Notable Deaths on December 29

Q: Who died on December 29?

Notable people who died on December 29 include: Empress Genmei of Japan (b. 660), Thomas Becket, Emperor Zhangzong of Jin (born 1168), Elizabeth of Poland, Bhuvanaikabahu VII.

Q: What is Edward Christopher Williams known for?

Edward Christopher Williams, American librarian (born 1871)

175 people 721 – 2024

December 29 has seen 175 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 721 – 2024. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · December 29 — Wikipedia

1929 — Edward Christopher Williams

American librarian (born 1871)

Did you know

His sudden death in 1929 ended his career the year he was expected to receive the first Ph.D

Did you know

Edward Christopher Williams was the first African-American professionally trained librarian in the United States

Did you know

Williams was born on February 11, 1871, in Cleveland, Ohio, to an African-American father and an Irish mother

Did you know

Upon his graduation with distinction from Adelbert College of Western Reserve University in 1892, he was appointed Assistant Librarian of Hatch Library at WRU

Did you know

Two years later, he was promoted to librarian of Hatch Library until 1909, when he resigned to assume the responsibility of the Principal of M Street High School in Washington, D.C

Empress Genmei of Japan (b. 660)

Empress Genmei , also known as Empress Genmyō, was the 43rd monarch of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Genmei's reign spanned the years 707 through 715. She established the capital at Heijō-kyō…

721

Thomas Becket

English archbishop and saint (born 1118)

Thomas Becket, also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket, was an English cleric and statesman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of…

1170

Emperor Zhangzong of Jin (born 1168)

Emperor Zhangzong of Jin, personal name Madage, sinicized name Wanyan Jing, was the sixth emperor of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty of China. He reigned from 20 January 1189 to 29 December 1208.

1208

Elizabeth of Poland

queen consort of Hungary (born 1305)

Elizabeth of Poland was Queen of Hungary by marriage to Charles I of Hungary, and regent of Poland from 1370 to 1376 during the reign of her son Louis I.

1380

Bhuvanaikabahu VII

King of Kotte (born 1468)

Bhuvanaikabahu VII was King of Kotte in the sixteenth century, who ruled from 1521 to 1550. He was the eldest son of Vijayabahu VI of Kotte, whom he succeeded, and his chief queen Anula Kahatuda. He was born in 1468 and…

1550

Sebastian Castellio

French preacher and theologian (born 1515)

Sebastian Castellio was a French preacher and theologian; and one of the first Reformed Christian proponents of religious toleration, freedom of conscience and thought.

1563

Stephen Bocskai

Prince of Transylvania (born 1557)

Stephen Bocskai or Bocskay was Prince of Transylvania and Hungary from 1605 to 1606. He was born to a Hungarian noble family. His father's estates were located in the eastern regions of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary,…

1606

John Albert Vasa

Polish cardinal (b. 1612)

John Albert Vasa was a Polish cardinal, and a Prince-Bishop of Warmia and Kraków. He was the son of Sigismund III Vasa and Constance of Austria.

1634

Antoine Girard de Saint-Amant

French poet (born 1594)

Antoine Girard, sieur de Saint-Amant was a French poet.

1661

Thomas Sydenham

English physician and author (born 1624)

Thomas Sydenham was an English physician. He was the author of Observationes Medicae (1676) which became a standard textbook of medicine for two centuries so that he became known as 'The English Hippocrates'. Among his…

1689

Maria Margaretha Kirch

German astronomer and educator (born 1670)

Maria Margaretha Kirch was a German astronomer. She was one of the first famous astronomers of her period due to her writing on the conjunction of the sun with Saturn, Venus, and Jupiter in 1709 and 1712 respectively.

1720

Brook Taylor

English mathematician and theorist (born 1685)

Brook Taylor was an English mathematician and barrister best known for several results in mathematical analysis. Taylor's most famous developments are Taylor's theorem and the Taylor series, essential in the…

1731

Joseph Saurin

French minister and mathematician (b. 1659)

Joseph Saurin was a French mathematician and a converted Protestant minister. He was the first to show how the tangents at the multiple points of curves could be determined by mathematical analysis. He was accused in…

1737

Ernst Johann von Biron

7th duke of Courland and Semigallia (born 1690)

Ernst Johann von Biron was the duke of Courland and Semigallia from 1737 to 1740 and again from 1763 to 1769. He was also briefly the regent of the Russian Empire in 1740.

1772

Johann Heinrich Rolle

German composer (born 1716)

Johann Heinrich Rolle was a German pre-classical composer.

1785

Johan Herman Wessel

Norwegian-Danish poet and playwright (born 1742)

Johan Herman Wessel was an 18th-century Danish-Norwegian poet, satirist and playwright. His written work was characterized by the use of parody and satiric wit.

