Died on Saturday, 15th November – Famous Deaths
On 15th November, 120 remarkable people passed away — from -165 to 2024. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.
Celeste Caeiro, the Portuguese pacifist who dedicated her life to non-violence advocacy, passed away in 2024, marking the loss of a significant figure in European peace movements. Her work reflected the evolving political landscape of Portugal throughout the twentieth century. Similarly, Béla Károlyi, the Romanian-American gymnastics coach born in 1942, left an indelible mark on the sport when he died in 2024. Károlyi’s coaching methods and success in developing Olympic champions influenced gymnastics training programmes worldwide and established him as one of the most recognised figures in the discipline’s modern history.
The historical significance of this date extends across centuries, with numerous notable deaths recorded on 15 November throughout different periods. From artists and scientists to political leaders and cultural figures, the list reflects the diversity of human achievement and influence across European and global history. These records provide perspective on how societies have evolved and which individuals have shaped their respective fields.
Saturday, 15 November 2025 falls under the zodiac sign of Scorpio. The weather conditions and lunar phase for this date contribute to the natural backdrop of the day, whilst the moon is in its waning gibbous phase. The date itself represents a moment when historical reflection becomes relevant for many, as commemorations and remembrances often accompany significant anniversaries of notable figures.
DayAtlas provides comprehensive information about this and any other date, presenting weather patterns, historical events, famous births and deaths for any location worldwide. Users can explore how specific dates have shaped history whilst understanding the conditions under which these moments occurred.
See who passed away today 14th April.
15/11/2024
Celeste Caeiro, Portuguese pacifist (born 1933)
Celeste Martins Caeiro, also known as Celeste dos Cravos, was a Portuguese communist and restaurant worker. Her actions led to the naming of the 1974 coup as the Carnation Revolution.
Béla Károlyi, Romanian-American gymnastics coach (born 1942)
Béla Károlyi was a Romanian and American gymnastics coach of Hungarian origin. Early in his coaching career he developed the Romanian centralized training system for gymnastics. One of his earliest protégés was Nadia Comăneci, the first Olympic Games gymnast to be awarded a perfect score. Living under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu, Károlyi frequently clashed with Romanian officials. He and his wife defected to the United States in 1981.
Jon Kenny, Irish comedian and actor (born 1957)
Jon Kenny was an Irish comedian and actor, best known as one half of the Irish comic duo D'Unbelievables with Pat Shortt. They were a successful duo until 2000, releasing One Hell of a Video, D'Unbelievables, D'Video, D'Telly, D'Mother and D'collection but the group stopped touring after Kenny was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Yuriko, Princess Mikasa, Japanese princess (born 1923)
Yuriko, Princess Mikasa was a member of the Imperial House of Japan as the wife of Takahito, Prince Mikasa, the fourth son of Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei. The Princess was the last surviving paternal great-aunt by marriage of Emperor Naruhito and, before her death, was the oldest member of the imperial family, and the final living member who was born in the Taishō era.
15/11/2023
Žarko Laušević, Serbian actor (born 1960)
Žarko Laušević was a Serbian actor. He became a leading actor early in his career. By the age of 33, he was a major star across the former Yugoslavia on both stage and screen.
15/11/2017
Lil Peep, American singer and rapper (born 1996)
Gustav Elijah Åhr, known professionally as Lil Peep, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He was a member of the hip-hop collective GothBoiClique, and is credited as being a leading figure of the emo rap sub-genre, and an inspiration in alternative youth subcultures.
15/11/2016
Mose Allison, American pianist and songwriter (born 1927)
Mose John Allison Jr. was an American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter. He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano. After moving to New York in 1956, he worked primarily in jazz settings, playing with jazz musicians like Stan Getz, Al Cohn, and Zoot Sims, along with producing numerous recordings.
15/11/2015
Gisèle Prassinos, French author (born 1920)
Gisèle Prassinos was a French writer associated with the surrealist movement.
Herbert Scarf, American economist and academic (born 1930)
Herbert Eli "Herb" Scarf was an American mathematical economist and Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University.
Saeed Jaffrey, Indian-British actor (born 1929)
Saeed Jaffrey was a British-Indian actor. His career covered film, radio, stage and television roles over six decades and more than 150 British, American, and Indian movies. During the 1980s and 1990s, he was considered to be Britain's highest-profile Asian actor, thanks to his leading roles in the film My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) and television series The Jewel in the Crown (1984), Tandoori Nights (1985–1987) and Little Napoleons (1994). He played an instrumental part in bringing together filmmakers James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, and acted in several of their Merchant Ivory Productions films such as The Guru (1969), Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures (1978), The Courtesans of Bombay (1983) and The Deceivers (1988).
