Died on Monday, 12th January – Famous Deaths
On 12th January, 106 remarkable people passed away — from 690 to 2026. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.
Monday, 12th January marks a date of significant historical reflection across multiple disciplines. The list of notable deaths on this day spans centuries and continents, reflecting contributions to art, science, politics and social movements. Sir Roger Scruton, the English philosopher and writer, died on this date in 2020, leaving behind a substantial body of work that influenced contemporary conservative thought. Earlier, in 2017, Graham Taylor, the English football player and manager, passed away after a distinguished career that shaped English football during a transformative period. Rick Garcia, an American LGBTQ rights activist born in 1956, also features among those remembered on this day, representing decades of advocacy work for equality and civil rights.
Historical significance extends further back into the record. In 1976, Agatha Christie, the English crime novelist whose works became cultural touchstones for mystery fiction worldwide, died on this date. The pharmaceutical and scientific community lost Charles Brenton Huggins, a Canadian-American physician and Nobel Prize laureate, in 1997. These deaths collectively illustrate how 12th January has witnessed the passing of individuals whose work continues to influence their respective fields.
The breadth of professions represented—from mathematics and philosophy to theatre and athletics—demonstrates that this date has marked the end of lives that spanned diverse human endeavours. Academic disciplines, creative industries and public service have all lost significant figures on 12th January throughout recorded history. DayAtlas provides a comprehensive record of such historical moments, showing weather patterns, notable events, famous births and deaths for any date and specific location globally.
See who passed away today 9th April.
12/01/2026
Rick Garcia (activist), American LGBTQ rights activist (born 1956)
Rick Garcia was an American LGBTQ activist known primarily for his work in Chicago and for LGBTQ acceptance within the Roman Catholic Church. As a co-founder of Equality Illinois, he advocated for equal treatment and social justice for the LGBTQ community.
12/01/2025
Leslie Charleson, American actress (born 1945)
Leslie Ann Charleson was an American actress, best known for playing the role of Monica Quartermaine on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital for 46 years.
Claude Jarman Jr., American actor and producer (born 1934)
Claude Miller Jarman Jr. was an American actor. He became a child star with his role as Jody Baxter in The Yearling (1946), for which he won an Academy Juvenile Award. Further roles in films like Intruder in the Dust (1949) and Rio Grande (1950) followed. Jarman largely retired from acting in early adulthood and later served as executive director of the San Francisco International Film Festival, and director of Cultural Affairs for the City of San Francisco.
12/01/2023
Lisa Marie Presley, American singer-songwriter (born 1968)
Lisa Marie Presley was an American singer-songwriter. The daughter of singer and actor Elvis Presley and actress Priscilla Presley, she became the sole heir to her father's estate following the deaths of her grandfather and great-grandmother. She was also known for her marriage to Michael Jackson, whom she wed in 1994 and divorced in 1996.
Sharad Yadav, Indian politician, 30th Minister of Civil Aviation, 29th Labour Minister (born 1947)
Sharad Yadav was an Indian politician from the Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD) party. He was elected to the Lok Sabha seven times and to the Rajya Sabha four times for Janata Dal (United). He was the first national president of JD(U), serving from its formation in 2003 until 2016. He was disqualified from the Rajya Sabha in 2017 and removed from party leadership positions for engaging in anti-party activities.
12/01/2022
Ronnie Spector, American singer (born 1943)
Veronica Yvette Greenfield, known professionally as Ronnie Spector, was an American singer. Regarded as the "bad girl of rock and roll", she achieved international fame for founding and fronting the girl group the Ronettes.
12/01/2020
Sir Roger Scruton, English philosopher and writer (born 1944)
Sir Roger Vernon Scruton was an English philosopher, writer, and social critic who specialised in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of conservative views. The founding-editor of The Salisbury Review, a conservative political journal, Scruton wrote over 50 books on architecture, art, philosophy, politics, religion, among other topics. Scruton was also Chairman of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission for the United Kingdom's government, from 2019 to 2020. His views on classical architecture and beauty are still promoted via his foundation, while his political stances remain influential.
