Did you know
She became a close ally of Prime Minister Joe Clark, serving in his cabinet from 1979 to 1980, as well as in the cabinet of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney from 1984 to 1988
Notable Deaths on July 26
103 people
342 – 2025
July 26 has seen 103 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 342 – 2025. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
2015 — Flora MacDonald
Canadian banker and politician, 10th Canadian Minister of Communications (born 1926)
Did you know
Canada's first female foreign minister, she was also one of the first women to vie for leadership of a major Canadian political party, the Progressive Conservatives
Did you know
Jimmy Carter has said that 90% of the contribution to freeing American hostages in Iran should be attributed to her and Kenneth D
Did you know
The City of Ottawa recognised MacDonald on July 11, 2018, by naming a new bicycle and footbridge over the Rideau Canal the Flora Footbridge.
Did you know
Flora Isabel MacDonald was a Canadian politician and humanitarian
emperor of the Jin Dynasty (born 321)
Emperor Cheng of Jin, personal name Sima Yan (司馬衍), courtesy name Shigen (世根), was an emperor of the Chinese Eastern Jin dynasty. He was the eldest son of Emperor Ming and became the crown prince on 1 April 325. During…
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342
Byzantine emperor
Nikephoros I, also known as Nicephorus I, was Byzantine emperor from 802 to 811. He was General Logothete under Empress Irene, but later overthrew her to seize the throne for himself. Prior to becoming emperor, he was…
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811
899
943
Japanese statesman (born 929)
Fujiwara no Kaneie was a Japanese statesman, courtier and politician during the Heian period. He also was known as Hōkō-in Daijin and Higashi-sanjō-dono.
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990
1380
duchess of Warwick (born 1424)
Cecily Neville, Duchess of Warwick, Countess of Worcester was a daughter of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury and Alice Montacute, 5th Countess of Salisbury. Her siblings included Richard Neville, 16th Earl of…
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1450
1471
Inca emperor abducted and murdered by Francisco Pizarro (born ca. 1500)
Atawallpa, also Atahualpa or Ataw Wallpa, whose regnal name was Caccha Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui Inca, was the last effective Inca emperor, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following…
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1533
French marshal (born 1524)
Armand de Gontaut, Baron of Biron was a soldier, diplomat and Marshal of France. Beginning his service during the Italian Wars, Biron served in Italy under Marshal Brissac and Guise in 1557 before rising to command his…
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1592
Spanish archbishop and sinologist (born 1552)
Miguel de Benavides y Añoza, O.P. was a Spanish Catholic prelate and sinologist who served as the third Archbishop of Manila. He previously served as the first Bishop of Nueva Segovia and was the founder of the…
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1605
Japanese daimyō (born 1542)
Horio Yoshiharu was a Japanese daimyō during the Azuchi–Momoyama and Edo periods. He was appointed to the position of one of san-chūrō by Toyotomi Hideyoshi along with Ikoma Chikamasa and Nakamura Kazuuji. He was the…
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1611
duke of Savoy (born 1562)
Charles Emmanuel I, known as the Great and nicknamed Testa di Fuoco, was the 11th Duke of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 30 August 1580 until his death on 26 July 1630, nearly 50 years later. At the time of…
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1630
English criminal (born 1584)
Mary Frith, alias Moll Cutpurse, was a notorious English pickpocket and fence of the London underworld.
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1659
2nd Earl of Rochester, English poet and courtier (born 1647)
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester was an English poet and courtier of King Charles II's Restoration court, who reacted against the "spiritual authoritarianism" of the Puritan era. Rochester embodied a novel rebellion…
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1680
Italian mathematician and philosopher (born 1646)
Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia or Elena Lucrezia Corner, also known in English as Helen Cornaro, was a Venetian philosopher of noble descent who in 1678 became one of the first women to receive an academic degree from…
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1684
queen of Sweden (born 1656)
Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark was Queen of Sweden as the wife of King Charles XI. She is often admired for her generosity and charity.
