Notable Deaths on August 15

Q: Who died on August 15?

Notable people who died on August 15 include: Lan Han, Honorius, Libius Severus, Theodotus of Amida, Abu Hanifa.

Q: What is Alexios I Komnenos known for?

Alexios I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (born 1048)

1118 — Alexios I Komnenos

Byzantine emperor (born 1048)

August 15 has seen 109 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 398 – 2024. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · August 15 — Wikipedia

Notable Deaths 109 people 398 – 2024

Did you know

His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Seljuk Turks were the catalyst that sparked the First Crusade

Did you know

Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power and initiated a hereditary succession to the throne.

Did you know

Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118

Did you know

Alexios was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration

Did you know

After usurping the throne he was faced with a collapsing empire and constant warfare throughout his reign

Lan Han

official of the Xianbei state Later Yan

Lan Han was an official and a consort kin of the Xianbei-led Chinese Later Yan dynasty, who killed the emperor Murong Bao in 398 and briefly usurped the throne before being killed by Murong Bao's son Murong Sheng.

398

Honorius

Roman emperor (born 384)

Honorius was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho, ruled the…

423

Libius Severus

Roman emperor (born 420)

Libius Severus, sometimes enumerated as Severus III, was Western Roman emperor from November 19, 461, to his death on November 14, 465. A native of Lucania, Severus was the fourth of the so-called "Shadow Emperors" who…

465

Theodotus of Amida

Syrian Orthodox holy man

Theodotus of Amida was a Syriac Orthodox monk, bishop and holy man.

698

Abu Hanifa

Iraqi scholar and educator (born 699)

Year 767 (DCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar, the 767th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 767th year of the 1st millennium, the 67th year of the 8th…

767

Roland

Frankish military leader

Roland was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became an epic hero and one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was military governor of the…

778

Yi Zong

Chinese emperor (born 833)

Emperor Yizong of Tang, né Li Wen, later changed to Li Cui, was an emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 859 to 873. Emperor Yizong was the eldest son of Emperor Xuanzong. After Emperor Xuanzong's death…

873

Altfrid

bishop of Hildesheim

Saint Altfrid was a leading figure in Germany in the ninth century. A Benedictine monk, he became Bishop of Hildesheim, and founded Essen Abbey. He was also a close adviser to the East Frankish King Louis the German.

874

Han Jian

Chinese warlord (born 855)

Han Jian, courtesy name Zuoshi (佐時), was a warlord and official of the Tang and Later Liang dynasties of China. He is most well known for having had Emperor Zhaozong of Tang under his control at his power base at Hua…

912

Ma Xisheng

Chinese governor and king (born 899)

Ma Xisheng, courtesy name Ruona and titled Prince of Hengyang, was the second ruler of the southern kingdom of Chu during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period of Chinese history, ruling briefly from his father's…

932

Bulcsú

Hungarian tribal chieftain (harka)

Bulcsú was a chieftain of the Hungarians and military leader in the 10th century. He held the title of harka. Despite not being a member of the ruling Árpád dynasty, he was one of the most important figures of the…

955

Lehel

Hungarian tribal chieftain

Lehel, a member of the Árpád dynasty, was a Magyar chieftain and, together with Bulcsú, one of the most important figures of the Hungarian invasions of Europe. After the Magyar defeat at the Battle of Lechfeld, he was…

955

Súr

Hungarian tribal chieftain

Súr or Sur was a Hungarian chieftain and military leader in the 10th century. He was one of the generals, alongside Bulcsú and Lehel, who were executed after the Battle of Lechfeld.

955

Li Yu

ruler ('king') of Southern Tang

Li Yu, before 961 known as Li Congjia (李從嘉), also known as Li Houzhu, was the third ruler of the Southern Tang state during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. He reigned from 961 until 976, when his state was…

978

Minnborinus

Irish missionary and abbot

Minnborinus of Cologne was an Irish abbot and saint active in Germany.

