Notable people who died on July 4 include: Ecgberht, Luitpold, Dietmar I, Luo Shaowei, Wang Jianli.

Notable Deaths on July 4

Q: What is Georgette Heyer known for?

Georgette Heyer, English author (born 1902)

1974 — Georgette Heyer

English author (born 1902)

July 4 has seen 141 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 673 – 2025. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · July 4 — Wikipedia

Notable Deaths 141 people 673 – 2025

Did you know

After her novel These Old Shades became popular despite its release during the General Strike, Heyer determined that publicity was not necessary for good sales

Did you know

Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story conceived for her ailing younger brother into the novel The Black Moth

Did you know

In 1925 Heyer married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer

Did you know

The couple spent several years living in Tanganyika Territory and Macedonia before returning to England in 1929

Did you know

Georgette Heyer was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres

Ecgberht

king of Kent

Ecgberht I was a king of Kent (664–673), succeeding his father Eorcenberht.

673

Luitpold

margrave of Bavaria

Luitpold, perhaps of the Huosi family or related to the Carolingian dynasty by Liutswind, mother of Emperor Arnulf of Carinthia, was the ancestor of the Luitpolding dynasty which ruled Bavaria and Carinthia until the…

907

Dietmar I

archbishop of Salzburg

Dietmar I or Thietmar I, commonly spelled Theotmar, was the archbishop of Salzburg from 873 to 907.

907

Luo Shaowei

Chinese warlord (born 877)

Luo Shaowei, courtesy name Duanji (端己), formally Prince Zhenzhuang of Ye (鄴貞莊王), was a warlord who ruled Weibo Circuit, also known as Tianxiong Circuit (天雄), as its military governor (Jiedushi), late in the Chinese Tang…

910

Wang Jianli

Chinese general (born 871)

Wang Jianli (王建立), formally the Prince of Han (韓王), was a general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Tang and Later Jin, who also briefly served as a chancellor during the reign of Later…

940

Taejo of Goryeo

Korean king (born 877)

Taejo, personal name Wang Kŏn, also known as Taejo Wang Kŏn, was the founder of the Goryeo Dynasty of Korea. He ruled from 918 to 943, achieving unification of the Later Three Kingdoms in 936.

943

Zhuo Yanming

Chinese Buddhist monk and emperor

Zhuo Yanming (卓巖明), né Zhuo Yansi (卓偃巳), dharma name Timing (體明), was a Buddhist monk in the late years of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period Min state. After the Min army officer Li Renda rebelled…

945

Benedict V

pope of the Catholic Church

Pope Benedict V was the pope and ruler of the Papal States from 22 May to 23 June 964, in opposition to Leo VIII. He was overthrown by Emperor Otto I. His brief pontificate occurred at the end of a period known as the…

965

Ulrich of Augsburg

German bishop and saint (born 890)

Ulrich of Augsburg, sometimes spelled Uodalric or Odalrici, was Prince-Bishop of Augsburg in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the first saint to be canonised not by a local authority but by a pope.

973

Gwangjong of Goryeo

Korean king (born 925)

Gwangjong, personal name Wang So, was the fourth monarch of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea.

975

Raynald of Châtillon

French knight (born 1125)

Raynald of Châtillon, also known as Reynald, Reginald, or Renaud, was Prince of Antioch—a crusader state in the Middle East—from 1153 to 1160 or 1161, and Lord of Transjordan—a large fiefdom in the crusader Kingdom of…

1187

Rudolf I of Bohemia (born 1281)

Rudolf I, also known as Rudolf of Habsburg, was a member of the House of Habsburg, the King of Bohemia and titular King of Poland from 1306 until his death. He was also Duke of Austria and Styria from 1298.

1307

Saint Elizabeth of Portugal (born 1271)

Elizabeth of Portugal, also known as Elizabeth of Aragon, was Queen of Portugal from 1282 to 1325 as the wife of King Denis. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, under the name Saint Elizabeth of Portugal…

1336

Carlo I Tocco

ruler of Epirus (born 1372)

Carlo I Tocco was the hereditary Count Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos from 1376, and ruled as the Despot of Epirus from 1411 until his death on July 4, 1429.