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1693
1st Duke of Leeds, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (born 1631)
Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, was an English Tory statesman. During the reign of Charles II of England, he was the leading figure in the English government for roughly five years in the mid-1670s. Osborne fell out…
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1712
1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (born 1660)
Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven PC, styled 17th Baron Willoughby de Eresby between 1666 and 1701, and known as 4th Earl of Lindsey between 1701 and 1706, and as 1st Marquess of Lindsey between 1706 and…
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1723
archduke of Austria (born 1756)
Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria was Elector of Cologne and Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights from 1780 until his death. Influenced by Enlightenment ideals, he sought to implement reforms in various political…
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1801
American general and politician, 7th Governor of Texas, and 6th Governor of Tennessee (born 1793)
Samuel Houston was an American general and statesman who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two individuals to…
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1863
1867
22nd, 26th, and 27th President of the Dominican Republic (born 1845)
Ulises Hilarión Heureaux Leibert nicknamed Lilís, was president of the Dominican Republic from September 1, 1882 to September 1, 1884, from January 6, 1887 to February 27, 1889 and again from April 30, 1889 maintaining…
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1899
Scottish lexicographer and philologist (born 1837)
Sir James Augustus Henry Murray, FBA was a British lexicographer and philologist. He was the primary editor of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) from 1879 until his death.
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1915
English painter and illustrator (born 1836)
Sir Edward John Poynter, 1st Baronet was an English painter, designer, and draughtsman, who served as President of the Royal Academy.
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1919
Australian actor (born 1848)
Howard Vernon was an Australian actor best known for his performances in comic roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the J. C. Williamson company.
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1921
Italian race car driver (born 1888)
Antonio Ascari was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing champion. He won four Grands Prix before his premature death at the 1925 French Grand Prix. He was the father of two-time World Champion Alberto Ascari.
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1925
German mathematician and philosopher (born 1848)
Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege was a German philosopher, logician, and mathematician. He was a mathematics professor at the University of Jena, and is understood by many to be the father of analytic philosophy,…
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1925
American lawyer and politician, 41st United States Secretary of State (born 1860)
William Jennings Bryan was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. He was a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President of the United States in the 1896, 1900,…
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1925
American lawyer and politician, 35th United States Secretary of War, son of Abraham Lincoln (born 1843)
Robert Todd Lincoln was an American lawyer and businessman. He was the eldest son of President Abraham Lincoln and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and the only one of their four children to reach the age of 19. Robert…
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1926
Greek historian and academic (born 1849)
Pavlos Karolidis or Karolides was a Greek historian who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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1930
German-American businessman, co-founded the Duesenberg Company (born 1876)
Frederick Samuel Duesenberg was a German-born American automobile and engine designer, manufacturer and sportsman who was internationally known as a designer of racecars and racing engines. Duesenberg's engineering…
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1932
American cartoonist, animator, producer, and screenwriter (born 1871)
Zenas Winsor McCay was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip Little Nemo and the animated film Gertie the Dinosaur (1914). For contractual reasons, he worked under the pen name Silas…
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1934
French mathematician and academic (born 1875)
Henri Léon Lebesgue was a French mathematician known for his theory of integration, which was a generalization of the 17th-century concept of integration—summing the area between an axis and the curve of a function…
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1941
Argentinian author and playwright (born 1900)
Roberto Arlt was an Argentine novelist, storyteller, playwright, and journalist.
