Did you know
Notable Deaths on December 11
95 people
384 – 2024
December 11 has seen 95 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 384 – 2024. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
1964 — Sam Cooke
American singer-songwriter (born 1931)
Did you know
During his eight-year career, Cooke released 29 singles that charted in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as 20 singles in the Top 10 of Billboard's Black Singles chart
Did you know
In 1964, he was shot and killed by the manager of a motel in Los Angeles
Did you know
In 2015, Cooke was ranked number 28 in Billboard magazine's list of the "35 Greatest R&B Artists of All Time".
Did you know
Samuel Cooke was an American soul singer and songwriter
Pope Damasus I, also known as Damasus of Rome, was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death in 384. He presided over the Council of Rome of 382, which established the canon, or official list, of sacred scripture.
Read More
384
chief confidant and councillor to al-Mutawakkil
Al-Fatḥ ibn Khāqān was an Abbasid official and one of the most prominent figures of the court of the Caliph al-Mutawakkil. The son of a Turkic general of Caliph al-Mu'tasim, al-Fath was raised at the caliphal palace…
Read More
861
Byzantine emperor (born 912)
Nikephoros II Phokas, Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless greatly contributed to the resurgence of…
Read More
969
Egyptian political adviser (born 1066)
Al-Afdal Shahanshah, born Abu al-Qasim Shahanshah bin Badr al-Jamali, was a vizier of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt. According to a later biographical encyclopedia, he was surnamed al-Malik al-Afdal, but this is not…
Read More
1121
1198
Mongolian emperor (born 1186)
Ögedei Khan was the second khan of the Mongol Empire. The third son of Genghis Khan, he continued the expansion of the empire that his father had begun.
Read More
1241
Welsh prince (born 1223)
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, also known as Llywelyn II and Llywelyn the Last, was Prince of Gwynedd from 1255 to 1282. After successful campaigns across Wales in 1257, Llywelyn proclaimed himself Prince of Wales in 1258, and…
Read More
1282
Byzantine emperor (born 1225)
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1261 until his death in 1282, and previously as the co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea from 1259 to 1261. Michael VIII was the founder of the…
Read More
1282
King of the Crown of Castile (born 1425)
Henry IV of Castile, nicknamed the Impotent, was King of Castile and León and the last of the weak late-medieval kings of Castile and León. During Henry's reign, the nobles became more powerful and the nation became…
Read More
1474
Italian cardinal (born 1455)
Pietro Accolti, known as the "cardinal of Ancona", was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and judge of the Roman Rota.
Read More
1532
3rd Duke of Alba, Spanish general and politician, 12th Constable of Portugal (born 1508)
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba, known as the Grand Duke of Alba in Spain and Portugal and as the Iron Duke or shortly 'Alva' in the Netherlands and Belgium, was a Spanish military officer,…
Read More
1582
German artist working in Rome (born 1578)
Adam Elsheimer was a German Baroque painter who worked in Rome. Though his career was short, his relatively few paintings were very influential in the early 17th century. His works were nearly all small oils on copper…
Read More
1610
1686
Duke of Parma (born 1630)
Ranuccio II Farnese was the sixth Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1646 until his death nearly 50 years later. He was also the Duke of Castro from 1646 until 1649.
Read More
1694
English priest, historian, and author (born 1643)
John Strype was an English clergyman, historian and biographer from London. He became a merchant when settling in Petticoat Lane. In his twenties, he became perpetual curate of Theydon Bois, Essex and later became…
Read More
1737
English bookseller and publisher (born 1675)
Edmund Curll was an English bookseller and publisher. His name has become synonymous, through the attacks on him by Alexander Pope, with unscrupulous publication and publicity. Curll rose from poverty to wealth through…
Read More
1747
English physician (born 1722)
Richard Brocklesby, an English physician, was born at Minehead, Somerset.
