Died on Sunday, 15th February – Famous Deaths

15/02/2026

Robert Duvall, American actor and filmmaker (born 1931)

Robert Selden Duvall was an American actor, filmmaker, and producer, best known for his roles in the later 20th century of Hollywood. Duvall began acting professionally on stage in 1952, performing in summer plays at the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport on Long Island until 1959, with a one-year break serving in the U.S. Army. He made contacts there that then led to a career on television in the 1960s on shows such as The Defenders, Playhouse 90, and Armstrong Circle Theatre. He made his Broadway debut in the play Wait Until Dark in 1966, and, in 1977, he returned from screen acting to the stage in David Mamet's play American Buffalo, earning a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play nomination.

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15/02/2025

George Armitage, American film director (born 1942)

George Brendan Armitage was an American filmmaker and writer best known for directing the films Miami Blues (1990) and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), as well as for frequent collaborations with Roger Corman.

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Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, Portuguese businessman (born 1937)

Jorge Nuno de Lima Pinto da Costa was a Portuguese sports executive, who was president of Portuguese sports club Porto from 1982 until 2024. He was the president with most titles won (69) in the history of football and most days in charge as a president of association football club.

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Muhsin Hendricks, South African imam, Islamic scholar and LGBT activist (born 1967)

Muhsin Hendricks was a South African imam, Islamic scholar and LGBTQ activist. He was involved in various LGBTQ Muslim advocacy groups and was an advocate for greater acceptance of LGBTQ people within Islam. He has been described as the world's first openly gay imam, having come out in 1996. Hendricks died from gunfire wounds in an attack in February 2025 in Bethelsdorp, South Africa. In an obituary, The Economist wrote that Hendricks "fought homophobia with the Koran", and that his ministry provided "meeting places, a mosque, constant reassurance and two human-rights foundations to defend Muslims torn between their faith and their sexuality".

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15/02/2023

Raquel Welch, American actress and singer (born 1940)

Jo Raquel Welch was an American actress. Welch first gained attention for her role in Fantastic Voyage (1966), after which she signed a long-term contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hammer Film Productions, for whom she made One Million Years B.C. (1966). Although Welch had only three lines of dialogue in the film, images of her in a doe-skin bikini became bestselling posters that turned her into an international sex symbol. She later starred in Bedazzled (1967), Bandolero! (1968), 100 Rifles (1969), Myra Breckinridge (1970), Hannie Caulder (1971), Kansas City Bomber (1972), The Last of Sheila (1973), The Three Musketeers (1973), The Wild Party (1975), and Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976). She made several television variety specials.

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15/02/2022

Bappi Lahiri, Indian singer, composer and record producer (born 1952)

Bappi Aparesh Lahiri, also known as Bappi Da, was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and sang some of his own compositions. He was popular in the 1980s and 1990s with filmi soundtracks. He delivered major box office successes primarily in Hindi, Telugu, and Bengali films. His music was well received into the 21st century.

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P.J. O'Rourke, American author, humorist, and journalist (born 1947)

Patrick Jake O'Rourke was an American author, journalist, and political satirist who wrote twenty-two books on subjects as diverse as politics, cars, etiquette, and economics. His books Parliament of Whores and Give War a Chance both reached No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list.

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15/02/2020

Caroline Flack, English actress and TV presenter (born 1979)

Caroline Louise Flack was an English television presenter. Flack grew up in Norfolk and took an interest in dancing and theatre while at school. She began her professional career as an actress, starring in the comedy sketch show Bo' Selecta! (2002), and went on to present various ITV2 shows including I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW! (2009–2010) and The Xtra Factor (2011–2013).

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15/02/2019

Lee Radziwill, American socialite (born 1933)

Princess Caroline Lee Radziwill, previously known as Lee Canfield and Lee Ross, was an American socialite, public relations executive, and interior designer. She was the younger sister of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and sister-in-law of President John F. Kennedy.

