Died on Tuesday, 20th January – Famous Deaths

20/01/2025

Lynn Ban, Singaporean jewelry designer (born 1972)

Lynn Ban was a Singaporean jewelry designer who was noted for her unconventional designs. She starred in Bling Empire: New York, a reality show on Netflix. Her clients included Rihanna and Beyoncé. Other musical artists who wore her statement pieces included Billie Eilish, Cardi B, Doja Cat, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, Post Malone, and many others.

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Cecile Richards, American activist and former Planned Parenthood president (born 1957)

Cecile Richards was an American activist who served as the president of both the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its affiliated Planned Parenthood Action Fund from 2006 to 2018. In 2010, Richards was elected to the Ford Foundation board of trustees. In spring 2019, Richards co-founded Supermajority, a women's political action group.

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20/01/2024

Norman Jewison, Canadian actor, director, and producer (born 1926)

Norman Frederick Jewison was a Canadian filmmaker. He is known for directing films which addressed topical social and political issues, often making controversial or complicated subjects accessible to mainstream audiences. Among numerous other accolades, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director three times in three separate decades, for In the Heat of the Night (1967), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), and Moonstruck (1987). He was nominated for an additional four Oscars, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award, and won a BAFTA Award. He received the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences's Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1999.

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20/01/2022

Meat Loaf, American singer and actor (born 1947)

Michael Lee Aday, better known by his stage name Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. His Bat Out of Hell album trilogy—Bat Out of Hell (1977), Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993), and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose (2006)—has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. The first album stayed on the charts for over nine years and is one of the best-selling albums in history, still selling an estimated 200,000 copies annually as of 2016.

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20/01/2021

Sibusiso Moyo, Zimbabwean politician, army general (born 1960)

Sibusiso Busi Moyo was a Zimbabwean politician and army Lieutenant general. He was noted for announcing the ousting of Robert Mugabe on national television during the 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état. He went on to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in the cabinet of Emmerson Mnangagwa from November 2017 until his death.

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Mira Furlan, Croatian actress and singer (born 1955)

Mira Furlan was a Croatian-American actress and singer. Internationally, she was best known for her roles as the Minbari Ambassador Delenn in the science fiction television series Babylon 5 (1993–1998), and as Danielle Rousseau in Lost (2004–2010), and also appeared in multiple award-winning films such as When Father Was Away on Business (1985) and The Abandoned (2010).

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20/01/2020

Jaroslav Kubera, Czech politician (born 1947)

Jaroslav Kubera was a Czech politician for the Civic Democratic Party, who served in the Czech Senate representing Teplice from 2000 and the Senate President from 2018 until his death in 2020. He previously served as mayor of Teplice from 1994 to 2018.

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Tom Fisher Railsback, American politician, member of the Illinois and U.S. House of Representatives (born 1932)

Thomas Fisher Railsback was an American politician and lawyer who served eight terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1967 to 1983 for Illinois's 19th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, he sat on the House Judiciary Committee, which in 1974, voted to refer articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon to the full House.

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20/01/2018

Paul Bocuse, French chef (born 1926)

Paul François Pierre Bocuse was a French chef based in Lyon known for the quality of his restaurants and his innovative approaches to cuisine. Dubbed "the pope of gastronomy", he was affectionately nicknamed Monsieur Paul. The Bocuse d'Or, a biennial world chef championship, bears his name.

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Naomi Parker Fraley, American naval machiner, considered the model for the "We Can Do It!" posters of World War II (born 1921)

Naomi Fern Parker Fraley was an American war worker who is considered the most likely model for the iconic "We Can Do It!" poster. During World War II, she worked on aircraft assembly at the Naval Air Station Alameda.

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20/01/2016

Mykolas Burokevičius, Lithuanian carpenter and politician (born 1927)

Mykolas Burokevičius was a communist political leader in Lithuania. After the Communist Party of Lithuania separated from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), he established alternative pro-CPSU Communist Party of Lithuania in early 1990, and led it as the First Secretary of Central Committee until its ban in 1991. He was the only Lithuanian to serve in the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, and did so from 1990 until its ban in 1991.