15/11/2014
Jack Bridger Chalker, English painter and academic (born 1918)
Jack Bridger Chalker, was a British artist and teacher best known for his work recording the lives of the prisoners of war building the Burma Railway during World War II.
Lucien Clergue, French photographer and educator (born 1934)
Lucien Clergue was a French photographer. He was Chairman of the Academy of Fine Arts, Paris for 2013.
Valéry Mézague, Cameroonian footballer (born 1983)
Valéry Mézague was a Cameroonian professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Reg Withers, Australian soldier and politician, Australian Minister for the Capital Territory (born 1924)
Reginald Greive Withers was an Australian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served as a Senator for Western Australia for nearly 20 years. He was a cabinet minister in the Fraser government and later served as Lord Mayor of Perth.
15/11/2013
Sheila Matthews Allen, American actress and producer (born 1929)
Sheila Mathews Allen was an American actress and producer.
Glafcos Clerides, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 4th President of Cyprus (born 1919)
Glafcos Ioannou Clerides was a Cypriot statesman who served as President of Cyprus in 1974 and from 1993 to 2003.
Mike McCormack, American football player and coach (born 1930)
Michael Joseph McCormack Jr. was an American professional football player, coach, and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He played as an offensive tackle with the Cleveland Browns from 1954 through 1962 and served as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Colts, and Seattle Seahawks. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1984.
15/11/2012
Théophile Abega, Cameroonian footballer and politician (born 1954)
Théophile Abega Mbida, nicknamed Doctor, was a Cameroonian football player and politician. Playing as a midfielder he was part of the Cameroon national team, playing all three matches at the 1982 FIFA World Cup and captaining the side to their first African Nations Cup victory in 1984, where he scored a goal in the final. He was nicknamed "The Doctor" in tribute to his footballing intelligence.
Luís Carreira, Portuguese motorcycle racer (born 1976)
Luis Filipe de Sousa Carreira was a Portuguese motorcycle road racer. He died on 15 November 2012 after an accident during qualifying in the 2012 Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix.
Maleli Kunavore, Fijian rugby player (born 1983)
Maleli Kunavore was a Fijian rugby union footballer.
K. C. Pant, Indian politician, 18th Indian Minister of Defence (born 1931)
Krishna Chandra Pant was a Member of Parliament for 26 years and was the prime minister's interlocutor on Kashmir. He was a cabinet minister in the Government of India and held several constitutional positions over a period of 37 years. Pant had held the positions of Minister for Defence, Minister of state for Home Affairs, Minister of Steel and Heavy Engineering, Finance, Atomic Energy and Science and Technology. He was the first chairman of the Advisory Board on Energy, chairman of the 10th Finance Commission and the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of India, the economic planning body of India; his Vision 2020 document was published as India's Development Scenario, Next Decade and Beyond.
Frode Thingnæs, Norwegian trombonist, composer, and conductor (born 1940)
Frode Thingnæs was a Norwegian jazz composer, arranger, conductor and trombone player who formed the Frode Thingnæs Quintet in 1960.
15/11/2011
Oba Chandler, American murderer (born 1946)
Oba Chandler Jr. was an American mass murderer, rapist, robber, and fraudster who was convicted and executed for the June 1989 murders of the Rogers family, consisting of Joan Rogers and her two teenage daughters Michelle and Christe, whose bodies were found floating in Tampa Bay, Florida, with their hands and feet bound. Autopsies showed the victims had been thrown into the water while still alive, with ropes tied to a concrete block around their necks. The case became high-profile in 1992 when local police posted billboards bearing enlarged images of the suspect's handwriting recovered from a pamphlet in the victims' car. Chandler was identified as the killer when his neighbor recognized the handwriting.
15/11/2010
Larry Evans, American chess player and journalist (born 1932)
Larry Melvyn Evans was an American chess player, author, and journalist who received the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in 1957. He won or shared the U.S. Chess Championship five times and the U.S. Open Chess Championship four times. He wrote a long-running syndicated chess column and wrote or co-wrote more than twenty books on chess.
Ed Kirkpatrick, American baseball player (born 1944)
Edgar Leon Kirkpatrick was an American professional baseball outfielder and catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1962 through 1977 for the Los Angeles / California Angels, Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, and Milwaukee Brewers.
William Edwin Self, American actor, director, and producer (born 1921)
William Edwin Self was an American television and film producer who began his career as an actor.
15/11/2009
Serbian Patriarch Pavle II (born 1914)
Patriarch Pavle was the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1990 to his death. His full title was: His Holiness the Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, and Serbian Patriarch Pavle.
