Died on Thursday, 15th May – Famous Deaths

15/05/2025

Robert Walls, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (born 1950)

Robert Walls was an Australian rules footballer who represented Carlton and Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s.

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15/05/2024

Kamla Beniwal, Indian politician (born 1927)

Kamla Beniwal was an Indian independence activist and veteran politician who served as the deputy chief minister of Rajasthan. A leader of the Indian National Congress, she was the first female minister and held cabinet ministerial positions in the state government of Rajasthan for more than two decades between 1980 and 2003.

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15/05/2022

Frank Curry, Australian rugby league player and coach (born 1950)

Frank Curry Jr. was an Australian rugby league player and coach of the South Sydney Rabbitohs club.

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Kay Mellor, English actress (born 1951)

Kay Mellor was an English actress, scriptwriter, producer and director. She was known for creating television series such as Band of Gold, Fat Friends, and The Syndicate, as well as co-creating CITV's children's dramas Children's Ward (1989–2000) and Just Us (1992–94).

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15/05/2021

Oliver Gillie, British journalist and scientist (born 1937)

Oliver J. Gillie was a British journalist and scientist. He previously served as the medical correspondent for The Sunday Times, and later medical editor for The Independent.

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15/05/2020

Fred Willard, American actor, comedian, and writer (born 1933)

Frederic Charles Willard was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with Christopher Guest in his mockumentary films This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), For Your Consideration (2006), and Mascots (2016). He also appeared in supporting roles in the comedy films Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), American Wedding (2003), and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). On television, Willard received several Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work on the sitcoms Everybody Loves Raymond and Modern Family.

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15/05/2017

Herbert R. Axelrod American tropical fish expert, publisher of pet books, and entrepreneur (born 1927)

Herbert Richard Axelrod was an American tropical fish expert, a publisher of pet books, and an entrepreneur. In 2005 he was sentenced in U.S. court to 18 months in prison for tax fraud.

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15/05/2015

Elisabeth Bing, German-American physical therapist and author (born 1914)

Elisabeth Dorothea Bing was a German physical therapist, co-founder of Lamaze International, and proponent of natural childbirth. She trained as a physical therapist in England after fleeing Nazi Germany due to her Jewish ancestry. Her hospital work there made her interested in natural childbirth, and she taught it to parents in the United States after she moved there in 1949. To promote natural childbirth methods, she co-founded the American Society for Psychoprophylaxis in Obstetrics, made several TV appearances and radio broadcasts, and wrote several books on the subject. She became known as the "mother" of the Lamaze method in the United States.

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Jackie Brookner, American sculptor and educator (born 1945)

Jackie Brookner was an ecological artist, writer, and educator. She worked with ecologists, design professionals, engineers, communities, and policy-makers on water remediation/public art projects for parks, wetlands, rivers, and urban stormwater runoff. In these projects, local resources become the focal point of community collaboration and collective creative agency.

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Flora MacNeil, Scottish Gaelic singer (born 1928)

Flora MacNeil, MBE was a traditional singer of Scottish Gaelic folk music. MacNeil gained prominence after meeting Alan Lomax and Hamish Henderson during the early 1950s, and continued to perform into her later years.

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Garo Yepremian, Cypriot-American football player (born 1944)

Garabed Sarkis "Garo" Yepremian was an Armenian-Cypriot American football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Miami Dolphins. During his nine seasons with the Dolphins, Yepremian led the league in scoring in 1971, received two Pro Bowl and two first-team All-Pro honors, and helped the Dolphins win back-to-back Super Bowl titles. Yepremian's first championship victory in Super Bowl VII occurred as a member of the 1972 Dolphins, the only team to complete a perfect season in NFL history. He also played for the Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before retiring in 1981.

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15/05/2014

Jean-Luc Dehaene, French-Belgian politician, 63rd Prime Minister of Belgium (born 1940)

Jean Luc Joseph Marie "Jean-Luc" Dehaene was a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1992 until 1999. During his political career, he was nicknamed "The Plumber", as well as "The Minesweeper", for his ability to negotiate political deadlocks.

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Noribumi Suzuki, Japanese director and screenwriter (born 1933)

Norifumi Suzuki , was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He is best known for the Torakku Yarō series.

