Today's 19 February Famous Deaths in History

  • 197 Clodius Albinus, Roman General serving in England who proclaimed himself Emperor, dies in the Battle of Lugdunum [Lyon] fighting Septimius Severus
  • 1133 Irene Ducaena, wife of Alexius I Comnenus (b. 1066)
  • 1260 Boniface, of Lausanne, Belgian bishop and saint, dies

Turko-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire, dies at about 68

Photo for the article Today's 19 February Famous Deaths
  • 1414 Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of England, dies
  • 1545 Pierre Brully [Peter Brulius], Calvinist minister, burned to death for teaching Protestant doctrine in Tournai
  • 1553 Erasmus Reinhold, German mathematician (calculated planetary table), dies at 41
  • 1568 Miles Coverdale, English Bishop and co-translator of the 1st complete Bible in English (Coverdale Bible), dies at 80
  • 1589 Saint Philothei, Orthodox martyr and Patron of Athens (b. 1522)
  • 1596 Blaise de Vigenère, French cryptographer, dies at 72
  • 1602 Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercoeur, French soldier, dies at 43
  • 1605 Orazio Tiberio Vecchi, Italian composer, dies at 54
  • 1620 Roemer Pieterszoon Visscher, Dutch poet, buried in Amsterdam at about 73
  • 1622 Sir Henry Savile, English scholar and educator, translated the New Testament into English, dies at 72
  • 1653 Luigi Rossi, Italian early baroque composer, dies at about 55
  • 1663 Adam Adami, German bishop and diplomat (b. 1603)
  • 1672 Charles Chauncy, American clergyman and President of Harvard College (1654-72), dies at 79
  • 1709 Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, "Dog Shōgun", 5th Japanese shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate (1680-1709), dies at 62
  • 1716 Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter, Norway's first recognised female poet, dies at 82
  • 1777 Seth Pomeroy, American gunsmith, soldier, and Brigadier General in the American Revolution, dies at 70 [1]
  • 1785 Johann Christoph Richter, German composer, dies at 84
  • 1789 Nicholas Van Dyke, American lawyer and President of Delaware, dies at 50
  • 1790 Jean-Baptiste Krumpholz [Jan Křtitel Krumpholtz], Czech-French harpist and composer, drowns himself over lost love, in the Seine River, at 47
  • 1799 Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, political scientist, and sailor, dies at 65
  • 1806 Elizabeth Carter, English poet, bluestocking and translator (All the Works of Epictetus Which Are Now Extant), dies at 88
  • 1815 Leonhard von Call, Austrian guitarist, mandolin virtuoso, and composer, dies at 47
  • 1822 Jeronymo Francisco de Lima, Portuguese composer, dies at 78
  • 1836 Giuseppe Marco Fieschi, Corsican conspirator who killed 18 people attempting to assassinate French King Louis-Philippe, guillotined at 45
  • 1837 Georg Büchner, German playwright, known for "Woyzeck,", dies of typhus at 23
  • 1858 Alois Basil Nikolaus Tomasini, Italian violinist and composer, dies at 78
  • 1864 William Edwin Baldwin, US Confederate brigadier general, dies in a horse accident at 36
