Died on Wednesday, 30th April – Famous Deaths

30/04/2024

Paul Auster, American writer and film director (born 1947)

Paul Benjamin Auster was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. His notable works include The New York Trilogy (1987), Moon Palace (1989), The Music of Chance (1990), The Book of Illusions (2002), The Brooklyn Follies (2005), Invisible (2009), Sunset Park (2010), Winter Journal (2012), and 4 3 2 1 (2017). His books have been translated into more than 40 languages.

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30/04/2023

Jock Zonfrillo, Scottish television presenter and chef (born 1976)

Barry "Jock" Zonfrillo was a Scottish chef, television presenter and restaurateur. He was the founder of the Orana Foundation and a judge on MasterChef Australia.

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30/04/2022

Naomi Judd, American singer-songwriter and actress (born 1946)

Naomi Judd was an American country music singer and actress. In 1980, she and her daughter Wynonna formed the duo known as The Judds, who became a successful country music act, winning five Grammy Awards and nine Country Music Association awards. The Judds ceased performing in 1991 after Naomi was diagnosed with hepatitis; while Wynonna continued to perform as a solo artist, she occasionally reunited with her mother for tours as The Judds. Naomi died by suicide in 2022, the day before she and Wynonna were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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Mino Raiola, Italian football agent (born 1967)

Carmine "Mino" Raiola was an Italian-Dutch football agent known for having represented players such as Pavel Nedvěd, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Paul Pogba, and Erling Haaland.

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30/04/2021

Anthony Payne, English composer (born 1936)

Anthony Edward Payne was an English composer, music critic and musicologist. He is best known for his acclaimed completion of Edward Elgar's third symphony, which gained wide acceptance into Elgar's oeuvre. Payne is particularly noted for his chamber music, much of which was written for his wife, the soprano Jane Manning, and the couple's new music ensemble Jane's Minstrels. Initially an unrelenting proponent of modernist music, by the 1980s his compositions had embraced aspects of the late English romanticism, described by his colleague Susan Bradshaw as "modernized nostalgia".

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30/04/2020

Tony Allen, Nigerian drummer and composer (born 1940)

Tony Oladipo Allen was a Nigerian-Ghanaian drummer, composer, and songwriter who lived and worked in Paris, France. Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti's band Africa '70 from 1968 to 1979, and was one of the founders of the Afrobeat genre. Fela once stated that "without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat". He was described by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived". Later in life, Allen collaborated with Damon Albarn on several projects, including Gorillaz, the Good, the Bad & the Queen and Rocket Juice & the Moon.

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Rishi Kapoor, Indian actor, film director and producer (born 1952)

Rishi Kapoor was an Indian actor, film director, and producer who worked in Hindi films. In a career spanning five decades, he established himself through a diverse range of roles in Hindi cinema. Kapoor was the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Award and four Filmfare Awards.

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30/04/2019

Peter Mayhew, English-American actor (born 1944)

Peter William Mayhew was a British-American actor. He was best known for portraying Chewbacca in the Star Wars film series. He played the character in all of his live-action appearances from the 1977 original to 2015's The Force Awakens before his retirement from the role. He also voiced the character in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and portrayed him in some non-canon television shows, including The Muppet Show.

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30/04/2017

Belchior, Brazilian singer and composer (born 1946)

Belchior was a Brazilian singer and composer. He was one of the first MPB singers from the Brazilian northeast to reach mainstream success, in the early 1970s.

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30/04/2016

Daniel Berrigan, American priest and activist (born 1921)

Daniel Joseph Berrigan was an American Jesuit priest, anti-war activist, Christian pacifist, playwright, poet, and author.

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Harry Kroto, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1939)

Sir Harold Walter Kroto was an English chemist. He shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley for their discovery of fullerenes. He was the recipient of many other honors and awards.

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30/04/2015

Ben E. King, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1938)

Benjamin Earl King was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence as one of the principal lead singers of the R&B vocal group the Drifters, singing the lead vocals on three of their biggest hit singles: "There Goes My Baby", "This Magic Moment", and "Save the Last Dance for Me".

