Notable Deaths on June 20

June 20 has 62 recorded notable deaths across history, from 465 to 2024. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.

Georges Lemaître

1966 — Georges Lemaître

Belgian priest, physicist, and astronomer (born 1894)

By · Wikipedia

Notable Deaths 62 source records 465 – 2024

Major events on June 20

See what else happened on this day in history.

  1. 1963 Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Union and the United States sign an agreement to establish the so-called "red telephone" link between Washington, D.C., and Moscow. Source
  2. 1295 The Treaty of Anagni, an attempt mediated by the papacy to end the War of the Sicilian Vespers, is signed by the crown of Aragon, the kingdom of France and kingdom of Naples. Source

Did you know about Georges Lemaître

That work led Lemaître to propose what he called the "hypothesis of the primeval atom", now regarded as the first formulation of the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe.

Did you know about Caleb Swanigan

Caleb Swanigan completed his senior season in the 2014–15 academic year for Homestead High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who went on to win the first state championship in the school's history.

Did you know about Judy Agnew

Elinor Isabel "Judy" Agnew was the second lady of the United States from 1969 to 1973.

Did you know about Miriam Schapiro

In the 1970s, she made the hand fan, a typically small woman's object, heroic by painting it six feet by twelve feet.

Did you know about Hucbald

Hucbald was a Benedictine monk active as a music theorist, poet, composer, teacher, and hagiographer.


More major people who died on June 20

Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.

2022 Caleb Swanigan

Caleb Swanigan

American basketball player (born 1997)
Caleb Sylvester Swanigan was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers. He was ranked among the top prep players in the national class of 2015 by Rivals.com, Scout.com and ESPN. He completed his senior season in the 2014–15 academic year for Homestead High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who went on to win the first state championship in the school's history. Swanigan was named Indiana's Mr. Basketball and a McDonald's All-American.
2012 Judy Agnew

Judy Agnew

Second Lady of the United States. (born 1921)
Elinor Isabel "Judy" Agnew was the second lady of the United States from 1969 to 1973. She was the wife of the 39th vice president of the United States, Spiro Agnew, who had previously served as Governor of Maryland and Baltimore County Executive. Although Judy Agnew attempted to avoid political discussion during her tenure as second lady, preferring to cultivate her image primarily as a wife and mother, her dismissive remarks about the women's liberation movement were quoted by media.
2015 Miriam Schapiro

Miriam Schapiro

Canadian-American painter and sculptor (born 1923)
Miriam "Mimi" Schapiro was a Canadian-born artist based in the United States. She was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, and a pioneer of feminist art. She was also considered a leader of the Pattern and Decoration art movement. Her artwork blurs the line between fine art and craft. She incorporated craft elements into her paintings due to their association with women and femininity. She often used icons that are associated with women, such as hearts, floral decorations, geometric patterns, and the color pink. In the 1970s, she made the hand fan, a typically small woman's object, heroic by painting it six feet by twelve feet. "The fan-shaped canvas, a powerful icon, gave her the opportunity to experiment … Out of this emerged a surface of textured coloristic complexity and opulence that formed the basis of her new personal style. The kimono, fans, houses, and hearts were the form into which she repeatedly poured her feelings and desires, her anxieties, and hopes".
930 Hucbald

Hucbald

Frankish monk and music theorist
Hucbald was a Benedictine monk active as a music theorist, poet, composer, teacher, and hagiographer. He was long associated with Saint-Amand Abbey, so is often known as Hucbald of St Amand. Deeply influenced by Boethius' De Institutione Musica, Hucbald's (De) Musica, formerly known as De harmonica institutione, aims to reconcile ancient Greek music theory and the contemporary practice of Gregorian chant with the use of many notated examples. Among the leading music theorists of the Carolingian era, he was likely a near contemporary of Aurelian of Réôme, the unknown author of the Musica enchiriadis, and the anonymous authors of other music theory texts Commemoratio brevis, Alia musica, and De modis.
2015 Angelo Niculescu

Angelo Niculescu

Romanian footballer and manager (born 1921)
Angelo Niculescu was a Romanian football player and manager. He is best remembered in Romania for being the national team's coach during the 1970 World Cup. Niculescu is also credited with inventing the "temporizare" ("delaying") tactics. This strategy involved the team maintaining possession of the ball within its own half, with players exchanging numerous short passes across the field. The goal was to disrupt opponents' patience and force them to press high. This approach is often considered an early form of tiki-taka. Using these tactics, Niculescu qualified Romania for a World Cup after more than 30 years of absence, and secured a notable win against Czechoslovakia.
1969 Bishnu Prasad Rabha

Bishnu Prasad Rabha

Indian artist, painter, actor, dancer, writer, music composer and politician (born 1909)
Bishnu Prasad Rabha was an Indian cultural figure from Assam, known for his contributions to music, dance, painting, literature, and political activism. As an advocate of the people's cultural movement, he drew heavily from various genres of classical and folk cultural traditions. Considered a doyen of the culture of Assam, the people of Assam affectionately call him Kalaguru. He is also called by Marxists Sainik Silpi for his active participation in the armed struggle led by the Revolutionary Communist Party of India (RCPI).
1875 Joseph Meek

Joseph Meek

American police officer and politician (born 1810)
Joseph Lafayette Meek was an American pioneer, mountain man, law enforcement official, and politician in the Oregon Country and later Oregon Territory of the United States. A trapper involved in the fur trade before settling in the Tualatin Valley, Meek played a prominent role at the Champoeg Meetings of 1843, where he was elected sheriff. He was later elected to and served in the Provisional Legislature of Oregon before being appointed as the United States Marshal for the Oregon Territory.
465 Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei (born 440)

Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei (born 440)

Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei ( 魏文成帝), Han name Tuoba Jun (拓跋濬), Xianbei name Wulei (烏雷), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China. He became emperor aged 12 in the aftermath of the eunuch Zong Ai's assassinations of his grandfather Emperor Taiwu and uncle Tuoba Yu, and he was generally described by historians as a ruler who sought foremost to allow his people to rest after his grandfather's expansionist policies and extensive campaigns, and who also reformed the laws to become more lenient.
1787 Carl Friedrich Abel

Carl Friedrich Abel

German viol player and composer (born 1723)
Carl Friedrich Abel was a German composer of the early Classical era. He was a renowned player of the viola da gamba, and produced significant compositions for that instrument. He was director of music at the Dresden court from 1743, and moved to London in 1759, becoming chamber-musician to Queen Charlotte in 1764. He founded a subscription concert series there with Johann Christian Bach. According to the Catalogue of Works of Carl Friedrich Abel (AbelWV), he left 420 compositions, with a focus on chamber music.
1815 Guillaume Philibert Duhesme

Guillaume Philibert Duhesme

French general (born 1766)
Guillaume Philibert, 1st Count Duhesme was a French Army officer, politician and writer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was a commander of the Imperial Guard, Governor of Catalonia and a Peer of France. Napoleon wrote that "he was a fearless soldier, covered with wounds and of the greatest bravery, an accomplished general, who always stood firm in good and bad fortune". Duhesme is regarded as one of the most able French infantry generals of the Napoleonic Wars.
1909 Friedrich Martens

Friedrich Martens

Estonian-Russian historian, lawyer, and diplomat (born 1845)
Friedrich Fromhold Martens, or Friedrich Fromhold von Martens, was a diplomat and jurist in service of the Russian Empire who made important contributions to the science of international law. He represented Russia at the Hague Peace Conferences and helped to settle the first cases of international arbitration, notably the dispute between France and the United Kingdom over Newfoundland. As a scholar, he is probably best remembered today for having edited 15 volumes of Russian international treaties (1874–1909).
1351 Margareta Ebner

Margareta Ebner

German nun and mystic (born 1291)
Margareta Ebner was a German professed religious from the Dominican Nuns. Beginning in 1311, Ebner experienced a series of spiritual visions in which Jesus Christ gave her messages which she recorded in letters and a journal at the behest of her spiritual director. Much of Ebner's religious life took place amidst a period of bitter feuding between Pope John XXII and Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Bavarian, in which she and her convent faithfully backed Louis.
1876 John Neal

John Neal

American writer, critic, editor, lecturer, and activist (born 1793)
John Neal was an American writer, critic, editor, lecturer, and activist. Considered both eccentric and influential, he delivered speeches and published essays, novels, poems, and short stories between the 1810s and 1870s in the United States and Great Britain, championing American literary nationalism and regionalism in their earliest stages. Neal advanced the development of American art, fought for women's rights, advocated the end of slavery and racial prejudice, and helped establish the American gymnastics movement.
840 Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious

Carolingian emperor (born 778)
Louis the Pious, also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only surviving son of Charlemagne and Hildegard, he became the sole ruler of the Franks after his father's death in 814. He held this position until his death in 840, save for November 833 to March 834 when Louis was deposed.
1995 Emil Cioran

Emil Cioran

Romanian-French philosopher and educator (born 1911)
Emil Mihai Cioran was a Romanian philosopher, aphorist and essayist, who published works in both Romanian and French. His work has been noted for its pervasive philosophical pessimism, style, and aphorisms. His works frequently engaged with issues of suffering, decay, and nihilism. In 1937, Cioran moved to the Latin Quarter of Paris, which became his permanent residence, wherein he lived in seclusion with his partner, Simone Boué, until his death in 1995.
1978 Mark Robson

Mark Robson

Canadian-American director and producer (born 1913)
Mark Robson was a Canadian-American film director, producer, and editor. Robson began his 45-year career in Hollywood as a film editor. He later began working as a director and producer. He directed 34 films during his career, including Champion (1949), Bright Victory (1951), The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), Peyton Place (1957), The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), Von Ryan's Express (1965), Valley of the Dolls (1967), and Earthquake (1974).
1847 Juan Larrea

Juan Larrea

Argentinian captain and politician (born 1782)
Juan Larrea was a Spanish businessman and politician in Buenos Aires during the early nineteenth century. He headed a military unit during the second British invasion of the River Plate, and worked at the Buenos Aires Cabildo. He took part in the ill-fated Mutiny of Álzaga. Larrea and Domingo Matheu were the only two Spanish-born members of the Primera Junta, the first national government of Argentina.
1952 Luigi Fagioli

Luigi Fagioli

Italian race car driver (born 1898)
Luigi Cristiano Fagioli was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Grand Prix motor racing from 1928 to 1949, and Formula One from 1950 to 1951. Nicknamed "the Abruzzi Robber", Fagioli won the 1951 French Grand Prix with Alfa Romeo aged 53, and remains the oldest driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix. Fagioli was runner-up in the European Drivers' Championship in 1935 with Mercedes.
2002 Erwin Chargaff

Erwin Chargaff

Austrian-American biochemist and academic (born 1905)
Erwin Chargaff was an Austro-Hungarian-born American biochemist, writer, and professor of biochemistry at Columbia University medical school. A Bucovinian Jew who immigrated to the United States during the Nazi regime, he penned a well-reviewed autobiography, Heraclitean Fire: Sketches from a Life Before Nature. Through careful experimentation, Chargaff discovered two rules, called Chargaff's rules, which helped lead to the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.

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