European Championship and the quarter-finals of the 1970 World Cup and the 1972 European Championship. As a player, Ramsey was a defender and a member of England's 1950 World Cup squad.
1903
Josiah Willard Gibbs
American scientist (born 1839)
Josiah Willard Gibbs was an American mechanical engineer and scientist who made fundamental theoretical contributions to physics, chemistry, and mathematics. His work on the applications of thermodynamics was instrumental in transforming physical chemistry into a rigorous deductive science. Together with James Clerk Maxwell and Ludwig Boltzmann, he created statistical mechanics, explaining the laws of thermodynamics as consequences of the statistical properties of ensembles of the possible states of a physical system composed of many particles. Gibbs also worked on the application of Maxwell's equations to problems in physical optics. As a mathematician, he created modern vector calculus and described the Gibbs phenomenon in the theory of Fourier analysis.
2012
Patricia Medina
English actress (born 1919)
Patricia Paz Maria Medina was a British actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954) and Mr. Arkadin (1955).
1772
Johann Friedrich Struensee
German physician and politician (born 1737)
Lensgreve Johann Friedrich Struensee was a German-Danish physician, philosopher and statesman. He became royal physician to the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark-Norway and a minister in the Danish government. He rose in power to a position of de facto regent of the country, and he initiated a number of widespread reforms. His affair with Queen Caroline Matilda caused a scandal, especially after the birth of a daughter, Princess Louise Augusta, and he contributed to the intrigues and power play that led to his downfall and execution.
1944
Mohammed Alim Khan
Manghud ruler (born 1880)
Emir Sayyid Mir Muhammad Alim Khan was the last emir of the Uzbek Manghit dynasty, rulers of the Emirate of Bukhara in Central Asia. Although Bukhara was a protectorate of the Russian Empire from 1873, the Emir presided over the internal affairs of his emirate as an absolute monarch and reigned from 3 January 1911 to 30 August 1920.
1192
Conrad of Montferrat (born 1140)
Conrad of Montferrat was an Italian nobleman, one of the major participants in the Third Crusade. He was the de facto King of Jerusalem by virtue of his marriage to Isabella I of Jerusalem from 24 November 1190, but officially elected only in 1192, days before his death. He was also the eighth Marquess of Montferrat from 1191.
1257
Shajar al-Durr
sovereign sultana of Egypt
Shajar al-Durr, also Shajarat al-Durr, whose royal name was al-Malika ʿAṣmat ad-Dīn ʾUmm-Khalīl Shajar ad-Durr, was a ruler of Egypt of Turkic origin. She was the wife of As-Salih Ayyub, and later of Izz al-Din Aybak, the first sultan of the Mamluk Bahri dynasty. Prior to becoming Ayyub's wife, she was a child slave and Ayyub's concubine.
2019
Richard Lugar
American politician (born 1932)
Richard Green Lugar was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 1977 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party.
2024
Brian McCardie
Scottish actor and writer (born 1965)
Brian McCardie was a Scottish actor and writer, known for his role as John Thomas "Tommy" Hunter in the BBC police procedural series Line of Duty.
2021
El Risitas
Spanish comedian (born 1956)
Juan Joya Borja was a Spanish comedian and actor, better known by his stage name, El Risitas. He gained widespread popularity in 2015 thanks to a series of memes based on a television interview recorded in 2007 on Jesús Quintero's TV show Ratones Coloraos.
2000
Penelope Fitzgerald
English author and poet (born 1916)
Penelope Mary Fitzgerald was a Booker Prize-winning novelist, poet, essayist and biographer from Lincoln, England. In 2008 The Times listed her among "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945". The Observer in 2012 placed her final novel, The Blue Flower, among "the ten best historical novels". A.S. Byatt called her, "Jane Austen’s nearest heir for precision and invention."
