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Notable Deaths on July 23
106 people
955 – 2024
July 23 has seen 106 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 955 – 2024. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
2017 — John Kundla
American basketball coach (born 1916)
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Thomas in Saint Paul for one season in 1946–47, and at the University of Minnesota for ten seasons, from 1959 to 1968
Did you know
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
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John Albert Kundla was an American college and professional basketball coach
Did you know
Kundla was the head basketball coach at the University of St
955
997
bishop of Bamberg (c. 1025/1030)
Gunther was a German nobleman and prelate of the Holy Roman Empire. He served as Chancellor of Italy from 1054 until 1057 and as Bishop of Bamberg from 1057 until his death. He was the leader of the Great German…
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1065
French nobleman, relative of Godfrey of Bouillon
Warner of Grez Count of Grez, was a French nobleman from Grez-Doiceau, currently in Walloon Brabant in Belgium. He was one of the participants in the army of Godfrey of Bouillon of the First Crusade, and died in…
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1100
Chinese religious leader, founded the Dragon Gate Taoism (born 1148)
Qiu Chuji, courtesy name Tongmi (通密), also known by his Taoist name Master Changchun, was a renowned Taoist master from late Southern Song/Jin dynasty and a famous disciple of Wang Chongyang, the founder of Quanzhen…
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1227
Armenian king (born c. 1271)
Thoros III or Toros III was king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, ruling from 1293 to 1296. He was the son of Leo II of Armenia and Kyranna de Lampron, and was part of the House of Lampron. In 1293 his brother Hethum…
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1298
Swedish mystic and saint, founded the Bridgettine Order (born 1303)
Bridget of Sweden, OSsS, also known as Birgitta Birgersdotter and Birgitta of Vadstena, was a Swedish Catholic mystic and the founder of the Bridgettines. Outside Sweden, she was also known as the Princess of Nericia…
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1373
1st Earl of Worcester, English rebel (born 1343)
Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, KG was an English medieval nobleman and naval commander best known for leading the rebellion with his nephew Henry Percy, known as 'Harry Hotspur', and his elder brother, Henry Percy,…
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1403
French husband of Diane de Poitiers
Louis de Brézé, Seigneur d'Anet and Count of Maulévrier, was a French nobleman, the grandson of King Charles VII of France through his illegitimate daughter, born from his relationship with Agnès Sorel.
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1531
1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (born 1519)
Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset was the son of Henry VIII of England and his mistress Elizabeth Blount, and the only child born out of wedlock whom Henry acknowledged. He was the younger half-brother of…
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1536
German knight and poet (born 1480)
Gottfried "Götz" von Berlichingen zu Hornberg, also known as Götz of the Iron Hand, was a German (Franconian) Imperial Knight (Reichsritter), mercenary and poet. He was born around 1480 into the noble family of…
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1562
1584
1st Baron Hunsdon (born 1526)
Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon was an English peer and courtier. He was the patron of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, William Shakespeare's playing company. The son of Mary Boleyn, he was a cousin of Elizabeth I.
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1596
1645
1692
1st Viscount Harcourt, English politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (born 1661)
Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt, PC of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, was an English Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1690 until 1710. He was raised to the peerage as Baron…
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1727
Italian harpsichord player and composer (born 1685)
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style. Like his renowned…
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1757
English biologist and ornithologist (born 1693)
George Edwards was an English naturalist and ornithologist, known as the "father of British ornithology".
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1773
Swiss-American pastor and politician (born 1724)
Reverend John Joachim Zubly, born Hans Joachim Züblin, was a Swiss-born American pastor, planter, and statesman during the American Revolution. Although a delegate for Georgia to the Continental Congress in 1775, he…
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1781
American lawyer and politician (born 1721)
Roger Sherman was an early American politician, lawyer, and a Founding Father of the United States. Representing Connecticut, he is the only person to sign all four great state papers of the United States: the…
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1793
Chilean politician, Chilean Minister of Finance (born 1777)
Anselmo de la Cruz y Bahamonde was a Chilean political figure. He served several times as minister and participated actively in the war of independence in that country.
