Died on Thursday, 26th June – Famous Deaths

26/06/2025

Carolyn McCarthy, American nurse and politician (born 1944)

Carolyn McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing New York's 4th congressional district from 1997 to 2015. A native of the suburban Long Island community of Mineola, New York, she worked as a nurse and was a registered Republican. However, she was motivated to enter politics after her husband was killed and her son was wounded in the 1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting. She became an advocate for gun control legislation, and in 1996, she was elected to the House as a Democrat, defeating a Republican incumbent. She served a total of nine terms.

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Bill Moyers, American journalist, 13th White House Press Secretary (born 1934)

Billy Don Moyers was an American journalist and political commentator who served as the eleventh White House Press Secretary from 1965 to 1967 during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. He also served as the de facto White House Chief of Staff for a brief period from 1964 until 1965.

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Lalo Schifrin, Argentinian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1932)

Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin was an Argentine and American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. Initially prominent as a jazz composer, he was best known for his large body of film and television scores, which incorporates jazz and Latin American musical elements alongside traditional orchestration.

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Takutai Tarsh Kemp, New Zealand politician (born 1975)

Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp was a New Zealand politician, community health leader and hip hop dance director. She won the Tāmaki Makaurau electorate in the 2023 New Zealand general election and was a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for Te Pāti Māori until her death.

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26/06/2024

Taiki Matsuno, Japanese voice actor (born 1967)

Taiki Matsuno was a Japanese actor and voice actor from Shinagawa, Tokyo. He was attached to Aoni Production. His real name, as well as his former stage name, was Tatsuya Matsuno. Matsuno is most known for the role of Hajime Kindaichi in Kindaichi Case Files, Kōga in Inuyasha, SpongeBob in the Japanese dub of SpongeBob SquarePants, Tart in Fresh Pretty Cure!, Ling Tong and Liu Shan from Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi series, Agumon in Digimon Savers, and Shurikenger in Ninpu Sentai Hurricanger. Matsuno died of a cerebral hemorrhage on June 26, 2024.

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26/06/2022

Margaret Keane, American artist (born 1927)

Margaret D. H. Keane was an American artist known for her paintings of subjects with big eyes. She mainly painted women, children, or animals in oil or mixed media. The work achieved commercial success through inexpensive reproductions on prints, plates, and cups. The artwork was originally attributed to Keane's then-husband, Walter Keane. Soon after their divorce in the 1960s, Margaret claimed credit, which was established after a courtroom "paint-off" in Hawaii, in which Walter refused to participate.

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26/06/2021

Mike Gravel, American politician (born 1930)

Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel was an American politician and writer who represented Alaska in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party. He ran for president twice: in 2008 and 2020. He was the fourth U.S. Senator in Alaska's history.

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26/06/2020

Milton Glaser, American graphic designer (born 1929)

Milton Glaser was an American graphic designer whose most recognized works include the I ❤ NY logo, the 1966 Bob Dylan poster, as well as late 1960s publicity posters for the introduction of the Olivetti Valentine typewriter, and logos for DC Comics, Stony Brook University, Brooklyn Brewery, among others.

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26/06/2019

Beth Chapman, American reality Television star, Bounty Hunter (born 1967)

Alice Elizabeth Chapman was an American bounty hunter and reality star who co-starred with her husband, Duane "Dog" Chapman, on the reality television shows Dog the Bounty Hunter, Dog and Beth: On the Hunt, and Dog's Most Wanted.

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26/06/2015

Yevgeny Primakov, Ukrainian-Russian journalist and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Russia (born 1929)

Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov was a Russian politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1998 to 1999. During his long career, he also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 1998, the Director of Foreign Intelligence from 1991 to 1996, and Speaker of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991. Primakov was an academician (Arabist) and a member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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Chris Thompson, American screenwriter and producer (born 1952)

Chris Thompson was an American television writer and producer. Beginning in 1977, he wrote and produced for the television series Laverne & Shirley and The Larry Sanders Show. He had also created, written and produced Bosom Buddies, The Naked Truth, Action, Ladies Man and the Disney Channel original series, Shake It Up, as well co-written the feature films Jumpin' Jack Flash and Back to the Beach.

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26/06/2014

Howard Baker, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 12th White House Chief of Staff (born 1925)

Howard Henry Baker Jr. was an American politician, diplomat and photographer who served as a United States senator from Tennessee from 1967 to 1985. During his tenure, he rose to the rank of Senate minority leader and then Senate majority leader. A member of the Republican Party, Baker was the first Republican to be elected to the U.S. Senate in Tennessee since the Reconstruction era.

