Today's 25 January Famous Deaths in History

  • 389 Gregory Nazianzus, theologian and Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 329)
  • 477 Geiseric, King of the Vandals and Alans
  • 536 Ankan, 27th Emperor of Japan (c. 531-6), dies at 69 or 70 (b. 466)
  • 844 Pope Gregory IV, Italian Pope (827-844)
  • 1067 Zhao Shu, Chinese Emperor Yingzong of Song (1063-67), dies of illness at 34
  • 1138 Anacletus II [Pietro Pierleone], Jewish anti-pope (1130-38), dies
  • 1139 Godfried I, with the Beard, Duke of Brabant and Earl of Leuven, dies
  • 1366 Henry Suso, German Dominican friar, mystic and popular spiritual writer (Clock of Wisdom), dies at 70
  • 1431 Charles II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1364)
  • 1494 Ferdinand I [Ferrante], King of Naples (1458-1494), dies at 70
  • 1547 Lieven Algoet, Flemish humanist who worked for Erasmus, dies

King of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, dies at 77

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  • 1573 Hirate Hirohide, Japanese samurai, dies at the Battle of Mikatagahara (b. 1553)
  • 1586 Lucas Cranach the Younger, German Renaissance painter, dies at 70
  • 1627 Louis Hébert, French apothecary, kings attorney and colonist of New France, dies at 51 or 52
  • 1640 Robert Burton, British writer and Anglican clergyman (The Anatomy of Melancholy), dies at 62
  • 1670 Nicholas II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1612)
  • 1726 Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer known for his accurate maps of the Americas including Louisiana and Mississippi River, dies at 50
  • 1733 Gilbert Heathcote, Mayor of London (b. 1652)
  • 1733 Reinhart Vincent Graf van Hompesch, German general and governor who fought for the Dutch, dies at 72 or 73
  • 1744 Domenico Natale Sarro, Italian opera composer, dies at 64
  • 1751 Paul Dudley, Attorney-General of Massachusetts, dies at 75
  • 1775 Georg Friedrich Schmidt, German engraver, etcher, and pastel painter (court artist for King Frederick of Prussia and Empress Elizabeth of Russia), dies at 63
  • 1820 Joseph Franz Weigl, German cellist and early proponent of the 'thumb technique', dies at 79
  • 1821 Johan Valckenier, Dutch politician and patriot, dies at 62
  • 1828 Caroline Lamb, English aristocrat, author (Glenarvon), wife of William Lamb and lover of Lord Byron, dies of dropsy (fluid retention) at 42
  • 1829 William Shield, English violist, violinist, and composer (Master of the King's Music, 1817-29), dies at 80
  • 1844 Horace H. Hayden, 1st American licensed dentist and cofounds 1st dental college, dies at 74
  • 1849 Elias Parish Alvars, British harpist and composer ("Voyage d'un Harpiste en Orient"), dies of pneumonia at 40

