Died on Wednesday, 24th December – Famous Deaths

24/12/2024

Hudson Meek, American actor (born 2008)

Hudson Joseph Meek was an American child actor, known for his role as young Baby in the 2017 film Baby Driver.

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Richard Perry, American record producer (born 1942)

Richard Van Perry was an American record producer. He began his musical career as a performer while attending Poly Prep, his high school in Brooklyn. After graduating from college he rose through the late 1960s and early 1970s to become a successful and popular record producer. He had more than twelve Gold records to his credit by 1982, four of which went Platinum.

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24/12/2023

Cheri Barry, American politician and mayor of Meridian, Mississippi (born 1955)

Cheryl Merritt Barry was an American politician who served as mayor of Meridian, Mississippi. She was the first woman to hold that position.

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Richard Bowes, American science fiction author (born 1944)

Richard Dirrane Bowes was an American author described as an "urban fantasist" whose stories tended to be "set in, and to evoke, a congested, magically altered New York." He won two World Fantasy Awards for his short fiction along with the Lambda Award for his 1999 mosaic novel Minions of the Moon. He was also an eight-time finalist for the Nebula Award, including for his often-reprinted short story "There's a Hole in the City."

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Troy Dargan, Cook Islands rugby league footballer (born 1997)

Troy Junior Clifton Dargan was an Australian-born Cook Islands international rugby league footballer who played as a five-eighth or halfback. In 2020, Dargan played two games for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League (NRL).

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24/12/2018

Martha Érika Alonso, Governor of Puebla (born 1973)

Martha Érika Alonso Hidalgo was a Mexican politician of the National Action Party (PAN) who served as the first female governor of Puebla from 14 December 2018 until her death ten days later in a helicopter crash. She was the spouse of Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, who was governor of Puebla from 2011 to 2017 and was also killed in the crash.

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Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, former governor of Puebla (born 1968)

Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas was a Mexican politician affiliated at different times with both the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the National Action Party (PAN). He was the governor of Puebla from February 2011 through January 2017.

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24/12/2017

Jerry Kindall, American baseball player and coach (born 1935)

Gerald Donald Kindall was an American professional baseball player and college baseball player and coach. He was primarily a second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who appeared in 742 games played over nine seasons for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians (1962–64), and Minnesota Twins (1964–65). After his playing career, he became the head baseball coach of the University of Arizona Wildcats, winning 860 games and three College World Series (CWS) championships over 24 seasons (1973–1996). Kindall batted and threw right-handed and was listed as 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and 175 pounds (79 kg).

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Heather Menzies, Canadian-American model and actress (born 1949)

Heather Margaret Brotherston Menzies Urich was a Canadian actress known for her roles as Louisa von Trapp in the 1965 film The Sound of Music and Jessica 6 in the TV series Logan's Run.

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24/12/2016

Rick Parfitt, British musician (born 1948)

Richard John Parfitt, was an English musician, best known as a rhythm guitarist, singer and songwriter with rock band Status Quo.

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Liz Smith, English actress (born 1921)

Betty Gleadle, known by the stage name Liz Smith, was an English actress. She was known for her roles in BBC sitcoms, including as Annie Brandon in I Didn't Know You Cared (1975–1979), the sisters Bette and Belle in 2point4 Children (1991–1999), Letitia Cropley in The Vicar of Dibley (1994–1996) and Norma ("Nana") in The Royle Family (1998–2006). For the latter, Smith was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Comedy Performance in 2007. She also played Zillah in Lark Rise to Candleford (2008) and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her portrayal of Mother in the film A Private Function (1984).

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Richard Adams, English author (born 1920)

Richard George Adams was an English novelist. He is best known for his debut novel Watership Down which achieved international acclaim. His other works included Maia, Shardik and The Plague Dogs. He studied Modern History at Worcester College, Oxford, before serving in the British Army during World War II. After completing his studies, he joined the British Civil Service. In 1974, two years after Watership Down was published, Adams became a full-time author.

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Ben Xi, Chinese singer (born 1994)

Benxi, also known as Mǎ Xiǎochén or Utaoki, was a Chinese Hui singer-songwriter.

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24/12/2015

Turid Birkeland, Norwegian businesswoman and politician, Norwegian Minister of Culture (born 1962)

Turid Birkeland was a Norwegian cultural executive and politician for the Labour Party. She was Minister of Culture in 1996–97. She was an author and also worked in television, including being chief of cultural programming at NRK and a member of the board at Telenor. She also headed the Risør Chamber Music Festival, and was the director of Concerts Norway.

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Letty Jimenez Magsanoc, Filipino journalist (born 1941)

Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc was a Filipino journalist and editor, notable for her role in overthrowing the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. She was an icon of democracy. Magsanoc was editor of the crusading weekly opposition tabloid Mr & Ms Special Edition. She was editor in chief of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

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Adriana Olguín, Chilean lawyer and politician, Chilean Minister of Justice (born 1911)

Adriana Margarita Olguín Büche was a Chilean lawyer and politician. She served as Minister of Justice under President Gabriel González Videla, becoming the first female cabinet minister in Latin America.