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Edmonde Charles-Roux, French journalist and author (born 1920)

Edmonde Charles-Roux was a French writer.

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20/01/2014

Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor (born 1933)

Claudio Abbado was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera, founder and director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, founder and director of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, founding artistic director of the Orchestra Mozart and music director of the European Union Youth Orchestra. He was recipient of the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize and Senator for life in Italy.

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Otis G. Pike, American judge and politician (born 1921)

Otis Grey Pike was an American lawyer and politician who served nine terms as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from New York, from 1961 to 1979.

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Jonas Trinkūnas, Lithuanian ethnologist and academic (born 1939)

Jonas Trinkūnas was the founder of Lithuania's pagan revival Romuva, as well as being an ethnologist and folklorist.

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20/01/2013

Pavlos Matesis, Greek author and playwright (born 1933)

Pavlos Matesis was a Greek novelist, playwright and translator. He was born in Divri, a village in the Peloponnese and had a peripatetic youth. He studied acting, music and languages, and taught drama at the Stavrakou School in Athens (1963–64). He also worked as a writer at the National Theatre during 1971–73. He wrote scripts for two television series broadcast on the state channel (1974–76).

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Toyo Shibata, Japanese poet and author (born 1911)

Toyo Shibata was a bestselling Japanese poet; her first anthology Kujikenaide, published in 2009, sold 1.58 million copies. In comparison, poetry book sales of 10,000 are considered successful in Japan. Her anthology also topped Japan's Oricon bestseller chart. It was originally self-published, but upon seeing its success the publisher Asuka Shinsha reissued it, with new artwork, in 2010. It contains 42 poems. After back pain forced Shibata to give up her hobby of classical Japanese dance, she turned to writing poetry at the age of 92, at the suggestion of her son Kenichi. As of 2011 she was writing poems for a second anthology, lived alone in the Tokyo suburbs, and was a widow.

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20/01/2012

Etta James, American singer-songwriter (born 1938)

Jamesetta Hawkins, known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s as the Chitlin' Circuit. She sang in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll and soul and gained fame with hits such as "The Wallflower" (1955), "At Last" (1960), "Something's Got a Hold on Me" (1962), "Tell Mama" and "I'd Rather Go Blind". She faced a number of personal problems, including heroin addiction, severe physical abuse and incarceration, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album Seven Year Itch (1988).

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John Levy, American bassist and manager (born 1912)

John Levy was an American jazz double-bassist and businessman.

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Ioannis Kefalogiannis, Greek politician, Greek Minister of the Interior (born 1933)

Ioannis Kefalogiannis was a Greek politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 1958 to 1964, and again from 1974 to 2004. During this time he was briefly Minister of Public Order, Minister for Tourism, and Minister of the Interior. His daughter is the Cabinet Minister Olga Kefalogianni.

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Alejandro Rodriguez, Venezuelan-American pediatrician and psychiatrist (born 1918)

Alejandro Rodriguez was a Venezuelan-American pediatrician and psychiatrist, known for his pioneering work in child psychiatry. He was the director of the division of child psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and conducted pivotal studies on autism and other developmental disorders in children.

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20/01/2009

Stéphanos II Ghattas, Egyptian patriarch (born 1920)

Stéphanos II Ghattas was an Egyptian Catholic prelate who served as the Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria from 1986 to 2006. He was a member of the Congregation of the Mission and was made a cardinal in 2001. His cause for canonization was initiated after his death.

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20/01/2005

Per Borten, Norwegian lawyer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Norway (born 1913)

was a Norwegian politician from the Centre Party and the prime minister of Norway from 1965 to 1971. Per Borten is credited for leading the modernization of what was then named Bondepartiet into today's Centre Party. He was an active opponent of Norway joining the European Union.

