Did you know about Davy Jones
Best known as a member of the American pop rock band the Monkees and a co-star of the TV series The Monkees (1966–1968), Jones was considered a teen idol.
Notable Deaths on February 29
February 29 has 64 recorded notable deaths across history, from 468 to 2024. This page lists every one of them, with the best-known people first.
2012 — Davy Jones
English singer, guitarist and actor (born 1945)
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia · Report an error
Notable Deaths
64 source records
468 – 2024
Today in history
Major events on February 29
See what else happened on this day in history.
Did you know about Pat Garrett
Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett was an American Old West lawman, bartender, and customs agent known for killing Billy the Kid.
Did you know about Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.
Did you know about Ludwig I of Bavaria (born 1786)
In 1835, the first German railway was constructed in his domain, between Fürth and Nuremberg, with his Bavaria joining the Zollverein economic union in 1834.
Did you know about Melvin Purvis
Melvin Horace Purvis II was an FBI agent who was instrumental in capturing bank robbers John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd in 1934.
More major people who died on February 29
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1908
Pat Garrett
American sheriff (born 1850)
Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett was an American Old West lawman, bartender, and customs agent known for killing Billy the Kid. He was the sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, as well as Doña Ana County, New Mexico. Stories about him, especially his involvement with Billy the Kid, are part of the legends of the American Old West.
2024
Brian Mulroney
18th Prime Minister of Canada (born 1939)
Martin Brian Mulroney was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. He led the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and served as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1983 to 1993.
1868
Ludwig I of Bavaria (born 1786)
Ludwig I or Louis I was King of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states. When he was crown prince, he was involved in the Napoleonic Wars. As king, he encouraged Bavaria's industrialization, initiating the Ludwig Canal between the rivers Main and the Danube. In 1835, the first German railway was constructed in his domain, between Fürth and Nuremberg, with his Bavaria joining the Zollverein economic union in 1834. After the July Revolution of 1830 in France, Ludwig's previous liberal policy became increasingly repressive; in 1844, he was confronted during the Beer riots in Bavaria. During the revolutions of 1848, he faced increasing protests and demonstrations by students and the middle classes. On 20 March 1848, he abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Maximilian.
1960
Melvin Purvis
American police officer and FBI agent (born 1903)
Melvin Horace Purvis II was an FBI agent who was instrumental in capturing bank robbers John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd in 1934. In his later military career, he was directly involved with General George S. Patton, Hermann Göring, and the Nuremberg trials.
1980
Yigal Allon
Israeli general and politician, Prime Minister of Israel (born 1918)
Yigal Allon was an Israeli military leader and politician. He was a commander of the Palmach and a general in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). He was also a leader of the Ahdut HaAvoda and Israeli Labor parties. He served briefly as acting Prime Minister of Israel between the death of Levi Eshkol and the appointment of Golda Meir in 1969. Allon was the first non-European-born Israeli to serve as Prime Minister of Israel. He was a government minister from the third Knesset to the ninth inclusive.
2016
Gil Hill
American police officer, actor and politician (born 1931)
Gilbert Roland Hill was an American politician, police officer, and actor, who was the President of the Detroit City Council. He gained recognition for his role as Inspector Todd in the Beverly Hills Cop film series. He was the runner-up in the 2001 Detroit mayoral election, losing to Kwame Kilpatrick.
2020
Dieter Laser
German actor (born 1942)
Klaus Dieter Laser was a German actor. Laser's career spanned over five decades, appearing in both German and English-language productions. He achieved recognition for his lead role in the 2009 film The Human Centipede and also starred in the third entry in 2015. On television, he had a recurring role on Lexx from 1998 to 2000.
1956
Elpidio Quirino
Filipino lawyer and politician, 6th President of the Philippines (born 1890)
Elpidio Rivera Quirino was the sixth president of the Philippines, serving from 1948 to 1953. As the second vice president from 1946 to 1948, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Manuel Roxas in 1948.