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24/12/2014

Buddy DeFranco, American clarinet player (born 1923)

Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco was an American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and 1970s.

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Edward Greenspan, Canadian lawyer and author (born 1944)

Edward Leonard Greenspan, was one of Canada's most famous defence lawyers, and a prolific author of legal volumes. His fame was owed to numerous high-profile clients and to his national exposure on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio series Scales of Justice (1982–94).

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Herbert Harris, American lawyer and politician (born 1926)

Herbert Eugene Harris II was an American lawyer and politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia. He served three consecutive terms from 1975 to 1981.

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Krzysztof Krauze, Polish director and screenwriter (born 1953)

Krzysztof Krauze was a Polish film director, cinematographer and actor, best known for his thriller The Debt (1999).

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24/12/2013

Frédéric Back, German-Canadian director, animator, and screenwriter (born 1924)

Frédéric Back was a French-Canadian artist and film director of short animated films. During a long career with Radio-Canada, the French-language service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, he was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning two, for his 1981 film Crac and the 1987 film The Man Who Planted Trees.

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Ian Barbour, Chinese-American author and scholar (born 1923)

Ian Graeme Barbour was an American scholar on the relationship between science and religion. According to the Public Broadcasting Service his mid-1960s Issues in Science and Religion "has been credited with literally creating the contemporary field of science and religion."

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John M. Goldman, English haematologist and oncologist (born 1938)

John M. Goldman was a British haematologist, oncologist and medical researcher. A specialist in chronic myeloid leukaemia, Goldman conducted pioneering research into leukaemia treatment – he was instrumental in the development of bone marrow transplantation as a clinical method, and later in the development of the drug imatinib. He was also a prolific author of scientific papers, was involved with numerous medical charities and had a decades-long surgical career at Hammersmith Hospital, London.

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Allan McKeown, English-American screenwriter and producer (born 1946)

Allan McKeown was a British television, film, and stage producer.

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24/12/2012

Richard Rodney Bennett, English-American composer and academic (born 1936)

Sir Richard Rodney Bennett was an English composer and pianist. He was noted for his musical versatility, drawing from such sources as jazz, romanticism, and avant-garde; and for his use of twelve-tone technique and serialism. His body of work included over 200 concert works and 50 scores for film and television. He was also active in jazz, as a composer, a pianist, and an occasional vocalist.

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Charles Durning, American soldier and actor (born 1923)

Charles Edward Durning was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies, television shows and plays. He received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and nine Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2008, Durning was awarded with Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. His best-known films include The Sting (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), The Muppet Movie (1979), True Confessions (1981), Tootsie (1982), Dick Tracy (1990), and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). Prior to his acting career, Durning served in World War II and was decorated for valor in combat.

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Jack Klugman, American actor (born 1922)

Jack Klugman was an American actor of stage, film and television.

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Dennis O'Driscoll, Irish poet and critic (born 1954)

Dennis O'Driscoll was an Irish poet, essayist, critic and editor. Regarded as one of the best European poets of his time, Eileen Battersby considered him "the lyric equivalent of William Trevor" and a better poet "by far" than Raymond Carver. Gerard Smyth regarded him as "one of poetry's true champions and certainly its most prodigious archivist. His book on Seamus Heaney is regarded as the definitive biography of the Nobel laureate.

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24/12/2011

Johannes Heesters, Dutch-German entertainer (born 1903)

Johan Marius Nicolaas Heesters, known professionally as Johannes Heesters, was a Dutch-German actor of stage, television and film, as well as a vocalist of numerous recordings and performer on the concert stage with a career dating back to the 1920s. He worked as an actor until his death and is one of the oldest performing entertainers in history, performing shortly before his death at the age of 108. Heesters was almost exclusively active in the German-speaking world from the mid-1930s and became a film star in Nazi Germany, which later led to controversy in his native country. He was able to maintain his popularity in Germany in the decades until his death.

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24/12/2010

Elisabeth Beresford, English journalist and author (born 1926)

Elisabeth Beresford MBE, also known as Liza Beresford, was an English author of children's books. She is best known for creating The Wombles. Born into a literary family, she worked as a journalist, but struggled for success until she created the Wombles in the late 1960s. Their recycling theme was noted especially and the Wombles became popular with children across the world. While Beresford wrote many other works, the Wombles remained her best-known.

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Frans de Munck, Dutch footballer and manager (born 1922)

Frans de Munck was a Dutch football player and manager.

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Orestes Quércia, Brazilian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 28th Governor of São Paulo State (born 1938)

Orestes Quércia was a Brazilian politician who served as the 28th governor of São Paulo State.

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Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer and educator (born 1930)

Eino Tamberg was an Estonian composer whose works are performed internationally. He composed operas such as Cyrano de Bergerac, four symphonies, and several concertos. He taught composition for decades at the Estonian Academy of Music.

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24/12/2009

Marcus Bakker, Dutch journalist and politician (born 1923)

Marcus Bakker was a Dutch politician of the defunct Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) now merged into the GroenLinks (GL) party and journalist.