1429

John Frith

English priest, writer, and martyr (born 1503)

John Frith was an English Protestant priest, writer, and martyr.

1533

Pedro de Alvarado

Spanish general and explorer (born 1495)

Pedro de Alvarado was a Spanish conquistador, adelantado, governor and captain general of Guatemala. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of the Yucatán Peninsula and…

1541

Hayreddin Barbarossa

Ottoman admiral (born 1478)

Hayreddin Barbarossa, also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis, was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's naval victories secured Ottoman dominance…

1546

Gregory Cromwell

1st Baron Cromwell, English politician (born 1514)

Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell was an English nobleman. He was the only son of the Tudor statesman Thomas Cromwell and Elizabeth Wyckes.

1551

Philippe de Monte

Flemish composer and educator (born 1521)

Philippe de Monte, sometimes known as Philippus de Monte, was a Flemish composer of the late Renaissance active all over Europe. He was a member of the 3rd generation madrigalists and wrote more madrigals than any other…

1603

William Byrd

English composer (born c. 1540)

William Byrd was an English Renaissance composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continent. He is often…

1623

Brian Twyne

English academic, antiquarian and archivist (born 1581)

Brian Twyne was an English antiquary and an academic at the University of Oxford. After being educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and becoming a Fellow of the college in 1606, he published his one main work, a…

1644

Antoine Daniel

French missionary and saint, one of the eight Canadian Martyrs (born 1601)

Antoine Daniel was a French Jesuit missionary in North America, at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, and one of the eight Canadian Martyrs.

1648

Luigi Guido Grandi

Italian monk, mathematician, and engineer (born 1671)

Dom Guido Grandi, was an Italian monk, priest, philosopher, theologian, mathematician, and engineer.

1742

Philippe Néricault Destouches

French playwright and author (born 1680)

Philippe Néricault Destouches was a French playwright who wrote 22 plays.

1754

Samuel Richardson

English author and painter (born 1689)

Samuel Richardson was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady (1748) and The History of Sir Charles Grandison…

1761

Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (born 1712)

Prince Charles Alexander Emanuel of Lorraine was a Lorraine-born Austrian general and soldier, field marshal of the Imperial Army, and governor of the Austrian Netherlands.

1780

Charles

Prince of Soubise, Marshal of France (born 1715)

Charles de Rohan, Prince of Soubise was a French Royal Army officer and courtier who served during the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI. He was the last male of his branch of the House of Rohan, and was…

1787

Richard Cosway

English painter and academic (born 1742)

Richard Cosway was a leading English portrait painter of the Georgian and Regency era, noted for his miniatures. He was a contemporary of John Smart, George Engleheart, William Wood, and Richard Crosse. He befriended…

1821

John Adams

American lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the United States (born 1735)

John Adams was a Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved independence from Great Britain. During…

1826

Thomas Jefferson

American architect, lawyer, and politician, 3rd President of the United States (born 1743)

Thomas Jefferson was a Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the second vice president under John Adams. Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of…

1826

James Monroe

American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 5th President of the United States (born 1758)

James Monroe was an American Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as president as well as the last president of the Virginia…

1831

François-René de Chateaubriand

French historian and politician (born 1768)

François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who influenced French literature of the 19th century. Descended from an old aristocratic family from Brittany,…

1848

William Kirby

English entomologist and author (born 1759)

William Kirby was an English entomologist, an original member of the Linnean Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society, as well as a country rector, so that he was an eminent example of the "parson-naturalist". The…

1850

Karl Friedrich Eichhorn

German academic and jurist (born 1781)

Karl Friedrich Eichhorn was a German jurist.

