Notable Deaths on January 31

Q: Who died on January 31?

Notable people who died on January 31 include: Máedóc of Ferns, Hemma of Altdorf, Ryōgen, William V, Theodore II.

Q: What is Karl Selter known for?

Karl Selter, Estonian politician, 14th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1898)

85 people 632 – 2018

January 31 has seen 85 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 632 – 2018. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · January 31 — Wikipedia

1958 — Karl Selter

Estonian politician, 14th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1898)

Did you know

His historically most memorable act was to sign a non-aggression and mutual assistance treaty with the Soviet leaders in Moscow in September 1939

Did you know

He served as Minister of Economic Affairs from 1933 to 1938 and as minister of Foreign affairs from 1938 to 1939

Did you know

It followed a brutal ultimatum from the Soviet Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov on 24 September

Did you know

Selter left Estonia in November 1939, resigning both as Foreign Minister and as a member of Parliament

Did you know

After Germany occupied Estonia between 1941 and 1944, and after it was re-incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1944, he stayed in Switzerland as an exiled diplomat and politician.

Máedóc of Ferns

Irish bishop and saint (born 550)

Saint Máedóc of Ferns, also known as Saint Aidan, Saint Madoc or Saint Mogue, was an Irish saint. He was the first Bishop of Ferns in County Wexford, and the founder of thirty churches.

632

Hemma of Altdorf

Frankish queen

Emma of Altdorf, also known as Hemma, a member of the Elder House of Welf, was Queen consort of East Francia by marriage to King Louis the German, from 843 until her death.

876

Ryōgen

Japanese monk and abbot (born 912)

Ryōgen was the 18th chief abbot of Enryaku-ji in the 10th century.

985

William V

duke of Aquitaine (born 969)

William the Great was duke of Aquitaine and count of Poitou from 990 until his death. Upon the death of the emperor Henry II, he was offered the kingdom of Italy but declined to contest the title against Conrad II.

1030

Theodore II

patriarch of Constantinople

Theodore II of Constantinople, also known as Theodore Kopas or Koupas (Κωπᾶς/Κουπᾶς), was a high-ranking Byzantine official and chief minister during most of the reign of the Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos. After…

1216

Sukō

emperor of Japan (born 1334)

Emperor Sukō was the third of the Emperors of Northern Court during the Period of the Northern and Southern Courts in Japan. According to pre-Meiji scholars, his reign spanned the years from 1348 through 1351.

1398

Mircea I

prince of Wallachia (born 1355)

Mircea the Elder was the Voivode of Wallachia from 1386 until his death in 1418. He was the son of Radu I of Wallachia and brother of Dan I of Wallachia, after whose death he inherited the throne.

1418

Xuande

emperor of China (born 1398)

The Xuande Emperor, personal name Zhu Zhanji, was the fifth emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1425 to 1435. He was the son and successor of the Hongxi Emperor.

1435

Bairam Khan

Mughalan general (born 1501)

Muhammad Bairam Khan, commonly known as Bairam Khan or Bayram Khan was an important military commander, and later commander-in-chief of the Mughal army, a powerful statesman and regent at the court of the Mughal…

1561

Menno Simons

Dutch minister and theologian (born 1496)

Menno Simons was a Roman Catholic priest from the Friesland region of the Low Countries who was excommunicated from the Catholic Church and became an influential Anabaptist religious leader. Simons was a contemporary of…

1561

Henry

king of Portugal (born 1512)

Henry, dubbed the Chaste and the Cardinal-King, was King of Portugal and an inquisitor and cardinal of the Catholic Church, who ruled Portugal between 1578 and 1580. As a clergyman, he was bound to celibacy, and as…

1580

Guy Fawkes

English conspirator, leader of the Gunpowder Plot (born 1570)

Guy Fawkes, also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated in York; his father…

1606

Ambrose Rookwood

English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (born 1578)

Ambrose Rookwood was a member of the failed 1605 Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy to replace the Protestant King James I with a Catholic sovereign. Rookwood was born into a wealthy family of Catholic recusants, and educated…

1606

Thomas Wintour

English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (born 1571)

Robert Wintour and Thomas Wintour, also spelt Winter, were members of the Gunpowder Plot, a failed conspiracy to assassinate King James I. They were brothers, and related to other conspirators, such as their cousin,…

1606

Claudio Acquaviva

Italian priest, 5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (born 1543)

Claudio Acquaviva, SJ was an Italian Jesuit priest. Elected in 1581 as the fifth Superior General of the Society of Jesus, he has been referred to as the second founder of the Jesuit order.

