Famous Deaths on 31 Dec

Famous Deaths on 31 Dec

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
1424 - Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter, English military leader
1460 - Edmund, Earl of Rutland, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (executed) (b. 1443)
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)
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)
1877 - Gustave Courbet, French painter (b. 1819)
1888 - Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi (b. 1808)
1889 - Ion Creangă, Romanian writer (b. 1837 or 1839)
1890 - Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican war heroine (b. 1826)
1894 - Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch mathematician (b. 1856)
1905 - Alexander Popov, Russian physicist (b. 1859)
1910 - Arch Hoxsey, American aviator (b. 1884)
1910 - John Moisant, American aviator (b. 1868)
192 - Commodus, Roman Emperor (b. 161)
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)
1952 - Hank Williams, American singer, guitarist, and songwriter (b.1923)
1953 - Albert Plesman, Dutch aviation pioneer (b. 1889)
1964 - Ã"lafur 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)
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 - Rick Nelson, American singer (b. 1940)
1986 - Lloyd Haynes, American actor (b. 1934)
1987 - Jerry Turner, Baltimore Anchorman (b. 1929)
1990 - Vasili Lazarev, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1928)
1990 - George Allen, American football coach
1993 - Maj-Gen John Frost, British para commander, Operation Market-Garden (b. 1912)
1993 - Zviad Gamsakhurdia, first President of Georgia (b. 1939)
1993 - Brandon Teena, Transsexual, murdered (b. 1972)
1994 - Leigh Bowery, Australian-born English fashion performance artist (b. 1961)
1994 - Woody Strode, American actor and decathlete (b. 1914)
1997 - Michael Kennedy, American politician (b. 1958)
1997 - Floyd Cramer, American musician (b. 1933)
1997 - Billie Dove, American actress (b. 1903)
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)
2001 - Eileen Heckart, American actress (b. 1919)
2002 - Kevin MacMichael, American guitarist (Cutting Crew) (b. 1951)
2003 - Arthur R. von Hippel German-born physicist (b. 1898)
2004 - Gerard Debreu, French-born 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., baseball executive (b. 1917)
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 - Bill Idelson, American actor (b. 1919)
2007 - Michael Goldberg, American painter (b. 1924)
2007 - Tony Elliott, American football player (b. 1959)
2007 - Tommy Dickson, British footballer (b. 1929)
2007 - Ettore Sottsass, Italian architect and designer (b. 1917)
335 - St. Silvester, Pope