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30/04/2014

Khaled Choudhury, Indian painter and set designer (born 1919)

Khaled Choudhury was a theatre personality and artist of Bengal. He worked for various directors of both Bengali and Hindi plays, including Sombhu Mitra, Tripti Mitra, and Shyamanand Jalan in various capacities — creating the Stage, sets and costumes and later as music director. He was a bachelor. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to theatre in India's Republic Day Honours List on 26 January 2012. He died on 30 April 2014 in Kolkata.

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Julian Lewis, English biologist and academic (born 1946)

Julian Hart Lewis FRS was an English developmental biologist and researcher whose work shed light on the nature of cellular timing mechanisms and their role in animal development. He showed that the Notch ligand controls the timing of nerve cell differentiation and the synchronised cycling of neighbouring cell activity. He modelled the cellular oscillatory circuit that determines the segmentation of the developing body, and clarified the importance of delay kinetics in setting the frequency of those oscillations.

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Carl E. Moses, American businessman and politician (born 1929)

Carl Eugene Moses was an American businessman from Unalaska, Alaska who served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1965 to 1973 as both a Republican and Democrat, and was elected again to the House in 1992 running on the Alaskan Independence Party ticket, later switched back to the Democrats, and served until 2007. Moses served a total of eleven full terms in the Alaska House, making him the longest-serving member in the history of that body. In the 2006 primary election, Moses was defeated for renomination by Bryce Edgmon, losing via a coin toss after the election results wound up in court and were later certified by the state of Alaska as ending in a tie vote.

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Ian Ross, Australian journalist (born 1940)

Ian Charles "Roscoe" Ross was an Australian television news presenter for Seven News in Sydney and for Nine News.

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30/04/2013

Roberto Chabet, Filipino painter and sculptor (born 1937)

Roberto "Bobby" Rodríguez Chabet was an artist from the Philippines and widely acknowledged as the father of Philippine conceptual art.

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Shirley Firth, Canadian skier (born 1953)

Shirley Firth was a Canadian cross-country skier who competed in four consecutive Winter Olympics in 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984.

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Viviane Forrester, French author and critic (born 1925)

Viviane Forrester was an essayist, novelist, journalist and literary critic.

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30/04/2012

Tomás Borge, Nicaraguan poet and politician, co-founded the Sandinista National Liberation Front (born 1930)

Tomás Borge Martínez, often spelled as Thomas Borge in American newspapers, was a cofounder of the Sandinista National Liberation Front in Nicaragua and was Interior Minister of Nicaragua during one of the administrations of Daniel Ortega. He was also a renowned statesman, writer, and politician. Tomás Borge also held the titles of "Vice-Secretary and President of the FSLN", member of the Nicaraguan Parliament and National Congress, and Ambassador to Peru. Considered a hardliner, he led the "prolonged people's war" tendency within the FSLN until his death.

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Alexander Dale Oen, Norwegian swimmer (born 1985)

Alexander Dale Oen was a Norwegian competitive swimmer. He was an Olympic silver medallist, World Championships gold medallist, World Championships (25m) bronze medallist, two-time European Championships gold medallist and European Short Course Championships gold medallist in the 100 metre breaststroke.

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Giannis Gravanis, Greek footballer (born 1958)

Giannis Gravanis was a Greek footballer.

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Benzion Netanyahu, Russian-Israeli historian and academic (born 1910)

Benzion Netanyahu was a Polish-born Israeli encyclopedist, historian, and medievalist. Born in Warsaw, he served as a professor of history at Cornell University. A scholar of Judaic history, he was also an activist in the Revisionist Zionism movement, who lobbied in the United States to support the creation of the Jewish state. His field of expertise was the history of the Jews in Spain. He was an editor of the Hebrew Encyclopedia and assistant to Benjamin Azkin, Ze'ev Jabotinsky's personal secretary.

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30/04/2011

Dorjee Khandu, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh (born 1955)

Dorjee Khandu was an Indian politician who served as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh from 2007 until his death in a helicopter crash in April 2011.

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Evald Okas, Estonian painter (born 1915)

Evald Okas was an Estonian painter, probably best known for his portraits of nudes.

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Ernesto Sabato, Argentinian physicist, author, and painter (born 1911)

Ernesto Sabato was an Argentine novelist, essayist, painter, and physicist. According to the BBC he "won some of the most prestigious prizes in Hispanic literature" and "became very influential in the literary world throughout Latin America". Upon his death El País dubbed him the "last classic writer in Argentine literature".

