Died on Wednesday, 3rd December – Famous Deaths

03/12/2024

Mohamed Ali Yusuf, Somali politician (born 1944)

Mohamed Ali Yusuf Gaagaab was a Somali politician. He served as acting Vice President of Puntland from 10 October 2004 to 8 January 2005, and later he was appointed Minister of Finance of Puntland beginning on 25 January 2005 to 29 January 2009. He was elected as Interim Speaker of the Senate of Somalia from 11 August 2021 to 26 April 2022.

---

03/12/2019

Ragnar Ulstein, Norwegian journalist and war historian (born 1920)

Ragnar Leif Ulstein MM was a Norwegian journalist, writer and resistance member. He wrote several documentary books from the Second World War, including surveys of the SOE group Norwegian Independent Company 1, volunteers sailing from Norway to Scotland, refugee traffic from Norway to Sweden, and military intelligence in Norway.

---

03/12/2015

Gladstone Anderson, Jamaican singer and pianist (born 1934)

Gladstone Anderson, also known by his nickname "Gladdy", was a Jamaican pianist, keyboard player, and singer, who played a major part in the island's musical history, playing a key role in defining the ska sound and the rocksteady beat, and playing on hundreds of recordings as a session musician, a solo artist, and as leader of Gladdy's All Stars, featuring bassist Jackie Jackson, drummer Winston Grennan, guitarist Hux Brown, and keyboardist Winston Wright. As Harry J All Stars the band had a massive hit in Jamaica and United Kingdom with the instrumental song "The Liquidator" 1969. Anderson's work was consistently popular in the late 70s too, as roots reggae, dub and sound system culture increasingly prioritised more conscious and deeply spiritual concerns.

---

Scott Weiland, American singer-songwriter (born 1967)

Scott Richard Weiland was an American singer and songwriter. He was best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Stone Temple Pilots from 1989 to 2003 and again from 2008 to 2013, recording six albums with them. Weiland is also known for being the lead vocalist of the rock supergroup Velvet Revolver from 2003 to 2008. He also released one album with rock supergroup Art of Anarchy in 2015, as well as four solo studio albums and several collaborations with other musicians throughout his career.

---

03/12/2014

Herman Badillo, Puerto Rican-American lawyer and politician (born 1929)

Herman Badillo was an American lawyer and politician who served as borough president of The Bronx and United States Representative, and ran for Mayor of New York City. He was the first Puerto Rican elected to these posts, and the first Puerto Rican mayoral candidate in a major city in the continental United States.

---

03/12/2012

Jules Mikhael Al-Jamil, Iraqi-Lebanese archbishop (born 1938)

Jules Mikhael Al-Jamil was a Syriac Catholic prelate who served as an auxiliary bishop for the Patriarchate of Antioch from 1986 until his death in 2012.

---

03/12/2011

Dev Anand, Indian actor, director, and producer (born 1923)

Dev Anand was an Indian actor, writer, director and producer known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is considered as one of the greatest and most successful actors in the history of Indian cinema. Through a career that spanned over six decades, he worked in more than 100 films. Anand is a recipient of four Filmfare Awards, including two for Best Actor. The Government of India honoured him with Padma Bhushan, Indian third highest civilian honour in 2001 and with Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2002.

---

03/12/2010

Abdumalik Bahori, Azerbaijani poet and author (born 1927)

Abdumalik Bahori was a children's poet and the first Tajikistani fiction writer. He was born into a middle-class family who worked in the silk producing industry. He graduated from Leninabad Pedagogical Institute in 1946.

---

03/12/2009

Leila Lopes, Brazilian actress and journalist (born 1959)

Leila Lopes was a Brazilian actress, journalist and television presenter, known for her appearance in TV Globo telenovelas and later for entering the pornographic film industry.

