Died on Monday, 20th October – Famous Deaths

20/10/2024

Barbara Dane, American folk, blues and jazz singer (born 1927)

Barbara Jean Spillman, known professionally as Barbara Dane, was an American folk, blues and jazz singer, guitarist, record producer, and political activist. She co-founded Paredon Records with Irwin Silber.

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Fethullah Gülen, Turkish preacher and theologian (born 1941)

Muhammed Fethullah Gülen was a Turkish Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement, which as of 2010 had 8-10 million of followers globally and had established a network of over 2,000 STEM focused schools in more than 150 countries. Gülen was an influential neo-Ottomanist, Anatolian panethnicist, Islamic poet, writer, social critic, and activist–dissident developing a Nursian theological perspective that embraces democratic modernity. Gülen was a local state imam from 1959 to 1981 and he was a citizen of Turkey until his denaturalization by the Turkish government in 2017. Over the years, Gülen became a centrist political figure in Turkey prior to his being there as a fugitive. From 21 March 1999 until his death on 20 October 2024, Gülen lived in self-exile in the United States near Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. Gülen's body was buried inside the Chestnut Retreat Center in Pennsylvania, where he had been residing for the last 25 years. 15,000 attended his funeral in a stadium in New Jersey.

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Walter Jacob, American Reform rabbi (born 1930)

Walter Jacob was an American Reform rabbi. He was rabbi at the Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh from 1955 to 1997. He served as chairman of organizations such as the Central Conference of American Rabbis and World Union for Progressive Judaism. Jacob wrote a book, Christianity Through Jewish Eyes in 1974, leading to interfaith dialogue. He founded the Solomon B. Freehof Institute for Progressive Halakhah in 1991, an international forum for Jewish law. In Germany, he co-founded the Abraham Geiger College, the first rabbinic seminary in Central Europe since the Holocaust, in 1999.

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Janusz Olejniczak, Polish classical pianist and actor (born 1952)

Janusz Olejniczak was a Polish classical pianist, academic teacher and actor. He made an international career as a pianist, especially with the piano music of Chopin which he played on modern and period instruments. He portrayed the composer in the 1991 film Blue Note, and played piano music in the 2002 film The Pianist, also appearing as the hand double.

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Paul White, Baron Hanningfield, British life peer (born 1940)

Paul Edward Winston White, Baron Hanningfield,, was a British politician and farmer. As a member of the Conservative Party, he served in various leadership roles in local government in Essex and was influential in establishing the Local Government Association. He was a member of Essex County Council from 1970 and 2011, and served in frontbench roles in the House of Lords after being nominated for a life peerage in 1998.

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20/10/2022

Lucy Simon, American composer and songwriter (born 1940)

Lucy Elizabeth Simon was an American singer and composer for the theatre and of popular songs. She recorded and performed as a singer and songwriter, and was known for the musicals The Secret Garden (1991) and Doctor Zhivago (2011).

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20/10/2020

James Randi, Canadian-American stage magician and author (born 1928)

James Randi was a Canadian-American stage magician, author, and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. He was the co-founder of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi began his career as a magician under the stage name The Amazing Randi and later chose to devote most of his time to investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims. Randi retired from practicing magic at age 60, and from his foundation at 87.

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20/10/2018

Wim Kok, Dutch prime minister (born 1938)

Willem "Wim" Kok was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002. He was a member of the Labour Party (PvdA).

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20/10/2016

Robert E. Kramek, former United States Coast Guard admiral (born 1939)

Robert Edward Kramek was an admiral of the United States Coast Guard who served as the 20th commandant from 1994 to 1998. During his tenure as commandant, he successfully led the service through difficult budget battles each year and directed the "streamlining" plan that was mandated by the National Performance Review and "Mandate for Change".

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Michael Massee, American actor (born 1952)

Michael Groo Massee was an American actor. Active on screen for three decades, he frequently portrayed villainous characters. His film roles include Funboy in the dark fantasy The Crow (1994), Newton in the horror anthology Tales from the Hood (1995), Andy in the neo-noir Lost Highway (1997), and the Gentleman in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and its 2014 sequel. Massee also voiced Bruce Banner in the first two entries of Marvel Animated Features in 2006. On television, he played Ira Gaines on the first season of the Fox action drama 24 (2001–2002), Isaiah Haden on the NBC fantasy mystery Revelations (2005), Dyson Frost on the ABC science fiction drama FlashForward (2009–2010), and Charles Hoyt on the TNT police procedural Rizzoli & Isles (2010–2013).

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Junko Tabei, Japanese mountaineer (born 1939)

Junko Tabei was a Japanese mountaineer, author and teacher. She was the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest and ascend the Seven Summits, climbing the highest peak on every continent.

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20/10/2015

Makis Dendrinos, Greek basketball player and coach (born 1950)

Gerasimos "Makis" Dendrinos was a Greek professional basketball player and basketball coach. He was a 1.80 m tall point guard. His nickname as a player was "Buddha".