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30/04/2009

Henk Nijdam, Dutch cyclist (born 1935)

Henk Nijdam was a Dutch road and track cyclist. His sporting career began with Fortuna Zundert. On track, he finished in fifth place in the 4 km team pursuit at the 1960 Summer Olympics. He also won a gold and a bronze medals in the individual pursuit at world championships in 1962 and 1963.

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30/04/2008

Juancho Evertsz, Dutch Antillean politician (born 1923)

Juancho Evertsz, whose full name was Juan Miguel Gregorio Evertsz, was a Dutch Antillean politician who served as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles between 1973 and 1977.

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30/04/2007

Kevin Mitchell, American football player (born 1971)

Kevin Danyelle Mitchell was an American professional football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He played for the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Redskins.

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Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk, Inuk writer (born 1931)

Mitiarjuk Attasie Nappaaluk was an Inuk author, educator, and sculptor from Kangiqsujuaq in Nunavik, in northern Quebec, Canada. She was noted for writing Sanaaq, one of the first Inuktitut-language novels. Nappaaluk translated books into Inuktitut and contributed to an early Inuktitut dictionary. She went on to teach Inuit culture and language in the Nunavik region, authoring a total of 22 books for use in schools. Her soapstone sculptures are held in collections at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, the Musée de la Civilisation, and the British Museum.

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Tom Poston, American actor, comedian, and game show panelist (born 1921)

Thomas Gordon Poston was an American actor, appearing in television roles from the 1950s through the early to mid-2000s, reportedly appearing in more sitcoms than any other actor. In the 1980s, he played George Utley on the CBS sitcom Newhart, receiving three Emmy Award nominations for the role. In addition he had a number of film roles and appeared frequently on Broadway and television game shows.

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Gordon Scott, American film and television actor (born 1926)

Gordon Scott was an American film and television actor known for his portrayal of the fictional character Tarzan in five films of the Tarzan film series from 1955 to 1960. Gordon Scott was the 11th Tarzan, starting with Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (1955). He was "discovered" poolside, and offered "a seven-year contract, a loin cloth, and a new last name."

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30/04/2006

Jean-François Revel, French philosopher (born 1924)

Jean-François Revel was a French philosopher, journalist, and author. A prominent public intellectual, Revel was a socialist in his youth but later became a prominent European proponent of classical liberalism and free market economics. He was a member of the Académie française after June 1998. He is best known for his book Without Marx or Jesus: The New American Revolution Has Begun, published in French in 1970.

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Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesian author and academic (born 1925)

Pramoedya Ananta Toer, also nicknamed Pram, was an Indonesian novelist and writer. His works span the colonial period under Dutch rule, Indonesia's struggle for independence, its occupation by Japan during World War II, as well as the post-colonial authoritarian regimes of Sukarno and Suharto, and are infused with personal and national history.

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30/04/2005

Phil Rasmussen, American lieutenant and pilot (born 1918)

Philip M. Rasmussen was a United States Army Air Forces second lieutenant assigned to the 46th Pursuit Squadron at Wheeler Field on the island of Oahu during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He was one of the few American pilots to get into the air that day.

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30/04/2003

Mark Berger, American economist and academic (born 1955)

Professor Mark C. Berger was the director of The Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Kentucky until his death at age 47. He was also a Fulbright Scholar at University College Dublin. Originally hailing from Sylvania, Ohio, Berger earned his BA from the University of Toledo and his MA and PhD from Ohio State University.

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Possum Bourne, New Zealand race car driver (born 1956)

Peter Raymond George "Possum" Bourne was a New Zealand rally car driver. He died while driving on a public road that was to be the track for an upcoming race.

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30/04/2002

Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, German philanthropist, founded the Gründerzeit Museum (born 1928)

Charlotte von Mahlsdorf was a well-known transgender woman in East Germany and founded the Gründerzeit Museum in Berlin-Mahlsdorf. Later she became a LGBT-icon in Germany because of Rosa von Praunheim's biopic I Am My Own Woman (1992).