1944
Pehr Evind Svinhufvud
Finnish lawyer, judge and politician, 3rd President of Finland (born 1861)
Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad served as the president of Finland from 1931 to 1937. Before 1917, as a lawyer, judge, and politician in the Grand Duchy of Finland, Svinhufvud played a major role in the movement for Finnish independence, and he presented the Declaration of Independence to the Parliament on 15 December [O.S. 2 December] 1917.
2016
Mumtaz Qadri
Pakistani assassin, executed (born 1985)
Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, better known as Mumtaz Qadri, was a Pakistani Elite Police commando who is known for murdering Salmaan Taseer, Governor of Punjab. Qadri was a commando of the Elite Police and, at the time of the assassination, a member of the squad of personal bodyguards assigned to protect Taseer. A follower of the Barelvi version of Sunni Islam, he assassinated Taseer on 4 January 2011. He claimed to have killed the Governor because Taseer spoke in defense of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death. Qadri was convicted by the Islamabad High Court, sentenced to death and hanged in February 2016.
2024
Ali Hassan Mwinyi
2nd President of Tanzania and 3rd President of Zanzibar (born 1925)
Ali Hassan Mwinyi was a Tanzanian politician who served as the second president of the United Republic of Tanzania from 1985 to 1995. Previous posts included Minister for Home Affairs and Vice President. He also was chairman of the ruling party, the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) from 1990 to 1996.
1928
Ina Coolbrith
American poet and librarian (born 1841)
Ina Donna Coolbrith was an American poet, writer, librarian, and a prominent figure in the San Francisco Bay Area literary community. Called the "Sweet Singer of California", she was the first California Poet Laureate and the first poet laureate of any American state.
2016
Louise Rennison
English author (born 1951)
Louise Rennison was an English author and comedian who wrote the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series for teenage girls. The series records the exploits of a teenage girl, Georgia Nicolson, and her best friends, the Ace Gang. Her first and second novels, Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging and It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers were portrayed in a film adaptation called Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. Rennison also wrote a series of books about Georgia's younger cousin, The Misadventures of Tallulah Casey.
992
Oswald of Worcester
Anglo-Saxon archbishop and saint (born 925)
Oswald of Worcester was Archbishop of York from 972 to his death in 992. He was of Danish ancestry, but brought up by his uncle, Oda of Canterbury, who sent him to France to the abbey of Fleury to become a monk. After a number of years at Fleury, Oswald returned to England at the request of his uncle, who died before Oswald returned. With his uncle's death, Oswald needed a patron and turned to another kinsman, Oskytel, who had recently become Archbishop of York. His activity for Oskytel attracted the notice of Archbishop Dunstan, who had Oswald consecrated as Bishop of Worcester in 961. In 972, Oswald was promoted to the see of York, although he continued to hold Worcester also.
1528
Patrick Hamilton
Scottish Protestant reformer and martyr (born 1504)
Patrick Hamilton was a Scottish Roman Catholic priest and an early Protestant Reformer in Scotland. He travelled to Europe, where he met several of the leading reformed thinkers, before returning to Scotland to preach the doctrines of Lutheranism. Hamilton began preaching in Scotland in 1527 and was invited as a friend by Archbishop James Beaton to a conference in St. Andrews. Instead, he was tried for heresy by an Ecclesiastical tribunal led by Archbishop Beaton. He was found guilty, handed over to the secular executioner, and burnt at the stake in St Andrews.
1972
Tom Davies
American football player and coach (born 1896)
Thomas J. Davies was an American football player and coach. He played as a halfback at the University of Pittsburgh and was a consensus All-American in 1918 and 1920. After retiring as a player, Davies worked as a football coach for the next 26 years, including stints at the University of Pennsylvania, Geneva College, Allegheny College, the University of Rochester, the Carnegie Institute of Technology, the University of Scranton, and Western Reserve University. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1970.