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Rafael Caldera, Venezuelan lawyer and politician, 65th President of Venezuela (born 1916)

Rafael Antonio Caldera Rodríguez was a Venezuelan politician and academician who was the 46th and 51st president of Venezuela from 1969 to 1974 and again from 1994 to 1999, thus becoming the longest serving democratically elected politician to govern the country in the twentieth century.

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George Michael, American sportscaster (born 1939)

George Michael was an American broadcaster best known nationally for The George Michael Sports Machine, his sports highlights television program. Originally named George Michael's Sports Final when it began as a local show in Washington, D.C., in 1980, it was nationally syndicated by NBC from 1984 until its final installment was aired on March 25, 2007. Michael won a Sports Emmy in 1985 for his work on The George Michael Sports Machine.

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Gero von Wilpert, German author and academic (born 1933)

Gero von Wilpert was a German author, a senior lecturer in German at the University of New South Wales and, from 1980, Professor of German at the University of Sydney.

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24/12/2008

Ralph Harris, British journalist (born 1921)

Ralph Harris was a British journalist and Reuters presidential correspondent. He was Reuters' official White House correspondent for the presidents from Truman until Reagan.

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Harold Pinter, English playwright, screenwriter, director, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1930)

Harold Pinter was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party (1957), The Homecoming (1964) and Betrayal (1978), each of which he adapted for the screen. His screenplay adaptations of others' works include The Servant (1963), The Go-Between (1971), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), The Trial (1993) and Sleuth (2007). He also directed or acted in radio, stage, television and film productions of his own and others' works.

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24/12/2007

Nicholas Pumfrey, English lawyer and judge (born 1951)

Sir Nicholas Richard Pumfrey styled The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Pumfrey, was a British barrister. He served as a High Court judge for 10 years, and was promoted to the Court of Appeal little more than a month before his sudden death.

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George Warrington, American businessman (born 1952)

George David Warrington was an American transportation official, who served New Jersey Transit for 28 years, latterly in the post of executive director.

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24/12/2006

Braguinha, Brazilian singer-songwriter and producer (born 1907)

Carlos Alberto Ferreira Braga, commonly known as Braguinha or João de Barro, was a Brazilian songwriter and occasional singer.

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Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian guitarist and composer (born 1961)

Kenneth Sivertsen was a Norwegian musician, composer, poet, and comedian.

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Frank Stanton, American businessman (born 1908)

Frank Nicholas Stanton was an American broadcasting executive who served as the president of CBS between 1946 and 1971 and then as vice chairman until 1973. He also served as the chairman of the Rand Corporation from 1961 until 1967.

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24/12/2004

Johnny Oates, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1946)

Johnny Lane Oates was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees from 1970 to 1981. During his playing career, Oates was a light-hitting player who was valued for his defensive skills and played most of his career as a reserve player. It was as a big league manager that Oates experienced his greatest success, when, under his leadership, the Texas Rangers won three American League Western Division titles.

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24/12/2002

Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author and poet (born 1920)

Kjell Aukrust was a Norwegian author, poet, artist and humorist. Aukrust is principally known for his Flåklypa stories and Flåklypa drawings.

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Jake Thackray, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1938)

John Philip "Jake" Thackray was an English singer-songwriter, poet, humourist and journalist. Best known in the late 1960s and early 1970s for his topical comedy songs performed on British television, his work ranged from satirical to bawdy to sentimental to pastoral, with a strong emphasis on storytelling, making him difficult to categorise.

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24/12/2000

John Cooper, English businessman, co-founded the Cooper Car Company (born 1923)

John Newton Cooper was a co-founder, with his father Charles Cooper, of the Cooper Car Company. Born in Surbiton, Surrey, United Kingdom, he became an auto racing legend with his rear-engined chassis design that would eventually change the face of the sport at its highest levels, from Formula One to the Indianapolis 500.

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24/12/1999

Bill Bowerman, American runner, coach, and businessman, co-founded Nike, Inc. (born 1911)

William Jay Bowerman was an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike. Over his career, he trained 31 Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 American record-holders, 22 NCAA champions and 16 sub-4 minute milers.

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Maurice Couve de Murville, French soldier and politician, 152nd Prime Minister of France (born 1907)

Jacques-Maurice Couve de Murville was a French diplomat and politician who was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1958 to 1968 and Prime Minister from 1968 to 1969 under the presidency of General de Gaulle. As foreign minister he played the leading role in the critical Franco-German treaty of cooperation in 1963, he laid the foundation for the Paris-Bonn axis that was central in building a united Europe.

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João Figueiredo, Brazilian general and politician, 30th President of Brazil (born 1918)

João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo was a Brazilian military officer who served as the 30th president of Brazil from 1979 to 1985, and the last of the military regime that ruled the country following the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état. He was chief of the Secret Service (SNI) during the term of his predecessor, Ernesto Geisel, who appointed him to the presidency at the end of his own term.

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William C. Schneider, American aerospace engineer (born 1923)

William Charles Schneider was an American aerospace engineer. He served in the United States Naval Reserve 1942–1946 as an Aviation Machinist's Mate, 1st Class Petty Officer. He joined NASA in June 1963 and served as the Gemini mission director for seven of the ten piloted Gemini missions. From 1967 to 1968, he served as Apollo mission director and the Apollo program's deputy director for missions. He then served from 1968 to 1974 as the Skylab program's director. From 1974 to 1978, he worked as the Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Transportation Systems. From 1978 to 1980, he served as the Associate Administrator for Space Tracking and Data systems. He received a Ph.D. in engineering from Catholic University of America.