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30/04/2000

Poul Hartling, Danish politician, 36th Prime Minister of Denmark (born 1914)

Poul Hartling was a Danish politician and diplomat. He was leader of Venstre from 1965 to 1977, and served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1973 to 1975. Prior to that, he served as foreign minister from 1968 to 1971 under Hilmar Baunsgaard. From 1978 to 1985, he served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

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30/04/1998

Nizar Qabbani, Syrian-English poet, publisher, and diplomat (born 1926)

Nizar Tawfiq Qabbani was a Syrian poet, diplomat, and publisher. Widely regarded as Syria’s national poet. Qabbani’s work is noted for its blend of simplicity and lyrical elegance, addressing themes of love, eroticism, feminism, religion, Arab nationalism, and resistance to both foreign imperialism and domestic authoritarianism. He remains one of the most celebrated and influential contemporary poets in the Arab world. His notable relatives include the playwright Abu Khalil Qabbani, diplomat Sabah Qabbani, writer Rana Kabbani, and translator Yasmine Seale.

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30/04/1995

Maung Maung Kha, Burmese colonel and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Burma (born 1920)

Maung Maung Kha was Prime Minister of Burma between 1977 and 1988.

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30/04/1994

Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian race car driver (born 1960)

Roland Walter Ratzenberger was an Austrian racing driver, who competed in Formula One at three Grands Prix in 1994.

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Richard Scarry, American author and illustrator (born 1919)

Richard McClure Scarry was an American children's author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of over 100 million worldwide. He is best known for his Best Ever book series that take place primarily in the fictional town of Busytown, "which is populated by friendly and helpful resident [animals...such as] Mr. Frumble, Huckle Cat, Mr. Fixit, Lowly Worm, and others..." The series spawned a media franchise.

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30/04/1993

Tommy Caton, English footballer (born 1962)

Thomas Stephen Caton was an English footballer who played as a centre half for Manchester City, Arsenal, Oxford United and Charlton Athletic. Caton captained both Manchester City and Oxford United and was named as City's Player of the Year in 1982.

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30/04/1989

Sergio Leone, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1929)

Sergio Leone was an Italian filmmaker, credited as the pioneer of the spaghetti Western genre. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema.

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30/04/1986

Robert Stevenson, English director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1905)

Robert Edward Stevenson was a British-American screenwriter and film director.

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30/04/1983

George Balanchine, Russian dancer and choreographer (born 1904)

George Balanchine was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th century. Styled as the father of American ballet, he co-founded the New York City Ballet and remained its artistic director for more than 35 years. His choreography is characterized by plotless ballets with minimal costume and décor, performed to classical and neoclassical music.

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Muddy Waters, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and bandleader (born 1913)

McKinley Morganfield, better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago blues". His style of playing has been described as "raining down Delta beatitude".

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Edouard Wyss-Dunant, Swiss physician and mountaineer (born 1897)

Edouard Wyss-Dunant was a Swiss physician and alpinist. He had a distinguished career in medicine, both in his own country and abroad. He published a number of treatises in his professional capacity and was the author of several mountaineering books. He is best known for his leadership of the Swiss Expedition to Everest of 1952.

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30/04/1982

Lester Bangs, American journalist and author (born 1949)

Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist and critic. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines and was also a performing musician. The music critic Jim DeRogatis called him "America's greatest rock critic".

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30/04/1980

Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican journalist and politician, 1st Governor of Puerto Rico (born 1898)

José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín, most commonly known as Luis Muñoz Marín, was a Puerto Rican journalist, politician, and statesman who served as the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico from 1949 to 1965. He previously served as the fourth president of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 1941 to 1948.

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30/04/1974

Agnes Moorehead, American actress (born 1900)

Agnes Robertson Moorehead was an American actress. In a career spanning five decades, her credits included work in radio, stage, film, and television. Moorehead was the recipient of such accolades as a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for four Academy Awards.

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30/04/1973

Václav Renč, Czech poet and playwright (born 1911)

Václav Renč was a Czech poet, dramatist and translator. Like other Catholic ruralistic writers, his themes included God, traditions and the countryside.

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30/04/1972

Gia Scala, English-American model and actress (born 1934)

Gia Scala was a British and American actress.

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30/04/1970

Jacques Presser, Dutch historian, writer and poet (born 1899)

Jacob (Jacques) Presser was a Dutch historian, writer and poet who is known for his book Ashes in the Wind on the history of the persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands during World War II. Presser made a significant contribution to Dutch historical scholarship, as well as to European historical scholarship.