1785

Diogo de Carvalho e Sampayo

Portuguese diplomat and scientist (born 1750)

Diogo de Carvalho e Sampayo was a Portuguese nobleman, magistrate, diplomat and scientist. A knight of the Order of Malta and a judge by profession, Carvalho e Sampayo became notable as an amateur scientist who authored…

1807

Sarah Baartman

Khoikhoi woman (b. 1789)

Sarah Baartman, also spelled Sara, sometimes in the Dutch diminutive form Saartje, or Saartjie, and Bartman, Bartmann, was a Khoikhoi woman who was exhibited as a freak show attraction in 19th-century Europe under the…

1815

Jacques-Louis David

French painter and illustrator (born 1748)

Jacques-Louis David was a French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in taste away from Rococo…

1825

Thomas Robert Malthus

English economist (born 1766)

Thomas Robert Malthus was an English economist, cleric, and scholar influential in the fields of political economy and demography.

1834

Søren Christian Sommerfelt

Norwegian priest and botanist (born 1794)

Søren Christian Sommerfelt was a Norwegian priest and botanist, best known for his study of spore plants (cryptogams).

1838

Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann

Estonian-Russian linguist and botanist (b. 1805)

Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann was a linguist who researched Uralic languages, mostly Estonian. Wiedemann was also a botanist.

1887

Spotted Elk

American tribal leader (born 1826)

Spotted Elk was a chief of the Miniconjou, Lakota Sioux. He was a son of Miniconjou chief Lone Horn and became a chief upon his father's death. He was a highly renowned chief with skills in war and negotiations. A…

1890

Octave Feuillet

French novelist and dramatist (born 1821)

Octave Feuillet was a French novelist and dramatist. His work stands midway between the romanticists and the realists. He is renowned for his "distinguished and lucid portraiture of life", depictions of female…

1890

Leopold Kronecker

Polish-German mathematician and academic (born 1823)

Leopold Kronecker was a German mathematician who worked on number theory, abstract algebra and logic, and criticized Georg Cantor's work on set theory. Heinrich Weber quoted Kronecker as having said, "Die ganzen Zahlen…

1891

Christina Rossetti

English poet and hymn-writer (born 1830)

Christina Georgina Rossetti was an English writer of romantic and devotional poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember".

1894

Jacob ben Moses Bachrach

Polish apologist (born 1824)

Jacob ben Moses Bachrach was a noted apologist of Rabbinic Judaism. He was descended from Rabbi Yair Chayim Bacharach, and in turn from the Maharal of Prague.

1896

William James Linton

English-American painter, author, and activist (born 1812)

William James Linton was an English-born American wood-engraver, landscape painter, political reformer and author of memoirs, novels, poetry and non-fiction.

1897

Ilia Solomonovich Abelman

Russian astronomer (born 1866)

Ilia Solomonovich Abelman was a Russian astronomer.

1898

John Henry Leech

English entomologist (born 1862)

John Henry Leech was an English entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera and Coleoptera.

1900

Charles Yerkes

American financier (born 1837)

Charles Tyson Yerkes Jr. was an American financier. He played a part in developing mass-transit systems in Chicago and London.

1905

Samuel Butcher

Anglo-Irish classical scholar and politician (born 1850)

Samuel Henry Butcher DCL LLD was an Anglo-Irish writer and classical scholar. He was best known for his edition of Homer's Odyssey alongside fellow writer Andrew Lang, which they co-authored in 1879. His edition…

1910

Reginald Doherty

English tennis player (born 1872)

Reginald "Reggie" or "R. F." Frank Doherty was a British tennis player and the older brother of tennis player Laurence Doherty. He was known in the tennis world as "R.F." rather than "Reggie". He was a four-time…

1910

Rosamund Marriott Watson

English poet, author and critic (born 1860)

Rosamund Marriott Watson was an English poet, nature writer and critic, who early in her career wrote under the pseudonyms Graham R. Tomson and Rushworth Armytage.

1911

Tom Shevlin

collegiate athlete and businessman (born 1883)

Thomas Leonard Shevlin was an American college football player and coach at Yale University and a businessman. He was a consensus All-American for three of his four years, selected a first-team All-American by some…

1915

Abby Leach

American educator (born 1855)

Abby Leach was as an American educator and professor of Greek and Latin at Vassar College. She was appointed as the first female president of the American Philological Association in 1899.

1918

William Osler

Canadian physician and professor (born 1849)

Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first residency program for specialty training of physicians. He has…

1919

Hermann Paul

German philologist, linguist and lexicographer (born 1846)

Hermann Otto Theodor Paul was a German philologist, linguist and lexicographer.

1921

Carl Spitteler

Swiss poet and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1845)

Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler was a Swiss poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1919 "in special appreciation of his epic Olympian Spring". His work includes both pessimistic and heroic poems.