  • 1871 John B. Magruder, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 63
  • 1875 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, French musical instrument inventor, luthier and violin maker (Octobass), dies at 76
  • 1878 Charles-François Daubigny, French painter of the Barbizon school, dies at 61
  • 1880 Constantino Brumidi, Greek-Italian-American historical artist (Myrtle Murdock), dies at 74
  • 1887 Multatuli [Eduard Douwes Dekker], Dutch writer (Max Havelaar), dies at 66
  • 1892 Monty Bowden, English cricket wicketkeeper and captain (2 Tests; youngest England captain at 23 years, 144 days), dies of epilepsy at 26
  • 1894 Ernesto Camillo Sivori, Italian violinist and composer, dies at 78
  • 1897 Karl Weierstrass, German mathematician (theory of functions), dies at 81
  • 1902 Thomas F. Toon, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 61
  • 1915 Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian social reformer and leader of Indian Independence Movement, dies at 48
  • 1916 Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist (shock waves, Mach number), philosopher and psychologist, dies at 78
  • 1923 Gerónimo Giménez, Spanish composer, dies at 68
  • 1927 Georg Brandes [Cohen], Danish literary-historian and critic (the Modern Breakthrough of Scandinavian literature), dies at 85
  • 1927 Herbert Akroyd Stuart, British engineer and inventor of the heavy oil engine, dies at 63
  • 1927 Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer, and teacher (Vienna Conservatory, 1875-1912), dies at 80
  • 1933 Arnold Mendelssohn, German composer, dies at 77
  • 1936 Charles Harding Firth, British historian (b. 1857)
  • 1938 Leopoldo Lugones, Argentine poet (Las montañas del oro), dies at 63
  • 1941 Alexander Josiah Webbe, English cricket wicket-keeper (v Aus 1879), dies at 86
  • 1941 Hamilton Harty, Irish composer and conductor called "the prince of accompanists", dies at 61
  • 1942 Frank Abbandando, American gangster (Murder, Inc.), executed for murder at 31
  • 1943 Lynne Overman, American actor (Reap the Wild Wind), dies from a heart attack at 55
  • 1944 Siegfried Garibaldi Kallenberg, German composer, dies at 76
  • 1945 John Basilone, American Marine (Medal of Honor at the Battle for Henderson Field), is killed in action at Iwo Jima at 26
  • 1945 Wim Speelman, Dutch resistance fighter, executed at 26
  • 1948 Bob Groom, American baseball pitcher (Washington Senators; no-hitter 1917 St. Louis Browns), dies at 63
  • 1949 Auguste Serieyx, French pedagogue and composer, dies at 83
  • 1950 Edyth Walker, American opera singer, dies at 82
Photo for the article Today's 19 February Famous Deaths
  • 1952 (Percy) Lawrence Grant, British silent and sound screen character actor (Bulldog Drummond; Shanghai Express), dies at 81
  • 1952 Knut Hamsun, Norwegian writer (Nobel Prize for Literature, 1920), dies at 92
  • 1955 Otakar Pařík, Czech pianist and conductor, dies at 54
  • 1957 Maurice Garin, Italian-French cyclist (winner Tour de France 1903), dies at 85 [1]
  • 1962 Albert Elkus, American composer, dies at 77