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Inger Stevens, Swedish-American actress (born 1934)

Inger Stevens was a Swedish-born American film, stage, and Golden Globe–winning television actress.

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30/04/1956

Alben W. Barkley, American lawyer and politician, 35th Vice President of the United States (born 1877)

Alben William Barkley was an American lawyer and politician from Kentucky who served as the 35th vice president of the United States from 1949 to 1953 under President Harry S. Truman. In 1905, he was elected to local offices and in 1912 as a U.S. representative. Serving in both houses of Congress, he was a liberal Democrat, supporting President Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom domestic agenda and foreign policy.

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30/04/1953

Jacob Linzbach, Estonian linguist and author (born 1874)

Jakob Linzbach was an Estonian linguist.

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30/04/1945

Eva Braun, German photographer and office and lab assistant, wife of Adolf Hitler (born 1912)

Eva Anna Paula Hitler was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich in 1929 when she was an assistant and model for his personal photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann. She began seeing Hitler often about two years later.

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Adolf Hitler, Austrian-German politician and author, dictator of Nazi Germany (born 1889)

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany during the Nazi era from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor of Germany in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 under his leadership marked the outbreak of the Second World War. Throughout the ensuing conflict, Hitler was closely involved in the direction of German military operations and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust, the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.

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30/04/1943

Eddy Hamel, American footballer (born 1902)

Eddy Hamel was an American soccer player who played as a right winger for Dutch club AFC Ajax. Hamel was the first Jewish player for Ajax. He was murdered by the Nazis in 1943 in Auschwitz concentration camp.

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Otto Jespersen, Danish linguist and academic (born 1860)

Jens Otto Harry Jespersen was a Danish linguist who worked in foreign-language pedagogy, historical phonetics, and other areas, but is best known for his description of the grammar of the English language. Steven Mithen describes him as "one of the greatest language scholars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries."

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Beatrice Webb, English sociologist and economist (born 1858)

Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, was an English sociologist, economist, feminist and social reformer. She was among the founders of the London School of Economics and played a crucial role in forming the Fabian Society. Additionally, she authored several popular books, with her most notable being The Co-operative Movement in Great Britain and Industrial Democracy, co-authored by her husband Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, where she coined the term "collective bargaining" as a way to discuss the negotiation process between an employer and a labor union. As a feminist and social reformer, she criticised the exclusion of women from various occupations as well as campaigning for the unionisation of female workers, pushing for legislation that allowed for better hours and conditions.

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30/04/1939

Frank Haller, American boxer (born 1883)

Frank Bee Haller was an American featherweight professional boxer who competed in the early twentieth century. He won a silver medal in Boxing at the 1904 Summer Olympics, beating fellow American Frederick Gilmore, but losing to Oliver Kirk in the final.

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30/04/1936

A. E. Housman, English poet and scholar (born 1859)

Alfred Edward Housman was an English classical scholar and poet. He showed early promise as a student at the University of Oxford, but he failed the final examination in literae humaniores and took employment as a patent examiner in London in 1882. In his spare time he engaged in textual criticism of classical Greek and Latin texts and his publications as an independent researcher earned him a high academic reputation and appointment as a professor of Latin at University College London in 1892. In 1911 he was appointed Kennedy Professor of Latin in the University of Cambridge. He is regarded as one of the foremost classicists of his age and one of the greatest classical scholars. His editions of Juvenal, Manilius, and Lucan are still considered authoritative.

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30/04/1926

Bessie Coleman, American pilot (born 1892)

Elizabeth Coleman was an early American civil aviator. She was the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license, and is the earliest known Black person to earn an international pilot's license. She earned her license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale on June 15, 1921.

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30/04/1910

Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (born 1856)

Jean Moréas was a Greek poet, essayist, and art critic, who wrote mostly in the French language but also in Greek during his youth.

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30/04/1903

Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and activist (born 1831)

Emily Howard Stowe was a Canadian physician who was the first female physician to practise in Canada, the second licensed female physician in Canada and an activist for women's rights and suffrage. Stowe helped found the women's suffrage movement in Canada and campaigned for the country's first medical college for women.

