Died on Monday, 21st July – Famous Deaths

21/07/2025

Pau Alsina, Spanish motorcycle rider (born 2008)

Pau Alsina was a Spanish motorcycle racer. He died from injuries sustained in an accident at MotorLand Aragón. He was competing in the 2025 FIM JuniorGP World Championship at the time of his death.

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21/07/2023

Tony Bennett, American singer (born 1926)

Anthony Dominick Benedetto, known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Bennett was named a National Endowments for the Arts Jazz Master and a Kennedy Center Honoree. He founded the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, New York, along with Exploring the Arts, a non-profit arts education program. He sold more than 50 million records worldwide and earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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21/07/2020

Annie Ross, Scottish-American singer and actress (born 1930)

Annie Ross was a British-born American singer and actress, best known as a member of the influential jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. She helped pioneer the vocalese style of jazz singing, with a style described by critic Dave Gelly as "a kind of dreamy watchfulness that is a definition of 1950s hip." In 2010, she was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Andrew Mlangeni, South African political activist (born 1925)

Andrew Mokete Mlangeni, also known as Percy Mokoena, Mokete Mokoena, and Rev. Mokete Mokoena, was a South African political activist and anti-apartheid campaigner who, along with Nelson Mandela and others, was imprisoned after the Rivonia Trial.

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21/07/2018

Alene Duerk, U.S. Navy first female admiral (born 1920)

Alene Bertha Duerk became the first female admiral in the U.S. Navy in 1972. She was also the director of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps from 1970 to 1975. She is a 1974 recipient of a Distinguished Alumni Award of Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing.

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21/07/2017

John Heard, American film and television actor (born 1946)

John Heard Jr. was an American actor. He made his debut appearance in film with the ensemble Between the Lines (1977). He appeared in a number of successful films, including Heart Beat (1980), Cutter's Way (1981), Cat People (1982), After Hours (1985), Beaches (1988), Deceived (1991), and as Peter McCalister in Home Alone (1990) and its sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1999 for his recurring role as corrupt police detective Vin Makazian on The Sopranos (1999–2004).

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21/07/2016

Dennis Green, American football player and coach (born 1949)

Dennis Earl Green was an American professional football coach. During his National Football League (NFL) career, Green coached the Minnesota Vikings from 1992 to 2001 and the Arizona Cardinals from 2004 to 2006. He coached the Vikings to eight playoff appearances in nine years, despite having seven different starting quarterbacks in those postseasons. He was posthumously inducted into the Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor in 2018.

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21/07/2015

Robert Broberg, Swedish singer-songwriter (born 1940)

Robert Zero Karl Oskar Broberg, originally Robert Karl Oskar Broberg – born in the Råsunda district of Solna parish in Stockholm County, died in Gustav Vasa (district) parish in Stockholm – was a Swedish singer, comedian, artist, composer, musician and painter.

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E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (born 1931)

Edgar Lawrence Doctorow was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known for his works of historical fiction.

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Nicholas Gonzalez, American physician (born 1947)

Nicholas James Gonzalez was a New York–based physician known for developing the Gonzalez regimen, an alternative cancer treatment. Gonzalez's treatments were based on his belief that pancreatic enzymes were the body's main defense against cancer and could be used as a cancer treatment. His methods have been generally rejected by the medical community, and he has been characterized as a quack and fraud by other doctors and health fraud watchdog groups. In 1994 Gonzalez was reprimanded and placed on two years' probation by the New York State Medical Board for "departing from accepted practice".

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Czesław Marchaj, Polish-English sailor and academic (born 1918)

Czesław Antony Marchaj, often known in the West as C.A. Marchaj or Tony Marchaj, was a Polish-British yachtsman whose published scientific studies of the aerodynamics and hydrodynamics of sailing boats have been influential on yacht, sail and rig designers. He was the author of Sailing Theory and Practice and approximately 60 other publications on sailing. He was a member of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects (RINA), and he was awarded the Silver Medal of The International Sailing Federation (ISAF).

