Notable Deaths on December 16

Q: Who died on December 16?

Notable people who died on December 16 include: Houzhu, Wu Zetian, Pepin of Herstal, Eberhard of Friuli, Ado.

Q: What is Haakon IV known for?

Haakon IV, king of Norway (born 1204)

1263 — Haakon IV

king of Norway (born 1204)

December 16 has seen 115 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 604 – 2025. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · December 16 — Wikipedia

Notable Deaths 115 people 604 – 2025

Did you know

Haakon IV Haakonsson, sometimes called Haakon the Old in contrast to his namesake son, was King of Norway from 1217 to 1263

Did you know

His reign lasted for 46 years, longer than any Norwegian king since Harald Fairhair

Did you know

As a king of the Birkebeiner faction, Haakon defeated the uprising of the final Bagler royal pretender, Sigurd Ribbung, in 1227

Did you know

He put a definitive end to the civil war era when he had Skule Bårdsson killed in 1240, a year after Skule had himself proclaimed king in opposition to Haakon

Did you know

Haakon was born into the troubled civil war era in Norway, but his reign eventually managed to put an end to the internal conflicts

Houzhu

emperor of the Chen dynasty (born 553)

Chen Shubao, also known as Houzhu of Chen, posthumous name Duke Yáng of Chángchéng, courtesy name Yuánxiù (元秀), childhood name Huángnú (黃奴), was the fifth and last emperor of the Chinese Chen dynasty, which was…

604

Wu Zetian

Empress of the Zhou dynasty (born 624)

Empress Wu, commonly known as Wu Zetian, personal name Wu Zhao, was the only undisputed female sovereign in the history of China. She had previously held power as the empress consort of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang…

705

Pepin of Herstal

Frankish statesman (born 635)

Pepin II, commonly known as Pepin of Herstal, was a Frankish statesman and military leader who was the de facto ruler of Francia as the Mayor of the Palace from 680 until his death. He took the title Duke and Prince of…

714

Eberhard of Friuli

Frankish duke (born 815)

Eberhard was the Frankish Duke of Friuli from 846. His name is alternatively spelled Everard, Evrard, Erhard, or Eberard; in Latinized fashion, Everardus, Eberardus, or Eberhardus. He wrote his own name "Evvrardus". He…

867

Ado

archbishop of Vienne

Ado was a Frankish churchman and writer. He served as the archbishop of Vienne from 850 until his death and is venerated as a saint. His writings include hagiography and historiography.

874

John VIII

pope of the Catholic Church

Pope John VIII was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 14 December 872 to his death. He is often considered one of the most able popes of the 9th century.

882

Wei Yifan

chancellor of the Tang dynasty

Wei Yifan (韋貽範), courtesy name Chuixian (垂憲), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, who briefly served as chancellor in 902, while Emperor Zhaozong was under the physical control of the warlord Li Maozhen the…

902

Adelaide of Italy

Holy Roman Empress (born 931)

Year 999 (CMXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.

999

Ranulf de Gernon

4th Earl of Chester, Norman nobleman

Ranulf II, 4th Earl of Chester (1099–1153), was an Anglo-Norman baron who inherited the honour of the palatine county of Chester and the viscountcy of Avranches upon the death of his father Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl…

1153

Öljaitü

Mongolian ruler (born 1280)

Öljaitü, also known as Mohammad-e Khodabandeh, was the eighth Ilkhanid dynasty ruler from 1304 to 1316 in Tabriz, Iran. His name 'Öjaitü' means 'blessed' in the Mongolian language and his last name 'Khodabandeh' means…

1316

Charles

French nobleman (born 1270)

Charles, Count of Valois, was a member of the House of Capet and founder of the House of Valois, which ruled over France from 1328 to 1589. He was the fourth son of King Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon.

1325

Secondotto

marquess of Montferrat (born 1360)

Secondotto Palaeologus was the Margrave of Montferrat from 1372 to his death, the third of the House of Palaeologus-Montferrat. His name Secondotto may derive from his being the second Otto to rule Montferrat in his own…

1378

John FitzAlan

1st Baron Arundel, English general and politician, Lord Marshall of England (born 1348)

John Fitzalan, 1st Baron Arundel, also known as Sir John Arundel, was an English soldier.

1379

John II

duke of Lorraine (born 1424)

John II of Anjou was Duke of Lorraine from 1453 to his death. He was the son of René of Anjou and Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. He was married to Marie de Bourbon, daughter of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon.