986

Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos

Byzantine rebel

Nikephoros Phokas, surnamed Barytrachelos, was a Byzantine aristocrat and magnate, the last major member of the Phokas family to try to claim the imperial throne. He was a son of the general Bardas Phokas the Younger…

1022

Stephen I

Hungarian king (born 975)

Stephen I, also known as King Saint Stephen, was the last grand prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the first king of Hungary from 1000 or 1001 until his death in 1038. The year of his birth is…

1038

Macbeth

King of Scotland

Macbethad mac Findláech, nicknamed the Red King, was King of Scotland from 1040 until his death in 1057, during a period when the Scottish kingdom is referred to as the Kingdom of Alba.

1057

Conrad II

Duke of Swabia (born 1173)

Conrad II, was Duke of Rothenburg (1188–1191) and Swabia from 1191 until his death. He was the fifth son of Frederick I Barbarossa and Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy.

1196

Marie of France

Duchess of Brabant (born 1198)

Marie of France was a daughter of Philip II of France and his disputed third wife Agnes of Merania. She was a member of the House of Capet.

1224

Saint Hyacinth of Poland

Hyacinth was a Polish Dominican priest and missionary who worked to reform the women's monasteries in his native Poland. Educated in Paris and Bologna, he was a Doctor of Sacred Studies.

1257

Robert de Sorbon

French theologian and educator, founded the College of Sorbonne (born 1201)

Robert de Sorbon was a French theologian, the chaplain of Louis IX of France, and founder of the Sorbonne college in Paris.

1274

Lorenzo Tiepolo

Doge of Venice

Lorenzo Tiepolo was doge of the Republic of Venice from 1268 until his death.

1275

Yesün Temür

emperor of the Yuan dynasty (born 1293)

Yesün Temür was a great-grandson of Kublai Khan and an emperor of the Yuan dynasty from 1323 to 1328. Apart from being Emperor of China, he is regarded as the 10th Khagan of the Mongol Empire, although it was only…

1328

Philippa of Hainault

Queen consort of Edward III of England (born 1314)

Philippa of Hainault was Queen of England as the wife and political adviser of King Edward III. She acted as regent in 1346, when her husband was away for the Hundred Years' War.

1369

Adalbertus Ranconis de Ericinio

Bohemian theologian and rector of the University of Paris (born circa 1320)

Adalbertus Ranconis de Ericinio was a Czech theologian and philosopher. In 1355 he was appointed a rector of the University of Paris. He wrote the Tractatus de communione, a treatise on confession and the offering of…

1388

Ide Pedersdatter Falk

Danish noblewoman (born 1358)

Ide Pedersdatter Falk, was a powerful Danish noble landholder and the founder of a convent.

1399

Infanta Isabella of Portugal

Queen of Castile and León (born 1428)

Isabella of Portugal was Queen of Castile and León as the second wife of King John II. She was the mother of Queen Isabella I of Castile.

1496

Alexander Agricola

Flemish composer (born c. 1445)

Alexander Agricola was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance writing in the Franco-Flemish style. A prominent member of the Grande chapelle, the Habsburg musical establishment, he was a renowned composer in the…

1506

John V

Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (born 1439)

John V of Saxe-Lauenburg was the eldest son of Duke Bernard II of Saxe-Lauenburg and Adelheid of Pomerania-Stolp, daughter of Duke Bogislaus VIII of Pomerania-Stolp. He succeeded his father in 1463 as duke of…

1507

Odet of Foix

Viscount of Lautrec, French general (born 1485)

Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec was a French military leader, a knight of the Order of St. Michael and grand seneschal of Guyenne. As Marshal of France, he commanded the campaign to conquer Naples, but died from the…

1528

Hermann of Wied

German archbishop (born 1477)

Hermann of Wied was the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne from 1515 to 1546.

1552

Thomas Kyd

English playwright (born 1558)

Thomas Kyd was an English playwright, the author of The Spanish Tragedy, and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama.

1594

John Barclay

Scottish poet and author (born 1582)

John Barclay was a Scottish writer, satirist and Neo-Latin poet.

1621

Johann Adam Schall von Bell

German missionary and astronomer (born 1591)

Johann Adam Schall von Bell was a German Jesuit, astronomer and instrument-maker. He spent most of his life as a missionary in China and became an adviser to the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing dynasty.