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Bill Frank, American-Canadian football player (born 1938)

William B. Frank, Jr. was a Canadian football offensive tackle in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the BC Lions, Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He also was a member of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Colorado. He is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

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Rollin King, American businessman, co-founded Southwest Airlines (born 1931)

Rollin W. King was an American businessman and investment consultant. He is best known as the co-founder and former director of Southwest Airlines.

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Bob Mischak, American football player and coach (born 1932)

Robert Michael Mischak (Pronounced: MIH-shak) was a college and professional American football guard and tight end who played six seasons in the American Football League (AFL), from 1960 to 1965. He was selected by his peers as a Sporting News AFL All-League guard in 1960 and 1961. He was an AFL Eastern Division All-Star in 1962. He also played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants and was a starting guard in the famed 1958 "Greatest Game Ever Played". In addition, Mischak was a 3-time Super Bowl champion coach with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders.

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Julius Rudel, Austrian-American conductor (born 1921)

Julius Rudel was an Austrian-born American opera and orchestra conductor. He was born in Vienna and was a student at the city's Academy of Music. He immigrated to the United States at the age of 17 in 1938 after the country was annexed by Germany.

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Mary Rodgers, American composer and author (born 1931)

Mary Rodgers was an American composer, screenwriter, and author. She wrote the 1972 novel Freaky Friday, which served as the basis of a 1976 film starring Jodie Foster, for which she wrote the screenplay, as well as three other versions. Her best-known musicals were Once Upon a Mattress and The Mad Show, and she contributed songs to Marlo Thomas' successful 1972 children's album Free to Be... You and Me.

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26/06/2013

Henrik Otto Donner, Finnish trumpet player and composer (born 1939)

Henrik Otto Donner was a Finnish composer, musician and all-round music personality. His musical styles varied from pop and rock music to jazz, electronic music and contemporary classical music. Donner's personal instrument was trumpet. He was a member of the famous Finland Swedish Donner family.

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Edward Huggins Johnstone, Brazilian-American sergeant and judge (born 1922)

Edward Huggins Johnstone was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.

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Byron Looper, American politician (born 1964)

Byron Looper was a Democratic turned Republican politician in Tennessee and convicted murderer. To advance his political career, he legally changed his middle name from "Anthony" to "(Low Tax)", including the parentheses. After being convicted for the October 1998 assassination of his election opponent, incumbent Tennessee State Senator Tommy Burks, he was given a life sentence in prison. He died in prison in 2013.

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Justin Miller, American baseball player (born 1977)

Justin Mark Miller was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Florida Marlins, San Francisco Giants, and Los Angeles Dodgers. He also played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chiba Lotte Marines. Miller was the inspiration for the "Justin Miller rule" requiring pitchers with arm tattoos to wear long-sleeved shirts.

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Marc Rich, Belgian-American businessman (born 1934)

Marc Rich was a Belgian-American commodities trader, financier, and businessman. He founded the commodities company Glencore, and was later indicted in the United States on federal charges of tax evasion, wire fraud, racketeering, and selling Iranian oil to Israel during the Iran hostage crisis. He fled to Switzerland at the time of the indictment and never returned to the United States.

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26/06/2012

Sverker Åström, Swedish diplomat, Swedish Permanent Representative to the United Nations (born 1915)

Carl Sverker Åström was a Swedish diplomat. After completing his studies, Åström began his career as an attaché at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm. He served in the Soviet Union during World War II and later held posts in Washington, D.C., and London, rising to key leadership roles at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. From 1964 to 1970, he served as Sweden's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, followed by leading Sweden's EEC treaty negotiations. He later became State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and ambassador to France before retiring in 1982.

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Pat Cummings, American basketball player (born 1956)

Pat Cummings was an American professional basketball player.

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Nora Ephron, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1941)

Nora Ephron was an American writer, playwright, journalist, and filmmaker. Known for writing and directing romantic comedy films, she received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three Writers Guild of America Awards.

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Mario O'Hara, Filipino director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1944)

Mario Herrero O'Hara was a Filipino film director, film producer and screenwriter known for his sense of realism often with dark but realistic social messages.

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Doris Singleton, American actress (born 1919)

Dorthea "Doris" Singleton was an American actress, perhaps best remembered as Lucy Ricardo's frenemy, Carolyn Appleby, in I Love Lucy.

