Did you know
Her first published novel, Under the Net (1954), was selected in 1998 as one of Modern Library's 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century
Notable Deaths on February 8
99 people
538 – 2025
February 8 has seen 99 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 538 – 2025. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
1999 — Iris Murdoch
Irish-born British novelist and philosopher (born 1919)
Did you know
Her 1978 novel The Sea, The Sea won the Booker Prize
Did you know
In 1987, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to literature
Did you know
In 2008, The Times ranked Murdoch twelfth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Did you know
Dame Jean Iris Murdoch was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher
patriarch of Antioch (born 465)
Severus of Antioch also known as Severus of Gaza, or the Crown of Syrians, was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 512 until his death in 538. He is venerated as a saint in the Oriental…
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538
Byzantine emperor (born 1182)
Alexios IV Angelos, Latinized as Alexius IV Angelus, was Byzantine Emperor from August 1203 to January 1204.
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1204
sixth Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq of Tayyibi Isma'ilism
Ali ibn Hanzala ibn Abi Salim al-Mahfuzi al-Wadi'i al-Hamdani was the sixth Tayyibi Isma'ili Da'i al-Mutlaq in Yemen, from 1215 to his death in 1229.
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1229
1250
Earl of Salisbury, English martyr (born 1212)
Sir William Longespée was an English knight and crusader, the son of William Longespée and Ela, Countess of Salisbury. His death became of significant importance to the English psyche, having died at the Battle of…
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1250
Mongol ruler (born 1217)
Hulegu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulagu, was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Western Asia. As a son of Tolui and the Keraite princess Sorghaghtani Beki, he was a grandson of Genghis Khan and brother of Ariq…
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1265
Theodoric of Landsberg, a member of the House of Wettin was Margrave of Landsberg from 1265 until his death.
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1285
Przemysł II was the Duke of Poznań from 1257–1279, of Greater Poland from 1279 to 1296, of Kraków from 1290 to 1291, and Gdańsk Pomerania (Pomerelia) from 1294 to 1296, and then King of Poland from 1295 until his death.…
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1296
Queen of Serbia (born 1236)
Saint Helen of Serbia was the queen consort of the Serbian Kingdom, as the spouse of King Stefan Uroš I, who ruled from 1243 to 1276. Their sons were later Serbian kings Stefan Dragutin and Stefan Milutin. As a…
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1314
Duchess of Orléans (born 1328)
Blanche of France was the posthumous daughter of King Charles IV of France and his third wife, Joan of Évreux. She was the last direct Capetian and the last-surviving member of her family, and her marriage to her second…
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1382
Italian humanitarian (born 1481)
Gerolamo Emiliani, CRS was an Italian humanitarian, founder of the Somaschi Fathers, and is considered a saint by the Catholic Church.
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1537
Scottish theologian and academic (born 1555)
Robert Rollock was a Scottish theologian and minister in the Church of Scotland, and the first regent and first principal of the University of Edinburgh. Born into a landowning family, he distinguished himself during…
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1599
Alexei Mikhailovich, also known as Alexis, was Tsar of all Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. He was the second Russian tsar from the House of Romanov.
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1676
Ivan V Alekseyevich was Tsar of all Russia between 1682 and 1696, jointly ruling with his younger half-brother Peter I. Ivan was the youngest son of Alexis I of Russia by his first wife, Maria Miloslavskaya, while Peter…
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1696
Italian violinist and composer (born 1658)
Giuseppe Torelli was an Italian violinist, teacher and composer of the middle Baroque era.
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1709
Russian emperor (born 1672)
Peter I was the Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V until 1696. Peter, as an autocrat, organized a well-ordered…
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1725
Dutch painter (born 1682)
Jan van Huysum is the most notable member of the Van Huysum family of artists working in Dutch Golden Age of the 17th and 18th centuries; "by common consent, Jan van Huysum has been held to be the best painter of…
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1749
English playwright and poet (born 1685)
Aaron Hill was an English dramatist and miscellany writer.