Greek-American doctor, cytopathologist, and inventor of the Pap smear, dies at 78

Photo for the article Today's 19 February Famous Deaths
  • 1962 James Barton, American actor (Tobacco Road, Iceman Cometh), dies at 71
  • 1963 Bartolomé "Beny" Moré, Cuban guaracha and mambo singer, guitarist, songwriter, and bandleader, dies of liver cirrhosis at 43
  • 1965 Forrest Taylor, American actor (This is Life, Man Without a Gun), dies at 81
  • 1965 Gheorge Gheorghiu-Dej, Romanian communist politician (President of the State Council 1961-65), dies at 63
  • 1967 Wilmer King, 1st causality on Tappan Zee Bridge NY, dies
  • 1968 Georg Hackenschmidt, Estonian professional wrestler, dies at 89
  • 1968 Ralph Dunn, American actor (Mr Rudge-Norby), dies at 67
  • 1969 Madge Blake, American actress (b. 1899)
  • 1970 Jules Munshin, American actor, comedian, and broadway star (Call Me Mister, On the Town, Take Me Out to the Ball Game), dies from heart attack at 54
  • 1970 Ralph Flanders, American politician (Senator-Vermont), dies at 89
  • 1972 (Edward) Lee Morgan, American hard-bop jazz trumpeter ("The Sidewinder"), dies after being shot by his wife between sets during a gig at 33 [1]
  • 1972 John Grierson, Scottish documentary filmmaker (Drifters), dies at 73
  • 1972 Tedd Pierce, American cartoon screenwriter and voice actor (Warner Brothers), dies at 65
  • 1975 Luigi Dallapiccola, Italian 12-tone composer (Il prigioniero; Ulisse), dies of Pulmonary edema at 71
  • 1977 Anthony Crosland, British politician (b. 1918)
  • 1977 Mike González, Cuban baseball player, dies at 86
  • 1980 (Clarence) "Shorty" Cherock, American swing jazz and big band trumpeter (Jimmy Dorsey; Gene Krupa; Nelson Riddle), dies at 64
  • 1980 (Ronald) "Bon" Scott, Australian rock musician, singer, and lyricist (AC/DC -"It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)"), dies of acute alcohol poisoning at 33
  • 1981 Frank Merrick, English composer, dies at 94
  • 1983 Alice White, American actress (Employees' Entrance), dies at 78 of a stroke
  • 1983 William C. Boyd, American immunochemist, discovered that blood types are inherited, dies at 79
  • 1984 Claude Hopkins, American jazz stride pianist, arranger, bandleader, and musical director (Josephine Baker), dies at 80
  • 1984 Ina Ray Hutton [Odessa Cowan], American singer and big band bandleader (Ina Ray Hutton Show), dies of complications from diabetes at 67
  • 1985 Elizabeth Julesberg, author (Dick & Jane), dies
  • 1985 George Holmes, actor (Man in the Trunk), dies at 66
  • 1986 Adolfo Celi, Italian film actor and director (Next Man, Murders in Rue Morgue), dies at 63
  • 1986 James Eastland, American politician (Sen-D-Miss 1943-78), dies at 81
  • 1988 André F. Cournand, French physician and physiologist (Nobel 1956), dies at 92
  • 1988 René Char, French poet and painter, dies at 80
  • 1989 Jaap van de Merwe, Dutch journalist/cabareter (Hadjememaar), dies
  • 1990 Michael Powell, English director (Life & Death of Col Blimp), dies at 84
  • 1991 Peggy Mondo, American actress (Who's Minding the Store), dies at 50
  • 1992 Chet Leaming, American stage and screen actor, dies after brief illness at 66
  • 1993 Gerhard Gesell, American judge (Pentagon Papers), dies of liver cancer at 82
  • 1994 Derek Jarman, English filmmaker (The Tempest), artist and gay rights activist, dies of AIDS at 52
  • 1994 Fausto Bara, Mexican-American actor (The Renegades - "Gaucho"), dies of AIDS at 42
  • 1994 Georges Watin, Algerian-French officer (OAS), dies at 71
  • 1994 Gordon Sparling, Canadian pioneering filmmaker (Canadian Cameo series - Canada's first major films with sound), dies at 93 [1]
  • 1994 Renske Vellinga, Dutch speed-skater, dies in auto-accident at 19
  • 1994 Vittorio Rieti, Jewish Italian-American composer (La Sonambula; Second Avenue Waltzes), and pedagogue, dies at 96