1615

Jost Bürgi

Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (born 1552)

Jost Bürgi, active primarily at the courts in Kassel and Prague, was a Swiss clockmaker, mathematician, and writer. Burgi was the brother-in-law and adoptive father of Benjamin Bramer.

1632

Johannes Clauberg

German philosopher and theologian (born 1622)

Johannes Clauberg was a German philosopher and theologian. Clauberg was the founding Rector of the first University of Duisburg, where he taught from 1655 to 1665. He is known as a "scholastic cartesian".

1665

Jean Mairet

French playwright (born 1604)

Jean (de) Mairet was a classical French dramatist who wrote both tragedies and comedies.

1686

Thomas Grey

2nd Earl of Stamford, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (born 1654)

Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, PC was an English politician.

1720

Jacob Roggeveen

Dutch explorer (born 1659)

Jacob Roggeveen was a Dutch explorer who was sent to find Terra Australis and Davis Land, but instead found Easter Island. Jacob Roggeveen was the first European to find Bora Bora and Maupiti of the Society Islands, as…

1729

Filippo Juvarra

Italian architect and set designer, designed the Basilica of Superga (born 1678)

Filippo Juvarra or Juvara was an Italian architect, scenographer, engraver and goldsmith. He was active in a late-Baroque architecture style, working primarily in Italy, Spain, and Portugal.

1736

Thomas Lewis

Irish-born American lawyer and surveyor (born 1718)

Thomas Lewis was an Irish-American surveyor, lawyer, politician and pioneer of early western Virginia. He was among the signers of the Fairfax Resolves, represented Augusta County at four of the five Virginia…

1790

Mariot Arbuthnot

English admiral and politician, 12th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (born 1711)

Admiral of the Blue Mariot Arbuthnot was a Royal Navy officer who served in the American War of Independence.

1794

Manuel Alberti

Argentinian priest and journalist (born 1763)

Manuel Maximiliano Alberti was an Argentine priest from Buenos Aires when the city was part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He had a curacy at Maldonado, Uruguay during the British invasions of the River…

1811

José Félix Ribas

Venezuelan soldier (born 1775)

José Félix Ribas was a Venezuelan independence leader and hero of the Venezuelan War of Independence.

1815

Alexander Ypsilantis

Greek general (born 1792)

Alexandros Ypsilantis was a Greek nationalist politician who was member of a prominent Phanariot Greek family, a prince of the Danubian Principalities, a senior officer of the Imperial Russian cavalry during the…

1828

John Cheyne

English physician and author (born 1777)

John Cheyne FRSE FKQCPI was a British physician, surgeon, Professor of Medicine in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and author of monographs on a number of medical topics. He was one of the people to…

1836

Henri Gatien Bertrand

French general (born 1773)

Henri-Gatien Bertrand was a French general who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Under the Empire he was the third and last Grand marshal of the palace, the head of the Military…

1844

11th Dalai Lama (born 1838)

The 11th Dalai Lama, Khedrup Gyatso was recognized by the Ganden Tripa as the 11th Dalai Lama of Tibet and enthroned in 1842. He enlarged the Norbulingka, studied at Sera Monastery, Drepung Monastery and Ganden…

1856

Cilibi Moise

Moldavian Romanian journalist and author (born 1812)

Cilibi Moise or Cilibi Moisi was a Moldavian-born Wallachian and Romanian peddler, humorist, aphorist, and raconteur. He is best known for the aphorisms and anecdotes attributed to him, which, although recorded in…

1870

John Bosco

Italian priest and educator, founded the Salesian Society (born 1815)