1666

Constantin Brâncoveanu

Romanian prince (born 1654)

Constantin Brâncoveanu was Prince of Wallachia between 1688 and 1714.

1714

Marin Marais

French viol player and composer (born 1656)

Marin Marais was a French composer and viol player of the middle Baroque era. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with the master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe…

1728

Pierre Bouguer

French mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (born 1698)

Pierre Bouguer was a French mathematician, geophysicist, geodesist, and astronomer. He is also known as "the father of naval architecture". In optics, he is known for making the first numerical photometric measurement.

1758

Giuseppe Parini

Italian poet and author (born 1729)

Giuseppe Parini was an Italian satirist and Neoclassical poet.

1799

José María Coppinger

governor of Spanish East Florida (born 1733)

José María Coppinger was a Spanish soldier who served in the infantry of the Royal Spanish Army (Ejército de Tierra) and governed East Florida (1816–1821) and several areas in Cuba including Pinar Del Río, Bayamo, the…

1844

Johan Gadolin

Finnish chemist, physicist, and mineralogist (born 1760)

Johan Gadolin was a Finnish chemist, physicist and mineralogist. Gadolin discovered a "new earth" containing the first rare-earth compound yttrium, which was later determined to be a chemical element. He is also…

1852

Nathaniel Claiborne

American farmer and politician (born 1777)

Nathaniel Herbert Claiborne was a nineteenth-century Virginia lawyer and planter, as well as an American politician who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly and in the United States House of…

1859

Joseph Joachim

Hungarian violinist, composer, and conductor (born 1831)

Joseph Joachim was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of the most…

1907

Euclides da Cunha

Brazilian sociologist and journalist (born 1866)

Euclides da Cunha was a Brazilian journalist, sociologist and engineer. His most important work is Os Sertões, a non-fictional account of the military expeditions promoted by the Brazilian government against the…

1909

Thomas J. Higgins

American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1831)

Thomas J. Higgins was a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War who was a recipient of America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of Vicksburg.

1917

Konrad Mägi

Estonian painter and educator (born 1878)

Konrad Vilhelm Mägi was an Estonian painter, who was one of the first modernist painters in Estonia and the Nordic countries. He only worked for sixteen years, yet the total volume of his oeuvre is estimated to be…

1925

Anatole von Hügel

Italian ethnologist and academic, co-founded St Edmund's College, Cambridge (born 1854)

Anatole von Hügel was a son of an Austrian nobleman who lived in England and was curator of the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology, 1883 – 1921.

1928

Wiley Post

American pilot (born 1898)

Wiley Hardeman Post was an American aviator during the interwar period and the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Known for his work in high-altitude flying, he helped develop one of the first pressure suits and…

1935

Will Rogers

American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (born 1879)

William Penn Adair Rogers was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory, now part of Oklahoma, and is known as…

1935

Paul Signac

French painter and author (born 1863)

Paul Victor Jules Signac was a French Neo-Impressionist painter who, with Georges Seurat, helped develop the artistic technique Pointillism.

1935

Grazia Deledda

Italian novelist and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1871)

Grazia Maria Cosima Damiana Deledda was an Italian writer who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926 "for her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island…

1936

Mahadev Desai

Indian activist and author (born 1892)

Mahadev Haribhai Desai was an Indian independence activist, scholar and writer best remembered as Mahatma Gandhi's personal secretary. He has variously been described as "Gandhi's Boswell, a Plato to Gandhi's Socrates,…

1942

Korechika Anami

Japanese general and politician, 54th Japanese Minister of the Army (born 1887)

Korechika Anami was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II who was War Minister during the surrender of Japan.