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26/06/2011

Edith Fellows, American actress (born 1923)

Edith Marilyn Fellows was an American actress who became a child star in the 1930s. Best known for playing orphans and street urchins, Fellows was an expressive actress with a good singing voice. She made her screen debut at the age of five in Charley Chase's film short Movie Night (1929). Her first credited role in a feature film was The Rider of Death Valley (1932). By 1935, she had appeared in over twenty films. Her performance opposite Claudette Colbert and Melvyn Douglas in She Married Her Boss (1935) won her a seven-year contract with Columbia Pictures, the first such contract offered to a child.

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Jan van Beveren, Dutch footballer and coach (born 1948)

Jan van Beveren was a Dutch footballer and coach, who played as a goalkeeper.

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26/06/2010

Algirdas Brazauskas, Lithuanian engineer and politician, 4th President of Lithuania (born 1932)

Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas was the fourth president of Lithuania, in office from 1993 to 1998. He also served as Prime Minister of Lithuania from 2001 to 2006. Brazauskas was the first democratically elected president of post-Soviet Lithuania.

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Harald Keres, Estonian physicist and academic (born 1912)

Harald Keres was an Estonian physicist considered to be the father of the Estonian school of relativistic gravitation theory. In 1961 Keres became a member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences in the field of theoretical physics. In 1996 Keres was awarded the Order of the National Coat of Arms, Class III.

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26/06/2007

Liz Claiborne, Belgian-American fashion designer, founded Liz Claiborne (born 1929)

Anne Elisabeth Jane Claiborne was an American fashion designer and businesswoman. Her success was built upon stylish yet affordable apparel for career women featuring colorfully tailored separates that could be mixed and matched. Claiborne co-founded Liz Claiborne Inc., which in 1986 became the first company founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500 list. Claiborne was the first woman to become chair and CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

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Joey Sadler, New Zealand rugby player (born 1914)

Bernard Sydney "Joey" Sadler was a New Zealand rugby union player who played at halfback for the All Blacks in 1935–36.

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26/06/2006

Tommy Wonder, Dutch magician (born 1953)

Tommy Wonder was the stage name of Jacobus Maria Bemelman, a Dutch magician who performed both close-up and stage magic. Wonder performed in Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and on Fox television.

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26/06/2005

Tõnno Lepmets, Estonian basketball player (born 1938)

Tõnno Lepmets was an Estonian professional basketball player, who competed for the Soviet Union. He won gold with the Soviet basketball team at the 1963 and 1967 EuroBasket. Elected to the Hall of fame of Estonian basketball in 2010. He was he long-time center (194 cm) of Estonian national team.

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Richard Whiteley, English journalist and game show host (born 1943)

John Richard Whiteley was an English presenter and journalist, best known for his 23 years as host of the game show Countdown. Countdown was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:45 pm on 2 November 1982, and Whiteley was the first person to be seen on the channel. Whiteley enjoyed projecting the image of an absent-minded eccentric. His trademarks were his jolly, avuncular manner, his fondness for puns, and his bold, sometimes garish wardrobe.

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26/06/2004

Ott Arder, Estonian poet and translator (born 1950)

Ott Arder was an Estonian poet, children's writer and translator. He was also the author of several popular songs and written texts.

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Yash Johar, Indian film producer, founded Dharma Productions (born 1929)

Yash Johar was an Indian film producer and the founder of Dharma Productions. His films were known for their lavish sets, exotic locations, and emphasis on Indian traditions and family values. He was the father of Karan Johar, a prominent filmmaker who now leads Dharma Productions.

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Naomi Shemer, Israeli singer-songwriter (born 1930)

Naomi Shemer was an Israeli songwriter, composer, and performer, widely described as the "first lady of Israeli song". She became one of the most influential figures in modern Hebrew music, writing numerous songs that became cultural touchstones, most notably "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav", which gained prominence after the Six-Day War and is often regarded as a second national anthem. Over a career spanning several decades, Shemer created music for adults and children, contributed to major festivals and cultural events, and became widely recognized for shaping the Israeli songbook.

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26/06/2003

Marc-Vivien Foé, Cameroon footballer (born 1975)

Marc-Vivien Foé was a Cameroonian professional footballer, who played as a defensive midfielder.

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Denis Thatcher, English soldier and businessman (born 1915)

Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Baronet, was an English businessman and the husband of Margaret Thatcher, who served as the first female British prime minister from 1979 to 1990; thus, he became the first male prime ministerial spouse.