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15/02/2017

Stuart McLean, Canadian radio broadcaster (born 1948)

Andrew Stuart McLean, was a Canadian radio broadcaster, humorist, monologist, and author, best known as the host of the CBC Radio program The Vinyl Cafe. Often described as a "story-telling comic" although his stories addressed both humorous and serious themes, he was known for fiction and non-fiction work which celebrated the decency and dignity of ordinary people, through stories which often highlighted the ability of their subjects, whether real or fictional, to persevere with grace and humour through embarrassing or challenging situations.

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15/02/2016

George Gaynes, Finnish-American actor (born 1917)

George Gaynes was a Dutch-American singer, actor, and voice artist. Born to a Dutch father and a Russian mother in the Grand Duchy of Finland of the Russian Empire, he served in the Royal Netherlands Navy during World War II, and subsequently emigrated to the United States, where he became a citizen and began his acting career on Broadway.

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Vanity, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress (born 1959)

Denise Katherine Matthews, known professionally as Vanity, was a Canadian singer, songwriter, dancer, model, and actress. Known for her image as a sex symbol in the 1980s, in the 1990s she renounced her career as Vanity and became an evangelist.

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15/02/2015

Haron Amin, Afghan diplomat, Afghan Ambassador to Japan (born 1969)

Mohammad Haron Amin was the Afghan ambassador to Japan from 2004–2009. He is also known for his role as spokesman for the Northern Alliance during the U.S.-led invasion of his country after the events of September 11, 2001.

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Arnaud de Borchgrave, American journalist and author (born 1926)

Arnaud Charles Paul Marie Philippe de Borchgrave was a Belgian–American journalist who specialized in international politics. Following a long career with the news magazine Newsweek, covering 17 wars in 30 years as a foreign correspondent, he held key editorial and executive positions with The Washington Times and United Press International. Borchgrave was also a founding member of Newsmax Media.

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Steve Montador, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1979)

Steven Richard "The Matador" Montador was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 571 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres and Chicago Blackhawks before ending his career in 2014 as a member of Medveščak Zagreb of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

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15/02/2014

Thelma Estrin, American computer scientist and engineer (born 1924)

Thelma Estrin was an American computer scientist and engineer who did pioneering work in the fields of expert systems and biomedical engineering. Estrin was one of the first to apply computer technology to healthcare and medical research. In 1954, Estrin helped to design the Weizmann Automatic Computer, or WEIZAC, the first computer in Israel and the Middle East, a moment marked as an IEEE Milestone in Electrical and Computer Engineering. She was professor emerita in the Department of Computer Science, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

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Christopher Malcolm, Scottish-Canadian actor, director, and producer (born 1946)

Christopher Malcolm was a Scottish-Canadian actor, director, and producer. He first achieved notoriety for his role as Brad Majors in the original stage production of The Rocky Horror Show.

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15/02/2013

Sanan Kachornprasart, Thai general and politician (born 1935)

Sanan Kachornprasart was a Thai politician and military officer. He was deputy prime minister in the cabinet of Abhisit Vejjajiva, and was chief advisor of Chartthaipattana Party.

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Ahmed Rajib Haider, Bangladeshi atheist blogger

Ahmed Rajib Haider was a Bangladeshi atheist blogger. He used to blog in the blogging communities namely somewhereinblog.net, amarblog.com and nagorikblog.com and used the pseudonym Thaba Baba.

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15/02/2012

Cyril Domb, English-Israeli physicist and academic (born 1920)

Cyril Domb FRS was a British-Israeli theoretical physicist, best known for his lecturing and writing on the theory of phase transitions and critical phenomena of fluids. He was also known in the Orthodox Jewish world for his writings on science and Judaism.

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15/02/2010

Jeanne M. Holm, American general (born 1921)

Major General Jeanne Marjorie Holm was the first female one-star general of the United States Air Force and the first female two-star general in any service branch of the United States. Holm was a driving force behind the expansion of women's roles in the Air Force.

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15/02/2008

Johnny Weaver, American wrestler and sportscaster (born 1935)

Kenneth Eugene Weaver was an American professional wrestler and wrestling commentator in the National Wrestling Alliance, better known by his ring name, Johnny Weaver.