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15/05/2013

Henrique Rosa, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (born 1946)

Henrique Pereira Rosa was a Bissau-Guinean politician who served as interim President of Guinea-Bissau from 2003 to 2005. He was born in 1946 in Bafatá.

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15/05/2012

Carlos Fuentes, Mexican novelist and essayist (born 1928)

Carlos Fuentes Macías was a Mexican novelist, essayist and ambassador to France. Among his works are The Death of Artemio Cruz (1962), Aura (1962), Terra Nostra (1975), The Old Gringo (1985) and Christopher Unborn (1987). In his obituary, The New York Times described Fuentes as "one of the most admired writers in the Spanish-speaking world" and an important influence on the Latin American Boom, the "explosion of Latin American literature in the 1960s and '70s", while The Guardian called him "Mexico's most celebrated novelist". His many literary honors include the Miguel de Cervantes Prize as well as Mexico's highest award, the Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor (1999). He was often named as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, though he never won.

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Arno Lustiger, German historian and author (born 1924)

Arno Lustiger was a German historian and author of Jewish origin. Lustiger made significant contributions to research and document the history of Jewish resistance under Nazi rule.

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Zakaria Mohieddin, Egyptian soldier and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Egypt (born 1918)

Zakaria Mohieddin was an Egyptian military officer, politician who served as the 3rd prime minister of Egypt and head of the first Intelligence body in Egypt, the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate.

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15/05/2010

Besian Idrizaj, Austrian footballer (born 1987)

Besian Idrizaj was an Austrian professional footballer. He played in the Football League for Crystal Palace and Luton Town both whilst on loan from Liverpool for whom he did not make a League appearance. He also played for LASK Linz, Wacker Innsbruck and FC Eilenburg before returning in the English football league with Swansea City. He died of a heart attack on 15 May 2010 at the age of 22. He was of Albanian descent.

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Loris Kessel, Swiss race car driver (born 1950)

Loris Kessel was a racing driver from Switzerland.

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15/05/2009

Bud Tingwell, Australian actor, director, and producer (born 1923)

Charles William Tingwell AM, known professionally as 'Bud' Tingwell or Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, was an Australian actor. One of the veterans of Australian film, he acted in his first motion picture in 1946 and went on to appear in more than 100 films and numerous TV programs in both the United Kingdom and Australia.

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Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player and bass player (born 1964)

Wayman Lawrence Tisdale was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and a smooth jazz bass guitarist. A three-time All American at the University of Oklahoma, he was elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

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15/05/2008

Tommy Burns, Scottish footballer and manager (born 1956)

Thomas Burns was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He is best known for his long association with Celtic, where he was a player, manager and coach.

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Alexander Courage, American composer and conductor (born 1919)

Alexander Mair Courage Jr. familiarly known as "Sandy" Courage, was an American orchestrator, arranger, and composer of music, primarily for television and film. He is best known as the composer of the theme music for the original Star Trek series.

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Will Elder, American illustrator (born 1921)

William Elder was an American illustrator and comic book artist who worked in numerous areas of commercial art but is best known for a frantically funny cartoon style that helped launch Harvey Kurtzman's Mad comic book in 1952.

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15/05/2007

Jerry Falwell, American pastor, founded Liberty University (born 1933)

Jerry Laymon Falwell was an American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia. He founded Lynchburg Christian Academy, later renamed Liberty Christian Academy, in 1967, founded Liberty University in 1971, and co-founded the Moral Majority in 1979.

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15/05/2006

Nizar Abdul Zahra, Iraqi footballer (born 1961)

Nazar Abdul Zahra Khalaf, nicknamed "Maradona of Al-Minaa", was an Iraqi footballer who played forward. He spent the majority of his career with Al-Minaa club.

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15/05/2003

June Carter Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (born 1929)

Valerie June Carter Cash was an American country singer, songwriter, comedienne, actress, and author. A five-time Grammy Award winner, she was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. Before her marriage, she performed as June Carter, a name she continued to use professionally, including on songwriting credits. She played guitar, banjo, harmonica, and autoharp, and acted in several films and television shows. In 2009, she was posthumously inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame, and in 2025, she was named a posthumous inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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15/05/1998

Earl Manigault, American basketball player (born 1944)

Earl Manigault was an American street basketball player who was nicknamed "the Goat" or "the Lip". He is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players never to have played in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

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Naim Talu, Turkish economist, banker, politician, 15th Prime Minister of Turkey (born 1919)

Mehmet Naim Talu was a Turkish economist, banker, politician and former prime minister of Turkey.