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1750
Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was Princess of Wales by marriage to Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son and heir apparent of King George II. She never became queen consort, as Frederick predeceased his…
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1772
French violinist and conductor (born 1781)
François Antoine Habeneck was a French classical violinist and conductor.
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1849
Slovenian poet and lawyer (born 1800)
France Prešeren was a Slovene poet whose works are widely considered some of the most important in Slovene literature.
His poems have been translated into many languages.
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1849
Italian entomologist and academic (born 1773)
Agostino Bassi, sometimes called de Lodi, was an Italian entomologist. He preceded Louis Pasteur in the discovery that microorganisms can be the cause of disease. He discovered that the muscardine disease of silkworms…
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1856
Dutch chemist and academic (born 1854)
Hendrik Willem Bakhuis Roozeboom was a Dutch chemist who studied phase behaviour in physical chemistry.
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1907
Norwegian philosopher and activist (born 1854)
Hans Henrik Jæger was a Norwegian writer, philosopher and anarchist activist who was part of the bohemian group known as the Kristiania Bohemians.
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1910
Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 10th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (born 1838)
Sir François Langelier, was a Canadian lawyer, professor, journalist, politician, the tenth Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, and author. He was born in Sainte-Rosalie, Lower Canada and died in Spencer Wood, Sillery,…
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1915
English actor and singer (born 1876)
George Formby was an English comedian and singer in musical theatre, known as one of the greatest music hall performers of the early 20th century. His comedy played upon Lancashire stereotypes, and he was popular around…
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1921
Russian zoologist, geographer, and philologist (born 1842)
Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin was a Russian anarchist political philosopher and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism.
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1921
German chemist (born 1857)
Geheimrat Julius Wilhelm Theodor Curtius was professor of Chemistry at Heidelberg University. He published the Curtius rearrangement in 1890/1894 and also discovered diazoacetic acid, hydrazine and hydrazoic acid. In…
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1928
Bulgarian architect, designed the Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church (born 1867)
Yordan Milanov was a Bulgarian architect.
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1932
Finnish linguist and politician, Minister for Foreign Affairs (born 1864)
Eemil Nestor Setälä was a Finnish politician who served as Chairman of the Senate of Finland from September 1917 to November 1917, when he was author of the Finnish Declaration of Independence.
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1935
American lawyer and politician, 31st Vice President of the United States (born 1860)
Charles Curtis was the 31st vice president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 under President Herbert Hoover. He was the Senate Majority Leader from 1924 to 1929. An enrolled citizen of the Kaw Nation born in the…
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1936
Ukrainian Jewish anarchist (born 1876)
Olha Illivna Taratuta was a Ukrainian Jewish anarchist and a founder of the Anarchist Black Cross (ABC).
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1938
Italian fencer and coach (born 1866)
Italo Santelli was an Italian fencer who is considered to be the "father of modern sabre fencing".
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1945
American baseball player and manager (born 1862)
Cornelius McGillicuddy, better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. Mack holds records for the most wins (3,731), losses (3,948), ties (76), and games managed…
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1956
German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1891)
Walther Wilhelm Georg Bothe was a German experimental physicist who shared the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics with Max Born "for the coincidence method and his discoveries made therewith."
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1957
Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist (born 1903)
John von Neumann was a Hungarian and American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist and engineer. Von Neumann had perhaps the widest coverage of any mathematician of his time, integrating pure and applied…
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1957
American head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) (born 1883)
William Joseph "Wild Bill" Donovan was an American soldier, lawyer, intelligence officer and diplomat. He is best known for serving as the head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the Bureau of…
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1959
English philosopher and academic (born 1911)
John Langshaw Austin was an English philosopher of language and leading proponent of ordinary language philosophy, best known for developing the theory of speech acts.
