Notable Deaths on October 26

120 people 664 – 2025

October 26 has seen 120 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 664 – 2025. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

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Sally Hoyt Spofford

2002 — Sally Hoyt Spofford

American ornithologist (born 1914)

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She authored some 50 articles on bird behavior and co-authored the books Enjoying Birds in Upstate New York (1963) with O

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and Enjoying Birds Around New York City (1966) with Pettingill and R.S

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She was a member of the American Ornithologists' Union from 1940 onward.

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Sally Hoyt Spofford was an American ornithologist who was long associated with the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology

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In retirement, she was involved in conservation and birding in Arizona, known as the "doyenne of southern Arizona's birding community"


Cedd
English monk and bishop (born 620)
Cedd was an Anglo-Saxon monk and bishop from the Kingdom of Northumbria. He was an evangelist of the Middle Angles and East Saxons in England and a significant participant in the Synod of Whitby, a meeting which…
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664
archbishop of Canterbury
Cuthbert was a medieval Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury in England. Prior to his elevation to Canterbury, he was abbot of a monastic house, and perhaps may have been Bishop of Hereford also, but evidence for his…
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760
Alfred the Great
English king (born 849)
Alfred the Great was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and Æthelwulf's first wife Osburh, who both died when…
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899
chancellor of Later Liang (born 871)
Li Qi, courtesy name Taixiu (台秀), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty and its successor states Later Liang and Later Tang of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, serving as a chancellor during Later Liang.
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930
Gómez González
Castilian nobleman and military leader
Gómez González, called de Lara or de Candespina, was a Castilian nobleman and military leader who had some claim to being Count of Castile. He was the eldest son and successor of Gonzalo Salvadórez and his wife Sancha,…
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1111
Gilles de Rais
French lord (born c. 1405)
Gilles de Rais, Baron de Rais was a French knight and lord from Brittany, Anjou and Poitou. He served as one of the captains in the French royal army during the Hundred Years' War, notably participating in military…
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1440
Olympia Fulvia Morata
Italian-German scholar and educator (born 1526)
Olimpia Fulvia Morata was an Italian classical scholar.
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1555
Anna of Austria
Queen of Spain (born 1549)
Anna of Austria was Queen of Spain by marriage to her uncle, King Philip II of Spain. During her last days of life she was also briefly Queen of Portugal.
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1580
Japanese samurai and daimyō (born 1582)
Matsudaira Tadayori was a Sengoku period samurai who became a daimyō under the Tokugawa shogunate in early-Edo period Japan. He was also the founder of the Sakurai-branch of the Matsudaira clan.
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1609
Michael Maestlin
German astronomer and mathematician (born 1550)
Michael Maestlin was a German astronomer and mathematician, best known as the mentor of Johannes Kepler. A student of Philipp Apian, Maestlin is recognized as the teacher who had the greatest influence on Kepler. He is…
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1631
Horio Tadaharu
Japanese daimyō (born 1596)
Horio Tadaharu was a tozama daimyō in Japan during the Edo period. His father was Horio Tadauji and his grandfather was Horio Yoshiharu. He was the third leader of the Matsue clan.
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1633
Sir John Gell
1st Baronet, English politician (born 1593)
Sir John Gell was an English military officer who acted as local Parliamentarian commander for most of the First English Civil War from 1643 to his resignation in 1646. He was notorious for parading the body of his…
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1671
English settler, co-founded Charlestown, Massachusetts (born 1609)
William Sprague left England on the ship Lyon's Whelp for Plymouth/Salem Massachusetts. He was originally from Upwey, near Weymouth, Dorset, England.
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1675
John Egerton
2nd Earl of Bridgewater, English captain and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire (born 1623)
John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, PC, was an English nobleman from the Egerton family.
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1686
Catherine Sedley
Countess of Dorchester (born 1657)
Catherine Colyear, suo jure Countess of Dorchester and Countess of Portmore, was an English noble and courtier. She was the mistress of King James II of England both before and after he came to the throne. Catherine was…
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1717
Philip Doddridge
English minister and hymn-writer (born 1702)
Philip Doddridge D.D. was an English Nonconformist minister, educator, and hymnwriter.
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1751
William Hogarth
English painter and engraver (born 1697)
William Hogarth was an English painter, engraver, satirist, cartoonist and writer. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects", and he is perhaps best…
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1764
Amédée-François Frézier
French mathematician, engineer, and explorer (born 1682)
Amédée-François Frézier was a French military engineer, mathematician, spy, and explorer who is best remembered for bringing back five specimens of Fragaria chiloensis, the beach strawberry, from an assignment in South…
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1773
Granville Leveson-Gower
1st Marquess of Stafford, English politician, Lord President of the Council (born 1721)
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, KG PC, known as Viscount Trentham from 1746 to 1754 and as The Earl Gower from 1754 to 1786, was a British Whig politician from the Leveson-Gower family. Sitting in the…
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1803
John Graves Simcoe
English general and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (born 1752)
Lieutenant-General John Graves Simcoe was a British army officer, politician, and colonial administrator who served as the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796. He founded York, the present-day city…
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1806
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Notable deaths

Who died on October 26?

Sally Hoyt Spofford — American ornithologist (1914–2002)

Death year2002
Known forIn retirement, she was involved in conservation and birding in Arizona, known as the "doyenne of southern Arizona's birding community"
Deaths on this date120 (664 – 2025)

Explore October 26

Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.

Also on October 26 in History

2015
A 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes in the Hindu Kush mountain range in South Asia, killing 399 people and leaving 2,536 people injured. Wikipedia →
2012
Microsoft made a public release of Windows 8 and made it available on new PCs. Wikipedia →
2004
Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the PlayStation 2 in North America, which sold 12 million units for the PS2, becoming the console's best-selling video game. Wikipedia →
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