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1942
Australian politician, 13th Premier of Western Australia (born 1866)
Sir James Mitchell, was an Australian politician. He served as premier of Western Australia from 1919 to 1924 and from 1930 to 1933, as leader of the Nationalist Party. He then held viceregal office from 1933 to 1951,…
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1951
1952
Greek general and politician, 135th Prime Minister of Greece (born 1883)
Nikolaos Plastiras was a Greek general and politician, who served three times as Prime Minister of Greece. A distinguished soldier known for his personal bravery, he became famous as "The Black Rider" during the…
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1953
Authoritarian ruler of Guatemala (1954-1957)
Carlos Castillo Armas was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who was the 28th president of Guatemala, serving from 1954 to 1957 after taking power in a coup d'état. A member of the far-right National…
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1957
British art director and production designer (born 1893)
Austin Cedric Gibbons was an American art director for the film industry. He also made a significant contribution to motion picture theater architecture from the 1930s to 1950s. Gibbons designed the Oscar statuette in…
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1960
5th Earl Howe, English race car driver and politician (born 1884)
Francis Richard Henry Penn Curzon, 5th Earl Howe, styled Viscount Curzon from 1900 to 1929, was a British naval officer, Member of Parliament, and racing driver and promoter. In the 1918 UK general election he won the…
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1964
Turkish lieutenant and painter (born 1899)
Cemal Tollu was a Turkish painter. He served in the Turkish War of Independence as a cavalry lieutenant. and witnessed the Fire of Manisa. In 1933 he founded the "D Group" with several other painters who were devoted to…
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1968
Canadian lawyer and jurist, 11th Chief Justice of Canada (born 1896)
Robert Taschereau was a lawyer who served as the 11th Chief Justice of Canada from 1963 to 1967, as a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1940 to 1963, and briefly as the Administrator of the Government…
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1970
American photographer and academic (born 1923)
Diane Arbus was an American photographer. She photographed a wide range of subjects including strippers, carnival performers, nudists, people with dwarfism, children, mothers, couples, elderly people, and middle-class…
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1971
American mathematician and statistician, founded the Gallup Company (born 1901)
George Horace Gallup was an American pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, a statistically based survey sampled measure of public opinion.
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1984
1984
American politician and diplomat, 11th United States Secretary of Commerce (born 1891)
William Averell Harriman was an American politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was a founder of Harriman & Co. which merged with the older Brown Brothers to form the Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. investment bank,…
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1986
Pakistani philosopher, scholar, and academic (born 1919)
Fazlur Rahman Malik, commonly known as Fazlur Rahman, was a modernist scholar and Islamic philosopher from present-day Pakistan. Recognized as a leading liberal reformer within Islam, he focused on educational reform…
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1988
American singer-songwriter (born 1943)
Mary Esther Wells was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s.
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1992
American general (born 1895)
Matthew Bunker Ridgway was a senior officer in the United States Army, who served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1952–1953) and the 19th Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1953–1955). Although he saw no…
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1993
American theologian and academic (born 1901)
James Luther Adams, an American professor at Harvard Divinity School, Andover Newton Theological School, and Meadville Lombard Theological School, and a Unitarian parish minister, was the most influential theologian…
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1994
Brazilian-American guitarist and composer (born 1917)
Laurindo José de Araújo Almeida Nóbrega Neto was a Brazilian guitarist and composer in classical, jazz, and Latin music. He was one of the pioneers in the creation of bossa nova. Almeida was the first guitarist to…
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1995
Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1918)
Raymond Mailloux was a Quebec politician and Cabinet Minister. A member of the Quebec Liberal Party, he was the Member of National Assembly of Quebec for the Charlevoix riding from 1962 to 1985.
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1995
American businessman and politician, 43rd Governor of Michigan (born 1907)
George Wilcken Romney was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as chairman and president of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd governor of Michigan…
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1995
American businessman and sports executive (born 1903)
Max Winter was a Minneapolis businessman and sport executive who helped found the Minnesota Vikings.
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1996
American author and critic (born 1918)
Walter Jackson Bate was an American literary critic and biographer. He is known for Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography-winning biographies of Samuel Johnson (1978) and John Keats (1964).
Samuel Johnson also…
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1999
Greek general and politician, President of Greece (born 1917)
Phaedon Gizikis was a Greek army general who was the last President of Greece under the junta from 1973 to 1974.
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1999
American mathematician and academic (born 1915)
John Wilder Tukey was an American mathematician and statistician, best known for the development of the fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm, the box plot and for laying the foundations of the field of exploratory…
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2000
American colonel and pilot (born 1917)
Rex Theodore Barber Sr. was a World War II fighter pilot from the United States. He is best known as a member of Operation Vengeance, the top secret mission to intercept the aircraft carrying Japanese Admiral Isoroku…
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2001
German journalist and author (born 1913)
Peter von Zahn was a German author, film maker, and journalist.
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2001
American chemist, created Pop Rocks and Cool Whip (born 1911)
William A. Mitchell was an American food chemist who, while working for General Foods Corporation between 1941 and 1976, was the key inventor behind Pop Rocks, Tang, Cool Whip, and powdered egg whites. During his career…
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2004
Russian-born American production designer and art director (born 1908)
Prince Alexander Golitzen (Golitsyn) was a Russian-born American production designer who oversaw art direction on more than 300 movies.
