Did you know
He first won the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections in 1994 while representing Janata Dal
Notable Deaths on January 3
96 people
236 – 2025
January 3 has seen 96 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 236 – 2025. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
2017 — H. S. Mahadeva Prasad
Indian politician (born 1958)
Did you know
At the time of his death in January 2017, he was the incumbent state minister for Cooperation and Sugar in the Government of Karnataka led by Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister.
Did you know
He was re-elected in five straight subsequent elections in 1999, 2004, 2008 and 2013
Did you know
Halahalli Shreekantha Shetti Mahadeva Prasad was an Indian politician from the state of Karnataka and five-time Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Gundlupet constituency of the Chamarajanagar district
Did you know
Throughout his political career he had been member of Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), Janata Dal (Secular) and the Indian National Congress
236
Chinese emperor (born 276)
Emperor Yuan of Jin, personal name Sima Rui (司馬睿), courtesy name Jingwen (景文), was an emperor of the Jin dynasty and the first emperor of the Eastern Jin. He was the son of Sima Jin (司馬覲), the grandson of Prince of…
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323
Japanese calligrapher (born 972)
Fujiwara no Yukinari or Kōzei was a Japanese calligrapher (shodoka) during the Heian period. He was memorialized for his prowess in his chosen art by being remembered as one of the outstanding Three Brush Traces, along…
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1028
Japanese nobleman (born 966)
Fujiwara no Michinaga was a Japanese statesman. The Fujiwara clan's control over Japan and its politics reached its zenith under his leadership.
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1028
1098
1322
queen consort of Henry V (born 1401)
Catherine of Valois or Catherine of France was Queen of England from 1420 until 1422. A daughter of King Charles VI of France, she married King Henry V of England and was the mother of King Henry VI. Catherine's…
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1437
Turkic poet, linguist, and mystic (born 1441)
'Ali-Shir Nava'i, also known as Nizām-al-Din ʿAli-Shir Herawī was a Timurid poet, writer, statesman, linguist, Hanafi Maturidi mystic and painter who was the greatest representative of Chagatai literature.
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1501
Portuguese explorer and navigator (born 1499)
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese maritime explorer best known for investigations of the west coast of North America, undertaken on behalf of the Spanish Empire. He was the first European to explore present-day…
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1543
Elector of Brandenburg (born 1505)
Joachim II was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1535–1571), the sixth member of the House of Hohenzollern. Joachim II was the eldest son of Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg and his wife…
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1571
English astronomer and mathematician (born 1618)
Jeremiah Horrocks, sometimes given as Jeremiah Horrox, was an English astronomer. He was the first person to demonstrate that the Moon moved around the Earth in an elliptical orbit; and he was the only person to predict…
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1641
1656
1st Duke of Albemarle, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (born 1608)
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle was a professional soldier from Devon who fought on both sides during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A prominent military figure under the Commonwealth, his support was crucial to…
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1670
1701
Italian painter and illustrator (born 1634)
Luca Giordano was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Giordano was one of the most celebrated artists of the Neapolitan Baroque, whose vast output included altarpieces, mythological paintings and…
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1705
Italian painter and architect (born 1657)
Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena, surname also spelt Galli da Bibiena or Bibbiena, was an Italian Baroque-era architect, designer, and painter.
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1743
Italian composer (born 1706)
Baldassare Galuppi was a Venetian composer, born on the island of Burano in the Venetian Republic. He belonged to a generation of composers, including Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and C. P. E.…
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1785
English potter, founded the Wedgwood Company (born 1730)
Josiah Wedgwood was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the…
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1795
French general (born 1770)
Louis-Gabriel Suchet, duc d'Albuféra, was a French Marshal of the Empire and one of the most successful commanders of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. During the Peninsular War, he was remembered as a…
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1826
Indian priest and saint (born 1805)
Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara, CMI was an Indian Catholic priest, religious, philosopher and social reformer. He is the first canonised Catholic male saint of Indian origin and was a member of the Syro-Malabar Church,…
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1871
French lexicographer and publisher (born 1817)
Pierre Athanase Larousse was a French grammarian, lexicographer and encyclopaedist. He published many of the outstanding educational and reference works of 19th-century France, including the 15-volume Grand dictionnaire…
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1875
English author (born 1805)
William Harrison Ainsworth was an English historical novelist born at King Street in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in London…
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1882
American lithographer and businessman, co-founded Currier and Ives (born 1824)
James Merritt Ives was an American lithographer, bookkeeper, and businessman. He oversaw the business and financial side of the firm, Currier and Ives, which he co-managed with his business partner, Nathaniel Currier.
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1895
Austrian civil servant (born 1837)
Alois Hitler was an Austrian civil servant in the customs service and the father of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany.
