Notable Deaths on March 21

Q: Who died on March 21?

Notable people who died on March 21 include: Ælla, Osberht, Ezzo, Richeza of Lotharingia (born 995), Robert I.

Q: What is Willis Reed known for?

Willis Reed, American basketball player (born 1942)

124 people 867 – 2026

March 21 has seen 124 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 867 – 2026. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · March 21 — Wikipedia

2023 — Willis Reed

American basketball player (born 1942)

Did you know

Reed was a seven-time NBA All-Star and five-time All-NBA selection, including once on the first team in 1970, when he was named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP)

Did you know

Until Nikola Jokić won his first MVP in 2020-21, he was the only player drafted in the second round to win the award

Did you know

He spent his entire ten-year pro playing career (1964–1974) with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA)

Did you know

In 1982, Reed was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Did you know

He was named to both the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams.

Ælla

king of Northumbria

Ælla was King of Northumbria, a kingdom in early medieval England, during the middle of the 9th century. Sources on Northumbrian history in this period are limited, and so Ælla's ancestry is not known, and the dating of…

867

Osberht

king of Northumbria

Osberht was king of Northumbria in the middle of the 9th century. Sources on Northumbrian history in this period are limited. Osberht's descent is not known and the dating of his reign is problematic.

867

Ezzo

Count Palatine of Lotharingia (born 955)

Ezzo, sometimes called Ehrenfried, a member of the Ezzonid dynasty, was Count Palatine of Lotharingia from 1015 until his death. As brother-in-law of Emperor Otto III, father of Queen Richeza of Poland and several other…

1034

Richeza of Lotharingia (born 995)

Richeza of Lotharingia was a member of the Ezzonen dynasty who became queen of Poland as the wife of Mieszko II Lambert. Her Polish marriage was arranged to strengthen the ties between Mieszko and her uncle Emperor Otto…

1063

Robert I

Duke of Burgundy (born 1011)

Robert I, known as the Old or the Headstrong, was Duke of Burgundy from 1032 to his death. Robert was the third son of King Robert II of France and Constance of Arles. His brother was Henry I of France.

1076

Absalon

Danish archbishop (born c. 1128)

Absalon was a Danish statesman and prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the bishop of Roskilde from 1158 to 1192 and archbishop of Lund from 1178 until his death. He was the foremost politician and church father…

1201

Robert II

Duke of Burgundy (born 1248)

Robert II was Duke of Burgundy between 1272 and 1306 as well as titular king of Thessalonica.

1306

Rudolf VI

Margrave of Baden

Rudolf VI of Baden was Margrave of Baden-Baden and Count of Eberstein from 1353 to 1372. Under his rule, the Margraves of Baden were recognized for the first time as princeps regni (Reichsfürst).

1372

Nicholas of Flüe

Swiss monk and saint (born 1417)

Nicholas of Flüe was a Swiss hermit and ascetic who is the patron saint of Switzerland. He is sometimes invoked as Brother Klaus. A farmer, military leader, member of the assembly, councillor, judge and mystic, he was…

1487

John de Vere

15th Earl of Oxford, English peer and courtier (born c. 1482)

John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, Lord Great Chamberlain KG PC was an English peer and courtier.

1540

Thomas Cranmer

English archbishop (born 1489)

Thomas Cranmer was an English theologian who was a leader of the English Reformation and served as Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He is honoured as a…

1556

Odet de Coligny

French cardinal and Protestant (born 1517)

Odet de Coligny was a French aristocrat, cardinal, Bishop-elect of Beauvais, Peer of France, and member of the French Royal Council. From 1534 he was usually referred to as the Cardinal of Châtillon.

1571

Pocahontas

Algonquian Indigenous woman (born c. 1595)

Pocahontas was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Wahunsenacawh, the paramount chief of a…

1617

Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha

Albanian politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire

Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha was an Ottoman Albanian statesman and Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 20 June 1652 to 21 March 1653, when he was executed because of the economic reforms he initiated.

