Did you know
In 1925, he organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first successful African-American-led labor union.
Notable Deaths on May 16
1979 — A. Philip Randolph
American union leader and activist (born 1889)
May 16 has 99 recorded notable deaths across history, from 290 to 2025. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
99 source records
290 – 2025
Today in history
Major events on May 16
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 2005 Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35–23 National Assembly vote. Source
- 1812 Imperial Russia signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo-Turkish War. The Ottoman Empire cedes Bessarabia to Russia. Source
- 1777 Continental Army officer Lachlan McIntosh fatally wounds Button Gwinnett, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, in a duel in Savannah, Georgia. Source
- 1974 Josip Broz Tito is elected president for life of Yugoslavia. Source
Did you know
Emperor Wu of Jin, personal name Sima Yan, courtesy name Anshi (安世), was the first emperor of the Jin dynasty after forcing Cao Huan, last emperor of the state of Cao Wei, to abdicate to him.
Did you know
Together with Gerhard Peters and Walter Heerdt, he invented the insecticide Zyklon B.
Did you know
Irwin Shaw was an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies.
Did you know
In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award.
More major people who died on May 16
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
290
Emperor Wu of Jin
Chinese emperor (born 236)
Emperor Wu of Jin, personal name Sima Yan, courtesy name Anshi (安世), was the first emperor of the Jin dynasty after forcing Cao Huan, last emperor of the state of Cao Wei, to abdicate to him.
1946
Bruno Tesch
German chemist and businessman (born 1890)
Bruno Emil Tesch was a German chemist, entrepreneur, and war criminal. Together with Gerhard Peters and Walter Heerdt, he invented the insecticide Zyklon B.
1984
Irwin Shaw
American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short story writer (born 1913)
Irwin Shaw was an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies.
2010
Hank Jones
American pianist, composer, and bandleader (born 1918)
Henry Jones Jr. was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians have described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable.
1823
Grace Elliott
Scottish courtesan and spy (born c. 1754)
Grace Dalrymple Elliott was a Scottish courtesan, writer and spy resident in Paris during the French Revolution.
2014
Vito Favero
Italian cyclist (born 1932)
Vito Favero was an Italian road racing cyclist. He was professional from 1956 to 1962. In the 1958 Tour de France, he finished second.
1375
Liu Bowen
Chinese military strategist, officer, statesman and poet (born 1311)
Liu Ji, courtesy name Bowen, better known as Liu Bowen, was a Chinese military strategist, philosopher, and politician who lived in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. He was born in Qingtian County.
1667
Thomas Wriothesley
4th Earl of Southampton, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (born 1607)
Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, KG, styled Lord Wriothesley before 1624, was an English statesman, a staunch supporter of King Charles II who after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 rose to the…
1961
George A. Malcolm
American lawyer and jurist (born 1881)
George Arthur Malcolm was an American lawyer who emerged as an influential figure in the development of the practice of law in the Philippines in the 20th century.
2013
Frankie Librán
Puerto Rican-American baseball player (born 1948)
Francisco Librán Rosas was a Puerto Rican athlete who distinguished himself for performing professionally on all three major sports in the island.
2013
Heinrich Rohrer
Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1933)
Heinrich Rohrer was a Swiss physicist who shared half of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics with Gerd Binnig for the design of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM).
2025
Domingos Maubere
East Timorese Catholic priest and activist (born 1952)
Domingos da Silva Soares, popularly known as Padre Maubere or Amu Du, was an East Timorese Roman Catholic priest, activist, and independence leader.
2015
Moshe Levinger
Israeli rabbi and author (born 1935)
Moshe Levinger was an Israeli Religious Zionist activist and an Orthodox Rabbi who, since 1967, had been a leading figure in the movement to settle Jews in the territories occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.
1955
James Agee
American novelist, screenwriter, and critic(born 1909)
James Rufus Agee was an American novelist, journalist, poet, screenwriter and film critic. In the 1940s, writing for Time, he was one of the most influential film critics in the United States.
1947
Zhang Lingfu
Chinese general (born 1903)
Zhang Lingfu was a high-ranking general of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army. He successfully fought against the Communists and the Imperial Japanese Army.
1943
Nigger
black labrador retriever belonging to Wing Commander Guy Gibson of the Royal Air Force, and the mascot of No. 617 Squadron.
Nigger was a male black Labrador Retriever belonging to Wing Commander Guy Gibson of the Royal Air Force, and the mascot of No. 617 Squadron. Gibson owned the dog when he was previously a member of 106 Squadron.
1984
Andy Kaufman
American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (born 1949)
Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman was an American entertainer and performance artist. He has sometimes been called an "anti-comedian".
1691
Jacob Leisler
German-American politician, 8th Colonial Governor of New York (born 1640)
Jacob Leisler was a German-born politician and colonial administrator in the Province of New York. He gained wealth in New Amsterdam in the North American fur trade and tobacco business.
1944
George Ade
American journalist, author, and playwright (born 1866)
George Ade was an American writer, syndicated newspaper columnist, librettist, and playwright who gained national notoriety at the turn of the 20th century with his "Stories of the Streets and of the Town", a column…