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1903
Greek author and poet (born 1851)
Alexandros Papadiamantis was an influential Greek novelist, short-story writer and poet.
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1911
English poet, author, and playwright (born 1884)
James Elroy Flecker was a British novelist, playwright, and poet, whose poetry was most influenced by the Parnassian poets.
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1915
American general and politician (born 1831)
Grenville Mellen Dodge was a Union Army general on the frontier and a pioneering figure in military intelligence during the Civil War, who served as Ulysses S. Grant's intelligence chief in the Western Theater. He…
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1916
Czech journalist and author (born 1883)
Jaroslav Hašek was a Czech writer, humorist, satirist, journalist, bohemian, first anarchist and then communist, and commissar of the Red Army against the Czechoslovak Legion. He is best known for his novel The Fateful…
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1923
German physicist and mathematician (born 1856)
Carl David Tolmé Runge was a German mathematician, physicist, and spectroscopist.
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1927
French general (born 1852)
Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre LH was a French general who served as Commander-in-Chief of French forces on the Western Front from the start of World War I until the end of 1916. He is best known for regrouping the…
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1931
German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of Germany (born 1876)
Wilhelm Carl Josef Cuno was a German businessman and politician who was the chancellor of Germany from 1922 to 1923 for a total of 264 days. His tenure included the beginning of the occupation of the Ruhr by French and…
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1933
Canadian-American actor, director, and producer (born 1896)
John Charles Smith, known professionally as Jack Pickford, was a Canadian-American actor, film director, and producer. He was the younger brother of actresses Mary and Lottie Pickford.
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1933
Australian lawyer and politician, 5th Premier of Western Australia (born 1863)
Sir Walter Hartwell James, was the fifth Premier of Western Australia and an ardent supporter of the federation movement.
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1943
Lithuanian poet, critic, and translator (born 1873)
Jurgis Baltrušaitis was a Lithuanian Symbolist poet and translator who wrote in Lithuanian and Russian, and was an exponent of iconology. He was the father of art historian and critic Jurgis Baltrušaitis Jr.
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1944
American psychic and author (born 1877)
Edgar Cayce was an American clairvoyant who reported and chronicled an ability to diagnose diseases and recommend treatments for ailments while asleep. During thousands of transcribed sessions, Cayce answered questions…
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1945
American-British pro-Axis propaganda broadcaster (born 1906)
William Brooke Joyce, nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the Second World War. After moving from New York to Ireland and subsequently to England, Joyce became a member of…
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1946
Russian-American pianist and composer (born 1864)
Alexander Tikhonovich Gretchaninov was a Russian Romantic composer.
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1956
Greek Olympian (born 1886)
Dimitrios Vergos was a Greek champion in wrestling, weightlifting and shot put.
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1956
German educator and politician, Chancellor of Germany (born 1879)
Karl Joseph Wirth was a German politician of the Catholic Centre Party who was chancellor of Germany from May 1921 to November 1922, during the early years of the Weimar Republic. He was also minister of four government…
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1956
Scottish poet, author, and translator (born 1887)
Edwin Muir CBE was a Scottish poet, novelist and translator. Born on a farm in Deerness, a parish of Orkney, Scotland, he is remembered for his deeply felt and vivid poetry written in plain language and with few…
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1959
American journalist, author, and academic (born 1884)
Eric Philbrook Kelly was an American journalist, academic and author of children's books. He was a professor of English at Dartmouth College and briefly a lecturer at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. He won the…
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1960
American painter (born 1885)
Milton Clark Avery was an American modern painter. Born in Altmar, New York, he moved to Connecticut in 1898 and later to New York City. He was the husband of artist Sally Michel Avery and the father of artist March…
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1965
American civil rights activist (born 1944)
Samuel Leamon Younge Jr. was a civil rights and voting rights activist who was murdered for trying to desegregate a "whites only" restroom. Younge was an enlisted service member in the United States Navy, where he…
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1966
Scottish-American soprano and actress (born 1874)
Mary Garden was a Scottish-American operatic lyric soprano, then mezzo-soprano, with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century. She spent the latter part of her childhood and…
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1967
British scientist (born 1875)
Reginald Crundall Punnett FRS was a British geneticist who co-founded, with William Bateson, the Journal of Genetics in 1910. Punnett is probably best remembered today as the creator of the Punnett square, a tool still…
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1967
1967
English missionary and humanitarian (born 1902)
Gladys May Aylward was a British evangelical Christian missionary to China, whose story was told in the book The Small Woman: The Heroic Story of Gladys Aylward, by Alan Burgess, published in 1957. The book served as…
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1970
Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (born 1880)
Victor Kraft was an Austrian philosopher. He is best known for being a member of the Vienna Circle.