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Arno Gruen, German-Swiss psychologist and psychoanalyst (born 1923)

Arno Gruen was a Swiss-German psychologist and psychoanalyst.

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Kazimierz Łaski, Polish-Austrian economist and academic (born 1921)

Kazimierz Łaski was a Polish-Austrian economist. During the antisemitic purge of 1968 Łaski had to leave Poland and moved to Austria, where he worked for the rest of his life and was widely recognized as a major contributor to Post-Keynesian economics.

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Michael Meacher, English academic and politician, Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (born 1939)

Michael Hugh Meacher was a British politician who served as a government minister under Harold Wilson, James Callaghan and Tony Blair. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Oldham West and Royton, previously Oldham West, from 1970 until his death in 2015.

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Ian Steel, Scottish cyclist and manager (born 1928)

John "Ian" Steel was a Scottish racing cyclist who in 1952 won the Peace Race, a central European race between Warsaw, Berlin and Prague. He was the only Briton, and the only rider from the English-speaking world to win it, as well as the first Briton to win any major race. He also won the Tour of Britain as a semi-professional and was at one stage second in the 1952 Tour of Mexico before crashing.

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20/10/2014

René Burri, Swiss photographer and journalist (born 1933)

René Burri was a Swiss photographer. Burri was a member of Magnum Photos and photographed major political, historical and cultural events and key figures of the second half of the 20th century. He made portraits of Che Guevara and Pablo Picasso as well as iconic pictures of São Paulo and Brasília.

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Oscar de la Renta, Dominican-American fashion designer (born 1932)

Óscar Arístides de la Renta y Fiallo, known professionally as Óscar de la Renta, was a Dominican fashion designer. Born in Santo Domingo, he was trained by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Antonio del Castillo. De la Renta became internationally known in the 1960s as one of the couturiers who dressed Jacqueline Kennedy. He worked for Lanvin and Balmain. His eponymous fashion house has boutiques around the world, and is headquartered on Madison Avenue in Manhattan.

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Christophe de Margerie, French businessman (born 1951)

Christophe de Margerie was a French businessman. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of French oil corporation Total.

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20/10/2013

Jovanka Broz, Croatian-Serbian colonel (born 1924)

Jovanka Broz was the First Lady of Yugoslavia from 1952 until 1980 as the wife of Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito. She was a lieutenant colonel in the Yugoslav People's Army.

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Don James, American football player and coach (born 1932)

Donald Earl James was an American college football coach and player. He served as the head coach at Kent State University from 1971 to 1974 and at the University of Washington from 1975 to 1992, compiling a career college football record of 178–76–3 (.698).

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Lawrence Klein, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1920)

Lawrence Robert Klein was an American economist. For his work in creating computer models to forecast economic trends in the field of econometrics in the Department of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1980 specifically "for the creation of econometric models and their application to the analysis of economic fluctuations and economic policies." Due to his efforts, such models have become widespread among economists. Harvard University professor Martin Feldstein told the Wall Street Journal that Klein "was the first to create the statistical models that embodied Keynesian economics," tools still used by the Federal Reserve Bank and other central banks.

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Joginder Singh, Kenyan race car driver (born 1932)

Sardar Joginder Singh Bhachu was a successful Kenyan rally driver in the 1960s and 1970s. Popularly known as "The Flying Sikh", He won the Safari Rally three times, in 1965 driving a Volvo PV544 with his brother Jaswant as co-driver, and in 1974 and 1976 driving a Mitsubishi Colt Lancer 1600 GSR.

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Larri Thomas, American actress and dancer (born 1932)

Larri Thomas was an American actress and dancer. She began her career by participating in a string of television commercials and eventually signed a contract with NBC. The network put on Thomas' shows, including Peter Gunn and The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. She became one of the six Goldwyn Girls selected by Samuel Goldwyn to go on tour for the movie Guys and Dolls, in which she makes a brief appearance. Thomas was also in the movies Mary Poppins and Island of Love. She was the stand-in for Julie Andrews in some flying sequences in Mary Poppins and her stand-in in The Sound of Music. Thomas also appeared in movies and television with Dean Martin. In her later years, she appeared in Dynasty, Cheers, and Coach.

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Sid Yudain, American journalist, founded Roll Call (born 1923)

Sidney Lawrence "Sid" Yudain was an American journalist who founded Roll Call in 1955 as a community newspaper focused on the United States Congress and Capitol Hill. Yudain published the first issue of Roll Call June 16, 1955, with an initial printing of 10,000 copies. Roll Call currently publishes four issues per week, with a circulation of more than 22,000, as of October 2013.

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20/10/2012

Przemysław Gintrowski, Polish poet and composer (born 1951)

Przemysław Adam Gintrowski was a Polish composer and musician.

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Paul Kurtz, American philosopher and academic (born 1925)

Paul Kurtz was an American scientific skeptic and secular humanist. He has been called "the father of secular humanism". He was a professor emeritus of philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, having previously also taught at Vassar, Trinity, and Union colleges, and the New School for Social Research.