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15/02/2007

Walker Edmiston, American actor (born 1925)

Walker Robert Edmiston was an American actor and puppeteer.

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Ray Evans, American songwriter (born 1915)

Raymond Bernard Evans was an American songwriter best known for being a half of a composing-songwriting duo with Jay Livingston, specializing himself in writing lyrics for film songs. On music Livingston composed, Evans wrote the lyrics.

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15/02/2005

Pierre Bachelet, French singer-songwriter (born 1944)

Pierre Bachelet was a French singer-songwriter and film score composer.

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Sam Francis, American historian and journalist (born 1947)

Samuel Todd Francis was an American writer and academic. He was a columnist and editor for the conservative Washington Times until he was dismissed in 1995 after making racist remarks at the American Renaissance conference a year prior. Francis would later become a "dominant force" on the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white supremacist organization identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Francis was the chief editor of the council's newsletter, Citizens Informer, until his death in 2005. The white supremacist Jared Taylor called Francis "the premier philosopher of white racial consciousness of our time".

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15/02/2004

Jens Evensen, Norwegian lawyer, judge, and politician, Norwegian Minister of Trade (born 1917)

Jens Ingebret Evensen was a Norwegian lawyer, judge, politician, trade minister, international offshore rights expert, member of the International Law Commission and judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

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15/02/2002

Howard K. Smith, American journalist and actor (born 1914)

Howard Kingsbury Smith was an American journalist, radio reporter, television anchorman, political commentator, and film actor. He was one of the original members of the team of war correspondents known as the Murrow Boys.

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Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (born 1963)

Kevin Tod Smith was a New Zealand actor and musician, best known for starring as the Greek God of war, Ares, in the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and in its two spin-offs – Xena: Warrior Princess and Young Hercules.

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15/02/2000

Angus MacLean, Canadian commander and politician, 25th Premier of Prince Edward Island (born 1914)

John Angus MacLean was a politician and farmer in Prince Edward Island, Canada.

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15/02/1999

Henry Way Kendall, American physicist and mountaineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1926)

Henry Way Kendall was an American particle physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1990 jointly with Jerome Isaac Friedman and Richard E. Taylor "for their pioneering investigations concerning deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, which have been of essential importance for the development of the quark model in particle physics."

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15/02/1998

Martha Gellhorn, American journalist and author (born 1908)

Martha Ellis Gellhorn was an American novelist, travel writer and journalist who is considered one of the great war correspondents of the 20th century. She reported on virtually every major world conflict that took place during her 60-year career.

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15/02/1996

McLean Stevenson, American actor (born 1927)

Edgar McLean Stevenson Jr. was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake in the television series M*A*S*H, which earned him a Golden Globe Award in 1974. Stevenson also appeared on a number of television series, notably The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Doris Day Show and Match Game.

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15/02/1992

María Elena Moyano, Peruvian activist (born 1960)

María Elena Moyano Delgado was an Afro-Peruvian community organizer and feminist who was assassinated by the Shining Path. She grew up in poverty in the Villa El Salvador pueblo joven, then became involved in local activism. She was twice president of FEPOMUVES and at the time of her death was deputy mayor. Her funeral was attended by 300,000 people and resulted in a downturn in support for the Shining Path. She received the Peruvian Order of Merit posthumously.

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William Schuman, American composer and academic (born 1910)

William Howard Schuman was an American composer and arts administrator.

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15/02/1988

Richard Feynman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)

Richard Phillips Feynman was an American theoretical physicist. He shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics with Julian Schwinger and Shin'ichirō Tomonaga "for their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics (QED), with deep-ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles". He is also known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, and the parton model. Feynman developed a pictorial representation scheme for the mathematical expressions describing the behavior of subatomic particles, which later became known as Feynman diagrams and is widely used.

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15/02/1984

Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (born 1908)

Ethel Merman was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theater, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." She performed on Broadway in Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, and Hello, Dolly!