12/01/2018
Keith Jackson, American sports commentator and journalist (born 1928)
Keith Max Jackson was an American sports commentator, journalist, author, and radio personality, known for his career with ABC Sports (1966–2006). While he covered a variety of sports over his career, he is best known for his coverage of college football from 1952 until 2006 and his distinctive voice, that according to Steve Kelley in The Seattle Times was "a throwback voice, deep and operatic. A voice that was to college football what Edward R. Murrow's was to war. It was the voice of ultimate authority in his profession."
12/01/2017
William Peter Blatty, American writer and filmmaker (born 1928)
William Peter Blatty was an American writer, director and producer. He is best known for his 1971 novel The Exorcist and for his screenplay for the 1973 film adaptation. Blatty won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Exorcist, and was nominated for Best Picture as its producer. The film also earned Blatty a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama as producer.
Graham Taylor, English football player and manager (born 1944)
Graham Taylor was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln City, Watford, Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
12/01/2015
Trevor Colbourn, American historian and academic (born 1927)
Harold Trevor Colbourn was an Australian professor and academic administrator, who served as the second president of the University of Central Florida, previously named Florida Technological University.
Robert Gover, American journalist and author (born 1929)
Robert Gover was an American journalist who became a best-selling novelist at age 30. His first novel, One Hundred Dollar Misunderstanding, a satire on American racism, remains a cult classic that helped break down America's fear of four-letter words and sexually explicit scenes, as well as sensitizing Americans to sanctimonious hypocrisy. Gover worked with writers for three decades. On the Run with Dick and Jane was his ninth novel. His previous book, Time and Money, explores economic and planetary cyclical correlations. In 2015, the Eric Hoffer Prose Award was renamed the Gover Story Prize in his honor.
Carl Long, American baseball player (born 1935)
Carl Russell Long was an American professional baseball outfielder who played in Negro league baseball and minor league baseball. Along with Frank Washington, Long broke the color barrier in the Carolina League city of Kinston, North Carolina.
Elena Obraztsova, Russian soprano and actress (born 1939)
Elena Vasilyevna Obraztsova was a Soviet and Russian mezzo-soprano. She was awarded the People's Artist of the USSR in 1976 and Hero of Socialist Labour in 1990.
Inge Vermeulen, Brazilian-Dutch field hockey player (born 1985)
Inge Vermeulen was a Brazil-born Dutch field hockey player.
12/01/2014
Alexandra Bastedo, English actress (born 1946)
Alexandra Lendon Bastedo was a British actress, best known for her role as the secret agent Sharron Macready in the 1968 British espionage/science fiction adventure series The Champions. Bastedo was a vegetarian and animal welfare advocate, and wrote a number of books on both subjects.
Connie Binsfeld, American educator and politician, 58th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (born 1924)
Connie Berube Binsfeld was an American Republican politician from the U.S. State of Michigan. She served as the 60th lieutenant governor of Michigan. Starting as an advocate for the environment in planning for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, she also was known for protecting interests of women and children. She was the first woman to hold leadership posts in Michigan's House, Senate and executive branch, where she served four terms in the House, two in the Senate, and two as Lieutenant Governor.
George Dement, American soldier, businessman, and politician (born 1922)
George Elyott Dement Jr., was an American innkeeper and restaurateur who served from 1989 to 2005 as the thirteenth mayor of Bossier City, Louisiana.
12/01/2013
Precious Bryant, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1942)
Precious Bryant was an American country blues, gospel, and folk singer and guitarist. Bryant is described as one of Georgia's great blueswomen. She played Piedmont fingerstyle guitar.
Flor María Chalbaud, First Lady of Venezuela (born 1921)
Flor de María Chalbaud Castro was First Lady of Venezuela between 2 December 1952 and 23 January 1958 and one of the founders of the Bolivarian Ladies Society.
Eugene Patterson, American journalist and activist (born 1923)
Eugene Corbett Patterson, sometimes known as Gene Patterson, was an American journalist and civil rights activist. He was awarded the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing.
12/01/2012
Bjørn G. Andersen, Norwegian geologist and academic (born 1924)
Bjørn Grothaug Andersen was a Norwegian professor of Quaternary geology and glaciology who made foundational contributions to glacial geology and the understanding of climate change.
