Notable Deaths on August 20

112 people 14 – 2024

August 20 has seen 112 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 14 – 2024. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By · Wikipedia

Rio Reiser

1996 — Rio Reiser

German singer-songwriter (born 1950)

Did you know

Ralph Christian Möbius, known professionally as Rio Reiser, was a German musician and from 1970 to 1985 the lead singer and main lyric-writer for the rock group Ton Steine Scherben

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Reiser supported squatting in the early 1970s and later the green political party Die Grünen

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Among his best known songs are Macht kaputt, was euch kaputt macht, Keine Macht für Niemand, and the Rauch-Haus-Song with the Ton Steine Scherben

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As a solo artist, his best known songs are König von Deutschland, Alles Lüge, and Junimond

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After the German reunification, he joined the Party of Democratic Socialism.


Agrippa Postumus
Roman son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (born 12 BC)
AD 14 (XIV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pompeius and Appuleius. The denomination AD 14 for this year has been used since the…
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14
Mochta
Irish missionary and saint
Saint Mochta, was the last surviving disciple of Saint Patrick.
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535
Oswine of Deira
Oswine, Oswin or Osuine was a King of Deira in northern England.
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651
Eadberht of Northumbria
Eadberht was king of Northumbria from 737 or 738 to 758. He was the brother of Ecgbert, Archbishop of York. His reign is seen as a return to the imperial ambitions of seventh-century Northumbria and may represent a…
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768
Byzantine admiral
Constantine Lips was a Byzantine aristocrat and admiral who lived in the later 9th and early 10th centuries. He was killed in 917 at the Battle of Acheloos against Bulgaria. Constantine Lips is most notable for his…
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917
Pope John XIV, born Peter Canepanova, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from December 983 until his death. Upon the death of Pope Benedict VII in July 983, Emperor Otto II nominated Canepanova to the…
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984
Bernard of Clairvaux
French theologian and saint (born 1090)
Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist., venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templar, and a major leader in the reform of the Benedictines through the nascent Cistercian Order.
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1153
Rögnvald Kali Kolsson (born 1100)
Earl of Orkney and Saint
Rögnvald Kali Kolsson, also known as Saint Ronald of Orkney, was a Norwegian earl of Orkney who came to be regarded as a Christian saint. Two of the Orkney Islands are named after Rögnvald, namely North Ronaldsay and…
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1158
William Fraser
bishop and Guardian of Scotland
William Fraser was a late 13th century Bishop of St Andrews and Guardian of the Kingdom of Scotland. Before election to the bishopric, he had been and Royal Chancellor of King Alexander III of Scotland and dean of…
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1297
Laurence Hastings
1st Earl of Pembroke (born 1319)
Laurence de Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke was an English nobleman and held the titles 1st Earl of Pembroke, Baron Abergavenny and Baron Hastings under Edward II of England and Edward III of England.
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1348
Geert Groote
Dutch preacher, founded the Brethren of the Common Life (born 1340)
Gerard Groote, otherwise Gerrit or Gerhard Groet, in Latin Gerardus Magnus, was a Dutch Catholic deacon, who was a popular preacher and the founder of the Brethren of the Common Life. He was a key figure in the Devotio…
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1384
Bo Jonsson
royal marshal of Sweden
Bo Jonsson (Grip) (early 1330s – 20 August 1386) was head of the royal council and marshal under the regency of Magnus IV of Sweden. Also in the council was his friend and colleague, Karl Ulfsson av Ulvåsa, eldest son…
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1386
Borso d'Este
Duke of Ferrara (born 1413)
Borso d'Este was the first Duke of Ferrara and Modena, ruling from 1450 until his death. A member of the House of Este, he secured his titles from both Emperor Frederick III in 1452 and Pope Paul II in 1471,…
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1471
Georg von Frundsberg
German knight and landowner (born 1473)
Georg von Frundsberg was a German military and Landsknecht leader in the service of the Holy Roman Empire and Imperial House of Habsburg. An early modern proponent of infantry tactics, he established his reputation in…
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1528
Miguel López de Legazpi
Spanish navigator and politician, 1st Governor-General of the Philippines (born 1502)
Don Miguel López de Legazpi, also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo, was a Spanish and Basque conquistador who financed and led an expedition to conquer the Philippine islands in the mid-16th century. He was joined by…
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1572
Jerónimo Osório
Portuguese historian and author (born 1506)
D. Jerónimo Osório da Fonseca was a Portuguese Roman Catholic humanist bishop, historian and polemicist. An extensive notice of his life and thought (Vita) was written by his nephew, a canon of Évora also named Jerónimo…
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1580
Tomás Luis de Victoria
Spanish priest and composer (born 1548)
Tomás Luis de Victoria was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus as among the principal composers of the late Renaissance, and was…
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1611
Martin Opitz
German poet and hymnwriter (born 1597)
Martin Opitz von Boberfeld was a German poet, regarded as the greatest of that nation during his lifetime.
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1639
Edward Herbert
1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, English soldier and diplomat (born 1583)
Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury KB was an English soldier, diplomat, historian, poet and religious philosopher.
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1648
Jeremi Wiśniowiecki
Polish nobleman (born 1612)
Prince Jeremi Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, nicknamed Hammer on the Cossacks, was a notable member of the aristocracy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Prince of Vyshnivets, Lubny and Khorol in the Crown of the…
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1651
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Notable deaths

Who died on August 20?

Rio Reiser — German musician (1950–1996)

FeaturedRio Reiser
Death year1996
Known forAfter that band broke up, he worked as a solo artist
Deaths on this date112 (14 – 2024)

Explore August 20

Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.

Also on August 20 in History

2020
Joe Biden gives his acceptance speech virtually for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Wikipedia →
2016
Fifty-four people are killed when a suicide bomber detonates himself at a Kurdish wedding party in Gaziantep, Turkey. Wikipedia →
2014
Seventy-two people are killed in Japan's Hiroshima Prefecture by a series of landslides caused by a month's worth of rain that fell in one day. Wikipedia →
See all events on August 20
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