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30/04/1900

Casey Jones, American railroad engineer (born 1864)

John Luther "Casey" Jones was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train in Vaughan, Mississippi.

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30/04/1891

Joseph Leidy, American paleontologist and author (born 1823)

Joseph Mellick Leidy was an American paleontologist, parasitologist, and anatomist.

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30/04/1883

Édouard Manet, French painter (born 1832)

Édouard Manet was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism.

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30/04/1879

Emma Smith, American religious leader (born 1804)

Emma Hale Smith Bidamon was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and a prominent member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as well as the first wife of Joseph Smith, the movement's founder. In 1842, when the Ladies' Relief Society of Nauvoo was formed as a women's service organization, she was elected by its members as the organization's first president.

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30/04/1875

Jean-Frédéric Waldeck, French explorer, lithographer, and cartographer (born 1766)

Jean-Frédéric Maximilien de Waldeck was a French antiquarian, cartographer, artist and explorer. He was a man of talent and accomplishment, but his love of self-promotion and refusal to let the truth get in the way of a good story leave some aspects of his life in mystery.

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30/04/1870

Thomas Cooke, Canadian bishop and missionary (born 1792)

Thomas Cooke was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest, missionary, and the first Bishop of Trois Rivières from 1852 to 1870.

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30/04/1865

Robert FitzRoy, English admiral, meteorologist, and politician, 2nd Governor of New Zealand (born 1805)

Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy was an English officer of the Royal Navy, politician and scientist who served as the second governor of New Zealand between 1843 and 1845.

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30/04/1864

John B. Cocke, Confederate States Army officer, killed in action at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry (born c. 1833)

John Benjamin Cocke was an American lawyer who served as a senior officer of the Confederate States Army, commanding the 39th Arkansas Infantry Regiment in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War from 1863 until he was killed in action at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry in 1864.

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30/04/1863

Jean Danjou, French Army officer, killed in action at the Battle of Camarón (born 1828)

Jean Danjou was a decorated captain of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. He commanded the two lieutenants and 62 legionnaires who fought the Battle of Camarón during the French intervention in Mexico, in which he was killed.

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30/04/1847

Charles, Austrian commander and duke of Teschen (born 1771)

Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Lawrence of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field marshal, the third son of Emperor Leopold II and Maria Luisa of Spain. He was also the younger brother of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor. He was epileptic, but achieved respect both as a commander and as a reformer of the Austrian Army. He was considered one of Napoleon's most formidable opponents and one of the greatest generals of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Charles wrote several military works as well.

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30/04/1841

Peter Andreas Heiberg, Danish philologist and author (born 1758)

Peter Andreas Heiberg was a Danish-Norwegian author and philologist. He was born in Vordingborg, Denmark-Norway. The Heiberg ancestry can be traced back to Norway, and has produced a long line of priests, headmasters and other learned men. His father was the Norwegian-born headteacher of the grammar school in Vordingborg, Ludvig Heiberg, whilst his mother was Inger Margrethe, daughter of the vicar at the manor of Vemmetofte Peder Heiberg, a relative of Ludvig Heiberg, and Inger Hørning, who came from a family of wealthy Danish merchants.

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30/04/1806

Onogawa Kisaburō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 5th Yokozuna (born 1758)

Onogawa Kisaburō was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Ōtsu, Ōmi Province. He was the sport's 5th yokozuna. Along with Tanikaze, Onogawa was the first to be given a yokozuna licence during his lifetime. He is described as a leading figure of sumo during the Kansei era.

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30/04/1795

Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French archaeologist and author (born 1716)

Jean-Jacques Barthélemy was a French Catholic clergyman, archaeologist, numismatologist and scholar who became the first person to decipher an extinct language. He deciphered the Palmyrene alphabet in 1754 and the Phoenician alphabet in 1758.

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30/04/1792

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, English politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (born 1718)

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS was a British statesman who succeeded his grandfather Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich, as the Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten. He held various military and political offices during his life, including Postmaster General, First Lord of the Admiralty, and Secretary of State for the Northern Department. He is also known for the claim that he was the inventor of the sandwich.

