Did you know
Margaret Thatcher was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to hold the office.
Notable Deaths on April 8
2013 — Margaret Thatcher
English politician, first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1925)
April 8 has 102 recorded notable deaths across history, from 217 to 2025. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
102 source records
217 – 2025
Today in history
Major events on April 8
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 2002 The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-110, carrying the S0 truss to the International Space Station. Astronaut Jerry L. Ross also becomes the first person to fly on seven spaceflights. Source
- 2026 Operation Eternal Darkness: Hours after a ceasefire to the Iran war, Israeli attacks on Lebanon kill at least 357 and injures more than 1200 people in the largest airstrikes of the Lebanon war. Source
- 2010 U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sign the New START Treaty. Source
- 1993 The Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on mission STS-56. Source
Did you know
Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and the anti-war painting Guernica (1937), a dramatic portrayal of the bombing of Guernica by German and Italian air forces during the Spanish Civil War.
Did you know
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known by his nickname Caracalla, was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then ruling alone after 211 AD.
Did you know
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, was an Italian statesman, de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy.
Did you know
Annette Funicello began her professional career at age 12, becoming one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the original Mickey Mouse Club.
More major people who died on April 8
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1973
Pablo Picasso
Spanish painter and sculptor (born 1881)
Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish painter and sculptor who spent most of his adult life in France.
217
Caracalla
Roman emperor (born 188)
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known by his nickname Caracalla, was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then ruling alone after 211 AD.
1492
Lorenzo de' Medici
Italian ruler (born 1449)
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, was an Italian statesman, de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy.
2013
Annette Funicello
American actress and singer (born 1942)
Annette Joanne Funicello was an American actress and singer. She began her professional career at age 12, becoming one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the original Mickey Mouse Club.
2002
María Félix
Mexican actress (born 1914)
María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña was a Mexican actress and singer. Along with Pedro Armendáriz and Dolores del Río, she was one of the most successful figures of Latin American cinema in the 1940s and 1950s.
1950
Vaslav Nijinsky
Polish dancer and choreographer (born 1890)
Vaslav or Vatslav Nijinsky was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish ancestry. He is regarded as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century.
1143
John II Komnenos
Byzantine emperor (born 1087)
John II Komnenos or Comnenus was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143.
622
Shōtoku
Japanese prince (born 572)
Prince Shōtoku , also known as Prince Umayado or Prince Kamitsumiya , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko.
1848
Gaetano Donizetti
Italian composer (born 1797)
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer of the early Romantic era, best known for his over 70 operas.
2024
Ralph Puckett
American Army officer, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1926)
Ralph Puckett Jr. was a United States Army officer. He led the Eighth Army Ranger Company during the Korean War and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on November 25, 1950, when his company of…
1920
Charles Griffes
American pianist and composer (born 1884)
Charles Tomlinson Griffes was an American composer for piano, chamber ensembles and voice.
1364
John II
French king (born 1319)
John II, called John the Good, was King of France from 1350 until his death in 1364.
1586
Martin Chemnitz
Lutheran theologian and reformer (born 1522)
Martin Chemnitz was a second-generation German, Evangelical Lutheran, Christian theologian, and a Protestant reformer, churchman, and confessor.
2015
Jayakanthan
Indian journalist and author (born 1934)
D. Jayakanthan, popularly known as JK, was an Indian writer, journalist, orator, filmmaker, critic and activist.
1608
Magdalen Dacre
English noble (born 1538)
Magdalen Dacre, Viscountess Montagu was an English noblewoman. She was the daughter of William Dacre, 3rd Baron Dacre of Gilsland, and the second wife of Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu.
632
Charibert II
Frankish king (born 607)
Charibert II, a son of Clotaire II and his junior wife Sichilde, was the first King of Aquitaine from 629 to his death, with his capital at Toulouse.
1992
Daniel Bovet
Swiss-Italian pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1907)
Daniel Bovet was a Swiss-born Italian pharmacologist who won the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of drugs that block the actions of specific neurotransmitters.
2012
Jack Tramiel
Polish-American businessman, founded Commodore International (born 1928)
Jack Tramiel was a Polish-American businessman and Holocaust survivor, best known for founding Commodore International.
1997
Laura Nyro
American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1947)
Laura Nyro was an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (1968) and New York Tendaberry (1969), and had…