Glenda Dickerson, American director, choreographer, and educator (born 1945)
Glenda Dickerson was an American director, folklorist, adaptor, writer, choreographer, actor, black theatre organizer, and educator. She was the second African-American woman to direct on Broadway, with her 1980 musical production of Reggae: a musical revelation. She is known throughout the American Theater as a promoter of a "womanist" direction in the theater and her work focused on folklore, myths, black legends, and classical works reinterpreted. She worked in venues including the Biltmore Theatre (Broadway), Circle in the Square, The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Ford's Theatre and the Kennedy Center. In 1971, Dickerson received an Emmy nomination and in 1972 a Peabody Award.
Bill Janklow, American lawyer and politician, 27th Governor of South Dakota (born 1939)
William John Janklow was an American lawyer and politician and member of the Republican Party. He holds the record for the longest tenure as the governor of South Dakota: sixteen years in office. Janklow had the third-longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,851 days.
Charles H. Price II, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (born 1931)
Charles Harry Price II was a prominent American businessman and ambassador of the United States.
Jim Stanley, American football player and coach (born 1935)
Jim Stanley was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater from 1973 to 1978, compiling a record of 35–31–2. Stanley was also the head coach of the USFL's Michigan Panthers in 1983 and 1984, their only two years of existence. The Panthers won the USFL Championship in 1983.
12/01/2010
Daniel Bensaïd, French philosopher and author (born 1946)
Daniel Bensaïd was a philosopher and a leader of the Trotskyist movement in France. He became a leading figure in the student revolt of 1968, while studying at the University of Paris X-Nanterre.
Hasib Sabbagh, Palestinian businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Consolidated Contractors Company (born 1920)
Hasib Sabbagh was a Palestinian businessman, activist, and philanthropist.
12/01/2009
Claude Berri, French actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1934)
Claude Berri was a French film director, producer, screenwriter, distributor and actor.
12/01/2008
Max Beck, American intersex advocate (born 1966)
Max Beck was an American intersex advocate, who was active in the now-defunct Intersex Society of North America (ISNA). On October 26, 1996, in Boston, Beck participated in the first known public demonstration against human rights violations on intersex people. The event is now annually commemorated and recognized as Intersex Awareness Day.
12/01/2007
Alice Coltrane, American pianist and composer (born 1937)
Alice Lucille Coltrane, also known as Swamini Turiyasangitananda or simply Turiya, was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and Hindu spiritual leader. An accomplished pianist and one of the few harpists in the history of jazz, Coltrane recorded many albums as a bandleader, beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s for Impulse! and other record labels. One of the foremost proponents of spiritual jazz, her eclectic music proved influential both within and outside the world of jazz. She was married to the jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane, with whom she performed in 1966–1967.
James Killen, Australian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 38th Australian Minister for Defence (born 1925)
Sir Denis James "Jim" Killen, was an Australian politician and a Liberal Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for almost 30 years, 1955 to 1983, representing the Division of Moreton in Queensland. He served as Vice-President of the Executive Council, Minister for Defence and Minister for the Navy during his parliamentary career.
12/01/2006
Pablita Velarde, Santa Clara Pueblo Native American painter (born 1918)
Pablita Velarde born Tse Tsan was an American Pueblo artist and painter.
12/01/2005
Amrish Puri, Indian actor (born 1932)
Amrish Puri was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Indian cinema and theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, and established himself as one of the greatest and iconic actors in Indian cinema. Puri was known for his acting versatility but his villainous roles earned him more recognition. His dominating screen presence and distinctive deep voice made him stand out amongst other actors of his generation. Puri also worked in art cinema. He won three Filmfare Awards for Best Supporting Actor in eight nominations. He also holds most Filmfare Award for Best Villain nominations.
12/01/2004
Olga Ladyzhenskaya, Russian mathematician and academic (born 1921)
Olga Aleksandrovna Ladyzhenskaya was a Russian mathematician who worked on partial differential equations, fluid dynamics, and the finite-difference method for the Navier–Stokes equations. She received the Lomonosov Gold Medal in 2002. She authored more than two hundred scientific publications, including six monographs.
12/01/2003
Dean Amadon, American ornithologist and author (born 1912)
Dean Arthur Amadon was an American ornithologist and an authority on birds of prey.