1924

Félix Vallotton

Swiss-French painter (born 1865)

Félix Édouard Vallotton was a Swiss and French painter and printmaker associated with the group of artists known as Les Nabis. He was an important figure in the development of the modern woodcut. He painted portraits,…

1925

Rainer Maria Rilke

Austrian poet and author (born 1875)

René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke, known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet. Acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as a significant writer in the German language.…

1926

Wilhelm Maybach

German engineer and businessman, founded Maybach (born 1846)

Wilhelm Maybach was an early German engine designer and industrialist. During the 1890s he was hailed in France, then the world centre for car production, as the "King of Designers".

1929

Willem Siebenhaar

Dutch-Australian activist (born 1863)

Willem Siebenhaar was a social activist and writer in Western Australia from the 1890s until he left Australia in 1924. His literary contributions and opposition to policies such as conscription were his most notable…

1936

Don Marquis

American journalist, author, and playwright (born 1878)

Donald Robert Perry Marquis was an American humorist, journalist, and author. He was variously a novelist, poet, newspaper columnist, and playwright. He is remembered best for creating the characters Archy and…

1937

Alma Tell

American actress (born 1898)

Alma Tell was an American stage and motion picture actress whose career in cinema began in 1915 and lasted into the sound films of the early 1930s.

1937

Kelly Miller

American mathematician, sociologist, essayist, newspaper columnist and author (born 1863)

Kelly Miller was an African-American mathematician, sociologist, essayist, newspaper columnist, author, and an important figure in the intellectual life of black America for close to half a century. He was known as "the…

1939

Madeleine Pelletier

French psychiatrist, feminist and political activist (born 1874)

Madeleine Pelletier was a French psychiatrist, first-wave feminist, and political activist. Born in Paris, Pelletier frequented socialist and anarchist groups in her adolescence. She became a doctor in her twenties,…

1939

Stephen Birch

American businessman (born 1873)

Stephen Birch was an American mining executive who served as president of the Kennecott Copper Company, and would eventually control a major share of the world's copper production.

1940

Louis Eilshemius

American painter (born 1864)

Louis Michel Eilshemius was an American painter, primarily of landscapes and nudes. He also wrote musical compositions, verse, novels, short stories, and published periodicals.

1941

Tullio Levi-Civita

Italian mathematician and scholar (born 1873)

Tullio Levi-Civita, was an Italian mathematician, most famous for his work on absolute differential calculus and its applications to the theory of relativity, but who also made significant contributions in other areas.…

1941

Art Young

American cartoonist and writer (born 1866)

Arthur Henry Young was an American cartoonist and writer. He is best known for his socialist cartoons, especially those drawn for the left-wing political magazine The Masses between 1911 and 1917.

1943

Khasan Israilov

Chechen rebel (born 1910)

Hasan Israilov was a Chechen nationalist, Faschist, guerrilla fighter, journalist, and poet who led Chechen and Ingush resistance and a rebellion against the Soviet Union from 1940 until his death in 1944. Israilov is…

1944

Beulah Dark Cloud

American actress (born 1887)

Beulah Dark Cloud was a Native American actress and performer who appeared in several silent films by D. W. Griffith.

1945

Mirko Breyer

Croatian writer, bibliographer, and antiquarian (born 1863)

Mirko Breyer was a known Croatian writer, bibliographer and antiquarian.

1946

Camillo Schumann

German composer and organist (born 1872)

Camillo Schumann was a German late Romantic composer and organist.

1946

Harry Farjeon

British composer and music teacher (born 1878)

Harry Farjeon was a British composer and an influential teacher of harmony and composition at the Royal Academy of Music for more than 45 years.

1948

Tyler Dennett

American historian and author (born 1883)

Tyler Dennett was an American historian and educator. He received the 1934 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for his 1933 book John Hay: From Poetry to Politics.

1949

Fletcher Henderson

American pianist, composer, and bandleader (born 1897)

James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musical arrangers and,…

1952

Beryl Rubinstein

American pianist, composer and teacher (born 1898)

Beryl Rubinstein was an American pianist, composer, and teacher. He was the father of social historian David Rubinstein.

1952

William Merriam Burton

American chemist (born 1865)

William Merriam Burton was an American chemist who developed the widely used Burton process of thermal cracking for crude oil.

1954

Miles Vandahurst Lynk

American physician and author (born 1871)

Miles Vandahurst Lynk was an American physician and author noted for his efforts to create opportunities for African Americans in science, specifically for medical doctors. He was known both as the founder, editor and…

1956

Doris Humphrey

American dancer and choreographer (born 1895)

Doris Batcheller Humphrey was an American dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Along with her contemporaries Martha Graham and Katherine Dunham, Humphrey was one of the second generation modern dance…

1958

Robin Milford

English soldier and composer (born 1903)

Robin Humphrey Milford was an English composer and music teacher.