---

Richard Todd, Irish-born British soldier and actor (born 1919)

Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd was a British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor nomination for his performance as Corporal Lachlan MacLachlan in the 1949 film The Hasty Heart. His other notable roles include Jonathan Cooper in Stage Fright (1950), Wing Commander Guy Gibson in The Dam Busters (1955), Sir Walter Raleigh in The Virgin Queen (1955), and Major John Howard in The Longest Day (1962). He was previously a Captain in the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the D-Day landings as a member of the 7th Parachute Battalion.

---

03/12/2008

Robert Zajonc, Polish-American psychologist and author (born 1923)

Robert Bolesław Zajonc was a Polish social psychologist who is known for his decades of work on a wide range of social and cognitive processes. One of his most important contributions to social psychology is the mere-exposure effect. Zajonc also conducted research in the areas of social facilitation, and theories of emotion, such as the affective neuroscience hypothesis.

---

03/12/2007

James Kemsley, Australian cartoonist and actor (born 1948)

James Lawrence Kemsley OAM was an Australian cartoonist who was notable for producing the comic strip Ginger Meggs between 1984 and 2007.

---

03/12/2005

Frederick Ashworth, American admiral (born 1912)

Frederick Lincoln "Dick" Ashworth was a United States Navy officer who served as the weaponeer on the B-29 Bockscar that dropped a Fat Man atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945 during World War II.

---

Herb Moford, American baseball player (born 1928)

Herbert Moford was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals (1955), Detroit Tigers (1958), Boston Red Sox (1959) and New York Mets (1962). He was born in Brooksville, Kentucky, stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg).

---

Kikka Sirén, Finnish pop/schlager singer (born 1964)

Kirsi Hannele Sirén, better known by her stage name Kikka, was a Finnish pop/schlager singer. She was known for her sexpot image and suggestive, double entendre-filled songs. Kikka's best-known songs were "Mä haluun viihdyttää", "Sukkula Venukseen", "Tartu tiukasti hanuriin" and a cover of Ami Aspelund's "Apinamies".

---

03/12/2004

Shiing-Shen Chern, Chinese-American mathematician and academic (born 1911)

Shiing-Shen Chern was a Chinese-born American mathematician and poet. He made fundamental contributions to differential geometry and topology. He has been called the "father of modern differential geometry" and is widely regarded as a leader in geometry and one of the greatest mathematicians of the twentieth century, winning numerous awards and recognition including the Wolf Prize and the inaugural Shaw Prize. In memory of Shiing-Shen Chern, the International Mathematical Union established the Chern Medal in 2010 to recognize "an individual whose accomplishments warrant the highest level of recognition for outstanding achievements in the field of mathematics."

---

03/12/2003

David Hemmings, English actor (born 1941)

David Leslie Edward Hemmings was an English actor, director, and producer of film and television. Originally trained as a boy soprano in operatic roles, he began appearing in films as a child actor in the 1950s. He became an icon of Swinging London for his portrayal of a trendy fashion photographer in the critically acclaimed film Blowup (1966), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni.

---

Sita Ram Goel, Indian historian, publisher and writer (born 1921)

Sita Ram Goel was an Indian Hindu nationalist writer, and publisher known for his literature pertaining to Hinduism and Hindu nationalism in the late twentieth century. He was one of the founders of Voice of India.

---

03/12/2002

Adrienne Adams, American illustrator (born 1906)

Adrienne Adams was an American children's book illustrator as well as an artist and writer of children's books. She won two Caldecott Honors and in 1973 she was awarded the Rutgers Award for overall contributions to children's literature. In 1977, she was awarded the University of Southern Mississippi Medallion.

---

Glenn Quinn, Irish-American actor (born 1970)

Glenn Martin Christopher Francis Quinn was an Irish actor, best known for his portrayal of Mark Healy on the 1990s family sitcom Roseanne and his role as the half-demon Allen Francis Doyle on Angel, a spin-off series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

---

03/12/2000

Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet and educator (born 1917)

Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on May 1, 1950, for Annie Allen, making her the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize.