1653

James Ussher

Irish archbishop (born 1581)

James Ussher was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific Irish scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his identification of the…

1656

Henri Sauval

French historian and author (born 1623)

Henri Sauval was a French historian.

1676

John Law

Scottish-French economist and politician, Controller-General of Finances (born 1671)

John Law was a Scottish-French economist and financier. He rose to power in France where he created a novel financial scheme for French public finances known as Law's System with two institutions at its core, John Law's…

1729

Elżbieta Sieniawska

politically influential Polish magnate (born 1669)

Elżbieta Helena Sieniawska was a Polish noblewoman, Grand Hetmaness of the Crown, and a renowned patron of the arts.

1729

Robert Wodrow

Scottish historian and author (born 1679)

Robert Wodrow was a Scottish minister and historian, known as a chronicler and defender of the Covenanters. Robert Wodrow was born at Glasgow, where his father, James Wodrow, was a professor of divinity. Robert was…

1734

Johann Heinrich Zedler

German publisher (born 1706)

Johann Heinrich Zedler was a bookseller and publisher. His most important achievement was the creation of a German encyclopedia, the Grosses Universal-Lexicon , the largest and most comprehensive German-language…

1751

Gio Nicola Buhagiar

Maltese painter (born 1698)

Gio Nicola Buhagiar was a Maltese painter.

1752

Nicolas Louis de Lacaille

French priest, astronomer, and academic (born 1713)

Abbé Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille, formerly sometimes spelled de la Caille, was a French astronomer and geodesist who named 14 out of the 88 constellations. From 1750 to 1754, he studied the sky at the Cape of Good Hope in…

1762

Jacques-Nicolas Bellin

French geographer and cartographer (born 1703)

Jacques Nicolas Bellin was a French hydrographer, geographer, and member of the French intellectual group called the philosophes.

1772

Giovanni Arduino

Italian miner and geologist (born 1714)

Giovanni Arduino was an Italian geologist who is known as the "Father of Italian Geology". Arduino proposed the division of the earth's crust into four general and successive orders: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary and…

1795

Andrea Luchesi

Italian composer and educator (born 1741)

Andrea Luca Luchesi was an Italian composer. He knew Mozart and Beethoven.

1801

Louis Antoine

Duke of Enghien (born 1772)

Louis Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Enghien was a member of the House of Bourbon of France. More famous for his death than his life, he was executed by order of Napoleon Bonaparte, who brought charges against him of…

1804

Robert Southey

English poet, historian, and translator (born 1774)

Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a radical but became…

1843

Guadalupe Victoria

Mexican general and politician, 1st President of Mexico (born 1786)

Guadalupe Victoria, born José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix, was a Mexican general and politician who fought for independence against the Spanish Empire in the Mexican War of Independence and after the adoption…

1843

Pedro María de Anaya

Mexican soldier. President (1847-1848) (born 1795)

Pedro Bernardino María de Anaya y Álvarez was a Mexican soldier who served twice as interim president of Mexico during the Mexican-American War. Inbetween presidencies, he directly participated in the fighting as an…

1854

Edwin Vose Sumner

American general (born 1797)

Edwin Vose Sumner was a career United States Army officer who became a Union Army general and the oldest field commander of any Army Corps on either side during the American Civil War. His nicknames "Bull" or "Bull…

1863

Juan Almonte

son of José María Morelos, was a Mexican soldier and diplomat who served as a regent in the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (born 1803)

Juan Nepomuceno Almonte Ramírez was a Mexican soldier, commander, minister of war, congressman, diplomat, presidential candidate, and regent. The natural son of Catholic cleric José María Morelos, a leading commander…

1869

Ezra Abbot

American scholar and academic (born 1819)

Ezra Abbot was an American biblical scholar.

1884

Joseph E. Johnston

American general (born 1807)

Joseph Eggleston Johnston was an American military officer and politician who served in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War and in the Seminole Wars. After Virginia declared secession from the United…

1891

Annibale de Gasparis

Italian astronomer (born 1819)[citation needed]

Annibale de Gasparis was an Italian astronomer, known for discovering asteroids and his contributions to theoretical astronomy.