Kinji Fukasaku, Japanese actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1930)
Kinji Fukasaku was a Japanese filmmaker. Known for his "broad range and innovative filmmaking", he worked in many different genres and styles, but was best known for his gritty yakuza films, typified by the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series (1973–1976). According to the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, his "turbulent energy and at times extreme violence express a cynical critique of social conditions and genuine sympathy for those left out of Japan's postwar prosperity". He used a cinema verite-inspired shaky camera technique in many of his films from the early 1970s.
Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentine general and politician, 44th President of Argentina (born 1926)
Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli was an Argentine military officer who served as the de facto President of Argentina from December 1981 to June 1982. Galtieri ruled as a military dictator during the National Reorganization Process as leader of the Third Junta with Jorge Anaya and Basilio Lami Dozo.
Maurice Gibb, Manx-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1949)
Maurice Ernest Gibb was a British musician and songwriter. He achieved global fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group, considered one of the most successful pop-rock groups of all time. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb were the group's main lead singers, most of their albums included at least one or two songs featuring Maurice's lead vocals, including "Lay It on Me", "Country Woman" and "On Time".
Alan Nunn May, English physicist and spy (born 1911)
Alan Nunn May was a British physicist and a confessed and convicted Soviet spy who supplied secrets of British and American atomic research to the Soviet Union during World War II.
12/01/2002
Cyrus Vance, American lawyer and politician, 57th U.S. Secretary of State (born 1917)
Cyrus Roberts Vance was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 57th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980. Prior to serving in that position, he was the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense in the Johnson administration. During the Kennedy administration he was Secretary of the Army and General Counsel of the Department of Defense.
12/01/2001
Luiz Bonfá, Brazilian guitarist and composer (born 1922)
Luiz Floriano Bonfá was a Brazilian guitarist and composer. He was best known for the music he composed for the film Black Orpheus.
William Redington Hewlett, American engineer and businessman, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (born 1913)
William Redington Hewlett was an American engineer and the co-founder, with David Packard, of the Hewlett-Packard Company (HP).
12/01/2000
Marc Davis, American animator and screenwriter (born 1913)
Marc Fraser Davis was a prominent American artist and animator for Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, the famed core animators of Disney animated films, and was revered for his knowledge and understanding of visual aesthetics. After his work on One Hundred and One Dalmatians he moved to Walt Disney Imagineering to work on rides for Disneyland and Walt Disney World before retiring in 1978.
Bobby Phills, American basketball player (born 1969)
Bobby Ray Phills II was an American professional basketball player. He played shooting guard and small forward for the National Basketball Association's Cleveland Cavaliers and Charlotte Hornets.
12/01/1999
Doug Wickenheiser, Canadian-American ice hockey player (born 1961)
Douglas Peter Wickenheiser was a Canadian ice hockey player, who was drafted first overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1980 NHL entry draft.
12/01/1998
Roger Clark, English racing driver (born 1939)
Roger Albert Clark, MBE was a British rally driver during the 1960s and '70s, and the first competitor from his country to win a World Rally Championship (WRC) event when he triumphed at the 1976 RAC Rally.
12/01/1997
Jean-Edern Hallier, French author (born 1936)
Jean-Edern Hallier was a French writer, critic and publisher.
Charles Brenton Huggins, Canadian-American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1901)
Charles Brenton Huggins was a Canadian-American surgeon and physiologist known for his work on prostate function, prostate cancer, and breast cancer. Born in Halifax in 1901, Huggins moved to the United States for medical school. He was one of the founding staff members of the University of Chicago Medical School, where he remained for the duration of his professional research career. Huggins's work on how sex hormones influence prostate function ultimately led to his discovery of hormone therapies to treat prostate cancer. For this finding, he was awarded the 1966 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. In addition to his work on prostate cancer, Huggins explored the relationship between hormones and breast cancer, developed an animal model for breast cancer, and developed chromogenic substrates that are widely used for biochemical analyses. Huggins continued to perform research into his 90s; he died in Chicago in 1997.
12/01/1996
Joachim Nitsche, German mathematician and academic (born 1926)
Joachim A. Nitsche was a German mathematician and professor of mathematics in Freiburg, known for his important contributions to the mathematical and numerical analysis of partial differential equations. The duality argument for estimating the error of the finite element method and a scheme for the weak enforcement of Dirichlet boundary conditions for Poisson's equation bear his name.