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15/05/1996

Charles B. Fulton, American lawyer and judge (born 1910)

Charles Britton Fulton was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

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15/05/1995

Eric Porter, English actor (born 1928)

Eric Richard Porter was an English actor of stage, film and television.

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15/05/1994

Gilbert Roland, American actor (born 1905)

Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso, known professionally as Gilbert Roland, was a Mexican-born American film and television actor whose career spanned seven decades from the 1920s until the 1980s. He was twice nominated for the Golden Globe Award in 1952 and 1964 and inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

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15/05/1993

Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, Sudanese poet and diplomat (born 1933)

Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, was a Sudanese literary writer, poet and diplomat. He is considered one of the most important Sudanese poets of the first generation after the country's independence, marking the transition from literary romanticism to social realism.

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15/05/1991

Andreas Floer, German mathematician and academic (born 1956)

Andreas Floer was a German mathematician who made seminal contributions to symplectic topology, and mathematical physics, in particular the invention of Floer homology. Floer's first pivotal contribution was a solution to a special case of Arnold's conjecture on fixed points of a symplectomorphism. Because of his work on Arnold's conjecture and his development of instanton homology, he achieved wide recognition and was invited as a plenary speaker for the International Congress of Mathematicians held in Kyoto in August 1990. He received a Sloan Fellowship in 1989.

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Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Malian ethnologist and author (born 1901)

Amadou Hampâté Bâ was a Malian writer, historian, and ethnologist. He was an influential figure in the twentieth-century African literature and cultural heritage. A champion of Africa's oral tradition and traditional knowledge, he is remembered for his 1960 address to the UNESCO General Conference in which he urged the preservation of Africa's oral traditions, declaring: "I consider the death of each of these traditionalists as the burning of an unexploited cultural fund". A later formulation using the word bibliothèque emerged during a 1962 UNESCO Executive Board exchange.

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Fritz Riess, German race car driver (born 1922)

Friedrich "Fritz" Riess or Rieß was a racing driver from Germany. He participated in one "Formula One" World Championship Grand Prix, the 1952 German Grand Prix on 3 August 1952, then run to Formula Two rules. He finished seventh, scoring no championship points as only the first five finishers scored points at that time.

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15/05/1989

Johnny Green, American composer and conductor (born 1908)

John Waldo Green was an American songwriter, composer, musical arranger, conductor and pianist. He was given the nickname "Beulah" by colleague Conrad Salinger. His most famous song was one of his earliest, "Body and Soul" from the revue Three's a Crowd. Green won four Academy Awards for his film scores and a fifth for producing a short musical film, and he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. He was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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Luc Lacourcière, Canadian ethnographer and author (born 1910)

Luc Lacourcière, CC was a Québécois writer and ethnographer, who established himself during his lifetime as a leading figure in folklore studies. Trained by Marius Barbeau, he in turn influenced renowned researchers such as linguist Claude Poirier. In 1944, Lacourcière founded the Archives de folklore (AF), which he directed until 1975. Since 1978, a Luc-Lacourcière medal has been awarded every two years.

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15/05/1986

Elio de Angelis, Italian race car driver (born 1958)

Elio de Angelis was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1979 to 1986.

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Theodore H. White, American historian, journalist, and author (born 1915)

Theodore Harold White was an American political journalist and historian, first known for his 1946 best-seller Thunder Out of China, reporting from China during World War II and then the Making of the President series.

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15/05/1985

Jackie Curtis, American actress and writer (born 1947)

Jackie Curtis was an American underground actor, singer, and playwright best known as a Warhol superstar. Primarily a stage actor in New York City, Curtis performed as a man and also performed in drag.

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15/05/1984

Francis Schaeffer, American pastor, theologian, and philosopher (born 1912)

Francis August Schaeffer was an American evangelical theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He co-founded the L'Abri community in Switzerland with his wife Edith Schaeffer, a prolific author in her own right. Opposed to theological modernism, Schaeffer promoted what he claimed was a more historic Protestant faith and a presuppositional approach to Christian apologetics, which he believed would answer the questions of the age.