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15/02/1981

Mike Bloomfield, American guitarist and songwriter (born 1943)

Michael Bernard Bloomfield was an American blues guitarist and composer. Born in Chicago, he became one of the first popular music stars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, as he rarely sang before 1969. Respected for his guitar playing, Bloomfield knew and played with many of Chicago's blues musicians before achieving his own fame and was instrumental in popularizing blues music in the mid-1960s. In 1965, he played on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, including the single "Like a Rolling Stone", and performed with Dylan at that year's Newport Folk Festival.

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Karl Richter, German organist and conductor (born 1926)

Karl Richter was a German conductor, choirmaster, organist, and harpsichordist.

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15/02/1974

Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer and engineer (born 1887)

Kurt Magnus Atterberg was a Swedish composer and civil engineer. Along with Ture Rangström, he was one the foremost Swedish composers of the generation succeeding Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Wilhelm Stenhammar and Hugo Alfvén. Atterberg is best known for his symphonies, operas, and ballets.

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15/02/1973

Wally Cox, American actor (born 1924)

Wallace Maynard Cox was an American actor. He began his career as a stand-up comedian and played the title character of the early American television series Mister Peepers from 1952 to 1955. He also appeared as a character actor in over 20 films and dozens of television episodes. Cox was the voice of the animated canine superhero Underdog in the Underdog TV series.

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15/02/1970

Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, Scottish air marshal (born 1882)

Air Chief Marshal Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He was Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and is generally credited with playing a crucial role in Britain's defence, and hence, the defeat of Operation Sea Lion, Adolf Hitler's plan to invade Britain.

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15/02/1967

Antonio Moreno, Spanish-American actor and director (born 1887)

Antonio Garrido Monteagudo, better known as Antonio Moreno or Tony Moreno, was a Spanish-born American actor and film director of the silent film era and through the 1950s.

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15/02/1966

Gerard Antoni Ciołek, Polish architect and historian (born 1909)

Gerard Ciołek was a Polish architect, as well as a leading historian of parks and gardens.

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Camilo Torres Restrepo, Colombian priest and theologian (born 1929)

Camilo Torres Restrepo, also known by his nom de guerre Argemiro, was a Colombian Catholic political leader, revolutionary, guerilla, priest, author and a leader of the National Liberation Army (ELN). During his life, he attempted to reconcile revolutionary socialism and Catholicism, an ideology which became known as Camilism. This ideology would significantly influence the later liberation theology movement, as well as being adopted by the Montoneros.

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15/02/1965

Nat King Cole, American singer and pianist (born 1919)

Nathaniel Adams Coles, known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and pop vocalist started in the late 1930s and spanned almost three decades where he found success and recorded over 100 songs that became hits on the pop charts.

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15/02/1961

Laurence Owen, American figure skater (born 1944)

Laurence Rochon "Laurie" Owen was an American figure skater. She was the 1961 U.S. National Champion and represented the United States at the 1960 Winter Olympics, where she placed sixth. She was the daughter of Maribel Vinson and Guy Owen and the sister of Maribel Owen. Owen died, along with her mother, sister and the entire United States Figure Skating team, in the crash of Sabena Flight 548 en route to the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships. In 2011, on the 50th anniversary of the crash, Owen and the entire team was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

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15/02/1959

Owen Willans Richardson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1879)

Sir Owen Willans Richardson was a British physicist who received the 1928 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on thermionic emission and for the discovery of Richardson's law.

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15/02/1956

Vincent de Moro-Giafferi, French lawyer and politician (born 1878)

Vincent de Moro-Giafferi was a French criminal attorney.

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15/02/1939

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Russian painter and author (born 1878)

Kuzma Sergeyevich Petrov-Vodkin was a Russian and Soviet painter. His early iconographic work used special creative effects based on the curve of the globe, but its images were considered blasphemous by the Russian Orthodox Church. However he went on to become the first president of the Leningrad Union of Soviet Artists. His autobiographical writings attracted much praise, and have enjoyed a later revival. He was one of the members of the art association ‘The Four Arts’, which existed in Moscow and Leningrad in 1924-1931.