---

Hoyt Curtin, American composer and producer (born 1922)

Hoyt Stoddard Curtin was an American composer, music producer and the primary musical director for Hanna-Barbera from its beginnings with The Ruff and Reddy Show from 1957 to 1965, and again from 1972 to 1986 until his retirement in 1989.

---

03/12/1999

John Archer, American actor (born 1915)

John Archer was an American actor.

---

Scatman John, American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1942)

John Paul Larkin, known professionally under the alias Scatman John, was an American musician. A prolific jazz pianist and vocalist for several decades, he rose to prominence in 1994 through his fusion of scat singing and dance music. He recorded five albums, which were released between 1986 and 2001.

---

Madeline Kahn, American actress, comedian, and singer (born 1942)

Madeline Gail Kahn was an American actress, comedian, and singer. She was known for her comedic roles in films directed by Peter Bogdanovich and Mel Brooks, including What's Up, Doc? (1972), Young Frankenstein (1974), High Anxiety (1977), History of the World, Part I (1981), and her Academy Award–nominated roles in Paper Moon (1973) and Blazing Saddles (1974).

---

Horst Mahseli, Polish footballer (born 1934)

Horst Lothar Mahseli was a Polish footballer who is best remembered for his 1950s performances in both Legia Warsaw and the Poland national team.

---

Jarl Wahlström, Finnish 12th General of The Salvation Army (born 1918)

Jarl Holger Wahlström was the 12th General of The Salvation Army (1981–86).

---

03/12/1998

Pierre Hétu, Canadian pianist and conductor (born 1936)

Pierre Hétu was a conductor and pianist. He studied music from 1955–57 at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal with Germaine Malépart (piano) and at the University of Montreal with Jean Papineau-Couture (acoustics), Gabriel Cusson and Conrad Letendre and Jean Vallerand.

---

03/12/1996

Georges Duby, French historian and author (born 1919)

Georges Duby was a French historian who specialised in the social and economic history of the Middle Ages. He ranks among the most influential medieval historians of the twentieth century and was one of France's most prominent public intellectuals from the 1970s to his death. In 2019, his work was published in the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade.

---

03/12/1993

Lewis Thomas, American physician, etymologist, and academic (born 1913)

Lewis Thomas was an American physician, poet, etymologist, essayist, administrator, educator, policy advisor, and biologist. He was a longtime contributor to The New England Journal of Medicine, and his essays were collected in several books. He received National Book Award in Arts and Letters and The Sciences for The Lives of a Cell.

---

03/12/1989

Fernando Martín Espina, Spanish basketball player (born 1962)

Fernando Martín Espina was a Spanish professional basketball player who was considered to be one of the best Spanish basketball players ever. Martín was 2.06 m tall, and he played primarily at the center and power forward positions. He was considered a talented all-around athlete. He was a five-time swimming champion in Spain, as well as being a highly ranked athlete in the sports of handball, table tennis and judo.

---

Connie B. Gay, American businessman, founded the Country Music Association (born 1914)

Connie Barriot Gay was an American music entrepreneur who is renowned as a "founding father" and "major force" in country music. He is credited with coining the country music genre, which had previously been called hillbilly music. Gay was the founding president of the Country Music Association (CMA) and co-founder of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The CMA established the Connie B. Gay Award to recognize outstanding service to the CMA by a member not serving on the board of directors.

---

03/12/1984

Vladimir Abramovich Rokhlin, Azerbaijani-Russian mathematician and academic (born 1919)

Vladimir Abramovich Rokhlin was a Soviet mathematician, who made numerous contributions in algebraic topology, geometry, measure theory, probability theory, ergodic theory and entropy theory.

---

03/12/1981

Walter Knott, American farmer, founded Knott's Berry Farm (born 1889)

Walter Marvin Knott was an American farmer and businessman who founded the Knott's Berry Farm amusement park in Buena Park, California, introduced and mass-marketed the boysenberry, and founded the Knott's Berry Farm food brand.