1744
John Theophilus Desaguliers
French-English physicist and philosopher (born 1683)
John Theophilus Desaguliers was a French-born British natural philosopher, clergyman, engineer and freemason who was elected to the Royal Society in 1714 as experimental assistant to Isaac Newton. He had studied at Oxford and later popularized Newtonian theories and their practical applications in public lectures. Desaguliers's most important patron was James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos. As a Freemason, Desaguliers was instrumental in the success of the first Grand Lodge in London in the early 1720s and served as its third Grand Master.
1980
Gil Elvgren
American painter and illustrator (born 1914)
Gillette Alexander Elvgren was an American painter of pin-up models, advertising and illustration. Best known for his pin-up paintings for Brown & Bigelow, Elvgren studied at the American Academy of Art. He was strongly influenced by the early "pretty girl" illustrators, such as Charles Dana Gibson, Andrew Loomis, and Howard Chandler Christy. Other influences included the Brandywine School founded by Howard Pyle.
2012
P. K. Narayana Panicker
Indian social leader (born 1930)
P. K. Narayana Panicker was the President and General Secretary of the Nair Service Society (NSS), the social service organisation established in 1914. He is the second-longest-serving general secretary of the organisation, who has served 28 years in the post. He was an advocate by profession, who came to the front row of the organisation in 1977 as its treasurer and later became General secretary in 1984. He was also the General Secretary of National Democratic Party and Chairman of Changanassery Municipality.
2004
Jerome Lawrence
American playwright and author (born 1915)
Jerome Lawrence was an American playwright and author. After graduating from the Ohio State University in 1937 and the University of California, Los Angeles in 1939, Lawrence partnered with Robert Edwin Lee to help create Armed Forces Radio while serving together in the U.S. Army during World War II. The two built a partnership over their lifetimes, and continued to collaborate on screenplays and musicals until Lee's death in 1994.
2012
Sheldon Moldoff
American illustrator (born 1920)
Sheldon "Shelly" Moldoff was an American comics artist best known for his early work on the DC Comics characters Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and as one of Bob Kane's primary "ghost artists" on the superhero Batman. He co-created the Batman supervillains Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, the second Clayface, and Bat-Mite, as well as the original heroes Bat-Girl, Batwoman, and Ace the Bat-Hound. Moldoff is the sole creator of the Black Pirate.
1916
John Nanson
English-Australian journalist and politician (born 1863)
John Leighton Nanson was a journalist and politician in Western Australia. A former writer and sub-editor with The West Australian, he served in the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1901 to 1905 and again from 1908 to 1914. Nanson was a minister in the governments of Alf Morgans, Walter James, Newton Moore, and Frank Wilson, including as attorney-general from 1909 to 1911.
1856
Auguste Chapdelaine
French Christian missionary (born 1814)
Auguste Chapdelaine, Chinese name Mǎ Lài was a French Christian missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. France used his death – Chapdelaine was executed by Chinese officials – as a casus belli for its participation in the Second Opium War.
1984
Ludwik Starski
Polish screenwriter and songwriter (born 1903)
Ludwik Starski was a Polish Jewish lyricist, sound engineer and screenwriter of the twentieth century. He was the father of the set designer Allan Starski, who often worked with movie director Andrzej Wajda and received the Academy Award for "Best Set Design" for Schindler's List in 1994. Ludwik worked with Eugeniusz Bodo, Władysław Szpilman and with Tadeusz Sygietyński.
2004
Harold Bernard St. John
Barbadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Barbados (born 1931)
Sir Harold Bernard St. John, KA was a Barbadian politician who served as the third prime minister of Barbados from 1985 to 1986. To date, he is the shortest serving Barbadian prime minister. He was leader of the Barbados Labour Party from 1970 to 1971 and again from 1985 to 1987. He was widely known as Bree.
1604
John Whitgift
English archbishop and academic (born 1530)
John Whitgift was an English clergyman and academic who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1583 until his death in 1604. Noted for his hospitality, he was somewhat ostentatious in his habits, sometimes visiting Canterbury and other towns attended by a retinue of 800 horses. Whitgift's theological views were often controversial.