John Melchior Bosco, SDB, popularly known as Don Bosco, was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer. While working in Turin, where the population suffered many of the ill effects of industrialization and…

1888

Charles Spurgeon

English pastor and author (born 1834)

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, to some of whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers." He was a…

1892

John Douglas

9th Marquess of Queensberry, Scottish nobleman (born 1844)

John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry was a British nobleman of the Victorian era, remembered for his atheism, his outspoken views, his brutish manner, for lending his name to the "Queensberry Rules" that…

1900

Paul Singer

German politician (born 1844)

Paul Singer was a leading Marxist in and representative of the Social Democratic Party of Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Co-Chairmen of the SPD along with fellow Marxist August Bebel from 1890 until…

1911

Eligiusz Niewiadomski

Polish painter and critic (born 1869)

Eligiusz Józef Niewiadomski was a Polish modernist painter and art critic who sympathized with the right-wing National Democracy movement. In 1922, he assassinated Poland's first President, Gabriel Narutowicz, in his…

1923

John Galsworthy

English novelist and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1867)

John Galsworthy was an English novelist and playwright. He is best known for his trilogy of novels collectively called The Forsyte Saga, and two later trilogies, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter. He was awarded…

1933

Jean Giraudoux

French author and playwright (born 1882)

Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II.

1944

Edwin Howard Armstrong

American engineer, invented FM radio (born 1890)

Edwin Howard Armstrong was an American radio-frequency engineer and inventor who developed FM radio and the superheterodyne receiver system.

1954

John Mott

American activist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1865)

John Raleigh Mott was an American evangelist and long-serving leader of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF). He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 for his…

1955

A. A. Milne

English author, poet and playwright, created Winnie-the-Pooh (born 1882)

Alan Alexander Milne was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winnie-the-Pooh…

1956

Auguste Herbin

French painter (born 1882)

Auguste Herbin was a French painter of modern art. He is best known for his Cubist and abstract paintings consisting of colorful geometric figures. He co-founded the groups Abstraction-Création and Salon des Réalités…

1960

Krishna Singh

Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar (born 1887)

Shri Krishna Singh (Sinha) (21 October 1887 – 31 January 1961), also known as Shri Babu, was the first chief minister of the Indian state of Bihar (1946–61). Except for the period of World War II, Sinha was the chief…

1961

Arthur Percival

English general (born 1887)

Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival, was a British Army officer. He saw service in the First World War and built a successful military career during the interwar period, but is best known for his defeat in the…

1966

Eddie Tolan

American sprinter and educator (born 1908)

Thomas Edward Tolan, nicknamed the "Midnight Express", was an American track and field athlete who competed in sprints. He set world records in the 100-yard dash and 100 meters event and Olympic records in the 100…

1967

Meher Baba

Indian spiritual master (born 1894)

Meher Baba was an Indian spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or the total manifestation of God in human form. A spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following of hundreds of thousands of people,…

1969

Viktor Zhirmunsky

Russian historian and linguist (born 1891)

Viktor Maksimovich Zhirmunsky was a Soviet and Russian literary historian and linguist.

1971

Ragnar Frisch

Norwegian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1895)

Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch was an influential Norwegian economist and econometrician known for being one of the major contributors to establishing economics as a quantitative and statistically informed science in the…

1973

Samuel Goldwyn

Polish American film producer, co-founded Goldwyn Pictures (born 1882)

Samuel Goldwyn was a Polish-born American film producer and pioneer in the American film industry, who produced the United States's first major motion picture. He was best known for being the founding contributor and…

1974

Ernesto Miranda

American criminal (born 1941)

Ernesto Arturo Miranda was an American laborer whose criminal conviction was set aside in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona, which ruled that criminal suspects must be informed of their right…

1976

Evert Taube

Swedish author and composer (born 1890)

Axel Evert Taube was a Swedish singer, composer, and writer. He is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians and the foremost troubadour of the Swedish ballad tradition in the 20th century.

