Did you know about Michelangelo
Michelangelo was born in the Republic of Florence but was mostly active in Rome from his 30s onwards.
Notable Deaths on February 18
February 18 has 56 recorded notable deaths across history, from 675 to 2026. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
1564 — Michelangelo
Italian sculptor and painter (born 1475)
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
56 source records
675 – 2026
Today in history
Major events on February 18
See what else happened on this day in history.
Did you know about Dale Earnhardt
Ralph Dale Earnhardt was an American professional stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series, most notably driving the No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.
Did you know about Andy Devine
Andy Devine also appeared alongside John Wayne in films such as Stagecoach (1939), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and How the West Was Won.
Did you know about Louis
When his father died in April 1711, the Duke of Burgundy became the official Dauphin of France.
Did you know about Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici was an Italian noblewoman who was the last lineal descendant of the main branch of the House of Medici.
More major people who died on February 18
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
2001
Dale Earnhardt
American racer and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (born 1951)
Ralph Dale Earnhardt was an American professional stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series, most notably driving the No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. His aggressive driving style earned him the nicknames "the Intimidator", "the Man in Black" and "Ironhead"; after his son Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined the Cup Series circuit in 1999, Earnhardt was generally known by the retronyms Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Dale Sr. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history and was named as one of the NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers class in 1998.
1977
Andy Devine
American actor (born 1905)
Andrew Vabre Devine was an American character actor known for his distinctive raspy, crackly voice and roles in Western films, including his role as Cookie, the sidekick of Roy Rogers in 10 feature films. He also appeared alongside John Wayne in films such as Stagecoach (1939), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and How the West Was Won. He is also remembered as Jingles on the TV series The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok from 1951 to 1958, as Danny McGuire in A Star Is Born (1937), and as the voice of Friar Tuck in the Disney Animation Studio film Robin Hood (1973).
1712
Louis
Dauphin of France, (born 1682)
Louis, Dauphin of France, Duke of Burgundy, was the eldest son of Louis, Grand Dauphin, and Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria and grandson of the reigning French king, Louis XIV. He is commonly known as le Petit Dauphin to distinguish him from his father. When his father died in April 1711, the Duke of Burgundy became the official Dauphin of France. Described by his contemporaries as a pious, intellectual, gentle and shy man who was faithful and loving to his wife, he never reigned, as he died in 1712 while his grandfather was still on the throne. Upon the death of Louis XIV in 1715, the Duke of Burgundy's third son became Louis XV.
1743
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici
Italian noble (born 1667)
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici was an Italian noblewoman who was the last lineal descendant of the main branch of the House of Medici. A patron of the arts, she bequeathed the Medicis' large art collection, including the contents of the Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti, and the Medici villas, which she inherited upon her brother Gian Gastone's death in 1737, and her Palatine treasures to the Tuscan state, on the condition that no part of it could be removed from "the Capital of the grand ducal State....[and from] the succession of His Serene Grand Duke."
2014
Maria Franziska von Trapp
Austrian-American singer (born 1914)
Maria Agatha Franziska Gobertina 'Mitzi' von Trapp was the second-oldest daughter of Georg von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe Whitehead von Trapp. She was a member of the Trapp Family Singers, whose lives inspired the musical and film The Sound of Music. She was portrayed by Heather Menzies as the character "Louisa". She died at age 99, and was the last surviving sibling portrayed in the film.
1933
James J. Corbett
American boxer and actor (born 1866)
James John Corbett was an American professional boxer and a World Heavyweight Champion, best known as the only man who ever defeated John L. Sullivan. Despite a career spanning only 20 bouts, Corbett faced the best competition his era had to offer, squaring off with a total of nine fighters who would later be enshrined alongside him in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
1695
William Phips
governor of Massachusetts (born 1650)
Major-General Sir William Phips was a treasure hunter, military officer, and colonial administrator from the New England Colonies. He was the first royally appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and the first native-born New Englander to be knighted. Phips was famous in his lifetime for recovering a large treasure from a sunken Spanish galleon but is perhaps best remembered today for establishing the court associated with the infamous Salem witch trials, which he grew unhappy with and was forced to prematurely disband after five months.