12/01/1994
Gustav Naan, Estonian physicist and philosopher (born 1919)
Gustav Naan was a Soviet and Estonian physicist and philosopher. According to the Estonian Encyclopedia's definition, he "wrote plenty of irritating publicist articles".
12/01/1992
Kumar Gandharva, a Hindustani classical singer (born 1924)
Pandit Kumar Gandharva, originally known as Shivaputra Siddharamayya Komkalimath was an Indian classical singer, well known for his unique vocal style and for his refusal to be bound by the tradition of any gharana. The name, Kumar Gandharva, is a title given to him when he was a child prodigy; a Gandharva is a musical spirit in Hindu mythology.
12/01/1991
Robert Jackson, Australian public servant and diplomat (born 1911)
Sir Robert Gillman Allen Jackson was an Australian naval officer, public servant and United Nations administrator who specialised in technical and logistical assistance to the developing world.
12/01/1990
Laurence J. Peter, Canadian-American author and educator (born 1919)
Laurence Johnston Peter was a Canadian educator and "hierarchiologist" who is best known to the general public for the formulation of the Peter principle.
12/01/1988
Connie Mulder, South African politician (born 1925)
Cornelius Petrus Mulder was a South African politician and cabinet minister.
Piero Taruffi, Italian racing driver and motorcycle racer (born 1906)
Pierino Antonio Alberto Taruffi was an Italian racing driver, motorcycle road racer, motorsport executive and engineer, who competed in Formula One from 1950 to 1956. Taruffi won the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix with Ferrari. In endurance racing, Taruffi won the Mille Miglia in 1957, also with Ferrari. In Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Taruffi won the 1932 European Championship in the premier 500cc class with Norton.
12/01/1983
Nikolai Podgorny, Ukrainian engineer and politician (born 1903)
Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny was a Soviet statesman who served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the head of state of the Soviet Union, from 1965 to 1977.
12/01/1977
Henri-Georges Clouzot, French director and screenwriter (born 1907)
Henri-Georges Clouzot was a French film director, screenwriter and producer. Clouzot is best remembered for his work in the thriller film genre, having directed The Wages of Fear (1953) and Les Diaboliques (1955), which are critically recognized as among the greatest films of the 1950s. He also directed documentary films, including The Mystery of Picasso (1956), which was declared a national treasure by the government of France.
12/01/1976
Agatha Christie, English crime novelist, short story writer, and playwright (born 1890)
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Mallowan, Lady Mallowan, usually known by her first married name, Agatha Christie, was an English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short-story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers, particularly in the mystery genre.
12/01/1974
Princess Patricia of Connaught (born 1886)
Princess Patricia of Connaught was member of the British royal family and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She was the third and youngest child and the second daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, and Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia. She was also the only one of her father's children to outlive him: her siblings, Margaret and Arthur, both died before their father. Upon her marriage to Alexander Ramsay, she relinquished her title of a British princess and the style of Royal Highness and assumed the style Lady Patricia Ramsay.
12/01/1973
Roy Franklin Nichols, American historian and academic (born 1896)
Roy Franklin Nichols was an American historian who won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for History for The Disruption of American Democracy.
12/01/1971
John Tovey, 1st Baron Tovey, English admiral (born 1885)
Admiral of the Fleet John Cronyn Tovey, 1st Baron Tovey,, sometimes known as Jack Tovey, was a Royal Navy officer. During the First World War he commanded the destroyer HMS Onslow at the Battle of Jutland and then commanded the destroyer Ursa at the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight. During the Second World War he initially served as Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet in which role he commanded the Mediterranean Fleet's Light Forces. He then served as Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet and was responsible for orchestrating the pursuit and destruction of the Bismarck. After that he became Commander-in-Chief, The Nore with responsibility for controlling the east coast convoys and organising minesweeping operations.
12/01/1967
Burhan Asaf Belge, Turkish diplomat (born 1887)
Burhan Belge was a Turkish politician and diplomat, who was a prominent figure among the young intellectuals during the early periods of Republic of Turkey and served as the representative of Muğla province during the 11th term of the Turkish National Assembly. He was a regular contributor to Kadro, a left-wing journal dedicated to "discussions on ideology and economic-development strategy." In the 1950s he began to write for the Democrat Party newspaper Zafer.
