Notable people who died on July 28 include: Theodosius II, Athanasius I Gammolo, Thankmar, Shi Jingtang, Victor II.

Notable Deaths on July 28

Q: What is Abraham Pais known for?

Abraham Pais, Dutch-American physicist and historian (born 1918)

115 people 450 – 2025

July 28 has seen 115 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 450 – 2025. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · July 28 — Wikipedia

2000 — Abraham Pais

Dutch-American physicist and historian (born 1918)

Did you know

He won the 1995 Lewis Thomas Prize for science writing.

Did you know

When the Nazis began the forced relocation of Dutch Jews, he went into hiding, but was later arrested and saved only by the end of the war

Did you know

His Subtle is the Lord, considered by many to be the definitive biography of Einstein, won the Science Writing Award

Did you know

Abraham Pais was a Dutch-American physicist and science historian

Did you know

from University of Utrecht just prior to a Nazi ban on Jewish participation in Dutch universities during World War II

Theodosius II

Roman emperor (born 401)

Theodosius II, called "the Calligrapher", was Roman emperor from 402 to 450. He was proclaimed Augustus as an infant and ruled as the Eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his father Arcadius in 408. His…

450

Athanasius I Gammolo

Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch.

Athanasius I Gammolo was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 594/595 or 603 until his death in 631. He is commemorated as a saint by the Syriac Orthodox Church in the Martyrology of…

631

Thankmar

half-brother of Otto I (during Siege of Eresburg) (born c. 908)

Thankmar was the eldest son of Henry I of Germany by his first wife, Hatheburg of Merseburg. His mother had been previously married and widowed, after which she entered a convent. Because she left the convent to marry…

938

Shi Jingtang

emperor of Later Jin (born 892)

Shi Jingtang, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Gaozu of Later Jin (後晉高祖), was the founding emperor of the Later Jin dynasty of China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, reigning from 936 until…

942

Victor II

pope of the Catholic Church (born 1018)

Pope Victor II, born Gebhard von Dollnstein-Hirschberg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 April 1055 until his death in 1057. Victor II was one of a series of German-born popes…

1057

William Clito

English son of Sybilla of Conversano (born 1102)

William Clito was a member of the House of Normandy who ruled the County of Flanders from 1127 until his death and unsuccessfully claimed the Duchy of Normandy. As the son of Robert Curthose, the eldest son of William…

1128

Leopold VI

Duke of Austria (born 1176)

Leopold VI, known as Leopold the Glorious, was Duke of Styria from 1194 and Duke of Austria from 1198 to his death in 1230. He was a member of the House of Babenberg.

1230

Walter de Burgh

1st Earl of Ulster (born 1220)

Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster, 2nd Lord of Connaught also spelt Burke or Bourke, was an Irish peer from the House of Burgh.

1271

Keran

Queen of Armenia ( b. before 1262)

Keran of Lampron was by birth a member of the House of Lampron and by marriage queen consort of Armenia.

1285

Guy VIII of Viennois

Dauphin of Vienne (born 1309)

Guigues VIII de la Tour-du-Pin was the Dauphin of Vienne from 1318 to his death. He was the eldest son of the Dauphin John II and Beatrice of Hungary.

1333

Sancia of Majorca

queen regent of Naples (born c. 1285)

Sancia of Majorca, also known as Sancha, was Queen of Naples from 1309 until 1343 as the wife of Robert the Wise. She served as regent of Naples during the minority of her stepgrandaughter, Joanna I of Naples, from 1343…

1345

John II

king of Cyprus and Armenia (born 1418)

John II or III of Cyprus was the King of Cyprus and Armenia and also titular King of Jerusalem from 1432 to 1458. He was previously a titular Prince of Antioch.

1458

Edward Woodville

Lord Scales (at the Battle of St. Aubin-du-Cormier)

Sir Edward Woodville was a member of the Woodville family during the Wars of the Roses. He survived the reign of Richard III in which several of his relatives were executed in a power struggle after the death of his…

1488

Robert Blackadder

bishop of Glasgow

Robert Blackadder was a medieval Scottish prelate, diplomat and politician, who was Abbot of Melrose, Bishop-elect of Aberdeen and Bishop of Glasgow; when the latter was elevated to an archbishopric in 1492, he became…

1508

Rodrigo de Bastidas

Spanish explorer, founded the city of Santa Marta (born 1460)

Rodrigo de Bastidas was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who mapped the northern coast of South America, discovered Panama, and founded the city of Santa Marta.