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30/04/1758

François d'Agincourt, French organist and composer (born 1684)

François d'Agincourt was a French harpsichordist, organist, and composer. He spent most of his life in Rouen, his native city, where he worked as organist of the Rouen Cathedral and of three smaller churches. Highly regarded during his lifetime, d'Agincourt was one of the organists of the royal chapel. The single surviving book of harpsichord music by him contains masterful pieces inspired by François Couperin; also extant are some 40 organ works that survive in manuscript copies.

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30/04/1736

Johann Albert Fabricius, German scholar and author (born 1668)

Johann Albert Fabricius was a German classical scholar and bibliographer.

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30/04/1733

Rodrigo Anes de Sá Almeida e Meneses, 1st Marquis of Abrantes, Portuguese diplomat (born 1676)

D. Rodrigo Anes de Sá Almeida e Meneses, 1st Marquis of Abrantes, before 1718 titled 3rd Marquis of Fontes and 7th Count of Penaguião, was a Portuguese nobleman and diplomat.

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30/04/1712

Philipp van Limborch, Dutch theologian and author (born 1633)

Philipp van Limborch was a Dutch Remonstrant theologian and a fierce opponent of the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza's in the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus. He befriended John Locke, who lived in voluntary political exile in the Netherlands (1683-88).

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30/04/1696

Robert Plot, English chemist and academic (born 1640)

Robert Plot was an English naturalist and antiquarian who was the first professor of chemistry at the University of Oxford and the first keeper of the Ashmolean Museum.

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30/04/1672

Marie of the Incarnation, French-Canadian nun and saint, founded the Ursulines of Quebec (born 1599)

Marie of the Incarnation was a French Ursuline nun from Quebec City. As part of a group of nuns sent to New France to establish the Ursuline Order, Marie was crucial in the spread of Catholicism in New France. She was a religious author and has been credited with founding the first girls' school in the New World. A skilled creative, Marie wrote many letters, learned Indigenous languages, practiced embroidery and needlework, and spread her faith.

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30/04/1660

Petrus Scriverius, Dutch historian and scholar (born 1576)

Petrus Scriverius, the Latinised form of Peter Schrijver or Schryver, was a Dutch writer and scholar on the history of the Low Countries.

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30/04/1655

Eustache Le Sueur, French painter (born 1617)

Eustache Le Sueur or Lesueur was a French artist and one of the founders of the French Academy of Painting. He is known primarily for his paintings of religious subjects. He was a leading exponent of the neoclassical style of Parisian Atticism.

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30/04/1637

Niwa Nagashige, Japanese daimyō (born 1571)

Niwa Nagashige was a Japanese daimyō who served the Oda clan. Nagashige was the eldest son of Niwa Nagahide and married the 5th daughter of Oda Nobunaga. He took part in his first campaign in 1583, assisting his father in the Battle of Shizugatake against Shibata Katsuie. In 1584, the Battle of Nagakute, at the age of thirteen, Nagashige led a troop of the Niwa clan in place of his father, who was ill.

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30/04/1632

Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, Bavarian general (born 1559)

Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly was a field marshal who commanded the Catholic League's forces in the Thirty Years' War. From 1620 to 1631, he won an unmatched and demoralizing string of important victories against the Protestants, including White Mountain, Wimpfen, Höchst, Stadtlohn and the Conquest of the Palatinate. He destroyed a Danish army at Lutter and sacked the Protestant city of Magdeburg, which caused the deaths of some 20,000 of the city's inhabitants, both defenders and non-combatants, out of a total population of 25,000.

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Sigismund III Vasa, Swedish-Polish son of John III of Sweden (born 1566)

Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Religiously zealous, he imposed Catholicism across the vast realm, and his crusades against neighbouring states marked Poland's largest territorial expansion. As an enlightened despot, he presided over an era of prosperity and achievement, further distinguished by the transfer of the country's capital from Kraków to Warsaw.

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30/04/1550

Tabinshwehti, Burmese king (born 1516)

Tabin-shwë-hti, also called Black Tongue (လျှာနက်မင်း), was King of Burma from 1530 to 1550, and the founder of the First Toungoo Empire. His military campaigns (1534–1549) created the largest kingdom in Burma since the fall of the Pagan Empire in 1287. His administratively fragile kingdom proved to be the impetus for the eventual reunification of the entire country by his successor and brother-in-law Bayinnaung.