Read More
1797
Dona Maria Leopoldina of Austria was the first Empress of Brazil as the wife of Emperor Dom Pedro I from 12 October 1822 until her death. She was also Queen of Portugal during her husband's brief reign as King Dom Pedro…
Read More
1826
Emperor Kōkaku was the 119th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Kōkaku reigned from 1779 until his abdication in 1817 in favor of his son, Emperor Ninkō. After his abdication, he ruled…
Read More
1840
Kamehameha V, reigned as the fifth monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi from 1863 to 1872. His motto was "Onipaʻa": immovable, firm, steadfast, or determined; he is said to have worked diligently for his people and…
Read More
1872
American businessman, founded the Winchester Repeating Arms Company (born 1810)
Oliver Fisher Winchester was an American businessman and politician, best known as being the founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.
Read More
1880
Scottish theologian and scholar (born 1821)
William Milligan was a renowned Scottish theologian. He studied at the University of Halle in Germany, and eventually became a professor at the University of Aberdeen. He is best known for his commentary on the…
Read More
1892
American fencer, engineer, and academic (born 1872)
Samuel George Fitzhugh Townsend was an American fencer who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics. He competed under the name Fitzhugh Townsend. It was known that Fitzhugh was his middle name and was thought for a long…
Read More
1906
German-born chemist and British industrialist who discovered the metal carbonyls (born 1839)
Ludwig Mond FRS was a German-born British chemist and industrialist. He discovered an important, previously unknown, class of compounds called metal carbonyls.
Read More
1909
Governor of Liechtenstein (born 1852)
Carl Josef Anton von In der Maur auf Strelburg und zu Freifeld was an Austrian aristocrat and statesman who twice served in the court of Johann II as the Governor of Liechtenstein from 1884 until 1892 and again from…
Read More
1913
Slovenian author, poet, and playwright (born 1876)
Ivan Cankar was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, poet, and political activist. Together with Oton Župančič, Dragotin Kette, and Josip Murn, he is considered as the beginner of modernism in Slovene literature. He…
Read More
1918
South African author and activist (born 1855)
Olive Schreiner was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel The Story of an African Farm (1883), which has been highly acclaimed. It deals boldly with…
Read More
1920
Finnish forestry manager and tenant farmer (born 1873)
Juho Kekkonen was Finnish head of forestry, logging caretaker and tenant farmer. He was also known as the father of Urho Kekkonen, the 8th President of Finland.
Read More
1928
American baseball player (born 1875)
Myron Frederick "Moose" Grimshaw was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1905 through 1907 for the Boston Americans. Listed at 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), 173 lb., Grimshaw was a switch-hitter and…
Read More
1936
Estonian theorist and politician (born 1884)
Jaan Anvelt, was an Estonian Bolshevik revolutionary and writer. He served the Russian SFSR, was a leader of the Communist Party of Estonia, the first premier of the Soviet Executive Committee of Estonia, and the…
Read More
1937
English architect and painter (born 1853)
Hugh Thackeray Turner was an English Arts and Crafts architect and also an amateur china painter.
Read More
1937
Norwegian historian and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1869)
Christian Lous Lange was a Norwegian historian, teacher, and political scientist. He was one of the world's foremost exponents of the theory and practice of internationalism.
Read More
1938
Jr., American pilot and poet (born 1922)
John Gillespie Magee Jr. was a World War II Anglo-American Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot and war poet, who wrote the sonnet "High Flight". He was killed in an accidental mid-air collision over England in 1941.
Read More
1941
French mathematician and academic (born 1856)
Charles Émile Picard was a French mathematician. He was elected the fifteenth member to occupy seat 1 of the Académie française in 1924.
Read More
1941
French physicist and academic (born 1867)
Marie Paul Auguste Charles Fabry was a French physicist working on optics. Together with Alfred Pérot he invented the Fabry–Pérot interferometer. He is also one of the co-discoverers of the ozone layer.
Read More
1945
New Zealand astronomer and author (born 1893)
Leslie John Comrie FRS was an astronomer and a pioneer in mechanical computation.