---

Joel Rinne, Finnish actor (born 1897)

Toivo Joel Rinne was a prolific Finnish actor of stage and screen. Among his most memorable film parts is the title role in the Inspector Palmu movie series, which started in 1960s Komisario Palmun erehdys, and continued in three sequels. Another well-known role by Rinne is in the 1970 film Päämaja, directed by Matti Kassila, in which Rinne interprets in the role of Marshal Mannerheim.

---

03/12/1980

Oswald Mosley, English lieutenant, fascist, and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (born 1896)

Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, was a British politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when, disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harrow from 1918 to 1924 and for Smethwick from 1926 to 1931. He founded the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in 1932 and led it until its forced disbandment in 1940.

---

03/12/1979

Dhyan Chand, Indian field hockey player and coach (born 1905)

Major Dhyan Chand was an Indian field hockey player. He is widely regarded as the greatest field hockey player in history. He was known for his extraordinary ball control and goal-scoring feats, in addition to earning three Olympic gold medals, in 1928, 1932 and 1936, during an era where India dominated field hockey. Dhyan Chand's influence extended beyond these victories, as India won the field hockey event in seven out of eight Olympics from 1928 to 1964.

---

03/12/1973

Emile Christian, American trombonist, cornet player, and composer (born 1895)

Emile Joseph Christian, sometimes spelled Emil Christian, was an American early jazz trombonist; he also played cornet and string bass. He also wrote a number of tunes, including "Meet Me at the Green Goose", "Satanic Blues", and "Mardi Gras Parade".

---

Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, President of Mexico, 1952–1958 (born 1889)

Adolfo Tomás Ruiz Cortines was a Mexican politician who served as President of Mexico from 1952 to 1958. A member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), he previously served as Governor of Veracruz and Secretary of the Interior. During his presidency, which constituted the Mexican Miracle, women gained the right to vote, and he instituted numerous public health, education, infrastructure, and works projects.

---

03/12/1972

William Manuel Johnson, American bassist (born 1872)

William Manuel "Bill" Johnson was an American jazz musician who played banjo and double bass; he is considered the father of the "slap" style of double bass playing.

---

03/12/1967

Harry Wismer, American football player and sportscaster (born 1913)

Harry Wismer was an American sports broadcaster and the founder of the Titans of New York franchise in the American Football League (AFL).

---

03/12/1956

Manik Bandopadhyay, Indian author, poet, and playwright (born 1908)

Manik Bandyopadhyay [alias Banerjee] is an Indian author regarded as one of the major figures of 20th century Bengali literature. During a lifespan of 48 years and 28 years of literary career, battling with epilepsy from the age of around 28 and financial strains all along, he produced some masterpieces of novels and short stories, besides some poems, essays etc. One of the early neo-realist film shot in Pakistan, The Day Shall Dawn is based on his story.

---

Alexander Rodchenko, Russian sculptor, photographer, and graphic designer (born 1891)

Aleksander Mikhailovich Rodchenko was a Russian and Soviet artist, sculptor, photographer, and graphic designer. He was one of the founders of constructivism and Russian design; he was married to the artist Varvara Stepanova.

---

03/12/1952

Rudolf Margolius, Czech lawyer and politician (born 1913)

Rudolf Margolius was a Czech lawyer and economist, Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade, Czechoslovakia (1949–1952), and a co-defendant in the Slánský trial in November 1952.

---

03/12/1949

Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian-American actress and educator (born 1876)

Maria Alekseyevna Ouspenskaya was a Russian actress and acting teacher. She achieved success as a stage actress as a young woman in Russia, and as an older woman in Hollywood films. She was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Dodsworth (1936) and Love Affair (1939). Ouspenskaya is the first Russian actress to be nominated for an Oscar.