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Strom Thurmond, American general, lawyer, and politician, 103rd Governor of South Carolina (born 1902)

James Strom Thurmond Sr. was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Before his 47 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South Carolina from 1947 to 1951. Thurmond was officially a member of the Democratic Party in the Senate until 1964, when he joined the Republican Party. He had earlier run for president in 1948 as the Dixiecrat candidate in opposition to Democratic president Harry S. Truman, receiving over a million votes and winning four states.

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26/06/2002

Jay Berwanger, American football player (born 1914)

John Jacob "Jay" Berwanger was an American college football player and referee. In 1935, Berwanger was the first recipient of the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, renamed the Heisman Trophy the following year. At its inception, the award was given to "the most valuable player east of the Mississippi." In 1936, Berwanger became the first player drafted into the National Football League in its inaugural 1936 NFL draft, although he did not play professionally due to a salary dispute.

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Arnold Brown, English-Canadian 11th General of The Salvation Army (born 1913)

Arnold Brown was the 11th General of The Salvation Army (1977–1981).

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26/06/2001

Gina Cigna, French-Italian soprano (born 1900)

Gina Cigna was a French-Italian dramatic soprano.

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26/06/1998

Hacı Sabancı, Turkish businessman and philanthropist (born 1935)

Hacı Sabancı was a Turkish businessman, philanthropist, and second-generation member of the renowned Sabancı family.

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26/06/1997

Don Hutson, American football player and coach (born 1913)

Donald Montgomery Hutson, nicknamed "the Alabama Antelope", was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). In the era of the one-platoon football, he played as an end and spent his entire 11-year career with the Green Bay Packers. Under head coach Curly Lambeau, Hutson led the Packers to four NFL Championship Games, winning three in 1936, 1939, and 1944.

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26/06/1996

Veronica Guerin, Irish journalist (born 1958)

Veronica Guerin Turley was an Irish investigative journalist focusing on organised crime in Ireland, who was murdered in a contract killing believed to have been ordered by a South Dublin-based drug cartel. Born in Dublin, she was an athlete in school and later played on the Irish national teams for both Association football and basketball. After studying accountancy she ran a public-relations firm for seven years, before working for Fianna Fáil and as an election agent for Seán Haughey. She became a reporter in 1990, writing for the Sunday Business Post and Sunday Tribune. In 1994 she began writing articles about the Irish criminal underworld for the Sunday Independent. In 1996, after pressing charges for assault against major organised crime figure John Gilligan, Guerin was ambushed and fatally shot in her vehicle while waiting at a traffic light. The shooting caused national outrage in Ireland. Investigation into her death led to a number of arrests and convictions.

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Necmettin Hacıeminoğlu, Turkish linguist and academic (born 1932)

Necmettin Hacıeminoğlu was a Turkish poet, linguist and writer.

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26/06/1994

Jahanara Imam, Bangladeshi author and activist (born 1929)

Jahanara Imam was a Bangladeshi writer and political activist. She is known for her efforts to bring war criminals to trial for war crimes during the Bangladesh Liberation War. She has been called "Shaheed Janani".

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26/06/1993

Roy Campanella, American baseball player and coach (born 1921)

Roy Campanella, nicknamed "Campy", was an American professional baseball player, primarily as a catcher. The Philadelphia native played in the Negro leagues and Mexican League for nine years before entering the minor leagues in 1946. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 1948 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, for whom he played until 1957. His playing career ended when he was paralyzed in an automobile crash in January 1958. A three-time MVP, he is considered one of the greatest catchers in the history of the game.

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William H. Riker, American political scientist and academic (born 1920)

William Harrison Riker was an American political scientist known for applying game theory and mathematics to political science. He helped establish University of Rochester as a center of the behavioral revolution in political science.

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26/06/1992

Buddy Rogers, American wrestler (born 1921)

Buddy Rogers, better known by the ring name "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, was an American professional wrestler who was one of the biggest professional wrestling stars in the beginning of the television era. His performances influenced future professional wrestlers, including "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, who used Rogers's nickname, as well as his look, attitude and finishing hold, the figure-four leglock. He was also known for his rivalry with Lou Thesz, both in and out of the ring.

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26/06/1990

Anni Blomqvist, Finnish author (born 1909)

Anni Viktoria Blomqvist was a Finland-Swedish novelist.