1854

William L. Marcy

American lawyer, judge, and politician, 21st United States Secretary of State (born 1786)

William Learned Marcy was an American lawyer, politician, and judge who served as U.S. Senator, the eleventh Governor of New York, U.S. Secretary of War and the twenty-first U.S. Secretary of State. In the latter…

1857

Johan Vilhelm Snellman

Finnish philosopher and politician (born 1806)

Johan Vilhelm Snellman was a Finland-Swedish philosopher, journalist and statesman, and one of the leading figures of Fennoman nationalism in 19th-century Finland. A central exponent of Hegelian philosophy in the Nordic…

1881

Joseph Brackett

American composer and author (born 1797)

Joseph Brackett Jr. was an American songwriter, author, and elder of The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, better known as the Shakers. The most famous song attributed to Brackett, "Simple…

1882

Poundmaker

Canadian tribal chief (born 1797)

Poundmaker, also known as pîhtokahânapiwiyin, was a Plains Cree chief known as a peacemaker and defender of his people, the Poundmaker Cree Nation. His name denotes his special craft at leading buffalo into buffalo…

1886

Hannibal Hamlin

American lawyer and politician, 15th Vice President of the United States (born 1809)

Hannibal Hamlin was an American politician and diplomat who was the 15th vice president of the United States, serving from 1861 to 1865, during President Abraham Lincoln's first term. He was the first Republican vice…

1891

Johannes Schmidt

German linguist and academic (born 1843)

Johannes Friedrich Heinrich Schmidt was a German linguist. He developed the Wellentheorie of language development.

1901

Swami Vivekananda

Indian monk and saint (born 1863)

Swami Vivekananda, born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. Vivekananda was a major figure in the introduction…

1902

Élisée Reclus

French geographer and author (born 1830)

Jacques Élisée Reclus was a French geographer, writer, and anarchist. He produced his 19-volume masterwork, La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes , over a period of nearly 20 years (1875–1894). In…

1905

Melville Fuller

American lawyer and jurist, Chief Justice of the United States (born 1833)

Melville Weston Fuller was an American politician, attorney, and jurist who served as the eighth chief justice of the United States from 1888 until his death in 1910. Staunch conservatism marked his tenure on the…

1910

Kabua the Great

Marshallese iroijlaplap (born c. 1820)

Kabua the Great, also Kabua Laplap, was a Marshallese iroij whom the German Empire recognized as the king of the Marshall Islands. From 1863 until his death in 1910, he claimed to be the paramount chief, or iroijlaplap,…

1910

Giovanni Schiaparelli

Italian astronomer and historian (born 1835)

Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli was an Italian astronomer and science historian. Schiaparelli established the Martian system of nomenclature still in use today; before him, features of the planet bore the names of…

1910

Alan Seeger

American soldier and poet (born 1888)

Alan Seeger was an American war poet who fought and died in World War I during the Battle of the Somme, serving in the French Foreign Legion. Seeger was the brother of Elizabeth Seeger, a children's author and educator,…

1916

Lothar von Richthofen

German lieutenant and pilot (born 1894)

Lothar Siegfried Freiherr von Richthofen was a German First World War fighter ace credited with 40 victories. He was a younger brother of top-scoring ace Manfred von Richthofen and a distant cousin of Luftwaffe Field…

1922

Pier Giorgio Frassati

Italian activist and saint (born 1901)

Pier Giorgio Frassati was an Italian Catholic activist and a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. He was dedicated to social justice issues and joined several charitable organizations, including Catholic Action…

1926

Marie Curie

French-Polish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1867)

Maria Salomea Skłodowska Curie, better known as Marie Curie, was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist. She shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with her husband, Pierre Curie, "for their joint…

1934

Anna Paaske

Norwegian opera singer and music teacher (born 1856)

Anna Paaske was a Norwegian opera singer and music teacher. She often performed in Wagner roles in concerts in Scandinavia and Northern Europe, and was especially popular in Germany. Her stage career ended after she…

1935

Otto Bauer

Austrian philosopher and politician, Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1881)