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15/02/1933

Pat Sullivan, Australian animator and producer, co-created Felix the Cat (born 1887)

Patrick Peter Sullivan was an Australian cartoonist, pioneer animator and film producer, best known for producing the first Felix the Cat silent cartoons.

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15/02/1932

Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress and playwright (born 1865)

Minnie Maddern Fiske, but often billed simply as Mrs. Fiske, was one of the leading American actresses of the late 19th and early 20th century. She also spearheaded the fight against the Theatrical Syndicate for the sake of artistic freedom. She was widely considered the most important actress on the American stage in the first quarter of the 20th century. Her performances in several Henrik Ibsen plays helped introduce American audiences to the Norwegian playwright. She was also an influential campaigner for improving animal welfare.

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15/02/1928

H. H. Asquith, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1852)

Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last prime minister from the Liberal Party to command a majority government, and the most recent Liberal to have served as Leader of the Opposition.

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15/02/1924

Lionel Monckton, English composer (born 1861)

Lionel John Alexander Monckton was an English composer of musical theatre. He became Britain's most popular composer of Edwardian musical comedy in the early years of the 20th century.

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15/02/1911

Theodor Escherich, German-Austrian pediatrician and academic (born 1859)

Theodor Escherich was a German-Austrian pediatrician and a professor at universities in Graz and Vienna. He discovered and described the bacterium Escherichia coli.

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15/02/1905

Lew Wallace, American author, general, and politician, 11th Governor of New Mexico Territory (born 1827)

Lewis Wallace was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, artist, and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Wallace is best known for his historical adventure story, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880), a bestselling novel that has been called "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century."

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15/02/1901

Edward Stafford, Scottish-New Zealand educator and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1819)

Sir Edward William Stafford served as the third premier of New Zealand on three occasions in the mid 19th century. His total time in office is the longest of any leader without a political party. He is described as pragmatic, logical, and clear-sighted.

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15/02/1897

Dimitrie Ghica, Romanian lawyer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Romania (born 1816)

Dimitrie Ghica or Ghika was a Romanian politician. A prominent member of the Conservative Party, he served as Prime Minister between 1868 and 1870.

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15/02/1885

Gregor von Helmersen, Estonian-Russian geologist and engineer (born 1803)

Gregor von Helmersen or Grigory Petrovich Helmersen was a Baltic German geologist.

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Leopold Damrosch, German-American composer and conductor (born 1832)

Leopold Damrosch was a German American orchestral conductor, composer, violinist, and teacher. He was the patriarch of the Damrosch family, which includes Frank Damrosch and Walter Damrosch.

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15/02/1877

Rayko Zhinzifov, Bulgarian poet and translator (born 1839)

Rayko Ivanov (Yoanov) Zhinzifov or Rajko Ivanov (Jovanov) Žinzifov,, born Ksenofont Dzindzifi, was a Bulgarian National Revival poet and translator from Veles in today's North Macedonia, who spent most of his life in the Russian Empire.

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15/02/1869

Ghalib, Indian poet and educator (born 1796)

Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan, commonly known as Mirza Ghalib, was an Indian poet and letter writer of the Mughal Empire. Writing in Persian and Urdu during the final years of the Mughal Empire and the rise of British colonial rule, his poetry often addressed themes of love, loss, philosophy, the human condition, and socio-political disturbances with a depth and complexity that influenced the literary traditions of his time. His ghazals, noted for their intricate imagery and layered meanings, form a significant part of Urdu literature. He spent most of his life in poverty.

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15/02/1857

Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (born 1804)

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country and is often regarded as the fountainhead of Russian classical music. His compositions were an important influence on other Russian composers, notably the members of The Five, who produced a distinctive Russian style of music.

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15/02/1849

Pierre François Verhulst, Belgian mathematician and theorist (born 1804)

Pierre François Verhulst was a Belgian mathematician and a doctor in number theory from the University of Ghent in 1825. He is best known for the logistic growth model.