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1833
South African general (born 1798)
Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus Pretorius was a leader of the Boers who was instrumental in the creation of the South African Republic, as well as the earlier but short-lived Natalia Republic, in present-day South Africa. The…
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1853
American businessman, founded the Singer Corporation (born 1811)
Isaac Merritt Singer was an American inventor, actor, and businessman. He made important improvements in the design of the sewing machine and was the founder of what became one of the first American multi-national…
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1875
Bohemian physician, pathologist, and politician (born 1804)
Baron Carl von Rokitansky was a Czech-born Austrian physician, pathologist, humanist philosopher and liberal politician, founder of the Viennese School of Medicine of the 19th century. He was the founder of…
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1878
American general and politician, 18th President of the United States (born 1822)
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. He previously led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War in 1865 as commanding general.
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1885
English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of Queensland (born 1828)
John Douglas was an Anglo-Australian politician and Premier of Queensland.
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1904
Australian politician, 19th Premier of South Australia (born 1850)
Sir Frederick William Holder was an Australian politician who served as the first speaker of the Australian House of Representatives from 1901 to 1909. A member of the Free Trade Party and later an independent, he…
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1909
Scottish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1852)
Sir William Ramsay was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air" along…
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1916
Greek historian and politician, 100th Prime Minister of Greece (born 1851)
Spyridon Lambros or Lampros was a Greek history professor and briefly Prime Minister of Greece during the National Schism.
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1919
German-American rancher and politician (born 1835)
Conrad Kohrs, born Carsten Conrad Kohrs was a Montana cattle rancher and politician.
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1920
American author and scholar (born 1850)
Frank Frost Abbott was an American classical scholar.
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1924
Russian painter (born 1848)
Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov was a Russian painter and draughtsman who specialised in mythological and historical subjects. He is considered a co-founder of Russian folklorist and romantic nationalistic painting, and a…
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1926
British brigadier general (born 1864)
Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, was a British military officer in the Bengal Army and later the newly constituted British Indian Army. His military career began in the regular British Army, but he soon transferred…
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1927
American pilot and engineer (born 1878)
Glenn Hammond Curtiss was an American aviation and motorcycling pioneer, and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles. As early as 1904,…
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1930
Welsh runner (born 1884)
Frederick Charles "Tenby" Davies was a Welsh athlete who became the half-mile world professional champion in 1909 after a race against Irishman Beauchamp Day.
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1932
Russian linguist (born 1882)
Anna Ivanovna Abrikosova, later known as "Mother Catherine of Siena", was a Russian Greek Catholic religious sister and literary translator, who died after more than a decade of solitary confinement as a prisoner of…
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1936
American scholar and educator (born 1860)
George Lyman Kittredge was a professor of English literature at Harvard University. His scholarly edition of the works of William Shakespeare was influential in the early 20th century. He was also involved in American…
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1941
Peruvian soldier and pilot (born 1914)
José Abelardo Quiñones Gonzáles was a Peruvian military aviator who posthumously became a national hero for his actions at the Battle of Zarumilla during the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War of 1941.
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1941
Polish engineer and politician (born 1880)
Adam Czerniaków was a Polish engineer and senator who was head of the Warsaw Ghetto Jewish Council (Judenrat) during World War II. He committed suicide on 23 July 1942 by swallowing a cyanide pill, a day after the…
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1942
English cricketer and footballer (born 1886)
Andrew Ducat was an English cricketer and footballer. He played internationally for both the England cricket team and England football team, one of a small group of players to have represented their country in both…
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1942
American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1875)
David Wark Griffith was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the narrative…
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1948
Japanese politician and diplomat, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1882)
Shigenori Tōgō was Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Empire of Japan at both the start and the end of the Pacific War. He also served as Minister of Colonial Affairs in 1941, and assumed the same position, renamed…
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1950
American director and producer (born 1884)
Robert Joseph Flaherty, was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, Nanook of the North (1922). The film made his reputation and nothing in his…
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1951
French general and politician, 119th Prime Minister of France (born 1856)
Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain, better known as Marshal Pétain, was a French military officer who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the collaborationist regime of Vichy…
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1951
American runner (born 1882)
Herman Charles Groman was an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres for Yale University and the Chicago Athletic Club. He won a bronze medal in the 400 meters in the 1904 Olympics. He was a graduate of…
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1954
American captain, lawyer, and politician, 47th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1871)
Cordell Hull was an American politician and diplomat who served as the United States secretary of state for nearly twelve years under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, from 1933 to 1944. A member of the Democratic Party,…
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1955
American football player and coach (born 1870)
Charles Robert Shiring was a professional football player from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He began his professional playing career with the Homestead Library & Athletic Club in 1901. In 1902, he played for the Pittsburgh…
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1957
American actor (born 1920)
Edward Montgomery Clift was an American actor. A four-time Academy Award nominee, he was known for his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men", according to The New York Times.