1945

Fred Hockley

English lieutenant and pilot (born 1923)

Sub-Lieutenant Frederick (Fred) Hockley RNVR (1923–1945) was an English Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm fighter pilot who was shot down over Japan while taking part in the last combat mission flown by British aircraft in the…

1945

Artur Schnabel

Polish pianist and composer (born 1882)

Artur Schnabel was an Austrian-born classical pianist, composer and pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th century's most respected…

1951

Ludwig Prandtl

German physicist and engineer (born 1875)

Ludwig Prandtl was a German fluid dynamicist, physicist and aerospace scientist. He was a pioneer in the development of rigorous systematic mathematical analyses which he used for underlying the science of aerodynamics,…

1953

Lei Feng

Chinese soldier (born 1940)

Lei Feng, born Lei Zhengxing, was a Chinese soldier in the People's Liberation Army who was the object of several major propaganda campaigns in China. The most well-known of these campaigns in 1963 promoted the slogan…

1962

René Magritte

Belgian painter (born 1898)

René François Ghislain Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature and boundaries of reality…

1967

Paul Lukas

Hungarian-American actor (born 1887)

Paul Lukas was a Hungarian actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, as well as a Photoplay Award and a New York Film Critics Circle Award…

1971

Clay Shaw

American businessman (born 1913)

Clay LaVergne Shaw was an American businessman, military officer, and part-time contact of the Domestic Contact Service (DCS) of the CIA. Shaw is best known for being the only person brought to trial for involvement in…

1974

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Bangladeshi politician, 1st President of Bangladesh (born 1920)

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman, activist and diarist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangladesh, he…

1975

Harun Karadeniz

Turkish political activist and author (born 1942)

Harun Karadeniz was a Turkish political activist and author. He was the student leader of the late 1960s generation in Turkey and the chair of the Student Union of Istanbul Technical University. Together with other…

1975

Raymond A. Palmer

American author and magazine editor (born 1910)

Raymond Alfred Palmer was an American author and magazine editor. Influential in the first wave of science fiction fandom, his first fiction stories were published in 1935.

1977

Carol Ryrie Brink

American author (born 1895)

Carol Ryrie Brink was an American writer of over thirty juvenile and adult books. Her novel Caddie Woodlawn won the 1936 Newbery Medal and a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958.

1981

Jørgen Løvset

Norwegian gynaecologist and academic (born 1896)

Jørgen Løvset was a Norwegian professor of medicine, gynecology and obstetrics. He was the son of a farmer Arnt Løvset (1873–1938) and Helle Hove (1870–1911), married Selma Margaret Nilsen (1894–1986) in 1924, divorced…

1981

Ernie Bushmiller

American cartoonist (born 1905)

Ernest Paul Bushmiller Jr. was an American cartoonist, best known for creating the comic strip character Nancy in 1933, now in print for over 90 years. His work is noted for its simple graphic style. In 1976, he…

1982

Jock Taylor

Scottish motorcycle sidecar racer (born 1954)

John Robert "Jock" Taylor was a Scottish World Champion motorcycle sidecar racer.

1982

Hugo Theorell

Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1903)

Axel Hugo Theodor Theorell was a Swedish scientist and Nobel Prize laureate in medicine.

1982

Minoru Genda

Japanese general, pilot, and politician (born 1904)

General Minoru Genda was an Imperial Japanese Navy flight officer, JASDF general and politician. He is best known for helping to plan the attack on Pearl Harbor. After the war he became the third Chief of Staff of the…

1989

Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos

Greek general and diplomat (born 1897)

Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos was a distinguished Hellenic Army Lieutenant General who served in World War I, the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, World War II and the Greek Civil War, rising to become Chief of the Hellenic…

1989

Viktor Tsoi

Russian musician and actor (born 1962)

Viktor Robertovich Tsoi was a Soviet singer-songwriter and actor who co-founded Kino, one of the most popular and influential bands in the history of Russian music.

1990

Linda Laubenstein

American physician and academic (born 1947)

Linda Jane Laubenstein was an American physician and early HIV/AIDS researcher. She was among the first doctors in the United States to recognize the AIDS epidemic of the early 1980s; she co-authored the first article…

1992

Wout Wagtmans

Dutch cyclist (born 1929)

Wouter "Wout" Wagtmans was a Dutch road bicycle racer.

1994

John Cameron Swayze

American journalist and actor (born 1906)

John Cameron Swayze was an American anchorman, news commentator, and game show panelist during the 1940s and 1950s. He later became best known as a product spokesman.