  • 1995 Calder Willingham, American novelist and scriptwriter (End as a Man), dies at 72
  • 1995 Ian Ball, British newspaper photographer (The Independent), dies at 80 [1]
  • 1995 John Howard, American actor (The Philadelphia Story; My Three Sons), dies of heart failure at 81
  • 1995 Shlomo Averbach, Israeli ultra-orthodox rabbi, dies at 84
  • 1996 Antonio Creus, Spanish racecar driver, dies at 71
  • 1996 Brenda Bruce, actress (December Bride, Nightmare), dies at 77
  • 1996 Charles "Charlie O" Finley, American sports entrepreneur (MLB's Kansas City/Oakland A's: NHL's California Golden Seals), dies at 77
  • 1996 Dorothy Maynor, American soprano and founder (Harlem School of Arts), dies at 85
  • 1996 Grant Sawyer, US politician, dies at 76
  • 1996 Madhaviah Krishnan, Indian naturalist and wildlife photographer, dies at 83
  • 1996 Sahba Akhtar [Akhtar Ali Rehmat], Pakistani poet and film songwriter (Nadaan, Mashal), dies at 64 [1]
Photo for the article Today's 19 February Famous Deaths
  • 1997 Jarmil Burghauser [Mokrý], Czech composer, choirmaster, conductor, and musicologist, dies at 75
  • 1997 Leo Rosten, American writer and humourist (Joys of Yiddish), dies at 88
  • 1997 Stan Pearson, English soccer inside forward (8 caps; Manchester United, Bury, Chester), dies at 76
  • 1998 Grandpa Jones, American country music singer and banjo wizard (Hee Haw), dies at 84
  • 1999 Mohammad al-Sadr, Iraqi Shiite cleric and leader who called for government reform, assassinated in an ambush in Najaf, Iraq at 55 [1]
  • 2000 Anatoly Sobchak, Russian politician (Mayor of Saint Petersburg. 1991-96), dies of a suspected poisoning at 62
  • 2000 Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian-New Zealand artist and architect (Hundertwasserhaus) known for his work in environmental protection, dies at 71
  • 2000 Marin Goleminov, Bulgarian violinist, composer, and pedagogue, dies at 91
  • 2001 Charles Trenet, French pop singer and songwriter ("Boum!"; "La Mer"), dies at 87
  • 2001 Priscilla Davis, American socialite (b. 1942)
  • 2001 Stanley Kramer, American producer and director (Inherit the Wind, The Defiant Ones), dies at 87
  • 2002 Sylvia Rivera, American gay liberation and transgender activist and drag queen, dies of liver cancer at 50
  • 2003 Johnny Paycheck [Donald Lytle], American country singer ("ake This Job and Shove It"), dies after contracting emphysema and asthma at 64
  • 2003 Ramesh "Buck" Divecha, Indian cricketer (eleven wickets for India in early 50's), dies at 75
  • 2007 Celia Franca [Franks], British-Canadian ballet dancer, choreographer, co-founder of National Ballet of Canada and its artistic director (1951-75), dies at 85
  • 2007 Janet Blair [Martha Janet Lafferty], American singer and actress (Leave it to the Girls; Smith Family), dies of pneumonia at 85
  • 2008 (Attilio) "Teo" Macero, American jazz saxophonist, composer and record producer (Miles Davis - "Bitches Brew"; Dave Brubeck - "Time Out"), dies at 82
  • 2008 David Watkin, British cinematographer (Out of Africa, Chariots of Fire), dies of cancer at 82
  • 2008 Lydia Shum, Hong Kong comedian and actress, known as Fei-fei, dies at 62
  • 2008 Natalia Bessmertnova, Soviet ballerina (Bolshoi, Lenin Prize 1970), dies at 66
  • 2008 Richard D'Aeth, British educationist (Hughes Hall Cambridge), dies at 96
  • 2008 Yegor Letov, Russian rock poet, songwriter, and singer (Grazhdanskaya Oborona), dies of heart failure at 43
  • 2009 Kelly Groucutt, British rock bass guitarist and vocalist (Electric Light Orchestra; ELO II; The Orchestra), dies of a heart attack at 63
  • 2010 Laura Spurr, Tribal Chairperson, Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi (b. 1945)
  • 2010 Lionel Jeffries, British actor (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Camelot), dies at 83