1959

Eden Phillpotts

English author and poet (born 1862)

Eden Phillpotts was an English author, poet and dramatist. He was born in Mount Abu, India, was educated in Plymouth, Devon, and worked as an insurance officer for ten years before studying for the stage and eventually…

1960

Frank Nugent

American screenwriter, journalist and film reviewer (born 1908)

Frank Stanley Nugent was an American screenwriter, journalist, and film reviewer. He wrote 21 film scripts, 11 for director John Ford. He wrote almost a thousand reviews for The New York Times before leaving journalism…

1965

Kōsaku Yamada

Japanese composer and conductor (born 1886)

Kōsaku Yamada was a Japanese composer and conductor.

1965

Paul Whiteman

American violinist, composer, and conductor (born 1890)

Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American Jazz bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist.

1967

Austin Farrer

English theologian and philosopher (born 1904)

Austin Marsden Farrer was an English Anglican philosopher, theologian, and biblical scholar. His activity in philosophy, theology, and spirituality led many to consider him one of the greatest figures of 20th-century…

1968

William King Gregory

American zoologist and anatomist (born 1876)

William King Gregory was an American zoologist, primatologist, paleontologist, and functional and comparative anatomist. He was an expert on mammalian dentition, and a contributor to theories of evolution. He presented…

1970

Marie Menken

American director and painter (born 1909)

Marie Menken was an American experimental filmmaker, painter, and socialite. She was noted for her unique filming style that incorporated collage. She was one of the first New York filmmakers to use a hand-held camera…

1970

John Marshall Harlan II

American lawyer and jurist (born 1899)

John Marshall Harlan was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1955 to 1971. Harlan is usually called John Marshall Harlan II to distinguish him from his…

1971

Joseph Cornell

American sculptor and director (born 1903)

Joseph Cornell was an American visual artist and filmmaker, one of the pioneers and most celebrated exponents of assemblage. Influenced by the Surrealists, he was also an avant-garde experimental filmmaker. He was…

1972

Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos

Greek priest and missionary (born 1903)

Rev. Archimandrite Chrysóstomos Papasarantópoulos was a pioneering missionary of the Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Congo.

1972

Euell Gibbons

American author and naturalist (born 1911)

Euell Theophilus Gibbons was an outdoorsman and early health food advocate who promoted eating wild foods during the 1960s.

1975

Ivo Van Damme

Belgian runner (born 1954)

Ivo Van Damme was a Belgian middle-distance runner.

1976

F. Edward Hébert

American journalist and politician (born 1901)

Felix Edward Hébert was an American journalist and politician from Louisiana. He represented the New Orleans–based 1st congressional district as a Democrat for 18 consecutive terms, from 1941 until his retirement in…

1979

Richard Tecwyn Williams

Welsh biochemist (born 1909)

Richard Tecwyn Williams FRS was a Welsh biochemist who founded the systematic study of xenobiotic metabolism with the publication of his book Detoxication mechanisms in 1947. This seminal book built on his earlier work…

1979

Tim Hardin

American singer-songwriter (born 1941)

James Timothy Hardin was an American folk music and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his own success, his songs "If I Were a Carpenter", "Reason to Believe", "Misty Roses" and "The Lady Came from…

1980

Nadezhda Mandelstam

Russian author and educator (born 1899)

Nadezhda Yakovlevna Mandelstam was a Soviet writer, translator, educator, linguist, and memoirist.

1980

Irvin F. Westheimer

American businessman and social reformer (born 1879)

Irvin Ferdinand Westheimer was an American businessman and social reformer, who is best remembered for being the founder of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

1980

Philip Handler

American nutritionist, and biochemist (born 1917)

Philip Handler was an American nutritionist, and biochemist. He was President of the United States National Academy of Sciences for two terms from 1969 to 1981. He was also a recipient of the National Medal of Science.

1981

Miroslav Krleža

Croatian author, poet, and playwright (born 1893)

Miroslav Krleža was a Croatian writer who is widely considered to be the greatest of the 20th century. He wrote notable works in all the literary genres, including poetry, theater, short stories, novels, and an intimate…

1981

Indus Arthur

American actress and singer (born 1941)

Indus Arthur was an American film and television actress.

1984

P. H. Polk

American photographer (born 1898)

Prentice Herman Polk Sr. was an American photographer known for his portraits of African Americans. He also served for several years as head of the Tuskegee Institute's Department of Photography.

1984

Leo Robin

American composer, lyricist and songwriter (born 1900)

Leo Robin was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Oscar-winning song "Thanks for the Memory," sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in…

1984

Harold Macmillan

English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1894)

Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, was a British statesman and Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nicknamed "Supermac", he was known for his pragmatism,…

1986

Andrei Tarkovsky

Russian director and screenwriter (born 1932)

Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Russian origin. He is widely considered one of the greatest directors in cinema history. His films explore spiritual and metaphysical themes…

1986

Jun Ishikawa

Japanese author (born 1899)

Kiyoshi Ishikawa, known by his pen name Jun Ishikawa, was a Japanese modernist author, translator and literary critic active during the Shōwa era.

