Did you know
He played from 1945 to 1958 for the New York Giants, Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees, and St
Notable Deaths on December 28
101 people
925 – 2025
December 28 has seen 101 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 925 – 2025. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
1992 — Sal Maglie
American baseball player and coach (born 1917)
Did you know
He was the last of 14 players to play for the Giants, Dodgers and Yankees at a time when all three teams were in New York City
Did you know
During a 10-year major league baseball career, Maglie compiled 119 wins, 862 strikeouts, and a 3.15 earned run average.
Did you know
Salvatore Anthony Maglie was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB), and later a scout and a pitching coach
Did you know
Maglie was known as "Sal the Barber", because he gave close shaves—that is, pitched inside to hitters
general of the Chinese state of Former Shu
Wang Zongbi was a Chinese military general and politician of the Former Shu dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
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925
1218
French cardinal (born 1230)
Hugh Aycelin was a French Cardinal. He was also known as Hughes of Billom, Ugo Billomo, Hughes Séguin, Ugo Seguin de Billon, Hughes Aycelin de Montaigut and Hugues Séguin de Billon.
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1297
Earl of Atholl, Constable of Scotland, and Chief Warden of Northumberland
Sir David II Strathbogie was Earl of Atholl, Constable of Scotland, and Chief Warden of Northumberland.
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1326
Japanese shōgun (born 1330)
Ashikaga Yoshiakira was the second shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1358 to 1367 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshiakira was the son of the founder and first shōgun of the Muromachi shogunate,…
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1367
queen of Epirus (born 1350)
Maria Angelina Doukaina Palaiologina, also known as Marija Angelina Nemanjić or Anna Maria Angelina Doukaina Palaiologina, was a Byzantine Greek-Serbian aristocrat and self-proclaimed basilissa of Epirus from 1384 to…
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1394
Clement VIII, born Gil Sánchez Muñoz y Carbón, was one of the antipopes of the Avignon obedience, reigning from 10 June 1423 to 26 July 1429. When King Alfonso V of Aragon reached an agreement with Pope Martin V,…
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1446
Italian sculptor (born c. 1435)
Bertoldo di Giovanni was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and medallist.
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1491
Italian ruler (born 1471)
Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, called Piero the Fatuous or Piero the Unfortunate, was the lord of Florence from 1492 until his exile in 1494.
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1503
Doge of Venice (born 1455)
Andrea Gritti was the Doge of the Venetian Republic from 1523 to 1538, following a distinguished diplomatic and military career. He started out as a successful merchant in Constantinople and transitioned into the…
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1538
German humanist and antiquarian (born 1465)
Konrad Peutinger was a German humanist, jurist, diplomat, politician, economist and archaeologist, serving as Emperor Maximilian I's chief archaeological adviser. A senior official in the municipal government of the…
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1547
German organist and composer (born 1527)
Hermann Finck was a German music theorist, composer and organist.
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1558
French bishop and saint (born 1567)
Francis de Sales, C.O., O.M. was a Savoyard Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Geneva and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to the religious divisions in…
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1622
Italian mathematician and physicist (born 1618)
Francesco Maria Grimaldi was an Italian Jesuit priest, mathematician and physicist who taught at the Jesuit college in Bologna. He was born in Bologna to Paride Grimaldi and Anna Cattani.
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1663
German scholar and critic (born 1611)
Johann Friedrich Gronovius was a German classical scholar, librarian and critic.
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1671
Mary II was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband, King William III and II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. She was also Princess of Orange following her marriage on 4 November 1677. Her joint…
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1694
French philosopher and author (born 1647)
Pierre Bayle was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. He is best known for his Historical and Critical Dictionary, whose publication began in 1697. Many of the more controversial ideas in the book were…
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1706
French botanist and mycologist (born 1656)
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort was a French botanist, notable as the first to make a clear definition of the concept of genus for plants. Botanist Charles Plumier was his pupil and accompanied him on his voyages.