Read More
1950
Turkish general (born 1882)
Mustafa Muğlalı was an officer of the Ottoman Army and the general of the Turkish Army. He served as an officer in World War I and the Turkish War of Independence. As a General of the Third Army, he took part in the…
Read More
1951
Iraqi Turkmen poet and writer (born 1881)
Mahmud ibn Ali ibn Naziri known by his pen name Hijri and his title Dede/Dade was an Iraqi Turkmen poet and writer.Born in Kirkuk, he grew up into a Kakaie family and was taught by them. He started working as a teacher…
Read More
1951
Turkish journalist and director (born 1896)
Sedat Simavi was a Turkish journalist, writer and film director. He established many newspapers and magazines.
Read More
1953
French actress, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1889)
Jeanne Roques, known professionally as Musidora, was a French actress, film director, and writer. She is known for her acting in silent films, and rose to fame for roles in the Louis Feuillade serials Les Vampires as…
Read More
1957
American baseball player and manager (born 1900)
James Leroy Bottomley was an American professional baseball player, scout and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman from 1922 to 1937, most prominently as a member of the St. Louis…
Read More
1959
American actor (born 1888)
Percy William Kilbride was an American character actor. He made a career of playing country "hicks," most memorably as Pa Kettle in the Ma and Pa Kettle series of feature films.
Read More
1964
American psychologist, specialist in juvenile psychology (born 1881)
Augusta Fox Bronner was an American psychologist and criminologist, best known for her work in juvenile psychology. She co-directed the first child guidance clinic, and her research shaped psychological theories about…
Read More
1966
1968
American publisher (born 1891)
Arthur Hays Sulzberger was publisher of The New York Times from 1935 to 1961. During that time, daily circulation rose from 465,000 to 713,000 and Sunday circulation from 745,000 to 1.4 million; the staff more than…
Read More
1968
American businessman, co-founded McDonald's (born 1902)
Richard James McDonald and Maurice James "Mac" McDonald, known as the McDonald brothers, were American entrepreneurs who founded the fast food company McDonald's.
Read More
1971
1975
Turkish philosopher, author, and poet (born 1905)
Hüseyin Nihâl Atsız was a prominent Turkish ultranationalist writer, novelist, and poet. Atsız self-identified as a racist, Pan-Turkist, Turanist, and was the ideologue of Atsızism. He was the author of over 30 books…
Read More
1975
American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1901)
Vincent du Vigneaud was an American biochemist. He was recipient of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his work on biochemically important sulphur compounds, especially for the first synthesis of a polypeptide…
Read More
1978
American baseball player and manager (born 1920)
Paul O'Dea was an American professional baseball player, manager and scout. He saw Major League service during World War II for the 1944 and 1945 Cleveland Indians. He threw and batted left-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m)…
Read More
1978
American psychologist and author (born 1904)
James Jerome Gibson was an American psychologist and is considered to be one of the most important contributors to the field of visual perception. Gibson challenged the idea that the nervous system actively constructs…
Read More
1979
Guyanese-English general (born 1897)
General Sir Neil Methuen Ritchie, was a British Army officer who served in the First and Second World Wars. During the Second World War he commanded the British Eighth Army in the North African campaign from November…
Read More
1983
German-American author, poet, and scholar (born 1911)
Oskar Seidlin was a Jewish emigre from Nazi Germany first to Switzerland and then to the U.S. He taught German language and literature as a professor at Smith College, Middlebury College, Ohio State University, and…
Read More
1984
American director, producer and actor (born 1894)
George Waggner was an American actor, director, producer and writer. He is best known for producing and directing the 1941 film The Wolf Man. For some unknown reason, Waggner sometimes configured his name in mostly…
Read More
1984
Indian author and academic (born 1923)
G. A. Kulkarni, or known simply as "GA", was an Indian Sahitya Akademi Award winner Marathi writer of short stories.
Read More
1987
American photographer (born 1895)
Louise Emma Augusta Dahl-Wolfe was an American photographer. She is known primarily for her work for Harper's Bazaar, in association with fashion editor Diana Vreeland. At Harper's Bazaar she pioneered a new standard in…
Read More
1989
American actor, comedian, game show host/panelist, and television personality (born 1921)
Robert Q. Lewis was an American radio and television entertainer, comedian, game show host and actor. Although born with the Goldberg name, he grew up as Lewis, his father's professional name.