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Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Polish journalist and politician (born 1914)

Jan Nowak-Jeziorański was a Polish journalist, writer, politician, social worker and patriot. He served during the Second World War as one of the most notable resistance fighters of the Home Army. He is best remembered for his work as an emissary shuttling between the commanders of the Home Army and the Polish Government in Exile in London and other Allied governments which gained him the nickname "Courier from Warsaw", and for his participation in the Warsaw Uprising. After the war he worked as the head of the Polish section of Radio Free Europe, and later as a security advisor to the US presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. In 1996, President Bill Clinton awarded him with America's highest civilian award the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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Miriam Rothschild, English zoologist, entomologist, and author (born 1908)

Dame Miriam Louisa Rothschild was a British natural scientist and author with contributions to zoology, entomology, and botany.

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20/01/2004

Alan Brown, English racing driver (born 1919)

Alan Everest Brown was a British racing driver from England. He took up motor racing in a Cooper, later forming the Ecurie Richmond team with Eric Brandon. He participated in nine World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1952 and numerous non-Championship Formula One races. He scored two championship points. He was the first driver to score championship points for Cooper and also gave the first Vanwall its race debut. After he retired, he fielded two drivers in the 1959 British Grand Prix under the team name Alan Brown Equipe.

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T. Nadaraja, Sri Lankan lawyer and academic (born 1917)

Thambiah Nadaraja was a Sri Lankan academic, lawyer and author. He was dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ceylon and chancellor of the University of Jaffna.

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20/01/2003

Al Hirschfeld, American painter and illustrator (born 1903)

Albert Hirschfeld was an American caricaturist best known for his black-and-white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars.

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Nedra Volz, American actress (born 1908)

Nedra Volz was an American actress. On television, she portrayed Aunt Iola on All in the Family, Adelaide Brubaker on Diff'rent Strokes, Emma Tisdale on The Dukes of Hazzard, Pearl Sperling on The Fall Guy, and Winona Beck on Filthy Rich. Her film roles include Big Ed in Lust in the Dust (1985), Loretta Houk in Moving Violations (1985), and Lana in Earth Girls Are Easy (1988).

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20/01/2002

Carrie Hamilton, American actress and singer (born 1963)

Carrie Louise Hamilton was an American actress, playwright and singer. Hamilton was a daughter of comedian Carol Burnett and producer Joe Hamilton. She was the elder sister of actress Jody Hamilton and singer-producer Erin Hamilton.

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20/01/1998

Bobo Brazil, American professional wrestler (born 1924)

Houston Harris was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Bobo Brazil. Credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in professional wrestling, Harris is considered one of the first black professional wrestlers to be a marquee name in North America.

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20/01/1996

Gerry Mulligan, American saxophonist and composer (born 1927)

Gerald Joseph Mulligan, also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, pianist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz—Mulligan was also a significant arranger working with Claude Thornhill, Miles Davis, Stan Kenton, and others. His piano-less quartet of the early 1950s with trumpeter Chet Baker is still regarded as one of the best cool jazz ensembles. Mulligan was also a skilled pianist and played several other reed instruments. Several of his compositions, including "Walkin' Shoes" and "Five Brothers", have become standards.

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20/01/1994

Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and coach (born 1909)

Sir Alexander Matthew Busby was a Scottish football player and manager, who managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–71 season. He was the first manager of an English team to win the European Cup and is widely regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time.

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Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, first Kenyan Vice-President (born 1911)

Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was a Kenyan politician who became a prominent figure in Kenya's struggle for independence. He served as the Kenya's first vice-president, and thereafter as an opposition leader. Jaramogi’s son CGH Raila Odinga (1945–2025) was the second Prime Minister of Kenya, and his other son, Oburu Odinga, is a former assistant minister in the Ministry of Finance, and Current ODM Party Leader after the death of Raila Odinga (2025)

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20/01/1993

Audrey Hepburn, British actress and humanitarian activist (born 1929)

Audrey Kathleen Hepburn was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Hollywood cinema. She was inducted into the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame and is one of only a few entertainers who have won competitive Academy, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Awards.

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20/01/1990

Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (born 1907)

Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career, she was known for her strong, realistic screen presence and versatility. She was a favorite of directors, including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang, and Frank Capra, and made 86 films in 38 years before turning to television. She received numerous accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award, and was nominated for four Academy Awards.