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24/12/1998

Syl Apps, Canadian ice hockey player and pole vaulter (born 1915)

Charles Joseph Sylvanus Apps, was a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1936 to 1948, an Olympic pole vaulter and a Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario. In 2017 Apps was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

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24/12/1997

James Komack, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1930)

James Arenson Komack was an American television producer, director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best known for producing several hit television series, including The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Chico and the Man, and Welcome Back, Kotter.

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Toshiro Mifune, Chinese-Japanese actor and producer (born 1920)

Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor and producer. The recipient of numerous awards and accolades over a lengthy career, he is widely considered one of the greatest actors of all time. He often played heroic characters and was noted for his commanding screen presence in the Japanese film industry.

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Pierre Péladeau, Canadian businessman, founded Quebecor (born 1925)

Pierre Péladeau was a Canadian businessman. He was the founder of Quebecor Inc., a Canadian media and telecommunications conglomerate in Quebec, Canada.

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24/12/1994

John Boswell, American historian, author, and academic (born 1947)

John Eastburn Boswell was an American historian and a full professor at Yale University. Many of Boswell's studies focused on the issue of religion and homosexuality, specifically Christianity and homosexuality. Much of his work addressed the history of marginalized groups, particularly in the context of religion and sexuality.

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Rossano Brazzi, Italian actor (born 1916)

Rossano Brazzi was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. He was known for playing roles that typified the suave, romantic leading man archetype, both in his native country and in Hollywood.

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24/12/1993

Norman Vincent Peale, American minister and author (born 1898)

Norman Vincent Peale was an American Protestant clergyman, and an author best known for popularizing the concept of positive thinking, especially through his best-selling book The Power of Positive Thinking (1952). He served as the pastor of Marble Collegiate Church, New York, from 1932, leading this Reformed Church in America congregation for more than a half century until his retirement in 1984. Alongside his pulpit ministry, he had an extensive career of writing and editing, and radio and television presentations. Despite arguing at times against involvement of clergy in politics, he nevertheless had some controversial affiliations with politically active organizations in the late 1930s, and engaged with national political candidates and their campaigns, having influence on some, including personal friendships with Presidents Richard Nixon and Donald Trump.

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24/12/1992

Bobby LaKind, American singer-songwriter and conga player (born 1945)

Robert Jay LaKind was an American conga player, vocalist, songwriter and occasional backup drummer with The Doobie Brothers. Originally a lighting roadie for the band, he was invited to join as a sideman for studio sessions after band members noticed his talent when LaKind goofed around on the congas after a concert.

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James Mathews, Australian rugby league player (born 1968)

James Burlton Mathews was an Australian rugby league footballer in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition.

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Peyo, Belgian cartoonist, created The Smurfs (born 1928)

Pierre Culliford was a Belgian comics writer and artist who worked under the pseudonym Peyo. His best-known works are the comic book series The Smurfs and Johan and Peewit, in the latter of which the Smurfs made their first appearance.

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24/12/1991

Virginia Sorensen, American author (born 1912)

Virginia Louise Sorensen, also credited as Virginia Sorenson, was an American regionalist writer. Her role in Utah and Mormon literature places her within the "lost generation" of Mormon writers. She was awarded the 1957 Newbery Medal for her children's novel, Miracles on Maple Hill.

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24/12/1990

Thorbjørn Egner, Norwegian playwright and songwriter (born 1922)

Thorbjørn Egner was a Norwegian playwright, songwriter and illustrator known principally for his books, plays and musicals for children. He is principally associated with his narratives for children including Karius og Baktus (1949) and Folk og røvere i Kardemomme by (1955).

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24/12/1988

Jainendra Kumar, Indian author (born 1905)

Jainendra Kumar was a 20th-century Indian writer who wrote in Hindi. He wrote novels include Sunita and Tyagapatra. He was awarded one of India's highest civilian honours, the Padma Bhushan in 1971. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award by the Sahitya Akademi in 1966, for his work Muktibodh (novelette), and its highest award, the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 1979.

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24/12/1987

Joop den Uyl, Dutch journalist, economist, and politician, 45th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (born 1919)

Johannes Marten den Uijl, better known as Joop den Uyl, was a Dutch politician and economist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1973 to 1977. He was a member of the Labour Party (PvdA). Den Uyl studied economics at the University of Amsterdam obtaining a Master of Economics degree and worked as a civil servant at the Ministry of Economic Affairs from February 1942 until May 1945 and as a journalist and editor for Het Parool and Vrij Nederland from May 1945 until January 1949. Den Uyl served as director of the Wiardi Beckman Foundation from January 1949 until June 1963. Den Uyl became a member of the House of Representatives shortly after the number of seats was raised from 100 to 150 seats following the election of 1956 serving from 6 November 1956 until 5 June 1963 as a frontbencher and spokesperson for economics. Den Uyl was appointed as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cals cabinet, taking office on 14 April 1965. After Labour Leader Anne Vondeling unexpectedly announced he was stepping down, Den Uyl announced his candidacy and was selected as his successor as Leader on 13 September 1966. Under his leadership, the PvdA became a big tent party that undermined support for the small left parties, including the Radicals and the Communists.