1987

Wilbert E. Moore

American sociologist (born 1914)

Wilbert E. Moore was an American sociologist noted, with Kingsley Davis, for their explanation and justification for social stratification, based their idea of "functional necessity."

1987

Mike Beuttler

Egyptian race car driver (born 1940)

Michael Simon Brindley Bream Beuttler was a British Formula One driver who raced privately entered March cars. He was born in Cairo, Egypt, the son of Colonel Leslie Brindley Bream Beuttler, Duke of Wellington's…

1988

Ieuan Maddock

Welsh scientist and nuclear researcher (born 1917)

Sir Ieuan Maddock was a Welsh scientist and nuclear researcher. He played a role in the nuclear weapons tests in Australia in the 1950s and the 1973 Partial Test-Ban treaty.

1988

Süreyya Ağaoğlu

Azerbaijani-Turkish lawyer and jurist (born 1903)

Süreyya Ağaoğlu was a Turkish-Azerbaijani writer, jurist, and the first female lawyer in Turkish history.

1989

Vivienne Segal

American actress and singer (born 1897)

Vivienne Sonia Segal was an American actress and singer.

1992

Frunzik Mkrtchyan

Armenian actor (born 1930)

Mher Musheghi Mkrtchyan, better known by the name Frunzik, a diminutive of his official given name Frunze, in honor of Mikhail Frunze, was an Armenian stage and film actor. Mkrtchyan is widely considered one of the…

1993

Frank Thring

Australian actor (born 1926)

Francis William Thring IV was an Australian character actor in radio, stage, television and film; as well as a theatre director. His early career started in London in theatre productions, before he starred in Hollywood…

1994

Lita Grey

American actress (born 1908)

Lita Grey, who was known for most of her life as Lita Grey Chaplin, was an American actress. She was the second wife of Charlie Chaplin, and appeared in his films The Kid, The Idle Class, and The Gold Rush.

1995

Hans Henkemans

Dutch pianist, composer and psychiatrist (born 1913)

Hans Henkemans was a Dutch pianist, teacher, composer of classical music and psychiatrist.

1995

Pennar Davies

Welsh clergyman and author (born 1911)

William Thomas Pennar Davies was a Welsh clergyman and author.

1996

Mireille Hartuch

French singer-songwriter and actress (born 1906)

Mireille Hartuch was a French singer, composer, and actress. She was generally known by the stage name "Mireille," it being a common practice of the time to use a single name for the stage.

1996

Peggy Herbison

Scottish politician (born 1907)

Margaret McCrorie Herbison was a Scottish Labour politician who was Minister of Social Security from 1964 to 1967.

1996

Ralph Siu

American scholar, military and civil servant, and author (born 1917)

Ralph Gun Hoy Siu was an American scholar, military and civil servant, and author. Siu served as the first Director of the National Institute of Justice from 1968 to 1969.

1998

Don Taylor

American actor and film director (born 1920)

Donald Ritchie Taylor was an American actor and film director. He co-starred in 1940s and 1950s classics, including the 1948 film noir The Naked City, Battleground, Father of the Bride, Father's Little Dividend and…

1998

Leon Radzinowicz

Polish-English criminologist and academic (born 1906)

Sir Leon Radzinowicz, was a criminologist and academic. He was the founding director of the Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge.

1999

Takashi Asahina

Japanese conductor (born 1908)

Asahina Takashi was a Japanese conductor.

2001

Cássia Eller

Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1962)

Cássia Rejane Eller was a Brazilian singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, regarded as one of the greatest representatives of Brazilian rock in the 1990s.

2001

György Kepes

Hungarian painter, photographer, designer, educator and art theorist (born 1906)

György Kepes was a Hungarian-born painter, photographer, designer, educator, and art theorist. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he taught design at the New Bauhaus in Chicago. In 1967 he founded the Center for…

2001

Lloyd Barbee

American lawyer and politician (born 1925)

Lloyd Augustus Barbee was an American lawyer and politician who worked for civil rights. He led the effort to integrate the Milwaukee Public School system. He was a Democrat.

2002

Ralph Clanton

American actor (born 1914)

Ralph Woodward Clanton was an American character actor of film, stage, and television. His most seen performance was Comte De Guiche in the 1950 film Cyrano de Bergerac, the first sound version in English of Edmond…

2002

Earl Hindman

American actor (born 1942)

Earl John Hindman was an American actor, best known for his roles as Bob Reid on the television soap opera Ryan's Hope from 1975—1984 and 1988–89, and as Wilson W. Wilson on the sitcom Home Improvement from 1991–1999.

