Did you know
M. G. Ramachandran was the founder and first general secretary of the political party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
Notable Deaths on December 24
1987 — M. G. Ramachandran
Sri Lankan-Indian actor, producer, and politician, 5th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (born 1917)
December 24 has 134 recorded notable deaths across history, from 36 to 2024. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
134 source records
36 – 2024
Today in history
Major events on December 24
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1979 The first Ariane 1 rocket is launched from ELA-1 at the Guiana Space Centre. Source
- 1968 Apollo program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed ten lunar orbits, took the Earthrise photograph, broadcast live TV pictures, and read the first ten verses of Genesis. Source
- 1939 World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace. Source
- 1814 Representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States sign the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812. Source
Did you know
Charles Edward Durning was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies, television shows and plays.
Did you know
A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanned more than 50 years.
Did you know
Branham was the first American deliverance minister to successfully campaign in Europe; his ministry reached global audiences with major campaigns held in North America, Europe, Africa, and India.
Did you know
Liz Smith also played Zillah in Lark Rise to Candleford (2008) and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her portrayal of Mother in the film A Private Function (1984).
More major people who died on December 24
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
2012
Charles Durning
American soldier and actor (born 1923)
Charles Edward Durning was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies, television shows and plays.
2008
Harold Pinter
English playwright, screenwriter, director, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1930)
Harold Pinter was an English playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanned more than 50 years.
1965
William M. Branham
American minister and theologian (born 1906)
William Marrion Branham was an American Christian minister and faith healer who initiated the post-World War II healing revival, and claimed to be a prophet with the anointing of Elijah, who had come to prelude Christ's…
2016
Liz Smith
English actress (born 1921)
Betty Gleadle, known by the stage name Liz Smith, was an English actress.
1993
Norman Vincent Peale
American minister and author (born 1898)
Norman Vincent Peale was an American Protestant clergyman, and an author best known for popularizing the concept of positive thinking, especially through his best-selling book The Power of Positive Thinking (1952).
1964
Claudia Jones
Trinidad-British journalist and activist (born 1915)
Claudia Vera Jones was a Trinidad and Tobago-born journalist and activist.
1987
Joop den Uyl
Dutch journalist, economist, and politician, 45th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (born 1919)
Johannes Marten den Uijl, better known as Joop den Uyl, was a Dutch politician and economist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1973 to 1977. He was a member of the Labour Party (PvdA).
2004
Johnny Oates
American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1946)
Johnny Lane Oates was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager.
2011
Johannes Heesters
Dutch-German entertainer (born 1903)
Johan Marius Nicolaas Heesters, known professionally as Johannes Heesters, was a Dutch-German actor of stage, television and film, as well as a vocalist of numerous recordings and performer on the concert stage with a…
1999
William C. Schneider
American aerospace engineer (born 1923)
William Charles Schneider was an American aerospace engineer. He served in the United States Naval Reserve 1942–1946 as an Aviation Machinist's Mate, 1st Class Petty Officer.
2017
Jerry Kindall
American baseball player and coach (born 1935)
Gerald Donald Kindall was an American professional baseball player and college baseball player and coach.
1947
Charles Gondouin
French rugby player and tug of war competitor (born 1875)
Charles Gondouin was a French rugby union player and tug of war competitor who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was a member of the French rugby union team, which won the gold medal.
1879
Anna Bochkoltz
German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer (born 1815)
Anna Juliane Bochkoltz was a German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer. She performed her first concert in 1843, then studied in Brussels and Paris.
1942
François Darlan
French admiral and politician, 122nd Prime Minister of France (born 1881)
Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan was a French admiral and political figure. Born in Nérac, Darlan graduated from the École navale in 1902 and quickly advanced through the ranks following his service during World War I.
1449
Walter Bower
Scottish chronicler (born 1385)
Walter Bower was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Scotland.
1453
John Dunstaple
English composer (born 1390)
John Dunstaple was an English composer whose music helped inaugurate the transition from the medieval to the Renaissance periods.
1980
Karl Dönitz
German admiral and politician, President of Germany (born 1891)
Karl Dönitz was a German naval officer and politician who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as the head of state of Nazi Germany after the latter's suicide during the World War II in April 1945.
1813
Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan (born 1740)
Toshiko , posthumously honored as Empress Go-Sakuramachi , was the 117th monarch of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.
2023
Richard Bowes
American science fiction author (born 1944)
Richard Dirrane Bowes was an American author described as an "urban fantasist" whose stories tended to be "set in, and to evoke, a congested, magically altered New York." He won two World Fantasy Awards for his short…