2020
Éva Székely
Hungarian Hall of Fame swimmer and 1952 Olympic champion (born 1927)
Éva Székely was a Hungarian swimmer. She won the gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki and the silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics, set six world records, and won 44 national titles. She held the first world record in the 400 m individual medley in 1953.
1920
Ernie Courtney
American baseball player (born 1875)
Edward Ernest Courtney was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Beaneaters (1902), Baltimore Orioles (1902), New York Highlanders (1903), Detroit Tigers (1903) and Philadelphia Phillies (1905–1908). Courtney batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa.
1932
Giuseppe Vitali
Italian mathematician (born 1875)
Giuseppe Vitali was an Italian mathematician who worked in several branches of mathematical analysis. He gives his name to several entities in mathematics, most notably the Vitali set with which he was the first to give an example of a non-measurable subset of real numbers.
1908
John Hope
1st Marquess of Linlithgow, Scottish-Australian politician, 1st Governor-General of Australia (born 1860)
John Adrian Louis Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow, 7th Earl of Hopetoun was a British aristocrat and statesman who served as the first governor-general of Australia, in office from 1900 to 1902. He was previously the seventh governor of Victoria from 1889 to 1895.
2008
Erik Ortvad
Danish painter and illustrator (born 1917)
Erik Ortvad was a painter and a creator of many drawings. He debuted as a painter in 1935. He is mostly known for colorful surrealistic paintings.. He also created several hundred satiric drawings about the modern way of life under the pseudonym Enrico.
1976
Florence P. Dwyer
American politician (born 1902)
Florence Price Dwyer was an American Republican Party politician who represented much of Union County, New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from 1957 to 1973. From 1967 to 1973, she also represented parts of Essex County, New Jersey.
1848
Louis-François Lejeune
French general, painter and lithographer (born 1775)
Brigade-General Louis-François, Baron Lejeune was a French Army officer, painter, lithographer and politician who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. His memoirs have frequently been republished and his name is engraved on the Arc de Triomphe.
1460
Albert III
Duke of Bavaria-Munich (born 1401)
Albert III the Pious of Bavaria-Munich, was Duke of Bavaria-Munich from 1438 to 1460. He was the son of Ernest, Duke of Bavaria and Elisabetta Visconti, daughter of Bernabò Visconti.
1952
Sarah Ann Jenyns
Australian entrepreneur (born 1865)
Sarah Ann Jenyns (1865–1952) founded the Jenyns Patent Corset Pty Co with her husband Ebenezer Randolphus Jenyns (1865–1958) in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in 1909. The business manufactured surgical instruments and pioneered surgical and aesthetic corsets for women, becoming one of the leading undergarment companies in the country and survived for more than 50 years.
1996
Ralph Rowe
American baseball player, coach and manager (born 1924)
Ralph Emanuel Rowe was an American outfielder and manager in minor league baseball, and a coach at the Major League level. A native of Newberry, South Carolina, Rowe threw right-handed, batted left-handed, stood 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg).
1996
Frank Daniel
Czech-American director, producer and screenwriter (born 1926)
František "Frank" Daniel was a Czech-American screenwriter, film director and teacher. He is known for developing the sequence paradigm of screenwriting, in which a classically constructed movie can be broken down into three acts, and a total of eight specific sequences. He served as co-chair of the Columbia University film program, and as a dean of FAMU, the American Film Institute and the USC School of Cinema-Television. He was also an artistic director of the Sundance Institute.
2008
Janet Kagan
American author (born 1946)
Janet Kagan was an American author. Her works include two science fiction novels and two science fiction collections, plus numerous science fiction and fantasy short stories that appeared in publications such as Analog Science Fiction and Fact and Asimov's Science Fiction. Her story "The Nutcracker Coup" was nominated for both the Hugo Award for Best Novelette and the Nebula Award for Best Novelette, winning the Hugo.
1592
Alessandro Striggio
Italian composer and diplomat (born 1536/1537)
Alessandro Striggio was an Italian composer, instrumentalist and diplomat of the Renaissance. He composed numerous madrigals as well as dramatic music, and by combining the two, became the inventor of madrigal comedy. His compositions include the monumental Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno for up to 60 voices, rediscovered in 2005 after being lost for 400 years.