2003

Dinsdale Landen

English actor (born 1932)

Dinsdale James Landen was an English actor. His television appearances included starring in the shows Devenish (1977) and Pig in the Middle (1980). The Independent named him an "outstanding actor with the qualities of a…

2003

Bob Monkhouse

English comedian, actor, and game show host (born 1928)

Robert Alan Monkhouse was an English comedian, television presenter, writer and actor. He was the host of television game shows including The Golden Shot, Celebrity Squares, Family Fortunes and Wipeout.

2003

Julius Axelrod

American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1912)

Julius Axelrod was an American biochemist. He won a share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970 along with Bernard Katz and Ulf von Euler. The Nobel Committee honored him for his work on the release and…

2004

Ken Burkhart

American baseball player and umpire (born 1916)

Kenneth William Burkhart was an American right-handed pitcher and umpire in Major League Baseball. From 1945 through 1949 he played with the St. Louis Cardinals (1945–48) and Cincinnati Reds (1948–49), and served as a…

2004

Peter Davison

American poet, essayist, teacher, lecturer, editor and publisher (born 1928)

Peter Davison was an American poet, essayist, teacher, lecturer, editor, and publisher.

2004

Liddy Holloway

New Zealand actress and screenwriter (born 1947)

Elizabeth Brenda "Liddy" Holloway was a New Zealand actress and television scriptwriter.

2004

Gerda Boyesen

Norwegian-English psychotherapist and author (born 1922)

Gerda Boyesen was the founder of Biodynamic Psychology, a branch of body psychotherapy.

2005

Cyril Philips

British historian and academic director (born 1912)

Sir Cyril Henry Philips, FRAS, knighted in the 1974 New Years Honours List, was a noted British historian and academic director.

2005

Basil William Robinson

British art scholar and author (born 1912)

Basil William Robinson, FBA, FSA, FRAS was a British art scholar and author, specializing in Asian art and history.

2005

Phil O'Donnell

Scottish footballer (born 1972)

Philip O'Donnell was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Motherwell, Celtic and Sheffield Wednesday. He also earned one international cap for Scotland and twice won the PFA Scotland Young…

2007

Phil Dusenberry

American advertising executive (born 1936)

Philip Bernard Dusenberry was an American advertising executive for the BBDO advertising agency.

2007

Kevin Greening

English radio host (born 1962)

Kevin Greening was a British radio presenter, who co-hosted BBC Radio 1's Breakfast Show with Zoe Ball from 13 October 1997 to 25 September 1998.

2007

Freddie Hubbard

American trumpet player and composer (born 1938)

Frederick Dewayne Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives for modern…

2008

Victor H. Krulak

American soldier (born 1913)

Victor Harold Krulak was a decorated United States Marine Corps officer who saw action in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Krulak, considered a visionary by fellow Marines, was the author of First to Fight: An Inside…

2008

Janina Bauman

Polish journalist and writer (born 1926)

Janina Bauman was a Polish journalist and writer of Jewish origin.

2009

David Levine

American artist and illustrator (born 1926)

David Levine was an American artist and illustrator best known for his caricatures in The New York Review of Books. Jules Feiffer has called him "the greatest caricaturist of the last half of the 20th Century".

2009

Steve Williams

American football player and wrestler (born 1960)

Steven Franklin Williams, best known under the ring name "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, was an American collegiate and professional wrestler and collegiate football player. He was known for his tenures in World…

2009

Avi Cohen

Israeli footballer and manager (born 1956)

Avraham "Avi" Cohen was an Israeli footballer who played as a defender, and a manager. He was best known for his spells playing for two British clubs: Liverpool in England and Rangers in Scotland. After retirement from…

2010

Bill Erwin

American actor and cartoonist (born 1914)

William Lindsey Erwin was an American actor with over 250 television and film credits. A veteran character actor, he is widely known for his 1993 Emmy Award-nominated performance on Seinfeld, portraying the embittered,…

2010

Constance Bartlett Hieatt

American scholar (born 1928)

Constance Bartlett Hieatt was an American scholar with a broad interest in medieval languages and literatures, including Old Norse literature, Anglo-Saxon prosody and literature, and Middle English language, literature,…

2011

Mike Auldridge

American singer and guitarist (born 1938)

Mike Auldridge was an American Dobro player and a founding member of the bluegrass group The Seldom Scene. The New York Times described Auldridge as "one of the most distinctive dobro players in the history of country…

2012

Tony Greig

South African-Australian cricketer and sportscaster (born 1946)

Anthony William Greig was a South African–born cricketer and commentator. Greig qualified to play for the England cricket team by virtue of his Scottish father. He was a tall all-rounder who bowled both medium pace and…

2012

Roland Griffiths-Marsh

Malaysian-Australian soldier and author (born 1923)

Roland Griffiths-Marsh, was an Australian soldier and author.