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1708
Scottish minister and academic (born 1649)
William Carstares was a Scottish religious minister who was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1705, 1708, 1711 and 1715. He was active in Whig politics and was Principal of the University of…
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1715
Scottish outlaw (born 1671)
Robert Roy MacGregor was a Jacobite Scottish outlaw, who later became a Scottish and Jacobite folk hero.
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1734
1736
Polish-Estonian physician and journalist (born 1732)
Peter Ernst Wilde was a Baltic German physician and Enlightenment era Estophile. He lived in what was then the Russian Empire.
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1785
Ecuadorian physician and lawyer (born 1747)
Francisco Javier Eugenio de Santa Cruz y Espejo[a] was a medical pioneer, writer and lawyer of indigenous origin in colonial Ecuador. Although he was a notable scientist and writer, he stands out as a polemicist who…
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1795
1st Baron Macaulay, English historian and politician, Secretary at War (born 1800)
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, was a British historian, poet and Whig politician who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster General between 1846 and 1848. He is best…
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1859
American lawyer and politician, 7th Mayor of San Francisco (born 1808)
James Van Ness was an American politician who served as the 7th mayor of San Francisco from 1855 to 1856.
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1872
American painter (born 1861)
Dennis Miller Bunker was an American painter and innovator of American Impressionism. His mature works include both brightly colored landscape paintings and dark, finely drawn portraits and figures. One of the major…
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1890
American priest and academic (born 1833)
William Corby, C.S.C. was an American Catholic priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and a Union Army chaplain in the American Civil War attached to the Irish Brigade. He served twice as president of the University…
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1897
Portuguese soldier and explorer (born 1846)
Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto, Viscount of Serpa Pinto was a Portuguese explorer of southern Africa and a colonial administrator.
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1900
Swedish playwright (born 1812)
Louise Elisabeth Granberg was a Swedish playwright, translator and theatre director.
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1907
Turkish journalist and translator (born 1844)
Ahmet Mithat was an Ottoman journalist, author, translator and publisher during the Tanzimat period. In scholarship, he is typically referred to as Ahmet Mithat Efendi to distinguish him from the contemporary politician…
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1913
Austrian violinist and composer (born 1835)
Eduard "Edi" Strauss was an Austrian composer who, together with his brothers Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss made up the Strauss musical dynasty. He was the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim. The family…
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1916
Canadian captain and pilot (born 1892)
Captain Alfred Edwin "Eddie" McKay MC was a Canadian flying ace who flew with the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War.
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1917
Brazilian poet and journalist (born 1865)
Olavo Brás Martins dos Guimarães Bilac, known simply as Olavo Bilac, was a Brazilian Parnassian poet, journalist and translator. Alongside Alberto de Oliveira and Raimundo Correia, he was a member of the "Parnassian…
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1918
Swedish physicist and academic (born 1854)
Johannes (Janne) Robert Rydberg was a Swedish physicist known for devising the Rydberg formula, in 1888, which is used to describe the wavelengths of photons emitted by changes in the energy level of an electron in a…
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1919
Russian painter and costume designer (born 1866)
Léon (Lev) Samoylovich Bakst, born Leyb-Khaim Izrailevich Rosenberg, was a Russian painter and scene and costume designer of Jewish origin. He was a member of the Sergei Diaghilev circle and the Ballets Russes, for…
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1924
Australian cricketer (born 1854)
John McCarthy Blackham was a Test cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia.
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1932
American author and illustrator (born 1874)
Clarence Shepard Day Jr. was an American author and cartoonist, best known for his 1935 work Life with Father.
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1935
French pianist and composer (born 1875)
Joseph Maurice Ravel was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In the 1920s and…
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1937
Canadian actress (born 1886)
Florence Lawrence was a Canadian-American stage performer and film actress. She is often referred to as the "first movie star", and was long thought to be the first film actor to be named publicly until evidence…
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1938
German gymnast (born 1869)
Alfred Flatow was a Jewish German gymnast. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. He was murdered in the Holocaust.