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Dave May, American baseball player (born 1943)

David LaFrance May was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1967 through 1978 for the Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers and the Pittsburgh Pirates. May was a member of the AL pennant winning Orioles team in 1969 and, was an American League All-Star player with the Brewers in 1973. He was the father of MLB scout David May Jr. and MLB player Derrick May.

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John McConnell, American activist, created Earth Day (born 1915)

John McConnell was the founder and creator of Earth Day, and The Earth Society Foundation. He was known for designing the Earth Flag, pursuing causes relating to peace, religion, and science.

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E. Donnall Thomas, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1920)

Edward Donnall "Don" Thomas was an American physician, professor emeritus at the University of Washington, and director emeritus of the clinical research division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. In 1990 he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Joseph E. Murray for the development of cell and organ transplantation. Thomas and his wife and research partner Dottie Thomas developed bone marrow transplantation as a treatment for leukemia.

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Raymond Watson, American businessman (born 1926)

Raymond "Ray" L. Watson was the former president of the Irvine Company, and served as chief planner during the 1960s and 1970s. He was also chairman of Walt Disney Productions from 1983 to 1984, and served on the Disney board from 1972 until March 2004.

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20/10/2011

Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan colonel and politician, Prime Minister of Libya (born 1942)

Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician, and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his overthrow by Libyan rebel forces in 2011 during the First Libyan Civil War. He came to power through a bloodless military coup, first becoming Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977, Secretary General of the General People's Congress from 1977 to 1979, and then the Brotherly Leader of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1979 to 2011. Initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Arab socialism, Gaddafi later ruled according to his own Third International Theory.

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Mutassim Gaddafi, Libyan colonel (born 1974)

Mutassim Billah Gaddafi was a Libyan military officer, and the National Security Advisor of Libya from 2008 until his assassination in 2011. He was the fourth son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and a member of his father's inner circle. He was said to have been in charge of crushing opposition during the Libyan civil war.

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Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr, Libyan politician (born 1942)

Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr was a Libyan military officer and politician who was the Minister of Defence of Libya during the rule of Muammar Gaddafi. His official position was Secretary of the Libyan General Committee for Defence.

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Iztok Puc, Croatian-Slovenian handball player (born 1966)

Iztok Puc was a Croatian-Slovenian handball player, who was one of the world's top players of the 1980s and 1990s. During his career he played professionally for Borac Banja Luka, Zagreb, Celje and Prule 67. He won a total of 18 domestic trophies. He has won the elite EHF Champions League in 1992 and 1993, both times with Zagreb. He is one of very few handball players who represented three different countries at the Summer Olympics, winning bronze with Yugoslavia in 1988 and gold with Croatia in 1996. In 2009, he was named the best overall player in the history of Slovenian handball. After his death an award named in his honour was introduced and is awarded annually to the most promising young handball players in Slovenia and Croatia, given alternately one year to Slovenian and another year to Croatian player.

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20/10/2010

W. Cary Edwards, American politician (born 1944)

William Cary Edwards was a New Jersey politician who served as the Attorney General of New Jersey from 1986 to 1989.

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Bob Guccione, American publisher, founded Penthouse magazine (born 1930)

Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini Guccione was an American visual artist, photographer and publisher. He founded the adult magazine Penthouse in 1965. This was aimed at competing with Playboy, but with more explicit erotic content, a special style of soft focus photography, and in-depth reporting of government corruption scandals and the art world. By 1982 Guccione was listed in the Forbes 400 wealth list, and owned one of the biggest mansions in Manhattan. However, he made some extravagant investments that failed, and the growth of free online pornography in the 1990s greatly diminished his market. In 2003, Guccione's publishers filed for bankruptcy and he resigned as chairman.

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Eva Ibbotson, Austrian-English author (born 1925)

Eva Maria Charlotte Michelle Ibbotson was an Austrian-born British novelist, known for her children's literature. Some of her novels for adults have been reissued for the young adult market. The historical novel Journey to the River Sea won her the Smarties Prize in category 9–11 years, garnered an unusual commendation as runner-up for the Guardian Prize, and made the Carnegie, Whitbread, and Blue Peter shortlists. She was a finalist for the 2010 Guardian Prize at the time of her death. Her last book, The Abominables, was among four finalists for the same award in 2012.

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Max Kohnstamm, Dutch historian and diplomat (born 1914)

Max Kohnstamm was a Dutch historian and diplomat.

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Farooq Leghari, Pakistani politician, 8th President of Pakistan (born 1940)

Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari was a Pakistani politician who served as the eighth president of Pakistan from 1993 until his resignation in 1997. He, prior to his presidency, also served as the minister of foreign affairs in 1993; the minister for water and power from 1988 to 1990; and a senator from 1975 to 1977. He was the first ethnic Baloch to be elected president.