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26/06/1989

Howard Charles Green, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Public Works (born 1895)

Howard Charles Green was a Canadian federal politician.

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26/06/1982

Alexander Mitscherlich, German psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (born 1908)

Alexander Harbord Mitscherlich was a German psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.

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26/06/1979

Akwasi Afrifa, Ghanaian soldier and politician, 3rd Head of State of Ghana (born 1936)

Lieutenant General Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa was a Ghanaian soldier, farmer, traditional ruler and politician. He was the head of state of Ghana and leader of the military government in 1969 and then chairman of the Presidential Commission between 1969 and 1970. He continued as a farmer and political activist. He was elected a member of Parliament in 1979, but he was executed before he could take his seat. He was executed together with two other former heads of state, General Kutu Acheampong and General Fred Akuffo, and five other generals, in June 1979. He was also popularly referred to by his title Okatakyie Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa and was in addition the abakomahene of Krobo in the Asante-Mampong Traditional Area of the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

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26/06/1975

Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish priest and saint (born 1902)

Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás was a Spanish Catholic priest who founded Opus Dei, an organization of laypeople and priests dedicated to the principle of everyday holiness. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

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26/06/1967

Françoise Dorléac, French actress and singer (born 1942)

Françoise Paulette Louise Dorléac was a French actress. She was the elder sister of Sylvie Dorléac and Catherine Deneuve, with whom she starred in the musical comedy film, The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967). Her other films include Philippe de Broca's That Man from Rio, François Truffaut's The Soft Skin, Val Guest's Where the Spies Are (1965), and Roman Polanski's Cul-de-sac (1966).

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26/06/1964

Léo Dandurand, American-Canadian businessman (born 1889)

Joseph Viateur "Léo" Dandurand, was an American-Canadian sportsman and businessman. He was the owner and coach of the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). He also was an owner of race tracks and of the Montreal Alouettes football team in the league that evolved into the Canadian Football League.

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26/06/1958

George Orton, Canadian runner and hurdler (born 1873)

George Washington F. Orton was a Canadian middle and long-distance runner. In 1900, he became the first Canadian to win a medal at an Olympic Games. He won a bronze in the 400 metre hurdles, and then, forty-five minutes later, won the gold medal in the 2500 metre steeplechase. He was the first athlete with a disability to win an Olympic gold medal. At the University of Pennsylvania, for whom he competed while earning his Masters and Doctorate and completed his ability to speak 9 languages, he was captain of Penn's track and field team in 1896 and was a founder and captain of its ice hockey team in 1896–1897, and was known as "The Father of Philadelphia Hockey". He won seventeen U.S. National Track and Field titles.

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Andrija Štampar, Croatian physician and scholar (born 1888)

Andrija Štampar was a distinguished scholar in the field of social medicine from Croatia.

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26/06/1957

Alfred Döblin, Polish-German physician and author (born 1878)

Bruno Alfred Döblin was a German novelist, essayist, and doctor, best known for his novel Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929). A prolific writer whose œuvre spans more than half a century and a wide variety of literary movements and styles, Döblin is one of the most important figures of German literary modernism. His complete works comprise over a dozen novels ranging in genre from historical novels to science fiction to novels about the modern metropolis; several dramas, radio plays, and screenplays; a true crime story; a travel account; two book-length philosophical treatises; scores of essays on politics, religion, art, and society; and numerous letters—his complete works, republished by Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag and Fischer Verlag, span more than thirty volumes. His first published novel, Die drei Sprünge des Wang-lung, appeared in 1915 and his final novel, Hamlet oder Die lange Nacht nimmt ein Ende was published in 1956, one year before his death.

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Malcolm Lowry, English novelist and poet (born 1909)

Clarence Malcolm Lowry was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel Under the Volcano, which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels list.

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26/06/1956

Clifford Brown, American trumpet player and composer (born 1930)

Clifford Benjamin Brown was an American jazz trumpeter, pianist, and composer. He died at the age of 25 in a car crash, leaving behind four years' worth of recordings. His compositions "Sandu", "Joy Spring", and "Daahoud" have become jazz standards. Brown won the DownBeat magazine Critics' Poll for New Star of the Year in 1954; he was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1972.

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Richie Powell, American pianist (born 1931)

Richard Powell was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He was not assisted in his musical development by Bud, his older and better known brother, but both played predominantly in the bebop style.