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Dick Nanninga, Dutch footballer (born 1949)

Dirk Jacobus Willem "Dick" Nanninga was a Dutch footballer who played as a forward. At club level, he played for Dutch sides BV Veendam, Roda JC and MVV Maastricht. He also had a short spell with Hong Kong club Seiko. At international level, he represented the Netherlands at the 1978 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1980.

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21/07/2014

Louise Abeita, Isleta Pueblo (Native American) writer, poet, and educator (born 1926)

Louise Abeita Chewiwi was a Pueblo writer, poet and educator who was an enrolled member of Isleta Pueblo.

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Dan Borislow, American businessman, invented the magicJack (born 1961)

Daniel Marc Borislow was an American entrepreneur, sports team owner, inventor, and thoroughbred horse breeder. Borislow was born and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended Widener University. In 1989, he founded Tel-Save, Inc. to resell access to AT&T long distance lines. Borislow took the company public in 1995, and two years later brokered a $100 million deal with AOL at the "Cafe L’Europe," Palm Beach. In early 1998, Tel-Save had sales of $300 million and was valued by Wall Street investors at $2 billion. However, due to the financial strain of paying off the AOL deal, Tel-Save lost $221 million in 1999, and Borislow sold his stock for approximately $300 million and retired.

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Lettice Curtis, English engineer and pilot (born 1915)

Eleanor Lettice Curtis was an English aviator, flight test engineer, air racing pilot, and sportswoman.

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Hans-Peter Kaul, German lawyer and judge (born 1943)

Hans-Peter Kaul was a German international law scholar and former diplomat and lawyer. From 11 March 2003 until 1 July 2014, he served as Judge at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. At the ICC, Kaul was President of the Pre-Trial Division from 2004 until March 2009 and again in 2014, and he was the Court's Second Vice-President from 2009 to 2012. In 2014, he resigned from the ICC for health reasons but his condition became worse and he died on 21 July 2014.

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Rilwanu Lukman, Nigerian engineer and politician (born 1938)

Rilwanu Lukman was a Nigerian engineer who held several ministerial positions in the Nigerian Federal government before becoming Secretary General of OPEC from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2000. He died on 21 July 2014. On 18 December 2008, Lukman was appointed Minister of Petroleum Resources by Nigerian president Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, holding office until March 2010.

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Kevin Skinner, New Zealand rugby player and boxer (born 1927)

Kevin Lawrence Skinner was a rugby union player from New Zealand who won 20 full caps for the All Blacks, two of them as captain. He was also a heavyweight boxer, winning the New Zealand championship in 1947.

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21/07/2013

Andrea Antonelli, Italian motorcycle racer (born 1988)

Andrea Antonelli was an Italian motorcycle racer. He was killed in an accident at the Moscow Raceway, whilst competing for Team Go Eleven Kawasaki in the Supersport World Championship.

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Lourembam Brojeshori Devi, Indian martial artist (born 1981)

Lourembam Brojeshori Devi was an Indian judoka who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

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Det de Beus, Dutch field hockey player (born 1958)

Anna Maria Bernadette "Det" de Beus in the Netherlands. Born in Utrecht, she was the first goalkeeper in women's field hockey to wear a mask.

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Luis Fernando Rizo-Salom, Colombian-French composer and educator (born 1971)

Luis Fernando Rizo-Salom was a Colombian composer of contemporary classical music who lived and worked in Paris since 1999. He was also a high performance athlete, member of the French hang gliding team.

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Fred Taylor, American football player and coach (born 1920)

Fred Alvin Taylor was an American football player and coach. He served as head coach at Texas Christian University from 1967 to 1970, compiling a record of 15–25–1 before he was fired following the 1970 season.

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21/07/2012

Alexander Cockburn, Scottish-American journalist and author (born 1941)

Alexander Claud Cockburn was a Scottish-born Irish-American political journalist and writer. Cockburn was brought up by British parents in Ireland, but lived and worked in the United States from 1972. Together with Jeffrey St. Clair, he edited the political newsletter CounterPunch. Cockburn also wrote the "Beat the Devil" column for The Nation, and another column for The Week in London, syndicated by Creators Syndicate.