Read More
1991
Swedish author and critic (born 1906)
Nils Artur Lundkvist was a Swedish writer, poet and literary critic. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1968.
Read More
1991
American archaeologist and scholar (born 1900)
Philip Phillips was an influential archaeologist in the United States during the 20th century.
Read More
1994
American minister and philosopher (born 1948)
Greg Bahnsen was an American Calvinist philosopher and Christian apologist. He was a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and a full-time Scholar in Residence for the Southern California Center for Christian…
Read More
1995
English cartoonist, author, and publisher, co-founded Private Eye (born 1937)
William George Rushton was an English cartoonist, comedian, actor and satirist who co-founded the satirical magazine Private Eye.
Read More
1996
English spy (born 1914)
Edward Arnold Chapman was an English criminal and wartime spy. During the Second World War he offered his services to Nazi Germany as a spy and subsequently became a British double agent. His British Secret Service…
Read More
1997
English guitarist and composer (born 1949)
Simon Harry Piers Jeffes was an English classically trained guitarist, composer and arranger. He formed, and was the primary performer of, the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. He was the composer of the ballet Still Life at the…
Read More
1997
French physicist and mathematician (born 1915)
André Lichnerowicz was a French differential geometer and mathematical physicist. He made pioneering contributions to the theory of the scalar curvature, holonomy groups, Kähler geometry, and the mathematical study of…
Read More
1998
American singer-songwriter (born 1968)
James Lynn Strait II was an American singer. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist for the nu metal band Snot.
Read More
1998
Pakistani politician and diplomat (born 1915)
Begum Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah was a Pakistani politician, diplomat and author. She joined the Pakistani foreign service in 1948, and was the country's first female civil servant, as well as the first Muslim woman…
Read More
2000
American actor (born 1916)
David Lewis was an American actor. He was best known for being the original actor to portray Edward Quartermaine from 1978 to 1993 on the American soap opera General Hospital.
Read More
2000
Zambian lawyer and politician, first Prime Minister of Zambia (born 1930)
Mainza Mathias Chona was a Zambian politician and founder of UNIP who served as the third vice-president of Zambia from 1970 to 1973 and Prime Minister on two occasions: from 25 August 1973 to 27 May 1975 and from 20…
Read More
2001
2003
Argentinian footballer (born 1962)
José Luis Cuciuffo was an Argentine professional footballer who played as a centre back and who was part of the 1986 FIFA World Cup-winning Argentina national team.
Read More
2004
New Zealand runner and coach (born 1917)
Arthur Leslie Lydiard was a New Zealand runner and athletics coach. He has been lauded as one of the outstanding athletics coaches of all time and is credited with popularising the sport of running and making it…
Read More
2004
American model (born 1923)
Bettie Mae Page was an American model who gained recognition in the 1950s for her pin-up photos. She was often referred to as the "Queen of Pinups": her long jet-black hair, blue eyes, and trademark bangs have…
Read More
2008
American football player (born 1922)
Lester Junior "Dick" Hoerner was an American professional football player who was a fullback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL) from 1947 to 1951. He played college football for the Iowa…
Read More
2010
American cardinal (born 1935)
John Patrick Foley was an American Catholic prelate who served as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem from 2007 to 2011. He previously served as -president of the Pontifical Council…
Read More
2011
Russian soprano and actress (born 1926)
Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya was a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1966. She was the wife of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, and mother to their two daughters,…
Read More
2012
Polish-Israeli rabbi and scholar (born 1933)
Chona Menachem Mendel (Mendel) Weinbach was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, educator, author, and speaker. As the co-founder and dean of Ohr Somayach Institutions, a Jerusalem-based yeshiva for newly-observant Jewish men, he…
Read More
2012
Indian-American sitar player and composer (born 1920)
Pandit Ravi Shankar was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known exponent of Indian classical music in the second half of the 20th century, and influenced many musicians in…
Read More
2012
Portuguese painter and architect (born 1920)
Nadir Afonso, GOSE was a Portuguese geometric abstractionist painter. Formally trained in architecture, which he practiced early in his career with Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer, Nadir Afonso later studied painting in…
Read More
2013
Canadian-American author and academic (born 1929)
Barbara Joan Branden was a Canadian-American writer, editor, and lecturer, known for her relationship and subsequent break with novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand.