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2005
American economist and academic (born 1925)
Jack Hirshleifer was an American economist and long-time professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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2005
Canadian ice hockey player (born 1945)
Jean Gilles "Captain Crunch" Marotte was a Canadian defenceman in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues.
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2005
Swedish author, poet, and playwright (born 1928)
Lars Hans Carl Abraham Forssell was a Swedish writer and member of the Swedish Academy. Forssell was a versatile writer who worked within many genres, including poetry, drama and songwriting. He was awarded the Bellman…
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2007
American basketball player and coach (born 1950)
George Edward "Skip" Prosser was an American college basketball coach who was head men's basketball coach at Wake Forest University at the time of his death. He is the only coach in NCAA history to take three separate…
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2007
American dancer and choreographer (born 1919)
Mercier Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other disciplines, including…
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2009
Indian-Singaporean politician (born 1945)
Sivakant Tiwari, P.P.A.(E.), P.B.S., P.P.A.(E.)(L.), P.J.G., known professionally as S. Tiwari, was a senior legal officer of the Singapore Legal Service. He was educated at the University of Singapore, graduating in…
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2010
Colombian singer-songwriter and composer (born 1955)
Álvaro Arroyo González was a Colombian salsa and tropical music singer, composer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest performers of Caribbean and salsa music in his country and across Latin America. In…
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2011
American jazz saxophonist, songwriter and composer (born 1956)
Thomas William Borton was an American jazz saxophonist, songwriter and composer, and was the founder and CEO of Los Angeles Post Music, Inc.
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2011
American-Canadian football player and coach (born 1948)
Richard Drew Harris was an American professional football player who was a defensive end who played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was an All-American in 1970 for Grambling and was selected in…
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2011
Japanese author and screenwriter (born 1931)
Sakyo Komatsu was a Japanese science fiction writer and screenwriter. He was one of the most well known and highly regarded science fiction writers in Japan.
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2011
Australian painter and philanthropist (born 1923)
Margaret Hannah Olley was an Australian painter. She held over ninety solo exhibitions during her lifetime.
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2011
American bassist and composer (born 1927)
Donald Neff Bagley was an American jazz bassist.
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2012
American painter and educator (born 1925)
Karl Stanley Benjamin was an American painter of vibrant geometric abstractions, who rose to fame in 1959 as one of four Los Angeles–based Abstract Classicists and subsequently produced a critically acclaimed body of…
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2012
Russian-Israeli lawyer and jurist (born 1918)
Miriam Ben-Porat was an Israeli jurist. She was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Israel and the State Comptroller of Israel from 1988–1998.
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2012
American actress (born 1942)
Guadalupe Ontiveros was an American actress best known for portraying Rosalita in The Goonies, and Yolanda Saldívar in the film Selena. She acted in numerous films and television shows. Ontiveros was nominated for an…
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2012
American admiral and politician, 6th United States Secretary of Energy (born 1927)
James David Watkins was a United States Navy admiral and former Chief of Naval Operations who served as the United States Secretary of Energy during the George H. W. Bush administration, also chairing U.S. government…
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2012
American lawyer and politician (born 1925)
Luther Francis Cole was an American lawyer and politician from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who served as a state legislator and then as a judge.
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2013
American mathematician and academic (born 1925)
Harley M. Flanders was an American mathematician, known for several textbooks and contributions to his fields: algebra and algebraic number theory, linear algebra, electrical networks, scientific computing.
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2013
South Korean philosopher and activist (born 1967)
Sung Jae-gi was a South Korean men's rights activist. Sung was the leader of various masculinist and anti-feminist organizations, including the Association of Anti-Feminism and Male Liberation, Association for the…
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2013
American businessman and philanthropist (born 1919)
George Phydias Mitchell was an American businessman, real estate developer and philanthropist from Texas credited with pioneering the economic extraction of shale gas.