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15/05/1982

Gordon Smiley, American race car driver (born 1946)

Gordon Eugene Smiley was an American race car driver who was killed in a single-car crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He was inducted into the Nebraska Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2000.

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15/05/1980

Gordon Prange, American historian and author (born 1910)

Gordon William Prange was the author of several World War II historical manuscripts which were published by his co-workers after his death in 1980. Prange was a professor of history at the University of Maryland from 1937 to 1980 with a break of nine years (1942–1951) of military service in the United States Navy during World War II, and in the postwar military occupation of Japan, when he was the Chief Historian on General Douglas MacArthur's staff. It was during this time that Prange collected material from and interviewed many Japanese military officers, enlisted men, and civilians, with the information later being used in the writing of his books. Several became New York Times bestsellers, including At Dawn We Slept, The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor and Miracle at Midway.

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15/05/1978

Robert Menzies, Australian lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (born 1894)

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies was an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the 12th prime minister of Australia from 1939 to 1941 and from 1949 to 1966. He held office as the leader of the United Australia Party (UAP) in his first term, and subsequently as the inaugural leader of the Liberal Party of Australia in his second. He was the member of parliament (MP) for the Victorian division of Kooyong from 1934 to 1966. He is the longest-serving prime minister in Australian history.

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15/05/1971

Tyrone Guthrie, English director, producer, and playwright (born 1900)

Sir William Tyrone Guthrie was an English theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at his family's ancestral home, Annaghmakerrig, near Newbliss in County Monaghan, Ireland. He is famous for his original approach to Shakespearean and modern drama.

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15/05/1969

Joe Malone, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1890)

Maurice Joseph Cletus Malone was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre. He played in the National Hockey Association (NHA) and National Hockey League (NHL) for the Quebec Bulldogs, Montreal Canadiens, and Hamilton Tigers from 1910 to 1924. Known for his scoring feats and clean play, Malone led the NHL in goals and points in 1918 and 1920, and the NHA in goals twice, in 1913 and 1917. He won the Stanley Cup with Quebec in 1912 and 1913.

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15/05/1967

Edward Hopper, American painter (born 1882)

Edward Hopper was an American realist painter and printmaker. He is one of America's most renowned artists and known for his skill in depicting modern American life and landscapes.

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Italo Mus, Italian painter (born 1892)

Italo Mus was an Italian painter.

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15/05/1965

Pio Pion, Italian businessman (born 1887)

Pio Pion was an Italian entrepreneur, known for founding the first Italian company producing movie projectors, the Fumagalli, Pion & C.

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15/05/1964

Vladko Maček, Croatian lawyer and politician (born 1879)

Vladimir Maček was a politician in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. As a leader of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) following the 1928 assassination of Stjepan Radić, Maček had been a leading Croatian political figure until the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941. As a leader of the HSS, Maček played a key role in establishment of the Banovina of Croatia, an autonomous banovina in Yugoslavia in 1939.

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15/05/1963

John Aglionby, English-born Bishop of Accra and soldier (born 1884)

John Orfeur Aglionby was Bishop of Accra during the second quarter of the 20th century.

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15/05/1957

Keith Andrews, American race car driver (born 1920)

Keith Phillip Andrews was an American racecar driver. He was killed after crashing his car during practice for the 1957 Indianapolis 500.

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Dick Irvin, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1892)

James Dickinson "Dick" Irvin Jr. was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. He played for professional teams in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, the Western Canada Hockey League, and the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1916 to 1928, when he had to retire from repeated injuries. Irvin was one of the greatest players of his day, balancing a torrid slap shot and tough style with gentlemanly play. For his playing career, Irvin was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958. After playing, Irvin built a successful career as a coach in the NHL with the Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Montreal Canadiens. He coached his teams to the Stanley Cup Finals 16 times in 26 years as a full-time head coach, winning one Stanley Cup coaching Toronto and three coaching Montreal, finishing with over 600 wins as a coach. He also served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War.

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15/05/1956

Austin Osman Spare, English painter and magician (born 1886)

Austin Osman Spare was an English artist and occultist who worked as a draughtsman, writer and painter. Influenced by symbolism and Art Nouveau, his art was known for its clear use of line and its depiction of monstrous and sexual imagery. In an occult capacity, he developed magical techniques including automatic writing, automatic drawing and sigilization based on his theories of the relationship between the conscious and unconscious self.