1892

Frederick Winslow Taylor

American golfer, tennis player, and engineer (born 1856)

Frederick Winslow Taylor was an American mechanical engineer. He was widely known for his methods to improve industrial efficiency. He was one of the first management consultants. In 1909, Taylor summed up his…

1915

Evelina Haverfield

British suffragette and aid worker (born 1867)

Evelina Haverfield was a British suffragette and aid worker.

1920

Thomas Oikonomou

Greek actor (born 1864)

Thomas Oikonomou was a Greek actor and one of the first modern Greek directors.

1927

Enrico D'Ovidio

Italian mathematician (born 1842)

Enrico D'Ovidio (1842–1933) was an Italian mathematician who is known by his works on geometry.

1933

Franz Schreker

Austrian composer and conductor (born 1878)

Franz Schreker was an Austrian composer, conductor, librettist, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic plurality, timbral experimentation,…

1934

Lilyan Tashman

American actress (born 1896)

Lilyan Tashman was an American stage, silent film, and sound film actress.

1934

Alexander Glazunov

Russian composer and conductor (born 1865)

Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 and 1928 and was…

1936

Evald Aav

Estonian composer and conductor (born 1900)

Evald Aav was an Estonian composer born in Tallinn, Governorate of Estonia, Russian Empire. He studied music composition there with Artur Kapp and wrote primarily vocal music to words in the Estonian language. In 1928…

1939

Ali Hikmet Ayerdem

Turkish general and politician (born 1877)

Ali Hikmet Ayerdem was an officer of the Ottoman Army and a general of the Turkish Army.

1939

Cornelia Fort

American soldier and pilot (born 1919)

Cornelia Clark Fort was an American aviator who became famous for being part of two aviation-related events. The first occurred while conducting a civilian training flight at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when she…

1943

Arthur Nebe

German SS officer (born 1894)

Arthur Nebe was a German SS functionary who held key positions in the security and police apparatus of Nazi Germany and was, from 1941, a major perpetrator of the Holocaust.

1945

Henry Hanna

Irish Judge, photographer and author (born 1871)

Henry Hanna was an Irish barrister and later judge of the High Court, author, and photographer. Hanna was born to a Belfast-based Presbyterian merchant family on 4 January 1871. He was educated at the Belfast Royal…

1946

Willem Mengelberg

Dutch conductor and composer (born 1871)

Joseph Wilhelm Mengelberg was a Dutch conductor, famous for his performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Strauss with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest symphonic…

1951

Ed Voss

American basketball player (born 1922)

Ed Voss was an American basketball player.

1953

Hatı Çırpan

Turkish politician (born 1890)

Hatı Çırpan was a Turkish politician, one of the first female members of the parliament in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, elected in the 1935 general elections.

1956

Cyril M. Kornbluth

American soldier and author (born 1923)

Cyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies,…

1958

Manolis Chiotis

Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (born 1920)

Manolis Chiotis was a Greek composer, singer and bouzouki virtuoso who played a decisive role in the transition from rebetiko to post-war laïko music. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in…

1970

Joe Medwick

American baseball player and coach (born 1911)

Joseph Michael Medwick, nicknamed "Ducky", "Muscles", and "Mickey", was an American professional baseball left fielder. He played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Brooklyn Dodgers,…

1975

Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh

President of Ireland (born 1911)

Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh was an Irish barrister, judge and Fianna Fáil politician who served as the president of Ireland from December 1974 to October 1976. Following a breakdown in relations with the government intensified…

1978

Peter Stoner

American mathematician and astronomer (born 1888)

Peter Stoner was a Christian writer and Chairman of the departments of mathematics and astronomy at Pasadena City College until 1953; Chairman of the science division, Westmont College, 1953–57; Professor Emeritus of…

1980

Michael Redgrave

English actor, director, and manager (born 1908)

Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave was an English actor and filmmaker. Beginning his career in theatre, he first appeared in the West End in 1937. He made his film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes in 1938.