Russian explorer who discovered the continent of Antarctica, dies at 72

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  • 1855 Dorothy Wordsworth, English poet, diarist and sister of William Wordsworth, dies at 83
  • 1869 Francis Wilkinson Pickens, American legislator and Governor of South Carolina (1860-62), dies at 63
  • 1871 Jeanne Villepreux-Power, "Mother of Aquariophily," French pioneering marine biologist and inventor of the aquarium, dies at 76
  • 1872 Richard S. Ewell, US Army officer and Confederate General (Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of Spotsylvania Court House), dies at 54
  • 1875 Leopold Jansa, Bohemian violinist, composer, and teacher, dies at 79
  • 1881 Konstantin Thon, Russian architect (Grand Kremlin Palace), dies at 86
  • 1882 Peter Singer, Austrian composer and instrument maker, dies at 71
  • 1891 Theo van Gogh, Dutch art dealer and brother of Vincent van Gogh, dies at 33
  • 1896 Frans Baeckelmans, Flemish architect (Court of Justice), dies at 68
  • 1896 Frederic Leighton, British painter and sculptor, President of the Royal Academy (1878-96), dies a day after being made a baron (shortest-lived peerage) at 65
  • 1899 Alfredo d'Escragnolle Taunay, Brazilian politician and writer (Innocencia), dies at 55
  • 1906 Joseph Wheeler, American Major General (Confederacy/Cavalry/Army of Tennessee), dies at 70
  • 1906 Pierre-Lambert Goossens, Belgian archbishop of Mechelen and Cardinal Primate of Belgium, dies at 78
  • 1907 René Pottier, French racing cyclist (Tour de France 1906), dies of suicide at 27
  • 1908 Ouida [Maria Louise Ramé], English writer (under Two Flags), dies of pneumonia at 69
  • 1910 Leon Walras, French economist (School of Lausanne), dies at 75
  • 1911 Kanno Sugako, Japanese anarcho-feminist journalist, hanged for her role in the plot to assassinate Emperor Meiji, dies at 29
  • 1917 Ted Tyler, English cricket spin bowler (1 Test, 4 wickets; Somerset CCC), dies at 52
  • 1921 Mykola Leontovych, Ukrainian composer, dies at 43
  • 1925 Juan Vucetich, Croatian-born Argentine anthropologist who pioneered fingerprint identification, dies at 66
  • 1933 William Faulkes, British organist, transcriber and composer, dies at 59
  • 1940 Elias Simojoki, Finnish clergyman and far right politician, dies at 40
  • 1942 Eugène Samuel-Holeman, Belgian composer, dies at 78
  • 1943 Spencer Charters, American actor (3 Faces West, Big Town Girl, St Louis Kid), dies at 67
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  • 1949 Emil Axman, Czech composer and musicologist (Moravian folk songs), dies at 61
  • 1949 Makino Nobuaki, Japanese statesman and court official, dies at 87
  • 1951 Sergey Ivanovich Vavilov, Soviet physicist (Vavilov-Cherenkov effect), dies at 59 [1] [2]
  • 1952 Sveinn Bjornsson, Danish-Icelandic politician (1st President of Iceland 1944-52) and poet, dies at 70
  • 1957 Ichizo Kobayashi, Japanese industrialist and 20th Minister of Commerce and Industry, dies at 84
  • 1957 Kiyoshi Shiga, Japanese physician and bacteriologist (b. 1871)
  • 1960 Diana Barrymore, American actress (Nightmare, Lady Courageous, Fired Wife), dies of an alcohol and drug overdose at 38
  • 1960 Rutland Boughton, British composer (The Immortal Hour), dies at 82
  • 1963 Wilson Kettle, of Newfoundland, dies at 102, leaving 582 living descendants
  • 1965 (Gustaaf) "Staf" Nees, Flemish-Belgian carillonist, organist, composer (Maria-oratorio), and educator, dies at 63
  • 1967 Ettore Bastianini, Italian operatic baritone, dies of cancer at 45
  • 1968 Virginia Maskell, English actress (Only Two Can Play), dies after an overdose at 31
  • 1969 Irene Castle, American vaudeville, stage, and screen dancer, and animal rights activist, dies at 75
  • 1970 Eiji Tsuburaya, Japanese television writer and producer (Ultraman) (b. 1901)
  • 1970 Eunice Hunton Carter, 1st African American female district attorney (NY), dies at 70
  • 1970 Jane Bathori, French mezzo-soprano, dies at 92
  • 1972 Erhard Milch, German field marshal of the Luftwaffe, dies at 79
  • 1973 Masao Ohba, Japanese boxer (WBA flyweight champion 1970-73), dies in a car accident at 23
  • 1975 Charlotte Whitton, Canadian politician, Mayor of Ottawa (1951-56), dies at 78
  • 1975 Vivien Kellems, American industrialist, who battled the Federal tax system as discriminatory against single people, dies at 78
  • 1977 Donald Kerr, American actor (Devil Bat, Killer Bats), dies at 85
  • 1979 Robertson Hare, English actor (All Gas and Gaiters. Our Girl Friday, Banana Ridge), dies at 87
  • 1980 David Newell, American actor (Runaway Bride, White Heat, Dangerous Curves), dies at 75
  • 1980 Queenie Watts [Mary Spenton], British singer and actress (Up the Junction, Holiday on the Buses), dies at 56
  • 1981 Adele Astaire [Lady Charles Cavendish], American dancer and entertainer, sister of Fred Astaire (Last Man on Earth, Millie), dies at 82
  • 1981 Richard Talmadge, German-American actor (Speed Reporter) and stuntman, dies at 88
  • 1982 Mikhail Suslov, Soviet party ideologist and statesman, dies at 79
  • 1986 Dennis Smith, New Zealand cricket fast bowler (1 Test; lone wicket off first ball; Otago, Canterbury), dies at 73
  • 1986 Ernst Schnabel, German writer and pioneer of the radio documentary, dies at 72
  • 1987 Emil Hlobil, Czech composer, dies at 85