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15/05/1955

Harry J. Capehart, American lawyer, politician, and businessperson (born 1881)

Harry Jheopart Capehart Sr. was an American lawyer, politician, and businessperson in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Capehart served as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing McDowell County for three consecutive terms, from 1919 to 1925. He also served as an assessor, city councilperson, and city attorney for Keystone, West Virginia.

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15/05/1954

William March, American soldier and author (born 1893)

William March was an American writer of psychological fiction and a highly decorated U.S. Marine. The author of six novels and four short-story collections, March was praised by critics but never attained great popularity.

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15/05/1948

Edward J. Flanagan, Irish-American priest, founded Boys Town (born 1886)

Edward Joseph Flanagan was an Irish-born priest of the Catholic Church in the United States who served for decades in Nebraska. After serving as a parish priest in the Diocese of Omaha, he founded the orphanage and educational complex known as Boys Town, located west of the city in what is now Boys Town, Douglas County, Nebraska. In the 21st century, the complex also serves as a center for troubled youth.

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15/05/1945

Kenneth J. Alford, English soldier, bandmaster, and composer (born 1881)

Frederick Joseph Ricketts was an English composer of marches for band. Under the pen name Kenneth J. Alford, he composed marches which are considered to be great examples of the art. He was a bandmaster in the British Army, and Royal Marines director of music. Conductor Vivian Dunn called him "The British March King". Alford's frequent use of the saxophone contributed to its permanent inclusion in military bands. His best known work is the "Colonel Bogey March".

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Charles Williams, English author, poet, and critic (born 1886)

Charles Walter Stansby Williams was an English poet, novelist, playwright, theologian and literary critic. Most of his life was spent in London, where he was born, but in 1939 he moved to Oxford with the university press for which he worked until his death.

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15/05/1937

Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1864)

Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, PC was a British politician. A strong speaker, he became popular in trade union circles for his denunciation of capitalism as unethical and his promise of a socialist utopia. He was the first Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, a position he held in 1924 and again between 1929 and 1931. He broke with Labour policy in 1931, and was expelled from the party and excoriated as a turncoat, as the party was overwhelmingly crushed that year by the National Government coalition that Snowden supported. He was succeeded as chancellor by Neville Chamberlain.

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15/05/1935

Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian-Russian painter and theoretician (born 1878)

Kazimir Severinovich Malevich was a Russian avant-garde artist and art theorist, whose pioneering work and writing influenced the development of abstract art in the 20th century. His concept of Suprematism sought to develop a form of expression that moved as far as possible from the world of natural forms (objectivity) and subject matter in order to access "the supremacy of pure feeling" and spirituality. Born in Kiev, modern-day Ukraine, to an ethnic Polish family, Malevich was active primarily in Russia and became a leading artist of the Russian avant-garde. His work has been also associated with the Ukrainian avant-garde, and he is a central figure in the history of modern art in Central and Eastern Europe more broadly.

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15/05/1928

Umegatani Tōtarō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 15th Yokozuna (born 1845)

Umegatani Tōtarō I was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from the town of Haki, Chikuzen Province, now Shiwa, Fukuoka Prefecture. He was the sport's 15th yokozuna. He was generally regarded as the strongest wrestler to emerge since the era of Tanikaze and Raiden.

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15/05/1926

Joseph James Fletcher, Australian biologist (born 1850)

Joseph James Fletcher was an Australian biologist, winner of the 1921 Clarke Medal.

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15/05/1924

Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant, French diplomat and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1852)

Paul Henri Benjamin Balluet d'Estournelles de Constant, Baron de Constant de Rebecque, was a French diplomat and politician, advocate of international arbitration and winner of the 1909 Nobel Peace Prize.

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15/05/1919

Hasan Tahsin, Turkish journalist (born 1888)

Hasan Tahsin was the code name of Osman Nevres, a Turkish nationalist and journalist of Dönmeh descent.