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Marie Kruckel, American baseball player (born 1924)

Marie Ann Kruckel ["Kruck"] was an American outfielder and pitcher who played from 1946 through 1949 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m), 130 lb (59 kg), she batted and threw right-handed.

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Ali Podrimja, Albanian poet and author (born 1942)

Ali Podrimja was an Albanian poet. He was born in Gjakova, at the time part of Italian-controlled Albania under Italy.

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James D. Ramage, American admiral and pilot (born 1916)

James D. "Jig Dog" Ramage was a Naval Aviator in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War, and was a driving force in putting nuclear-capable attack aircraft aboard aircraft carriers. Before retirement he attained the rank of rear admiral.

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Angharad Rees, English-b. Welsh actress (born 1944)

Angharad Rees was a Welsh actress, best known for her British television roles during the 1970s and in particular her leading role as Demelza in the 1970s BBC TV costume drama Poldark.

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Don Wilson, English cricketer and coach (born 1937)

Donald Wilson was an English cricketer, who played in six Test matches for England from 1964 to 1971. His first-class cricket career, which lasted from 1957 to 1974, was spent with Yorkshire County Cricket Club and he later became a noted cricket coach. He was born in Settle, Yorkshire and died at York.

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21/07/2010

Luis Corvalán, Chilean educator and politician (born 1916)

Luis Nicolás Corvalán Lepe was a Chilean politician, teacher, and writer. He was the general secretary of the Communist Party of Chile (PCCh) for more than three decades and was twice elected to the Senate of Chile.

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Ralph Houk, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1919)

Ralph George Houk, nicknamed "the Major", was an American catcher, coach, manager, and front office executive in Major League Baseball. He is best known as the successor of Casey Stengel as manager of the New York Yankees from 1961 to 1963, when his teams won three consecutive American League pennants and the 1961 and 1962 World Series championships. In 1961 he became the second rookie manager to win 100 games in a season and third rookie manager to win a World Series. He was the first manager to win World Series titles in his first two seasons and the first manager since Hughie Jennings to win three pennants in his first three seasons.

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John E. Irving, Canadian businessman (born 1932)

John Ernest Irving CM was a Canadian businessman, the youngest son of the industrialist K. C. Irving and his wife, Harriet Lila Irving.

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21/07/2008

Donald Stokes, English businessman (born 1914)

Donald Gresham Stokes, Baron Stokes was an English industrialist. He was the head of British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC) from 1968 to 1975.

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21/07/2007

Dubravko Škiljan, Croatian linguist and academic (born 1949)

Dubravko Škiljan was a Croatian linguist known for his work on Classical philology and semiotics.

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21/07/2006

Mako Iwamatsu, Japanese-American actor and singer (born 1933)

Makoto Iwamatsu was a Japanese-American actor, credited mononymously in almost all of his acting roles as simply Mako . His career in film, on television, and on stage spanned five decades and 165 productions. He earned an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award and was also a Tony Award nominee.

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Ta Mok, Cambodian soldier and monk (born 1926)

Ta Mok, also known as Nguon Kang, was a Cambodian military chief who was a senior figure in the genocidal Khmer Rouge and the leader of the national army of Democratic Kampuchea. He was also known as Brother Number Five or the Butcher. He was captured along the Cambodia–Thailand border in March 1999 by Cambodian government forces while on the run with a small band of followers; he was held in government custody until his death in 2006 while awaiting his war crimes trial.

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21/07/2005

Long John Baldry, English-Canadian singer and actor (born 1941)

John William "Long John" Baldry was a British-Canadian musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including the Rolling Stones, the Animals and the Beatles. Before achieving stardom, Rod Stewart and Elton John were members of bands led by Baldry. He enjoyed pop success in 1967 when "Let the Heartaches Begin" reached No. 1 in the UK, and in Australia where his duet with the American singer Kathi McDonald, a cover of the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", reached No. 2 in 1980.

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Lord Alfred Hayes, English-American wrestler and manager (born 1928)

Alfred George James Hayes was an English professional wrestler, manager and commentator, best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation between 1982 and 1995 where he was known as Lord Alfred Hayes. Hayes was distinguished by his "Masterpiece Theatre diction" and "Oxford accent".