12/01/1965
Lorraine Hansberry, American author, playwright, and director (born 1936)
Lorraine Vivian Hansberry was an American playwright and writer. She was the first Black American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Hansberry's best-known work, the play A Raisin in the Sun, highlights the lives of Black Americans in Chicago living under racial segregation. The title of the play was taken from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes: "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" At age 29, she won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award – making Hansberry the first Black American dramatist, the fifth woman, and the youngest playwright to do so. Her family had struggled against segregation, challenging a restrictive covenant in the 1940 U.S. Supreme Court case Hansberry v. Lee.
12/01/1962
Ariadna Tyrkova-Williams, Russian journalist and activist (born 1869)
Ariadna Vladimirovna Tyrkova-Williams was a liberal politician, journalist, writer and feminist in Russia during the revolutionary period until 1920. Afterwards, she lived as a writer in Britain (1920–1951) and the United States (1951–1962).
12/01/1960
Nevil Shute, English engineer and author (born 1899)
Nevil Shute Norway was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name to protect his engineering career from inferences by his employers (Vickers) or from fellow engineers that he was "not a serious person" or from potentially adverse publicity in connection with his novels, which included On the Beach and A Town Like Alice.
12/01/1958
Charles Hatfield, American meteorologist (born 1875)
Charles Mallory Hatfield was an American "rainmaker".
12/01/1944
Lance C. Wade, American commander and pilot (born 1915)
Wing Commander Lance Cleo "Wildcat" Wade DSO, DFC & Two Bars was an American pilot who joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War and became a flying ace. He remained with RAF until his death in a flying accident in 1944 in Italy. He was described as a "distinguished American fighter ace who epitomized perhaps more than any other American airman the wartime accords between Britain and the United States".
12/01/1943
Jan Campert, Dutch journalist and critic (born 1902)
Jan Remco Theodoor Campert was a Dutch journalist, theater critic and writer who lived in Amsterdam. During the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II Campert was arrested for aiding Jews. He was held in the Neuengamme concentration camp, where he died.
12/01/1940
Ralph Hitz, Austrian-American hotelier (born 1891)
Ralph Hitz was a pioneer in the hotel industry, whose ideas for marketing and customer service became the industry standard for luxury lodging. During the 1930s he was the head of the National Hotel Management Company, the largest hotel organization in the United States at the time.
Edward Smith, English lieutenant, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1898)
Edward Benn ('Ned') Smith VC, DCM was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
12/01/1938
Oscar Florianus Bluemner, German-American painter and illustrator (born 1867)
Oscar Bluemner, born Friedrich Julius Oskar Blümner and after 1933 known as Oscar Florianus Bluemner, was a Prussian-born American Modernist painter.
12/01/1934
Paul Kochanski, Polish violinist and composer (born 1887)
Paul Kochanski was a Polish violinist, composer and arranger active in the United States.
12/01/1926
Austin Chapman, Australian businessman and politician, 4th Australian Minister for Defence (born 1864)
Sir Austin Chapman was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1901 until his death in 1926. He held ministerial office in the governments of Alfred Deakin and Stanley Bruce, serving as Minister for Defence (1903–1904), Postmaster-General (1905–1907), Minister for Trade and Customs, and Minister for Health (1923–1924).
12/01/1921
Gervase Elwes, English tenor and actor (born 1866)
Gervase Henry Cary-Elwes, DL, better known as Gervase Elwes, was an English tenor of great distinction, who exercised a powerful influence over the development of English music from the early 1900s up until his death in 1921 due to a railroad accident in Boston at the height of his career.
12/01/1916
Georgios Theotokis, Greek lawyer and politician, 80th Prime Minister of Greece (born 1844)
Georgios Theotokis was a Greek politician and Prime Minister of Greece, serving the post four times. He represented the Modernist Party or Neoteristikon Komma (NK).
12/01/1911
Andreas Papagiannakopoulos, Greek journalist, judge, and politician (born 1845)
Andreas Papagiannakopoulos was a judge and a politician of Kalavryta and Achaea.
12/01/1909
Hermann Minkowski, Lithuanian-German mathematician and academic (born 1864)
Hermann Minkowski was a mathematician and professor at the University of Königsberg, ETH Zürich, and the University of Göttingen, described variously as German, Polish, Lithuanian-German, or Russian. He created and developed the geometry of numbers and elements of convex geometry, and used geometrical methods to solve problems in number theory, mathematical physics, and the theory of relativity.