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2013
Ukrainian businessman and politician (born 1965)
Oleh Meydanovych Babaiev was a Ukrainian politician and an owner of two professional football clubs in the Poltava Oblast. In 2010, he was elected Mayor of Kremenchuk. He was assassinated in his car in front of his…
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2014
American admiral (born 1936)
Charles Robert Larson was an Admiral of the United States Navy.
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2014
English architect, founded MJP Architects (born 1938)
Sir Richard Cornelius MacCormac CBE, PPRIBA, FRSA, RA, was a modernist English architect and the founder of MJP Architects.
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2014
Russian anthropologist and author (born 1954)
Sergei Olegovich Prokofieff was a Russian anthroposophist. He was the grandson of the composer Sergei Prokofiev and his first wife Lina Prokofiev, and the son of Oleg Prokofiev and his first wife Sofia Feinberg…
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2014
Belgian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1927)
Roland Verhavert was a Belgian film director. He directed 44 films between 1955 and 1993. He co-directed the 1955 film Seagulls Die in the Harbour, which was entered into the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. His 1974 film The…
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2014
Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Mines (born 1934)
Bijoy Krishna Handique was an Indian politician and a member of the 15th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Jorhat constituency of Assam and was a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) political party. He was…
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2015
2015
2015
American philosopher and mathematician (born 1928)
Solomon Feferman was an American philosopher and mathematician who worked in mathematical logic. In addition to his prolific technical work in proof theory, computability theory, and set theory, he was known for his…
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2016
American voice actress (born 1917)
June Foray was an American voice actress and radio personality, best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Lucifer from Disney's Cinderella, Cindy Lou…
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2017
American voice artist and comedic actress (born 1943)
Patricia Deutsch Ross was an American actress who was known as a recurring panelist on the 1970s game shows Match Game and Tattletales.
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2017
American criminal (born 1973)
Ronald Ray Phillips was an Ohio death row inmate who was sentenced to death and executed for the 1993 rape and murder of Sheila Evans, the 3-year-old daughter of his girlfriend, Fae Amanda Evans, after an extended…
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2017
Kosovo Albanian politician and writer (born 1936)
Adem Demaçi was a Kosovo Albanian author, politician, and human rights defender. He became notable during the breakup of Yugoslavia for suggesting the creation of Balkania in 1996, a hypothetical confederacy proposed as…
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2018
American basketball player (born 1931)
John Kline was an American basketball player for the Harlem Globetrotters (1953–1959) who founded the Black Legends of Professional Basketball in 1996.
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2018
American voice actress (born 1944)
Russi Taylor was an American voice actress. She was best remembered for voicing the character of Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019 and was married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, from 1991 until…
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2019
Cuban Roman Catholic prelate (born 1936)
Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino was a Cuban prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Havana from 1981 to 2016. He was appointed to the College of Cardinals in 1994, the second Cuban to hold that…
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2019
American actress (born 1916)
Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland was a British, American and French actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her…
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2020
American musician (born 1975)
Nathan Jonas "Joey" Jordison was an American musician. He was the original drummer of the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he was designated #1, and the guitarist for the horror punk supergroup Murderdolls.
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2021
Irish singer and musician (born 1966)
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor, also known as Shuhada' Sadaqat, was an Irish singer, musician and activist. During her musical career, which encompassed several hit records and artist collaborations, O'Connor drew…
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2023
American singer, comedian and mathematician (born 1928)
Thomas Andrew Lehrer was an American musician, singer-songwriter, satirist and mathematician, who later taught mathematics and musical theater. He recorded pithy, humorous, and often political songs that became popular…
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2025
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Notable deaths
Who died on July 26?
Flora MacDonald — Canadian politician (1926–2015)
FeaturedFlora MacDonald
Death year2015
Known forCanada's first female foreign minister, she was also one of the first women to vie for leadership of a major Canadian political party, the Progressive Conservatives
Deaths on this date103 (342 – 2025)
Explore July 26
Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.
Also on July 26 in History
2016
The Sagamihara stabbings occur in Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. Nineteen people are killed. Wikipedia →
2016
Hillary Clinton becomes the first female nominee for president of the United States by a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Wikipedia →
2016
See all events on July 26
Solar Impulse 2 becomes the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the Earth. Wikipedia →
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