15/11/2008
Grace Hartigan, American painter (born 1922)
Grace Hartigan was an American abstract expressionist painter and a significant member of the vibrant New York School of the 1950s and 1960s. Her circle of friends, who frequently inspired one another in their artistic endeavors, included Jackson Pollock, Larry Rivers, Helen Frankenthaler, Willem and Elaine de Kooning and Frank O'Hara. Her paintings are held by numerous major institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. As director of the Maryland Institute College of Art's Hoffberger School of Painting, she influenced numerous young artists.
15/11/2007
Joe Nuxhall, American baseball player and sportscaster (born 1928)
Joseph Henry Nuxhall was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, best remembered for having been the youngest player ever to appear in a Major League game and for spending 40 years as a Cincinnati Reds broadcaster.
15/11/2006
David K. Wyatt, American historian and author (born 1937)
David Kent Wyatt was an American historian and author who studied Thailand. He taught at Cornell University from 1969 to 2002, and also served as Chair of the Cornell University Department of History and as the president of the Association for Asian Studies in 1993. His book Thailand: A Short History has become a standard text on Thai history in the English language.
15/11/2005
Adrian Rogers, American pastor and author (born 1931)
Adrian Pierce Rogers was an American Baptist pastor and author. He served three terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Arto Salminen, Finnish journalist and author (born 1959)
Arto Salminen was a Finnish writer known for his social commentary.
15/11/2004
Elmer L. Andersen, American businessman and politician, 30th Governor of Minnesota (born 1909)
Elmer Lee Andersen was an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician who built a successful business career with the H. B. Fuller Company. Andersen was most notably the 30th governor of Minnesota. A self-described progressive Republican, he was a well-regarded politician who passed many social and environmental regulations during his time as governor.
John Morgan, Welsh-Canadian actor and screenwriter (born 1930)
John Morgan was a Welsh-born Canadian comedian.
15/11/2003
Ray Lewis, Canadian runner (born 1910)
Raymond Gray Lewis, CM was a Canadian track and field athlete, and the first Canadian-born black Olympic medalist.
Dorothy Loudon, American actress and singer (born 1925)
Dorothy Loudon was an American actress and singer. She won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical in 1977 for her performance as Miss Hannigan in Annie. Loudon was also nominated for Tony Awards for her lead performances in the musicals The Fig Leaves Are Falling and Ballroom, as well as a Golden Globe award for her appearances on The Garry Moore Show.
Laurence Tisch, American businessman, co-founded the Loews Corporation (born 1923)
Laurence Alan Tisch was an American billionaire businessman and investor. He was the CEO of CBS television network from 1986 to 1995. With his brother Bob Tisch, he was part owner of Loews Corporation.
Speedy West, American guitarist and producer (born 1924)
Wesley Webb West, better known as Speedy West, was an American pedal steel guitarist and record producer. He frequently played with Jimmy Bryant, both in their own duo and as part of the regular Capitol Records backing band for Tennessee Ernie Ford and many others. The duo also recorded with non-Capitol artists in Los Angeles. In 1960, Speedy played on and produced Loretta Lynn's first single. During his time at Capitol, he played on over 6000 recordings, including pop records by artists like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. West, who began playing Paul Bigsby's second ever pedal steel guitar in 1947, was the first country steel guitarist to use a pedal guitar. Nashville players like Bud Isaacs would adopt it in the early 1950s. After a stroke in 1981, West was unable to play pedal steel, but would continue to attend steel guitar conventions.
15/11/2000
Edoardo Agnelli, son of industrialist Gianni Agnelli (born 1954)
Edoardo Agnelli, also known as Mahdi Agnelli, was the eldest child and only son of Gianni Agnelli, the industrialist patriarch of Fiat S.p.A., and of Marella Agnelli, who was born Donna Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto. He converted to Islam when he was living in New York City, and changed his name; he ultimately converted to Shia Islam in the 90s. In mid-November 2000, he was found dead under a bridge on the outskirts of Turin.
15/11/1998
Stokely Carmichael, Trinidadian-American activist (born 1941)
Kwame Ture was a Trinidadian and American activist who played a major role in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global pan-African movement. Born in the Crown Colony of Trinidad and Tobago, he moved to the United States at age 11 and became an activist while attending the Bronx High School of Science. Ture was a key leader in the development of the Black Power movement, first while leading the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), then as the "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther Party and as a leader of the All-African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP).
Ludvík Daněk, Czech discus thrower (born 1937)
Ludvík Daněk was a Czechoslovak discus thrower, who won the gold medal at the 1972 Olympic Games with a throw of 64.40 m.
15/11/1997
Saul Chaplin, American director and composer (born 1912)
Saul Chaplin was an American composer and musical director.
