Deaths
- 326 – Pope Alexander of Alexandria
- 485 – Proclus, Greek philosopher (b. 412)
- 617 – Donnán of Eigg, Irish priest, patron saint of Eigg
- 1080 – Harald III of Denmark (b. 1041)
- 1427 – John IV, Duke of Brabant (b. 1403)
- 1539 – George, Duke of Saxony (b. 1471)
- 1574 – Joachim Camerarius, German scholar (b. 1500)
- 1680 – Kateri Tekakwitha, Americann-Indian religious figure, first native American to receive beatification (b. 1656)
- 1695 – Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican writer
- 1696 – Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French writer (b. 1626)
- 1711 – Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1678)
- 1713 – David Hollatz, Pomeranian dogmatician (b. 1648)
- 1742 – Arvid Horn, Swedish statesman (b. 1664)
- 1761 – Thomas Bayes, English mathematician
- 1764 – Johann Mattheson, German composer (b. 1681)
- 1790 – Benjamin Franklin, American politician, inventor, diplomat, and printer (b. 1706)
- 1799 – Richard Jupp, English architect (b. 1728)
- 1843 – Samuel Morey, American inventor (b. 1762)
- 1849 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentine statesman and priest (b. 1777)
- 1873 – Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy, Russian painter (b. 1783)
- 1882 – George Jennings Sanitary engineer (b. 1810)
- 1892 – Alexander Mackenzie, Canadian politician, contractor, and editor, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1822)
- 1902 – Francis, Duke of Cádiz (b. 1822)
- 1921 – Manwel Dimech, Maltese philosopher and social reformer (b. 1860)
- 1923 – Laurence Ginnell, Irish politician and lawyer (b. 1852)
- 1930 – Alexander Golovin, Russian painter (b. 1863)
- 1933 – Konstantine Marjanishvili, Georgian director (b. 1872)
- 1936 – Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck, Dutch politician (b. 1873)
- 1937 – Yi Sang, Korean poet (b. 1910)
- 1941 – Al Bowlly, English singer-songwriter, composer, and band leader (b. 1899)
- 1942 – Jean Perrin, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1870)
- 1944 – J.T. Hearne, English cricketer (b. 1867)
- 1944 – Dimitrios Psarros, Greek army officer and resistance fighter (b. 1893)
- 1954 – Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu, Romanian communist activist (b. 1900)
- 1960 – Eddie Cochran, American singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1938)
- 1962 – Henricus Tromp, Dutch rower (b. 1878)
- 1967 – Red Allen, American jazz trumpet player and vocalist (b. 1908)
- 1975 – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian philosopher (b. 1888)
- 1976 – Henrik Dam, Danish biochemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1895)
- 1977 – William Conway, Irish cardinal (b. 1913)
- 1983 – Felix Pappalardi, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (b. 1939) (Mountain)
- 1984 – Claude Provost, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1933)
- 1985 – Takis Miliadis, Greek actor (b. 1922)
- 1985 – Evadne Price, British writer (b. 1896)
- 1987 – Cecil Harmsworth King, English publisher, owner of Mirror Group Newspapers (b. 1901)
- 1987 – Dick Shawn, American actor and Comedian (b. 1923)
- 1988 – Louise Nevelson, American sculptor (b. 1900)
- 1990 – Ralph Abernathy, American civil rights activist (b. 1936)
- 1993 – Turgut Ozal, Turkish politician, 8th president of Turkey (b. 1927)
- 1994 – Roger Wolcott Sperry, American neurobiologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1913)
- 1995 – Frank E. Resnik, American businessman (b. 1928)
- 1996 – Piet Hein, Danish scientist and poet (b. 1905)
- 1997 – Allan Francovich, American director and producer (b. 1941)
- 1997 – Chaim Herzog, Israeli politician, President of Israel (b. 1918)
- 1998 – Linda McCartney, American designer and photographer (b. 1941)
- 2003 – Robert Atkins, American nutritionist, physician, and cardiologist, created the Atkins diet (b. 1930)
- 2003 – H. B. Bailey, American race car driver (b. 1936)
- 2003 – John Paul Getty, Jr., American philanthropist (b. 1932)
- 2003 – Earl King, American singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1934)
- 2003 – Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova, Russian conjoined twins (b. 1950)
- 2003 – Yiannis Latsis, Greek shipping tycoon (b. 1910)
- 2004 – Edmond Pidoux, Swiss writer (b. 1908)
- 2004 – Soundarya, Indian actress (b. 1971)
- 2006 – Jean Bernard, French physician and haematologist (b. 1907)
- 2006 – Scott Brazil, American producer and director. (b. 1955)
- 2007 – Kitty Carlisle, American actress and singer (b. 1910)
- 2007 – Gil Dobrică, Romanian singer (b. 1946)
- 2008 – Aimé Césaire, French Martinican poet and politician (b. 1913)
- 2008 – Danny Federici, American musician (E-Street Band) (b. 1950)
- 2011 – Eric Gross, Austrian-Australian composer (b. 1926)
- 2011 – Nikos Papazoglou, Greek singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (b. 1948)
- 2011 – AJ Perez, Filipino actor (b. 1993)
- 2011 – Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (b. 1940)
- 2012 – Dimitris Mitropanos, Greek singer (b. 1948)
- 2012 – Nityananda Mohapatra, Indian politician, poet, and journalist (b. 1912)
Read more about this topic: April 17
Famous quotes containing the word deaths:
“There is the guilt all soldiers feel for having broken the taboo against killing, a guilt as old as war itself. Add to this the soldiers sense of shame for having fought in actions that resulted, indirectly or directly, in the deaths of civilians. Then pile on top of that an attitude of social opprobrium, an attitude that made the fighting man feel personally morally responsible for the war, and you get your proverbial walking time bomb.”
—Philip Caputo (b. 1941)
“You lived too long, we have supped full with heroes,
they waste their deaths on us.”
—C.D. Andrews (19131992)
“Death is too much for men to bear, whereas women, who are practiced in bearing the deaths of men before their own and who are also practiced in bearing life, take death almost in stride. They go to meet deaththat is, they attempt suicidetwice as often as men, though men are more successful because they use surer weapons, like guns.”
—Roger Rosenblatt (b. 1940)