1985

Walter L. Gordon

Canadian accountant, lawyer, and politician, 22nd Canadian Minister of Finance (born 1906)

Walter Lockhart Gordon was a Canadian accountant, businessman, politician, and writer.

1987

Robert Preston

American captain, actor, and singer (born 1918)

Robert Preston Meservey was an American stage and screen actor best-known for his role as Professor Harold Hill in the 1957 musical The Music Man, for which he received the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He…

1987

Vedat Dalokay

Turkish architect and politician, Mayor of Ankara (born 1927)

Vedat Dalokay was a Turkish architect and a former mayor of Ankara.

1991

Leo Fender

American businessman, founded Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (born 1909)

Clarence Leonidas Fender was an American inventor and founder of the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

1991

John Ireland

Canadian-American actor and director (born 1914)

John Benjamin Ireland was a Canadian-American actor and film director. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia and raised in New York City, he came to prominence with film audiences for his supporting roles in several…

1992

Natalie Sleeth

American pianist and composer (born 1930)

Natalie Allyn Sleeth was an American composer of hymns and choral music.

1992

Macdonald Carey

American actor (born 1913)

Edward Macdonald Carey was an American actor. He first made his career starring in various B-movies from the 1940s through the 1960s,, and was known in many Hollywood circles as "King of the Bs". Beginning in 1965, he…

1994

Lili Damita

French-American actress and singer (born 1904)

Lili Damita was a French-American actress, singer, and dancer who appeared in 33 films between 1922 and 1937.

1994

Aleksandrs Laime

Latvian-born explorer (born 1911)

Aleksandrs Laime was a famous Latvian-born explorer. He is most noted for being the first recorded human to reach Angel Falls, located in Venezuela, by foot. He also established, together with Charles Baughan, the…

1994

Wilbert Awdry

English cleric and author, created The Railway Series, the basis for Thomas the Tank Engine (born 1911)

Wilbert Vere Awdry, often credited as Rev. W. Awdry, was an English Anglican priest, railway enthusiast, and children's author. He was the creator of Thomas the Tank Engine and several other characters who appeared in…

1997

Galina Ulanova

Russian ballerina (born 1910)

Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova was a Russian ballet dancer. She is frequently cited as being one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century.

1998

Jean Guitton

French philosopher and author (born 1905)

Jean Guitton was a French Catholic philosopher and theologian. Le Monde called him "the last of the great Catholic philosophers."

1999

Ernie Wise

English comedian and actor (born 1925)

Ernest Wiseman, known by his stage name Ernie Wise, was an English comedian, best known as one half of the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, who became a national institution on British television, especially for their…

1999

Chung Ju-yung

South Korean businessman, founded Hyundai (born 1915)

Chung Ju-yung or Jung Joo-young was a South Korean entrepreneur and the founder of Hyundai Group, the second chaebol in South Korea.

2001

Anthony Steel

English actor and singer (born 1920)

Anthony Maitland Steel was an English actor and singer who appeared in British war films of the 1950s such as The Wooden Horse (1950) and Where No Vultures Fly (1951). He was also known for his tumultuous marriage to…

2001

Herman Talmadge

American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 70th Governor of Georgia (born 1913)

Herman Eugene Talmadge was a U.S. politician who served as governor of Georgia in 1947 and from 1948 to 1955 and as a U.S. senator from Georgia from 1957 to 1981. A Democrat, Talmadge served during a time of political…

2002

Shivani

Indian author (born 1923)

Gaura Pant, better known as Shivani, was a Hindi writer of the 20th century and a pioneer in writing Indian women-centric fiction. She was awarded the Padma Shri for her contribution to Hindi literature in 1982.