1995

Ida Gerhardt

Dutch poet and educator (born 1905)

Ida Gerhardt was a classicist and Dutch poet of a post-symbolist tradition.

1997

Hugh Casson

English architect and interior designer (born 1910)

Sir Hugh Maxwell Casson was a British architect, also active as an interior designer, an artist, and a writer and broadcaster on twentieth-century design. He was the director of architecture for the 1951 Festival of…

1999

Lancelot Ware

English barrister and biochemist, co-founder of Mensa (born 1915)

Lancelot Lionel Ware OBE was an English barrister and biochemist. He co-founded Mensa, the international society for intellectually gifted people, with the Australian barrister Roland Berrill in 1946. It was originally…

2000

Yavuz Çetin

Turkish singer-songwriter (born 1970)

Yavuz Hilmi Çetin was a Turkish musician, singer, and songwriter in the blues and psychedelic music genres. He gained renown in his native country for the skill and sensitivity of his guitar performances. Following his…

2001

Richard Chelimo

Kenyan runner (born 1972)

Richard Chelimo was a Kenyan long-distance runner, and a world record holder over 10,000 metres. However, he is best known as the silver medallist in the controversial 10,000m at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. He was…

2001

Kateryna Yushchenko

Ukrainian computer scientist and academic (born 1919)

Kateryna Lohvynivna Yushchenko was a Ukrainian computer and information research scientist, corresponding member of USSR Academy of Sciences (1976), and member of The International Academy of Computer Science. She…

2001

Sune Bergström

Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1916)

Karl Sune Detlof Bergström was a Swedish biochemist. In 1975, he was appointed to the Nobel Foundation Board of Directors in Sweden, and was awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University, together with…

2004

Amarsinh Chaudhary

Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat (born 1941)

Amarsinh Bhilabhai Chaudhary was an Indian politician. He became the first adivasi to serve as the Chief Minister of Gujarat when he took office in 1985.

2004

Bendapudi Venkata Satyanarayana

Indian dermatologist and academic (born 1927)

Dr. Bendapudi Venkata Satyanarayana was an Indian dermatologist who was known as 'the doyen of dermatology' in Andhra Pradesh, India.

2005

Te Atairangikaahu

New Zealand Māori queen (born 1931)

Dame Te Atairangikaahu reigned as Māori Queen from 1966 until her death in 2006. Her reign was the longest of any Māori monarch.

2006

Rick Bourke

Australian rugby league player (born 1955)

Richard (Rick) Bourke was an Australian rugby league footballer. He played for Cronulla-Sutherland and South Sydney in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition.

2006

Faas Wilkes

Dutch footballer and manager (born 1923)

Servaas "Faas" Wilkes was a Dutch football forward, who earned a total of 38 caps for the Netherlands national team, in which he scored 35 goals. However, for a prolonged period of his career, June 1949 through till…

2006

Richard Bradshaw

English conductor and director (born 1944)

Richard James Bradshaw was a British opera conductor and the General Director of the Canadian Opera Company (COC) in Toronto.

2007

John Gofman

American biologist, chemist, and physicist (born 1918)

John William Gofman was an American scientist and advocate. He was professor emeritus of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California at Berkeley.

2007

Geoffrey Orbell

New Zealand physician (born 1908)

Geoffrey Buckland Orbell was a New Zealand doctor and keen hunter and tramper who was responsible for the rediscovery of the takahē in 1948.

2007

Sam Pollock

Canadian businessman (born 1925)

Samuel Patterson Smyth Pollock, was a Canadian sports executive who was general manager of the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens for 14 years during which they won nine Stanley Cups. Pollock also was chairman…

2007

Vic Toweel

South African-Australian boxer (born 1929)

Victor "Vic" Anthony Toweel was a South African boxer and former Undisputed World Bantamweight Champion. He was the first South African to hold a world title.