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21/07/2004

Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (born 1929)

Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer, conductor and orchestrator with a career in film and television scoring that spanned nearly 50 years and over 200 productions, between 1954 and 2003. He was considered one of film music's most innovative and influential composers. He was nominated for eighteen Academy Awards, six Grammy Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards, nine Golden Globe Awards, and four British Academy Film Awards.

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Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)

Edward Butts Lewis was an American geneticist, a corecipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He helped to found the field of evolutionary developmental biology.

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21/07/2003

John Davies, English-New Zealand runner and coach (born 1938)

John Llewellyn Davies was a New Zealand Olympic bronze medallist and president of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC).

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21/07/2002

Esphyr Slobodkina, Russian-American author and illustrator (born 1908)

Esphyr Solomonovna Slobodkina was a Russian-born American artist, author, and illustrator, best known for her classic children's picture book Caps for Sale. Slobodkina was a celebrated avant garde artist and feminist in the middle part of the 20th century.

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21/07/2000

Marc Reisner, American environmentalist and author (born 1948)

Marc Reisner was an American environmentalist and writer best known for his book Cadillac Desert, a history of water management in the American West.

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21/07/1998

Alan Shepard, American admiral, pilot, and astronaut (born 1923)

Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. was an American astronaut. In 1961, he became the second person and the first American to travel into space and, in 1971, he became the fifth and oldest person to walk on the Moon, at age 47.

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Robert Young, American actor and singer (born 1907)

Robert George Young was an American film, television, and radio actor best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father character, in Father Knows Best and the physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. (ABC).

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21/07/1997

Olaf Kopvillem, Estonian-Canadian conductor and composer (born 1926)

Olaf Kopvillem was a prominent Estonian World War II refugee. Having settled in Canada, he engaged in the organisation of Estonian exile activities there, and is known for his numerous humorous covers of well-known songs.

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21/07/1994

Marijac, French author and illustrator (born 1908)

Jacques Dumas, better known as Marijac, was a French comics writer, artist, and editor.

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21/07/1991

Paul Warwick, English race car driver (born 1969)

Paul Jason Warwick was a British racing driver.

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21/07/1982

Dave Garroway, American journalist and actor (born 1913)

David Cunningham Garroway was an American radio and television host on NBC. He was the host of Garroway at Large from 1949 to 1951, the founding host and anchor of Today from 1952 to 1961, and the host of The Dave Garroway Show from 1953 to 1954. His radio work included host of The Dave Garroway Show from 1947 to 1955 and Monitor from 1955 to 1961. His easygoing and relaxing style belied a lifelong battle with depression. Garroway was honored for his contributions to radio and television with a star for each on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame, the city where he spent part of his teenaged years and early adulthood.

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21/07/1977

Lee Miller, American model and photographer (born 1907)

Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose was an American photographer and photojournalist. Miller was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris, becoming a fashion and fine-art photographer there.

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21/07/1972

Ralph Craig, American sprinter and sailor (born 1889)

Ralph Cook Craig was an American track and field athlete. He was the winner of the sprint double at the 1912 Summer Olympics.

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Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, Bhutanese king (born 1928)

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck was King of Bhutan from 30 March 1952 until his death in 1972.

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21/07/1970

Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gerasimov, Russian anthropologist and sculptor (born 1907)

Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gerasimov was a Soviet archaeologist, and anthropologist who discovered the Mal'ta–Buret' culture and developed the first technique of forensic sculpture based on findings of anthropology, archaeology, paleontology, and forensic science. He studied the skulls and meticulously reconstructed the faces of more than 200 people, ranging from the earliest excavated Homo sapiens and neanderthals, to the Middle Ages' monarchs and dignitaries, including emperor Timur (Tamerlane), Yaroslav the Wise, Ivan the Terrible, and Friedrich Schiller.