2002
Alexander Lebed
Russian general and politician (born 1950)
Lieutenant General Alexander Ivanovich Lebed was a Soviet and Russian military officer and politician who held senior positions in the Airborne Forces before running for president in the 1996 Russian presidential election. He did not win, but placed third behind incumbent Boris Yeltsin and the Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, with roughly 14% of the vote nation-wide. Lebed later served as the Secretary of the Security Council in the Yeltsin administration, and eventually became the governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai, the second largest Russian region. He served four years in the latter position, until his death following an Mi-8 helicopter crash.
1716
Louis de Montfort
French priest and saint (born 1673)
Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, SMM was a French Catholic priest known for his influence on Catholic Mariology. He wrote a number of books that went on to become classic Catholic titles, including Secret of the Rosary and True Devotion to Mary, and influenced several popes. He also founded several religious communities, including the Company of Mary.
1998
Jerome Bixby
American author and screenwriter (born 1923)
Drexel Jerome Lewis Bixby was an American short story writer and scriptwriter. He wrote the 1953 story "It's a Good Life", which was included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
1944
Frank Knox
American journalist and politician, 46th United States Secretary of the Navy (born 1874)
William Franklin Knox was an American politician, soldier, newspaper editor, and publisher. He was the Republican vice presidential candidate in 1936 and Secretary of the Navy under Franklin D. Roosevelt during most of World War II.
1489
Henry Percy
4th Earl of Northumberland, English politician (born 1449)
Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland KG was an English aristocrat during the Wars of the Roses. After losing his title when his father was killed fighting the Yorkists, he later regained his position. He led the rearguard of Richard III's army at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, but failed to commit his troops. He was briefly imprisoned by Henry VII, but later restored to his position. A few years later he was murdered by citizens of York during a revolt against Henry VII's taxation.
2014
Jack Ramsay
American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (born 1925)
John Travilla Ramsay was an American basketball coach, commonly known as "Dr. Jack". He was best known for leading the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA championship, and for his broadcasting work with the Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat, and for ESPN TV and ESPN Radio. Ramsay was among the most respected coaches in NBA history and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the winner of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award for the 2009–10 NBA season.
1905
Fitzhugh Lee
American general and politician, 40th Governor of Virginia (born 1835)
Fitzhugh Lee was an American Confederate cavalry general in the American Civil War, the 40th Governor of Virginia, diplomat, and United States Army general in the Spanish–American War. He was a descendant of the Lee Family of Virginia - the son of Sydney Smith Lee, a captain in the Confederate States Navy, and the nephew of Robert E. Lee.
1996
Lester Sumrall
American minister, founded LeSEA (born 1913)
Lester Frank Sumrall was an American Pentecostal pastor, evangelist, teacher, and missionary. He founded the Lester Sumrall Evangelistic Association (LeSEA) and its humanitarian arm LeSEA Global Feed the Hungry, World Harvest Radio International, and World Harvest Bible College.
2007
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
German physicist and philosopher (born 1912)
Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker was a German physicist and philosopher. He was the longest-living member of the team which performed nuclear research in Nazi Germany during the Second World War, under Werner Heisenberg's leadership. There is ongoing debate as to whether or not he and the other members of the team actively and willingly pursued the development of a nuclear bomb for Germany during this time.
1945
Roberto Farinacci
Italian soldier and politician (born 1892)
Roberto Farinacci was a leading Italian fascist politician and important member of the National Fascist Party before and during World War II, as well as one of its ardent antisemitic proponents. English historian Christopher Hibbert describes him as "slavishly pro-German".
2006
Steve Howe
American baseball player (born 1958)
Steven Roy Howe was an American professional baseball relief pitcher. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers and New York Yankees, spanning 1980 to 1996. His baseball career ended in 1997 after a stint with the Sioux Falls Canaries of the independent Northern League.