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1960
English architect and engineer, designed the Red telephone box and Liverpool Cathedral (born 1880)
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott was a British architect known for his work on the New Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, Battersea Power Station, Liverpool Cathedral, and designing the…
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1960
Italian-American actor (born 1908)
George Dolenz was an American film actor born in Trieste, in the city's Slovene community.
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1963
German psychiatrist and author (born 1888)
Ernst Kretschmer was a German psychiatrist who researched the human constitution and established a typology.
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1964
Northern Irish republican and anti partition politician (born 1877)
Charles Everard Healy was an Irish politician. He was a leader of northern nationalists and a self-educated man who made major contributions to Ireland's political, cultural and literary heritage.
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1970
Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer and educationist (born 1887)
Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, popularly known by his pen name Ghanshyam Vyas, was an Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer from Gujarat state. A lawyer by profession, he later turned to author and…
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1971
Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (born 1905)
Markos Vamvakaris, was a Greek musician of rebetiko, universally referred to by rebetiko writers and fans simply by his first name, Markos. The great significance of Vamvakaris for the rebetiko is also reflected by his…
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1972
English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born1886)
Sir Robert Robinson was a British organic chemist and Nobel laureate recognised in 1947 for his research on plant dyestuffs (anthocyanins) and alkaloids. In 1947, he also received the Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm.
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1975
Norwegian composer and theorist (born 1901)
Eivind Groven was a Norwegian composer and music-theorist. He was from the traditional region of Vest-Telemark and had a background in the folk music of the area.
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1977
Hungarian-English physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1900)
Dennis Gabor was a Hungarian-British physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971 for his invention of holography. He obtained British citizenship in 1946 and spent most of his life in England.
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1979
Greek singer-songwriter (born 1936)
Nikos Xylouris, also known as Psaronikos (Ψαρονίκος), was a Greek singer, Cretan lyra player, and songwriter who performed both Cretan rural traditional and urban orchestral music arrangements.
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1980
American financier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (born 1904)
John Hay Whitney was an American venture capitalist, sportsman, philanthropist, newspaper publisher, film producer and diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the New York Herald…
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1982
English businessman, co-founded Swallow Sidecar Company (born 1901)
Sir William Lyons, known as "Mr. Jaguar", was with fellow motorcycle enthusiast William Walmsley, the co-founder in 1922 of the Swallow Sidecar Company, which became Jaguar Cars Limited after the Second World War.
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1985
American actress (born 1905)
Harriet Elizabeth MacGibbon was an American film, stage and television actress best known for her role as the insufferably snobbish, "blue-blooded Bostonian" Mrs. Margaret Drysdale in the sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies.
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1987
American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1934)
Charles Weedon Westover, known professionally as Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one Billboard hit "Runaway", which was covered later by various major…
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1990
British Australian nuclear physicist (born 1916)
Sir Ernest William Titterton was a British nuclear physicist.
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1990
American sergeant (born 1918)
Stanley Armour Dunham was an American furniture salesman and the maternal grandfather of Barack Obama, a former President of the United States. He and his wife Madelyn Payne Dunham raised Obama from the age of 10 in…
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1992
American pianist and composer (born 1908)
Raymond Scott was an American composer, band leader, pianist and record producer. Known best in his time as a composer of production music, Scott is today regarded as an early pioneer of electronica.