Otto Bauer was an Austrian politician who was one of the founders and leading thinkers of the Austromarxists who sought a middle ground between social democracy and revolutionary socialism. He was a member of the…

1938

Suzanne Lenglen

French tennis player (born 1899)

Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen was a French tennis player. She was the inaugural world No. 1 from 1921 to 1926, winning eight Grand Slam titles in singles and twenty-one in total. She was also a four-time World Hard Court…

1938

Antoni Łomnicki

Polish mathematician and academic (born 1881)

Antoni Marian Łomnicki was a Polish mathematician. He contributed to applied mathematics and cartography. He was the author of several textbooks of mathematics and was an influential mathematics teacher at the…

1941

Władysław Sikorski

Polish general and politician, 9th Prime Minister of the Second Republic of Poland (born 1881)

Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski was a Polish military and political leader. Before World War I, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause of Polish independence. He…

1943

Taffy O'Callaghan

Welsh footballer and coach (born 1906)

Eugene "Taffy" O'Callaghan was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a forward for Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, Fulham and Wales during the 1920s and 1930s.

1946

Monteiro Lobato

Brazilian journalist and author (born 1882)

José Bento Renato Monteiro Lobato was one of Brazil's most influential writers, mostly for his children's books set in the fictional Sítio do Picapau Amarelo but he had been previously a prolific writer of fiction, a…

1948

François Brandt

Dutch rower and engineer (born 1874)

François Antoine Brandt was a Dutch rower who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. Brandt was part of the Dutch eight team that won a bronze medal with Hermanus Brockmann as the coxswain. Brockmann also…

1949

Bernard Freyberg

1st Baron Freyberg, New Zealand general and politician, 7th Governor-General of New Zealand (born 1889)

Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, was a British-born New Zealand soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who served as the 7th governor-general of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952 - the first to…

1963

Clyde Kennard

American activist and martyr (born 1927)

Clyde Kennard was an American Korean War veteran and civil rights leader from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. In the 1950s, he attempted several times to enroll at the all-white Mississippi Southern College to complete his…

1963

Pingali Venkayya

Indian activist, designed the Flag of India (born 1876)

Pingali Venkayya was an Indian freedom fighter, known for designing the initial version of the Indian National Flag. Apart from his role in the independence movement, Venkayya was a lecturer, author, geologist,…

1963

Gaby Morlay

French actress and singer (born 1893)

Gaby Morlay was a film actress from France.

1964

Henri Decoin

French director and screenwriter (born 1890)

Henri Decoin was a French film director and screenwriter, who directed more than 50 films between 1933 and 1964. He was also a swimmer who won the national title in 1911 and held the national record in the 500 m…

1969

Barnett Newman

American painter and illustrator (born 1905)

Barnett Newman was an American painter. He has been critically regarded as one of the major figures of abstract expressionism, and one of the foremost color field painters. His paintings explore the sense of place that…

1970

Harold Stirling Vanderbilt

American sailor and businessman (born 1884)

Harold Stirling Vanderbilt CBE was an American railroad executive, a champion yachtsman, an innovator and champion player of contract bridge, and a member of the Vanderbilt family.

1970

August Derleth

American anthologist and author (born 1909)

August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. He was the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. He made contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the cosmic horror genre and helped found…

1971

Thomas C. Hart

American admiral and politician (born 1877)

Thomas Charles Hart was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, whose service extended from the Spanish–American War through World War II. Following his retirement from the Navy, he served briefly as a United…

1971

André Randall

French actor (born 1892)

André Randall was a French screen actor. He was born André Ayaïs in Bordeaux and died at Sainte-Foy-la-Grande.

1974

Yonatan Netanyahu

Israeli colonel (born 1946)

Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu was an Israeli military officer who commanded Sayeret Matkal during the Entebbe raid. The raid was launched in response to the 1976 hijacking of an international civilian passenger flight from…

1976

Antoni Słonimski

Polish poet and playwright (born 1895)

Antoni Słonimski was a Polish poet, artist, journalist, playwright and prose writer, president of the Union of Polish Writers in 1956–1959 during the Polish October, known for his devotion to social justice.