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1975
American businessman, founded the Hilton Hotels & Resorts (born 1887)
Conrad Nicholson Hilton was an American hotel magnate and politician who founded the Hilton Hotels chain. From 1912 to 1916, Hilton was a Republican representative in the first New Mexico Legislature, but became…
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1979
Austrian-Kenyan painter and conservationist (born 1910)
Friederike Victoria "Joy" Adamson was a naturalist, artist and author. Her book, Born Free, describes her experiences raising a lion cub named Elsa. Born Free was printed in several languages and made into an Academy…
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1980
Scottish poet and academic (born 1915)
George Sutherland Fraser was a Scottish poet, literary critic and academic.
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1980
Countess of Athlone (born 1883)
Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, was a member of the British royal family. She was the longest-lived princess of the blood royal, and one of the longest-lived British royals. Princess Alice was the last surviving…
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1981
Ukrainian-German poet and author (born 1901)
Rose Ausländer was a Jewish poet writing in German and English. Born in Czernowitz in the Bukovina, she lived through its tumultuous history of belonging to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kingdom of Romania, and…
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1988
Russian mathematician and academic (born 1909)
Prof Sergei Lvovich Sobolev, FRSE was a Soviet mathematician working in mathematical analysis and partial differential equations.
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1989
Australian actress (born 1897)
Dame Frances Margaret Anderson, known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film, and television.
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1992
Indian engineer (born 1920)
Satish Dhawan was an Indian mathematician and aerospace engineer. He served as the chairman of ISRO from 1972 to 1984 and is often regarded as the father of experimental fluid dynamics research in India.
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2002
American football player and coach (born 1911)
Sidney Gillman was an American football player, coach and executive. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or wide receivers at…
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2003
Australian politician, 37th Premier of South Australia (born 1928)
James Desmond Corcoran was an Australian politician who served as the 37th premier of South Australia between February and September 1979, following the resignation of Don Dunstan. During his brief premiership Corcoran…
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2004
Taiwanese businessman and diplomat (born 1917)
Koo Chen-fu, also known as C.F. Koo, was a Taiwanese businessman, diplomat, and film producer. He led the Koos Group of companies from 1940 until his death. As a chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), Koo…
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2005
Maltese Roman Catholic priest, missionary, and educator (born 1918)
Egidio Galea OSA MBE was a Maltese Augustinian Roman Catholic priest, missionary, and educator, and a significant figure in the Catholic resistance to Nazism in Italy during World War II. He was a close aide to the…
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2005
Indian diplomat, 2nd Indian National Security Adviser (born 1936)
Jyotindra Nath Dixit was an Indian diplomat of Indian Foreign Service, who served as the National Security Advisor of India to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and is mostly remembered for his role as a negotiator in…
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2005
Papua New Guinean politician, 5th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (born 1954)
Sir William Jack Skate was a prominent Papua New Guinea politician. He was the son of an Australian father and a Papua New Guinean mother. Though his career was turbulent and often marked by setbacks, he served in the…
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2006
Jr., American businessman and politician, 27th United States Secretary of Commerce (born 1917)
Calvin William Verity Jr. was an American government official and steel industrialist who served as the 27th United States secretary of commerce between 1987 and 1989, under President Ronald Reagan.
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2007
Scottish racing driver (born 1931)
James Robert Stewart was a British racing driver from Scotland who participated in a single Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, driving for Ecurie Ecosse. He was born in Milton, West Dunbartonshire. He also…
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2008
South Korean boxer (born 1972)
Choi Yo-sam was a Korean world boxing champion. He was born in Jeongeup, Jeollabukdo, South Korea.
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2008
American philanthropist and photographer (born 1921)
Betty Freeman was an American philanthropist and photographer. She had originally trained to be a concert pianist, practicing six to eight hours per day for twenty years, but eventually, by the mid-1960s, gave up this…
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2009
American actor (born 1923)
Martin Patterson Hingle was an American actor. He was best known to screen audiences for his character roles, often as tough authority figures, in over 200 productions between 1954 and 2008.
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2009
Japanese politician (born 1969)
Hisayasu Nagata was a Japanese politician born in Nagoya City in Aichi Prefecture. He was well known for falsely accusing the former Livedoor CEO Takafumi Horie of bribing the Liberal Democratic Party.
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2009
Chilean-German composer and academic (born 1925)
Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt was a Chilean composer.