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1966
English pharmacologist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1875)
Sir Henry Hallett Dale was an English pharmacologist and physiologist. For his study of acetylcholine as agent in the chemical transmission of nerve pulses (neurotransmission) he shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in…
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1968
Finnish politician (born 1905)
Eino Alfred Tainio was a Finnish printer, politician and member of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature of Finland. A member of the Communist Party of Finland (SKP) and the Finnish People's Democratic…
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1970
American actor (born 1910)
Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin Jr. was an American theatre, radio, and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. Heflin won…
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1971
American geologist and paleontologist (born 1895)
Esther Applin was an American geologist and paleontologist. She completed her undergraduate degree in 1919 from the University of California, Berkeley. Later, she completed a master's degree which was focused on…
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1972
American pilot and race car driver, founded Rickenbacker Motors (born 1890)
Edward Vernon Rickenbacker was an American fighter pilot in World War I and a Medal of Honor recipient. With 26 aerial victories, he was the most successful and most decorated United States flying ace of the war. He was…
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1973
Turkish industrialist (born 1912)
Kamil Özdemir Tolon was a Turkish businessperson, industrialist and inventor, known for the first manufacture of an electric engine in Turkey. Tolon was born in 1912 in Istanbul. He had his secondary and university…
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1978
French journalist and author (born 1898)
Joseph Kessel, also known as "Jef", was a French journalist and novelist. He was a member of the Académie française and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour.
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1979
Canadian lawyer and politician, 38th Mayor of Montreal (born 1908)
Sarto Fournier was a Canadian politician. He served as mayor of Montreal from 1957 to 1960.
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1980
American keyboard player and songwriter (born 1948)
Keith Richard Godchaux was an American pianist best known for his tenure in the rock group the Grateful Dead from 1971 to 1979. Following their departure from the Dead, he and his wife Donna formed the Heart of Gold…
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1980
Ukrainian activist (born 1897)
Mollie Steimer was an anarchist activist. A Ukrainian Jew, she left Russia and settled in New York City in 1913. She quickly became involved in the local anarchist movement and was caught up in the case of Abrams v.…
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1980
American actor (born 1929)
Victor Harry Morrow was an American actor. He first gained attention for the role of juvenile delinquent Artie West in his debut film Blackboard Jungle (1955). He later came to prominence as one of the leads of the ABC…
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1982
French composer (born 1899)
Georges Auric was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault, France. He was considered one of Les Six, a group of artists informally associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie. Before he turned 20 he had orchestrated…
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1983
English cricketer and manager (born 1923)
Johnny Wardle was an English spin bowling cricketer whose Test Match career lasted between 1948 and 1957. His Test bowling average of 20.39 is the lowest in Test cricket by any recognised spin bowler since the First…
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1985
American short story writer and novelist (born 1931)
Donald Barthelme Jr. was an American short story writer and novelist known for his playful, postmodernist style of short fiction. Barthelme also worked as a newspaper reporter for the Houston Post, was managing editor…
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1989
Japanese engineer (born 1899)
Kenjiro Takayanagi was a Japanese engineer and a pioneer in the development of television and video tape recorders. Although he failed to gain much recognition in the West, he built the world's first all-electronic…
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1990
1996
Japanese jumper and journalist (born 1904)
Chūhei Nambu was a Japanese track and field athlete. As of 2024, he is the only person to have held world records in both the long jump and the triple jump.
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1997
Hassan II was King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999.
