December 31 - Deaths

Deaths

• 192 – Commodus, Roman Emperor (b. 161)
• 335 – St. Silvester, Pope
• 1164 – Margrave Ottokar III of Styria (b. 1124)
• 1194 – Duke Leopold V of Austria (killed at a tournament) (b. 1157)
• 1297 – Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford, English soldier (b. 1249)
• 1302 – Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1238)
• 1384 – John Wycliffe, English theologian and Bible translator (b. circa 1328)
• 1424 – Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter, English military leader
• 1460 – Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, English politician (b. 1400)
• 1510 – Bianca Maria Sforza, wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1472)
• 1535 – William Skeffington, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1465)
• 1568 – Shimazu Tadayoshi, Japanese warlord (b. 1493)
• 1575 – Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (b. 1502)
• 1583 – Thomas Erastus, Swiss theologian (b. 1524)
• 1610 – Ludolph van Ceulen, German mathematician (b. 1540)
• 1650 – Dorgon, Chinese emperor (b. 1612)
• 1655 – Janusz Radziwiłł, Polish–Lithuanian noble and magnate (b. 1612)
• 1673 – Oliver St John, English statesman and judge
• 1679 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (b. 1608)
• 1691 – Dudley North, English economist (b. 1641)
• 1719 – John Flamsteed, English astronomer (b. 1646)
• 1742 – Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine (b. 1661)
• 1799 – Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and writer (b. 1723)
• 1872 – Aleksis Kivi, Finnish author (b. 1834)
• 1876 – Catherine Labouré, French visionary and saint (b. 1806)
• 1877 – Gustave Courbet, French painter (b. 1819)
• 1888 – Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi (b. 1808)
• 1889 – Ion Creangă, Romanian writer (b.1837/39)
• 1890 – Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican war heroine (b. 1826)
• 1891 – Samuel Ajayi Crowther, Nigerian bishop. (b. 1809)
• 1894 – Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch mathematician (b. 1856)
• 1905 – Alexander Popov, Russian physicist (b. 1859)
• 1909 – Spencer Trask, American financier (b. 1844)
• 1910 – John Moisant, American aviator (b. 1868)
• 1910 – Arch Hoxsey, American aviator (b. 1884)
• 1921 – Boies Penrose, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (b. 1860)
• 1936 – Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish writer and philosopher (b. 1864)
• 1948 – Malcolm Campbell, English race car driver (b. 1885)
• 1953 – Albert Plesman, Dutch aviation pioneer (b. 1889)
• 1964 – Ólafur Thors, Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1892)
• 1964 – Bobby Byrne, baseball player (b. 1884)
• 1969 – George Lewis, American clarinetist (b. 1900)
• 1971 – Pete Duel American actor (b. 1940)
• 1971 – Marin Sais, American actress (b. 1890)
• 1971 – Vikram Sarabhai, Indian physicist (b. 1919)
• 1972 – Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican baseball player (b. 1934)
• 1972 – Henry Gerber, German-American gay rights pioneer (b. 1892)
• 1977 – Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah, ruler of Kuwait (b. 1924)
• 1980 – Marshall McLuhan, Canadian writer (b. 1911)
• 1980 – Raoul Walsh, American film director (b. 1887)
• 1985 – Ricky Nelson, American singer (b. 1940)
• 1986 – Raj Narain, Indian Politician (b. 1917)
• 1986 – Lloyd Haynes, American actor (b. 1934)
• 1987 – Jerry Turner, American television anchorman (b. 1929)
• 1988 – Nicolas Calas, Greek-American poet and art critic (b. 1907)
• 1990 – George Allen, American football coach (b. 1918)
• 1990 – Vasili Lazarev, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1928)
• 1990 – Giovanni Michelucci, Italian architect, urban planner and engraver (b. 1891)
• 1993 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia, first President of Georgia (b. 1939)
• 1993 – Brandon Teena, American murder victim (b. 1972)
• 1994 – Leigh Bowery, Australian-born English fashion performance artist (b. 1961)
• 1994 – Woody Strode, American actor and decathlete (b. 1914)
• 1997 – Floyd Cramer, American musician (b. 1933)
• 1997 – Billie Dove, American actress (b. 1903)
• 1997 – Michael Kennedy, American politician (b. 1958)
• 1999 – Elliot Richardson, American politician (b. 1920)
• 2000 – Alan Cranston, American politician (b. 1914)
• 2000 – José Greco, Italian-born American flamenco dancer and choreographer (b. 1918)
• 2000 – Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, Israeli leader of Kahane Chai party and son of Rabbi Meir Kahane (b. 1966)
• 2001 – Eileen Heckart, American actress (b. 1919)
• 2002 – Kevin Scott MacMichael, American guitarist (Cutting Crew) (b. 1951)
• 2003 – Arthur R. von Hippel German-born physicist (b. 1898)
• 2004 – Gérard Debreu, French economist, Bank of Sweden Prize laureate (b. 1921)
• 2005 – Phillip Whitehead, British politician (b. 1937)
• 2005 – Enrico di Giuseppe, American tenor (b. 1932)
• 2006 – George Sisler, Jr., American baseball executive (b. 1917)
• 2007 – Tommy Dickson, British footballer (b. 1929)
• 2007 – Tony Elliott, American football player (b. 1959)
• 2007 – Michael Goldberg, American painter (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Bill Idelson, American actor (b. 1919)
• 2007 – Kathryn Ish, American actress (b. 1936)
• 2007 – Milton L. Klein, Canadian politician (b. 1910)
• 2007 – Markku Peltola, Finnish actor and musician (b. 1956)
• 2007 – Ettore Sottsass, Italian architect and designer (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Donald E. Westlake, American author (b. 1933)