2012

Edward Meneeley

American painter and sculptor (born 1927)

Edward Meneeley was an American artist who created paintings, sculptures, and prints.

2012

Ben Overton

American jurist (born 1926)

Benjamin Frederick Overton was a justice of the Supreme Court of Florida.

2012

William Rees-Mogg

British newspaper journalist (born 1928)

William Rees-Mogg, Baron Rees-Mogg was a British newspaper journalist who was Editor of The Times from 1967 to 1981. In the late 1970s, he served as High Sheriff of Somerset, and in the 1980s was Chairman of the Arts…

2012

Salvador Reyes Monteón

Mexican footballer and manager (born 1936)

Salvador Reyes Monteón was a Mexican professional footballer who played as a forward.

2012

Paulo Rocha

Portuguese director and screenwriter (born 1935)

Paulo Soares da Rocha was a Portuguese film director. Among his best-known films are A Ilha dos Amores and O Rio do Ouro. A Ilha dos Amores was entered into the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, O Desejado was entered into the…

2012

Bruce Stark

American cartoonist (born 1933)

Bruce Stark was an American artist noted for his caricatures of entertainment and sports figures.

2012

Ignacy Tokarczuk

Polish archbishop (born 1918)

Ignacy Tokarczuk was a Polish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.

2012

C. T. Hsia

Chinese-American critic and scholar (born 1921)

Hsia Chih-tsing, or C. T. Hsia, was a Chinese historian and literary theorist. He contributed to the introduction of modern Chinese literature to the Western world by promoting the works of once marginalized writers in…

2013

Paul Comstive

English footballer (born 1961)

Paul Comstive was an English professional footballer who mainly played as a midfielder. He played in the Football League for seven different clubs and also played non-league football.

2013

Benjamin Curtis

American guitarist, drummer, and songwriter (born 1978)

Benjamin Curtis was an American guitarist and drummer. He was a member of bands Tripping Daisy, Secret Machines and School of Seven Bells.

2013

Connie Dierking

American basketball player (born 1936)

Conrad William Dierking was an American professional basketball player from 1958 to 1971.

2013

Wojciech Kilar

Polish classical and film music composer (born 1932)

Wojciech Kilar was a Polish classical and film music composer. One of his greatest successes came with his score to Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1992, which received the ASCAP Award and the nomination…

2013

Besik Kudukhov

Russian wrestler (born 1986)

Besik Serodinovich Kudukhov was a Russian freestyle wrestler of Ossetian descent. He won a bronze medal in the 55 kg category at the 2008 Olympics. He also won a silver medal in the 60 kg category at the 2012 Summer…

2013

Jagadish Mohanty

Indian author and translator (born 1951)

Jagadish Mohanty was a renowned Odia writer, considered as a trendsetter in modern Odia fiction, has received the prestigious Sarala Award in 2003, Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990 for his novel Kanishka Kanishka,…

2013

Mike O'Connor

German-American journalist (born 1946)

Mike O'Connor was a German-born American journalist, war correspondent, and Mexico's representative for Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promote press freedom…

2013

Syed Hamid

Indian academic and diplomat (born 1920)

Syed Hamid was an Indian educationist and diplomat. He was a member of Indian Administrative Service and also served as the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University. He had also served in several important…

2014

Hari Harilela

Indian-Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist (born 1922)

Hari Naroomal Harilela, was a Hong Kong Indian businessman, hotelier and philanthropist and the founder and chairman of the Harilela Group. The group runs businesses ranging from hotel and real estate investment to…

2014

Odd Iversen

Norwegian footballer (born 1945)

Odd "Ivers" Iversen was a Norwegian footballer who played as a striker; he is notable for his former record of 158 goals in Norwegian top tier football, as well as his still-standing record of 30 goals in a single…

2014

Juanito Remulla

Sr., Filipino lawyer and politician, Governor of Cavite (born 1933)

Juanito "Johnny" Reyes Remulla Sr. was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the longest sitting governor of Cavite.

2014

Om Prakash Malhotra

Indian general and politician, 25th Governor of Punjab (born 1922)

General Om Prakash Malhotra,, best known as OP Malhotra, was a senior army officer in the Indian Army who served as the 10th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army from 1978 – 1981. Upon retiring from his military…

2015

Pavel Srníček

Czech footballer and coach (born 1968)

Pavel Srníček was a Czech football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper.

2015

Kim Yang-gon

North Korean politician (born 1942)

Kim Yang-gon was a North Korean politician and a senior official of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

2015

Keion Carpenter

American football defensive back (born 1977)

Keion Eric Carpenter was an American professional football safety who played for the Buffalo Bills and the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League.

