August 15 :: Historical Deaths

Famous Deaths

• 423 - Flavius Honorius, Western Roman Emperor (b. 384)


• 778 - Roland, Frankish commander


• 1038 - King Stephen I of Hungary


• 1040 - King Duncan I of Scotland


• 1057 - King Macbeth of Scotland


• 1118 - Alexius I Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1048)


• 1196 - Conrad II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1173)


• 1274 - Robert de Sorbon, French theologian and founder of the Sorbonne (b. 1201)


• 1369 - Philippa of Hainault, Queen consort of Edward III of England


• 1528 - Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, French military leader (b. 1485)


• 1552 - Hermann of Wied, German Catholic archbishop (b. 1477)


• 1621 - John Barclay, Scottish writer (b. 1582)


• 1666 - Johann Adam Schall von Bell, German Jesuit missionary (b. 1591)


• 1714 - Constantin Brâncoveanu, Prince of Wallachia (b. 1654)


• 1728 - Marin Marais, French composer and viol player (b. 1656)


• 1758 - Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician (b. 1698)


• 1799 - Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet (b. 1729)


• 1852 - Johan Gadolin, Finnish scientist (b. 1760)


• 1880 - Adelaide Neilson, English Actress (b. 1848)


• 1907 - Joseph Joachim, Austrian violinist (b. 1831)


• 1909 - Euclides da Cunha, Brazilian writer and sociologist (b. 1866)


• 1917 - Thomas J. Higgins, decorated Union Army soldier (b. 1831)


• 1925 - Konrad Mägi, Estonian artist (b. 1878)


• 1935 - Wiley Post, American pilot (airplane crash) (b. 1898)


• 1935 - Will Rogers, American humorist and actor (airplane crash) (b. 1879)


• 1936 - Grazia Deledda, Italian writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1871)


• 1945 - Korechika Anami, Japanese War Minister (b. 1887)


• 1951 - Artur Schnabel, Polish pianist (b. 1882)


• 1953 - Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist (b. 1875)


• 1959 - Blind Willie McTell, American singer (b. 1901)


• 1962 - Lei Feng, Chinese revolutionary (b. 1940)


• 1967 - René Magritte, Belgian painter (b. 1898)


• 1971 - Paul Lukas, Hungarian-born actor (b. 1887)


• 1975 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, President of Bangladesh (b. 1920)


• 1975 - Clay Shaw, alleged John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracist & businessman (b. 1913)


• 1982 - Hugo Theorell, Swedish scientist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1903)


• 1990 - Viktor Tsoi, Russian musician (b. 1962)


• 1995 - John Cameron Swayze, American journalist (b. 1906)


• 1999 - Sir Hugh Casson, British architect and artist (b. 1910)


• 2001 - Richard Chelimo, Kenyan athlete (b. 1972)


• 2003 - Gösta Sundqvist, Finnish songwriter and singer (heart attack) (b. 1957)


• 2004 - Semiha Berksoy, first Turkish opera singer (b. 1910)


• 2004 - Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1916)


• 2004 - Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician (b. 1941)


• 2006 - Te Atairangi Kaahu, Māori queen (b. 1931)


• 2007 - John Gofman, American Manhattan Project scientist and advocate (b. 1918)


• 2007 - Geoffrey Orbell, New Zealand bush walker (b. 1908)