  • 1988 Colleen Moore, American silent screen actress (These Girls Won't Talk), dies at 87
  • 1990 Alexander Lockwood, American actor (Duel), dies at 87
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  • 1991 Lillian Bond, English-American actress (Air Mail, Pick-up, Blond Cheat), dies at 83
  • 1991 Stanley Brock, American actor (UHF, Hard to Kill, Ivan-He's the Mayor), dies of a heart attack at 59
  • 1991 Walter "Hoot" Evers, American baseball outfielder (MLB All-Star 1948, 50 Detroit Tigers), dies from heart disease at 69
  • 1992 John Touchstone, American actor (Across Five Aprils), dies of cirrhosis at 59
  • 1992 Mahmoud Riad, Egyptian diplomat, Secretary-General of Arab League (1972-79), dies at 74
  • 1992 Nico Schuyt, Dutch composer, dies at 70
  • 1993 Henry Louis Miller, American Rear Admiral (WW II-Pacific), dies at 80
  • 1994 Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician (Regular Expressions), dies at 85
  • 1995 John Smith, American actor (Cimarron City, Laramie, 7 Angry Men), dies at 63
  • 1995 Peter Black, English TV critic, dies at 82
  • 1995 Tom Brugman, Dutch puppeteer (Brave Dodo), dies at 62
  • 1995 William Sylvester, American actor (2001: A Space Odyssey, Gemini Man), dies at 72
  • 1996 Jonathan Larson, American composer (Rent), dies of an aortic aneurysm at 35
  • 1996 Ruth Berghaus, German choreographer and opera director, dies at 68
  • 1997 Jeane Dixon [Lydia Pinckert], American celebrity psychic and astrologer (A Gift of Prophecy), dies of a heart attack at 93
  • 1997 Jim Boyd, American boxer (Olympic gold light-heavyweight, 1956), dies at 66
  • 1997 Seldon Powell, American jazz tenor saxophonist and flautist, dies at 68
  • 1998 Attila Zoller, Hungarian-American jazz guitarist, educator (Vermont Jazz Center, 1974-98), and inventor (bi-directional pickup), dies at 70
  • 1998 Mohammad Yusuf Khan, prime minister of Afganistan in (1963-65), dies
  • 1999 Robert Shaw, American chorale conductor (Robert Shaw Chorale), dies of a stroke at 82
  • 1999 Sarah Louise "Sadie" Delany, American author and teacher, dies at 109
  • 2001 Margaret Scriven, English tennis player (French C'ships 1933-34), dies at 88
  • 2002 Winston Place, English cricket batsman (3 Tests, 1 x 100; Lancashire CCC, MCC), dies at 87
  • 2003 Samuel Weems, Armerican lawyer (disbarred), Armenian genocide denier, and writer, dies of a heart attack at 66
  • 2004 Francina "Fanny" Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete (Olympic gold 100m, 200m, 80m hurdles, 4x100m relay 1948), dies at 85
  • 2004 Miklós Fehér, Hungarian soccer striker (25 caps; Győri ETO, Porto, Benfica), dies of cardiac arrest at 24
  • 2005 Manuel Lopes, Cape Verdean writer and poet, dies at 97
  • 2005 Netti Witziers-Timmer, Dutch athlete (Olympic gold 4×100m relay 1948), dies at 81
  • 2005 Philip Johnson, American architect (International and Postmodern Style, 1st Pritzker Prize), dies at 98
  • 2005 Ray Peterson, American pop and rockabilly singer ("Tell Laura I Love Her"), and later, Baptist minister, dies of colon cancer at 69
  • 2005 Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist, dies at 81
  • 2005 William Augustus Bootle, American judge (b. 1902)
  • 2008 Christopher Allport, American actor (To Live and Die in L.A.), dies at 60
  • 2008 Evelyn Barbirolli, English musician (b. 1911)
  • 2008 Richard G. Darman, American economist who worked as an aide to five presidents including President George Bush, dies of cancer at 64
  • 2009 Kim Manners, American television producer and director (b. 1951)
  • 2010 Ali Hasan al-Majid aka Chemical Ali, Iraqi defense minister and military commander (b. 1941)
  • 2010 Charles Mathias Jr., American Republican politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland), dies at 87
  • 2012 Paavo Berglund, Finnish violinist and conductor (Helsinki Chamber Orchestra; Finnish RSO, 1956-72), dies at 82
  • 2013 Gregory Carroll, American R&B singer (The Four Buddies -"I Will Wait"; The Orioles -"Crying in the Chapel"), songwriter and producer (Doris Troy - "Just One Look"), dies at 83
  • 2013 Zekkariyas [Cecil Womack], American soul songwriter, singer, and record producer (Womack & Womack - "Teardrops"), dies at 64
  • 2015 Bill Monbouquette, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1960, 60², 62, 63; no-hitter 1962 Boston Red Sox), dies of myeloid leukemia at 78
  • 2015 Demetrio González, Spanish-Mexican film actor and ranchera music singer (Dos Corazones y un Cielo), dies from complications of a stroke at 87
  • 2015 Demis Roussos, Greek singer and performer (Aphrodite's Child), dies from an undisclosed illness at 68
  • 2016 Concepcion Picciotto, American peace activist (longest political protest in US history, outside The White House), dies at 80
  • 2016 Denise Duval, French soprano (music of Francis Poulenc), dies at 94
  • 2016 Frank Collett [Taglieri], American jazz pianist and bandleader, dies of liver failure at 75
  • 2016 Leif Solberg, Norwegian organist, choral conductor and composer, dies at 101
  • 2016 Paul Terasaki, American scientist, invented tissue typing for organ transplants and founded first kidney transplant registry, dies at 86 [1]
  • 2017 Buchi Emecheta, Nigerian-English writer and novelist (Second Class Citizen; The Bride Price), dies at 72
  • 2017 John Hurt, English actor (Elephant Man, Alien, Midnight Express), dies at 77

