Did you know
In 1973, Clemente was posthumously inducted, becoming the first Latino and Caribbean player and second of Hispanic descent to be honored in the Hall of Fame.
Notable Deaths on December 31
1972 — Roberto Clemente
Puerto Rican-American baseball player and Marine (born 1934)
December 31 has 129 recorded notable deaths across history, from 45 BC to 2024. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
129 source records
45 BC – 2024
Today in history
Major events on December 31
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 2011 NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon. Source
- 1961 RTÉ, Ireland's state broadcaster, launches its first national television service. Source
- 2020 The World Health Organization issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine. Source
- 1790 Efimeris, the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today, is published for the first time. Source
Did you know
Richard Neville was a loyal Lancastrian for most of his life, serving the King, Henry VI, in France, on the border with Scotland, and in many of the periodic crises of the reign.
Did you know
Raoul Walsh was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent cinema actor George Walsh.
Did you know
Floyd Cramer was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "whole-step" attacks.
Did you know
Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi began his academic career in 1934 as a teacher in Nadwatul Ulama, later in 1961; he became Chancellor of Nadwa and in 1985, he was appointed as Chairman of Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.
More major people who died on December 31
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1460
Richard Neville
5th Earl of Salisbury, English politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (born 1400)
Richard Neville, jure uxoris 5th Earl of Salisbury was a fifteenth-century English northern magnate.
1980
Raoul Walsh
American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1887)
Raoul Walsh was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent cinema actor George Walsh.
1997
Floyd Cramer
American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1933)
Floyd Cramer was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "whole-step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1999
Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi
Indian Muslim scholar and author (born 1914)
Syed Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi was a leading Indian Islamic scholar, thinker, writer, preacher, reformer and a Muslim public intellectual of 20th century India and the author of numerous books on history, biography,…
1990
George Allen
American football player and coach (born 1918)
George Herbert Allen was an American football coach. He served as the head coach for two teams in the National Football League (NFL), the Los Angeles Rams from 1966 to 1970 and the Washington Redskins from 1971 to 1977.
1889
Ion Creangă
Romanian author and educator (born 1837)
Ion Creangă was a Moldavian, later Romanian writer, raconteur and schoolteacher.
1964
Henry Maitland Wilson
English field marshal (born 1881)
Field Marshal Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson, also known as Jumbo Wilson, was a senior British Army officer of the 20th century.
2012
Günter Rössler
German photographer and journalist (born 1926)
Günter Rössler was a German photographer who made a name for himself especially in the field of nude art photography.
1298
Humphrey de Bohun
3rd Earl of Hereford, English politician, Lord High Constable of England (born 1249)
Humphrey VI de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford, 2nd Earl of Essex was an English nobleman known primarily for his opposition to King Edward I over the Confirmatio Cartarum.
1972
Henry Gerber
German-American activist, founded the Society for Human Rights (born 1892)
Henry Gerber was an early gay rights activist in the United States.
669
Li Shiji
Chinese general (born 594)
Li Shiji, courtesy name Maogong, posthumously known as Duke Zhenwu of Ying, was a Chinese military general and politician who lived in the early Tang dynasty.
1679
Giovanni Alfonso Borelli
Italian physiologist and physicist (born 1608)
Giovanni Alfonso Borelli was a Italian physiologist, physicist, and mathematician who is often described as the father of biomechanics.
2006
George Sisler
Jr., American businessman (born 1917)
George Harold Sisler Jr. was an American professional baseball player and executive.
1934
Cornelia Clapp
American marine biologist (born 1849)
Cornelia Maria Clapp was an American educator and zoologist, specializing in marine biology. She earned the first Ph.D.
2015
Natalie Cole
American singer-songwriter and actress (born 1950)
Natalie Maria Cole was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole.
1194
Leopold V
Duke of Austria (born 1157)
Leopold V, known as the Virtuous was a member of the House of Babenberg who reigned as Duke of Austria from 1177 and Duke of Styria within the Holy Roman Empire from 1192 until his death.
2007
Michael Goldberg
American painter and educator (born 1924)
Michael Goldberg was an American abstract expressionist painter and teacher known for his gestural action paintings, abstractions and still-life paintings.
2018
Kader Khan
Indian actor (born 1937)
Kader Khan was an Indian actor, screenwriter and film producer. As an actor, he appeared in over 300 Bollywood films after his acting debut in the film Daag in 1973, starring Rajesh Khanna, as a prosecuting attorney.
1999
Elliot Richardson
American lawyer and politician, 69th United States Attorney General (born 1920)
Elliot Lee Richardson was an American lawyer and politician who was a member of the cabinets of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford between 1970 and 1977.