Did you know
In 1929, he broke from the Theosophy movement and disbanded the Order of the Star in the East which had been formed around him.
Notable Deaths on February 17
1986 — Jiddu Krishnamurti
Indian-American philosopher and author (born 1895)
February 17 has 98 recorded notable deaths across history, from 364 to 2026. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
98 source records
364 – 2026
Today in history
Major events on February 17
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1996 NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros. Source
- 1959 Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2: The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution. Source
- 1801 United States presidential election: A tie in the Electoral College between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives. Source
- 1864 American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic. Source
Did you know
Mindy McCready's debut album, 1996's Ten Thousand Angels, was released on BNA Records and was certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA, while 1997's If I Don't Stay the Night was certified Gold.
Did you know
Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari is widely known for his historical works and expertise in Quranic exegesis, and has been described as "an impressively prolific polymath".
Did you know
Ray Barretto's first hit, "El Watusi", was recorded by his Charanga Moderna in 1962, becoming the most successful pachanga song in the United States.
Did you know
The influential critic Clement Greenberg considered Hofmann's first New York solo show at Peggy Guggenheim’s Art of This Century in 1944 as a breakthrough in painterly versus geometric abstraction that heralded abstract expressionism.
More major people who died on February 17
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
2013
Mindy McCready
American singer-songwriter (born 1975)
Malinda Gayle McCready was an American country music singer. Active from 1995 until her suicide in 2013, she recorded a total of five studio albums.
923
Al-Tabari
Persian scholar (born 839)
Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī, commonly known as al-Ṭabarī, was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present-day Iran.
2006
Ray Barretto
American drummer (born 1929)
Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Latin jazz.
1966
Hans Hofmann
German-American painter (born 1880)
Hans Hofmann was a German-born American painter, renowned as both an artist and teacher.
1962
Bruno Walter
German-American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1876)
Bruno Walter was a German-born conductor, pianist, and composer. Born in Berlin, he left Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the United States in 1939.
1979
William Gargan
American actor (born 1905)
William Dennis Gargan was an American film, television and radio actor.
2024
Gamini Jayawickrama Perera
Sri Lankan politician (born 1941)
Mallawa Arachchige Gamini Jayawickrama Perera was a Sri Lankan politician.
1732
Louis Marchand
French organist and composer (born 1669)
Louis Marchand was a French organist, harpsichordist and composer. Born into an organist's family, Marchand was a child prodigy and quickly established himself as one of the best known French virtuosos of his time.
2017
Michael Novak
American Roman Catholic theologian (born 1933)
Michael John Novak Jr. was an American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat.
1680
Denzil Holles
1st Baron Holles, English politician (born 1599)
Colonel Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles was an English politician and army officer who was one of the Five Members whose attempted arrest by Charles I in January 1642 sparked the First English Civil War.
2016
Andy Ganteaume
Trinidadian cricketer (born 1921)
Andrew Gordon Ganteaume was a Trinidadian cricketer who played one Test match for the West Indies in 1948 as a batsman.
1990
Jean-Marc Boivin
French mountaineer, skier, and pilot (born 1951)
Jean-Marc Boivin was a French mountaineer, extreme skier, hang glider and paraglider pilot, speleologist, BASE jumper, film maker and author.
1600
Giordano Bruno
Italian mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (born 1548)
Giordano Bruno was an Italian philosopher, Dominican friar and priest, poet, alchemist, astronomer, cosmological theorist, and esotericist.
1982
Lee Strasberg
American actor and director (born 1901)
Lee Strasberg was an American acting coach and actor. Born in Budzanów, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he immigrated to the United States in 1909.
1872
Gomburza
Filipino priests:
Mariano Gómes de los Ángeles, often known by his birth name Mariano Gómez y Custodio or Mariano Gomez in modern orthography, was a Filipino Catholic priest who was falsely accused of mutiny by the Spanish colonial…
1988
John M. Allegro
English archaeologist and scholar (born 1923)
John Marco Allegro was an English archaeologist and Dead Sea Scrolls scholar. He was a populariser of the Dead Sea Scrolls through his books and radio broadcasts.
1989
Lefty Gomez
American baseball player (born 1908)
Vernon Louis "Lefty" Gomez was an American professional baseball player.
1673
Molière
French actor and playwright (born 1622)
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world literature.
1680
Jan Swammerdam
Dutch biologist, zoologist, and entomologist (born 1637)
Jan Swammerdam was a Dutch biologist and microscopist. His work on insects demonstrated that the various phases during the life of an insect—egg, larva, pupa, and adult—are different forms of the same animal.