---

03/12/1941

Pavel Filonov, Russian painter and poet (born 1883)

Pavel Nikolayevich Filonov was a Russian avant-garde painter, art theorist, and poet.

---

03/12/1937

William Propsting, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Tasmania (born 1861)

William Bispham Propsting, CMG was an Australian lawyer and politician. He served as premier of Tasmania from 1903 to 1904. He was a member of the parliament of Tasmania for over 35 years and also served terms as Attorney-General of Tasmania and president of the Tasmanian Legislative Council.

---

03/12/1935

Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom (born 1868)

Princess Victoria was the fourth child and second daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra and the younger sister of King George V.

---

03/12/1934

Charles James O'Donnell, Irish lawyer and politician (born 1849)

Charles James O'Cahan O'Donnell was an Irish colonial administrator in the British Raj, and later a member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

---

03/12/1928

Ezra Meeker, American farmer and politician (born 1830)

Ezra Morgan Meeker was an American pioneer who traveled the Oregon Trail by ox-drawn wagon as a young man, migrating from Iowa to the Pacific Coast. Later in life he worked to memorialize the Trail, repeatedly retracing the trip of his youth. Once known as the "Hop King of the World", he was the first mayor of Puyallup, Washington.

---

03/12/1919

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter and sculptor (born 1841)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. It has been said that, as a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau."

---

03/12/1917

Harold Garnett, English-French cricketer (born 1879)

Harold Gwyer Garnett was an English-born first-class cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club and Argentina. He was killed during World War I in the fighting at Cambrai, France. A wicketkeeper, in 152 first-class games he scored 5,798 runs and made 203 dismissals.

---

03/12/1912

Prudente de Morais, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Brazil (born 1841)

Prudente José de Morais Barros was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the third president of Brazil from 1894 to 1898. Morais was elected in 1894, being the first civilian president of the country, the first to be elected by direct popular ballot under the permanent provisions of Brazil's 1891 Constitution, and the first to serve his term in its entirety. Before his presidency he served as president (governor) of the state of São Paulo and president of the Senate from 1891 to 1894. He was also president of the Constituent Assembly that drafted and enacted the 1891 Constitution.

---

03/12/1910

Mary Baker Eddy, American religious leader and author, founded Christian Science (born 1821)

Mary Baker Eddy was an American religious leader and author, who in 1879 founded The Church of Christ, Scientist, the Mother Church of the Christian Science movement. She also founded The Christian Science Monitor in 1908, and three religious magazines: the Christian Science Sentinel, The Christian Science Journal, and The Herald of Christian Science.

---

03/12/1904

David Bratton, American water polo player (born 1869)

David Hey Bratton was an American water polo player and competition swimmer who competed for the New York Athletic Club and represented the United States at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri.

---

03/12/1902

Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect, designed the Otago Boys' High School and Knox Church (born 1833)

Robert Arthur Lawson was one of New Zealand's pre-eminent 19th century architects. The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography states that he did more than any other designer to shape the face of the Victorian era architecture of the city of Dunedin. He is the architect of over forty churches, including Dunedin's First Church for which he is best remembered, but also other buildings, such as Larnach Castle, a country house, with which he is also associated.

---

03/12/1894

Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist, poet, and essayist (born 1850)

Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for the novels Treasure Island (1883), Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), and Kidnapped (1886) and for the poetry collection A Child's Garden of Verses (1885).

---

03/12/1892

Afanasy Fet, Russian author and poet (born 1820)

Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet, later known as Shenshin, was a Russian poet regarded as the finest master of lyric verse in Russian literature.

---

03/12/1890

Billy Midwinter, English-Australian cricketer (born 1851)

William Evans Midwinter was a cricketer who played four Test matches for England, sandwiched between eight for Australia. He was the only cricketer to have played for Australia and England in Test matches against each other.

