Deaths
- 364 – Jovian, Roman Emperor (b. 331)
- 440 – Mesrop Mashtots, Armenian monk and linguist (b. 360)
- 1339 – Otto, Duke of Austria (b. 1301)
- 1371 – Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
- 1596 – Friedrich Sylburg, German classical scholar (b. 1536)
- 1600 – Giordano Bruno, Italian philosopher (burned at the stake) (b. 1548)
- 1609 – Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1549)
- 1624 – Juan de Mariana, Spanish historian (b. 1536)
- 1659 – Abel Servien, French diplomat (b. 1593)
- 1673 – Molière, French playwright (b. 1622)
- 1680 – Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, English statesman and writer (b. 1599)
- 1680 – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist (b. 1637)
- 1715 – Antoine Galland, French archaeologist (b. 1646)
- 1732 – Louis Marchand, French organist and harpsichordist (b. 1669)
- 1768 – Arthur Onslow, English politician (b. 1691)
- 1780 – Andreas Felix von Oefele, German historian and librarian (b. 1706)
- 1841 – Ferdinando Carulli, Italian guitarist (b. 1770)
- 1854 – John Martin, English painter (b. 1789)
- 1856 – Heinrich Heine, German writer (b. 1797)
- 1874 – Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, Belgian mathematician (b. 1796)
- 1883 – Napoleon Coste, French guitarist and composer (b. 1806)
- 1883 – Vasudeo Balwant Phadke, Indian revolutionary (b. 1845)
- 1890 – Christopher Sholes, American inventor (b. 1819)
- 1905 – William Bickerton, Mormon prophet (b. 1815)
- 1909 – Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829)
- 1912 – Edgar Evans, Welsh naval officer (b. 1876)
- 1918 – Milan Neralić, Croatian fencer (b. 1875)
- 1919 – Wilfrid Laurier, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)
- 1934 – King Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875)
- 1934 – Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player (b. 1862)
- 1939 – Willy Hess, German violinist (b. 1859)
- 1943 – Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (b. 1872)
- 1943 – Armand J. Piron, American jazz violinist and composer (b. 1888)
- 1946 – Dorothy Gibson, American actress and RMS Titanic survivor (b. 1889)
- 1950 – William Dickey, American diver (b. 1883)
- 1958 – Hugh McCrae, Australian writer (b. 1876)
- 1961 – Nita Naldi, American actress (b. 1897)
- 1962 – Joseph Kearns, American actor (b. 1907)
- 1962 – Bruno Walter, German conductor (b. 1876)
- 1968 – Marquard Schwarz, American freestyle swimmer (b. 1887)
- 1970 – Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1888)
- 1970 – Alfred Newman, American film composer (b. 1900)
- 1976 – Jean Servais, Belgian actor (b. 1910)
- 1977 – Janani Luwum, Ugandan Archbishop (b. 1922)
- 1982 – Nestor Chylak, American baseball umpire (b. 1922)
- 1982 – Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist (b. 1917)
- 1982 – Lee Strasberg, Austrian-born actor (b. 1901)
- 1986 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher (b. 1895)
- 1988 – John Marco Allegro, English scholar (b. same day 1923)
- 1989 – Lefty Gomez, American baseball player (b. 1908)
- 1990 – Hap Day, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (b. 1901)
- 1990 – Erik Rhodes, American actor (b. 1906)
- 1990 – Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, Ukrainian politician (b. 1917)
- 1994 – Randy Shilts, American author and activist (b. 1951)
- 1996 – Hervé Bazin, French writer (b. 1911)
- 1997 – Zein Isa, Palestinian militant
- 1998 – Ernst Jünger, German author (b. 1895)
- 1998 – Bob Merrill, American composer and lyricist (b. 1921)
- 1999 – Sunshine Parker, American actor (b. 1927)
- 2001 – Barry Burman, English artist (b. 1943)
- 2001 – Bob Geary, Canadian football player and manager (b. 1933)
- 2001 – Khalid Abdul Muhammed, American Nation of Islam spokesman (b. 1948)
- 2003 – Steve Bechler, American baseball player (b. 1979)
- 2004 – José López Portillo, President of Mexico (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Dan O'Herlihy, Irish actor (b. 1919)
- 2005 – Omar Sivori, Argentine footballer (b. 1935)
- 2006 – Ray Barretto, Puerto Rican musician (b. 1929)
- 2006 – Bill Cowsill, American singer (The Cowsills) (b. 1948)
- 2007 – Mike Awesome, American professional wrestler (b. 1965)
- 2007 – Jurga Ivanauskaitė, Lithuanian writer (b. 1961)
- 2007 – Dermot O'Reilly, Irish-born musician, producer and songwriter (Ryan's Fancy) (b. 1943)
- 2007 – Maurice Papon, French Nazi collaborator (b. 1910)
- 2008 – Brian Harris, English footballer (b. 1935)
- 2009 – Conchita Cintrón, Chilean bullfighter (b. 1922)
- 2009 – Gazanfer Özcan, Turkish actor (b. 1931)
- 2009 – Mike Whitmarsh, American volleyball player (b. 1962)
- 2010 – Kathryn Grayson, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Ulric Neisser, German-born American cognitive psychologist (b. 1928)
Read more about this topic: February 17
Famous quotes containing the word deaths:
“You lived too long, we have supped full with heroes,
they waste their deaths on us.”
—C.D. Andrews (19131992)
“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)
“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)