Read More
2013
Mexican boxer (born 1973)
Javier Rogelio Jáuregui Delgadillo, also known as El Chatito, was a Mexican professional boxer in the lightweight division.
Read More
2013
Indian philosopher and scholar (born 1942)
Hujjatul Islam Sheikh Muhammad Mussa Shariefi was a senior Islamic Twelver Shia religious scholar/alim from the Kargil district of Ladakh. He was renowned for his philosophical and mystical Friday prayer sermons which…
Read More
2013
German conductor and director (born 1929)
Hans Wallat was a German conductor, GMD in Bremen, at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, Theater Dortmund and Deutsche Oper am Rhein. A specialist for the stage works of Richard Wagner, he appeared at the Bayreuth Festival…
Read More
2014
Kazakh academic and politician (born 1939)
Äbış Kekılbaev was a Kazakh public and political figure, Hero of Labour of Kazakhstan (2009), People’s Writer of Kazakhstan (1992), and Honored Cultural Worker of the Kyrgyz Republic (1995). He is a laureate of the…
Read More
2015
Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and academic (born 1933)
H. Arnold Steinberg, was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist and Chancellor of McGill University.
Read More
2015
Indian painter and sculptor (born 1972)
Hema Upadhyay was an Indian visual artist, based in Mumbai. She was known for photography and sculptural installations. She was active from 1998 until her death in 2015.
Read More
2015
American basketball player (born 1962)
John "Hot Rod" Williams was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1986 to 1999.
Read More
2015
Australian architect (born 1933)
Kenneth Frank Charles Woolley was an Australian architect. In a career spanning 60 years, he is best known for his contributions to project housing with Pettit and Sevitt, as well as for being a four-time winner of the…
Read More
2015
British TV presenter (born 1957)
Keith Chegwin, also known by the nickname Cheggers, was an English television presenter and actor, appearing in several children's entertainment shows in the 1970s and 1980s, including Multi-Coloured Swap Shop and…
Read More
2017
New Zealand intelligence researcher. (born 1934)
James Robert Flynn was an American-born New Zealand moral philosopher and intelligence researcher. Originally from Washington, D.C., and educated at the University of Chicago, Flynn emigrated to Dunedin in 1963, where…
Read More
2020
2021
American actor (born 1962)
Andre Keith Braugher ( BROW-ər; was an American actor known for his roles as Detective Frank Pembleton in the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and Captain Raymond Holt in the Fox/NBC police comedy…
Read More
2023
American billionaire businessman (born 1942)
David Bonderman was an American billionaire businessman. He was the founding partner of TPG Inc., and its Asian affiliate, Newbridge Capital. He was also one of the minority owners of the NBA's Boston Celtics as well as…
Read More
2024
Afghan politician and warlord (born 1966)
Khalil Rahman Haqqani was an Afghan politician and military leader. A Pashtun mujahideen commander, he was designated Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States.
Read More
2024
Indian musician, singer and composer (born 1934)
Purushottam Upadhyay was an Indian musician, singer and composer who primarily worked in Gujarati and Hindi languages. He was well known in Gujarati semi-classical music and composed music for over 20 films and 30…
Read More
2024
Advertisement
Notable deaths
Who died on December 11?
Sam Cooke — American singer and songwriter (1931–1964)
FeaturedSam Cooke
Death year1964
Known forConsidered one of the most influential artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distinctive vocals, pioneering contributions to the genre, and significance in popular music
Deaths on this date95 (384 – 2024)
Explore December 11
Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.
Also on December 11 in History
2020
The Food and Drug Administration issues an Emergency Use Authorization on the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the agency. Wikipedia →
2019
The results of the 2019 Bougainvillean independence referendum are announced. The results are overwhelmingly one-sided. Over 98% of voters vote for Bougainville's independence. Wikipedia →
2017
See all events on December 11
New York City Subway bombing: A pipe bomb partially detonates in the New York City Subway, in the Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal. Four people are injured, including the perpetrator. Wikipedia →
Advertisement