12/01/1899
Hiram Walker, American businessman, founded Canadian Club (born 1816)
Hiram Walker was an American entrepreneur and founder of the Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd. distillery in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He was born in East Douglas, Massachusetts, and moved to Detroit in 1838. He purchased land across the Detroit River, just east of what is Windsor, Ontario, and established a distillery in 1858 in what would become Walkerville, Ontario. He began selling his whisky as Hiram Walker's Club Whisky, in containers that were "clearly marked". He used a process to make his whisky that was vastly different from all other distillers.
12/01/1892
James Caulfeild, 3rd Earl of Charlemont, Irish politician, Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone (born 1820)
James Molyneux Caulfeild, 3rd Earl of Charlemont KP was an Irish politician and peer.
William Reeves, Irish bishop and historian (born 1815)
William Reeves was an Irish antiquarian and the Church of Ireland Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore from 1886 until his death. He was the last private keeper of the Book of Armagh and at the time of his death was President of the Royal Irish Academy.
12/01/1861
Václav Hanka, Czech philologist and author (born 1791)
Václav Hanka was a Czech philologist, poet and literary historian. Today he is known primarily as the probable counterfeiter of Dvůr Králové Manuscript, which he allegedly found. He contributed to the Czech National Revival.
12/01/1856
Ľudovít Štúr, Slovak philologist and politician (born 1815)
Ľudovít Štúr, also known as Ľudovít Velislav Štúr, was a Slovak revolutionary, politician, and writer. As a leader of the Slovak national revival in the 19th century and the codifier of standard Slovak, he is lauded as one of the most important figures in Slovak history.
12/01/1834
William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1759)
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville was a British Pittite Tory politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration of the Napoleonic Wars. As prime minister, his most significant achievement was the abolition of the slave trade in 1807. However, his government failed to either make peace with France or to accomplish Catholic emancipation and it was dismissed in the same year.
12/01/1833
Marie-Antoine Carême, French chef (born 1784)
Marie-Antoine Carême, known as Antonin Carême, was a leading French chef of the early 19th century.
12/01/1829
Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, German philosopher, poet, and critic (born 1772)
Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel was a German literary critic, philosopher, and Indologist. With his older brother, August Wilhelm Schlegel, he was one of the main figures of Jena Romanticism.
12/01/1781
Richard Challoner, English bishop (born 1691)
Richard Challoner was an English Catholic prelate who served as Vicar Apostolic of the London District during the greater part of the 18th century, and as Titular Bishop of Doberus. In 1738, he published a revision of the Douay–Rheims Bible.
12/01/1778
François Bigot, French politician (born 1703)
François Bigot was a French government official. He served as the Financial Commissary on Île Royale, commissary general of the ill-fated Duc d'Anville expedition and finally as the Intendant of New France, the last before its conquest by Britain. Subsequently, he was accused of corruption, trialed and convicted in France, and imprisoned in the Bastille for eleven months. Before he could be banished, his sentence upon release, he escaped to Switzerland, where he would live until his death.
12/01/1777
Hugh Mercer, Scottish-American general and physician (born 1726)
Hugh Mercer was a Scottish brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He fought in the New York and New Jersey campaign and was mortally wounded at the Battle of Princeton.
12/01/1765
Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (born 1696)
Johann Melchior Molter was a German composer and violinist of the late Baroque period.
12/01/1759
Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (born 1709)
Anne, Princess Royal was the second child and eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain and his consort Caroline of Ansbach. She was the wife of William IV, Prince of Orange, the first hereditary stadtholder of all seven provinces of the Dutch Republic. She was Regent of the Netherlands from 1751 until her death in 1759, exercising extensive powers on behalf of her son William V. She was known as an Anglophile, due to her English upbringing and family connections, but was unable to convince the Dutch Republic to enter the Seven Years' War on the side of the British. Princess Anne was the second daughter of a British sovereign to hold the title Princess Royal. In the Netherlands she was styled Anna van Hannover.
12/01/1735
John Eccles, English composer (born 1668)
John Eccles was an English composer.