2003

Umar Wirahadikusumah

Indonesian general and politician, 4th Vice President of Indonesia (born 1924)

Umar Wirahadikusumah was an Indonesian politician and former army general, who served as the fourth vice president of Indonesia, serving from 1983 until 1988. Previously, he was chair of the Audit Board of Indonesia…

2003

Ludmilla Tchérina

French actress, dancer, and choreographer (born 1924)

Ludmilla Tchérina was a French prima ballerina and actress.

2004

Barney Martin

American police officer and actor (born 1923)

Barney Martin was an American actor, best known for playing Morty Seinfeld, father of Jerry, on the sitcom Seinfeld (1991–1998). He also played supporting roles in Mel Brooks's The Producers (1967), and the Dudley Moore…

2005

Bobby Short

American singer and pianist (born 1924)

Robert Waltrip Short was an American cabaret singer and pianist who interpreted songs by popular composers from the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen,…

2005

Drew Hayes

American author and illustrator (born 1969)

Lawrence Andrew "Drew" Hayes was a writer and comic book artist who is best known as the creator of the long-running independent comic book series Poison Elves.

2007

Sven O. Høiby

Norwegian hurdler and journalist (born 1936)

Sven Olaf Bjarte Høiby was the father of Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway. In his younger years he had briefly worked as a journalist with a local paper in his hometown of Kristiansand but was on welfare when he…

2007

Denis Cosgrove

English-American geographer and academic (born 1948)

Denis Edmund Cosgrove was a British cultural geographer. He taught at Oxford Polytechnic, Loughborough University, Royal Holloway, University of London, where he rose to become dean of the graduate school, and finally…

2008

Guillermo Jullian de la Fuente

Chilean architect and academic (born 1931)

Guillermo Jullian de la Fuente was a Chilean architect and painter. After finishing his studies of architecture at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, Jullian left his country for Europe, with the declared…

2008

John List

American murderer (born 1925)

John Emil List was an American mass murderer and long-time fugitive. On November 9, 1971, he killed his wife, mother, and three children in their Westfield, New Jersey home, then disappeared. He had planned the murders…

2008

Mohit Sharma

Indian army officer (born 1978)

Major Mohit Sharma was an Indian Army Officer who was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peace-time military decoration. Sharma was from the elite 1st Para SF.

2009

Walt Poddubny

Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1960)

Walter Michael Poddubny was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger and coach who played eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1981–82 until 1991–92. He played 468 career NHL games, scoring 184…

2009

Wolfgang Wagner

German director and manager (born 1919)

Wolfgang Wagner was a German opera director. He is best known as the director (Festspielleiter) of the Bayreuth Festival, a position he initially assumed alongside his brother Wieland in 1951 until the latter's death in…

2010

Loleatta Holloway

American singer-songwriter (born 1946)

Loleatta Holloway was an American singer known for disco songs such as "Hit and Run" and "Love Sensation". Billboard ranked her the 95th most successful dance artist of all time. According to The Independent, she is the…

2011

Gerd Klier

German footballer (born 1944)

Gerd Klier was a professional German footballer.

2011

Ladislav Novák

Czech footballer and manager (born 1931)

Ladislav Novák was a Czech football defender and later a football manager. He played 75 matches for Czechoslovakia, 71 of them as a team captain.

2011

Pinetop Perkins

American singer and pianist (born 1913)

Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins was an American blues pianist. He played with some of the most influential blues and rock-and-roll performers of his time and received numerous honors, including a Grammy Lifetime…

2011

Albrecht Dietz

German economist and businessman (born 1926)

Albrecht Dietz was a German entrepreneur and scientist who founded the first leasing company in Germany. He was considered to be one of the pioneers and founding fathers of the German leasing industry. His publications…

2012

Ron Erhardt

American football player and coach (born 1931)

Ronald Peter Erhardt was an American football coach at both the collegiate and professional levels. From 1979 to 1981 he served as head coach of the National Football League (NFL)'s New England Patriots.

2012

Robert Fuest

English director, screenwriter, and production designer (born 1927)

Robert Fuest was an English film and television director, screenwriter, production designer, and painter, who worked mostly in the horror, fantasy and suspense genres.