15/11/1996
Alger Hiss, American lawyer and diplomat (born 1904)
Alger Hiss was an American government official who, in 1948, was accused of spying for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The statute of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in connection with this charge in 1950. Before the trial, Hiss was involved in the establishment of the United Nations, both as a U.S. State Department official and as a UN official. In later life, he worked as a lecturer and author.
15/11/1994
Elizabeth George Speare, American author (born 1908)
Elizabeth George Speare was an American writer of children's historical fiction, including two Newbery Medal winners, recognizing the year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children". In 1989 she received the Children's Literature Legacy Award for her contributions to American children's literature and one of the Educational Paperback Association's top 100 authors.
15/11/1988
Billo Frómeta, Dominican conductor and composer (born 1915)
Luis María Frómeta Pereyra most known as Billo Frómeta was a Dominican-Venezuelan orchestra conductor, arranger and composer. Billo's compositions achieve international fame, and those dedicated to Caracas, where he married several times and raised a family, made him the most beloved of composers. He always included Dominican Merengue and mangulinas in his recordings.
Ieronymos I of Athens, Greek archbishop and theologian (born 1905)
Ieronymos I was a Greek monk and theologian, who served as the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece and as such the primate of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece in 1967–1973, during the Greek military junta of 1967–1974.
15/11/1985
Méret Oppenheim, German-Swiss painter, photographer, and poet (born 1913)
Meret Elisabeth Oppenheim was a German-born Swiss Surrealist artist and photographer.
15/11/1984
Baby Fae, American infant, who received baboon heart (born 1984)
Stephanie Fae Beauclair, better known as Baby Fae, was an American infant born in 1984 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. On October 26, 1984, she became the first infant subject of a xenotransplant procedure and the first successful infant heart transplant, receiving the heart of a baboon. Though she died on November 15, within a month of the procedure, she lived weeks longer than any previous recipient of a non-human heart.
15/11/1983
John Grimaldi, English keyboard player and songwriter (born 1955)
John Grimaldi was a British musician, songwriter, and visual artist. He was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. Grimaldi was educated at St Albans School, where he developed his songwriting, electric jazz, and visual art. His career was focused on jazz, although he played in other genres. Grimaldi formed several bands and wrote and performed until his death from multiple sclerosis in 1983.
Charlie Grimm, American baseball player and manager (born 1898)
Charles John Grimm, nicknamed "Jolly Cholly", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman, most notably for the Chicago Cubs; he was also a sometime radio sports commentator, and a popular goodwill ambassador for baseball. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates early in his career, but was traded to the Cubs in 1925 and worked mostly for the Cubs for the rest of his career. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, to parents of German extraction, Grimm was known for being outgoing and chatty, even singing old-fashioned songs while accompanying himself on a left-handed banjo. Grimm is one of a select few to have played and managed in 2,000 games each.
John Le Mesurier, English actor (born 1912)
John Le Mesurier was an English actor. He is probably best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation comedy Dad's Army (1968–1977). A self-confessed "jobbing actor", Le Mesurier appeared in more than 120 films across a range of genres, normally in smaller supporting parts.
15/11/1982
Vinoba Bhave, Indian philosopher and Gandhian, Bharat Ratna Awardee (born 1895)
Vinayak Narahar Bhave, also known as Vinoba Bhave, was an Indian philosopher and an advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called Acharya, he is best known for the Bhoodan land reform movement, and is considered as the spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi.
Martín de Álzaga, Argentinian race car driver (born 1901)
Martín Máximo Pablo de Álzaga Unzué was an Argentine racing driver and playboy.
15/11/1981
Steve Macko, American baseball player and coach (born 1954)
Steven Joseph Macko was an American professional baseball player, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs. Macko played three infield positions in 25 games during the 1979 and 1980 seasons. His rising baseball career ended when he died as a result of testicular cancer in November 1981.
Enid Markey, American actress (born 1894)
Enid Markey was an American theatre, film, radio, and television actress, whose career spanned over 50 years, extending from the early 1900s to the late 1960s. In movies, she was the first performer to portray the fictional character Jane, Tarzan's "jungle" companion and later his wife. Markey performed as Jane twice in 1918, costarring with Elmo Lincoln in the films Tarzan of The Apes and The Romance of Tarzan.
Khawar Rizvi, Pakistani poet and scholar (born 1938)
Khawar Rizvi was a Pakistani poet and scholar of Urdu and Persian. Born Syed Sibte Hassan Rizvi, he used the pen name "Khawar"—which means "The East" in Persian—for his poetry and essays.
15/11/1980
Bill Lee, American actor and singer (born 1916)
William Lee was an American playback singer who provided a voice or singing voice in many films, for actors in musicals and for many Disney characters.
15/11/1978
Margaret Mead, American anthropologist and author (born 1901)
Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, author and speaker, who appeared frequently in the mass media during the mid-twentieth century.