---

03/12/1888

Carl Zeiss, German physicist and lens maker, created the optical instrument (born 1816)

Carl Zeiss was a German scientific instrument maker, optician and businessman. In 1846 he founded his workshop, which is still in business as Zeiss. Zeiss gathered a group of gifted practical and theoretical opticians and glass makers to reshape most aspects of optical instrument production. His collaboration with Ernst Abbe revolutionized optical theory and practical design of microscopes. Their quest to extend these advances brought Otto Schott into the enterprises to revolutionize optical glass manufacture. The firm of Carl Zeiss grew to one of the largest and most respected optical firms in the world.

---

03/12/1882

Archibald Tait, Scottish-English archbishop (born 1811)

Archibald Campbell Tait was an Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England and theologian. He was the first Scottish priest to become Archbishop of Canterbury and thus, head of the Church of England.

---

03/12/1876

Samuel Cooper, American general (born 1798)

Samuel Cooper was an American military officer, who served in the Second Seminole War and the Mexican–American War in the United States Army. Although little-known today, Cooper was technically the highest-ranking general officer in the Confederate States Army throughout the American Civil War, even outranking Robert E. Lee. After the conflict, Cooper remained in Virginia as a farmer.

---

03/12/1854

Edward Thonen, German emigrant to Australia (born 1827)

Edward Thonen was a German emigrant to Australia, and one of the miners involved in the Eureka Rebellion in Ballarat, Victoria. He was captain of one of the miners' divisions. When soldiers stormed the Stockade on 3 December 1854 in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, Thonen was one of the first to be killed.

---

03/12/1815

John Carroll, American archbishop (born 1735)

John Carroll was an American Catholic prelate who served as the nation's first Catholic bishop, overseeing the Diocese of Baltimore, then the only diocese in the nascent United States, from 1789 to 1815. He became Archbishop of Baltimore in 1808, up to which point Carroll had also administered the entire U.S. Catholic Church.

---

03/12/1789

Claude Joseph Vernet, French painter (born 1714)

Claude-Joseph Vernet was a French painter. His son Carle Vernet and daughter Marguerite Émilie Chalgrin were also painters.

---

03/12/1765

Lord John Sackville, English cricketer and politician (born 1713)

Lord John Philip Sackville was the second son of Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset. He was a keen cricketer who was closely connected with the sport in Kent.

---

03/12/1752

Henri-Guillaume Hamal, Walloon musician and composer (born 1685)

Henri-Guillaume Hamal was a Walloon musician, musical director and composer.

---

03/12/1706

Countess Emilie Juliane of Barby-Mühlingen (born 1637)

Emilie Juliane was a German countess and hymn writer.

---

03/12/1691

Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh, British scientist (born 1615)

Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh, also known as Lady Ranelagh, was an Anglo-Irish scientist in seventeenth-century Ireland and England. She was also a political and religious philosopher, and a member of many intellectual circles including the Hartlib Circle, the Great Tew Circle, and the Invisible College. Her correspondents included Samuel Hartlib, Edward Hyde, William Laud, Thomas Hyde, and John Milton. She was the sister of Robert Boyle and is thought to have been a great influence on his work in chemistry. In her own right, she was a political and social figure closely connected to the Hartlib Circle. Lady Ranelagh held a London salon during the 1650s, much frequented by virtuosi associated with Hartlib.

---

03/12/1668

William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury (born 1591)

William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury,, known as Viscount Cranborne from 1605 to 1612, was an English peer, nobleman, and politician.

---

03/12/1610

Honda Tadakatsu, Japanese general and daimyō (born 1548)

Honda Tadakatsu , also called Honda Heihachirō was a Japanese samurai, general, and daimyo of the late Sengoku through early Edo periods, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu.

---

03/12/1592

Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (born 1545)

Alexander Farnese was an Italian noble and military leader, who was Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1586 to 1592, as well as Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1578 to 1592. Nephew to King Philip II of Spain, he served in the Battle of Lepanto and the subsequent campaigns of the Holy League against the Ottoman Empire. He was latter appointed general of the Spanish army during the Dutch revolt and its ramifications, serving in Netherlands, France and the Holy Roman Empire until his death in 1592.

