Did you know about Jean-Jacques Dessalines
Jean-Jacques Dessalines was the first Haitian Emperor, leader of the Haitian Revolution, and the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1805 constitution.
Notable Deaths on October 17
October 17 has 117 recorded notable deaths across history, from 33 to 2024. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
1806 — Jean-Jacques Dessalines
Haitian commander and politician, Governor-General of Haiti (born 1758)
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
117 source records
33 – 2024
Today in history
Major events on October 17
See what else happened on this day in history.
Did you know about Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop is listed as the 96th entry on Comedy Central's list of 100 greatest comedians.
Did you know about Karl Kautsky
One of the most authoritative promulgators of orthodox Marxism, he was for decades the leading theorist of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Second International.
Did you know about Kannadasan Indian author
Kannadasan Indian author won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Cheraman Kathali in the year 1980 and was the first to receive the National Film Award for Best Lyrics, given in 1969 for the film Kuzhanthaikkaga.
Did you know about Laura Secord
Though Laura Secord had no relation to it, most Canadians associate her with the Laura Secord Chocolates company, named after her on the centennial of her walk.
More major people who died on October 17
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
2007
Joey Bishop
American actor and talk show host (born 1918)
Joseph Abraham Gottlieb, known professionally as Joey Bishop, was an American entertainer who appeared on television as early as 1948 and eventually starred in his own weekly comedy series playing a talk/variety show host, then later hosted a late-night talk show with Regis Philbin as his young sidekick on ABC. He also was a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford. He is listed as the 96th entry on Comedy Central's list of 100 greatest comedians.
1938
Karl Kautsky
Czech-German journalist, philosopher, and theoretician (born 1854)
Karl Johann Kautsky was an Austrian-born Marxist theorist. One of the most authoritative promulgators of orthodox Marxism, he was for decades the leading theorist of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Second International. His influence was so pervasive that he was often called the "Pope of Marxism", with his views remaining dominant until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. His influence extended beyond Germany, shaping the development of Marxism in the Russian Empire, where he was seen by figures like Vladimir Lenin as the leading authority on Marxist theory.
1981
Kannadasan Indian author
poet, and songwriter (born 1927)
Muthiah Sathappan Chettiar, better known as Kannadasan, was a poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important lyricists in India. With over 5,000 lyrics, 6,000 poems, and 232 books, Kannadasan is widely known by the sobriquet "Kaviarasu" and he is also considered to be the greatest modern Tamil poet after Subramania Bharati. including novels, epics, plays, essays, his most popular being the 10-part religious book on Hinduism, Arthamulla Indhu Matham. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Cheraman Kathali in the year 1980 and was the first to receive the National Film Award for Best Lyrics, given in 1969 for the film Kuzhanthaikkaga. Like many great poets he also suffered from cyclothymia, which comes under the bipolar disorder spectrum.
1868
Laura Secord
Canadian war heroine (born 1775)
Laura Secord was a Canadian woman involved in the War of 1812. She is known for having walked 20 miles (32 km) out of American-occupied territory in 1813 to warn British forces of an impending American attack. Her contribution to the war was little known during her lifetime, but since her death she has been frequently honoured in Canada. Though Laura Secord had no relation to it, most Canadians associate her with the Laura Secord Chocolates company, named after her on the centennial of her walk.
2019
Elijah Cummings
American politician and civil rights advocate (born 1951)
Elijah Eugene Cummings was an American politician and lawyer who served in the United States House of Representatives for Maryland's 7th congressional district from 1996 until his death in 2019, when he was succeeded by his predecessor Kweisi Mfume. The district he represented included over half of the city of Baltimore, including most of the majority-black precincts of Baltimore County, and most of Howard County, Maryland. A member of the Democratic Party, Cummings previously served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1983 to 1996.
1962
Natalia Goncharova
Russian painter, costume designer, and set designer (born 1882)
Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova was a Russian avant-garde artist, painter, costume designer, writer, illustrator, and set designer. Goncharova's lifelong partner was fellow Russian avant-garde artist Mikhail Larionov. She was a founding member of both the Jack of Diamonds (1909–1911), Moscow's first radical independent exhibiting group, the more radical Donkey's Tail (1912–1913), and with Larionov invented Rayonism (1912–1914). She was also a member of the German-based art movement Der Blaue Reiter. Born in Russia, she moved to Paris in 1921 and lived there until her death.
1920
Michael Fitzgerald (Irish republican) died on Hunger Strike (born 1881)
Michael Fitzgerald also known as Mick Fitzgerald, was an Irish militant and Republican activist who was among the first members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and played a significant role in organising it. He rose to the rank of Commandant, Officer Commanding (OC) in the First Battalion, Cork Number 2 Brigade. He died during the 1920 Cork hunger strike at Cork Gaol. Fitzgerald led 65 men in the hunger strike which was in protest at their detention without being either charged or convicted of any crime. The hunger strike is credited with bringing additional world-wide attention to the Irish cause for independence.