1976

Olga Olgina

Polish opera singer and teacher (born 1904)

Olga Józefowicz, known professionally as Olga Olgina, was a Polish coloratura soprano, teacher and pianist. She made her debut in the title role of Verdi's La traviata at the Vilnius Opera in 1922 at age 18 and retired…

1979

Reginald Baker

English Australian film producer (born 1896)

Reginald Poynton Baker, MC FCA FRSA was a British film producer and a major contributor to the development of the British film industry. Along with his younger brother Leslie Forsyth, he played a decisive role in…

1985

Tatsuzō Ishikawa

Japanese author (born 1905)

Tatsuzō Ishikawa was a Japanese writer. He was the first winner of the Akutagawa Prize.

1985

Yves Allégret

French director and screenwriter (born 1907)

Yves Allégret was a French film director, often working in the film noir genre. He was born in Asnières-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine and died in Paris.

1987

William Stephenson

Canadian captain and spy (born 1896)

Sir William Samuel Stephenson was a Canadian soldier, fighter pilot, businessman and spymaster who served as the senior representative of the British Security Coordination (BSC) for the Western Allies during World War…

1989

Eveline Du Bois-Reymond Marcus

German zoologist and academic (born 1901)

Eveline du Bois-Reymond Marcus was a German zoologist and drawer.

1990

Rashad Khalifa

Egyptian American biochemist and academic (born 1935)

Rashad Khalifa was an Egyptian-American biochemist, closely associated with the United Submitters International (USI), an organization that promotes the practice and study of "Quran, the Whole Quran, and Nothing But the…

1990

John Joseph Scanlan

Irish American bishop (born 1930)

John Joseph Scanlan was an Irish-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the second bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu in Hawaii from 1968 to 1981. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of…

1997

Giant Baba

Japanese wrestler and trainer, co-founded All Japan Pro Wrestling (born 1938)

Shohei Baba , best known by his ring name Giant Baba , was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter, and professional baseball player. He is best known as a co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), a promotion he…

1999

Gil Kane

Latvian American author and illustrator (born 1926)

Gil Kane was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character.

2000

Gordon R. Dickson

Canadian American author (born 1923)

Gordon Rupert Dickson was an American science fiction writer. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000.

2001

Gabby Gabreski

American colonel and pilot (born 1919)

Francis Stanley "Gabby" Gabreski was a Polish-American career pilot in the United States Air Force who retired as a colonel after 26 years of military service. He was the top American and United States Army Air Forces…

2002

Eleanor Holm

American swimmer and actress (born 1913)

Eleanor Grace Theresa Holm was an American competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. An Olympian in 1928 and 1932, Holm was expelled from the 1936 Summer Olympics team by Avery Brundage under controversial…

2004

Suraiya

Indian actress and playback singer (born 1929)

Suraiya Jamal Sheikh, mononymously known as Suraiya, was an Indian actress and playback singer who worked in Hindi films. Regarded as one of the greatest and finest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, she was…

2004

Moira Shearer

Scottish actress and ballerina (born 1926)

Moira Shearer King, Lady Kennedy was a Scottish ballet dancer and actress. She was famous for her performances in Powell and Pressburger's The Red Shoes (1948) and The Tales of Hoffman (1951), and Michael Powell's…

2006

Molly Ivins

American journalist and author (born 1944)

Mary Tyler "Molly" Ivins was an American newspaper columnist, author, and political commentator, known for her humorous and insightful writing, which often used satire and wit to critique political figures and policies.

2007

Adelaide Tambo

South African activist and politician (born 1929)

Adelaide Frances Tambo was a South African anti-apartheid activist and former political exile.

2007

František Čapek

Czech canoeist (born 1914)

František Čapek was a Czech sprint canoeist who competed for Czechoslovakia from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s. He won a gold medal in the C-1 10000 m event at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.

2008

Bartolomeu Anania

Romanian bishop and poet (born 1921)

Bartolomeu Anania was a Romanian Orthodox bishop, translator, writer, and poet. He was the Metropolitan of Cluj, Alba, Crișana and Maramureș.