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20/10/2008

Gene Hickerson, American football player (born 1935)

Robert Gene Hickerson was an American professional football player who was an offensive guard for 15 years with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1973. Hickerson was a six-time Pro Bowler from 1965 to 1970. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on August 4, 2007.

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20/10/2007

Max McGee, American football player and sportscaster (born 1932)

William Max McGee was an American professional football player who was an end and punter for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1954 to 1967. He is best known for his seven receptions for 138 yards and two touchdowns, scoring the now historic initial touchdown, in the first Super Bowl.

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20/10/2006

Arnold Viiding, Estonian shot putter and discus thrower (born 1911)

Arnold Viiding was an Estonian shot putter and discus thrower. At the 1936 Summer Olympics, he achieved eighth place in the shot put event with 15.23 metres.

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Jane Wyatt, American actress (born 1910)

Jane Waddington Wyatt was an American actress. She starred in a number of Hollywood films, such as Frank Capra's Lost Horizon, but is likely best known for her role as homemaker and mother Margaret Anderson on the CBS and NBC television comedy series Father Knows Best, and as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock on the science-fiction television series Star Trek. Wyatt was a three-time Emmy Award–winner.

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20/10/2005

Shirley Horn, American singer and pianist (born 1934)

Shirley Valerie Horn was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and others. She was most noted for her ability to accompany herself with nearly incomparable independence and ability on the piano while singing, something described by arranger Johnny Mandel as "like having two heads", and for her rich, lush voice, a smoky contralto, which was described by noted producer and arranger Quincy Jones as "like clothing, as she seduces you with her voice".

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Eva Švankmajerová, Czech painter and poet (born 1940)

Eva Švankmajerová was a Czech surrealist painter, ceramist, costume and stage designer, poet and prose writer. She was wife and partner of the artist and film director Jan Švankmajer. Her works are reflections of concrete events and their conscious and unconscious, imaginary or dream reinterpretations.

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André van der Louw, Dutch lawyer and politician, 16th Mayor of Rotterdam (born 1933)

Arie Andries "Andre" van der Louw was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and journalist.

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20/10/2004

Anthony Hecht, American poet and educator (born 1923)

Anthony Evan Hecht was an American poet. His work combined a deep interest in form with a passionate desire to confront the horrors of 20th century history, with the Second World War, in which he fought, and the Holocaust being recurrent themes in his work.

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Chuck Hiller, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1934)

Charles Joseph Hiller was an American Major League Baseball second baseman. In the 1962 World Series, he became the first National League player to hit a grand slam in a World Series.

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20/10/2003

Jack Elam, American actor (born 1918)

William Scott "Jack" Elam was an American film and television actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films, and later in his career, comedies. His most distinguishing physical quality was his misaligned eye. Before his career in acting, he took several jobs in finance and served two years in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Elam performed in 73 movies and in at least 41 television series.

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20/10/2001

Ted Ammon, American financier and banker (born 1949)

Robert Theodore Ammon was an American financier and investment banker. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was murdered in his home in 2001 by electrician Daniel Pelosi, who was convicted in 2004. Ammon and his wife Generosa Ammon were in the midst of a divorce at the time of his death, and Pelosi was later romantically linked to Ammon's soon-to-be ex-wife. Ammon and his wife had married on February 2, 1986, and had two children, the twins Greg Ammon and Alexa Ammon, whom they adopted from the village of Medvedivtsi in the Mukachevo Region of Ukraine in October 1992.

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20/10/1999

Calvin Griffith, Canadian-American businessman (born 1911)

Calvin Robertson Griffith, born Calvin Griffith Robertson, was a Canadian-born American Major League Baseball team owner. As president, majority owner and de facto general manager of the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins franchise of the American League from 1955 through 1984, he orchestrated the transfer of the Senators after 60 years in Washington, D.C., to Minneapolis–Saint Paul in the autumn of 1960 to create the Twins. He was famous for his devotion to the game and for his sayings. He was the last MLB owner who had no income apart from his franchise.

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Jack Lynch, Irish footballer, lawyer, and politician, 5th Taoiseach of Ireland (born 1917)

John Mary Lynch was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979. He was Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, Minister for Finance from 1965 to 1966, Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1959 to 1965, Minister for Education 1957 to 1959, Minister for the Gaeltacht from March 1957 to June 1957, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Lands and Parliamentary Secretary to the Government from 1951 to 1954. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1948 to 1981.

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20/10/1995

Christopher Stone, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1942)

Christopher Stone was an American actor.

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John Tonkin, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Western Australia (born 1902)

John Trezise Tonkin was an Australian politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 3 March 1971 to 8 April 1974. A member of the Labor Party, Tonkin was a minister in the Willcock, Wise and Hawke state governments. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1933 to 1977, making him the longest-serving member of the Parliament of Western Australia as of 2021.