1972
Turk Broda
Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1914)
Walter Edward "Turk" Broda was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. A goaltender, Broda played his entire career for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1936 and 1951, taking a hiatus from 1943 to 1946 to fight in the Second World War. The 1940-41 season saw him win his first Vezina Trophy with a GAA of 2.00 to go along with being named to the NHL First All-Star Team. The following season saw him backstop the team to the Stanley Cup championship, recording a shutout and a record of 8-5.
1958
Charlie Townsend
English cricketer and lawyer (born 1876)
Charles Lucas Townsend was a Gloucestershire cricketer. An all-round cricketer, Townsend was classically stylish, left-handed batsman, who was able to hit well despite his slender build. His off-side strokes were particularly effective, and his driving allowed him to score at a consistent pace throughout his major innings. In his younger days Townsend was also a spin bowler, who relied chiefly on a big break from leg but could also turn the ball the other way. He was often extremely difficult on sticky wickets but very rarely effective on good ones.
2012
Stanford R. Ovshinsky
American scientist and businessman, co-founded Energy Conversion Devices (born 1922)
Stanford Robert Ovshinsky was an American engineer, scientist and inventor who over a span of fifty years was granted well over 400 patents, mostly in the areas of energy and information. Many of his inventions have had wide-ranging applications. Among the most prominent are: the nickel-metal hydride battery, which has been widely used in laptop computers, digital cameras, cell phones, and electric and hybrid cars; flexible thin-film solar energy laminates and panels; flat panel liquid crystal displays; rewritable CD and DVD discs; hydrogen fuel cells; and nonvolatile phase-change memory.
1965
Bart King
American cricketer (born 1873)
John Barton "Bart" King was an American cricketer, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. King was part of the Philadelphia team that played from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I. This period of cricket in the United States was dominated by "gentlemen cricketers"—men of independent wealth who did not need to work. King, an amateur from a middle-class family, was able to devote time to cricket thanks to a job set up by his teammates.
1978
Giovanni Gronchi
Italian educator, soldier, and politician, 3rd President of the Italian Republic (born 1887)
Giovanni Gronchi was an Italian politician from Christian Democracy who served as the president of Italy from 1955 to 1962 and was marked by a controversial and failed attempt to bring about an "opening to the left" in Italian politics. He was reputed the real holder of the executive power in Italy from 1955 to 1962, behind the various Prime Ministers of this time. During his term he saw the fall of the Italian Empire in 1960, with the independence of the Somali Republic.
2014
Masaru Emoto
Japanese author and activist (born 1943)
Masaru Emoto was a Japanese businessman, author and pseudoscientist who claimed that human consciousness could affect the molecular structure of water. His 2004 book The Hidden Messages in Water was a New York Times best seller. His ideas had evolved over the years, and his early work revolved around pseudoscientific hypotheses that water could react to positive thoughts and words and that polluted water could be cleaned through prayer and positive visualization.
1889
Nikolay Chernyshevsky
Russian philosopher and critic (born 1828)
Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky was a Russian literary and social critic, journalist, novelist, democrat, and socialist philosopher, often identified as a utopian socialist and leading theoretician of Russian nihilism and the Narodniks. He was the dominant intellectual figure of the 1860s revolutionary democratic movement in Russia, despite spending much of his later life in exile to Siberia, and was later highly praised by Karl Marx, Georgi Plekhanov, and Vladimir Lenin.
1967
Puyi
Chinese emperor (born 1906)
Puyi was the last emperor of China, having reigned as the Xuantong Emperor of the Qing dynasty and later as the Kangde Emperor of Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet state during World War II. After the war, he was held as a war criminal in the Soviet Union and China until 1959, when the Chinese Communist Party granted him amnesty and presented him as a model of successful reeducation.
2000
Leo Nomellini
Italian-American football player and wrestler (born 1924)
Leo Joseph Nomellini was an Italian-American professional football player and professional wrestler. He played college football for the Minnesota Gophers and was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the 1950 NFL draft. He played 14 seasons as a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL), all of them with the 49ers, playing his first three years as an offensive tackle as well.
2024
Mitzi Gaynor
American actress, singer, and dancer (born 1931)
Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber, known professionally as Mitzi Gaynor, was an American actress, dancer and singer. Her notable films included We're Not Married! (1952), There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), The Birds and the Bees (1956), and South Pacific (1958) – for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical at the 1959 awards.
1992
Herman Johannes
Indonesian scientist, academic, and politician (born 1912)
Herman Johannes was an Indonesian professor, scientist, politician and National Hero. Johannes was the rector of Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta (1961–1966), Coordinator for Higher Education from 1966 to 1979, a member of Indonesia's Presidential Supreme Advisory Council from 1968 to 1978, and the Minister for Public Works and Energy (1950–1951). He was also a member of the Executive Board of UNESCO from 1954 to 1957.
1781
Edward Hawke
1st Baron Hawke, English admiral (born 1705)
Admiral of the Fleet Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As captain of the third-rate HMS Berwick, he took part in the Battle of Toulon in February 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession. He also captured six ships of a French squadron in the Bay of Biscay in the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in October 1747.