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1942
American baseball player (born 1885)
Louis Richard (Steve) Evans was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball. He played in the National League (NL) for the New York Giants (1908) and St. Louis Cardinals (1910–13), and in the Federal League (FL)…
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1943
American novelist and journalist (born 1871)
Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and…
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1945
Polish-American sculptor (born 1882)
Elie Nadelman was a Polish-American sculptor, draughtsman of the School of Paris and a collector of folk art.
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1946
Victor Emmanuel III was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. A member of the House of Savoy, he also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941 and King of the Albanians from 1939 to…
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1947
New Zealand runner and soldier (born 1910)
John Edward Lovelock was a New Zealand athlete who became the world 1500m and mile record holder and 1936 Olympic champion in the 1500 metres.
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1949
Croatian fascist dictator during World War II (born 1889)
Ante Pavelić was a Croatian politician who founded and headed the Ustaše in 1929 and was dictator of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), a fascist puppet state built out of parts of occupied Yugoslavia by the…
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1959
Canadian physician, academic, and diplomat (born 1895)
Philippe Panneton was a Canadian physician, academic, diplomat and writer.
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1960
German violist, composer, and conductor (born 1895)
Paul Hindemith was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the…
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1963
American biologist and philanthropist (born 1875)
Katharine Dexter McCormick was an American suffragist, philanthropist and, after her husband's death, heir to a substantial part of the McCormick family fortune. She funded most of the research necessary to develop the…
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1967
12th Earl of Airlie, Scottish peer, soldier and courtier (born 1893)
Colonel David Lyulph Gore Wolseley Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, was a Scottish peer, soldier and courtier. He was the father-in-law of Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy.
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1968
Austrian-American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1888)
Maximilian Raoul Steiner was an Austrian composer and conductor who emigrated to America and became one of Hollywood's greatest musical composers.
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1971
American politician (born 1903)
Katharine Byron, a Democrat, was a U.S. Congresswoman who represented the 6th congressional district of Maryland from May 27, 1941, to January 3, 1943. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Maryland.
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1976
Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1885)
Allan Dwan was a pioneering Canadian and American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.
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1981
American drummer, songwriter, and producer (born 1944)
Dennis Carl Wilson was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their drummer and the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. The only dedicated surfer in the group,…
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1983
American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1925)
David Samuel Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and actor. He was known for his revisionist approach to the Western genre, employing a visually innovative and explicit depiction of action and violence. His 1969 film…
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1984
Baroness Stewart of Alvechurch, British politician and educator (born 1903)
Mary Elizabeth Henderson Stewart, Baroness Stewart of Alvechurch, Baroness Stewart of Fulham, was a British politician and educator. She was a baroness in her own right and the wife of Labour Foreign Secretary, Michael…
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1984
American journalist
Peter Frederick Kihss was an American reporter for The New York Times and other news organizations for nearly half a century until his retirement in 1982. Kihss was known for his reporting on a wide range of topics,…
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1984
American colonel and author (born 1916)
John Dann MacDonald was an American writer of novels and short stories. He is known for his thrillers. A prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many set in his adopted home of Florida, he was one of the most…
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1986
Dutch painter (born 1922)
Johannes "Jan" Theodorus Nieuwenhuys was a Dutch painter and one of the early active founders of the Dutch Experimentalists group (Reflex) that later became part of CoBrA.
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1986
Romanian-German physicist and engineer (born 1894)
Hermann Julius Oberth was an Austro-Hungarian-born German physicist and rocket pioneer of Transylvanian Saxon descent. Oberth supported Nazi Germany's war effort and received the War Merit Cross in 1943.
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1989
American screenwriter and producer (born 1946)
Warren Skaaren was an American screenwriter and film producer.