1976

Gersh Budker

Ukrainian physicist and academic (born 1918)

Gersh Itskovich Budker, also named Andrey Mikhailovich Budker, was a Soviet physicist born in Murafa in Ukrainian People's Republic, specialized in nuclear physics and accelerator physics.

1977

Lee Wai Tong

Chinese footballer and manager (born 1905)

Lee Wai Tong was a Hong Kong and Chinese international association football player, head coach, and former Vice President of FIFA. He is often regarded as the greatest Chinese footballer, due to his accomplishments in…

1979

Maurice Grevisse

Belgian linguist and author (born 1895)

Maurice Grevisse was a Belgian grammarian.

1980

Jimmie Spheeris

American singer-songwriter (born 1949)

Jimmie Andrew Spheeris was an American singer-songwriter who released four albums in the 1970s on the Columbia Records and Epic Records labels. Spheeris died in 1984, at the age of 34, after a motorcycle accident.

1984

Paul-Gilbert Langevin

French musicologist, critique musical and physicist (born 1933)

Paul-Gilbert Langevin was a French musicologist, who was a specialist on Anton Bruckner, Franz Schubert and 19th-century classical music.

1986

Flor Peeters

Belgian organist and composer (born 1903)

Franciscus Florentinus Peeters, Baron Peeters was a Belgian composer, organist and academic teacher. He was director of the Conservatorium in Antwerp, Belgium, and organist at Mechelen Cathedral from 1923 to his death…

1986

Oscar Zariski

Belarusian-American mathematician and academic (born 1899)

Oscar Zariski was an American mathematician. The Russian-born scientist was one of the most influential algebraic geometers of the 20th century.

1986

Adrian Adonis

American wrestler (born 1954)

Keith Adonis Franke was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Adorable" Adrian Adonis. He was best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association and World Wrestling…

1988

Olive Ann Burns

American journalist and author (born 1924)

Olive Ann Burns was an American writer from Georgia best known for her single completed novel, Cold Sassy Tree, published in 1984.

1990

Victor Chang

Chinese-Australian surgeon and physician (born 1936)

Victor Peter Chang was a Chinese-born Australian cardiac surgeon and a pioneer of modern heart transplantation in Australia.

1991

Art Sansom

American cartoonist (born 1920)

Arthur Baldwin Sansom Jr., better known as Art Sansom, was an American comic strip cartoonist who created the long-running comic strip The Born Loser.

1991

Astor Piazzolla

Argentinian bandoneon player and composer (born 1921)

Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and…

1992

Bona Arsenault

Canadian historian, genealogist, and politician (born 1903)

Bona Arsenault, was a Canadian historian, genealogist and a federal and provincial politician.

1993

Joey Marella

American wrestling referee (born 1964)

Joseph Anthony Marella was an American professional wrestling referee for the World Wrestling Federation and son of former wrestler and then WWF announcer Gorilla Monsoon from Willingboro Township, New Jersey.

1994

Eva Gabor

Hungarian-American actress and singer (born 1919)

Eva Gabor was a Hungarian born American actress and socialite. She gained fame for her role on the 1965–1971 television sitcom Green Acres as Lisa Douglas, the wife of Eddie Albert's character Oliver Wendell Douglas,…

1995

Bob Ross

American painter and television host (born 1942)

Robert Norman Ross was an American painter and art instructor who created and hosted The Joy of Painting, an instructional television program that aired from 1983 to 1994 on PBS in the United States and CBC in Canada.

1995

Charles Kuralt

American journalist (born 1934)

Charles Bishop Kuralt was an American television, newspaper and radio journalist and author. He is most widely known for his long career with CBS, first for his "On the Road" segments on The CBS Evening News with Walter…

1997

John Zachary Young

English zoologist and neurophysiologist (born 1907)

John Zachary Young, generally known as "JZ" or "JZY", was an English zoologist and neurophysiologist, described as "one of the most influential biologists of the 20th century".