1527

Thomas Cromwell

English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1495)

Thomas Cromwell was an English statesman and lawyer who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 until mid-1540, at which time he was beheaded on Henry's orders, a loss the King would later regret.

1540

Francis Russell

2nd Earl of Bedford (born 1527)

Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford of Chenies in Buckinghamshire and of Bedford House in Exeter, Devon, was an English nobleman, soldier, and politician. He was a godfather to the Devon-born sailor Sir Francis Drake.…

1585

Guillén de Castro y Bellvis

Spanish playwright (born 1569)

Guillén de Castro y Mateo was a Spanish dramatist of the Spanish Golden Age. He was distinguished member of the "Nocturnos", a Spanish version of the "Academies" in Italy.

1631

Cyrano de Bergerac

French poet and playwright (born 1619)

Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist.

1655

Abraham Cowley

English poet and author (born 1618)

Abraham Cowley was an English poet and essayist born in the City of London late in 1618. He was one of the leading English poets of the 17th century, with 14 printings of his Works published between 1668 and 1721.

1667

Bulstrode Whitelocke

English lawyer and politician (born 1605)

Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke was an English lawyer, writer, parliamentarian, and one of the commissioners of the Great Seal during the Interregnum.

1675

Henry Bennet

1st Earl of Arlington, English politician and diplomat, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (born 1618)

Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington was an English politician and army officer. A supporter of the Royalists during the English Civil War, he joined the royal family in exile before returning to England at the…

1685

Étienne Baluze

French scholar and academic (born 1630)

Étienne Baluze, known also as Stephanus Baluzius, was a French scholar and historiographer.

1718

Antonio Vivaldi

Italian violinist and composer (born 1678)

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe,…

1741

Johann Sebastian Bach

German organist and composer (born 1685)

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the orchestral Brandenburg Concertos; solo…

1750

George Dodington

1st Baron Melcombe, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Somerset (born 1691)

George Bubb Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe, was a British Whig politician who represented Winchelsea and Bridgwater in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1715 to 1761.

1762

Maximilien Robespierre

French politician, (born 1758)

Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre fervently campaigned for the voting…

1794

Louis Antoine de Saint-Just

French soldier and politician (born 1767)

Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just, sometimes nicknamed the Archangel of Terror, was a French revolutionary, political philosopher, member and president of the French National Convention, a Jacobin club leader, and a…

1794

Selim III

Ottoman sultan (born 1761)

Selim III was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, he was eventually deposed and imprisoned by the Janissaries, who placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV.…

1808

Richard Beckett

English cricketer and captain (born 1772)

Richard Beckett was an English amateur cricketer and a captain in the Coldstream Guards during the Napoleonic Wars.

1809

Gaspard Monge

French mathematician and engineer (born 1746)

Gaspard Monge, Comte de Péluse was a French mathematician, commonly presented as the inventor of descriptive geometry, technical drawing, and the father of differential geometry.

1818

Édouard Mortier

duc de Trévise, French general and politician, 15th Prime Minister of France (born 1768)

Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, Duke of Treviso, was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire under Napoleon I, who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He served as…

1835

Nathan Mayer Rothschild

German-English banker and financier (born 1777)

Nathan Mayer Rothschild, also known as Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild, was a British-German banker, businessman and financier. Born in Frankfurt am Main, he was the third of the five sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild and…

1836

Bernhard Crusell

Finnish composer (born 1775)

Bernhard Henrik Crusell was a Finland-Swedish clarinetist, composer and translator, "the most significant and internationally best-known Finnish-born classical composer and indeed, – the outstanding Finnish composer…

1838

Clemens Brentano

German author and poet (born 1778)

Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz and Lujo Brentano.

1842

Joseph Bonaparte

French diplomat and brother of Napoleon (born 1768)

Joseph Bonaparte, regnal name José I, was a French statesman, lawyer, diplomat and older brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1806, Napoleon made him King of Naples, and then King of Spain and the Indies in 1808. After the…

1844

Charles Albert of Sardinia (born 1798)

Charles Albert was the King of Sardinia and ruler of the Savoyard state from 27 April 1831 until his abdication in 1849. His name is bound up with the first Italian constitution, the Statuto Albertino, and with the…

1849

Jan Evangelista Purkyně

Czech anatomist and physiologist (born 1787)

Jan Evangelista Purkyně was a Czech anatomist and physiologist. In 1839, he coined the term "protoplasma" for the fluid substance of a cell. He was one of the best known scientists of his time. Such was his fame that…

1869

George Law Curry

American publisher and politician (born 1820)

George Law Curry was a predominant American political figure and newspaper publisher in the region that eventually became the state of Oregon. A native of Pennsylvania, he published a newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri,…

1878

Moses Montefiore

British philanthropist, sheriff and banker (born 1784)

Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, was a British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London. Born to an Italian Sephardic Jewish family based in London, after he achieved success he…

1885

Edward Beecher

American minister and theologian (born 1803)

Edward Beecher was an American theologian, the son of Lyman Beecher and the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher.