1397
Enguerrand VII
French nobleman (born 1340)
Enguerrand VII de Coucy,, also known as Ingelram de Coucy and Ingelram de Couci, was a medieval French nobleman and the last Lord of Coucy. He became a son-in-law of King Edward III of England following his marriage to the king's daughter, Isabella of England, and the couple was subsequently granted several English estates, among them the title Earl of Bedford. Coucy fought in the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396 as part of a failed crusade against the Ottoman Empire, but was taken prisoner and contracted the bubonic plague. He died in captivity the following year at Bursa.
1969
Dragiša Cvetković
Serbian lawyer and politician, 17th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (born 1893)
Dragiša Cvetković was a Yugoslav politician active in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He served as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1939 to 1941. He developed the federalization of Yugoslavia through the creation of the Banovina of Croatia via the Cvetković–Maček Agreement with Croat leader Vladko Maček. He signed the Yugoslav accession to the Tripartite Pact on 25 March 1941. Two days later, on 27 March, a group of officers carried out a military coup, and arrested Dragiša Cvetković and other ministers. German authorities arrested him on two occasions and took him to Banjica concentration camp. He fled on 4 September 1944 for Bulgaria. He spent the rest of his life in Paris.
1893
Serranus Clinton Hastings
American lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Justice of California (born 1814)
Serranus Clinton Hastings was an American politician, rancher, and lawyer in California. Born in Watertown, New York, he studied law as a young man and moved to the Iowa District in 1837 to open a law office. Iowa became a territory a year later, and he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the Iowa Territorial General Assembly. When the territory became the state of Iowa in 1846, he won an election to represent the state in the United States House of Representatives. After his term ended, he became Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court.
1780
Kristijonas Donelaitis
Lithuanian pastor and poet (born 1714)
Kristijonas Donelaitis was a Prussian Lithuanian poet and Lutheran pastor. He lived and worked in Lithuania Minor, a territory in the Kingdom of Prussia, that had a sizable Lithuanian-speaking minority. He wrote the first classic Lithuanian language poem, The Seasons, which became one of the principal works of Lithuanian poetry. The poem, a classic work of Lithuanian literature, depicts everyday life of Lithuanian peasants, their struggle with serfdom, and the annual cycle of life.
1478
George Plantagenet
1st Duke of Clarence, English nobleman (born 1449; executed)
George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, was the sixth child and third surviving son of Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, and the brother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III. He played an important role in the dynastic struggle between rival factions of the Plantagenets now known as the Wars of the Roses.
1873
Vasil Levski
Bulgarian activist, founded the Internal Revolutionary Organization (born 1837)
Vasil Levski, born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev, was a Bulgarian revolutionary who is, today, a national hero of Bulgaria. Dubbed the Apostle of Freedom, Levski ideologised and strategised a revolutionary movement to liberate Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. Levski founded the Internal Revolutionary Organisation, and sought to foment a nationwide uprising through a network of secret regional committees.
2025
Gene Hackman
award-winning American actor (born 1930)
Eugene Allen Hackman was an American actor. Considered one of the greatest actors of his generation and a paragon of the New Hollywood movement, Hackman's mainstream acting career spanned over four decades. He received several accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, one Silver Bear and four Golden Globe Awards.
1294
Kublai Khan
Mongol emperor (born 1215)
Kublai Khan, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the dynastic name "Great Yuan" in 1271, and ruled Yuan China until his death in 1294.
1966
Grigory Nelyubov
Soviet pilot and military officer (born 1934)
Grigory Grigoryevich Nelyubov was one of the original 20 Soviet cosmonauts, who was dismissed from the Soviet space program in 1963 for drunk and disorderly conduct. His existence in the program was kept secret until the advent of Soviet glasnost in the late 1980s. He committed suicide on 18 February 1966.
1546
Martin Luther
German priest and theologian, leader of the Protestant Reformation (born 1483)
Martin Luther was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation, and his theological beliefs form the basis of Lutheranism. He is considered one of the most influential figures in Western and Christian history.
1967
J. Robert Oppenheimer
American physicist and academic (born 1904)
J. Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist who served as the director of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II. He is often called the "Father of the Atomic Bomb" for his role in overseeing the development of the first nuclear weapons.
2015
Elchanan Heilprin
Slovak-born English rabbi (born 1920 or 1922)
Elchanan Halpern was a Rabbi in the Golders Green neighbourhood of London and President of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations. He was also known as the Av Beit Din of Radomishl after the town of his maternal grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel Engel, Rav of Radomishl.