2016

LaVell Edwards

American football head coach (born 1930)

Reuben LaVell Edwards was an American college football head coach for Brigham Young University (BYU). With 257 career victories, he ranks as one of the most successful college football coaches of all time. Among his…

2016

Peggy Cummins

Irish actress (born 1925)

Peggy Cummins was an Irish actress, born in Wales, who is best known for her performance in Joseph H. Lewis's Gun Crazy (1950), playing a trigger-happy femme fatale, who robs banks with her lover. In 2020, she was…

2017

John C. Portman Jr.

American neofuturistic architect and real estate developer (born 1924)

John Calvin Portman Jr. was an American neofuturistic architect and real estate developer widely known for popularizing hotels and office buildings with multi-storied interior atria. Portman also had a particularly…

2017

Brian Garfield

American novelist, historian and screenwriter (born 1939)

Brian Francis Wynne Garfield was an Edgar Award-winning American novelist, historian and screenwriter. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, he wrote his first published book at the age of eighteen. Garfield went on to author more…

2018

Rosenda Monteros

Mexican actress (born 1935)

Rosa Méndez Leza, known professionally as Rosenda Monteros, was a Mexican actress. She studied drama under Seki Sano. To American audiences, she is best known for her role as Petra in The Magnificent Seven. She had a…

2018

Alasdair Gray

Scottish writer and artist (born 1934)

Alasdair James Gray was a Scottish writer and artist. He published novels, short stories, plays, poetry and translations, and wrote on politics and the history of English and Scots literature. His works of fiction…

2019

Neil Innes

English writer, comedian and musician (born 1944)

Neil James Innes was an English songwriter, writer, comedian and musician. He first came to prominence in the comedy rock group the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the Monty Python…

2019

Pierre Cardin

Italian-French fashion designer (born 1922)

Pietro Costante Cardin, known as Pierre Cardin, was an Italian-French fashion designer. He is known for what were his avant-garde style and Space Age designs. He preferred geometric shapes and motifs, often ignoring the…

2020

Joe Louis Clark

American educator (born 1937)

Joe Louis Clark was an American educator and administrator, who was best known for his tenure as principal of Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey from 1982 to 1989. He gained national attention for his…

2020

Alexi Laiho

Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1979)

Alexi Laiho was a Finnish guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist, lead vocalist and founding member of the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, and a guitarist for Sinergy, the Local Band,…

2020

Peter Klatzow

South African composer (born 1945)

Peter James Leonard Klatzow was a South African composer and pianist known for his contributions to classical music in South Africa, particularly through his innovative use of tonality, his integration of diverse…

2021

Pelé

Brazilian footballer (born 1940)

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known by his nickname Pelé, was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history, he was among the most…

2022

Edgar Savisaar

Estonian politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior (born 1950)

Edgar Savisaar was an Estonian politician, one of the founding members of Popular Front of Estonia and the Centre Party. He served as the acting Prime Minister of Estonia, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Economic…

2022

Vivienne Westwood

English fashion designer (born 1941)

Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood was an English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream. In 2022, Sky Arts ranked her the 4th most…

2022

Gil de Ferran

French-born Brazilian racing driver, CART champion (2000, 2001), 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner (born 1967)

Gil de Ferran was a Brazilian professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for Team Penske and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 500. He also finished runner-up…

2023

Aaron Brown

American journalist and academic (born 1948)

Aaron Brown was an American broadcast journalist, most recognized for his coverage of the September 11 attacks for CNN. He was a longtime reporter for ABC, the founding co-anchor of ABC's World News Now, weekend anchor…

2024

Jimmy Carter

American politician, 39th President of the United States (born 1924)

James Earl Carter Jr. was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, Carter served from 1971 to 1975 as the 76th…

2024

Linda Lavin

American actress and singer (born 1937)

Linda Lavin was an American actress and singer. Known for her roles on stage and screen, she received several awards including three Drama Desk Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Obie Awards, and a Tony Award, as well…

2024

Tomiko Itooka

Japanese supercentenarian (born 1908)

Tomiko Itooka was a Japanese supercentenarian who was recognized as the world's oldest verified living person in September 2024. She managed her family's textile business during World War II and lived to the age of 116…

2024

Notable deaths

Who died on December 29?

Edward Christopher Williams — American novelist

FeaturedEdward Christopher Williams

Death year1929

Known forHis sudden death in 1929 ended his career the year he was expected to receive the first Ph.D

Deaths on this date175 (721 – 2024)

Explore December 29

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

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Also on December 29 in History

2024

Jeju Air Flight 2216 crashes into a wall in Muan, South Korea, killing 179 of the 181 occupants. It is the worst aircraft accident on South Korean soil in history. Wikipedia →

2023

South Africa files a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice over Israeli conducts in the Gaza Strip. Wikipedia →

2020

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake hits near the town of Petrinja in Sisak-Moslavina County, Croatia, killing seven people. Wikipedia →

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Notable Deaths on December 29

1929 — Edward Christopher Williams

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