1895

Édouard-Henri Avril

French painter (born 1849)

Édouard-Henri Avril was a French painter and commercial artist. Under the pseudonym Paul Avril, he was an illustrator of erotic literature. Avril was a soldier before starting his career in art; he was awarded the…

1928

John DeWitt

American hammer thrower (born 1881)

John Riegel DeWitt was an American athlete. He played college football for Princeton from 1901 to 1903 and was selected as an All-American in 1902 and 1903. He also competed in the hammer throw, setting the world record…

1930

Allvar Gullstrand

Swedish ophthalmologist and optician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1862)

Allvar Gullstrand was a Swedish ophthalmologist and optician.

1930

Nishinoumi Kajirō III

Japanese sumo wrestler, 30th yokozuna (born 1890)

Nishinoumi Kajirō III was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He was the sport's 30th yokozuna.

1933

Marie Dressler

Canadian-American actress and singer (born 1868)

Leila Marie Koerber, known professionally as Marie Dressler, was a Canadian-born stage- and screen-actress script editor, writer, and comedian, popular in Hollywood in early silent and Depression-era film.

1934

Louis Tancred

South African cricketer and pilot (born 1876)

Louis Joseph Tancred was a South African cricketer who played in 14 Test matches from 1902 to 1913, including three as captain.

1934

Meletius IV of Constantinople (born 1871)

Meletius Metaxakis was primate of the Church of Greece from 1918 to 1920 as Meletius III, after which he was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople as Meletius IV from 1921 to 1923 and Greek Patriarch of Alexandria as…

1935

Flinders Petrie

English archaeologist and academic (born 1853)

Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie, commonly known as simply Sir Flinders Petrie, was an English Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. He held the first…

1942

Saint Alphonsa

first woman of Indian origin to be canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church (born 1910)

Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, born as Anna Muttathupadathu, was an Indian Catholic nun and educator. She is the first woman of Indian origin to be canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church, and the first…

1946

Edith Abbott

American economist, social worker, and educator (born 1876)

Edith Abbott was an American economist, statistician, social worker, educator, and author. Abbott was born in Grand Island, Nebraska. Abbott was a pioneer in the profession of social work with an educational background…

1957

Isaac Heinemann

German-Israeli scholar and academic (born 1876)

Isaac Heinemann was an Israeli rabbinical scholar and a professor of classical literature, Hellenistic literature and philology.

1957

Carl Borgward

German engineer, founder of Borgward Group

Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Borgward was a German engineer and designer and the creator of the Borgward group, based in Bremen.

1963

Edogawa Ranpo

Japanese author and critic (born 1894)

Tarō Hirai , better known by the pen name Edogawa Ranpo or Edogawa Rampo , was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery and thriller fiction. Many of his novels involve…

1965

Attallah Suheimat

Jordanian politician (born 1875)

Sheikh Attallah Suheimat or Attlallah Pasha Suheimat was a Jordanian leader, politician, and a statesperson. Born in the historic city of Al Karak, south of Jordan. He was the son of Sheikh Sulieman effendi Suheimat who…

1965

Karl W. Richter

American lieutenant and pilot (born 1942)

Karl Wendell Richter was an officer in the United States Air Force and an accomplished fighter pilot during the Vietnam War. At the age of 23 he was the youngest pilot in that conflict to shoot down a MiG in air-to-air…

1967

Otto Hahn

German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1879)

Otto Hahn was a German chemist who was a pioneer in the field of radiochemistry. He is referred to as the father of nuclear chemistry and discoverer of nuclear fission, the science behind nuclear reactors and nuclear…

1968

Ramón Grau

Cuban physician and politician, 6th President of Cuba (born 1882)

Ramón Grau San Martín was a Cuban physician who served as President of Cuba from 1933 to 1934 and from 1944 to 1948. He was the last president born during Spanish rule. He is sometimes called Raymond Grau San Martin in…

1969

Frank Loesser

American composer (born 1910)

Frank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won a Tony Award for Guys and…

1969

Lawrence Moore Cosgrave

Canadian colonel and diplomat (born 1890)

Colonel Lawrence Vincent Moore Cosgrave, was a Canadian soldier, author, diplomat and trade commissioner. He was the Canadian signatory to the Japanese Instrument of Surrender at the end of World War II.