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15/05/1914

Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (born 1863)

Ida Freund was the first woman to be a university chemistry lecturer in the United Kingdom. She is known for her influence on science teaching, particularly the teaching of women and girls. She wrote two key chemistry textbooks and invented the idea of baking periodic table cupcakes, as well as inventing a gas measuring tube, which was named after her.

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15/05/1886

Emily Dickinson, American poet and author (born 1830)

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Largely unpublished and unknown during her lifetime, her work is now widely regarded as canonical. The Poetry Foundation describes her as having "created in her writing a distinctively elliptical language for expressing what was possible but not yet realized."

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15/05/1879

Gottfried Semper, German architect and educator, designed the Semper Opera House (born 1803)

Gottfried Semper was a German architect, art critic, and professor of architecture who designed and built the Semper Opera House in Dresden between 1838 and 1841. In 1849 he took part in the May Uprising in Dresden and was put on the government's wanted list. He fled first to Zürich and later to London. He returned to Germany after the 1862 amnesty granted to the revolutionaries.

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15/05/1845

Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, Head of State of Costa Rica (born 1800)

Braulio Evaristo Carrillo Colina was the Head of State of Costa Rica during two periods: the first between 1835 and 1837, and the de facto between 1838 and 1842.

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15/05/1773

Alban Butler, English priest and hagiographer (born 1710)

Alban Butler was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiographer. Born in Northamptonshire, he studied at the English College in Douay, France, where he later taught philosophy and theology. He served as a guide on the Grand Tour to the nephews of the Earl of Shrewsbury. Upon his return in 1749, Butler was made chaplain to the Duke of Norfolk. He was appointed president of the English seminary at Saint Omer in France. Butler is mainly known for his Lives of the Saints, the result of thirty years of work.

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15/05/1740

Ephraim Chambers, English publisher (born 1680)

Ephraim Chambers was an English writer and encyclopaedist, who is primarily known for producing the Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. Chambers' Cyclopædia is known as the original source material for the French Encyclopédie that started off as a translation of Cyclopædia.

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15/05/1700

John Hale, American minister (born 1636)

John Hale was the Puritan pastor of Beverly, Massachusetts, and took part in the Salem witch trials in 1692. He was one of the most prominent and influential ministers associated with the witch trials, being noted as having initially supported the trials and then changing his mind and publishing a critique of them.

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15/05/1699

Sir Edward Petre, 3rd Baronet, English politician (born 1631)

Sir Edward Petre, 3rd Baronet was an English Jesuit who became a close adviser to King James II and was appointed a privy councillor.

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15/05/1698

Marie Champmeslé, French actress (born 1642)

Marie Champmeslé was a French stage actress.

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15/05/1634

Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (born 1585)

Hendrick Avercamp was a Dutch painter during the Dutch Golden Age of painting. He was one of the earliest landscape painters of the 17th-century Dutch school, he specialized in painting the Netherlands in winter. His paintings are colorful and lively, with carefully crafted images of the people in the landscape. His works give a vivid depiction of sport and leisure in the Netherlands in the beginning of the 17th century. Many of Avercamp's paintings feature people ice skating on frozen lakes.

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15/05/1615

Henry Bromley, English politician (born 1560)

Sir Henry Bromley was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1584 and 1604. He was imprisoned twice due to his political activities, with the more serious incident occurring after the Essex Rebellion. Later, during the Jacobean period, he regained favour and played an active role in suppressing the Gunpowder Plot.

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15/05/1609

Giovanni Croce, Italian composer and educator (born 1557)

Giovanni Croce was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance, of the Venetian School. He was particularly prominent as a madrigalist, one of the few among the Venetians other than Monteverdi and Andrea Gabrieli.

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15/05/1585

Niwa Nagahide, Japanese samurai (born 1535)

Niwa Nagahide , also known as Gorōzaemon (五郎左衛門), his other legal alias was Hashiba Echizen no Kami (羽柴越前守), was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku through Azuchi-Momoyama periods of the 16th century. He served as senior retainer to the Oda clan, and was eventually a daimyō in his own right. Going on to fight in the Oda clan's major campaigns, including Mino Campaign 1567, Omi Campaign 1568, the Honganji Campaign from 1570 to 1580, and Iga Campaign 1581, he was named one of the administrators of Kyoto after Nobunaga entered that city in 1568.