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20/10/1994

Burt Lancaster, American actor (born 1913)

Burton Stephen Lancaster was an American actor. Initially known for playing tough characters with tender hearts, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year career in films and television series. Lancaster was a four-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Actor, and he also won two BAFTA Awards, one Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actor, one Silver Bear, one Volpi Cup and two David di Donatello awards. The American Film Institute ranks Lancaster as #19 of the greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.

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20/10/1993

Yasushi Sugiyama, Japanese painter (born 1909)

Yasushi Sugiyama was a Japanese painter of the Shōwa and Heisei eras, who practiced the nihonga style of watercolour painting.

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20/10/1992

Werner Torkanowsky, German-American conductor (born 1926)

Werner Torkanowsky was a German-American conductor, composer and violinist.

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20/10/1990

Joel McCrea, American actor (born 1905)

Joel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he became best known.

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20/10/1989

Anthony Quayle, English actor and director (born 1913)

Sir John Anthony Quayle was a British actor. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film Anne of the Thousand Days (1969). He also played important roles in such major studio productions as The Guns of Navarone (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Operation Crossbow (1965), QB VII (1974) and The Eagle Has Landed (1976). Quayle was knighted in the 1985 New Year Honours.

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20/10/1988

Sheila Scott, English pilot and author (born 1922)

Sheila Christine Scott OBE was an English aviator who broke over 100 aviation records through her long-distance flight endeavours, which included a 34,000-mile (55,000 km) "world and a half" flight in 1971. On this flight, she became the first person to fly over the North Pole in a small aircraft. She was also the first European woman to fly solo around the world.

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20/10/1987

Andrey Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician and academic (born 1903)

Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov was a Soviet mathematician who played a central role in the creation of modern probability theory. He also gave fundamental contributions to the mathematics of topology, intuitionistic logic, turbulence, classical mechanics, functional analysis, algorithmic information theory and computational complexity.

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20/10/1984

Carl Ferdinand Cori, Czech-American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1896)

Carl Ferdinand Cori, ForMemRS was a Czech-American biochemist and pharmacologist. He, together with his wife Gerty Cori and Argentine physiologist Bernardo Houssay, received a Nobel Prize in 1947 for their discovery of how the glucose derivative glycogen is broken down and resynthesized in the body for use as a store and source of energy. In 2004, both Coris were designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark in recognition of their work that elucidated carbohydrate metabolism.

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Paul Dirac, English-American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1902)

Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac was a British theoretical physicist who is considered to be one of the founders of quantum mechanics. Dirac laid the foundations for both quantum electrodynamics and quantum field theory, coining the former term. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge from 1932 to 1969, and a professor of physics at Florida State University from 1970 to 1984. Dirac shared the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics with Erwin Schrödinger "for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory."

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20/10/1983

Yves Thériault, Canadian author (born 1915)

Yves Thériault OC was a Canadian author.

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Merle Travis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1917)

Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, actor, and guitarist. Born in Rosewood, Kentucky, his songs' lyrics were often about the lives and the economic exploitation of American coal miners. Among his many well-known songs and recordings are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues", "I Am a Pilgrim", and "Dark as a Dungeon". He is best known today, though, for his unique guitar style, still called Travis picking by guitarists, as well as his interpretations of the rich musical traditions of his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Travis picking is a syncopated style of guitar fingerpicking rooted in ragtime music in which alternating chords and bass notes are plucked by the thumb, while melodies are plucked by the index finger. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977.

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20/10/1978

Gunnar Nilsson, Swedish race car driver (born 1948)

Gunnar Axel Arvid Nilsson was a Swedish racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1976 to 1977. Nilsson won the 1977 Belgian Grand Prix with Lotus.

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20/10/1977

Steve Gaines, American guitarist (born 1949)

Steven Earl Gaines was an American musician. He is best known as a guitarist and backing vocalist with rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1976 until his death in the October 1977 airplane crash that claimed other band members and crew. His older sister Cassie Gaines, a backup vocalist with the band, also died in the crash.

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Ronnie Van Zant, American singer-songwriter (born 1948)

Ronald Wayne Van Zant was an American singer, best known as the founding lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He was the older brother of Johnny Van Zant, the current lead vocalist of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Donnie Van Zant, the founder and vocalist of the rock band .38 Special.

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20/10/1973

Norman Chandler, American newspaper executive (born 1899)

Norman Chandler was the publisher of the Los Angeles Times from 1945 to 1960.

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20/10/1972

Harlow Shapley, American astronomer and academic (born 1885)

Harlow Shapley was an American astronomer, who served as head of the Harvard College Observatory from 1921–1952, and political activist during the New Deal and Fair Deal.

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20/10/1968

Bud Flanagan, English actor and screenwriter (born 1896)

Bud Flanagan was a British music hall and vaudeville entertainer and comedian, and later a television and film actor. He was best known as being one half of the comedy and music act Flanagan and Allen with his partner Chesney Allen. Flanagan was famous as a wartime entertainer and his achievements were recognised when he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1959.