1971

Myril Hoag

American baseball player (born 1908)

Myril Oliver Hoag was an American professional baseball player. An outfielder, Hoag played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians between 1931…

1971

Charles E. Pont

French-American minister and painter (born 1898)

Charles Ernest Pont was an American artist and Baptist minister. Although his ministerial career was not particularly noteworthy, he was a prolific artist in many media including watercolor, printmaking, oil, pen and…

1971

Helen Traubel

American soprano and actress (born 1903)

Helen Francesca Traubel was an American opera and concert singer. A dramatic soprano, she was best known for her Wagnerian roles, especially those of Brünnhilde and Isolde.

1972

Maggie Gripenberg

Finnish dancer and choreographer (born 1881)

Margarita Maria “Maggie” Gripenberg was a pioneer of modern dance in Finland. She was the first to introduce Dalcroze Eurhythmics to Finland and modeled her early works on the improvisational style of Isadora Duncan. As…

1976

Don Miller

American football player and coach (born 1902)

Don "Midnight" Miller was an American football player and coach. He was one of the famous "Four Horsemen" of the University of Notre Dame's backfield in 1924, when the Fighting Irish won the 1924 National Title. Miller…

1979

Charles Shadwell

English conductor and bandleader (born 1898)

Charles Murray Winstanley Shadwell was a British conductor and bandleader.

1979

Rose Rand

Austrian-born American logician and philosopher (born 1903)

Rose Rand was an Austrian-American logician and philosopher. She was a member of the Vienna Circle.

1980

Stanley Rother

American priest and missionary (born 1935)

Stanley Francis Rother was an American Catholic priest from Oklahoma who was murdered in Guatemala in 1981. He had worked as a missionary priest there since 1968. He held several parish assignments as a priest of the…

1981

Keith Green

American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1953)

Keith Gordon Green was an American pianist, singer, songwriter, and musician. Originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, Green is known as a pioneer in the Christian contemporary genre. His most notable songs…

1982

Jack Renshaw

Australian politician, 31st Premier of New South Wales (born 1909)

John Brophy Renshaw was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of New South Wales from 30 April 1964 to 13 May 1965. He was the first New South Wales Premier born in the 20th century.

1987

Jill Esmond

English actress (born 1908)

Jill Esmond was a English actress of stage and screen.

1990

Sulev Nõmmik

Estonian actor and director (born 1931)

Sulev Nõmmik was an Estonian theatre and movie director, actor, humorist and comedian. He's mostly associated with the comical character of Kärna Ärni and the related fictional village of Uduvere, but he was also…

1992

Stanley Woods

Irish motorcycle racer (born 1903)

Stanley Woods was an Irish motorcycle racer famous for 29 motorcycle Grand Prix wins in the 1920s and 1930s, winning the Isle of Man TT races ten times in his career, plus wins at Assen and elsewhere. He was also a…

1993

Roger Tory Peterson

American ornithologist and academic (born 1908)

Roger Tory Peterson was an American naturalist, conservationist, citizen scientist ornithologist, artist and illustrator, educator, and a founder of the 20th-century environmental movement, where he was an inspiration…

1996

Rosalie Crutchley

English actress (born 1920)

Rosalie Sylvia Crutchley was a British actress. Trained at the Royal Academy of Music, she was perhaps best known for her television performances, but had a long and successful career in theatre and films, making her…

1997

Seni Pramoj

Thai lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Thailand (born 1905)

Mom Rajawongse Seni Pramoj was a Thai professor and politician who served as Prime Minister of Thailand three times. A descendant of the Thai royal family, he was the great-grandson of King Rama II. His final two terms…

1997

Zbigniew Herbert

Polish poet and author (born 1924)

Zbigniew Herbert was a Polish poet, essayist, drama writer and moralist. He is one of the best known and the most translated post-war Polish writers. While he was first published in the 1950s, soon after he voluntarily…

1998

Lenny McLean

English boxer, actor, and author (born 1949)

Leonard John McLean was an English unlicensed boxer, bouncer, bodyguard, businessman and actor. He was known as "The Guv'nor", "the King of the Cobbles" and "the hardest man in Britain".