1957
Heinrich Bär
German colonel and pilot (born 1913)
Oskar-Heinrich "Pritzl" Bär was a German Luftwaffe flying ace who served throughout World War II in Europe. Bär flew more than one thousand combat missions, and fought in the Western, Eastern and Mediterranean theatres. On 18 occasions he survived being shot down, and according to records in the German Federal Archives, he claimed to have shot down 228 enemy aircraft and was credited with 208 aerial victories, 16 of which were in a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. Sources credit him with 220 – 96 on Eastern Theatre and 124 on Western Theatre – up to 222 aerial victories may also be possible.
224
Artabanus IV of Parthia (born 191)
Artabanus IV, also known as Ardavan IV, incorrectly known in older scholarship as Artabanus V, was the last monarch of the Parthian Empire from c. 213 to 224. He was the younger son of Vologases V, who died in 208.
1853
Ludwig Tieck
German author and poet (born 1773)
Johann Ludwig Tieck was a German poet, fiction writer, translator, and critic. He was one of the founding fathers of the Romantic movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
2015
Antônio Abujamra
Brazilian actor and director (born 1932)
Antônio Abujamra was a Brazilian theatre and television director and actor. Having majored in journalism and philosophy at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul in 1957, he started a career as a theatre critic while he directed and acted in his own plays at the university theatre. Professionally, he made his debut as a theatre director in 1961, and as an actor in 1987, acting in both theatre and television. In 1989, he gained national fame for his role as Ravengar in Rede Globo's telenovela Que Rei Sou Eu?, which became his best known role. In that same year, Abujamra won the Best Actor award at the Gramado Film Festival for his role in the film Festa. From 2000 onward, he was the presenter on TV Cultura's interview program Provocações. His son André Abujamra is a score composer, while his niece Clarisse Abujamra, is also an actress.
2007
Tommy Newsom
American saxophonist and bandleader (born 1929)
Thomas Penn Newsom was a saxophone player in the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, for which he later became assistant director. Newsom was frequently the band's substitute director, whenever music director Doc Severinsen was away from the show or filling in for announcer Ed McMahon. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement" by Johnny Carson as an ironic take on his low-keyed, reserved persona, he was often a foil for Carson's humor. His conservative brown or blue suits were a marked contrast to Severinsen's flashy stage clothing.
1946
Louis Bachelier
French mathematician and academic (born 1870)
Louis Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Bachelier was a French mathematician. He is credited with being the first person to model the stochastic process now called Brownian motion, as part of his doctoral thesis The Theory of Speculation.
2009
Richard Pratt
Polish-Australian businessman (born 1934)
Richard J. Pratt was an Australian businessman, chairman of the privately owned company Visy Industries, and a leading figure of Melbourne society. In the year before his death, Pratt was Australia's fourth-richest person, with a personal fortune valued at A$5.48 billion.
1726
Thomas Pitt
English merchant and politician (born 1653)
Thomas Pitt was a British merchant, colonial administrator and politician who served as the president of Fort St. George from 1698 to 1709. Born in Blandford Forum, Dorset, he eventually went to the Indian subcontinent in the service of the English East India Company (EIC) and rose to a senior position in the Presidency of Fort St. George, administering the EIC's affairs within the region. After a lucrative career in India, Pitt returned to England and entered into a political career, being elected six times to the Parliament of Great Britain. His descendants would go on to found a political dynasty, with Pitt's grandson and great-grandson both serving as Prime Minister of Great Britain.
2005
Percy Heath
American bassist (born 1923)
Percy Heath was an American jazz bassist, brother of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet throughout their long history and also worked with Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, Thelonious Monk and Lee Konitz.
2013
Brad Lesley
American baseball player (born 1958)
Bradley Jay Lesley was an American actor, media personality and former professional baseball pitcher. Lesley was an especially imposing physical figure, standing 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) and weighing 230 lb (104 kg). Nicknamed "The Animal", he was known for his aggressive style of self-motivation.
1977
Sepp Herberger
German footballer and coach (born 1897)
Josef "Sepp" Herberger was a German football player and manager. He is most famous for being the manager of the West Germany national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, a match later dubbed The Miracle of Bern, defeating the overwhelming favourites from Hungary. Previously he had also coached the Breslau Eleven, one of the greatest teams in German football history.