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20/10/1967

Shigeru Yoshida, Japanese politician and diplomat, 32nd Prime Minister of Japan (born 1878)

Shigeru Yoshida was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1946 to 1947 and again from 1948 to 1954, serving through most of the country's occupation after World War II. Yoshida played a major role in determining the course of post-war Japan by forging a strong relationship with the United States and pursuing economic recovery.

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20/10/1964

Herbert Hoover, American engineer and politician, 31st President of the United States (born 1874)

Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. Before entering politics, Hoover worked as an engineer and businessman in the mining industry. After becoming involved in public service, he was appointed to lead several major humanitarian efforts, including serving as chairmen of the Commission for Relief in Belgium, which returned over 100,000 stranded Americans in Europe, director of the U.S. Food Administration, which provided rations for soldiers and food for starving citizens in Europe, director of the American Relief Administration, which lead post-war infrastructure and food relief in Europe, and established the Commission for Polish Relief. As a member of the Republican Party, he served as the third United States secretary of commerce from 1921 to 1928 before being elected president in 1928. His presidency was dominated by the Great Depression, and his policies and methods to combat it were seen as inadequate and overly conservative. Amid his unpopularity, he decisively lost reelection to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932.

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20/10/1957

Michalis Dorizas, Greek-American javelin thrower and football player (born 1890)

Michális Dórizas was a Greek athlete who competed in throwing events at the 1906, 1908 and 1912 Summer Olympics. He won a silver medal in the javelin throw in 1908 and a bronze in the stone throw in 1906. In the discus throw, his best achievement was fifth place in 1908; in the shot put, he placed 11th in 1912.

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Edward B. Greene, American banking, mining, and steel company executive (born 1878)

Edward Belden Greene was an American banking, mining, and steel company executive. He joined the Cleveland Trust Company in 1900, and by 1914 was a vice president. He later was a director and chairman of its executive committee, and served on state and federal emergency credit and banking organizations during the Great Depression. He left in 1933 to become chairman of the board of directors of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Mining Company. He oversaw the purchase of Corrigan, McKinney Steel, and later its sale.

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20/10/1956

Lawrence Dale Bell, American industrialist and founder of Bell Aircraft Corporation (born 1894)

Lawrence Dale "Larry" Bell was an American industrialist and founder of Bell Aircraft Corporation.

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20/10/1953

Werner Baumbach, German colonel and pilot (born 1916)

Werner Baumbach was a German bomber pilot during World War II. He commanded the secret bomber wing Kampfgeschwader 200 of the Luftwaffe, the air force of Nazi Germany. Baumbach received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords for the destruction of over 300,000 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied shipping.

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20/10/1950

Henry L. Stimson, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 46th United States Secretary of State (born 1867)

Henry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, lawyer, and politician. Over his long career, he emerged as a leading figure in U.S. foreign policy by serving in both Republican and Democratic administrations. He served as Secretary of War (1911–1913) under President William Howard Taft, Secretary of State (1929–1933) under President Herbert Hoover, and again Secretary of War (1940–1945) under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, overseeing American military efforts during World War II.

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20/10/1941

Ken Farnes, English cricketer and soldier (born 1911)

Kenneth Farnes was an English cricketer. He played in fifteen Tests from 1934 to 1939.

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20/10/1940

Gunnar Asplund, Swedish architect and academic, co-designed Skogskyrkogården (born 1885)

Erik Gunnar Asplund was a Swedish architect, mostly known as a key representative of Nordic Classicism of the 1920s during the last decade of his life. At this time, he was a major proponent of the modernist style which made its breakthrough in Sweden at the Stockholm International Exhibition (1930). Asplund was professor of architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology from 1931. His appointment was marked by a lecture, later published under the title "Our architectonic concept of space." The Woodland Crematorium at Stockholm South Cemetery (1935-1940) is considered his finest work and one of the masterpieces of modern architecture.

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20/10/1936

Anne Sullivan, American educator (born 1866)

Anne Sullivan Macy was an American teacher best known for being the instructor and lifelong companion of Helen Keller. At age five, Sullivan contracted trachoma which left her partially blind and without reading or writing skills. Sullivan received her education as a student of the Perkins School for the Blind. Soon after graduation at age 20, she became a teacher to Keller.

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20/10/1935

Arthur Henderson, Scottish-English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1863)

Arthur Henderson was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the first Labour cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniquely, served three separate terms as Leader of the Labour Party in three different decades, and was elected to parliament in five by-elections in different constituencies. He was popular among his colleagues, who called him "Uncle Arthur" in acknowledgement of his integrity, his devotion to the cause and his imperturbability. He was a transitional figure whose policies were, at first, close to those of the Liberal Party. The trades unions rejected his emphasis on arbitration and conciliation, and thwarted his goal of unifying the Labour Party and the trade unions.

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20/10/1928

Jack Peddie, Scottish footballer (born 1876)

John Hope Peddie, commonly known as Jack or Jock Peddie, was a Scottish footballer who played for various clubs in both England and Scotland, including Newcastle United, Manchester United, Plymouth Argyle and Heart of Midlothian. As a Plymouth player, he is most famous for scoring their first ever goals in the Western and Southern Leagues.