15/11/1976
Jean Gabin, French actor, singer, and producer (born 1904)
Jean Gabin Alexis Moncorgé, known as Jean Gabin, was a French actor and singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in several classic films, including Pépé le Moko (1937), La grande illusion (1937), Le Quai des brumes (1938), La bête humaine (1938), Le jour se lève (1939), and Le plaisir (1952). During his career, he twice won the Silver Bear for Best Actor from the Berlin International Film Festival and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor from the Venice Film Festival, respectively. Gabin was made a member of the Légion d'honneur in recognition of the important role he played in French cinema.
15/11/1971
Rudolf Abel, English-Russian colonel (born 1903)
William August Fisher, better known by the alias Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, was a Soviet intelligence officer. He adopted his alias to alert his Soviet KGB handlers when he was arrested in the USA on charges of espionage by the FBI in 1957.
15/11/1970
Konstantinos Tsaldaris, Egyptian-Greek politician (born 1884)
Konstantinos Tsaldaris was a Greek politician and twice Prime Minister of Greece.
15/11/1967
Michael J. Adams, American soldier, pilot, and astronaut (born 1930)
Michael James Adams was an American aviator, aeronautical engineer, and USAF astronaut. He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force and NASA.
15/11/1966
Dimitrios Tofalos, Greek weightlifter and wrestler (born 1877)
Dimitrios Tofalos was a Greek weightlifter. He was a member of both Gymnastiki Etaireia Patron and Panachaikos Gymnastikos syllogos, that merged in 1923 to become Panachaiki Gymnastiki Enosi. Arguably the greatest weightlifter of the early 20th century, he won the gold medal in the 1906 Intercalated Games, setting a world record that lasted until 1914. Dimitrios Tofalos Arena is named after him.
William Zorach, Lithuanian-American sculptor and painter (born 1887)
William Zorach was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and writer. He won the Logan Medal of the Arts in 1927. He was at the forefront of American artists embracing cubism.
15/11/1963
Fritz Reiner, Hungarian-American conductor (born 1888)
Frederick Martin Reiner was an American conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the United States in 1922, where he rose to prominence as a conductor with several orchestras. He reached the pinnacle of his career while music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the 1950s and early 1960s.
15/11/1961
Elsie Ferguson, American actress (born 1883)
Elsie Louise Ferguson was an American stage and film actress. Seen by some as an early feminist, she promoted suffrage, which she discussed in interviews, and supported animal rights.
Johanna Westerdijk, Dutch pathologist and academic (born 1883)
Johanna Westerdijk was a Dutch plant pathologist and the first female professor in the Netherlands.
15/11/1960
Robert Raymond Cook, Canadian murderer (born 1937)
Robert Raymond Cook was a Canadian mass murderer who was convicted of killing his father, Raymond Cook, in Stettler, Alberta, on June 25, 1959. Robert killed his entire family at their home in Stettler, albeit he only stood trial for killing his father. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.
15/11/1959
Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist and meteorologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1869)
Charles Thomson Rees Wilson was a British meteorologist and physicist who shared the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics with Arthur Compton for his invention of the cloud chamber.
15/11/1958
Tyrone Power, American actor, singer, and producer (born 1914)
Tyrone Edmund Power III was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include Jesse James, The Mark of Zorro, Marie Antoinette, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan, Prince of Foxes, Witness for the Prosecution, The Black Rose, and Captain from Castile. Power's own favorite film among those in which he starred was Nightmare Alley.
15/11/1956
Emma Richter, German paleontologist (born 1888)
Emma Richter was a German paleontologist. She is best known for her work concerning Trilobites. She was an honorary member of the Paleontological Society of America and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Tübingen.
15/11/1954
Lionel Barrymore, American actor, singer, director, and screenwriter (born 1878)
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul (1931) and is known to modern audiences for the role of villainous Mr. Potter in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life.
15/11/1951
Frank Weston Benson, American painter and educator (born 1862)
Frank Weston Benson, frequently referred to as Frank W. Benson, was an American artist from Salem, Massachusetts, known for his Realistic portraits, American Impressionist paintings, watercolors and etchings. He began his career painting portraits of distinguished families and murals for the Library of Congress. Some of his best known paintings depict his daughters outdoors at Benson's summer home, Wooster Farm, on the island of North Haven, Maine. He also produced numerous oil, wash and watercolor paintings and etchings of wildfowl and landscapes.
15/11/1949
Narayan Apte, Indian activist, assassin of Mahatma Gandhi (born 1911)
Narayan Dattatraya Apte was an Indian assassin and recruiting officer for the Royal Indian Air Force. He was executed by hanging for planning the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
Nathuram Godse, Indian assassin of Mahatma Gandhi (born 1910)
Nathuram Vinayak Godse was an Indian Hindu nationalist and political activist who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. He shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point blank range at a multi-faith prayer meeting in Birla House in New Delhi on 30 January 1948.