2015
Marcia Brown
American author and illustrator (born 1918)
Marcia Joan Brown was an American writer and illustrator of more than 30 children's books. She won three annual Caldecott Medals from the American Library Association, six Caldecott Medal honors as an illustrator, recognizing the year's best U.S. picture book illustration, and the ALA's Children's Literature Legacy Award in 1992 for her career contribution to children's literature. This total of nine books with awards and honors is more than any other Caldecott-nominated illustrator. Many of her titles have been published in translation, including Afrikaans, German, Japanese, Spanish, and Xhosa-Bantu editions. Brown is known as one of the most honored illustrators in children's literature.
1197
Rhys ap Gruffydd
prince of Deheubarth (born 1132)
Rhys ap Gruffudd or the Lord Rhys was the prince of the region of Deheubarth in south Wales from 1155 to 1197. He also referred to himself as the "Prince of Wales" or "Prince of the Welsh" in two surviving charters.
2016
Jenny Diski
English author and screenwriter (born 1947)
Jenny Diski FRSL was an English novelist, non-fiction writer and memoirist. She was a regular contributor to the London Review of Books; articles and essays she wrote for the publication are in the collections Don't and Why Didn't You Do What You Were Told? Her memoirs include In Gratitude, The Sixties, Skating to Antarctica, and Stranger on a Train: Daydreaming and Smoking around America With Interruptions, for which she won the 2003 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award.
2017
Mariano Gagnon
American Catholic priest and author (born 1929)
Mariano Gagnon was an American Franciscan friar and Catholic priest, who served as a missionary in Peru. Gagnon founded the Cutivereni mission in Peru's Ene River valley to assist the indigenous Asháninka people who were being forced out of their homes in the jungle by settlers. He would later become known for his work helping arm the Asháninka and eventually helping some Asháninka flee Cutivereni when it was facing attack from Shining Path guerrillas during the internal conflict in Peru. He later wrote about his experiences during the conflict in the book Warriors in Eden.
1925
Richard Butler
English-Australian politician, 23rd Premier of South Australia (born 1850)
Sir Richard Butler was an Australian politician. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1890 to 1924, representing Yatala (1890–1902) and Barossa (1902–1924). He served as Premier of South Australia from March to July 1905 and Leader of the Opposition from 1905 to 1909. Butler would also variously serve as Speaker of the House of Assembly (1921–1924), and as a minister under Premiers Charles Kingston, John Jenkins and Archibald Peake. His son, Richard Layton Butler, went on to serve as Premier from 1927 to 1930 and 1933 to 1938.
1865
Samuel Cunard
Canadian-English businessman, founded Cunard Line (born 1787)
Sir Samuel Cunard, 1st Baronet, was a British-Canadian shipping magnate, born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, who founded the Cunard Line, establishing the first scheduled steamship connection with North America. He was the son of a master carpenter and timber merchant who had fled the American Revolution and settled in Halifax.
1973
Clas Thunberg
Finnish speed skater (born 1893)
Arnold Clas ("Classe") Robert Thunberg was a Finnish speed skater who won five Olympic gold medals – three at the inaugural Winter Olympics held in Chamonix in 1924 and two at the 1928 Winter Olympics held in St. Moritz. He was the most successful athlete at both of these Winter Olympics, sharing the honour for 1928 Winter Olympics with Johan Grøttumsbraaten of Norway. No other athlete ever won such a high fraction of all Olympic events at a single Games. He was born and died in Helsinki.
2009
Ekaterina Maximova
Russian ballerina and actress (born 1939)
Ekaterina Sergeyevna Maximova was a Soviet and Russian ballerina of the second part of the 20th century who was internationally recognised. She was a prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre for 30 years, a ballet pedagogue, winner of international ballet competitions, Laureate of many prestigious International and Russian awards, a professor in GITIS, Honorary professor at the Moscow State University, Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts, and an Executive Committee member of the Russian Center of Counseil International De La Danse, UNESCO.