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1990
American journalist and historian (born 1904)
William Lawrence Shirer was an American journalist, war correspondent, and historian. His history of Nazi Germany The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich has been read and cited in scholarly works for more than 60 years;…
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1993
Canadian businessman and philanthropist (born 1911)
Jean-Louis Lévesque, was a Canadian entrepreneur, thoroughbred racehorse owner, and philanthropist.
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1994
American actor (born 1914)
Clayton Moore was an American actor best known for playing the fictional Western character the Lone Ranger from September 1949 to September 1952 and then again from September 1954 to September 1957 on the television…
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1999
American lieutenant, biologist, and engineer (born 1919)
Samuel Abraham Goldblith was an American food scientist. While involved in World War II, he studied malnutrition, and later was involved in food research important for space exploration.
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2001
American priest and author (born 1928)
William Xavier Kienzle was an American priest and later writer.
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2001
American admiral (born 1935)
Rear Admiral Benjamin Thurman Hacker (1935–2003) was a U.S. Naval officer, who became the first Naval Flight Officer (NFO) to achieve Flag rank.
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2003
American actor and singer (born 1935)
Jerome Bernard Orbach was an American actor and singer described as "one of the last bona fide leading men of the Broadway musical".
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2004
American novelist, essayist, critic, and playwright (born 1933)
Susan Lee Sontag was an American writer and critic. She primarily wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on 'Camp' ", in 1964. Her best-known works include the…
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2004
Iranian politician, Iranian Minister of Justice (born 1956)
Jamal Karimi-Rad was the Minister of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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2006
Polish-American painter and illustrator (born 1923)
Irene Lieblich was a Polish-born artist and Holocaust survivor noted for illustrating the books of Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer and for her paintings highlighting Jewish life and culture. She is also a distant…
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2008
American musician, composer and songwriter. Known by his stage name The Rev (born 1981)
James Owen Sullivan, also known by his stage name The Rev, was an American musician and songwriter. He was the drummer, pianist, backing vocalist, and occasional co-lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Avenged…
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2009
American pianist and composer (born 1921)
Billy Taylor was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the artistic…
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2010
American serial killer (born 1943)
Terry Peder Rasmussen was an American convicted murderer and suspected serial killer who was convicted of one murder, and linked to at least six more in a series of crimes that stretched across the contiguous United…
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2010
Greek-English seismologist and engineer (born 1929)
Nicholas Neocles Ambraseys was a Greek engineering seismologist. He was emeritus professor of engineering seismology and senior research fellow at Imperial College London. For many years Ambraseys was considered the…
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2012
American computer scientist and academic, designed the IMAP (born 1956)
Mark Reed Crispin is best known as the father of the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), having invented it in 1985 during his time at the Stanford Knowledge Systems Laboratory. He is the author or co-author of…
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2012
Czech footballer (born 1980)
Václav Drobný was a Czech footballer who notably played for Sparta Prague having spent time in their youth team as well as spells at Czech, Slovak, French and German sides. Drobný played twice for the Czech Republic and…
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2012
Irish hurler and manager (born 1936)
Frankie Walsh was an Irish hurler who played as a left wing-forward at senior level for the Waterford county team.
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2012
American-German astronomer and critic (born 1927)
Halton Christian "Chip" Arp was an American astronomer. He is remembered for his 1966 book Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, which catalogued unusual-looking galaxies and presented their images.
