Did you know
Frank Zappa is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse musicians of his generation.
Notable Deaths on December 4
1993 — Frank Zappa
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1940)
December 4 has 101 recorded notable deaths across history, from 749 to 2024. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
101 source records
749 – 2024
Today in history
Major events on December 4
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1918 U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office. Source
- 1865 North Carolina ratifies 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, followed two days later by Georgia, and U.S. slaves were legally free within two weeks. Source
- 2005 Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the government to allow universal and equal suffrage. Source
- 1965 Launch of Gemini 7 with crew members Frank Borman and Jim Lovell. The Gemini 7 spacecraft was the passive target for the first crewed space rendezvous performed by the crew of Gemini 6A. Source
Did you know
Robert Loggia was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Jagged Edge (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for Big (1988).
Did you know
Famous for his beard and the headband he wore during the 1986 World Cup in solidarity with victims of the Mexico City earthquake, Sócrates became the "symbol of cool for a whole generation of football supporters".
Did you know
was an African American revolutionary and political activist who served as deputy chairman of the Black Panther Party, a Marxist-Leninist and black power organization from 1966 until his assassination in 1969.
Did you know
AD 675 or AD 676; the precise date and place of his death is not known, though tradition places it at his monastery, Mar Saba, near Jerusalem, on 4 December AD 749.
More major people who died on December 4
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
2015
Robert Loggia
American actor and director (born 1930)
Salvatore "Robert" Loggia was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Jagged Edge (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for Big (1988).
2011
Sócrates
Brazilian footballer and manager (born 1954)
Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, simply known as Sócrates, was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder.
1969
Fred Hampton
American Black Panthers activist (born 1948)
Fredrick Allen Hampton Sr. was an African American revolutionary and political activist who served as deputy chairman of the Black Panther Party, a Marxist-Leninist and black power organization from 1966 until his…
749
John of Damascus
Syrian priest and saint (born 676)
John of Damascus or John Damascene, born Yūḥana ibn Manṣūr ibn Sarjūn, was a Christian monk, priest, hymnographer, and apologist. He was born and raised in Damascus c.
1845
Gregor MacGregor
Scottish soldier and explorer (born 1786)
Gregor MacGregor was a Scottish soldier, adventurer and con man who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to "Poyais", a fictional Central American territory that he claimed to…
2010
King Curtis Iaukea
American wrestler (born 1937)
Curtis Piehu Iaukea III was an American professional wrestler better known as King Curtis Iaukea. Iaukea won championships in several of the major regional U.S.
1637
Nicholas Ferrar
English trader (born 1592)
Nicholas Ferrar was an English scholar, courtier and businessman, who was ordained a deacon in the Church of England.
2012
Jack Brooks
American colonel, lawyer, and politician (born 1922)
Jack Bascom Brooks was an American Democratic Party politician from the state of Texas who served 42 years in the United States House of Representatives, initially representing Texas's 2nd congressional district from…
1935
Charles Richet
French physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1850)
Charles Robert Richet was a French physiologist at the Collège de France and immunology pioneer. In 1913, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in recognition of his work on anaphylaxis".
2000
Henck Arron
Surinamese banker and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Suriname (born 1936)
Henck Alphonsus Eugène Arron was a Surinamese politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Suriname after it gained independence in 1975.
1408
Valentina Visconti
wife of Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans
Valentina Visconti was a Countess of Vertus, and Duchess consort of Orléans as the wife of Louis I, Duke of Orléans, the younger brother of King Charles VI of France.
2015
Yossi Sarid
Israeli journalist and politician, 15th Israeli Minister of Education (born 1940)
Yossi Sarid was an Israeli politician and news commentator. He served as a member of the Knesset for the Alignment, Ratz and Meretz between 1974 and 2006.
1585
John Willock
Scottish minister and reformer (born 1515)
John Willock was a Scottish reformer. He appears to have been a friar of the Franciscan House at Ayr. Having joined the party of reform before 1541, he fled for his life to England.
1926
Ivana Kobilca
Slovenian painter (born 1861)
Ivana Kobilca was a Slovene painter, and is considered the most prominent painter and a key figure of Slovene cultural identity.
1971
Shunryū Suzuki
Japanese-American monk and educator, founded the San Francisco Zen Center (born 1904)
Shunryu Suzuki was a Sōtō Zen monk and teacher who helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the United States, and is renowned for founding the first Zen Buddhist monastery outside Asia.
1603
Maerten de Vos
Flemish painter and draughtsman (born 1532)
Maerten de Vos, Maerten de Vos the Elder or Marten de Vos was a Flemish painter, known mainly for his history and allegorical paintings and portraits.
2017
Shashi Kapoor
Indian actor (born 1938)
Shashi Kapoor was an Indian actor and producer known primarily for his work in Hindi films.
1828
Robert Jenkinson
2nd Earl of Liverpool, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1770)
Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827.
2014
Jeremy Thorpe
English lawyer and politician (born 1929)
John Jeremy Thorpe was a British politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for North Devon from 1959 to 1979 and Leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976.