2014
Ryan Tandy
Australian rugby player (born 1981)
Ryan Tandy was an international rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played as a prop in the National Rugby League (NRL) for the St. George Illawarra Dragons, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Wests Tigers, Melbourne Storm, and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, and in the Super League for Hull Kingston Rovers. He was banned from playing professional rugby league in Australia after being found guilty of spot-fixing during a match in 2010, and in 2014 died of a suspected drug overdose.
1841
Peter Chanel
French priest, missionary, and martyr (born 1803)
Peter Louis Marie Chanel, SM, was a Catholic priest, missionary, and martyr. Chanel was a member of the Society of Mary and was sent as a missionary to Oceania. He arrived on the island of Futuna in November 1837. Chanel was clubbed to death in April 1841 at the instigation of a chief upset because his son had converted.
1999
Rolf Landauer
German-American physicist and engineer (born 1927)
Rolf William Landauer was a German-American physicist who made important contributions in diverse areas of the thermodynamics of information processing, condensed matter physics, and the conductivity of disordered media. Born in Germany, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1938, obtained a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard in 1950, and then spent most of his career at IBM.
2013
Paulo Vanzolini
Brazilian singer-songwriter and zoologist (born 1924)
Paulo Emilio Vanzolini was a Brazilian scientist and music composer. He was best known for his samba compositions, including the famous "Ronda", "Volta por Cima", and "Boca da Noite", and for his scientific works in herpetology. With Carl Gans he was one of the two leading authorities in worm lizards (Amphisbaenia).He is considered one of the greatest samba composers from São Paulo. Until his death, he still conducted research at the University of São Paulo (USP).
1994
Berton Roueché
American journalist and author (born 1910)
Clarence Berton Roueché Jr. was an American medical writer who wrote for The New Yorker magazine for almost fifty years. He wrote twenty books, including Eleven Blue Men (1954), The Incurable Wound (1958), Feral (1974), and The Medical Detectives (1980). An article he wrote for The New Yorker was made into the 1956 film Bigger Than Life, and many of the medical mysteries on the television show House were inspired by Roueché's writings.
2014
Edgar Laprade
Canadian ice hockey player (born 1919)
Edgar Louis "Beaver" Laprade was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League. The son of Thomas and Edith Laprade, he was born in the New Ontario community of Mine Centre. By age 4, he and his family moved to Port Arthur, Ontario. He also spent time with the Port Arthur Bearcats of the Thunder Bay Senior Hockey League.
1999
Arthur Leonard Schawlow
American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1921)
Arthur Leonard Schawlow was an American physicist who, along with Charles Townes, developed the theoretical basis for laser science. His central insight was the use of two mirrors as the resonant cavity to take maser action from microwaves to visible wavelengths. He shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics with Nicolaas Bloembergen and Kai Siegbahn for his work using lasers to determine atomic energy levels with great precision.
2007
Bertha Wilson
Scottish-Canadian lawyer and jurist (born 1923)
Bertha Wernham Wilson was a Canadian jurist and the first female puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Before her ascension to Canada's highest court, she was the first female associate and partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt and the first woman appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario. During her time at Osler, she created the first in-firm research department in the Canadian legal industry.
1956
Fred Marriott
American race car driver (born 1872)
Fred Marriott was an American race car driver. In 1906, he set the world land speed record at 127.659 mph (205.5 km/h) at the Daytona Beach Road Course, while driving the Stanley Land Speed Record Car. This garnered Stanley Motor Carriage Company the Dewar Trophy. A crew of four accompanied the car to Daytona, Marriott was chosen to be driver because he was the only bachelor.
1883
John Russell
English hunter and dog breeder (born 1795)
John "Jack" Russell, was an English parson, dog breeder, and enthusiastic follower of country sports, particularly fox hunting. He was known as "The Sporting Parson".