1997

Leo Garel

American illustrator and educator (born 1917)

Leo Garel was an American artist. He illustrated cartoons for such notable magazines as The New Yorker, The Saturday Evening Post and Playboy.

1999

Gustaw Herling-Grudziński

Polish journalist and author (born 1919)

Gustaw Herling-Grudziński was a Polish writer, journalist, essayist, World War II underground fighter, and political dissident abroad during the period of Soviet and communist rule. He is best known for writing a…

2000

Gerald Bales

Canadian organist and composer (born 1919)

Gerald Albert Bales, was a Canadian organist and composer.

2002

Benjamin O. Davis

Jr., American general (born 1912)

Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. was a United States Air Force (USAF) general and commander of the World War II Tuskegee Airmen.

2002

Larry Burkett

American author and radio host (born 1939)

Larry Burkett was an American radio personality whose work focused on financial counseling from a Christian point of view.

2003

André Claveau

French singer (born 1915)

André Claveau was a French singer, popular in France from the 1940s to the 1960s. He won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1958 singing "Dors, mon amour", with music composed by Pierre Delanoë and lyrics by Hubert Giraud.…

2003

Barry White

American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (born 1944)

Barry Eugene White was an American R&B, soul and disco singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s…

2003

Jean-Marie Auberson

Swiss violinist and conductor (born 1920)

Jean-Marie Auberson was a Swiss conductor and violinist.

2004

Cliff Goupille

Canadian ice hockey player (born 1915)

Joseph Emilien Clifford "Red" Goupille was a Canadian ice hockey player who played 224 games in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens between 1936 and 1942.

2005

Hank Stram

American football player and coach (born 1923)

Henry Louis Stram was an American football coach. He is best known for his 15-year tenure with the Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL).

2005

Bill Pinkney

American singer (born 1925)

Willie "Bill" Pinkney was an American performer and singer. Pinkney was the last surviving original member of The Drifters, who achieved international fame with numerous hit records. He was chiefly responsible for its…

2007

Thomas M. Disch

American author and poet (born 1940)

Thomas Michael Disch was an American science fiction writer and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book—previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book"—in 1999. He had two other Hugo nominations and nine Nebula…

2008

Jesse Helms

American politician (born 1921)

Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. was an American politician, a journalist, and Navy veteran. A leader in the conservative and nationalist movement, he represented North Carolina in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2003.…

2008

Evelyn Keyes

American actress (born 1916)

Evelyn Louise Keyes was an American film actress. She is best known for her role as Suellen O'Hara in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind.

2008

Terrence Kiel

American football player (born 1980)

Terrence Dewayne Kiel was an American professional football player who spent his entire career as a safety for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) from 2003 to 2006. He played college football…

2008

Charles Wheeler

German-English soldier and journalist (born 1923)

Sir Selwyn Charles Cornelius-Wheeler was a German-born British journalist and broadcaster. Having joined the BBC in 1947, he became the corporation's longest-serving foreign correspondent, remaining in the role until…

2008

Brenda Joyce

American actress (born 1917)

Brenda Joyce was an American film actress. She was best known for playing Jane Porter in RKO's Tarzan films from 1945 to 1949.

2009

Allen Klein

American businessman and talent agent, founded ABKCO Records (born 1931)

Allen Klein was an American businessman whose aggressive negotiation tactics affected industry standards for compensating recording artists. He founded ABKCO Music & Records Incorporated. Klein increased profits for his…

2009

Drake Levin

American guitarist (born 1946)

Drake Maxwell Levin was an American musician best known as the guitarist for the pop-rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders.