1470

Ali Qushji

Uzbek astronomer, mathematician, and physicist (born 1403)

Ala al-Dīn Ali ibn Muhammed, Persian: علاءالدین علی بن محمد سمرقندی known as Ali Qushji was a Timurid theologian, jurist, astronomer, mathematician and physicist, who settled in the Ottoman Empire some time before 1472.…

1474

Afonso de Albuquerque

Portuguese admiral and politician, 3rd Viceroy of Portuguese India (born 1453)

Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa, was a Portuguese general, admiral, statesman, and conquistador. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across…

1515

Thomas Cheney

English diplomat and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports

Sir Thomas Cheney of the Blackfriars, City of London and Shurland, Isle of Sheppey, Kent, was an English administrator and diplomat, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in south-east England from 1536 until his death.

1558

Ivan Fyodorov

Russian printer

Ivan Fyodorov or Ivan Fеdorov sometimes transliterated as Fiodorov, was one of the fathers of Eastern Slavonic printing. He was also a skilled cannon maker and the inventor of a multibarreled mortar. Fyodorov was forced…

1583

Allison Balfour

Scottish woman accused of witchcraft

The 1594 trial of alleged witch Allison Balfour or Margaret Balfour is one of the most frequently cited Scottish witchcraft cases. Balfour lived in the Orkney Islands of Scotland in the area of Stenness. At that time…

1594

Yi Sun-sin

Korean general (born 1545)

Yi Sun-sin was a Korean admiral and military general known for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin War in the Joseon period. Yi's courtesy name was Yŏhae (여해), and he was posthumously honored with…

1598

Nathaniel Fiennes

English soldier and politician (born 1608)

Nathaniel Fiennes, c. 1608 to 16 December 1669, was a younger son of the Puritan nobleman and politician, William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele. He sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and…

1669

William Petty

English economist and philosopher (born 1623)

Sir William Petty was an English economist, physician, scientist and philosopher. He first became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth in Ireland. He developed efficient methods to survey the land that…

1687

Leopold II

Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (born 1700)

Leopold II Maximilian, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau from 1747 to 1751; he also was a Prussian general.

1751

François Quesnay

French economist, physician, and philosopher (born 1694)

François Quesnay was a French economist and physician of the Physiocratic school. He is known for publishing the "Tableau économique" in 1758, which provided the foundations of the ideas of the Physiocrats. This was…

1774

Johann Adolph Hasse

German composer and educator (born 1699)

Johann Adolph Hasse was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a considerable quantity…

1783

Sir William James

1st Baronet, Welsh-English commander and politician (born 1720)

Commodore Sir William James, 1st Baronet was a Bombay Marine officer and politician who represented West Looe in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1774 to 1783. Born in Pembrokeshire, Wales to a family of…

1783

Saverio Cassar

Gozitan priest and rebel leader (born 1746)

Saverio Cassar was a Gozitan priest and patriot, who was Governor-general of an independent Gozo from 1798 to 1801.

1805

Antoine François

comte de Fourcroy, French chemist and entomologist (born 1755)

Antoine François Fourcroy was a French chemist and a contemporary of Antoine Lavoisier. Fourcroy collaborated with Lavoisier, Guyton de Morveau, and Claude Berthollet on the Méthode de nomenclature chimique, a work that…

1809

Wilhelm Grimm

German anthropologist and author (born 1786)

Wilhelm Carl Grimm was a German writer, philologist and anthropologist. He was the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm.

1859

Henry Yesler

American businessman and politician, 7th Mayor of Seattle (born 1810)

Henry Leiter Yesler was an American entrepreneur and a politician, regarded as a founder of the city of Seattle. Yesler served two non-consecutive terms as Mayor of Seattle, and was the city's wealthiest resident during…

1892

Alphonse Daudet

French author, poet, and playwright (born 1840)

Louis Marie Alphonse Daudet was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée, Léon and Lucien Daudet.

1897

Pavel Tretyakov

Russian businessman and art collector (born 1832)

Pavel Mikhaylovich Tretyakov was a Russian businessman, patron of art, collector, and philanthropist who gave his name to the Tretyakov Gallery and Tretyakov Drive in Moscow. His brother Sergei Tretyakov was also a…

1898

American Horse

American tribal leader and educator (born 1840)

American Horse was an Oglala Lakota chief, statesman, educator and historian. American Horse is notable in American history as a U.S. Army Indian Scout and a progressive Oglala Lakota leader who promoted friendly…

1908

Frank Gotch

American wrestler (born 1878)

Frank Alvin Gotch was an American professional wrestler who was the first American to win the World Heavyweight Championship in catch wrestling, and is credited for popularizing professional wrestling in the United…

1917

Camille Saint-Saëns

French pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1835)

Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Second Piano Concerto (1868), the First…

1921

Gabriel Narutowicz

Lithuanian–Polish engineer and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Poland (born 1865)

Gabriel Józef Narutowicz was a Polish engineer and politician who served as the first president of Poland from 11 December 1922 until his assassination five days after assuming office. He previously served as the…

1922

Elinor Wylie

American poet and author (born 1885)

Elinor Morton Wylie was an American poet and novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensuous poetry."