1998

Consalvo Sanesi

Italian racing driver (born 1911)

Consalvo Sanesi was best known as the Alfa Romeo works' test driver in the period following World War II, but he also competed in races with the Alfa Romeo Tipo 158/159 cars in the period before the Formula One World…

1998

Trygve Haavelmo

Norwegian economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1911)

Trygve Magnus Haavelmo, born in Skedsmo, Norway, was an economist whose research interests centered on econometrics. He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1989.

1999

Ahmed Sofa

Bangladeshi poet, author, and critic (born 1943)

Ahmed Sofa was a Bangladeshi writer, thinker, novelist, poet, philosopher and public intellectual. Sofa is considered by many, including National Professor Abdur Razzaq and Salimullah Khan, to be the most important…

2001

Archer John Porter Martin

English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1910)

Archer John Porter Martin was a British chemist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the invention of partition chromatography with Richard Synge.

2002

Valerie Goulding

Irish activist and politician (born 1918)

Valerie Hamilton, Lady Goulding was an Irish campaigner for disabled people, and senator who set up the Central Remedial Clinic in 1951 alongside Kathleen O'Rourke which is now the largest organisation in Ireland…

2003

Francis Crick

English biologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1916)

Francis Harry Compton Crick was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist. He, James Watson, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins played crucial roles in deciphering the helical structure of the…

2004

Tiziano Terzani

Italian journalist and author (born 1938)

Tiziano Terzani was an Italian journalist and writer, best known for his extensive knowledge of 20th century East Asia and for being one of the very few western reporters to witness both the fall of Saigon to the hands…

2004

David Gemmell

English author (born 1948)

David Andrew Gemmell was a British author of heroic fantasy, best known for his debut novel, Legend. A former journalist and newspaper editor, Gemmell had his first work of fiction published in 1984. He went on to write…

2006

Karl Gotch

Belgian-American wrestler and trainer (born 1924)

Charles Istaz, known by the ring name Karl Gotch , was a Belgian-born American professional wrestler and pro wrestling trainer, catch wrestler, and amateur wrestler. Considered one of the most influential wrestlers of…

2007

Jim LeRoy

American soldier and pilot (born 1961)

Jim LeRoy was an American aerobatics pilot. He died upon impact in a crash at the Dayton Air Show in Ohio.

2007

Jim Johnson

American football player and coach (born 1941)

Jim Johnson was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He was a defensive coordinator for nine seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. Widely regarded as one of the best…

2009

Abdul Fatah Younis

Libyan general (born 1944)

Abdul Fatah Younis Al-Obeidi was a Libyan military officer and politician. He served as Libya's interior minister until his resignation on 22 February 2011 when he defected to the rebel side in the First Libyan Civil…

2011

Colin Horsley

New Zealand-English pianist and educator (born 1920)

Colin Robert Horsley was a New Zealand classical pianist and teacher who was based in the United Kingdom all his working life. He had a significant artistic association with the composer Sir Lennox Berkeley.

2012

Sepp Mayerl

Austrian mountaineer (born 1937)

Sepp Mayerl, also known as Blasl-Sepp was an Austrian mountaineer.

2012

William F. Milliken Jr.

American race car driver and engineer (born 1911)

William F. Milliken Jr. was an aerospace engineer, automotive engineer and racecar driver. He was born in Old Town, Maine.

2012

Mustafa Adrisi

Ugandan general and politician, 3rd Vice President of Uganda (born 1922)

Mustafa Adrisi Abataki was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third vice president of Uganda from 1977 to 1979 and was one of President Idi Amin's closest associates before the two fell out.

2013

Eileen Brennan

American actress and singer (born 1932)

Eileen Brennan was an American actress. She made her film debut in the satire Divorce American Style (1967), followed by a supporting role in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971), which earned her a BAFTA…

2013

Rita Reys

Dutch jazz singer (born 1924)

Rita Reys was a jazz singer from the Netherlands. She was promoted as "Europe's First Lady of Jazz".