2009

Steve McNair

American football player (born 1973)

Stephen LaTreal McNair, nicknamed "Air McNair", was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He started his first two seasons with the Houston Oilers…

2009

Lasse Strömstedt

Swedish author and actor (born 1935)

Folke Lars-Olov Strömstedt, better known as Lasse Strömstedt, was a Swedish writer who wrote of and about his own life in prison and drug abuse. Strömstedt was born in Gävle in 1935. He was a casual laborer whose…

2009

Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard

Congolese poet and politician (born 1938)

Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard was a Congolese politician and poet. Having previously served as Minister of Higher Education and Minister of Arts and Culture, he was Minister of Hydrocarbons in the government of…

2009

Robert Neil Butler

American physician and author (born 1927)

Robert Neil Butler was an American physician, gerontologist, psychiatrist, and author, who was the first director of the National Institute on Aging. Butler is known for his work on the social needs and the rights of…

2010

Hiren Bhattacharyya

Indian poet and author (born 1932)

Hiren Bhattacharyya, popularly known as Hiruda, was an Indian poet and lyricist best known for his works in the Assamese literature. He had innumerable works published in Assamese and achieved many prizes and accolades…

2012

Jimmy Bivins

American boxer (born 1919)

James Louis Bivins was an American boxer whose professional career ran from 1940 to 1955. He was born in Dry Branch, Georgia. Although he was never given the opportunity to fight for a world title, despite at one point…

2012

Jeong Min-hyeong

South Korean footballer (born 1987)

Jeong Min-Hyeong was a South Korean footballer who played as a midfielder for Busan IPark in the K-League.

2012

Eric Sykes

English actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1923)

Eric Sykes was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading comedy…

2012

Onllwyn Brace

Welsh rugby player and sportscaster (born 1932)

David Onllwyn Brace was a Welsh international scrum-half who played club rugby for Newport and Aberavon. He won nine caps for Wales and would captain the team twice in the early 1960s. Brace was an exciting, unorthodox…

2013

Jack Crompton

English footballer and manager (born 1921)

John Crompton was an English professional footballer. Born in Hulme, Manchester, Lancashire, he was a goalkeeper for Manchester United between 1944 and 1956. He was part of the team that won the FA Cup in 1948 and the…

2013

James Fulton

American dermatologist and academic (born 1940)

Dr. James E. Fulton Jr., M.D., was an American dermatologist and medical researcher who co-invented Retin-A, a popular acne medication, in 1969.

2013

Charles A. Hines

American general (born 1935)

Charles Alfonso Hines was an American Army major general, university administrator, and sociology professor.

2013

Bernie Nolan

Irish singer (born 1960)

Bernadette Therese Doneathy was an Irish actress, singer and television personality. She was a member of the girl group the Nolans, which she formed with her sisters. From the age of two, Bernie was brought up in…

2013

Giorgio Faletti

Italian author, screenwriter, and actor (born 1950)

Giorgio Faletti was an Italian writer, musician, actor and comedian. Born in Asti, Piedmont, he lived on Elba Island. His books have been translated into 25 languages and published with great success in Europe, South…

2014

C. J. Henderson

American author and critic (born 1951)

Chris "C. J." Henderson was an American writer of horror, hardboiled crime fiction and comic books, known for such works as the Piers Knight and Teddy London series. His comics work includes books for Marvel Comics and…

2014

Earl Robinson

American baseball player (born 1936)

Earl John Robinson was an American professional baseball outfielder and third baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles. He attended the University of…

2014

Richard Mellon Scaife

American businessman (born 1932)

Richard Mellon Scaife was an American billionaire, a principal heir to the Mellon banking, oil, and aluminum fortune, and the owner and publisher of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. In 2005, Scaife was number 238 on the…

2014

Nedelcho Beronov

Bulgarian judge and politician (born 1928)

Nedelcho Krumov Beronov was a Bulgarian jurist, right-wing politician and Constitutional Court chairman, as well as a presidential candidate in the 2006 presidential elections.

2015

William Conrad Gibbons

American historian, author, and academic (born 1926)

William Conrad Gibbons was an American historian and foreign policy expert.