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1999
American novelist and short story writer (born 1909)
Eudora Alice Welty was an American short-story writer, novelist, and photographer who wrote about the American South. Her novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty received numerous awards,…
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2001
Australian-English actor (born 1920)
Reginald "Leo" McKern was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. His notable roles include Clang in Help! (1965),…
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2002
American activist and author (born 1933)
William Luther Pierce III was an American neo-Nazi political activist. For more than 30 years, he was one of the highest-profile individuals of the white nationalist movement. A physicist by profession, he authored the…
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2002
American novelist and rabbi (born 1929)
Chaim Potok, was an American author, novelist, playwright, editor and rabbi. Among the more than a dozen books he authored, his first novel The Chosen (1967) was listed on The New York Times Best Seller list for 39…
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2002
American author and composer (born 1938)
Clark Gesner was an American composer, songwriter, author, and actor. He is best known for composing the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, based on the Charles M. Schulz comic strip Peanuts.
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2002
American police officer and politician (born 1962)
James E. Davis was an American politician who served on the New York City Council from 2002 until his assassination.
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2003
Indian actor, director, and producer (born 1932)
Mehmood Ali, popularly known simply as Mehmood, was an Indian actor, singer, director and producer, best known for playing Comic,Serious,emotional and versatile roles in Hindi films.
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2004
Portuguese guitarist and composer (born 1925)
Carlos Paredes was a virtuoso Portuguese guitar player and composer. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of Portuguese guitar of all-time.
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2004
Italian pianist, conductor, and composer (born 1921)
Piero Piccioni was an Italian film score composer.
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2004
American guitarist and journalist (born 1946)
Theodore Greene was an American fingerstyle guitarist, columnist, session musician and educator based in Encino, California.
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2005
Canadian journalist and academic (born 1927)
Brother Jean-Paul Desbiens, Frère Pierre-Jérôme, F.M.S., OC was a Quebec writer, journalist, teacher and member of the Catholic institute of Marist Brothers.
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2006
American songwriter and producer (born 1933)
Ronald Norman Miller was an American popular songwriter and record producer who wrote for Motown artists in the 1960s and 1970s and attained many Top 10 hits. Some of his songs, such as "For Once in My Life", have…
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2007
Afghan king (born 1914)
Mohammad Zahir Shah was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Ruling for almost 40 years, Zahir Shah was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan since the…
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2007
Swiss lawyer and politician, 70th President of the Swiss Confederation (born 1924)
Kurt Furgler was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1972–1986).
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2008
American author and screenwriter (born 1955)
E. Lynn Harris was an American author. Openly gay, he was best known for his depictions of African-American men who were on the down-low and closeted. He authored ten consecutive books that made The New York Times Best…
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2009
American journalist and author (born 1916)
Daniel Louis Schorr was an American journalist who covered world news for more than 60 years. He was most recently a Senior News Analyst for National Public Radio (NPR). Schorr won three Emmy Awards for his television…
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2010
English singer-songwriter (born 1983)
Amy Jade Winehouse was a British singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman. She is known for her distinctive contralto vocals, expressive and autobiographical songwriting, and eclectic blend of genres such as…
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2011
New Zealand author (born 1936)
Margaret Mahy was a New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. Many of her story plots have strong supernatural elements but her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growing up. She…
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2012
American physicist and astronaut (born 1951)
Sally Kristen Ride was an American astronaut and physicist. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman and the third woman to fly in space, after cosmonauts Valentina…
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2012
Indian soldier and politician (born 1914)
Lakshmi Sahgal was an Indian politician and activist. She was a revolutionary of the Indian independence movement, an officer of the Indian National Army, and the Minister of Women's Affairs in the Azad Hind government.…
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2012
Spanish publisher and author (born 1936)
Esther Tusquets was a Spanish publisher, novelist and essayist.