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26/06/1955

Engelbert Zaschka, German engineer (born 1895)

Engelbert Zaschka was a German chief engineer, chief designer and inventor. Zaschka is one of the first German helicopter pioneers and he is a pioneer of flying with muscle power and the folding car. Zaschka devoted himself primarily to aviation and automotive topics, but his work was not limited to them.

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26/06/1949

Kim Koo, South Korean educator and politician, 13th President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (born 1876)

Kim Ku, also known by his art name Paekpŏm, was a Korean independence activist and statesman. He was a leader of the Korean independence movement against the Empire of Japan, head of the Korean Provisional Government from 1926 to 1927 and from 1940 to 1945, and a Korean reunification activist after 1945. Kim is revered in South Korea, where he is considered one of the greatest figures in Korean history; his legacy is also somewhat less enthusiastically celebrated in North Korea, due to his anti-communist views.

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26/06/1947

R. B. Bennett, Canadian lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Canada (born 1870)

Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Canada from 1930 to 1935.

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26/06/1946

Max Kögel, German SS officer (born 1895)

Otto Max Koegel was a Nazi officer who served as a commander at Lichtenburg, Ravensbrück, Majdanek and Flossenbürg concentration camps. In 1946 he was arrested for his role in The Holocaust, but hanged himself in prison before he could stand trial.

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Yōsuke Matsuoka, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1880)

Yōsuke Matsuoka was a Japanese diplomat and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Empire of Japan during the early stages of World War II. He is best known for his defiant speech at the League of Nations in February 1933, ending Japan's participation in the organization. He was also one of the architects of the Tripartite Pact and the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in the years immediately prior to the outbreak of war.

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26/06/1945

Emil Hácha, Czech lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Czechoslovakia (born 1872)

Emil Dominik Josef Hácha was a Czech lawyer, serving as the president of Czechoslovakia from November 1938 to March 1939. In March 1939, after the breakup of Czechoslovakia, Hácha was the nominal president of the newly proclaimed German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

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26/06/1943

Karl Landsteiner, Austrian biologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1868)

Karl Landsteiner was an Austrian-American biologist, physician, and immunologist. He emigrated with his family to New York in 1923 at the age of 55 for professional opportunities, working for the Rockefeller Institute.

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26/06/1939

Ford Madox Ford, English novelist, poet, and critic (born 1873)

Ford Madox Ford was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals The English Review and The Transatlantic Review were important in the development of early 20th-century English and American literature.

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26/06/1938

James Weldon Johnson, American poet, lawyer and politician (born 1871)

James Weldon Johnson was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where he started working in 1917. In 1920, he was chosen as executive secretary of the organization, effectively the operating officer. He served in that position from 1920 to 1930. Johnson established his reputation as a writer, and was known during the Harlem Renaissance for his poems, novel and anthologies collecting both poems and spirituals of Black culture. He wrote the lyrics for "Lift Every Voice and Sing", which later became known as the Black National Anthem, the music being written by his younger brother, composer J. Rosamond Johnson.

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Daria Pratt, American golfer (born 1859)

Myra Abigail Pratt née Pankhurst and formerly Wright, later Daria, Princess Karageorgevich was an American golfer who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics representing France. She won the bronze medal in the women's competition. By virtue of her third marriage, she was member of the House of Karađorđević.

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26/06/1932

Adelaide Ames, American astronomer and academic (born 1900)

Adelaide Ames was an American astronomer and research assistant at Harvard University. She was best known for her work on detailed surveys of the brightest extra-galactic spiral nebulae. She contributed to the study of galaxies with her co-authorship of A Survey of the External Galaxies Brighter Than the Thirteenth Magnitude, which was later known as the Shapley-Ames catalog. Ames was a member of the American Astronomical Society. She was a contemporary of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin and her closest friend at the observatory.

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26/06/1927

Armand Guillaumin, French painter (born 1841)

Armand Guillaumin was a French Impressionist painter and lithographer.

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26/06/1922

Albert I, Prince of Monaco (born 1848)

Albert I was Prince of Monaco from 10 September 1889 until his death in 1922. He devoted much of his life to oceanography, exploration and science. Alongside his expeditions, Albert I's reign oversaw major reforms on political, social, and economic levels, with the Monégasque Revolution leading to the end of absolute monarchy and his promulgation of a constitution in 1911.

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26/06/1918

Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet and author (born 1843)

Peter Rosegger was an Austrian writer and poet from Krieglach in the province of Styria. He was a son of a mountain farmer and grew up in the woodlands and mountains of Alpl. Rosegger went on to become a most prolific poet and author as well as an insightful teacher and visionary.