2015

Abbas Kiarostami

Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, and photographer (born 1940)

Abbas Kiarostami was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of over forty films, including shorts and…

2016

John Blackwell

American R&B, funk, and jazz drummer (born 1973)

John Blackwell Jr. was an American contemporary R&B, funk, jazz, fusion, and pop drummer, best known for his work with Prince. Later, he was a member of D'Angelo's backing band, The Vanguard.

2017

Daniil Granin

Soviet and Russian author (born 1919)

Daniil Aleksandrovich Granin, original family name Gherman, was a Soviet and Russian author.

2017

Gene Conley

American MLB player and NBA player (born 1930)

Donald Eugene Conley was an American professional baseball and basketball player. He pitched for four teams in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1952 to 1963. Conley also played as a forward in the 1952–53 season and…

2017

Henri Dirickx

Belgian footballer (born 1927)

Henri Dirickx was a Belgian international footballer, who played as a defender. Dirickx was the last surviving member of Belgium's 1954 World Cup squad.

2018

Robby Müller

Dutch cinematographer (born 1940)

Robby Müller, NSC, BVK, was a Dutch cinematographer. Known for his use of natural light and minimalist imagery, Müller first gained recognition for his contributions to West German cinema through his acclaimed…

2018

Harmoko

Indonesian politician, former parliament speaker and government minister (born 1939)

Harmoko, colloquially referred to as Bung Harmoko, was an Indonesian politician and journalist who was active during the New Order era. He served as the Speaker of the People's Representative Council from 1997 until…

2021

Matīss Kivlenieks

Latvian ice hockey goaltender (born 1996)

Matīss Edmunds Kivlenieks was a Latvian professional ice hockey goaltender who played for Prizma Riga of the Latvian Hockey Higher League (LHL), the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL), and the…

2021

Cláudio Hummes

Brazilian prelate of the Catholic Church (born 1934)

Cláudio Hummes was a Brazilian prelate of the Catholic Church. He was prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy from 2006 to 2010, having served as Archbishop of Fortaleza from 1996 to 1998 and Archbishop of São Paulo…

2022

Kazuki Takahashi

Japanese manga artist (born 1961)

Kazuo Takahashi , known professionally as Kazuki Takahashi , was a Japanese manga artist. He is best known as the author of Yu-Gi-Oh!, published in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1996 to 2004. The manga spawned a trading card…

2022

Lyndon Byers

Canadian ice hockey player and radio host (born 1964)

Lyndon Svi Byers was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and radio personality. Byers played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for parts of ten seasons with the Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks, earning a…

2025

Richard Greenberg

American playwright and television writer (born 1958)

Richard Greenberg was an American playwright and television writer known for his subversively humorous depictions of middle-class American life. He had more than 25 plays premiere on Broadway, off-Broadway, and…

2025

Bobby Jenks

American baseball player (born 1981)

Robert Scott Jenks was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox from 2005 through 2011, and was a two-time All-Star. A relief…

2025

Peter Russell-Clarke

Australian chef, author and illustrator (born 1935)

Peter Russell-Clarke was an Australian chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and illustrator, artist, cartoonist, television presenter and media personality.

2025

Mark Snow

American composer for film and television (born 1946)

Mark Snow was an American composer for film and television. He was perhaps best known for composing the theme for The X-Files, and would compose for the show's initial nine-season run from 1993 to 2001. He would return…

2025

Notable deaths

Who died on July 4?

Georgette Heyer — English writer (1902–1974)

FeaturedGeorgette Heyer

Death year1974

Known forHer writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story conceived for her ailing younger brother into the novel The Black Moth

Deaths on this date141 (673 – 2025)

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Also on July 4 in History

2025

A devastating flood strikes the Texas Hill Country, killing at least 108 people. Wikipedia →

2025

The Oasis Live '25 tour began in Principality Stadium, Cardiff, ending a 16 year hiatus. Wikipedia →

2024

The Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, wins a landslide majority in the 2024 United Kingdom general election, ending 14 years of Conservative government. Wikipedia →

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Notable Deaths on July 4

1974 — Georgette Heyer

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