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20/10/1926

Eugene V. Debs, American union leader and politician (born 1855)

Eugene Victor Debs was an American socialist activist and trade unionist. He was one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and a five-time candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States; through his presidential candidacies as well as his work with labor movements, Debs eventually became one of the best-known socialists living in the United States.

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20/10/1910

David B. Hill, American lawyer and politician, 29th Governor of New York (born 1843)

David Bennett Hill was an American politician from New York who was the 29th governor of New York from 1885 to 1891 and represented New York in the United States Senate from 1892 to 1897.

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20/10/1908

Vaiben Louis Solomon, Australian politician, 21st Premier of South Australia (born 1853)

Vaiben Louis Solomon was the 21st Premier of South Australia and a member of the first Australian Commonwealth parliament. He was generally known by his full name – perhaps to distinguish him from his uncle, Vaiben Solomon, who was transported with his brother Emanuel Solomon to New South Wales in 1818 for larceny and became a wealthy pastoralist of Horningsea Park.

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20/10/1900

Naim Frashëri, Albanian poet and translator (born 1846)

Naim bey Frashëri, more commonly Naim Frashëri, was an Albanian historian, journalist, poet, translator, and one of the most prominent figures of the Albanian National Awakening. Regarded as a pioneer of modern Albanian literature and one of the most influential Albanian cultural icons of the 19th century, he was proclaimed as the national poet of Albania.

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20/10/1894

James Anthony Froude, English historian, novelist, biographer and editor (born 1818)

James Anthony Froude was an English historian, novelist, biographer, and editor of Fraser's Magazine. From his upbringing amidst the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement, Froude intended to become a clergyman, but doubts about the doctrines of the Anglican church, published in his scandalous 1849 novel The Nemesis of Faith, drove him to abandon his religious career. Froude turned to writing history, becoming one of the best-known historians of his time for his History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada.

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20/10/1890

Richard Francis Burton, English-Italian geographer and explorer (born 1821)

Sir Richard Francis Burton, KCMG, FRGS, was a British explorer, army officer, writer and scholar. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa and South America, as well as his extensive knowledge of languages and cultures, speaking up to 29 different languages.

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20/10/1883

George Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall (born 1797)

George Hamilton Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall, styled Viscount Chichester until 1799 and Earl of Belfast between 1799 and 1844, was an Anglo-Irish landowner, courtier and politician. He served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household from 1830 to 1834, as well as from 1838 to 1841, and as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard between 1848 and 1852. Ennobled in his own right in 1841, he was also Lord Lieutenant of Antrim from 1841 to 1883 and was made a Knight of St Patrick in 1857.

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20/10/1880

Lydia Maria Child, American journalist, author, and activist (born 1802)

Lydia Maria Child was an American abolitionist, feminist, Native American rights activist, novelist, journalist, and opponent of American expansionism. Her journals, both fiction and domestic manuals, reached wide audiences from the 1820s through the 1850s. At times she shocked her audience as she tried to take on issues of both male dominance and white supremacy in some of her stories.

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20/10/1871

Karl Christian Ulmann, Latvian-German theologian and academic (born 1793)

Karl Christian Ulmann was a Baltic German theologian.

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20/10/1870

Michael William Balfe, Irish violinist and composer (born 1808)

Michael William Balfe was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas, especially The Bohemian Girl.

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20/10/1865

Champ Ferguson, American guerrilla leader (born 1821)

Samuel "Champ" Ferguson was a notorious Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War. He claimed to have killed over 100 Union soldiers and pro-Union civilians. He was arrested, tried, and executed for war crimes by the U.S. military after the war ended.

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20/10/1740

Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1685)

Charles VI was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy from 1711 until his death, succeeding his elder brother, Joseph I. He unsuccessfully claimed the throne of Spain following the death of his relative, Charles II. In 1708, he married Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, by whom he had his four children: Leopold Johann, Maria Theresa, Maria Anna, and Maria Amalia.

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20/10/1713

Archibald Pitcairne, Scottish physician and academic (born 1652)

Archibald Pitcairne or Pitcairn was a Scottish physician. He was a physician and poet who first studied law at Edinburgh and Paris graduating with an M.A. from Edinburgh in 1671. He turned his attention to medicine, and commenced to practise in Edinburgh, around 1681. He was appointed professor of physic at Leyden, in 1692, resigning his chair. On returning to Edinburgh, however, around 1693, he was suspected of being at heart an atheist, chiefly on account of his mockery of the puritanical strictness of the Presbyterian church. He was the reputed author of two satirical works, 'The Assembly, or Scotch Reformation: a Comedy,' 1692, and Habel, a Satirical Poem,' 1692. He wrote also a number of Latin verses. He was one of the most celebrated physicians of his time.

