August 20 :: Historical Deaths

Famous Deaths

• 535 - Mochta of Louth, disciple of St. Patrick


• 984 - Pope John XIV


• 1384 - Geert Groote, Dutch founder of the Brethren of the Common Life (b. 1340)


• 1572 - Miguel López de Legazpi, Spanish conquistador (b. 1502)


• 1580 - Jeronymo Osorio, Portuguese historian (b. 1506)


• 1611 - Tomás Luis de Victoria, Spanish composer (b. 1548)


• 1639 - Martin Opitz von Boberfeld, German poet (b. 1597)


• 1643 - Anne Hutchinson, English Puritan preacher (b. 1591)


• 1648 - Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, English diplomat, poet, and philosopher (b. 1583)


• 1672 - Johan de Witt, Dutch politician (b. 1625)


• 1672 - Cornelis de Witt, Dutch politician (b. 1623)


• 1680 - William Bedloe, English informer (b. 1650)


• 1701 - Charles Sedley, English playwright (b. 1639)


• 1707 - Nicolas Gigault, French organist and composer (b. 1627)


• 1773 - Enrique Florez, Spanish historian (b. 1701)


• 1811 - Louis Antoine de Bougainville, French explorer (b. 1729)


• 1823 - Pope Pius VII (b. 1740)


• 1825 - William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock, Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1753)


• 1887 - Jules Laforgue, French poet (b. 1860)


• 1904 - René Waldeck-Rousseau, French statesman (b. 1846)


• 1912 - William Booth, English founder of the Salvation Army (b. 1829)


• 1914 - Pope Pius X (b. 1835)


• 1915 - Paul Ehrlich, German scientist, Nobel laureate (b. 1854)


• 1917 - Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1835)


• 1930 - Charles Bannerman, Australian cricketer (b. 1851)


• 1959 - William Halsey, Jr, American admiral (b. 1882)


• 1961 - Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1882)


• 1965 - Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Civil Rights Martyr (b. 1939)


• 1971 - Rashid Minhas, Pakistani Air Force pilot (b. 1951)


• 1980 - Joe Dassin, American singer (b. 1938)


• 1982 - Ulla Jacobsson, Swedish actress (b. 1929)


• 1986 - Milton Acorn, Canadian poet (b. 1923)


• 1989 - George Adamson, India-born English game warden and lion expert (b. 1906)


• 1993 - Bernard Delfgaauw, Dutch philosopher (b. 1912)


• 1997 - Norris Bradbury, American physicist (b. 1909)


• 1997 - Léon Dion, French-Canadian political scientist (b. 1922)


• 1998 - Raquel Rastenni, Danish singer (b. 1915)


• 2001 - Sir Fred Hoyle, English astronomer and science fiction writer (b. 1915)


• 2001 - Kim Stanley, American actress (b. 1925)


• 2005 - Thomas Herrion, American football player (b. 1981)


• 2005 - Krzysztof Raczkowski, Polish drummer (b. 1970)


• 2006 - Claude Blanchard, French-Canadian singer, comedian and actor (b. 1932)


• 2006 - Joe Rosenthal, American photographer (b. 1911)


• 2006 - Cpl Bryan Budd VC, British soldier (Afghanistan) (b. 1977)


• 2007 - Leona Helmsley, American hotel operator and real estate investor (b. 1920)


• 2007 - Larry Hartsell, American martial artist, bodyguard, trainer, student of Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto (b. 1942)