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2013
2013
Jr., American soldier, lawyer, and politician (born 1932)
Andrew Jacobs Jr. was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, he served as an Indiana state legislator and Congressman. Jacobs represented part of Indianapolis in the United States House of Representatives for…
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2013
American businessman, founded Marshalls (born 1919)
Alfred Marshall was an American businessman who founded Marshalls, a chain of department stores which specializes in overstocked, irregular and out-of-season name brand clothing sold at deeply discounted prices. He…
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2013
2013
Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager (born 1969)
Ilya Vladimirovich Tsymbalar was a Ukrainian-Russian professional football player and coach. A midfielder, he represented both Ukraine and Russia on the international level. He primarily played as an attacking…
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2013
American transgender teenager (born 1997)
Leelah Alcorn was an American transgender girl whose suicide attracted international attention. Prior to her death, she had posted a suicide note to her Tumblr blog about societal standards affecting transgender people…
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2014
Armenian politician (born 1956)
Vahan Hovhannisyan was an Armenian politician of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF). He was Vice-President of the National Assembly of Armenia from 2007 to 2008 and was a candidate in the February 2008…
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2014
American singer-songwriter (born 1938)
Frankie Randall was an American singer and pianist.
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2014
English drummer and songwriter (born 1953)
John "Brad" Bradbury was an English drummer and record producer. He is best known for having been the drummer in the English ska group the Specials.
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2015
Mariana Islander businessman and politician, 8th Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands (born 1949)
Eulogio Songao "Eloy" Inos was a Northern Marianan politician who served as the eighth governor of the Northern Mariana Islands from 2013 to 2015. Inos, a member of the Republican Party, also served as the eighth…
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2015
2015
American actress, singer and dancer (born 1932)
Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds was an American actress, singer and entrepreneur. Her acting career spanned almost 70 years. Reynolds performed on stage and television and in films into her 80s.
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2016
French political scientist (born 1947)
Jean-Christophe Victor was a French political scientist focusing on international relations. He was the son of the polar explorer Paul-Émile Victor and the television producer Eliane Decrais. He earned master's degrees…
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2016
American actress and comedienne (born 1923)
Rose Marie Guy, known professionally as Rose Marie, was an American actress, singer, comedienne, and vaudeville performer with a career spanning nine decades, which included film, radio, records, theater, night clubs…
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2017
French television presenter and scientific essayist (born 1949)
Igor Youriévitch Bogdanoff and Grégoire "Grichka" Youriévitch Bogdanoff, alternatively spelled Bogdanov, were French television presenters, producers, and essayists who presented a variety of programmes in science…
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2021
American football Hall of Fame coach and commentator (born 1936)
John Earl Madden was an American professional football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, leading them to eight…
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2021
American lawyer, politician, and former Senate majority leader (born 1939)
Harry Mason Reid Jr. was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Senate majority leader…
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2021
German Romani author (born 1922)
Philomena Franz was a Sinti writer and activist from Germany, who was a survivor of the Romani Holocaust, having been imprisoned in Auschwitz. She later published works that recounted her experiences and was recognised…
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2022
Indian actor and politician (born 1952)
Vijayaraj Alagarswami, known by his stage name Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor, filmmaker, philanthropist and politician. He worked in Tamil cinema in a career spanning four decades. He ventured into politics in the…
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2023
American businessman, founded Cablevision and HBO (born 1926)
Charles Francis Dolan was an American billionaire businessman and media mogul, best known as founder of Cablevision and HBO. Today, the Dolan family controls Madison Square Garden Sports, MSG Networks, Madison Square…
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2024
French actress, singer and activist (born 1934)
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot, often referred to by her initials B.B., was a French actress, singer, model, and animal rights activist. She became one of the best-known symbols of the sexual revolution and gained…
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2025
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Notable deaths
Who died on December 28?
Sal Maglie — American baseball player (1917–1992)
FeaturedSal Maglie
Death year1992
Known forHe played from 1945 to 1958 for the New York Giants, Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees, and St
Deaths on this date101 (925 – 2025)
Explore December 28
Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.
Also on December 28 in History
2025
Unrest in the form of mass protests erupt across Iran, the largest uprising in the country since the Iranian Revolution. Wikipedia →
2019
A truck bomb is detonated in Mogadishu, Somalia, killing at least 85 people and injuring over 140 more. The militant group Al-Shabaab claims responsibility. Wikipedia →
2014
See all events on December 28
Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crashes into the Karimata Strait en route from Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people aboard. Wikipedia →
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