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20/01/1989

Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1938)

Alamgir Kabir was a Bangladeshi film director and cultural activist. Three of his feature films are featured in the "Top 10 Bangladeshi Films" list by British Film Institute.

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20/01/1988

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Pakistani activist and politician (born 1890)

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as Bacha Khan and Badshah Khan, was an Indian independence activist from the North-West Frontier Province, and founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar resistance movement against British rule in colonial India. After the partition occurred, he became a Pakistani politician and led the Azad Party.

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Dora Stratou, Greek dancer and choreographer (born 1903)

Dora Stratou was a Greek actress and choreographer, with significant contributions to Greek Folk Dancing and Greek Folk Music. She issued one of the largest series of folk music in the world, with 50 records, and is the founder of the Greek Dances Theatre "Dora Stratou".

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20/01/1984

Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (born 1904)

Johnny Weissmuller was a Hungarian-born German American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He has one of the best competitive-swimming records of the 20th century. He set world records alongside winning five gold medals in the Olympics. He won the 100m freestyle and the 4 × 200 m relay team event in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris and the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Weissmuller also won gold in the 400m freestyle, as well as a bronze medal in the water polo competition in Paris.

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20/01/1983

Garrincha, Brazilian footballer (born 1933)

Manuel Francisco dos Santos, nicknamed Mané Garrincha, best known as simply Garrincha, was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a right winger. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and by many, one of the greatest dribblers ever.

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20/01/1980

William Roberts, English soldier and painter (born 1895)

William Patrick Roberts was a British artist.

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20/01/1977

Dimitrios Kiousopoulos, Greek jurist and politician, 151st Prime Minister of Greece (born 1892)

Dimitrios Kiousopoulos was an important Greek jurist, politician, and the caretaker Prime Minister of Greece in 1952. He was born on November 17, 1892, in the town of Andritsaina, Elis, Peloponnese.

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20/01/1973

Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician and surgeon (born 1885)

Lorenz Böhler was an Austrian physician and surgeon.

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Amílcar Cabral, Guinea Bissauan-Cape Verdian engineer and politician (born 1924)

Amílcar Lopes Cabral was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer, political organizer, diplomat, and half-brother of Luís Cabral, the first President of Guinea-Bissau. He was widely remembered as one of Africa's foremost anti-colonial leaders. He was also a pan-Africanist and intellectual nationalist revolutionary poet.

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20/01/1971

Broncho Billy Anderson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1880)

Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson was an American actor, writer, film director, and film producer, who was the first star of the Western film genre. He was a founder and star for Essanay studios. In 1958, he received a special Academy Award for being a pioneer of the film industry.

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Minanogawa Tōzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 34th Yokozuna (born 1903)

Minanogawa Tōzō , also known as Asashio Kyojiro , was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Tsukuba, Ibaraki. He was the sport's 34th yokozuna.

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20/01/1965

Alan Freed, American radio host (born 1922)

Albert James "Alan" Freed was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout North America, including popularizing the term "rock and roll".

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20/01/1962

Robinson Jeffers, American poet and philosopher (born 1887)

John Robinson Jeffers was an American poet known for his work about the central Californian coast. Much of his poetry was written in narrative and epic form; however, he is also known for his shorter verse and is considered an icon of the environmental movement.

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20/01/1955

Robert P. T. Coffin, American author and poet (born 1892)

Robert Peter Tristram Coffin was an American poet, educator, writer, editor and literary critic. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1936, he was the poetry editor for Yankee magazine.

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20/01/1954

Warren Bardsley, Australian cricketer (born 1882)

Warren "Curly" Bardsley was an Australian Test cricketer. An opening batsman, Bardsley played 41 Tests between 1909 and 1926 and over 200 first-class games for New South Wales. He was Wisden's Cricketer of the Year in 1910.

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Fred Root, English cricketer and umpire (born 1890)

Charles Frederick Root was an English cricketer who played for England in 1926 and for Derbyshire between 1910 and 1920 and for Worcestershire between 1921 and 1932.