15/11/1945
Frank Chapman, American ornithologist and photographer (born 1864)
Frank Michler Chapman was an American ornithologist and pioneering writer of field guides.
15/11/1942
Annemarie Schwarzenbach, Swiss author and photographer (born 1908)
Annemarie Minna Renée Schwarzenbach was a Swiss writer, journalist and photographer. Her bisexual mother brought her up in a masculine style, and her androgynous image suited the bohemian Berlin society of the time, in which she indulged enthusiastically. Her anti-fascist campaigning forced her into exile, where she became close to the family of novelist Thomas Mann. She would live much of her life abroad as a photo-journalist, embarking on many lesbian relationships, and experiencing a growing morphine addiction. In America, the young Carson McCullers was infatuated with Schwarzenbach, to whom she dedicated Reflections in a Golden Eye. Schwarzenbach reported on the early events of World War II, but died of a head injury, following a fall.
15/11/1941
Wal Handley, English motorcycle racer (born 1902)
Walter Leslie Handley born in Aston, Birmingham, known as Wal Handley, was a champion British inter-war motorcycle racer with four wins at the Isle of Man TT Races in his career. Later he also raced cars in the 1930s and died in a World War II aircraft accident while serving as pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary.
15/11/1922
Dimitrios Gounaris, Greek lawyer and politician, 94th Prime Minister of Greece (born 1866)
Dimitrios Gounaris was a Greek politician who served as the prime minister of Greece from 25 February to 10 August 1915 and 26 March 1921 to 3 May 1922. The leader of the People's Party, he was the main right-wing opponent of his contemporary Eleftherios Venizelos.
Petros Protopapadakis, Greek mathematician and politician, 107th Prime Minister of Greece (born 1854)
Petros Protopapadakis was a politician and Prime Minister of Greece from May to September 1922.
Nikolaos Stratos, Greek lawyer and politician, 106th Prime Minister of Greece (born 1872)
Nikolaos Stratos was a Prime Minister of Greece for a few days in May 1922. He was later tried and executed for his role in the Catastrophe of 1922.
15/11/1921
Tadhg Barry, veteran Irish republican and leading trade unionist (born 1880)
Tadhg Barry was a veteran Irish republican, leading trade unionist, journalist, poet, Gaelic Athletic Association official, and alderman on Cork Corporation who was actively involved in, and eventually was killed during, the Irish revolutionary period.
15/11/1919
Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky, Polish-Russian engineer, electrician, and inventor (born 1862)
Mikhail Osipovich Dolivo-Dobrovolsky was a Russian-born engineer, electrician, and inventor of Polish-Russian origins, active in the German Empire and also in Switzerland.
Mohammad Farid, Egyptian lawyer and politician (born 1868)
Mohammad Farid was an influential Egyptian political figure. He was a nationalist leader, writer, and lawyer.
Alfred Werner, French-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1866)
Alfred Werner was a Swiss chemist who was a student at ETH Zurich and a professor at the University of Zurich. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1913 for proposing the octahedral configuration of transition metal complexes. Werner developed the basis for modern coordination chemistry. He was the first inorganic chemist to win the Nobel Prize, and the only one prior to 1973.
15/11/1917
Émile Durkheim, French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher (born 1858)
David Émile Durkheim was a French sociologist. He formally established the academic discipline of sociology, and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science, along with Karl Marx and Max Weber.
15/11/1916
Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1846)
Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz, also known by the pseudonym Litwos, was a Polish epic writer. He is remembered for his historical novels, such as the Trilogy series and especially for his internationally known best-seller Quo Vadis (1895–1896).
15/11/1910
Wilhelm Raabe, German author (born 1831)
Wilhelm Raabe was a German novelist. His early works were published under the pseudonym of Jakob Corvinus.
15/11/1908
Cixi, China empress dowager and regent (born 1835)
Empress Dowager Cixi was a Manchu noblewoman of the Yehe Nara clan who periodically controlled the government of the late Qing dynasty as empress dowager and regent from 1861 until her death in 1908.
15/11/1897
Alfred Kennerley, English-Australian politician, 10th Premier of Tasmania (born 1810)
Alfred Kennerley was an Australian politician and Premier of Tasmania from 4 August 1873 until 20 July 1876.
15/11/1892
Thomas Neill Cream, Scottish-Canadian serial killer (born 1850)
Thomas Neill Cream, also known as the Lambeth Poisoner, was a Scottish-Canadian medical doctor and serial killer who poisoned his victims with strychnine. Cream murdered up to ten people in three countries, targeting mostly lower-class women, sex workers and pregnant women seeking abortions. He was convicted and sentenced to death, and was hanged on 15 November 1892.