---

03/12/1552

Francis Xavier, Spanish missionary and saint (born 1506)

Francis Xavier, venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus and, as a representative of the Portuguese Empire, led the first Christian mission to Japan.

---

03/12/1542

Jean Tixier de Ravisi, French scholar and academic (born 1470)

Jean Tixier de Ravisi was a French Renaissance humanist scholar and professor of rhetoric. He was born in Ravisi, which is near the commune of Saint-Saulge in the central province of Nivernais. His works, which are mostly on the topic of education, were widely accepted and employed by French academia. Tixier eventually adopted the Latinised name Johannes Textor Ravisius, Nivernensis.

---

03/12/1533

Vasili III of Russia (born 1479)

Vasili III Ivanovich was Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1505 until his death in 1533.

---

03/12/1532

Louis II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (born 1502)

Louis II of Zweibrücken was Count Palatine and Duke of Zweibrücken from 1514 to 1532.

---

03/12/1322

Maud Chaworth, Countess of Leicester (born 1282)

Maud de Chaworth was an English noblewoman and wealthy heiress. She was the only child of Patrick de Chaworth. Sometime before 2 March 1297, she married Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster, by whom she had seven children.

---

03/12/1309

Henry III, Duke of Głogów (born 1251/60)

Henry III of Głogów was a duke of Głogów from 1274 to his death and also duke of parts of Greater Poland during 1306–1310.

---

03/12/1266

Henry III the White, Duke of Wroclaw

Henry III the White, a member of the Silesian Piasts, was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1248 until his death, as co-ruler with his brother Władysław.

---

03/12/1265

Odofredus, Italian lawyer and jurist

Odofredus was an Italian jurist. He was born in Ostia and moved to Bologna, studying law under Jacobus Balduinus and Franciscus Accursius. After working as an advocate in Italy and France, he became a law professor in Bologna in 1228. The commentaries on Roman law attributed to him are valuable as showing the growth of the study of law in Italy, and for their biographical details of the jurists of the 12th and 13th centuries. Odofredus died at Bologna in 1265.

---

03/12/1154

Pope Anastasius IV (born 1073)

Pope Anastasius IV, born Corrado Demetri della Suburra, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 July 1153 to his death in 1154. He is the most recent pope to take the name "Anastasius" upon his election.

---

03/12/1099

Saint Osmund (born 1065)

Osmund, Count of Sées, was a Norman noble and clergyman. Following the Norman conquest of England, he served as Lord Chancellor and as the second bishop of Salisbury, or Old Sarum.

---

03/12/1038

Emma of Lesum, Saxon countess and Saint

Emma of Lesum or Emma of Stiepel was a countess popularly venerated as a saint for her good works. She was married to Liudger of Saxony. She is also the first female inhabitant of Bremen to be known by name.

---

03/12/0978

Abraham, Coptic pope of Alexandria

Pope Abraham of Alexandria was the 62nd Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. He is considered a saint by the Coptic Orthodox Church. He is also referred to as Efrem or Ephrem.

---

03/12/0937

Siegfried, Frankish nobleman

Siegfried was a prominent German noble from the Duchy of Saxony in the East Francia, who was the Count of Merseburg in Eastphalia, from an unknown date before 934 until his death.

---

03/12/0860

Abbo, bishop of Auxerre

Abbo of Auxerre was a Benedictine abbot and bishop of Auxerre.

---

03/12/0649

Birinus, French-English bishop and saint (born 600)

Birinus was the first Bishop of Dorchester and was known as the "Apostle to the West Saxons" for his conversion of the Kingdom of Wessex to Christianity. He is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Anglican churches.

---

03/12/0311

Diocletian, Roman emperor (born 244)

Year 311 (CCCXI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Maximinus. The denomination 311 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.

---