1928

Thelma Todd

American actress and comedian (born 1905)

Thelma Alice Todd was an American actress and businesswoman who carried the nicknames "The Ice Cream Blonde" and "Hot Toddy". Appearing in about 120 feature films and shorts between 1926 and 1935, she is remembered for…

1935

Frank Eugene

American-German photographer and educator (born 1865)

Frank Eugene was an American-born photographer who was a founding member of the Photo-Secession and one of the first university-level professors of photography in the world.

1936

Eugène Dubois

Dutch paleoanthropologist (born 1858)

Marie Eugène François Thomas Dubois was a Dutch paleoanthropologist and geologist. He earned worldwide fame for his discovery of Pithecanthropus erectus, or "Java Man". Dubois was the first anthropologist to embark upon…

1940

Billy Hamilton

American baseball player and manager (born 1866)

William Robert Hamilton, nicknamed "Sliding Billy", was an American professional baseball player in Major League Baseball (MLB) during the 19th century. He played for the Kansas City Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies and…

1940

George Bambridge

English diplomat (born 1892)

George Louis St Clair Bambridge was a British diplomat. His wife, Elsie, was the daughter of the author Rudyard Kipling.

1943

Betsie ten Boom

Dutch Holocaust victim (born 1885)

Elisabeth ten Boom was a Dutch woman, the daughter of a watchmaker, who suffered persecution under the Nazi regime in World War II, including incarceration in Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she died aged 59. The…

1944

Giovanni Agnelli

Italian businessman, founded Fiat (born 1866)

Giovanni Agnelli was an Italian industrialist and principal founder of Fiat S.p.A., established in 1899. Under his leadership, Fiat became a cornerstone of Italy's automotive industry, significantly contributing to the…

1945

Fumimaro Konoe

Japanese lawyer and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Japan (born 1891)

Prince Fumimaro Konoe was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1937 to 1939 and from 1940 to 1941. He presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and breakdown in relations with the…

1945

Sidney Olcott

Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1873)

Sidney Olcott was a Canadian-born film producer, director, actor and screenwriter.

1949

Robert Henry Best

American journalist (born 1896)

Robert Henry Best was an American foreign correspondent who covered events in Europe for American media outlets during the interwar period. He later became a supporter of the Nazis and a well-known broadcaster of Nazi…

1952

Nina Hamnett

Welsh painter and author (born 1890)

Nina Hamnett was a Welsh artist and writer, and an expert on sailors' shanties, who became known as the Queen of Bohemia.

1956

Hans Rebane

Estonian journalist and politician, 8th Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1882)

Hans Rebane was an Estonian politician, diplomat and journalist. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia from 1927 to 1928 in Jaan Tõnisson's third cabinet. Rebane was Estonian envoy in Helsinki…

1961

W. Somerset Maugham

British playwright, novelist, and short story writer (born 1874)

William Somerset Maugham was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories.

1965

Futabayama Sadaji

Japanese sumo wrestler, the 35th Yokozuna (born 1912)

Futabayama Sadaji was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Oita Prefecture. Entering sumo in 1927, he was the sport's 35th yokozuna from 1937 until his retirement in 1945. He won twelve yūshō or top division…

1968

Muhammad Suheimat

Jordanian general and politician (born 1916)

Muhammad Suheimat or Muhammad Pasha Suheimat was a Jordanian military general and a statesman. He was born in the city of Al Karak in 1916, the son of Sheikh Attallah Suheimat, a national leader, who was a member of the…

1968

Alphonse Castex

French rugby union player (born 1899)

Alphonse Castex was a French rugby union player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics. In 1920, he won the silver medal as a member of the French team.

1969

Soe Hok Gie

Indonesian activist and academic (born 1942)

Soe Hok Gie was a Chinese Indonesian activist who opposed the successive dictatorships of Presidents Sukarno and Suharto.