15/11/1853
Maria II, Portuguese queen and regent (born 1819)
Dona Maria II also known as "the Educator" or as "the Good Mother", was Queen of Portugal from 1826 to 1828, and again from 1834 to 1853. Her supporters considered her to be the rightful queen also during the period between her two reigns.
15/11/1845
William Knibb, English Baptist minister and Jamaican missionary (born 1803)
William Knibb, OM was an English Baptist minister and missionary to Jamaica. He is chiefly known today for his work to free enslaved Africans.
15/11/1836
Herman of Alaska, Russian missionary and saint (born 1750s)
Herman of Alaska was a Russian Orthodox monk and missionary to Alaska, which was then part of Russian America. He is considered by many Orthodox Christians to be the patron saint of North America.
15/11/1832
Jean-Baptiste Say, French economist and businessman (born 1767)
Jean-Baptiste Say was a liberal French economist and businessman who argued in favor of competition, free trade, and lifting restraints on business. He is best known for Say's law—also known as the law of markets—which he popularized, although scholars disagree as to whether it was Say who first articulated the theory. Moreover, he was one of the first economists to study entrepreneurship and conceptualized entrepreneurs as organizers and leaders of the economy. He was also closely involved in the development of the École spéciale de commerce et d'industrie (ESCP), historically the first business school to be established.
15/11/1795
Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo, French painter (born 1719)
Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo was a French painter of allegorical scenes and portraits.
15/11/1794
John Witherspoon, Scottish-American minister and academic (born 1723)
John Witherspoon was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense realism, and while president of the College of New Jersey became an influential figure in the development of the United States' national character. Politically active, Witherspoon was a delegate from New Jersey to the Second Continental Congress and a signatory to the July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence. He was the only active clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration. Later, he signed the Articles of Confederation and supported ratification of the Constitution of the United States. In 1789 he was convening moderator of the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. As one of the first national leaders of American Presbyterianism, he promoted theological and civic ideas adjacent to John Calvin, John Knox, and Samuel Rutherford, particularly the concept that resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.
15/11/1787
Christoph Willibald Gluck, German composer (born 1714)
Christoph Willibald Gluck was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire at the time, he gained prominence at the Habsburg court in Vienna. There he brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices for which many intellectuals had been campaigning. With a series of radical new works in the 1760s, among them Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste, he broke the stranglehold that Metastasian opera seria had enjoyed for much of the century. Gluck introduced more drama by using orchestral recitative and cutting the usually long da capo aria. His later operas have half the length of a typical baroque opera.
15/11/1712
James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire (born 1658)
James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton and 1st Duke of Brandon was a Scottish army officer, politician, courtier and diplomat. He was a major investor in the failed Darien scheme, which cost many of Scotland's ruling class their fortunes. He led the Country Party in the Parliament of Scotland and the opposition to the Act of Union in 1707. He died as the result of the Hamilton–Mohun duel in Hyde Park, Westminster, with Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun, over a disputed inheritance.
Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun, English politician (born 1675)
Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun, was an English peer and politician best known for his frequent participation in duels. He was killed in the Hamilton–Mohun duel in Hyde Park, London.
15/11/1706
Tsangyang, Tibetan dalai lama (born 1683)
The 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso was recognized as the 6th Dalai Lama after a delay of many years, permitting the Potala Palace to be completed. He was an unconventional Dalai Lama that preferred a Nyingma school yogi's life to that of an ordained monk. He was later kidnapped and deposed by the Koshut Lhazang Khan.
15/11/1691
Aelbert Cuyp, Dutch painter (born 1620)
Aelbert Jacobszoon Cuyp or Cuijp was one of the leading Dutch Golden Age painters, producing mainly landscapes. The most famous of a family of painters, the pupil of his father, Jacob Gerritszoon Cuyp (1594–1651/52), he is especially known for his large views of Dutch riverside scenes in a golden early morning or late afternoon light. He was born and died in Dordrecht.
15/11/1670
John Amos Comenius, Czech bishop, philosopher, and educator (born 1592)
John Amos Comenius was a Czech philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considered the father of modern education. He served as the last bishop of the Unity of the Brethren before becoming a religious refugee and one of the earliest champions of universal education, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica Magna. As an educator and theologian, he led schools and advised governments across Protestant Europe through the middle of the seventeenth century.
15/11/1630
Johannes Kepler, German astronomer and mathematician (born 1571)
Johannes Kepler was a German polymath who was an astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and music theorist. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws of planetary motion, and his books Astronomia nova, Harmonice Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. The variety and impact of his work made Kepler one of the founders and fathers of modern astronomy, the scientific method, natural science, and modern science. He has been described as the "father of science fiction" for his novel Somnium.