2005
Taraki Sivaram
Sri Lankan journalist and author (born 1959)
Taraki Sivaram or Dharmeratnam Sivaram was a popular Tamil journalist of Sri Lanka. He was kidnapped by four men in a white van on 28 April 2005, in front of the Bambalapitya police station. His body was found the next day in the district of Himbulala, near the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He had been beaten and shot in the head.
1781
Cornelius Harnett
American merchant, farmer, and politician (born 1723)
Cornelius Harnett was an American Founding Father, politician, merchant, plantation owner, and slaveholder from Wilmington, North Carolina. He was a leading American Revolutionary statesman in the Cape Fear region, and a delegate for North Carolina in the Continental Congress from 1777 to 1779 where he signed the Articles of Confederation. Cornelius Harnett is the namesake of Harnett County, North Carolina.
1858
Johannes Peter Müller
German physiologist and anatomist (born 1801)
Johannes Peter Müller was a German physiologist, comparative anatomist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist, known not only for his discoveries but also for his ability to synthesize knowledge. The paramesonephric duct was named in his honor.
2018
James Hylton
American race car driver (born 1934)
James Harvey Hylton was an American stock car racing driver. He was a two-time winner in NASCAR Winston Cup Series competition and was a long-time competitor in the ARCA Racing Series. Hylton finished second in points in NASCAR's top series three times. He holds the record for highest points finish by a rookie.
1533
Nicholas West
English bishop and diplomat (born 1461)
Nicholas West, was an English bishop and diplomatist, born at Putney in Surrey, and educated at Eton and at King's College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow in 1486. He also had periods of study at Oxford and Bologna.
2013
János Starker
Hungarian-American cellist and educator (born 1924)
János Starker was a Hungarian-American cellist. From 1958 until his death, he taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor. Starker is considered one of the greatest cellists of all time.
2014
Frederic Schwartz
American architect, co-designed Empty Sky (born 1951)
Frederic David Schwartz was an American architect, author, and city planner whose work includes Empty Sky, the New Jersey 9-11 Memorial, which was dedicated in Liberty State Park on September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
1109
Abbot Hugh of Cluny (born 1024)
Hugh, sometimes called Hugh the Great or Hugh of Semur, was the Abbot of Cluny from 1049 until his death in 1109. He was one of the most influential leaders of the monastic orders from the Middle Ages.
2014
Dennis Kamakahi
American guitarist and composer (born 1953)
Dennis David Kahekilimamaoikalanikeha Kamakahi was a Hawaiian slack key guitarist, recording artist, music composer, and Christian minister. He was a three-time Grammy Award winner, and in 2009 he was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.
1989
Esa Pakarinen
Finnish actor and musician (born 1911)
Feeliks Esaias "Esa" Pakarinen was a Finnish actor, singer, accordionist and comedian, best known for the role of Pekka Puupää in the Pekka and Pätkä films from 1953–1960. He was also a skilled, self-taught accordion player.
1997
Ann Petry
American novelist (born 1908)
Ann Petry was an American writer of novels, short stories, children's books and journalism. Her 1946 debut novel The Street became the first novel by an African-American woman to sell more than a million copies.
2012
Fred Allen
New Zealand rugby player and coach (born 1920)
Sir Frederick Richard Allen was a captain and coach of the All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby union team. The All Blacks won all 14 of the test matches they played under his coaching.
1962
Bennie Osler
South African rugby player (born 1901)
Benjamin Louwrens Osler was a rugby union footballer who played internationally for South Africa. Osler played mainly at fly-half for both South Africa, and his provincial team of Western Province.
1710
Thomas Betterton
English actor and manager (born 1630)
Thomas Betterton was the leading male actor and theatre manager during Restoration England. He was the son of an under-cook to King Charles I and was born in London.