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M. G. Ramachandran, Sri Lankan-Indian actor, producer, and politician, 5th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (born 1917)

Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran, popularly known by his initials M. G. R., was an Indian politician, actor, director, film producer, and philanthropist, who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987. He was the founder and first general secretary of the political party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). He is regarded as one of the most influential politicians of post-independent India, and was known by the epithets Makkal Thilagam and Puratchi Thalaivar. In March 1988, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.

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24/12/1986

Gardner Fox, American author (born 1911)

Gardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC Comics. Fox was also a science fiction author and wrote many novels and short stories.

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24/12/1985

Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, American lawyer (born 1904)

Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith was an American gentleman farmer and the great-grandson of Abraham Lincoln. In 1975, he became the last known undisputed legal descendant of Lincoln when his sister, Mary Lincoln Beckwith, died without children.

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Camille Tourville, Canadian-American wrestler and manager (born 1927)

Camille Laurent "Tarzan" Tourville, better known by his ring name Tarzan "The Boot" Tyler, was a Canadian professional wrestler and manager. He was one-half of the first WWWF World Tag Team Champions, along with Luke Graham.

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24/12/1984

Peter Lawford, English-American actor (born 1923)

Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford was an English-American actor.

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24/12/1982

Louis Aragon, French author and poet (born 1897)

Louis Aragon was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review Littérature. He was also a novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt. After 1959, he was a frequent nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

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24/12/1980

Karl Dönitz, German admiral and politician, President of Germany (born 1891)

Karl Dönitz was a German naval officer and politician who, following the suicide of Adolf Hitler during the Second World War in April 1945, succeeded him as head of state of Germany during the Nazi era. He held the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government following Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allies weeks later. As Supreme Commander of the Navy beginning in 1943, he played a major role in the naval history of the war.

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24/12/1977

Samael Aun Weor, Colombian author and educator (born 1917)

Samael Aun Weor, born Víctor Manuel Gómez Rodríguez, was a Colombian-Mexican teacher and author of over sixty books of esoteric spirituality. He formed a new religious movement under the banner of "Universal Gnosticism", or simply gnosis, and taught the practical and esoteric principles purported to "awaken consciousnes" and fundamentally change the practitioner's psychological condition. Many of these teachings are directly sourced, often without attributions, from other esotericists.

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24/12/1975

Bernard Herrmann, American composer and conductor (born 1911)

Bernard Herrmann was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in film scoring. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest film composers. Alex Ross writes that "Over four decades, he revolutionized movie scoring by abandoning the illustrative musical techniques that dominated Hollywood in the 1930s and imposing his own peculiar harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary."

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24/12/1973

Fritz Gause, German historian and author (born 1893)

Fritz Gause was a German historian, archivist, and curator described as the last great historian of his native city, Königsberg, East Prussia. Gause's most important work was his three-volume history of Königsberg, Die Geschichte der Stadt Königsberg in Preußen. He was connected to nationalist historic movement called Ostforschung

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24/12/1972

Gisela Richter, English-American archaeologist and historian (born 1882)

Gisela Marie Augusta Richter was a British-American classical archaeologist and art historian. She was a prominent figure and an authority in her field.

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24/12/1971

Maria Koepcke, German-Peruvian ornithologist and zoologist (born 1924)

Maria Koepcke was a German ornithologist known for her work with Neotropical bird species. Koepcke was a well-respected authority in South American ornithology and her work is still referenced today. For her efforts, she is commemorated in the scientific names of four Peruvian bird species and, along with her husband, a Peruvian lizard species.

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24/12/1969

Stanisław Błeszyński, Polish-German entomologist and lepidopterist (born 1927)

Stanisław Błeszyński was a Polish entomologist and lepidopterist specializing in Crambidae, the grass moths.

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Cortelia Clark, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1907)

Cortelia Clark was an American blues singer and guitarist, known for his performances on the streets of Nashville. He won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording in 1967, for the album Blues in the Street, his only recording.

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Olivia FitzRoy, English soldier and author (born 1921)

Olivia Gwyneth Zoe FitzRoy, was a British author of children's books. She was the granddaughter of Muriel FitzRoy, 1st Viscountess Daventry, raised to the peerage as widow of Edward FitzRoy, the Speaker of the House of Commons from 1928 until his death in 1943; her mother was a member of the famous Guinness family. Olivia FitzRoy was one of five sisters.

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Alfred B. Skar, Norwegian journalist and politician (born 1896)

Alfred B. Skar was a Norwegian newspaper editor, writer, trade unionist and politician for the Labour and Communist parties.

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24/12/1967

Burt Baskin, American businessman, co-founded Baskin-Robbins (born 1913)

Burton Leo Baskin was an American businessman who co-founded the Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor chain in 1946 with business partner and brother-in-law Irv Robbins.