2013

William Scranton

American captain and politician, 13th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (born 1917)

William Warren Scranton was an American Republican Party politician and diplomat. Scranton served as the 38th governor of Pennsylvania from 1963 to 1967, and as United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 1976…

2013

Ersilio Tonini

Italian cardinal (born 1914)

Ersilio Tonini was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Ravenna-Cervia from 1975 to 1990, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1994. When Cardinal Paul Augustin Mayer died on 30 April…

2013

Alex Forbes

Scottish footballer and manager (born 1925)

Alexander Rooney Forbes was a Scottish football player and manager.

2014

Alakbar Mammadov

Azerbaijani footballer and manager (born 1930)

Alakbar Mammadov was a Soviet and Azerbaijani footballer best known as a striker for FC Dynamo Moscow in the 1950s and later as the first manager of the independent Azerbaijan national football team.

2014

Jan Kulczyk

Polish businessman (born 1950)

Jan Jerzy Kulczyk was a Polish billionaire businessman. He was the founder and owner of Kulczyk Holding and an international investment house Kulczyk Investments with headquarters in Luxembourg and offices in London and…

2015

Edward Natapei

Vanuatuan politician, 6th Prime Minister of Vanuatu (born 1954)

Edward Nipake Natapei Tuta Fanua`araki was a Vanuatuan politician. He was the prime minister of Vanuatu on two occasions, and was previously the minister of Foreign Affairs briefly in 1991, the acting president of…

2015

Clive Rice

South African cricketer and coach (born 1949)

Clive Edward Butler Rice was a South African international cricketer. An all-rounder, Rice ended his First Class cricket career with a batting average of 40.95 and a bowling average of 22.49. He captained…

2015

Émile Derlin Zinsou

Beninese politician (born 1918)

Émile Derlin Zinsou was a Beninese politician and physician who was the President of Dahomey from 17 July 1968 until 10 December 1969, supported by the military regime that took power in 1967. Zinsou was present at the…

2016

Mahasweta Devi

Indian Bengali fiction writer and socio-political activist (born 1926)

Mahasweta Devi was an Indian Bengali language writer and activist. Her notable literary works include Hajar Churashir Maa, Rudali, and Aranyer Adhikar. She was a leftist who worked for the rights and empowerment of the…

2016

Wanny van Gils

Dutch footballer (born 1959)

Wanny van Gils was a Dutch football player and coach.

2018

Junrey Balawing

Filipino record holder (born 1993)

Junrey Balawing was a Filipino record holder at the Guinness World Records for the world's shortest man alive measuring at 60.00 centimetres (23.62 in) tall. The declaration came during Balawing's 18th birthday…

2020

Dusty Hill

American musician (born 1949)

Joe Michael "Dusty" Hill was an American musician who was the bassist of the rock band ZZ Top for more than 50 years. He also sang backing and lead vocals and played keyboards.

2021

Bernard Cribbins

British actor (born 1928)

Bernard Joseph Cribbins was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over eight decades.

2022

John Anderson

Scottish television personality, teacher and coach (born 1931)

John Anderson was a Scottish television personality and sports coach. He was best known as the referee and official trainer on the UK television show Gladiators which featured his catchphrases including 'Contender,…

2024

Doug Creek

American baseball player (born 1969)

Paul Douglas Creek was an American professional baseball pitcher who played nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1995 to 2005 for seven different teams. He also played one season in Nippon Professional…

2024

Reyes Moronta

Dominican baseball player (born 1993)

Reyes Armando Moronta was a Dominican professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Los Angeles Angels. Moronta…

2024

Francine Pascal

American author (born 1932)

Francine Paula Pascal was an American author best known for her Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High, the backbone of the collection, was made into a television series, which led to several…

2024

Laura Dahlmeier

German biathlete, Olympic champion (born 1993)

Laura Dahlmeier was a German biathlete. Dahlmeier started in her first World Cup races in the 2012–13 season. In 2014, she participated in the Winter Olympics in Sochi. She won a record of five gold medals at the World…

2025

Notable deaths

Who died on July 28?

Abraham Pais — Dutch-American physicist and science historian

FeaturedAbraham Pais

Death year2000

Known forPais earned his Ph.D

Deaths on this date115 (450 – 2025)

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2022

Catastrophic floods devastate Eastern Kentucky, resulting in 45 fatalities and causing damage to thousands of homes and businesses. Wikipedia →

2018

Australian Wendy Tuck becomes the first female skipper to win the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. Wikipedia →

2017

Nawaz Sharif was disqualified from office for life by Supreme Court of Pakistan after finding him guilty of corruption charges. Wikipedia →

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Notable Deaths on July 28

2000 — Abraham Pais

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Also on July 28 in History

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