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20/01/1947

Josh Gibson, American baseball player (born 1911)

Joshua Gibson was an American baseball catcher who played primarily in the Negro leagues. In 1972, he became the second Negro league player to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, after Satchel Paige.

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Andrew Volstead, American member of the United States House of Representatives (born 1860)

Andrew John Volstead was an American member of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota, 1903–1923, and a member of the Republican Party. His name is closely associated with the National Prohibition Act of 1919, usually called the Volstead Act. The act was the enabling legislation for the enforcement of Prohibition in the United States beginning in 1920.

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20/01/1944

James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist and academic (born 1860)

James McKeen Cattell was the first professor of psychology in the United States, teaching at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He was a long-time editor and publisher of scientific journals and publications, including Science, and served on the board of trustees for Science Service, now known as Society for Science from 1921 to 1944.

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20/01/1940

Omar Bundy, American general (born 1861)

Major General Omar Bundy was a career United States Army officer who was a veteran of the American Indian Wars, Spanish–American War, Philippine–American War, Pancho Villa Expedition, and World War I.

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20/01/1936

George V of the United Kingdom (born 1865)

George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.

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20/01/1931

Margrethe Munthe, Norwegian songwriter (born 1860)

Margrethe Aabel Munthe was a Norwegian teacher, children's writer, songwriter and playwright.

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20/01/1924

Henry "Ivo" Crapp, Australian footballer and umpire (born 1872)

Henry "Harry" Crapp, commonly known as Ivo Crapp, was a leading Australian rules football field umpire in the Victorian Football League (VFL) at its formation in the 1890s, and with the West Australian Football League across the late 1900s and early 1910s.

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20/01/1921

Mary Watson Whitney, American astronomer and academic (born 1847)

Mary Watson Whitney was an American astronomer and was the head of the Vassar College Observatory for 22 years, where 102 scientific papers were published under her guidance.

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20/01/1920

Georg Lurich, Estonian-Russian wrestler and strongman (born 1876)

Georg Lurich was an Estonian Greco-Roman wrestler and strongman of the early 20th century. Lurich was also the trainer of Estonian wrestlers and weightlifters Georg Hackenschmidt and Aleksander Aberg.

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20/01/1915

Arthur Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun, Irish businessman, philanthropist, and politician (born 1840)

Arthur Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun,, styled Sir Arthur Guinness, Bt, between 1868 and 1880, was an Anglo-Irish businessman, politician and philanthropist. He is perhaps best known for giving St Stephen's Green to the Dublin Corporation for public use.

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20/01/1913

José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican engraver and illustrator (born 1852)

José Guadalupe Posada Aguilar was a Mexican political printmaker who used relief printing to produce popular illustrations. His work has influenced numerous Latin American artists and cartoonists because of its satirical acuteness and social engagement. He used skulls, calaveras, and bones to show political and cultural critiques. Among his most enduring works is La Calavera Catrina.

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20/01/1908

John Ordronaux, American surgeon and academic (born 1830)

John Ordronaux was an American Civil War army surgeon, a professor of medical jurisprudence, a pioneering mental health commissioner and a generous patron of university endowments. Between 1859 and 1901 Ordronaux published at least fifteen books and articles about subjects as diverse as heroes of the American Revolution of 1776, military medicine, medical jurisprudence, mental health, United States constitutional law and historical treatises. He left an estate worth $2,757,000 much of which he gave in endowments to several US universities and other institutions.

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20/01/1907

Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author (born 1842)

Agnes Mary Clerke was an Irish astronomer and writer. She was born in Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland, and died in London.

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20/01/1901

Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer, invented the Gramme machine (born 1826)

Zénobe Théophile Gramme was a Belgian electrical engineer. He was born at Jehay-Bodegnée on 4 April 1826, the sixth child of Mathieu-Joseph Gramme, and died at Bois-Colombes on 20 January 1901. He invented the Gramme machine, a type of direct current dynamo capable of generating smoother and much higher voltages than the dynamos known to that point.

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20/01/1900

John Ruskin, English painter and critic (born 1819)

John Ruskin was an English polymath – a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, political economy, education, museology, geology, botany, ornithology, literature, history, and myth.