1969

Oscar Lewis

American anthropologist of Latin America (born 1914)

Oscar Lewis, born Lefkowitz was an American anthropologist. He is best known for his vivid depictions of the lives of slum dwellers and his argument that a cross-generational culture of poverty transcends national…

1970

Kostas Varnalis

Greek poet and playwright (born 1884)

Kostas Varnalis was a Greek poet and writer.

1974

Réal Caouette

Canadian journalist and politician (born 1917)

David Réal Caouette was a Canadian politician from Quebec. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) and leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada and founder of the Ralliement des créditistes. Outside politics he worked as…

1976

Risto Jarva

Finnish director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1934)

Risto Antero Jarva was a Finnish filmmaker.

1977

Colonel Sanders

American businessman, founded KFC (born 1890)

Harland David Sanders, commonly known as Colonel Sanders, was an American entrepreneur and founder of fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). He later acted as the company's brand ambassador and…

1980

Hellmuth Walter

German-American engineer (born 1900)

Hellmuth Walter was a German engineer who pioneered research into rocket engines and gas turbines. His most noteworthy contributions were rocket motors for the Messerschmitt Me 163 and Bachem Ba 349 interceptor…

1980

Colin Chapman

English engineer and businessman, founded Lotus Cars (born 1928)

Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of the sports car company Lotus Cars.

1982

Debs Garms

American baseball player (born 1907)

Debs C. Garms was an American professional baseball player for 12 seasons as an outfielder and third baseman for the St. Louis Browns, Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Cardinals. Garms broke up Johnny…

1983

Mitchell WerBell III

American mercenary (born 1918)

Mitchell Livingston WerBell III was a U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) operative, mercenary, paramilitary trainer, firearms engineer, and arms dealer.

1983

Karl Deichgräber

German philologist and academic (born 1903)

Karl Marienus Deichgräber was a German classical philologist. Deichgräber was a member of the Nazi Party.

1984

Thomas Bilotti

American mobster (born 1940)

Thomas "Tommy" Bilotti was an American mobster who was briefly the underboss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. His promotion helped trigger the 1985 assassination of Gambino boss Paul Castellano; Bilotti was…

1985

Paul Castellano

American mobster (born 1915)

Constantino Paul Castellano was an American crime boss who succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family of New York City. Castellano ran the organization from 1976 until his murder on December 16, 1985.

1985

Oscar Alfredo Gálvez

Argentinian race car driver (born 1913)

Oscar Alfredo Gálvez was an Argentine racing driver, known best for participating – and for scoring two championship points – in the Formula One World Championship Grand Prix on 18 January 1953.

1989

Silvana Mangano

Italian actress (born 1930)

Silvana Mangano was an Italian film actress. She was one of a generation of thespians who arose from the neorealist movement, and went on to become a major female star, regarded as a sex symbol for the 1950s and '60s.…

1989

Aileen Pringle

American actress (born 1895)

Aileen Pringle was an American stage and film actress during the silent film era.

1989

Lee Van Cleef

American actor (born 1925)

Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of spaghetti Westerns, holding starring roles in…

1989

Eszter Tamási

Hungarian actress and journalist (born 1938)

Eszter Tamási was a Hungarian actress and TV announcer.

1991

Moses Gunn

American actor (born 1929)

Moses Gunn was an American actor of stage and screen. An Obie Award-winning stage player, he is an alumnus of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC).

1993

Kakuei Tanaka

Japanese soldier and politician, 64th Prime Minister of Japan (born 1918)

Kakuei Tanaka was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1972 to 1974. Known for his background in construction and earthy and tenacious political style, Tanaka is the only modern Japanese…

1993

Quentin Bell

English historian and author (born 1910)

Quentin Claudian Stephen Bell was an English art historian and author.

1996

Lillian Disney

American illustrator and philanthropist (born 1899)

Lillian Marie Disney was an American ink artist at the Walt Disney Animation Studios and the wife of Walt Disney from 1925 until his death in 1966. Born in Spalding, Idaho, Disney graduated from high school in Lapwai…

1997

William Gaddis

American author and academic (born 1922)

William Thomas Gaddis Jr. was an American novelist. The first and longest of his five novels, The Recognitions, was named one of TIME magazine's 100 best novels from 1923 to 2005 and two others, J R and A Frolic of His…

1998

Stuart Adamson

English-Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1958)

William Stuart Adamson was a Scottish rock guitarist and singer. Adamson began his career in the late 1970s as a founder and performer with the punk rock band Skids. After leaving Skids in 1981, he formed Big Country…