15/11/1628
Roque González de Santa Cruz, Paraguayan missionary and martyr (born 1576)
Roque González de Santa Cruz, SJ was a Guaraní-Spanish Jesuit priest who was the first missionary among the Guaraní in Paraguay. He was murdered in 1628 and is venerated as a martyr and a saint by the Catholic Church.
15/11/1579
Ferenc Dávid, Hungarian preacher, founder of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania (born 1510)
Ferenc Dávid was a preacher and theologian from Transylvania, the founder of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania, and the leading figure of the Nontrinitarian Christian movements during the Protestant Reformation. He disputed the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity, believing God to be one and indivisible.
15/11/1527
Catherine of York, English princess (born 1479)
Catherine of York was the sixth daughter of King Edward IV of England and his queen consort Elizabeth Woodville.
15/11/1463
Giovanni Antonio Del Balzo Orsini, Italian nobleman
Giovanni Antonio (Giannantonio) Orsini del Balzo was a southern Italian nobleman and military leader; he was Prince of Taranto, Duke of Bari, Count of Lecce, Acerra, Soleto and Conversano, as well as Count of Matera (1433–63) and of Ugento (1453–63).
15/11/1379
Otto V, duke of Bavaria
Otto V, was a Duke of Bavaria and Elector of Brandenburg as Otto VII. Otto was the fourth son of Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV by his second wife Margaret II of Avesnes, Countess of Hainaut and Holland.
15/11/1351
Joanna of Pfirt, duchess of Austria
Joanna of Pfirt was the Countess of Pfirt in her own right from 1324 and Duchess of Austria as consort of Duke Albert II from 1330 until her death.
15/11/1347
James I of Urgell, Spanish nobleman (born 1321)
James I, the eighteenth Count of Urgell, was the fourth son of Alfonso IV King of Aragon and Teresa d'Entença & Cabrera, 17th Countess of Urgell.
15/11/1280
Albertus Magnus, German bishop, theologian, and philosopher (born 1193)
Albertus Magnus, also known as Saint Albert the Great, Albert of Swabia, Albert von Bollstadt, or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop. He is considered one of the greatest medieval philosophers and thinkers.
15/11/1226
Frederick of Isenberg, German nobleman (born 1193)
Count Frederick of Isenberg was a German noble, the younger son of Arnold of Altena. Before the split between Arnold of Altena-Isenberg the eldest and his brother Friedrich Altena-Mark the younger son of Everhard von Berg-Altena. His family castle was the Isenberg near Hattingen, Germany.
15/11/1194
Margaret I, countess of Flanders
Margaret I was the countess of Flanders suo jure from 1191 to her death.
15/11/1136
Leopold III, margrave of Austria (born 1073)
Leopold III, known as Leopold the Good, was the Margrave of Austria from 1095 to his death in 1136. He was a member of the House of Babenberg. He was canonized on 6 January 1485 and became the patron saint of Austria, Lower Austria, Upper Austria and Vienna. His feast day is 15 November.
15/11/1037
Odo II, French nobleman (born 983)
Odo II was the count of Blois, Chartres, Châteaudun, Champagne, Beauvais and Tours from 1004 and count of Troyes and Meaux from 1022. He twice tried to make himself a king: first in Italy after 1024 and then in Burgundy after 1032.
15/11/0655
Æthelhere, king of East Anglia
Æthelhere was King of East Anglia from 653 or 654 until his death. He was a member of the ruling Wuffingas dynasty and one of three sons of Eni to rule East Anglia as Christian kings. He was a nephew of Rædwald, who was the first of the Wuffingas of which more than a name is known.
Penda of Mercia, king of Mercia
Penda was a 7th-century king of Mercia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is today the Midlands. A pagan at a time when Christianity was taking hold in many of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Penda took over the Severn Valley in 628 following the Battle of Cirencester before participating in the defeat of the powerful Northumbrian king Edwin at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633.
15/11/0621
Malo, Breton bishop and saint
Saint Malo was a Welsh mid-sixth century founder of Saint-Malo, a commune in Brittany, France. He was one of the seven founding saints of Brittany.
01/01/1970
Mattathias, Jewish resistance leader
Mattathias ben Johanan was a Kohen who helped spark the Maccabean Revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. Mattathias's story is related in the deuterocanonical book of 1 Maccabees and in the writings of Josephus. Mattathias is accorded a central role in the story of Hanukkah and, as a result, is named in the Al HaNissim prayer Jews add to the Birkat Hamazon and the Amidah during the festival's eight days.