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1994
1996
American motorcycle stunt rider (born 1968)
Corey L. Scott was an American stunt performer and professional motorcycle stunt rider. Scott died during a live stunt in front of a crowd of around 30,000 spectators at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami, Florida, while…
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1997
Icelandic author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1902)
Halldór Kiljan Laxness was an Icelandic writer and winner of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature. He wrote novels, poetry, newspaper articles, essays, plays, travelogues and short stories. Writers who influenced Laxness…
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1998
English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Health (born 1912)
John Enoch Powell was a British politician, scholar and writer. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South West for the Conservative Party from 1950 to February 1974 and the MP for South Down for the…
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1998
American economist and author (born 1932)
Julian Lincoln Simon was an American economist. He was a professor of economics and business administration at the University of Illinois from 1963 to 1983 before later moving to the University of Maryland, where he…
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1998
Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster (born 1918)
Sidney Gerald Abel was a Canadian Hall of Fame hockey player, coach and general manager in the National Hockey League, most notably for the Detroit Red Wings, and was a member of Stanley Cup-winning teams in 1943, 1950,…
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2000
American football player (born 1967)
Derrick Vincent Thomas was an American professional football linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "D. T.", he played 11 seasons with the Chiefs until his death in 2000.…
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2000
Norwegian director and screenwriter (born 1920)
Ivo Caprino was a Norwegian film director and writer, best known for his puppet films. His most noted film, Flåklypa Grand Prix, was made in 1975.
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2001
Singaporean architect and politician, 5th President of Singapore (born 1936)
Ong Teng Cheong was a Singaporean architect and politician who served as the fifth president of Singapore between 1993 and 1999 after winning the 1993 presidential election.
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2002
American journalist and author (born 1915)
Julius "Julie" Schwartz was an American comic book editor and a science fiction agent. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various times he was primary editor…
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2004
Sri Lankan sailor and politician (born 1944)
Ariyanayagam Chandranehru was a Sri Lankan merchant seaman, politician and Member of Parliament.
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2005
English saxophonist, songwriter, and producer (born 1945)
Elton Dean was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello and occasionally keyboards. Part of the Canterbury scene, he featured in Soft Machine, among others.
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2006
2006
Japanese composer (born 1914)
Akira Ifukube was a Japanese composer. He is best known for composing several entries in the Godzilla franchise as well as developing the titular monster's roar.
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2006
American model and actress (born 1967)
Vickie Lynn Marshall, known professionally as Anna Nicole Smith, was an American model, actress and television personality. Smith started her modeling career as a Playboy magazine centerfold in May 1992 and won the…
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2007
Canadian-American psychiatrist and academic (born 1918)
Ian Pretyman Stevenson was a Canadian-born American psychiatrist, the founder and director of the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He was a professor at the University of…
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2007
American educator and cultural historian (born 1931)
Ruby Garrard Woodson was an educator and chemistry teacher who founded Cromwell Academy in Washington, D. C. and Florida Academy of African American Culture in Sarasota, Florida.
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2008
American colonel and politician (born 1932)
John Patrick Murtha Jr. was an American politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Murtha, a Democrat, represented Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from…
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2010
American baseball player and soldier (born 1909)
Anthony Francis Malinosky was an American professional baseball player. He played third baseman and shortstop in Major League baseball in 35 games for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1937 season. Listed at 5' 10", Weight:…
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2011
2012
Argentinian singer-songwriter (born 1950)
Luis Alberto Spinetta, nicknamed "El Flaco", was an Argentine singer, guitarist, composer, writer and poet. One of the most influential rock musicians of Argentina, he is widely regarded as one of the founders of…
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2012
Italian cardinal (born 1918)
Giovanni Cheli was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, who had a career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See and then in the senior ranks of the Roman Curia. He was made a cardinal in 1998.
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2013
American conductor and educator (born 1936)
James Anderson DePreist was an American conductor. DePreist was one of the first African-American conductors on the world stage. He was the director emeritus of conducting and orchestral studies at The Juilliard School…
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2013
American journalist and author (born 1920)
Maureen Dragone was an American journalist and author. She was one of the longest-standing members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association which presents the annual Golden Globe Awards. In 1978 she founded the Young…
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2013
American scientist (born 1918)
Nevin Stewart Scrimshaw was an American food scientist and Institute Professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Scrimshaw was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During the course of his long career he…
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2013
2014
Brazilian footballer (born 1988)
Maicon Pereira de Oliveira commonly known as Maicon, was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward in the Ukrainian Premier League for most of his professional career.