2001

Stefan Heym

German-American soldier and author (born 1913)

Helmut Flieg was a German writer, known by his pseudonym Stefan Heym. He lived in the United States and trained at Camp Ritchie in 1943, making him one of the Ritchie Boys of World War II. In 1952, he returned to his…

2001

Robert Stanfield

Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician, 17th Premier of Nova Scotia (born 1914)

Robert Lorne Stanfield was a Canadian politician who served as the 17th premier of Nova Scotia from 1956 to 1967 and the leader of the Official Opposition and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from…

2003

Gary Stewart

American singer-songwriter (born 1945)

Gary Ronnie Stewart was an American musician and songwriter, known for his distinctive vibrato voice. At the height of his popularity in the mid-1970s, Time magazine described him as the "king of honkytonk." He had a…

2003

Ted Abernathy

American baseball player (born 1933)

Ted Wade Abernathy was an American professional baseball player and right-handed pitcher. He appeared in 681 games in Major League Baseball (MLB), 647 as a relief pitcher, for seven different clubs over all or parts of…

2004

Deyda Hydara

Gambian journalist, co-founded The Point (born 1946)

Deyda Hydara was co-founder and primary editor of The Point, a major independent Gambian newspaper. He worked as a radio presenter for Radio Syd during his early years as a freelance journalist before becoming a…

2004

Agnes Martin

American painter and educator (born 1912)

Agnes Bernice Martin was a Canadian-American abstract painter known for her minimalist style and abstract expressionism. Born in Saskatchewan, she moved to the United States in 1931, where she pursued higher education…

2004

Kenneth Bulmer

English author (born 1921)

Henry Kenneth Bulmer was a British writer, primarily of science fiction.

2005

Ed Hansen

American director and screenwriter (born 1937)

Edward Hansen was an American film writer, director and editor.

2005

John Spencer

American actor (born 1946)

John Spencer was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Leo McGarry on the NBC political drama series The West Wing (1999–2006) and for his role as attorney Tommy Mullaney in NBC legal drama series L.A.…

2005

Don Jardine

Canadian wrestler and trainer (born 1940)

Donald Delbert Jardine was a Canadian professional wrestler best known for his masked gimmick as The Spoiler. Jardine was a major star in various wrestling promotions. He worked in the World Wrestling Federation, first…

2006

Taliep Petersen

South African singer-songwriter and director (born 1950)

Taliep Petersen was a South African singer, composer and director of a number of popular musicals. He worked most notably with David Kramer, with whom he won an Olivier Award.

2006

Pnina Salzman

Israeli pianist and educator (born 1922)

Pnina Salzman was an Israeli classical pianist and piano pedagogue.

2006

Stanford J. Shaw

American historian and academic (born 1930)

Stanford Jay Shaw was an American historian, best known for his works on the late Ottoman Empire, Turkish Jews, and the early Turkish Republic. Shaw's works have been criticized for their lack of factual accuracy as…

2006

Dan Fogelberg

American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1951)

Daniel Grayling Fogelberg was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist widely known for his 1970s and 1980s soft rock hits, including "Longer" (1979), "Same Old Lang Syne" (1980), and "Leader of the…

2007

Roy E. Disney

American businessman (born 1930)

Roy Edward Disney was an American businessman, media executive, and filmmaker. He was best known for serving as a senior executive for the Walt Disney Company and the chairman of its animation division, both of which…

2009

Yegor Gaidar

Russian economist and politician, Prime Minister of Russia (born 1956)

Yegor Timurovich Gaidar was a Soviet and Russian economist, politician, and author who was the acting Prime Minister of Russia in 1992 and simultaneously held several other cabinet roles. Gaidar was also in the State…

2009

Manto Tshabalala-Msimang

South African physician and politician, 22nd South African Minister of Health (born 1940)

Mantombazana "Manto" Edmie Tshabalala-Msimang OMSS was a South African politician. She was Deputy Minister of Justice from 1996 to 1999 and served as Minister of Health from 1999 to 2008 under President Thabo Mbeki. She…

2009

Melvin E. Biddle

American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1923)

Melvin Earl "Bud" Biddle was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.

2010

Ayinde Barrister

Nigerian fuji musician (born 1948)

Sikiru Ololade Ayinde Balogun, MFR, better known by his stage names Ayinde Barrister and Barry Wonder, was a Nigerian-born Yoruba singer-songwriter, music performer and producer. He is regarded as a pioneer of Fuji and…

2010

Robert Easton

American actor and screenwriter (born 1930)

Robert Easton was an American actor whose career spanned more than 60 years. His mastery of English dialect earned him the epithet "The Man of a Thousand Voices". For decades, he was a leading Hollywood dialogue or…

2011

Nicol Williamson

Scottish actor (born 1938)

Thomas Nicol Williamson was a British actor. He was described as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando" and "touched by genius" by John Osborne and Samuel Beckett, respectively.