1643
Francisco de Lucena
Portuguese politician (born 1578)
Francisco de Lucena was a Portuguese nobleman and King John IV's first Secretary of State, and the first after the Restoration War and end of the Iberian Union. He made many enemies during his term in office, and was rumoured to be fraternising with the Spanish Crown, which led to his imprisonment and, later, his execution.
992
Jawhar as-Siqilli
Fatimid statesman
Al-Qaid Jawhar ibn Abdallah (Arabic: جوهر بن عبد الله, romanized: Jawhar ibn ʿAbd Allāh, known variously as al-Siqillī , al-Rūmī , al-Kātib , al-Qā’id and al-Saqlabī born in Sicily and died 28 April 992, was a famous Fatimid general of Byzantine Greek origin from Sicily who led the conquest of Maghreb, and subsequently the conquest of Egypt, for the 4th Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah. He served as viceroy of Egypt until al-Mu'izz's arrival in 973, consolidating Fatimid control over the country. After that, he retired from public life until his death.
1260
Luchesius Modestini
founding member of the Third Order of St. Francis
Luchesius Modestini, TOSF is honored by tradition within the Franciscan Order as being, along with his wife, Buonadonna de' Segni, the first members of the Franciscan Order of Penance, most commonly referred to as the Third Order of St. Francis.
948
Hu Jinsi
Chinese general and prefect
Hu Jinsi (胡進思) was a general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Wuyue, becoming powerful during the reign of its third king Qian Hongzuo. After Qian Hongzuo's death, Hu had frequent conflicts with Qian Hongzuo's brother and successor Qian Hongzong. Fearing that Qian Hongzong would kill him, he deposed Qian Hongzong in a coup and replaced him with his brother Qian Hongchu.
2014
William Honan
American journalist and author (born 1930)
William Holmes Honan was an American journalist and author who directed coverage of the arts at The New York Times as its culture editor in the 1980s. Honan held senior editorial positions at the New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Saturday Review and The Villager, a weekly newspaper serving downtown Manhattan.
2014
Barbara Fiske Calhoun
American cartoonist and painter (born 1919)
Barbara Fiske Calhoun was an American cartoonist and painter, one of the few female creators from the Golden Age of Comic Books. She co-founded Quarry Hill Creative Center, one of Vermont's oldest alternative communities, on the Fiske family property, in Rochester, Vermont.
1963
Wilhelm Weber
German gymnast (born 1880)
Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Weber was a German gymnast who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics. He won 2 medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze, and participated in three Olympic Games. His first edition was at St. Louis in 1904.
2007
René Mailhot
Canadian journalist (born 1942)
René Mailhot was a Canadian journalist from the province of Quebec. He began his career at the age of twenty with the French-language newspaper Le Droit, published in Ottawa. Afterwards, Mailhot went into public television in Moncton, New Brunswick.
1929
Hendrik van Heuckelum
Dutch footballer (born 1879)
Hendrik van Heuckelum, nicknamed Henk, was a Dutch footballer who played as a forward for HBS-Craeyenhout and Royal Léopold Club, and who represented Belgium at the 1900 Summer Olympics, winning the bronze medal in the football tournament.
2013
Fredrick McKissack
American author (born 1939)
Fredrick Lemuel "Fred" McKissack, Sr. was an American writer, best known for collaborating with his wife, Patricia C. McKissack, on more than 100 children's books about the history of African-Americans.
2011
Erhard Loretan
Swiss mountaineer (born 1959)
Erhard Loretan was a Swiss mountain climber. He was the third man to climb all fourteen peaks over 8,000 meters, and the second to do so without supplementary oxygen.
1921
Maurice Moore (Irish republican)
executed member of the Irish Republican Army (born 1894)
Maurice Moore was an Irish republican who fought in the Irish War of Independence. In April 1921 Moore was executed in the military prison of Victoria Barracks after being captured in the aftermath of the Clonmult Ambush.
988
Adaldag
archbishop of Bremen
Adaldag was the seventh archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, from 937 until his death.