2012

Tonino Guerra

Italian poet and screenwriter (born 1920)

Antonio "Tonino" Guerra was an Italian poet, writer and screenwriter who collaborated with some of the most prominent film directors, such as Andrei Tarkovsky, Michelangelo Antonioni, Theo Angelopoulos, and Federico…

2012

Irving Louis Horowitz

American sociologist, author, and academic (born 1929)

Irving Louis Horowitz was an American sociologist, author, and academic. He proposed a quantitative index for measuring a country's quality of life, and helped to popularize "Third World" as a term for the poorer…

2012

Yuri Razuvaev

Russian chess player and trainer (born 1945)

Yuri Sergeyevich Razuvaev Russian: Ю́рий Серге́евич Разува́ев was a Russian chess player and trainer.

2012

Marina Salye

Russian geologist and politician (born 1934)

Marina Yevgenyevna Salye was a Russian geologist and politician, being the former deputy of the legislative assembly of Leningrad. She was also a people's deputy in the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR until…

2012

Chinua Achebe

Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic (born 1930)

Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. His first novel and magnum opus, Things Fall Apart (1958), occupies a pivotal place in African…

2013

Rick Hautala

American author and screenwriter (born 1949)

Rick Hautala was an American speculative fiction and horror writer. He graduated from the University of Maine in 1974, where he received a Master of Art in English Literature. Hautala arrived on the horror scene in 1980…

2013

Harlon Hill

American football player and coach (born 1932)

Harlon Junius Hill was an American professional football end who played for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Hill played for the Chicago Bears, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Detroit Lions. He was…

2013

Pietro Mennea

Italian sprinter and politician (born 1952)

Pietro Paolo Mennea, nicknamed la Freccia del Sud, was an Italian sprinter and politician. He was most successful in the 200 m event, winning a gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and setting a world record at 19.72…

2013

Giancarlo Zagni

Italian director and screenwriter (born 1926)

Giancarlo Zagni was an Italian director and screenwriter.

2013

Qoriniasi Bale

Fijian lawyer and politician, 25th Attorney-General of Fiji (born 1929)

Qoriniasi Babitu Bale was a Fijian barrister, solicitor and politician who served twice as Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, most recently from 2001 to 2006, when he was deposed in the military coup of 5…

2014

Bill Boedeker

American football player and soldier (born 1924)

William Henry Boedeker, Jr. was a halfback in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL) who played for the Chicago Rockets, the Cleveland Browns, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green…

2014

Jack Fleck

American golfer (born 1921)

Jackson Donald Fleck was an American professional golfer, best known for winning the U.S. Open in 1955 in a playoff over Ben Hogan.

2014

Simeon Oduoye

Nigerian police officer and politician (born 1945)

Simeon Olasukanmi Oduoye ; 13 April 1945 – 21 March 2014) was a Nigerian police officer and administrator of Niger and Ebonyi States. He was elected senator for Osun Central in April 2007 on the Peoples Democratic Party…

2014

James Rebhorn

American actor (born 1948)

James Robert Rebhorn was an American character actor. Rebhorn appeared in over 100 films, television series, and plays.

2014

Ignatius Zakka I Iwas

Iraqi patriarch (born 1933)

Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas was the 122nd reigning Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and, as such, Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church. Also known by his traditional episcopal name,…

2014

Ishaya Bakut

Nigerian general and politician, Governor of Benue State (born 1947)

Ishaya Bakut was Military Governor of Benue State in Nigeria from September 1986 to December 1987 during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida. He was Field Commander in Liberia of the ECOMOG West African…

2015

Chuck Bednarik

American lieutenant and football player (born 1925)

Charles Philip Bednarik, nicknamed "Concrete Charlie", was an American professional football linebacker and center who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn Quakers, and…

2015

James C. Binnicker

American sergeant (born 1938)

James C. Binnicker was a senior enlisted non-commissioned officer in the United States Air Force who served as the 9th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force from 1986 to 1990.