2011

Elwood V. Jensen

American biologist and academic (born 1920)

Elwood Vernon Jensen was a Distinguished University Professor, George and Elizabeth Wile Chair in Cancer Research at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's Vontz Center for Molecular Studies. In 2004 he…

2012

Jake Adam York

American poet and academic (born 1972)

Jake Adam York was an American poet. He published three books of poetry before his death: Murder Ballads, which won the 2005 Elixir Prize in Poetry; A Murmuration of Starlings, which won the 2008 Colorado Book Award in…

2012

James Flint

English commander (born 1913)

Wing Commander James Flint, was a British businessman and decorated Royal Air Force officer. During active service in World War II, he gained the unique distinction of receiving two gallantry awards for separate actions…

2013

Ray Price

American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1926)

Noble Ray Price was an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone is regarded as among the best male voices of country music, and his innovations, such as propelling the country…

2013

Marta Russell

American journalist, author, and activist (born 1951)

Marta Russell was an American writer and disability rights activist. Her book, Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract, published in 1998 by Common Courage Press, analyzes the relationship between…

2013

Martin Brasier

English paleontologist, biologist, and academic (born 1947)

Martin David Brasier FGS, FLS was an English palaeobiologist and astrobiologist known for his conceptual analysis of microfossils and evolution in the Precambrian and Cambrian.

2014

Tim Cochran

American mathematician and academic (born 1955)

Thomas "Tim" Daniel Cochran was a professor of mathematics at Rice University specializing in topology, especially low-dimensional topology, the theory of knots and links and associated algebra.

2014

Tahira Qazi

Pakistani educationist and principal of Army Public School Peshawar who was killed in the Peshawar school attack.

Tahira Qazi was a Pakistani educationist and principal of Army Public School Peshawar who was killed in the Peshawar school attack on 16 December 2014.

2014

Peter Dickinson

Rhodesian-English author and poet (born 1927)

Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE FRSL was an English author and poet, best known for children's books and detective stories.

2015

Lizmark

Mexican wrestler (born 1950)

Juan Baños was a Mexican professional wrestler better known by the ring name Lizmark. The name was taken from the German battleship Bismarck. He was a multiple-time champion, having held singles and tag team…

2015

George Earl Ortman

American painter and sculptor (born 1926)

George Earl Ortman was an American painter, printmaker, constructionist and sculptor. His work has been referred to as Neo-Dada, pop art, minimalism and hard-edge painting. His constructions, built with a variety of…

2015

Keely Smith

American singer and actress (born 1928)

Dorothy Jacqueline Keely, professionally known as Keely Smith, was an American jazz and popular music singer, who performed and recorded extensively in the 1950s with her then-husband Louis Prima, and throughout the…

2017

Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

Emir of Kuwait (born 1937)

Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was Emir of Kuwait from 2020 until his death in 2023.

2023

Dick Van Arsdale

American basketball player (born 1943)

Richard Albert Van Arsdale was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time NBA All-Star selection, his No. 5 was retired by the Phoenix Suns.

2024

Tulsi Gowda

Indian environmentalist (born 1937/1938)

Tulsi Gowda was an Indian environmentalist from Honnali village. She planted more than 30,000 saplings and looked after the nurseries of the Forest Department. Her work has been honoured by the Government of India and…

2024

Lusanda Dumke

South African professional rugby union player who played as a flanker (born 1996)

Lusanda Dumke was a South African professional rugby union player who played as a flanker.

2025

Notable deaths

Who died on December 16?

Haakon IV — King of Norway from 1217 to 1263

FeaturedHaakon IV

Death year1263

Known forHis reign lasted for 46 years, longer than any Norwegian king since Harald Fairhair

Deaths on this date115 (604 – 2025)

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2024

The Abundant Life Christian School shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, takes place, resulting in the death of three people. Wikipedia →

2022

A landslide occurs at a camp at an organic farm near the town of Batang Kali in Selangor, Malaysia, trapping 92 people and killing 31. Wikipedia →

2014

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants attack an Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 150 people, 132 of them schoolchildren. Wikipedia →

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Notable Deaths on December 16

1263 — Haakon IV

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