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20/01/1891

Kalākaua, king of Hawaii (born 1836)

Kalākaua, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, reigning from February 12, 1874, until his death in 1891. Succeeding Lunalilo, he was elected to the vacant throne of Hawaiʻi against Queen Emma. Kalākaua was known as the Merrie Monarch for his convivial personality – he enjoyed entertaining guests with his singing and ukulele playing. At his coronation and his birthday jubilee, the hula, which had hitherto been banned in public in the kingdom, became a celebration of Hawaiian culture.

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20/01/1875

Jean-François Millet, French painter and educator (born 1814)

Jean-François Millet was a French artist and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France. Millet is noted for his paintings of peasant farmers and can be categorized as part of the Realism art movement. Toward the end of his career, he became increasingly interested in painting pure landscapes. He is known best for his oil paintings but is also noted for his pastels, Conté crayon drawings, and etchings.

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20/01/1873

Basil Moreau, French priest, founded the Congregation of Holy Cross (born 1799)

Basile-Antoine Marie Moreau, C.S.C. was the French priest who founded the Congregation of Holy Cross from which two additional congregations were founded, namely the Marianites of Holy Cross and the Sisters of the Holy Cross. Moreau was beatified on September 15, 2007 in Le Mans, France.

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20/01/1859

Bettina von Arnim, German author, illustrator, and composer (born 1785)

Bettina von Arnim was a German writer, composer, and novelist.

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20/01/1852

Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 6th Yokozuna (born 1794)

Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Noto Province. He was the sport's 6th yokozuna. He trained ōzeki Tsurugizan Taniemon.

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20/01/1850

Adam Oehlenschläger, Danish poet and playwright (born 1779)

Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature. He wrote the lyrics to the song Der er et yndigt land, which is one of the national anthems of Denmark.

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20/01/1848

Christian VIII, Danish king (born 1786)

Christian VIII was King of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, King of Norway in 1814.

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20/01/1841

Jørgen Jørgensen, Danish explorer (born 1780)

Jørgen Jørgensen was a Danish adventurer during the Age of Revolution. During the action of 2 March 1808, his ship was captured by the British. In 1809 he sailed to Iceland, declared the country independent from Denmark–Norway and pronounced himself its ruler. He intended to found a new republic, following the examples of the United States and the French First Republic. He was also a prolific writer of letters, papers, pamphlets and newspaper articles covering a wide variety of subjects, and for a period was an associate of the famous botanists Joseph Banks and William Jackson Hooker. He left over a hundred written autographs and drawings, most of which are collected in the British Library. Marcus Clarke referred to Jørgensen as "a singularly accomplished fortune wooer—one of the most interesting human comets recorded in history".

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Minh Mạng, Vietnamese emperor (born 1791)

Minh Mạng, also known as Minh Mệnh, was the second emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam, reigning from 14 February 1820 until his death, on 20 January 1841. He was the fourth son of Emperor Gia Long, whose eldest son, Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh, had died in 1801. He was well known for his opposition to French involvement in Vietnam, completing the final Vietnamese conquest of Champa, temporary annexation of Cambodia, and his rigid Confucian orthodoxy.

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20/01/1837

John Soane, English architect, designed the Bank of England (born 1753)

Sir John Soane was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the Royal Academy and an official architect to the Office of Works. He received a knighthood in 1831.

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20/01/1819

Charles IV, Spanish king (born 1748)

Charles IV was King of Spain and ruler of the Spanish Empire from 1788 to 1808.

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20/01/1810

Benjamin Chew, American lawyer and judge (born 1721)

Benjamin Chew was an American lawyer and judge who served as the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Province of Pennsylvania and later the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Born into a Quaker family, Chew was known for precision and brevity in his legal arguments and his excellent memory, judgment, and knowledge of statutory law. His primary allegiance was to the supremacy of law and the constitution.

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20/01/1779

David Garrick, English actor, producer, playwright, and manager (born 1717)

David Garrick was an English actor who wrote, produced and influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Samuel Johnson. He appeared in several amateur theatricals, and with his appearance in the title role of Shakespeare's Richard III, audiences and managers began to take notice.