2011

Mani Ram Bagri

Indian lawyer and politician (born 1920)

Ch. Mani Ram Bagri was an Indian parliamentarian and political activist. He served three terms in the Indian Parliament, first from 1962 to 1967, and then again from 1977 to 1984 [Consisting of two terms: 1977-1980 and…

2012

Dorothea Tanning

American painter and sculptor (born 1910)

Dorothea Margaret Tanning was an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, writer, and poet. Her early work was influenced by European Surrealism.

2012

Rubén Bonifaz Nuño

Mexican poet and scholar (born 1923)

Rubén Bonifaz Nuño was a Mexican poet and classical scholar.

2013

Hassan Habibi

Iranian lawyer and politician, 1st Vice President of Iran (born 1937)

Hassan Ebrahim Habibi was an Iranian politician, lawyer, scholar and the first vice president from 1989 until 2001 under Presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami. He was also a member of the High Council…

2013

Anna Gordy Gaye

American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records (born 1922)

Anna Ruby Gaye was an American businesswoman, composer and songwriter. An elder sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy, she became a record executive in the mid-to-late 1950s distributing records released on Checker and…

2014

Abdirizak Haji Hussein

Somalian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Somalia (born 1924)

Abdirizak Haji Hussein was a Somali diplomat and politician. He was the Prime Minister of Somali Republic from 14 June 1964 to 15 July 1967.

2014

Miklós Jancsó

Hungarian director and screenwriter (born 1921)

Miklós Jancsó was a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. Jancsó achieved international prominence starting in the mid-1960s with works including The Round-Up, The Red and the White, and Red Psalm.

2014

Vic Howe

Canadian ice hockey player (born 1929)

Victor Stanley Howe was a Canadian professional ice hockey right wing. He played 33 games in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers between 1951 and 1955. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1948 to…

2015

Udo Lattek

German footballer, coach and journalist (born 1935)

Udo Lattek was a German professional football player and coach.

2015

Lizabeth Scott

American actress (born 1922)

Lizabeth Virginia Scott was an American actress, singer, and model for the Walter Thornton Model Agency, known for her "smoky voice". She was called "the most beautiful face of film noir during the 1940s and 1950s".…

2015

Richard von Weizsäcker

German captain and politician, 6th President of Germany (born 1920)

Richard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker was a German politician (CDU), who served as President of Germany from 1984 to 1994. Born into the aristocratic Weizsäcker family, he took his first public offices in the Protestant…

2015

Terry Wogan

Irish radio and television host (born 1938)

Sir Michael Terence Wogan was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in Britain for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekday breakfast programme…

2016

Rob Stewart

Canadian filmmaker (born 1979)

Rob Stewart was a Canadian photographer, filmmaker and shark conservationist. He was best known for making and directing the documentary films Sharkwater and Revolution. He drowned at the age of 37 while scuba diving in…

2017

Rasual Butler

American professional basketball player (born 1979)

Rasual Butler was an American professional basketball player. In his 14-year National Basketball Association (NBA) career, he played for the Miami Heat, New Orleans Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls, Toronto…

2018

Leah LaBelle

American singer (born 1986)

Leah LaBelle Vladowski was an American singer. She rose to prominence in 2004 as a contestant on the third season of American Idol, placing twelfth in the season finals. In 2007, LaBelle began recording covers of R&B…

2018

Notable deaths

Who died on January 31?

Karl Selter — Estonian politician (1898–1958)

FeaturedKarl Selter

Death year1958

Known forHe served as Minister of Economic Affairs from 1933 to 1938 and as minister of Foreign affairs from 1938 to 1939

Deaths on this date85 (632 – 2018)

Explore January 31

Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.

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Also on January 31 in History

2025

Med Jets Flight 056 crashes near Roosevelt Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, killing 8 people and injuring 23. Wikipedia →

2023

The last Boeing 747, the first wide-body airliner, is delivered to Atlas Air and operated for ApexLogistics. The aircraft was registered as N863GT and named "Empower". Wikipedia →

2022

Sue Gray, a senior civil servant in the United Kingdom, publishes an initial version of her report on the Downing Street Partygate controversy. Wikipedia →

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Notable Deaths on January 31

1958 — Karl Selter

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