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30/04/1544

Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, English lawyer and judge, Lord Chancellor of England (born 1488)

Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden KG, PC, KS, JP, was an English barrister and judge who served as Lord Chancellor of England from 1533 to 1544.

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30/04/1524

Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard, French soldier (born 1473)

Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard was a French knight and military leader at the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, generally known as the Chevalier de Bayard. Throughout the centuries since his death, he has been known as "the knight without fear and beyond reproach". He himself preferred the name given him by his contemporaries for his gaiety and kindness, "le bon chevalier".

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30/04/1439

Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, English commander (born 1382)

Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick was an English medieval nobleman and military commander.

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30/04/1341

John III, duke of Brittany (born 1286)

John III the Good was Duke of Brittany, from 1312 to his death and 5th Earl of Richmond from 1334 to his death. He was the son of Arthur II, Duke of Brittany, and his first wife Marie, Viscountess of Limoges. John was strongly opposed to his father's second marriage to Yolande and attempted to contest its legality.

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30/04/1305

Roger de Flor, Italian military adventurer (born 1267)

Roger de Flor, also known as Ruggero/Ruggiero da Fiore or Rutger von Blum or Ruggero Flores, was an Italian military adventurer and condottiere active in Aragonese Sicily, Italy, and the Byzantine Empire. He was the commander of the Great Catalan Company and held the title Count of Malta.

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30/04/1131

Adjutor, French knight and saint

Adjutor is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. He is credited to be the patron saint of swimmers, boaters, and drowning victims, and the patron saint of Vernon, France. Adjutor was born in Vernon, France, on July 24, 1073, where he was made a knight in the First Crusade. The stories given for his patronage of boaters vary, though one common account was that Adjutor was captured by Muslims during the First Crusade, who tried to force him to abandon his faith, and when refusing, he escaped persecution by swimming. He swam back to France and entered the Abbey of Trion. There he became a recluse until his death on April 30.

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30/04/1063

Ren Zong, Chinese emperor (born 1010)

Emperor Renzong of Song, personal name Zhao Zhen, was the fourth emperor of the Northern Song dynasty of China. He reigned for about 41 years from 1022 to his death in 1063, making him the longest reigning Song dynasty emperor. He was the sixth son of his predecessor, Emperor Zhenzong, and was succeeded by his cousin's son, Zhao Shu who took the throne as Emperor Yingzong because his own sons died prematurely.

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30/04/1030

Mahmud of Ghazni, Ghaznavid emir (born 971)

Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin, usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi, was Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 998 to 1030. During his reign and in medieval sources, he is usually known by his honorific title Yamin al-Dawla. At the time of his death, his kingdom had been transformed into an extensive military empire, which extended from present-day northwestern Iran proper to the Punjab in the Indian subcontinent, Khwarazm in Transoxiana, and Makran.

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30/04/1002

Eckard I, German nobleman

Eckard I was Margrave of Meissen from 985 until his death. He was the first margrave of the Ekkehardinger family that ruled over Meissen until the extinction of the line in 1046.

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30/04/0783

Hildegard of the Vinzgau, Frankish queen

Hildegard was a Frankish queen and the wife of Charlemagne from c. 771 until her death. Hildegard was a noblewoman of Frankish and Alemannian heritage. Through eleven years of marriage with Charlemagne, Hildegard helped share in his rule as well as having nine children with him, including the kings Charles the Younger and Pepin of Italy and the emperor Louis the Pious.

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30/04/0535

Amalasuntha, Ostrogothic queen and regent

Amalasuintha was a ruler of the Ostrogothic Kingdom from 526 to 535. Initially serving as regent for her son Athalaric, she became queen regnant after his premature death. Highly educated, Amalasuintha was praised by both Cassiodorus and Procopius for her wisdom and her ability to speak three languages. Her status as an independent female monarch, and obvious affinity for Roman culture, caused discontent among the Gothic nobles in her court, and she was deposed and killed after six months of sole rule. Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I used her death as a casus belli to invade Italy, setting off the Gothic War.

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30/04/0125

An, Chinese emperor (born 94)

Year 125 (CXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Paullinus and Titius. The denomination 125 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

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30/04/0065

Lucan, Roman poet (born 39)

AD 65 (LXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Nerva and Vestinus. The denomination AD 65 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

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