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26/06/1883

Edward Sabine, Irish-English astronomer, geophysicist, and ornithologist (born 1788)

Sir Edward Sabine was an Irish physicist, geodesist,astronomer, geophysicist, ornithologist, polar explorer, soldier, and the 30th president of the Royal Society.

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26/06/1879

Richard H. Anderson, American general (born 1821)

Richard Heron Anderson was a career U.S. Army officer, fighting with distinction in the Mexican–American War. He also served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War, fighting in the Eastern Theater of the conflict and most notably during the 1864 Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. Anderson was also noted for his humility.

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26/06/1878

Mercedes of Orléans (born 1860)

María de las Mercedes of Orléans was Queen of Spain as the first wife of King Alfonso XII. She was born in Madrid, the daughter of Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier, and Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain.

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26/06/1870

Armand Barbès, French lawyer and politician (born 1809)

Armand Barbès was a French Republican revolutionary and an opponent of the July Monarchy (1830–1848).

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26/06/1860

George Montgomery White, American politician (born 1828)

George Montgomery White was an American politician in North Carolina who was a two-term member of the North Carolina House of Commons from Bladen County.

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26/06/1856

Max Stirner, German philosopher and author (born 1806)

Johann Caspar Schmidt, known by the pen name Max Stirner, was a German philosopher, dealing mainly with the Hegelian notion of social alienation and self-consciousness. Stirner is often seen as one of the forerunners of nihilism, existentialism, psychoanalytic theory, postmodernism, individualist anarchism, and egoism.

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26/06/1836

Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, French soldier and composer (born 1760)

Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle was a French army officer of the French Revolutionary Wars. Lisle is known for writing the words and music of the Chant de guerre pour l'armée du Rhin, which would later be known as La Marseillaise and become the French national anthem.

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26/06/1830

George IV of the United Kingdom (born 1762)

George IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III, having done so since 5 February 1811 during his father's final mental illness.

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26/06/1810

Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French inventor, co-invented the hot air balloon (born 1740)

The Montgolfier brothers – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier – were aviation pioneers, balloonists and paper manufacturers from the commune Annonay in Ardèche, France. They invented the Montgolfière-style hot air balloon, globe aérostatique, which launched the first confirmed piloted ascent by humans in 1783, carrying Jacques-Étienne.

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26/06/1808

Ludwik Tyszkiewicz, Polish poet and politician (born 1748)

Ludwik Skumin Tyszkiewicz was a Polish–Lithuanian nobleman (szlachcic) and Field Lithuanian Hetman from 1780 to 1791, Great Lithuanian Treasurer from 1791, Great Lithuanian Marshal from 1793. Member of the Targowica Confederation.

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26/06/1798

James Dickey, Irish revolutionary (born 1776)

James Dickey was a young barrister from a Presbyterian family in Crumlin in the north of Ireland who was active in the Society of the United Irishmen and was hanged with Henry Joy McCracken for leading rebels at the Battle of Antrim.

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26/06/1795

Johannes Jährig, German linguist and translator (born 1747)

Johannes Jährig was a German Mongolist and translator of Tibetan and Mongolian texts.

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26/06/1793

Gilbert White, English ornithologist and ecologist (born 1720)

Gilbert White was a "parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne.

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26/06/1784

Caesar Rodney, American lawyer and politician, 4th Governor of Delaware (born 1728)

Caesar Rodney was an American Founding Father, lawyer, and politician from St. Jones Neck in Dover Hundred, Kent County, Delaware. He was an officer of the Delaware militia during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War, a Continental Congressman from Delaware, a signer of the Continental Association and Declaration of Independence, and president of Delaware during most of the American Revolution.

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26/06/1757

Maximilian Ulysses Browne, Austrian field marshal (born 1705)

Maximilian Ulysses, Reichsgraf von Browne, Baron de Camus and Mountany was an Austrian military officer, one of the highest-ranking officers serving the Habsburg Emperor during the middle of the 18th century. An Irish refugee, he was a scion of the Wild Geese.

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26/06/1752

Giulio Alberoni, Spanish cardinal (born 1664)

Giulio Alberoni was an Italian cardinal and statesman in the service of Philip V of Spain.