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24/12/1965

John Black, English businessman (born 1895)

Sir John Paul Black held several senior positions in the British motor industry including chairman of Standard-Triumph.

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William M. Branham, American minister and theologian (born 1906)

William Marrion Branham was an American Christian minister and faith healer who initiated the post-World War II healing revival, and claimed to be a prophet with the anointing of Elijah, who had come to prelude Christ's second coming; He is credited as "a principal architect of restorationist thought" for charismatics by some Christian historians, and has been called the "leading individual in the second wave of Pentecostalism." He made a lasting influence on televangelism and the modern charismatic movement, and his "stage presence remains a legend unparalleled in the history of the Charismatic movement". At the time they were held, Branham's inter-denominational meetings were the largest religious meetings ever held in some American cities. Branham was the first American deliverance minister to successfully campaign in Europe; his ministry reached global audiences with major campaigns held in North America, Europe, Africa, and India.

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24/12/1964

Claudia Jones, Trinidad-British journalist and activist (born 1915)

Claudia Vera Jones was a Trinidad and Tobago-born journalist and activist. As a child, she migrated with her family to the United States, where she became a Communist political activist, feminist and Black nationalist, adopting the name Jones as "self-protective disinformation". Due to the political persecution of Communists in the US, she was deported in 1955 and subsequently lived in the United Kingdom. Upon arriving in the UK, she immediately joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and would remain a member for the rest of her life. In 1958, she founded Britain's first major Black newspaper, the West Indian Gazette (1958-1965), and from 1959 she organised a series of indoor Caribbean carnivals that have been cited as an influence on what became the Notting Hill Carnival, the second-largest annual carnival in the world.

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24/12/1962

Wilhelm Ackermann, German mathematician (born 1896)

Wilhelm Friedrich Ackermann was a German mathematician and logician best known for his work in mathematical logic and the Ackermann function, an important example in the theory of computation.

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Eveline Adelheid von Maydell, German illustrator (born 1890)

Eveline Adelheid von Maydell was an ethnic German silhouette artist. Born in Iran, she studied drawing in Pärnu, Estonia, in Riga, Latvia and in St. Petersburg, Russia. She moved to the United States in 1922.

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24/12/1961

Robert Hillyer, American poet and academic (born 1895)

Robert Silliman Hillyer was an American poet and professor of English literature. He won a Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1934.

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24/12/1957

Norma Talmadge, American actress and producer (born 1894)

Norma Marie Talmadge was an American actress and film producer of the silent era. A major box-office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among the most popular idols of the American screen.

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24/12/1947

Charles Gondouin, French rugby player and tug of war competitor (born 1875)

Charles Gondouin was a French rugby union player and tug of war competitor who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was a member of the French rugby union team, which won the gold medal. Gondouin studied at the Lycée Condorcet, then worked as a sports journalist. He also participated in the tug of war competition and won a silver medal as a member of French team. He was killed on Christmas Eve when he was struck by a motorist in Paris while returning from a meeting for a racing club in France.

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24/12/1945

Josephine Sabel, American singer and comedian (born 1866)

Josephine Domingue Sabel was an American singer and comedian, billed as "The Queen of Song" in vaudeville.

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24/12/1942

François Darlan, French admiral and politician, 122nd Prime Minister of France (born 1881)

Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan was a French admiral and political figure. Born in Nérac, Darlan graduated from the École navale in 1902 and quickly advanced through the ranks following his service during World War I. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1929, vice admiral in 1932, and lieutenant admiral in 1937 before finally being made admiral and Chief of the Naval Staff in 1937. In 1939, Darlan was promoted to admiral of the fleet, a rank created specifically for him.

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24/12/1941

Siegfried Alkan, German composer (born 1858)

Siegfried Alkan was a German composer from Saarland in the Kingdom of Prussia. He was assaulted and his musical business was looted during the Kristallnacht.

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24/12/1938

Bruno Taut, German architect and urban planner (born 1880)

Bruno Julius Florian Taut was a renowned German architect, urban planner and author. He was active during the Weimar period and is known for his theoretical works as well as his building designs.

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24/12/1935

Alban Berg, Austrian composer and educator (born 1885)

Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively small oeuvre, he is remembered as one of the most important composers of the 20th century for his expressive style encompassing "entire worlds of emotion and structure".

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24/12/1931

Carlo Fornasini, micropalaeontologist (born 1854)

Cavaliere dottore Carlo Fornasini was an Italian micropalaeontologist who specialised in Foraminifera ('forams'). He was a pioneer in using fossil forams to sequence marine sedimentary deposits by their relative dates; a technique called biostratigraphy.

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Flying Hawk, American warrior, educator and historian (born 1854)

Flying Hawk, also known as Moses Flying Hawk, was an Oglala Lakota warrior, historian, educator and philosopher. Flying Hawk's life chronicles the history of the Oglala Lakota people through the 19th and early 20th centuries, as he fought to deflect the worst effects of white rule; educate his people and preserve sacred Oglala Lakota land and heritage.