American Emmy Award-winning actress (The Dick Van Dyke Show - "Laura"; The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Ordinary People), dies at 80

Photo for the article Today's 25 January Famous Deaths
  • 2017 Robert Garcia, American politician hit by Wedtech scandal (Rep-D-NY, 1978-83), dies at 84
  • 2018 John Morris, American film and Broadway composer who commonly worked alongside Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder, dies of a respiratory infection at 91
  • 2019 Donald N. Langenberg, American physicist, dies at 86
  • 2019 Dušan Makavejev, Serbian screenwriter and film director (Man is Not a Bird; W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism), dies at 86
  • 2019 Florence Knoll Bassett, American furniture designer (Knoll), dies at 101
  • 2019 Meshulam Riklis, Turkish-born Israeli businessman and husband of Pia Zadora, dies at 95
  • 2020 Gene Corrigan, American lacrosse player, coach and college athletics administrator (President of the NCAA 1995-97), dies at 91
  • 2020 Monique van Vooren, Belgian-American actress (Andy Warhol's Frankenstein), and writer, dies of cancer at 92
  • 2021 Barry Heywood, British biologist and Director of the British Antarctic Survey Club (1994-97), dies at 83 [1] [2]
  • 2021 Maryan Synakowski, French soccer defender (16 caps; UA Sedan Torcy 241 games), dies at 84
  • 2021 Raymond Miquel, Scottish businessman (Bell's Whisky), and athletic administrator (Chairman of Scottish Sports Council; Ryder Cup), dies at 89
  • 2022 Barry Cryer, British comic, writer (The Kenny Everett Show; Ross Abbot; The Two Ronnies), and actor (All You Need Is Cash), dies at 86
  • 2022 Esteban Edward Torres, American politician (Rep-D-CA, 1983-99), dies at 91
  • 2022 Heinz Werner Zimmermann, German contemporary sacred music composer (Prosalieder; Missa profana), and educator, dies at 91
  • 2022 Wim Jansen, Dutch soccer utility (65 caps; Feyenoord 415 games) and manager (SC Lokeren, Feyenoord, Celtic), dies from dementia at 75
  • 2023 B. V. [Balkrishna] Doshi, Indian architect (Pritzker Prize, 2018), dies at 95 [1]
  • 2023 Cindy Williams, American actress (Laverne & Shirley - "Shirley; American Graffiti), dies at 75 [1]
  • 2024 Kenneth Smith, American convicted murderer, first person to be executed using nitrogen gas in Alabama at 58 [1]
  • 2025 Dražen Dalipagić, Serbian Basketball HOF small forward (Olympic gold 1980; World Cup gold & MVP 1978; Partizan, Real Madrid), dies at 73
  • 2025 Greg Bell, American athlete (Olympic gold long jump 1956), dies at 94
  • 2025 Harold Katz, American businessman and sports executive (owner Philadelphia 76ers 1981-96), dies at 87


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