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26/06/1688

Ralph Cudworth, English philosopher and academic (born 1617)

Ralph Cudworth was an English Anglican clergyman, Christian Hebraist, classicist, theologian and philosopher, and a leading figure among the Cambridge Platonists who became 11th Regius Professor of Hebrew (1645–1688), 26th Master of Clare Hall (1645–1654), and 14th Master of Christ's College (1654–1688). A leading opponent of Hobbes's political and philosophical views, his magnum opus was his The True Intellectual System of the Universe (1678).

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26/06/1677

Francesco Buonamici, Italian architect, painter and engraver (born 1596)

Francesco Buonamici was an Italian Baroque architect, painter and engraver who was active in Lucca, Malta, Sicily and Rome during the 17th century. He played a significant role in the introduction of Baroque in Malta.

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26/06/1574

Gabriel, comte de Montgomery, captain of the Scottish Guard of Henry II of France (born 1530)

Gabriel de Lorges, Count of Montgomery, Lord of Lorges and Ducey, was a French nobleman of Scottish extraction and captain of the Scots Guard of King Henry II of France. He is remembered for mortally injuring Henry II in a jousting accident and subsequently converting to Protestantism, the faith that the Scots Guard sought to suppress. He later became a leader of the Huguenots and was executed for his actions in the French Wars of Religion. In French-language contexts, his name is spelled Montgommery.

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26/06/1541

Francisco Pizarro, Spanish explorer and politician, Governor of New Castile (born c. 1471)

Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.

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26/06/1487

John Argyropoulos, Byzantine philosopher and scholar (born 1415)

John Argyropoulos was a lecturer, philosopher, and humanist, one of the émigré Greek scholars who pioneered the revival of classical Greek learning in 15th century Italy.

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26/06/1274

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Persian scientist and writer (born 1201)

Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ṭūsī, also known as Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī or simply as (al-)Tusi, was a Persian polymath, architect, philosopher, physician, scientist, and theologian. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi was a well published author, writing on subjects of math, engineering, prose, and mysticism. Additionally, al-Tusi made several scientific advancements. In astronomy, al-Tusi created very accurate tables of planetary motion, an updated planetary model, and critiques of Ptolemaic astronomy. He also made strides in logic, mathematics but especially trigonometry, biology, and chemistry. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi left behind a great legacy as well. Tusi is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of medieval Islam, since he is often considered the creator of trigonometry as a mathematical discipline in its own right. The Muslim scholar Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) considered Tusi to be the greatest of the later Persian scholars. There is also reason to believe that he may have influenced Copernican heliocentrism.

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26/06/1265

Anne of Bohemia, duchess of Silesia (born 1203 or 1204)

Anne of Bohemia, a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duchess of Silesia and High Duchess of Poland from 1238 to 1241, by her marriage to the Piast ruler Henry II the Pious. She was celebrated by the community of Franciscan nuns at St Clara of Prague Abbey in Wrocław as their founder and patron.

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26/06/1095

Robert, bishop of Hereford

Robert the Lotharingian was a priest who became Bishop of Hereford following the Norman Conquest of England. His writings serve as one of the best sources for information on the process of compiling the Domesday Book, and he may have introduced the abacus to England.

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26/06/1090

Jaromír, bishop of Prague

Jaromír was the Bishop of Prague from 1068, when he was appointed by his brother, Vratislaus II of Bohemia. The two were both sons of Duke Bretislaus I of Bohemia.

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26/06/0985

Ramiro III, king of León

Ramiro III, king of León (966–984), was the son of Sancho the Fat and his successor at the age of only five.

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26/06/0969

George El Mozahem, Egyptian martyr (born 940)

George El Mozahem is a Coptic Orthodox martyr and saint.

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26/06/0822

Saichō, Japanese Buddhist monk (born 767)

Saichō was a Japanese Buddhist monk credited with founding the Japanese Tendai school of Buddhism. He was awarded the posthumous title of Dengyō Daishi (伝教大師).

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26/06/0405

Vigilius, bishop of Trent (born 353)

Vigilius of Trent is venerated as the patron saint and bishop of Trent.

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26/06/0363

Julian the Apostate, Roman emperor (born 332)

Julian was the Caesar of the West from 355 to 360 and Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplatonic Hellenism caused him to be remembered as Julian the Apostate in the Christian tradition.

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01/01/1970

Ptolemy VIII, king of Egypt

Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon, nicknamed Physcon, was a king of the Ptolemaic kingdom. He was the younger son of King Ptolemy V and Queen Cleopatra I. His reign was characterised by fierce political and military conflict with his older siblings, Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II.

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