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24/12/1926

Wesley Coe, American shot putter, hammer thrower, and discus thrower (born 1879)

Wesley William Coe Jr., sometimes listed as William Wesley Coe Jr., was an American track and field athlete who competed principally in the shot put and also in the hammer throw, discus throw, and tug of war.

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24/12/1923

Joe Lacey, Irish Hunger Striker died during the 1923 Irish hunger strikes (born 1895)

Denis Lacey was an Irish Republican Army officer during the Irish War of Independence and anti-Treaty IRA officer during the Irish Civil War.

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24/12/1920

Stephen Mosher Wood, American lieutenant and politician (born 1832)

Stephen Mosher Wood was an American politician. He Wood represented Chase County, Kansas in the Kansas House of Representatives in 1871 and 1875, and was a member of the Kansas Senate in 1876 after replacing S. R. Peters who resigned.

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24/12/1914

John Muir, Scottish-American geologist, botanist, and author, founded Sierra Club (born 1838)

John Muir, also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States.

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24/12/1908

James C. Corrigan, Canadian-American businessman (born 1846)

James C. Corrigan was a Canadian-American businessman active in the shipping, petroleum refining, iron ore mining and selling, and steel manufacturing industries. He made and lost fortunes in the shipping and refining industries, and was known as "one of the group of men who made Cleveland".

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24/12/1898

Charbel Makhluf, Lebanese priest and saint (born 1828)

Charbel Makhlouf, O.L.M. was a Lebanese Maronite monk and priest. During his life, he obtained a wide reputation for holiness, and for his ability to unite Christians, Muslims and Druze. He was a member of the Baladites.

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24/12/1893

B. T. Finniss, Australian politician, 1st Premier of South Australia (born 1807)

Boyle Travers Finniss was the first premier of South Australia, serving from 24 October 1856 to 20 August 1857.

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24/12/1889

Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate, Dutch pastor and poet (born 1819)

Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate was a Dutch divine, prose writer and poet.

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24/12/1879

Anna Bochkoltz, German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer (born 1815)

Anna Juliane Bochkoltz was a German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer. She performed her first concert in 1843, then studied in Brussels and Paris. After singing concerts in Paris, London and Berlin, she appeared in the 1850s on opera stages in Wiesbaden, Frankfurt, Munich and Coburg. She was known for the range of her voice, and was regarded as one of the important dramatic coloratura sopranos of her era, appearing as Mozart's Donna Anna, Beethoven's Fidelio and Bellini's Norma. She later taught singing in Vienna, Strasbourg and Paris.

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24/12/1873

Johns Hopkins, American businessman and philanthropist (born 1795)

Johns Hopkins was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist best known for funding the establishment of Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital, which have since become leading institutions for scientific research and medical advancements. At the time of his death, his donation was the largest philanthropic bequest ever made to an American educational institution.

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24/12/1872

William John Macquorn Rankine, Scottish physicist and engineer (born 1820)

William John Macquorn Rankine was a Scottish mathematician and physicist. He was a founding contributor, with Rudolf Clausius and William Thomson, to the science of thermodynamics, particularly focusing on its First Law. He developed the Rankine scale, a Fahrenheit-based equivalent to the Celsius-based Kelvin scale of temperature.

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24/12/1868

Adolphe d'Archiac, French paleontologist and geologist (born 1802)

Étienne Jules Adolphe Desmier de Saint-Simon, Vicomte d'Archiac was a French geologist and paleontologist.

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24/12/1867

José Mariano Salas, Mexican general and politician. President of Mexico (1846, 1859) and regent of the Second Mexican Empire (born 1797)

José Mariano Salas Barbosa was a Mexican soldier and politician who served twice as interim president of Mexico, once in 1846, during the Mexican–American War, and once in 1859 during the Reform War.

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24/12/1865

Charles Lock Eastlake, English painter and historian (born 1793)

Sir Charles Lock Eastlake was a British painter, gallery director, collector and writer of the 19th century. After a period as keeper, he was the first director of the National Gallery. From 1850 to 1865 he served as President of the Royal Academy, succeeding Martin Archer Shee in the role.

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24/12/1863

William Makepeace Thackeray, English author and poet (born 1811)

William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of British society, and the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon, which was adapted for a 1975 film by Stanley Kubrick.

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24/12/1844

Friedrich Bernhard Westphal, Danish-German painter (born 1803)

Friedrich Bernhard Westphal was a German-Danish genre painter and illustrator. He was also known by his nickname Fritz Westphal.

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24/12/1813

Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan (born 1740)

Toshiko , posthumously honored as Empress Go-Sakuramachi was the 117th monarch of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. She was named after her father Emperor Sakuramachi, with the word go (後) before her name translating in this context as "later" or "second one". Her reign during the Edo period spanned the years from 1762 through to her abdication in 1771. The only significant event during her reign was an unsuccessful outside plot that intended to displace the shogunate with restored imperial powers. As of 2026, she remains the most recent empress regnant of Japan as the current constitution does not allow women to inherit the throne.

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24/12/1707

Noël Coypel, French painter and educator (born 1628)

Noël Coypel was a French painter, and was also called Coypel le Poussin, because he was heavily influenced by Poussin.