12/01/1732
John Horsley, English-Scottish historian and author (born 1685)
John Horsley FRS was a British antiquarian, known primarily for his book Britannia Romana or The Roman Antiquities of Britain which was published in 1732.
12/01/1720
William Ashhurst, English banker and politician, Lord Mayor of London (born 1647)
Sir William Ashhurst was a British banker, merchant and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1689 to 1710. He also served as the Lord Mayor of London in 1693.
12/01/1700
Marguerite Bourgeoys, French-Canadian nun and saint, founded the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal (born 1620)
Marguerite Bourgeoys, CND, was a French religious sister and founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal in the colony of New France, now part of Québec, Canada.
12/01/1674
Giacomo Carissimi, Italian priest and composer (born 1605)
(Gian) Giacomo Carissimi was an Italian composer and music teacher. He is one of the most celebrated masters of the early Baroque or, more accurately, the Roman School of music. Carissimi established the characteristic features of the Latin oratorio and was a prolific composer of masses, motets, and cantatas. He was highly influential in musical developments in northern European countries through his pupils, like Kerll in Germany and Charpentier in France, and the wide dissemination of his music.
12/01/1665
Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician and lawyer (born 1601)
Pierre de Fermat was a French magistrate, polymath, and above all, a mathematician who is given credit for early developments that led to infinitesimal calculus, including his technique of adequality. In particular, he is recognized for his discovery of an original method of finding the greatest and the smallest ordinates of curved lines, which is analogous to that of differential calculus, then unknown, and his research into number theory. He made notable contributions to analytic geometry, probability, and optics. He is best known for his Fermat's principle for light propagation and his Fermat's Last Theorem in number theory, which he described in a note at the margin of a copy of Diophantus' Arithmetica. He was also a lawyer at the parlement of Toulouse, France, a poet, a skilled Latinist, and a Hellenist.
12/01/1519
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1459)
Maximilian I was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death in 1519. He was never crowned by the Pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed himself elected emperor in 1508 at Trent, with Pope Julius II later recognizing it. This broke the tradition of requiring a papal coronation for the adoption of the Imperial title. Maximilian was the only surviving son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, and Eleanor of Portugal. From his coronation as King of the Romans in 1486, he ran a double government, or Doppelregierung with his father until Frederick's death in 1493.
12/01/1405
Eleanor Maltravers, English noblewoman (born 1345)
Eleanor Maltravers, or Mautravers, was an English noblewoman. The granddaughter and eventual heiress of the first Baron Maltravers, she married two barons in succession and passed her grandfather's title to her grandson.
12/01/1322
Marie of Brabant, Queen of France (born 1254)
Marie of Brabant was Queen of France from 1274 until 1285 as the second wife of King Philip III. Born in Leuven, Brabant, she was a daughter of Henry III, Duke of Brabant, and Adelaide of Burgundy.
12/01/1320
John Dalderby, bishop of Lincoln
John Dalderby was a medieval Bishop of Lincoln.
12/01/1167
Aelred of Rievaulx, English monk and saint (born 1110)
Aelred of Rievaulx, also known as also Ailred, Ælred, or Æthelred; was an English Cistercian monk and writer who served as Abbot of Rievaulx from 1147 until his death. He is venerated by the Catholic Church as a saint and by some Anglicans.
12/01/1140
Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia
Louis I was ruler of Thuringia from 1123 to 1140.
12/01/0947
Sang Weihan, Chinese chief of staff (born 898)
Sang Weihan (桑維翰), courtesy name Guoqiao (國僑), formally the Duke of Wei (魏公), was a Chinese historian, military general, poet, and politician of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Jin, serving as chief of staff (Shumishi) during the reigns of both of Later Jin's emperors, Shi Jingtang and Shi Chonggui. While not a soldier by training, he was said to be capable and respected as the overseer of the armies of the realm.
12/01/0914
Ahmad Samani, Samanid emir
Ahmad ibn Ismail was amir of the Samanids (907–914). He was the son of Ismail Samani. He was known as the "Martyred Amir".
12/01/0690
Benedict Biscop, English scholar and saint, founded the Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey (born 628)
Benedict Biscop, also known as Biscop Baducing, was an Anglo-Saxon abbot and founder of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory. Following his death, he was canonized as a saint.