August 09 :: Historical Deaths

Famous Deaths

• 117 - Trajan, Roman Emperor (b. 53)


• 378 - Valens, Roman Emperor (killed in battle) (b. 328)


• 803 - Byzantine Empress Irene (b. 752)


• 1048 - Pope Damasus II


• 1107 - Emperor Horikawa of Japan (b. 1079)


• 1173 - Najm ad-Din Ayyub, father of Saladin


• 1250 - King Eric IV of Denmark (b. 1216)


• 1534 - Cardinal Cajetan, Italian theologian (b. 1470)


• 1601 - Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia (b. 1558)


• 1634 - William Noy, English jurist (b. 1577)


• 1720 - Simon Ockley, English orientalist (b. 1678)


• 1744 - James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English patron of the arts (b. 1673)


• 1816 - Johann August Apel, German jurist and writer (b. 1771)


• 1837 - Xavier Sigalon, French painter (b. 1787)


• 1886 - Samuel Ferguson, Northern Irish poet and artist (b. 1810)


• 1919 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (b. 1857)


• 1942 - Edith Stein, (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) (executed) (b. 1891)


• 1945 - Harry Hillman, American athlete (b. 1881)


• 1945 - Robert Hampton Gray, last Canadian Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1917)


• 1946 - Bert Vogler, Former South African cricketer (b. 1876)


• 1957 - Carl Clauberg, Nazi doctor (b. 1898)


• 1962 - Hermann Hesse, German-born writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1877)


• 1967 - Joe Orton, English writer (b. 1933)


• 1969 - Cecil Frank Powell, British physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1903)


• 1969 - Abigail Folger, American heiress (murdered) (b. 1943)


• 1969 - Wojciech Frykowski, Polish writer (murdered) (b. 1936)


• 1969 - Jay Sebring, American hair stylist (murdered) (b. 1933)


• 1969 - Sharon Tate, American actress (murdered) (b. 1943)


• 1969 - Steven Parent, American student (murdered) (b. 1951)


• 1974 - Bill Chase, American trumpet player and bandleader (b. 1934)


• 1975 - Dmitri Shostakovich, Russian composer (b. 1906)


• 1979 - Walter O'Malley, baseball executive (b. 1903)


• 1979 - Raymond Washington, founder of Los Angeles, California gang, the Crips


• 1980 - Jacqueline Cochran, American aviatrix (b. 1906)


• 1985 - Clive Churchill, Australian rugby league footballer (b. 1927)


• 1988 - Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer (b. 1905)


• 1990 - Joe Mercer, English footballer (b. 1914)


• 1995 - Jerry Garcia, American musician (Grateful Dead) (b. 1942)


• 1996 - Sir Frank Whittle, invented the jet engine (b. 1907)


• 1999 - Fouad Serageddin, Egyptian politician (b. 1910)


• 2000 - John Harsanyi, Hungarian-born economist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1920)


• 2000 - Nicholas Markowitz-kidnapped and murdered by Jesse James Hollywood (b. 1984)


• 2002 - Paul Samson, British guitarist (Samson) (b. 1953)


• 2002 - Peter Neville, anarchist, sociologist, and peace activist


• 2003 - Ray Harford, English footballer and manager (b. 1945)


• 2003 - Gregory Hines, American actor and dancer (b. 1946)


• 2003 - Jacques Deray, French film director (b. 1929)


• 2003 - Chester Ludgin, American baritone (b. 1925)


• 2004 - Robert Lecourt, French politician and president of the European Court of Justice (b. 1908)


• 2004 - Tony Mottola, American guitarist (b. 1918)


• 2004 - David Raksin, American film director (b. 1912)


• 2005 - Matthew McGrory, American actor (b. 1973)


• 2005 - Judith Rossner, American novelist (b. 1935)


• 2006 - James van Allen, American physicist (b. 1914)


• 2006 - Philip E. High, science fiction author (b. 1914)


• 2007 - Joe O'Donnell, American documentary photographer, photojournalist (b. 1922)


• 2008 - Bernie Mac, American comedian, actor.(b. 1957)


• 2008 - Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian prominent poet and writer of prose.(b. 1941)