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15/02/1848

Hermann von Boyen, Prussian general and politician, Prussian Minister of War (born 1771)

Leopold Hermann Ludwig von Boyen was a Prussian army officer who helped to reform the Prussian Army in the early 19th century. He also served as minister of war of Prussia in the period 1810–1813 and again from 1 March 1841 – 6 October 1847.

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15/02/1847

Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician and engineer (born 1794)

Germinal Pierre Dandelin was a French mathematician, soldier, and professor of engineering.

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15/02/1844

Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1757)

Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth was a British Tory statesman who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804 and as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1789 to 1801.

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15/02/1842

Archibald Menzies, Scottish surgeon and botanist (born 1754)

Archibald Menzies was a Scottish surgeon, botanist and naturalist. He spent many years at sea, serving with the Royal Navy, private merchants, and the Vancouver Expedition.

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15/02/1839

François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier, Canadian rebel (born 1803)

François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier, also known under shorter names such as François-Marie-Thomas de Lorimier, Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier or Chevalier de Lorimier, was a notary who fought as a Patriote and Frère chasseur for the independence of Lower Canada in the Lower Canada Rebellion. For these actions, he was incarcerated at the Montreal Pied-du-Courant Prison and was hanged at the site by the British authorities.

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15/02/1835

Henry Hunt, English farmer and politician (born 1773)

Henry "Orator" Hunt was an English radical speaker and agitator remembered as a pioneer of working-class radicalism and an important influence on the later Chartist movement. He advocated parliamentary reform and the repeal of the Corn Laws. He was the first member of parliament to advocate for women's suffrage; in 1832 he presented a petition to parliament from a woman asking for the right to vote. He was the leading figure in the events leading to Peterloo massacre.

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15/02/1818

Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (born 1746)

Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen was a Prussian general.

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15/02/1781

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German philosopher, author, and critic (born 1729)

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature. He is widely considered by theatre historians to be the first dramaturg in his role at Abel Seyler's Hamburg National Theatre.

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15/02/1772

Mitromaras, Greek rebel and pirate

Mitromaras was a Greek rebel and pirate who took part in the Orlov Revolt (1770).

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15/02/1738

Matthias Braun, Czech sculptor (born 1684)

Matthias Bernard Braun was a sculptor and carver active in the Kingdom of Bohemia, one of the most prominent late baroque style sculptors in the area.

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15/02/1637

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1578)

Ferdinand II was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria of Bavaria, who were devout Catholics. In 1590, when Ferdinand was 11 years old, they sent him to study at the Jesuits' college in Ingolstadt because they wanted to isolate him from the Lutheran nobles. A few months later, his father died, and he inherited Inner Austria–Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and smaller provinces. His cousin, Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, who was the head of the Habsburg family, appointed regents to administer these lands.

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15/02/1621

Michael Praetorius, German organist and composer (born 1571)

Michael Praetorius was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms based on Protestant hymns.

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15/02/1600

José de Acosta, Spanish Jesuit missionary and naturalist (born 1540)

José de Acosta, SJ was a sixteenth-century Spanish Jesuit missionary and naturalist in Latin America. His deductions regarding the ill effects of crossing over the Andes in 1570 related to the atmosphere being too thin for human needs led to the modern understanding of a variety of altitude sickness, now referred to as Acosta's disease.

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15/02/1508

Giovanni II Bentivoglio, tyrant of Bologna (born 1443)

Giovanni II Bentivoglio was an Italian nobleman who ruled as lord of Bologna from 1463 until 1506. He had no formal position, but held power as the city's "first citizen." The Bentivoglio family ruled over Bologna from 1443, and repeatedly attempted to consolidate their hold of the Signoria of the city.

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15/02/1417

Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford, English commander (born 1385)

Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford KG was the son and heir of Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford. He took part in the trial of Richard, Earl of Cambridge, and Lord Scrope for their part in the Southampton Plot, and was one of the commanders at Agincourt in 1415.