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2014
American sculptor and painter (born 1938)
Nancy Holt was an American artist most known for her public sculpture, installation art, concrete poetry, and land art. Throughout her career, Holt also produced works in other media, including film and photography.…
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2014
Finnish physician and parapsychologist (born 1939)
Rauni-Leena Tellervo Luukanen-Kilde was a Finnish physician who wrote and lectured on parapsychology, ufology, and mind control.
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2015
Argentine actress (born 1914)
Amelia Bence was an Argentine film actress and one of the divas of the Golden Age of Argentine cinema during the 1930s and 1950s.
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2016
Indian poet and songwriter (born 1938)
Muqtida Hasan Nida Fazli, known as Nida Fazli, was a prominent Indian Urdu and Hindi poet, lyricist and dialogue writer. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2013 by the government of India for his contribution to…
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2016
English historian, author, and critic (born 1938)
Margaret Forster was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, historian and critic, best known for the 1965 novel Georgy Girl, made into a successful film of the same name, which inspired a hit song by The Seekers.…
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2016
French ballerina (born 1933)
Violette Verdy was a French ballerina, choreographer, teacher, and writer who worked as a dance company director with the Paris Opera Ballet in France and the Boston Ballet in the United States. From 1958 to 1977 she…
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2016
English physicist, Nobel laureate (born 1933)
Sir Peter Mansfield was an English physicist who was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Paul Lauterbur, for discoveries concerning Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Mansfield was a…
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2017
Japanese idol singer (born 1998)
Rina Matsuno was a Japanese singer, model, actress, and tarento who was a member of the idol group Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku.
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2017
English scriptwriter (born 1929)
Alan Francis Simpson was an English scriptwriter. He was best known as part of the Galton and Simpson comedy writing partnership with Ray Galton. Together they devised and wrote the BBC sitcom Hancock's Half Hour…
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2017
American actor (born 1935)
Robert Conrad was an American actor, singer, and stuntman. He is best known for his role in the 1965–1969 television series The Wild Wild West, playing the sophisticated Secret Service agent James T. West. He also…
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2020
American football player and coach (born 1943)
Martin Edward Schottenheimer was an American professional football linebacker and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 21 seasons. He was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns from…
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2021
American singer (born 1944)
Mary Wilson was an American singer. She gained worldwide recognition as a founding member of the Supremes, the most successful Motown act of the 1960s and the best-charting female group in U.S. chart history, as well as…
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2021
Finnish professional hockey player (born 1963)
Arto Heiskanen was a Finnish professional ice hockey left winger.
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2023
American football player and coach (born 1950)
Richard Manual Jauron was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played eight seasons in the NFL as a safety, five with the Detroit Lions and three with the…
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2025
Namibian politician, 1st President of Namibia (born 1929)
Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma was a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first president of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the…
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2025
Brother of the 14th Dalai Lama (born 1928)
Gyalo Thondup was a Tibetan political operator in exile. The second-oldest brother of the 14th Dalai Lama, he was his closest advisor. From 1952 onward, he was based in India. Through the 1950s and 1960s, he worked with…
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2025
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Notable deaths
Who died on February 8?
Iris Murdoch — Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919–1999)
FeaturedIris Murdoch
Death year1999
Known forMurdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious
Deaths on this date99 (538 – 2025)
Explore February 8
Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.
Also on February 8 in History
2023
Two children are killed and six others are injured when a bus crashes into a daycare centre in Laval, Quebec, Canada. The driver is arrested and charged with homicide and dangerous driving. Wikipedia →
2020
A soldier opens fire in a military camp and a shopping center in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, killing 29 people and injuring 58 others before being shot dead by police the next day. It is considered the deadliest mass shooting in the country's history. Wikipedia →
2014
See all events on February 8
A hotel fire in Medina, Saudi Arabia, kills 15 Egyptian pilgrims with 130 others injured. Wikipedia →
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