2008

Jerry Wexler

American journalist and producer (born 1917)

Gerald Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was a major influence on American popular music from the 1950s through the 1980s. He coined the term "rhythm and blues", and was integral in signing and/or…

2008

Mary Catherine Lamb

American textile artist (born 1949)

Mary Catherine Lamb was an American textile artist, whose quilts reframed traditional Roman Catholic iconography. Recycling vintage textiles popular during the mid-20th century, she both honored and affectionately…

2009

Rick Rypien

Canadian ice hockey player (born 1984)

Richard Joseph Rypien was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who was a forward for parts of six seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Vancouver Canucks from 2005 to 2011. After a major junior…

2011

Bob Birch

American bass player and saxophonist (born 1956)

Robert Wayne Birch was an American musician, best known as the bass player for Elton John.

2012

Altamiro Carrilho

Brazilian flute player and composer (born 1924)

Altamiro Carrilho was a Brazilian musician and composer. He is widely regarded as a master flutist and a major representative of the choro genre.

2012

Harry Harrison

American author and illustrator (born 1925)

Harry Max Harrison was an American science fiction author, known mostly for his character The Stainless Steel Rat and for his novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966). The latter was the rough basis for the motion picture…

2012

Rosalía Mera

Spanish businesswoman, co-founded Inditex and Zara (born 1944)

Rosalía Mera Goyenechea was a Spanish businesswoman and fashion designer. At the time of her death, she was the richest woman in Spain and the world's richest self-made woman according to Forbes. She was ranked #66…

2013

Sławomir Mrożek

Polish-French author and playwright (born 1930)

Sławomir Tangolo Mrożek was a Polish playwright.

2013

Marich Man Singh Shrestha

Nepali politician, 28th Prime Minister of Nepal (born 1942)

Marich Man Singh Shrestha was a Nepali politician and former Prime Minister of Nepal. He was born in 1942 in Khalanga Bazar, Salyan, Nepal. He served as the Prime Minister of Nepal from 15 June 1986 to 6 April 1990, and…

2013

August Schellenberg

Canadian actor (born 1936)

August Werner Schellenberg was a Canadian actor. He played Randolph in the first three installments of the Free Willy film series (1993–1997) as well as characters in Black Robe (1991), The New World (2005), and dozens…

2013

Licia Albanese

Italian-American soprano and actress (born 1909)

Licia Albanese was an Italian-born American operatic soprano. Noted especially for her portrayals of the lyric heroines of Verdi and Puccini, Albanese was a leading artist with the Metropolitan Opera from 1940 to 1966.…

2014

Julian Bond

American academic, leader of the civil rights movement, and politician (born 1940)

Horace Julian Bond was an American social activist, leader of the civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the early 1960s, he…

2015

Hamid Gul

Pakistani general (born 1936)

Hamid Gul was a Pakistani military officer and defence analyst. A three-star general, Gul was notable for serving as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's premier intelligence agency,…

2015

Gunnar Birkerts

Latvian-American architect (born 1925)

Gunnar Birkerts was a Latvian American architect who, for the most of his career, was based in the metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan.

2017

Robert Trump

American real-estate developer, business executive (born 1948)

Robert Stewart Trump was an American businessman and investor. He was the younger brother of Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of the United States, and a loyal supporter of Donald's political career.

2020

Gerd Müller

German footballer (born 1945)

Gerd Müller was a German professional footballer. A prolific striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalscorers and players in the history of the sport. With…

2021

Peter Marshall

American game show host, performer, and singer (born 1926)

Ralph Pierre LaCock, better known by his stage name Peter Marshall, was an American game show host, television and radio personality, singer, and actor. He was the original host of The Hollywood Squares from 1966 to…

2024

Notable deaths

Who died on August 15?

Alexios I Komnenos — Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118

FeaturedAlexios I Komnenos

Death year1118

Known forAfter usurping the throne he was faced with a collapsing empire and constant warfare throughout his reign

Deaths on this date109 (398 – 2024)

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2025

US president Donald Trump meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the first such summit since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Wikipedia →

2021

Kabul falls into the hands of the Taliban as Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan along with local residents and foreign nationals, effectively reestablishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Wikipedia →

2020

Russia begins production on the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. Wikipedia →

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