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15/02/1382

William de Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk (born c. 1339)

William Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk was an English nobleman in the reigns of Edward III and Richard II. He was the son of Robert Ufford, who was created Earl of Suffolk by Edward III in 1337. William had three older brothers who all predeceased him, and in 1369 he succeeded his father.

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15/02/1152

Conrad III, king of Germany (born 1093)

Conrad III of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of his predecessor Lothair III, and from 1138 until his death in 1152 King of the Romans in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the son of Duke Frederick I of Swabia and Agnes, a daughter of Emperor Henry IV.

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15/02/1145

Lucius II, pope of the Catholic Church

Pope Lucius II, born Gherardo Caccianemici dal Orso, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1144 to his death in 1145. His pontificate was notable for the unrest in Rome associated with the Commune of Rome and its attempts to wrest control of the city from the papacy. He supported Empress Matilda's claim to the Kingdom of England in the Anarchy, and had a tense relationship with King Roger II of Sicily.

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15/02/1043

Gisela of Swabia, Holy Roman Empress (born 990)

Gisela of Swabia, was queen of Germany from 1024 to 1039 and empress of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 to 1039 by her third marriage with Emperor Conrad II. She was the mother of Emperor Henry III. She was regent of Swabia for her minor son Duke Ernest II of Swabia in 1015, although it seems at that time her husband Conrad was the one who held the reins of government, leading to the enmity between stepfather and stepson.

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15/02/0956

Su Yugui, Chinese chancellor (born 895)

Su Yugui, courtesy name Yuanxi (元錫), noble title Duke of Ju (莒國公), was an official of the Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou dynasties of China. He served as a chancellor in the Later Han and Later Zhou.

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15/02/0815

Ibn Tabataba, Zaydi anti-caliph

Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm Ṭabāṭabā ibn Ismāʿīl al-Dībādj ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ghamr ibn al-Ḥasan al-Muthannā, better known as Ibn Ṭabāṭabā, was a Hasanid who was the figurehead of an unsuccessful Zaydi uprising against the Abbasid Caliphate in 814–815, during the Fourth Fitna. His grandfather Ismāʿīl al-Dībāj is the grandson of Hasan al-Mu'thannā.

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15/02/0706

Leontios, Byzantine emperor

Leontius was Byzantine emperor under the regnal name Leo from 695 to 698. Little is known of his early life, other than that he was born in Isauria in Asia Minor. He was given the title of patrikios, and made strategos of the Anatolic Theme under Emperor Constantine IV. He led forces against the Umayyads during the early years of Justinian II's reign, securing victory and forcing the Umayyad caliph, Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, to sue for peace.

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Tiberios III, Byzantine emperor

Tiberius III, born Apsimar, was Eastern Roman emperor from 698 to 705. Little is known about his early life, other than that he was a droungarios, a mid-level commander, who served in the Cibyrrhaeot Theme. In 696, Tiberius was part of an army sent by Byzantine Emperor Leontius to retake the North African city of Carthage, which had been captured by the Arab Umayyads. After seizing the city, this army was pushed back by Umayyad reinforcements and retreated to the island of Crete. As they feared the wrath of Leontius, some officers killed their commander, John the Patrician, and declared Tiberius the emperor. Tiberius swiftly gathered a fleet and sailed for Constantinople, where he then deposed Leontius. Tiberius did not attempt to retake Byzantine Africa from the Umayyads, but campaigned against them along the eastern border with some success. In 705, former emperor Justinian II, who had been deposed by Leontius, led an army of Slavs and Bulgars from the First Bulgarian Empire to Constantinople, and after entering the city secretly, deposed Tiberius. Tiberius fled to Bithynia, but was captured a few months later and beheaded by Justinian between August 705 and February 706. His body was initially thrown into the sea, but was later recovered and buried in a church on the island of Prote.

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15/02/0670

Oswiu, king of Northumbria (born c. 612)

Oswiu, also known as Oswy or Oswig, was King of Bernicia from 642 and of Northumbria from 654 until his death. He is notable for his role at the Synod of Whitby in 664, which ultimately brought the church in Northumbria into conformity with the wider Catholic Church.

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