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15/05/1470

Charles VIII, king of Sweden (born 1409)

Karl Knutsson Bonde, also known as Charles VIII and called Charles I in Norwegian contexts, was King of Sweden and King of Norway (1449–1450).

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15/05/1464

Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset (born 1436)

Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset was an English nobleman and army commander for the House of Lancaster during the English Wars of the Roses. He is sometimes numbered the 2nd Duke of Somerset, because the title was re-created for his father after his uncle died. He also held the subsidiary titles of 5th Earl of Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Dorset and 2nd Earl of Dorset.

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15/05/1461

Domenico Veneziano, Italian painter (born c. 1410)

Domenico Veneziano was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance, active mostly in Perugia and Tuscany.

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15/05/1268

Peter II, count of Savoy (born 1203)

Peter II, called the Little Charlemagne, was Count of Savoy from 1263 until his death in 1268. He was also holder of the Honour of Richmond, Yorkshire in England, and the English lands of the Honour of the Eagle also known as the Honour of Pevensey and the Honour of Eu also known as the Honour of Hastings. His significant land holdings in the English County of Sussex were also marked by his holding of the wardship of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey which brought with it lands centred upon Lewes castle. Briefly, from 1241 until 1242, castellan of Dover Castle and Keeper of the Coast. In 1243 he was granted land by the River Thames on the Strand near the City of London, where he built the Savoy Palace.

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15/05/1175

Mleh, prince of Armenia

Mleh I, also Meleh I, was the eighth lord of Armenian Cilicia (1170–1175).

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15/05/1174

Nur ad-Din, Seljuk emir of Syria (born 1118)

Al-Malik al-Adil Abu al-Qasim Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd bin Imad al-Dīn Zengī, commonly known as Nur ad-Din or Nureddin, and al-Malik al-Adil, was a Turkoman member of the Zengid dynasty, who ruled the Syrian province of the Seljuk Empire. He reigned from 1146 to 1174. He is regarded as an important figure of the Second Crusade.

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15/05/1157

Yuri Dolgorukiy, Grand Prince of Kiev (born 1099)

Yuri I Vladimirovich, commonly known as Yuri Dolgorukiy, was a Monomakhovichi prince of Rostov and Suzdal, acquiring the name Suzdalia during his reign. Noted for successfully curbing the privileges of the landowning boyar class in Rostov-Suzdal and his ambitious building programme, Yuri transformed this principality into the independent power that would evolve into early modern Muscovy. Yuri Dolgorukiy was the progenitor of the Yurievichi, a branch of the Monomakhovichi.

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15/05/1036

Go-Ichijō, emperor of Japan (born 1008)

Emperor Go-Ichijō was the 68th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.

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15/05/0973

Byrhthelm, bishop of Wells

Byrhthelm was the Bishop of Wells and briefly the archbishop of Canterbury. A monk from Glastonbury Abbey, he served as Bishop of Wells beginning in 956, then was translated to Canterbury in 959, only to be translated back to Wells in the same year.

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15/05/0926

Zhuang Zong, Chinese emperor (born 885)

Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang, personal name Li Cunxu, nickname Yazi (亞子), stage name Li Tianxia (李天下), was the second ruling prince of the Former Jin dynasty who later became the founding emperor of the Later Tang dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He was the son of Li Keyong, an ethnic Shatuo Jiedushi of the Tang dynasty.

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15/05/0913

Hatto I, German archbishop (born 850)

Hatto I was Archbishop of Mainz (Mayence) from 891 until his death.

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15/05/0884

Marinus I, pope of the Catholic Church (born 830)

Pope Marinus I was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 882 until his death on 15 May 884. Controversially at the time, he was already a bishop when he became pope, and had served as papal legate to Constantinople. He was also erroneously called Pope Martin II leading to the second pope named Martin to take the name Martin IV.

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15/05/0558

Hilary of Galeata, Christian monk (born 476)

Hilary of Galeata is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church. His feast day is 15 May.

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15/05/0392

Valentinian II, Roman emperor (born 371)

Valentinian II was a Roman emperor in the western part of the Roman Empire between AD 375 and 392. He was at first junior co-ruler of his half-brother, then was sidelined by a usurper, and finally became sole ruler after 388, albeit with limited de facto powers. He was the youngest emperor (co-ruler) in the Western Roman Empire.

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