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2010
2010
2012
American lawyer and judge (born 1917)
Robert Lee Carter was an American lawyer, civil rights activist and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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2012
American author and illustrator (born 1914)
Winifred Milius Lubell was an American illustrator, artist and writer. In her early adult years, Milius was active in the Communist Party of the United States and an advocate for social justice. She began her artistic…
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2012
Czech-Canadian author and publisher (born 1924)
Josef Škvorecký was a Czech-Canadian writer and publisher. He spent half of his life in Canada, publishing and supporting banned Czech literature during the communist era. Škvorecký was awarded the Neustadt…
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2012
English soldier and pilot (born 1913)
Alfred George Fripp, known as "Alfie" or "Bill", was a British Royal Air Force squadron leader who was a flight sergeant during the Second World War. He was shot down by the Luftwaffe in 1939 and held in twelve…
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2013
Czech cryptozoologist, explorer, and author (born 1942)
Ivan Mackerle was a Czech cryptozoologist, author, design engineer and explorer. He organized expeditions to search for the Loch Ness monster of Scotland, the Tasmanian tiger in Australia, and the elephant bird in…
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2013
American general (born 1930)
William B. Maxson was an American Air Force Major General and vice commander, 15th Air Force, Strategic Air Command, March Air Force Base, Calif.
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2013
Romanian actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1930)
Sergiu Florin Nicolaescu was a Romanian film director, actor and politician.
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2013
American singer and guitarist (born 1939)
Phillip Everly was an American musician, who was one half of the duo The Everly Brothers alongside his older brother Don.
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2014
American economist and author (born 1930)
George Jerome Waldo Goodman was an American author and economics broadcast commentator, best known by his pseudonym Adam Smith. He published fiction under his own name.
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2014
American film producer (born 1921)
Saul Zaentz was an American film producer and record company executive. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture three times and, in 1996, was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
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2014
American economist and academic (born 1936)
Martin Anderson was an American academic, economist, author, policy analyst, and adviser to U.S. politicians and presidents, including Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. In the Nixon administration, Anderson was credited…
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2015
American captain and politician, 47th Massachusetts Attorney General (born 1919)
Edward William Brooke III was an American lawyer and Republican Party politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1967 to 1979. He was the first African American elected to the United…
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2015
2016
Danish computer scientist, astronomer, and academic (born 1928)
Peter Naur was a Danish computer science pioneer and 2005 Turing Award winner. He is best remembered as a contributor, with John Backus, to the Backus–Naur form (BNF) notation used in describing the syntax for most…
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2016
Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1945)
William Ronald Plager was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman.
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2016
Russian general and diplomat (born 1957)
Igor Dmitrievich Sergun was a Russian military officer who was a director of GRU, Russia's military intelligence service, from 2011 until his death in January 2016. He was promoted to colonel general on 21 February 2015.
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2016
Australian composer (born 1933)
Colin James Brumby was an Australian composer and conductor.
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2018
American businessman, co-founder of Southwest Airlines (born 1931)
Herbert David Kelleher was an American billionaire airline businessman and lawyer. He was the co-founder, later CEO, and chairman emeritus of Southwest Airlines until his death in 2019.
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2019
Iranian major general, commander of the Iranian Quds Force (born 1957)
Qasem Soleimani was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until his assassination by the United States in 2020, he was the commander of the Quds Force, an IRGC…
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2020
American author (born 1961)
Eric Jerome Dickey was an American author. He wrote several crime novels involving grifters, ex-cons, and assassins, the latter novels having more diverse settings, moving from Los Angeles to the United Kingdom to the…
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2021
Spanish cancer activist and influencer (born 2002)
Elena Huelva Palomo was a Spanish cancer activist, influencer, and writer. Through her regular use of social media, she divulged information about Ewing sarcoma, the type of cancer she was suffering from, to a wider…
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2023
American filmmaker (born 1977)
Jeffrey Lance Baena was an American screenwriter and film director. His most successful films were 2004's I Heart Huckabees and 2020's Horse Girl, though his projects to receive the most contemporaneous critical acclaim…
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2025
American R&B singer-songwriter and keyboard player (born 1941)
Alfred Jesse Smith, known professionally as Brenton Wood, was an American singer and songwriter. Three 1967 singles of Wood's, "The Oogum Boogum Song", "Gimme Little Sign", and "Baby You Got It" were hits.
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2025
Georgian politician (born 1947)
Nikoloz "Niko" Lekishvili was a Georgian politician who was a state minister, Mayor of Tbilisi, and a member of the Parliament of Georgia.
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2025
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Notable deaths
Who died on January 3?
H. S. Mahadeva Prasad — Indian politician
FeaturedH. S. Mahadeva Prasad
Death year2017
Known forHe first won the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections in 1994 while representing Janata Dal
Deaths on this date96 (236 – 2025)
Explore January 3
Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.
Also on January 3 in History
2026
The United States conducts airstrikes across northern Venezuela, including the capital Caracas and captures Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores. Wikipedia →
2024
At least 91 people are killed in bombings in Kerman, Iran, during a ceremony commemorating the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani four years earlier. Wikipedia →
2023
See all events on January 3
Singapore's Jurong Bird Park permanently closes. Wikipedia →
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