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24/12/1660

Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (born 1631)

Mary, Princess Royal, was a British princess, a member of the House of Stuart, and by marriage Princess of Orange and Countess of Nassau. She acted as regent for her minor son from 1651 to 1660. She was the first holder of the title Princess Royal.

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24/12/1635

Hester Jonas, German nurse (born 1570)

Hester Jonas was a German midwife and cunning woman. She was executed for witchcraft and is known as the so-called Witch of Neuss.

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24/12/1541

Andreas Karlstadt, Christian theologian and reformer (born 1486)

Andreas Rudolph Bodenstein von Karlstadt, better known as Andreas Karlstadt, Andreas Carlstadt or Karolostadt, in Latin, Carolstadius, or simply as Andreas Bodenstein, was a German Protestant theologian, University of Wittenberg chancellor, a contemporary of Martin Luther and a reformer of the early Reformation.

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24/12/1524

Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer and politician, Governor of Portuguese India (born 1469)

Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese mariner, explorer and nobleman. His discovery of the first direct maritime route between Europe and India via the Cape of Good Hope and across the Indian Ocean from Malindi in Kenya to Kozhikode was to open up European exploration of, and commerce with, India, and is considered a landmark event and a turning point in world history.

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24/12/1473

John Cantius, Polish scholar and theologian (born 1390)

John Cantius was a Polish Catholic priest, scholastic philosopher, physicist and theologian.

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24/12/1456

Đurađ Branković, Despot of Serbia (born 1377)

Đurađ Vuković Branković or George Branković served as the Serbian Despot from 1427 to 1456, making him one of the final rulers of medieval Serbia.

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24/12/1453

John Dunstaple, English composer (born 1390)

John Dunstaple was an English composer whose music helped inaugurate the transition from the medieval to the Renaissance periods. The central proponent of the Contenance angloise style, Dunstaple was the leading English composer of his time, and is often coupled with William Byrd and Henry Purcell as England's most important early music composers. His style would have an immense influence on the subsequent music of continental Europe, inspiring composers such as Du Fay, Binchois, Ockeghem and Busnois.

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24/12/1449

Walter Bower, Scottish chronicler (born 1385)

Walter Bower was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Scotland. In 1991, Donald Watt said of Bower's Scotichronicon that "We are more and more convinced that this book is one of the national treasures of Scotland, which should be studied in depth for many different kinds of enquiry into Scotland's past."

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24/12/1281

Henry V of Luxembourg (born 1216)

Henry V the Blondell, called the Great, was the Count of Arlon from 1226 to his death, Lord of Ligny from 1240 to his death, Count of Luxembourg and Laroche from 1247 to his death, and the Marquis of Namur between 1256 and 1264 as Henry III. He was the son and successor of Waleran III, Duke of Limburg and Ermesinde, Countess of Luxembourg.

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24/12/1263

Hōjō Tokiyori, regent of Japan (born 1227)

Hōjō Tokiyori was the fifth shikken of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan.

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24/12/1257

John I, Count of Hainaut (born 1218)

John of Avesnes was the count of Hainaut from 1246 to his death.

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24/12/1193

Roger III of Sicily (born 1175)

Roger III, of the House of Hauteville, was the eldest son and heir of King Tancred of Sicily and Queen Sibylla. He was made Duke of Apulia, probably in 1189, shortly after his father's accession. In the summer of 1192 he was crowned co-king with his father. Follari were minted at Messina bearing both Tancred's and Roger's names as kings.

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24/12/0950

Shi Hongzhao, Chinese general

Shi Hongzhao, courtesy name Huayuan (化元), formally the Prince of Zheng (鄭王), was a major general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period Later Han state. Shi was one of the key officials that Later Han's founding emperor Liu Zhiyuan left in charge of the government during the youth of his son and successor Liu Chengyou, but Liu Chengyou eventually tired of these officials' governance and had Shi killed, along with Yang Bin and Wang Zhang.

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Wang Zhang, Chinese official

Wang Zhang was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Han. Wang was one of the key officials that Later Han's founding emperor Liu Zhiyuan left in charge of the government during the youth of his son and successor Liu Chengyou, but Liu Chengyou eventually tired of these officials' governance and had Wang killed, along with Yang Bin and Shi Hongzhao.

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Yang Bin, Chinese chancellor

Yang Bin (楊邠), formally the Prince of Hongnong (弘農王), was a chancellor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period Later Han state, serving effectively as the head of the government for most of the reign of its second emperor Liu Chengyou, leading a group of high-ranking officials in doing so. However, Liu Chengyou eventually tired of these officials' governance and had Yang killed, along with Shi Hongzhao and Wang Zhang.

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24/12/0903

Hedwiga, duchess of Saxony

Hedwig, was Duchess of Saxony by her marriage with the Liudolfing duke Otto the Illustrious. She was the mother of King Henry the Fowler.

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24/12/0427

Archbishop Sisinnius I of Constantinople

Sisinnius I of Constantinople was the Archbishop of Constantinople from 426 to 427.

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24/12/0036

Gongsun Shu, emperor of Chengjia

AD 36 (XXXVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Allenius and Plautius. The denomination AD 36 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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