1600
Caspar Hennenberger
German pastor, historian and cartographer (born 1529)
Caspar Hennenberger was a German Lutheran pastor, historian and cartographer.
1712
Johann Conrad Peyer
Swiss anatomist (born 1653)
Johann Conrad Peyer was a Swiss anatomist who was a native of Schaffhausen.
1792
Johann Andreas Stein
German piano builder (born 1728)
Johann (Georg) Andreas Stein was an outstanding German maker of keyboard instruments, a central figure in the history of the piano.
1820
Johann Joachim Eschenburg
German historian and critic (born 1743)
Johann Joachim Eschenburg was a German critic and literary historian.
1880
James Milne Wilson
Scottish-Australian soldier and politician, 8th Premier of Tasmania (born 1812)
Sir James Milne Wilson was a colonial Australian politician who served as premier of Tasmania from 1869 to 1872.
1904
Henri Joseph Anastase Perrotin
French astronomer (born 1845)
Henri Joseph Anastase Perrotin was a French astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets. Some sources give his middle name as Athanase.
1904
Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Australian politician (born 1818)
Patrick O'Sullivan was an Australian politician who served as a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.
1924
Frederic Chapple
Australian educator (born 1845)
Frederic Chapple was the headmaster of Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, South Australia, from 1876 to 1914.
1928
Adolphe Appia
Swiss architect and theorist (born 1862)
Adolphe Appia was a Swiss architect and theorist of stage lighting and décor. He was the son of Red Cross co-founder Louis Appia.
1932
Arthur Mills Lea
Australian entomologist (born 1868)
Arthur Mills Lea was an Australian entomologist.
1940
E. F. Benson
English archaeologist and author (born 1867)
Edward Frederic Benson was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, historian and short story writer.
1948
Robert Barrington-Ward
English lawyer and journalist (born 1891)
Robert McGowan Barrington-Ward was an English barrister and journalist who was editor of The Times from 1941 until 1948.
1960
Walter Yust
American journalist and author (born 1894)
Walter M. Yust was an American journalist and writer. Yust was the American editor-in-chief of the Encyclopædia Britannica from 1938 to 1960.
1964
Frank Albertson
American actor and singer (born 1909)
Francis Healey Albertson was an American actor who had supporting roles in films such as It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and Psycho (1960).
1968
Tore Ørjasæter
Norwegian poet and educator (born 1886)
Tore Ørjasæter was a Norwegian educator and poet.
1992
Ruth Pitter
English poet and author (born 1897)
Ruth Pitter, CBE, FRSL was a British poet.
1996
Wes Farrell
American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1939)
Wesley Donald Farrell was an American musician, songwriter and record producer, who was most active in the 1960s and 1970s.
2000
Dennis Danell
American guitarist (born 1961)
Dennis Eric Danell was an American guitarist and a founding member of the Southern California punk rock band Social Distortion.
2004
Kagamisato Kiyoji
Japanese sumo wrestler, the 42nd Yokozuna (born 1923)
Kagamisato Kiyoji was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Aomori Prefecture. He was the sport's 42nd yokozuna.
2004
Lorrie Wilmot
South African cricketer (born 1943)
Anthony Lorraine "Lorrie" Wilmot was a South African first-class cricketer from Cape Province who played from 1960–61 to 1988–89.
2008
Akira Yamada
Japanese scholar and philosopher (born 1922)
Akira Yamada was a Japanese scholar and philosopher of the West European Medieval philosophy. He was member of the Japan Academy since 1998.
2016
Josefin Nilsson
Swedish singer (born 1969)
Monica Emma Josefin Nilsson, registered as Monica Emma Josefina Nilsson was a Swedish singer and actress.
2016
Wenn V. Deramas
Filipino director and screenwriter (born 1966)
Edwin Villanes Deramas, more commonly known as Wenn V. Deramas or "Direk Wenn", was a Filipino film and television director and screenwriter.