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Bob Kalsu, American football player and lieutenant (born 1945)

James Robert Kalsu was an American professional football player who was an All-American tackle at the University of Oklahoma and an eighth-round selection in the 1968 NFL/AFL draft by the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League (AFL). Kalsu joined the U.S. Army as an officer after the 1968 season and was killed in action in the Vietnam War in 1970.

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21/07/1968

Ruth St. Denis, American dancer and choreographer (born 1878)

Ruth St. Denis was an American pioneer of modern dance, introducing eastern ideas into the art and paving the way for other women in dance. She was inspired by the Delsarte advocate Genevieve Stebbins. St. Denis was the co-founder in 1915 of the American Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts. She taught notable performers including Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey. In 1938, she founded the pioneering dance program at Adelphi University. She published several articles on spiritual dance and the mysticism of the body.

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21/07/1967

Jimmie Foxx, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1907)

James Emory Foxx, nicknamed "Double X" and "the Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies. A tremendous power hitter, Foxx retired with the second most home runs, behind only Babe Ruth, and fifth-most runs batted in (RBI). His greatest seasons were with the Philadelphia Athletics and the Boston Red Sox, where he hit a then-record 30 or more home runs in 12 consecutive seasons and drove in more than 100 runs in 13 consecutive years.

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Albert Lutuli, South African academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1898)

Albert John Luthuli was a South African anti-apartheid activist, traditional leader, and politician who served as the President-General of the African National Congress from 1952 until his murder in 1967.

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Basil Rathbone, South African-American actor and singer (born 1892)

Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC was an English actor. Born in South Africa and raised in Derbyshire, he rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films.

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21/07/1966

Philipp Frank, Austrian-American physicist, mathematician, and philosopher, Vienna Circle member (born 1884)

Philipp Frank was an Austrian-American physicist, mathematician and philosopher of the early-to-mid 20th century. He was a logical positivist, and a member of the Vienna Circle. He was influenced by Mach and was one of the Machists criticised by Lenin in Materialism and Empirio-criticism.

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21/07/1952

Pedro Lascuráin, Mexican politician, president for 45 minutes on February 13, 1913. (born 1856)

Pedro José Domingo de la Calzada Manuel María Lascuráin Paredes was a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as the 38th president of Mexico for 45 minutes on 19 February 1913, the shortest presidency in history. The grandson of Mariano Paredes, the 15th president of Mexico, Lascuráin previously served as Mexico's foreign secretary for two terms and was the director of a small law school in Mexico City for 16 years.

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21/07/1948

Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (born 1904)

Arshile Gorky was an Armenian-American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent the last years of his life as a national of the United States. Along with Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, Gorky has been hailed as one of the most powerful American painters of the 20th century. The suffering and loss he experienced in the Armenian genocide had crucial influence on Gorky's development as an artist.

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21/07/1946

Gualberto Villarroel, Bolivian soldier and politician, 45th President of Bolivia (born 1908)

Gualberto Villarroel López was a Bolivian military officer who served as the 39th president of Bolivia from 1943 to 1946. A reformist, sometimes compared with Argentina's Juan Perón, he is nonetheless remembered for his alleged fascist sympathies and his violent demise.

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21/07/1944

Claus von Stauffenberg, German soldier who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler (born 1907)

Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a German army officer who is best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair, part of Operation Valkyrie, a plan that would have seen the arrest of the Nazi leadership in the wake of Hitler's death and an earlier end to World War II.

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21/07/1943

Charley Paddock, American runner and actor (born 1900)

Charles William Paddock was an American athlete and two-time Olympic champion.

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Louis Vauxcelles, French art critic (born 1870)

Louis Vauxcelles was a French art critic. He is credited with coining the terms Fauvism (1905) and Cubism (1908). He used several pseudonyms in various publications: Pinturrichio, Vasari, Coriolès, and Critias.

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21/07/1941

Bohdan Lepky, Ukrainian poet and scholar (born 1872)

Bohdan Teodor Nestor Sylvestrovych Lepky, was a Ukrainian writer, poet, scholar, public figure, and artist.