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2012
Spanish television host and director (born 1936)
José Luis Uribarri Grenouillou was a Spanish broadcaster and music journalist for Televisión Española (TVE). He was the Spanish commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest on 18 occasions between 1969 and 2010. He was…
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2012
Scottish actress (born 1926)
Rona Anderson was a Scottish stage, film, and television actress. She appeared in TV series and on the stage and films throughout the 1950s. She appeared in the films Scrooge and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and on TV…
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2013
English author (born 1921)
Pauline Clarke was an English author who wrote for younger children under the name Helen Clare, for older children as Pauline Clarke, and later for adults under her married name Pauline Hunter Blair. Her best-known work…
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2013
American diplomat (born 1944)
Arthur J. Collingsworth was an American United Nations official, international student exchange executive, consultant on international fund raising and real estate investor. He lived in the United States, Japan, United…
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2013
Brazilian singer-songwriter and accordion player (born 1941)
José Domingos de Morais, better known as Dominguinhos, was a Brazilian composer, accordionist and singer. His principal musical influences were the music of Luiz Gonzaga, Forró and in general the music of the Sertão in…
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2013
American boxer and trainer (born 1938)
Emile Alphonse Griffith was an American professional boxer who won world titles in three weight divisions. He held the world light middleweight, undisputed welterweight, and middleweight titles. His best-known contest…
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2013
South Korean director and producer (born 1951)
Kim Jong-hak was a South Korean television director and producer, best known for the seminal and highly rated Korean dramas Eyes of Dawn (1991) and Sandglass (1995). After financial losses incurred by the big-budget…
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2013
Brazilian footballer (born 1929)
Djalma Pereira Dias dos Santos, known simply as Djalma Santos was a Brazilian footballer who starred for the Brazil national team in four World Cups and winning the 1958 and 1962 editions. Santos is considered to be one…
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2013
English actress and restaurateur (born 1923)
Dora May Broadbent, known as Dora Bryan, was an English actress of stage, film and television. She won the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress for A Taste of Honey (1961) and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress…
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2014
American composer and conductor (born 1917)
Norman Fowler Leyden was an American conductor, composer, arranger, and clarinetist. He worked in film and television and is perhaps best known as the conductor of the Oregon Symphony Pops orchestra. He co-wrote with…
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2014
Brazilian author and playwright (born 1927)
Ariano Vilar Suassuna was a Brazilian playwright and author. He was the driving force behind the creation of the Movimento Armorial. He founded the Student Theater at Federal University of Pernambuco.
Four of his plays…
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2014
English footballer (born 1990)
Jordan Benjamin Tabor was an English footballer who primarily played as a left back, but also played as a central midfielder or as a striker in the latter part of his career.
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2014
Japanese-American sculptor and director (born 1937)
Shigeko Kubota was a Japanese video artist, sculptor and avant-garde performance artist, who mostly lived in New York City. She was one of the first artists to adopt the portable video camera Sony Portapak in 1970,…
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2015
American journalist, author, and academic (born 1931)
Donald Oberdorfer Jr. was an American professor at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University with a specialty in Korea, and was a journalist for 38 years, 25 of them…
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2015
American cardinal (born 1926)
William Wakefield Baum was an American Catholic prelate who served as bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau in Missouri and archbishop of Washington in the District of Columbia. He then served in the Roman Curia as…
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2015
Burmese politician and rapper (born 1981)
Phyo Zeya Thaw (Burmese: ဖြိုးဇေယျာသော်; pronounced [pʰjò zèjà θɔ̀], also referred to as Zeya Thaw was a Burmese politician and hip hop recording artist who was unfairly detained and executed due to the perceived…
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2022
Burmese political activist (born 1969)
Kyaw Min Yu was a Burmese writer, political prisoner, and a member of the 88 Generation Students Group. He was executed in July 2022 after being sentenced to death for activism against the junta that seized power in a…
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2022
Australian pathologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1937)
John Robin Warren was an Australian pathologist, Nobel laureate, and researcher who is credited with the 1979 re-discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, together with Barry Marshall. The duo proved to the…
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2024
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Notable deaths
Who died on July 23?
John Kundla — American basketball player and coach (1916–2017)
FeaturedJohn Kundla
Death year2017
Known forHe was the first head coach for the Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and its predecessors, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL), serving 12 seasons, from 1947 to 1959
Deaths on this date106 (955 – 2024)
Explore July 23
Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.
Also on July 23 in History
2018
A wildfire in East Attica kills at least 102 people. It is the deadliest wildfire in the history of Greece. Wikipedia →
2015
NASA announces discovery of Kepler-452b by the Kepler space telescope. Wikipedia →
2014
See all events on July 23
TransAsia Airways Flight 222 crashes in Xixi village near Huxi, Penghu, during approach to Penghu Airport. Forty-eight of the 58 people on board are killed and five more people on the ground are injured. Wikipedia →
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