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20/10/1652

Antonio Coello, Spanish poet and playwright (born 1611)

Antonio Coello was a Spanish dramatist and poet. He entered the household of the Duke of Alburquerque, and after some years of service in the army received the Order of Santiago in 1648. He was a favorite of Philip IV, who is reported to have collaborated with him; this rumour is not confirmed, but there is ample proof of Coello's collaboration with Calderón, Rojas Zorrilla, Solis and Velez de Guevara, the most distinguished dramatists of the age.

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20/10/1640

John Ball, English clergyman and theologian (born 1585)

John Ball was an English puritan divine.

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20/10/1602

Walter Leveson, Elizabethan member of parliament, Shropshire landowner (born 1550)

Sir Walter Leveson was an Elizabethan Member of Parliament and a Shropshire and Staffordshire landowner who was ruined by involvement in piracy and mental illness.

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20/10/1570

João de Barros, Portuguese historian and author (born 1496)

João de Barros, nicknamed the "Portuguese Livy", is one of the first great Portuguese historians, most famous for his Décadas da Ásia, a history of the Portuguese in India, Asia, and southeast Africa.

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20/10/1538

Francesco Maria I della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, condottiero (born 1490)

Francesco Maria I della Rovere was an Italian condottiero, who was Duke of Urbino from 1508 to 1516 and, after retaking the throne from Lorenzo II de' Medici, from 1521 to 1538.

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20/10/1524

Thomas Linacre, English physician and scholar (born 1460)

Thomas Linacre or Lynaker was an English humanist scholar, Catholic priest, and physician, after whom Linacre College, Oxford, and Linacre House, a boys' boarding house at The King's School, Canterbury, were named.

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20/10/1439

Ambrose the Camaldulian, Italian theologian

Ambrogio Traversari, also referred to as Ambrose of Camaldoli, was an Italian monk and theologian who was a prime supporter of the papal cause in the 15th century. He is honored as a saint by the Camaldolese Order.

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20/10/1438

Jacopo della Quercia, Sienese sculptor (born c. 1374)

Jacopo della Quercia, also known as Jacopo di Pietro d'Agnolo di Guarnieri, was an Italian sculptor of the Early Renaissance, a contemporary of Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and Donatello.

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20/10/1423

Henry Bowet, Archbishop of York

Henry Bowet was both Bishop of Bath and Wells and Archbishop of York.

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20/10/1401

Klaus Störtebeker, German pirate

Klaus Störtebeker was a German pirate. Reputed to be the leader of a group of privateers known as the Victual Brothers, his group was hired to assist in a war between Sweden and Denmark and continued to capture merchant vessels mainly in the Baltic Sea and North Sea. Sharing their spoils equally, they named themselves "Likedeelers".

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20/10/1327

Teresa d'Entença, Countess of Urgell (born 1300)

Teresa d'Entença was the eldest daughter of Gombau d'Entença and his wife Constança d'Antillón. She was Countess of Urgell in her own right; however, control over her estate passed to her husband, Alfonso IV of Aragon.

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20/10/1187

Pope Urban III

Pope Urban III served as head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 November 1185 until his death in 1187. A native of Milan, Urban III was elected pope at a time of intense conflict between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, particularly with Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. His brief pontificate was dominated by disputes over ecclesiastical jurisdiction in northern Italy and Germany, resistance to imperial influence over episcopal appointments, and the continuing repercussions of the 1177 Treaty of Venice.

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20/10/1139

Henry X, Duke of Bavaria (born 1108)

Henry the Proud, a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Bavaria from 1126 to 1138 and Duke of Saxony as well as Margrave of Tuscany and Duke of Spoleto from 1137 until his death. In 1138 he was a candidate for the election as King of the Romans but was defeated by Conrad of Hohenstaufen.

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20/10/1122

Ralph d'Escures, archbishop of Canterbury

Ralph d'Escures was a medieval Abbot of Séez, Bishop of Rochester, and then Archbishop of Canterbury. He studied at the school at the Abbey of Bec. In 1079 he entered the abbey of St Martin at Séez and became abbot there in 1091. He was a friend of both Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury and Bishop Gundulf of Rochester, whose see, or bishopric, he took over on Gundulf's death.

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20/10/0967

Li Yixing, Chinese governor

Li Yixing (李彝興), né Li Yiyin (李彝殷), formally the Prince of Xia (夏王), was an ethnically-Dangxiang warlord of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period and the early Song Dynasty, ruling Dingnan Circuit from 935 to his death in 967, as its military governor (Jiedushi) in de facto independence.

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20/10/0460

Aelia Eudocia, Byzantine wife of Theodosius II (born 401)

Aelia Eudocia Augusta, also called Saint Eudocia, was an Eastern Roman empress by marriage to Emperor Theodosius II. Daughter of an Athenian philosopher, she was also a poet, whose works include Homerocentones, or Homeric retellings of Biblical stories. After an estrangement with Theodosius, she permanently settled in Jerusalem, where she supported the local population.

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