2015

Hans Erni

Swiss painter, sculptor, and illustrator (born 1909)

Hans Erni was a Swiss graphic designer, painter, illustrator, engraver and sculptor.

2015

Jørgen Ingmann

Danish singer and guitarist (born 1925)

Jørgen Ingmann was a Danish jazz and pop guitarist from Copenhagen. He was popular in Europe and had a wider international hit in 1961 with his version of "Apache". He and his wife Grethe Ingmann won the 1963 Eurovision…

2015

Alberta Watson

Canadian actress (born 1955)

Faith Susan Alberta Watson was a Canadian film and television actress. She was known for her roles as Dr. Rebecca Meyer on Buck James (1987-88), Madeline on La Femme Nikita (1997-2001) and Erin Driscoll on 24 (2004-05).

2015

Chuck Barris

American game show host and producer (born 1929)

Charles Hirsch Barris was an American game show creator, producer, and host, author, and songwriter. A key crew member of several hugely successful television game shows, he was the creator of The Dating Game…

2017

Colin Dexter

English author (born 1930)

Norman Colin Dexter was an English crime writer known for his Inspector Morse series of novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as an ITV television series, Inspector Morse, from 1987 to 2000. His…

2017

Martin McGuinness

Irish republican and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland (born 1950)

James Martin Pacelli McGuinness was an Irish republican politician and statesman for Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during The Troubles. He was the deputy First Minister of…

2017

Mike Hall

British cyclist (born 1981)

Michael Richard Hall was a British cyclist and race organiser who specialised in self-supported ultra-distance cycling races. In 2012, he won the inaugural World Cycle Race. In 2013 and 2016, he won the Tour Divide…

2017

Victor Hochhauser CBE

British music promoter (born 1923)

Victor Hochhauser was a British music promoter.

2019

Gonzalo Portocarrero

Peruvian sociologist (born 1949)

Gonzalo Portocarrero was a Peruvian sociologist, social scientist and essayist.

2019

Nawal El Saadawi

Egyptian secularist, feminist (born 1931)

Nawal El Saadawi was an Egyptian feminist writer, activist and physician. She wrote numerous books on the subject of women in Islam, focusing on the concerns of women in the Global South pertaining to sexuality,…

2021

Kitty Dukakis

American author, First Lady of Massachusetts (born 1936)

Katharine Virginia "Kitty" Dukakis was an American author and activist for various social causes. She served as the First Lady of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and 1983 to 1991, as the wife of the Governor of…

2025

George Foreman

American boxer, actor, and businessman (born 1949)

George Edward Foreman was an American professional boxer, businessman, minister, and author. In boxing, he competed between 1967 and 1997, and was nicknamed "Big George". He was a two-time world heavyweight champion and…

2025

Michael Lyster

Irish radio and television broadcaster (born 1954)

Michael Lyster was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for RTÉ. He mainly covered sporting events, such as Gaelic games and Olympic Games. He was best known for presenting The Sunday Game Live, which he…

2026

Rhoda Roberts

Australian arts executive (born 1959)

Rhoda Ann Roberts was an Australian theatre and arts director, arts executive, television presenter, and actress. She was head of Indigenous programming at the Sydney Opera House from 2012 until 2021, among many other…

2026

March 21 in the Blog

Oxford Martyrs — March 21, 1556

1556 Oxford Martyrs: 3 bishops burned in Oxford, England, sparking Reformation

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Willis Reed — American basketball player (1942–2023)

FeaturedWillis Reed

Death year2023

Known forwas an American professional basketball player, coach, and general manager

Deaths on this date124 (867 – 2026)

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2022

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 crashes in Guangxi, China, killing 132 people. Wikipedia →

2019

The 2019 Xiangshui chemical plant explosion occurs, killing at least 47 people and injuring 640 others. Wikipedia →

2006

The social media site Twitter (now officially named X) is founded. Wikipedia →

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2023 — Willis Reed

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