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21/07/1938

Owen Wister, American lawyer and author (born 1860)

Owen Wister was an American writer. His novel The Virginian, published in 1902, helped create the cowboy as a folk hero in the United States and built Wister's reputation as the "father of Western fiction." He was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. The Western Writers of America renamed the Saddleman Award for best book of the year to the Owen Wister Award, and Mount Wister in Wyoming was named in his honor.

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21/07/1932

Bill Gleason, American baseball player (born 1858)

William G. Gleason was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from 1882 through 1889 for three different teams of the American Association. Listed at 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m), 170 lb., Gleason batted and threw right-handed. His older brother, Jack Gleason, was also a ballplayer.

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21/07/1928

Ellen Terry, English actress (born 1847)

Dame Alice Ellen Terry was an English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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21/07/1920

Fiammetta Wilson, English astronomer and educator (born 1864)

Fiammetta Wilson was a British astronomer elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1916.

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21/07/1899

Robert G. Ingersoll, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (born 1833)

Robert Green Ingersoll, nicknamed "the Great Agnostic", was an American lawyer, writer, and orator during the Golden Age of Free Thought, who campaigned in defense of agnosticism.

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21/07/1889

Nelson Dewey, American lawyer and politician, 1st Governor of Wisconsin (born 1813)

Nelson Webster Dewey was an American lawyer, land speculator, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the first governor of Wisconsin, and also served in the Wisconsin Senate and served several years in the Wisconsin Territory government before Wisconsin achieved statehood. He was also particularly important in the development of Cassville, Wisconsin, which he had at one time hoped to make the state capitol.

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21/07/1880

Hiram Walden, American general and politician (born 1800)

Hiram Walden was an American businessman and politician from New York. He was most notable for his service as a United States representative from 1849 to 1851.

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21/07/1878

Sam Bass, American outlaw (born 1851)

Samuel Bass was a 19th-century American train robber, outlaw, and outlaw gang leader. Notably, he was a member of a gang of six that robbed a Union Pacific train in Nebraska of $60,000 in newly minted gold from San Francisco, California. To date, this is the biggest train robbery to have been committed in the USA. He died as a result of wounds sustained in a gun battle with law enforcement officers.

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21/07/1868

William Bland, Australian surgeon and politician (born 1789)

William Bland was a prominent public figure in the colony of New South Wales. A surgeon by profession, he arrived in Australia as a convict but played an important role in the early years of Australian healthcare, education and science.

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21/07/1798

François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt, Austrian field marshal (born 1733)

François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt, a Walloon, joined the army of the Habsburg monarchy and soon fought in the Seven Years' War. Later in his military career, he led Austrian troops in the Austro-Turkish War. During the French Revolutionary Wars he saw extensive fighting and rose to the rank of Field Marshal.

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Anthony Perry, Irish rebel leader (born ca. 1760)

Anthony Perry, known as the "screeching general", was one of the leaders of the United Irish Wexford rebels during the 1798 rebellion.

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21/07/1796

Robert Burns, Scottish poet and songwriter (born 1759)

Robert Burns, also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in a "light Scots dialect" of English, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.

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21/07/1793

Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, French admiral, explorer, and politician (born 1739)

Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni, chevalier d'Entrecasteaux was a French Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Isle de France from 1787 to 1789. He is best known for his exploration of the Australian coast in 1792 while searching for Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse.

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21/07/1688

James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (born 1610)

Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, KG, PC, was an Anglo-Irish statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond from 1634 to 1642 and Marquess of Ormond from 1642 to 1661. Following the failure of the senior line of the Butler family, he was the second representative of the Kilcash branch to inherit the earldom.

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21/07/1552

Antonio de Mendoza, Spanish politician, 1st Viceroy of New Spain (born 1495)

Antonio de Mendoza was a Spanish colonial administrator who was the first viceroy of New Spain, serving from 14 November 1535 to 25 November 1550, and the second viceroy of Peru, from 23 September 1551, until his death on 21 July 1552.

