Deaths
- 211 – Publius Septimius Geta, Roman Emperor (b. 189)
- 401 – Pope Anastasius I
- 1111 – Al-Ghazali, Islamic philosopher (b. 1058)
- 1075 – Edith of Wessex, wife of Edward the Confessor
- 1327 – Agnes of France, Duchess of Burgundy
- 1370 – Pope Urban V (b. 1310)
- 1737 – James Louis Sobieski, son of John III Sobieski, and pretender to the throne of Poland (b. 1667)
- 1741 – Vitus Bering, Danish-born explorer (b. 1681)
- 1745 – Jean-Baptiste van Loo, French painter (b. 1684)
- 1749 – Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (b. 1672)
- 1751 – Louise of Great Britain, wife of Frederick V of Denmark (b. 1724)
- 1807 – Friedrich Melchior, baron von Grimm, German writer (b. 1723)
- 1813 – James McGill, Scottish-born Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1744)
- 1814 – Joseph Bramah, British inventor and locksmith (b. 1748)
- 1819 – Sir Thomas Fremantle, British naval officer and politician (b. 1765)
- 1848 – Emily Brontë, English author (b. 1818)
- 1878 – Bayard Taylor, American author and poet (b. 1825)
- 1915 – Alois Alzheimer, German neuroscientist (b. 1864)
- 1916 – Thibaw Min, King of Burma (b. 1859)
- 1927 – Ashfaqulla Khan, Indian independence movement figure (b. 1900)
- 1932 – Yoon Bong-Gil, Korean activist (b. 1908)
- 1933 – George Jackson Churchward, British locomotive engineer (b. 1857)
- 1938 – Stephen Warfield Gambrill, American politician (b. 1873)
- 1939 – Hans Langsdorff, German naval officer (b. 1894)
- 1944 – Abbas II of Egypt (b. 1874)
- 1944 – Rudolph Karstadt, German entrepreneur (b. 1856)
- 1946 – Paul Langevin, French physicist (b. 1872)
- 1953 – Robert Millikan, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1868)
- 1962 – Warren Brittingham, American soccer player (b. 1886)
- 1968 – Norman Thomas, American socialist (b. 1884)
- 1982 – Dwight Macdonald, American social critic (b. 1906)
- 1984 – Joy Ridderhof, American missionary (b. 1903)
- 1986 – V. C. Andrews, American author (b. 1923)
- 1988 – Robert Bernstein, American comic book writer (b. 1919)
- 1989 – Stella Gibbons, English author (b. 1902)
- 1991 – Joe Cole, American rock music roadie (b. 1961)
- 1993 – Michael Clarke, American drummer (The Byrds) (b. 1946)
- 1996 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (b. 1924)
- 1997 – Masaru Ibuka, Japanese industrialist (Sony) (b. 1908)
- 1997 – Jimmy Rogers, American blues guitarist (b. 1924)
- 1998 – Mel Fisher, American treasure hunter (b. 1922)
- 1998 – Antonio Ordóñez, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1932)
- 1999 – Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh actor (b. 1914)
- 2000 – Rob Buck, American guitarist (10,000 Maniacs) (b. 1958)
- 2000 – Milt Hinton, American jazz double bassist (b. 1910)
- 2000 – John Lindsay, American politician (b. 1921)
- 2000 – Pops Staples, American singer (The Staple Singers) (b. 1915)
- 2000 – David Dewayne Johnson, American convicted murderer (b. 1963)
- 2002 – Arthur Rowley, English footballer (b. 1926)
- 2003 – Peter Carter-Ruck, English lawyer (b. 1914)
- 2003 – Hope Lange, American actress (b. 1933)
- 2003 – Les Tremayne, English-born American actor (b. 1913)
- 2004 – Herbert C. Brown, English-born American chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1912)
- 2004 – Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano (b. 1922)
- 2005 – Keith Duckworth, English mechanical engineer (Cosworth) (b. 1933)
- 2005 – Vincent Gigante, American mafioso (b. 1927)
- 2008 – James Bevel, American civil rights activist (b. 1936)
- 2008 – Kenny Cox, American jazz musician (b. 1940)
- 2008 – Dock Ellis, American baseball pitcher (b. 1945)
- 2008 – Carol Chomsky, American linguist (b. 1930)
- 2008 – Michael Connell, American political consultant (b. 1963)
- 2009 – Giridharilal Kedia, Indian entrepreneur (b. 1936)
- 2009 – Hossein-Ali Montazeri, Iranian dissident cleric (b. 1922)
- 2009 – Kim Peek, American savant (b. 1951)
- 2010 – Trudy Pitts, American jazz organist, pianist, and vocalist (b. 1932)
- 2010 – Anthony Howard, English journalist (b. 1934)
Read more about this topic: December 19
Famous quotes containing the word deaths:
“There is the guilt all soldiers feel for having broken the taboo against killing, a guilt as old as war itself. Add to this the soldiers sense of shame for having fought in actions that resulted, indirectly or directly, in the deaths of civilians. Then pile on top of that an attitude of social opprobrium, an attitude that made the fighting man feel personally morally responsible for the war, and you get your proverbial walking time bomb.”
—Philip Caputo (b. 1941)
“Death is too much for men to bear, whereas women, who are practiced in bearing the deaths of men before their own and who are also practiced in bearing life, take death almost in stride. They go to meet deaththat is, they attempt suicidetwice as often as men, though men are more successful because they use surer weapons, like guns.”
—Roger Rosenblatt (b. 1940)
“I sang of death but had I known
The many deaths one must have died
Before he came to meet his own!”
—Robert Frost (18741963)