1400
Baldus de Ubaldis
Italian jurist (born 1327)
Baldus de Ubaldis was an Italian jurist, and a leading figure in Medieval Roman Law and the school of Postglossators.
1741
Magnus Julius De la Gardie
Swedish general and politician (born 1668)
Magnus Julius De la Gardie, son of Axel Julius De la Gardie, was a Swedish general and statesman, member of the Swedish Hats Party.
1816
Johann Heinrich Abicht
German philosopher, author, and academic (born 1762)
Johann Heinrich Abicht was a German philosopher.
1881
Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon
French sculptor and photographer (born 1818)
Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon was a French sculptor and photographer.
1902
Cyprien Tanguay
Canadian priest and historian (born 1819)
Cyprien Tanguay was a French Canadian priest and historian.
1928
May Jordan McConnel
Australian trade unionist and suffragist (born 1860)
Mary Emma Jordan McConnel was an Australian trade unionist and suffragist. She was the first paid female trade union organiser in Queensland.
1939
Anne Walter Fearn
American physician (born 1867)
Anne Walter Fearn was an American physician who went to Shanghai, China, on a temporary posting in 1893, and remained there for 40 years.
1954
Léon Jouhaux
French union leader, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1879)
Léon Jouhaux was a French trade union leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1951.
1976
Richard Hughes
British author and poet (born 1900)
Richard Arthur Warren Hughes was a writer of poems, short stories, novels and plays.
1977
Ricardo Cortez
American actor (born 1900)
Ricardo Cortez was an American actor and film director. He was a matinée idol during the silent era, and later specialized in playing "heavies".
1980
Tommy Caldwell
American bass player (born 1949)
Thomas Michael Caldwell was an American musician who was the bassist for the Marshall Tucker Band between 1972 and 1980.
1987
Ben Linder
American engineer and activist (born 1959)
Benjamin Ernest Linder, was an American engineer. He was killed by the Contras while working on a small hydroelectric dam in rural northern Nicaragua.
1991
Steve Broidy
American film producer (born 1905)
Samuel “Steve” Broidy was an American executive in the U.S. motion picture industry.
1993
Diva Diniz Corrêa
Brazilian zoologist (born 1918)
Diva Diniz Corrêa was a Brazilian marine zoologist.
2000
Jerzy Einhorn
Polish-Swedish physician and politician (born 1925)
Jerzy Einhorn was a Polish-born Swedish medical doctor, researcher and politician (Kristdemokrat). His Hebrew name was Chil Josef, after his paternal grandfather.
2012
Aberdeen Shikoyi
Kenyan rugby player (born 1985)
Aberdeen Shikoyi was a Kenyan rugby union player. She was the captain of the women's rugby union team.
2012
Al Ecuyer
American football player (born 1937)
Allen Joseph Ecuyer was an American football player.
2012
Matilde Camus
Spanish poet and author (born 1919)
Aurora Matilde Gómez Camus was a Spanish poet from Cantabria who also wrote non-fiction.
2012
Milan N. Popović
Serbian psychiatrist and author (born 1924)
Milan Popović (1924–2012) was a renowned Serbian psychiatrist-psychoanalyst, a full professor of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy.
2013
Bernie Wood
New Zealand journalist and author (born 1939)
Bernard Joseph Wood was a New Zealand rugby league administrator and sports historian.
2013
Jack Shea
American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1928)
Jack Shea was an American television and film director. He was the president of the Directors Guild of America from 1997 to 2002.
2013
John C. Reynolds
American computer scientist and academic (born 1935)
John Charles Reynolds was an American computer scientist.
2014
Idris Sardi
Indonesian violinist and composer (born 1938)
Muhammad Idris Sardi was an Indonesian violinist and composer.
2015
Michael J. Ingelido
American general (born 1916)
Michael Joseph Ingelido was an American Air Force major general who was commander of the Fourteenth Aerospace Force,, Ent Air Force Base, Colorado.