Pro/College Football Hall of Fame halfback (First-team All-Pro 1952, 54–59; Pro Bowl 1952, 54–58; NFL 1950s All Decade Team), dies of dementia at 80

Photo for the article Today's 19 February Famous Deaths
  • 2012 John Hogan, American research chemist, dies at 92
  • 2012 Steve Kordek, American pinball machine designer, dies at 100
  • 2013 Donald Richie, American-born author and (Japanese) film critic, dies at 88
  • 2013 Manfred Niehaus, German composer, dies at 79
  • 2013 Pete D. Anderson, American jockey (Belmont Stakes 1958) and trainer, dies at 81
  • 2013 Robert Coleman Richardson, American physicist (Nobel 1996), dies at 75
  • 2014 Dale Gardner, American astronaut, dies from a brain aneurysm at 65
  • 2014 Imre Olsvik, Hungarian composer and ethnomusicologist, dies at 82

Soviet-Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz 6, 19, 36/35) who performed the 1st welding experiments in space, dies at 79

Photo for the article Today's 19 February Famous Deaths
  • 2015 Ward Swingle, American vocalist, jazz musician, composer, arranger, and conductor (The Swingle Singers - Jazz Sebastian Bach), dies at 87
  • 2016 Umberto Eco, Italian philosopher and writer (Name of the Rose), dies at 84

American author (To Kill a Mockingbird), dies at 89

Photo for the article Today's 19 February Famous Deaths
  • 2017 Igor Shafarevich, Russian mathematician, dies at 93
  • 2017 Larry Coryell, American jazz guitarist (11th House), dies at 73
  • 2018 Yury Tyukalov, Soviet rower (Olympic 1952,56 Gold), dies at 87
  • 2019 Don Newcombe, American baseball pitcher (4 x MLB All Star; World Series 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers; NL MVP & Cy Young Award 1956), dies at 92
  • 2019 Karl Lagerfeld, German fashion designer (Fendi, Chanel), dies at 85 (age disputed)
  • 2020 Heather Couper, British astronomer and presenter (The Sky at Night), dies at 70
  • 2020 Jens Nygaard Knudsen, Danish toy designer (Lego mini-figure), dies at 78
  • 2020 Pop Smoke [Bashar Barakah Jackson], American rapper and singer-songwriter (Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon), shot and killed in a home invasion at 20
  • 2022 Charley Taylor, American Pro Football HOF wide receiver and running back (8 × Pro Bowl; First-team All-Pro 1967; Washington Redskins), dies at 80
  • 2022 Emile Francis, Canadian Hockey HOF coach (NY Rangers 1965-75; St. Louis Blues) and executive (GM: NY Rangers, St. Louis Blues, Hartford Whalers), dies at 95 [1]
  • 2022 Gary Brooker, British rock keyboardist and singer (Procol Harum -"A Whiter Shade of Pale"), dies of cancer at 76
  • 2022 HO de Villiers, South African rugby union fullback (14 caps; Villager FC, Western Province), dies at 76
  • 2022 Nigel Butterley, Australian pianist, composer (The True Samaritan), educator, and radio broadcaster, dies at 86 [1]
  • 2023 Dickie Davies, English TV presenter (ITV's World of Sport), dies at 93 [1]
  • 2023 Greg Foster, American athlete (3 x World C'ship gold 110m hurdles; Olympic silver 1984), dies from amyloidosis at 64
  • 2023 Jansen Panettiere, American actor (How High 2), dies of aortic valve complications due to cardiomegaly (enlarged heart) at 28

American comedian, actor (Homicide: Life on the Street; Law & Order: SVU - both shows "Det. John Munch") and author (How To Be A Stand-Up; UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don’t Have to Be Crazy to Believe), dies at 78 [1]

Photo for the article Today's 19 February Famous Deaths
  • 2025 Frederik Korthals Altes, Dutch politician and lawyer, Minister of Justice (1982-89) and Minister of State (26 October 2001), dies at 93 [1]
  • 2025 Mike Lange, American sportscaster (Pittsburgh Penguins play-by-play announcer 1974, 1976-2021), dies at 76
  • 2025 Souleymane Cisse, Malian pioneering filmmaker (Waati, Yeelen, Finye, Baara), dies at 84 [1]


Post a Comment