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20/01/1770

Charles Yorke, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (born 1722)

Charles Yorke PC was a British lawyer and politician who briefly served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. His father was also Lord Chancellor, and he began his career as a Member of Parliament. He served successively as Solicitor-General and Attorney-General for several governments, during which he was best known for writing what became the Quebec Act. He was appointed Lord Chancellor over his objections, but he committed suicide only three days after taking the post.

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20/01/1751

John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (born 1665)

John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol was an English Whig politician.

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20/01/1709

François de la Chaise, French priest (born 1624)

François de la Chaise, also known as Père Lachaise, was a French Jesuit priest, the father confessor of King Louis XIV of France.

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20/01/1707

Humphrey Hody, English scholar and theologian (born 1659)

Humphrey Hody was an English scholar and theologian.

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20/01/1666

Anne of Austria, Queen and regent of France (born 1601)

Anne of Austria was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII. She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown in 1620. After her husband's death, Anne was regent to her son Louis XIV during his minority until 1651.

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20/01/1663

Isaac Ambrose, English minister and author (born 1604)

Isaac Ambrose was an English Puritan divine. He graduated with a BA from Brasenose College, Oxford, on 1624. He obtained the curacy of St Edmund’s Church, Castleton, Derbyshire, in 1627. He was one of king's four preachers in Lancashire in 1631. He was twice imprisoned by commissioners of array. He worked for the establishment of Presbyterianism; successively at Leeds, Preston, and Garstang, whence he was ejected for nonconformity in 1662. He also published religious works.

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20/01/1612

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1552)

Rudolf II was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the House of Habsburg.

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20/01/1568

Myles Coverdale, English bishop and translator (born 1488)

Myles Coverdale, first name also spelt Miles, was an English ecclesiastical reformer chiefly known as a Bible translator, preacher, hymnist and, briefly, Bishop of Exeter (1551–1553). In 1535, Coverdale produced the first printed translation of the full Bible into Early Modern English, completing the translations of William Tyndale.

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20/01/1479

John II, king of Sicily (born 1398)

John II, called the Great or the Faithless, was King of Aragon from 1458 until his death in 1479. As the husband of Queen Blanche I of Navarre, he was King of Navarre from 1425 to 1479. John was also King of Sicily from 1458 to 1468.

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20/01/1343

Robert, king of Naples (born 1275)

Robert of Anjou, known as Robert the Wise, was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem and Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1309 to 1343, the central figure of Italian politics of his time. He was the third son of King Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungary, and during his father's lifetime he was styled Duke of Calabria (1296–1309).

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20/01/1336

John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford (born 1306)

John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford was born in St Clement's, Oxford to Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, a daughter of Edward I of England.

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20/01/1265

John Maunsell, English Lord Chancellor

John Mansel, Provost of Beverley Minster, was a king's clerk and a judge. He was the leading administrator and councillor to King Henry III.

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20/01/1191

Frederick VI, duke of Swabia (born 1167)

Frederick VI of Hohenstaufen was Duke of Swabia from 1170 until his death at the siege of Acre.

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Theobald V, count of Blois (born 1130)

Theobald V of Blois, also known as Theobald the Good, was Count of Blois from 1151 to 1191.

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20/01/1189

Shi Zong, Chinese emperor of Jin (born 1123)

Emperor Shizong of Jin, personal name Wulu, sinicised name Wanyan Yong, was the fifth emperor of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty of China. Ruling from 1161 to 1189 under the era name "Dading", Emperor Shizong's reign was the longest and most stable among the Jin emperors.

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20/01/1156

Henry, English bishop and saint

Henry was a medieval English clergyman. He came to Sweden with Cardinal Nicholas Breakspeare in 1153 and was most likely designated to be the new Archbishop of Uppsala, but the independent church province of Sweden could only be established in 1164 after the civil war, and Henry would have been sent to organize the Church in Finland, where Christians had already existed for two centuries.