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21/07/1425

Manuel II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (born 1350)

Manuel II Palaiologos or Palaeologus was Byzantine emperor from 1391 to 1425. Shortly before his death he was tonsured a monk and received the name Matthaios (Ματθαίος). Manuel was a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, which sometimes threatened to capture his territory outright. Accordingly he continued his father's practice of soliciting Western European aid against the Ottomans, and personally visited several foreign courts to plead his cause. These efforts failed, although an Ottoman civil war and Byzantine victories against Latin neighbors helped Manuel's government survive and slightly expand its influence. His wife Helena Dragaš saw to it that their sons, John VIII and Constantine XI, became emperors. He is commemorated by the Greek Orthodox Church on 21 July.

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21/07/1403

Henry Percy, English soldier (born 1364)

Sir Henry Percy, nicknamed Hotspur or Harry Hotspur, was an English knight who fought in several campaigns against the Scots in the northern border and against the French during the Hundred Years' War. The nickname "Hotspur" was given to him by the Scots as a tribute to his speed in advance and readiness to attack. The heir to a leading noble family in northern England, Hotspur was one of the earliest and prime movers behind the deposition of King Richard II in favour of Henry Bolingbroke in 1399. He later fell out with the new regime and rebelled, and was slain at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 at the height of his fame.

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Sir Walter Blount, English soldier, standard-bearer of Henry IV

Sir Walter Blount, was a soldier and supporter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. He later supported John's son and heir Henry Bolingbroke in his bid to become King Henry IV and in later battles against his enemies. At the Battle of Shrewsbury he served as the royal standard-bearer, was mistaken for the king and killed in combat.

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Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford, English soldier

Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford and 1st Baron Audley, KG, KB was the son of Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford, and his wife Philippa de Beauchamp.

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21/07/1259

Gojong of Goryeo

Gojong (1192–1259), personal name Wang Cheol, was the 23rd king of the Korean Goryeo dynasty, ruling from 1213 to 1259. Gojong's reign was marked by prolonged conflict with the Mongol Empire, which sought to conquer Goryeo, ending only to settle peace in 1259. During his reign actual power rested with the Choe family of military dictators.

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21/07/0987

Geoffrey I, Count of Anjou

Geoffrey I of Anjou, known as Grisegonelle, was count of Anjou from 960 to 987.

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21/07/0710

Li Guo'er, princess of the Tang dynasty

Princess Anle, personal name Li Guo'er (李裹兒), was a princess of the Chinese Tang dynasty. She was the youngest daughter of Emperor Zhongzong and his wife Empress Wei. Popular history holds that she was doted upon heavily by her parents and siblings, which contributed to her later drive for power.

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Wei, empress of the Tang dynasty

Empress Wei was an empress consort of the Chinese Tang dynasty. She was the second wife of Emperor Zhongzong, who reigned twice, and during his second reign, she tried to emulate the example of her mother-in-law Wu Zetian and seize power. She was de facto in charge of the governmental affairs during her husband's reign, though she was not formally regent. Emperor Zhongzong's death in 710 — a death traditionally believed to be a poisoning she carried out together with her daughter Li Guo'er the Princess Anle — made her the empress dowager, and she took formal power as regent de jure during the minority of Emperor Shang of Tang. After a reign of seventeen days as regent, she was overthrown and killed in a coup led by Emperor Zhongzong's nephew Li Longji and Emperor Zhongzong's sister Princess Taiping.

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Shangguan Wan'er, Chinese poet (born 664)

Shangguan Wan'er was a Chinese politician, poet, and imperial consort of the Wu Zhou and Tang dynasties. Described as a "female prime minister," Shangguan rose from modest origins as a palace servant to become secretary and leading advisor to Empress Wu Zetian of Zhou. Under Empress Wu, Shangguan exercised responsibility for drafting imperial edicts and earned approbation for her writing style. She retained her influence as consort to Wu's son and successor, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, holding the imperial consort rank of Zhaorong (昭容). Shangguan was also highly esteemed for her talent as a poet. In 710, after Emperor Zhongzong's death, Shangguan was killed during a palace coup that ended the regency of Empress Dowager Wei.

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21/07/0658

K'an II, Mayan ruler (born 588)

Kʼan II was a Maya ruler of Caracol. He reigned AD 618–658.

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