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20/01/1095

Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester

Wulfstan, was an English Benedictine monk who served as Bishop of Worcester from 1062 to 1095. He was the last surviving pre-Norman Conquest bishop. Wulfstan is revered as a saint in the Catholic and Anglican churches.

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20/01/1029

Heonae, Korean queen and regent (born 964)

Queen Heonae of the Hwangju Hwangbo clan, or formally called Grand Queen Dowager Heonae, was a Goryeo royal family member as the second and oldest daughter of Wang Uk, and younger sister of King Seongjong who became a queen consort through her marriage with her half first cousin, King Gyeongjong as his third wife. After his death, she served as a regent from 997 to 1009 as regent of her son, King Mokjong. From this marriage, Queen Heonae became the third Goryeo queen who adopted her maternal clan's surname after Queen Heonui, her half first cousin. She is better known as Queen Dowager Cheonchu.

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20/01/0928

Zhao Guangfeng, Chinese official and chancellor

Zhao Guangfeng (趙光逢), courtesy name Yanji (延吉), formally the Duke of Qi (齊公), was an official in the late Chinese dynasty Tang dynasty and the succeeding Later Liang of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, serving as a chancellor during Later Liang.

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20/01/0924

Li Jitao, Chinese general of Later Tang

Li Jitao, nickname Liude (留得), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period states Jin, Later Liang, and Jin's successor state Later Tang. His father Li Sizhao, as an adoptive cousin of Jin's prince Li Cunxu, was an honored major general for Jin, but after Li Sizhao's death, Li Jitao took over Li Sizhao's territory and turned his allegiance to Jin's archrival Later Liang. After Later Tang conquered Later Liang, Emperor Zhuangzong was initially inclined to spare Li Jitao, but later found that he was still plotting against imperial governance, and therefore had him executed.

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20/01/0882

Louis the Younger, king of the East Frankish Kingdom

Louis the Younger, sometimes called Louis the Saxon or Louis III, was the second of three sons of king Louis the German and queen Hemma, with his brothers being the elder Carloman and younger Charles. They all succeeded their father as kings in Eastern Francia on 28 August 876, in accordance with the prearranged partition, with Carloman ruling over Bavaria and the Pannonian March, Louis over Franconia, Saxony and Thuringia, and Charles over Alamannia. Louis and Charles also jointly ruled over eastern parts of Lotharingia. In 879-880, Louis acquired the western part of Lotharingia. In 880, Carloman died and his realm was inherited by Louis. By 881, the youngest brother Charles secured rule over Italy, and was crowned as emperor. Louis died in 882, without legitimate descendants, and was succeeded in all his territories, which encompassed most of East Francia, by his brother Charles.

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20/01/0842

Theophilos, Byzantine emperor (born 813)

Theophilos was Byzantine Emperor from 829 until his death in 842. He was the second emperor of the Amorian dynasty and the last emperor to support iconoclasm.

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20/01/0820

Al-Shafi‘i, Arab scholar and jurist (born 767)

Al-Shafi'i was a Muslim scholar, jurist, muhaddith, traditionist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He is known to be the first to write a book upon the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, having authored one of the earliest work on the subject: al-Risala. His legacy and teaching on the matter provided it with a systematic form, thereby "fundamentally influencing the succeeding generations which are under his direct and obvious impact," and "beginning a new phase of the development of legal theory."

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20/01/0640

Eadbald, king of Kent

Eadbald was King of Kent from 616 until his death in 640. He was the son of King Æthelberht and his wife Bertha, a daughter of the Merovingian king Charibert. Æthelberht made Kent the dominant force in England during his reign and became the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity from Anglo-Saxon paganism. Eadbald's accession was a significant setback for the growth of the church, since he retained his people's paganism and did not convert to Christianity for at least a year, and perhaps for as many as eight years. He was ultimately converted by either Laurentius or Justus, and separated from his first wife, who had been his stepmother, at the insistence of the church. Eadbald's second wife was Emma, who may have been a Frankish princess. They had two sons, Eormenred and Eorcenberht, and a daughter, Eanswith.

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