February 23 - Deaths

Deaths

• 155 – Polycarp, Christian bishop of Smyrna (b. 69)
• 943 – Herbert II, Count of Vermandois, (b. 884)
• 1011 – Willigis, Archbishop of Mainz (b. 940)
• 1072 – Peter Damian, theologian and Doctor of the Church (b. 1007)
• 1100 – Emperor Zhezong of China (b. 1076)
• 1270 – Saint Isabel of France, daughter of Louis VIII of France (b. 1225)
• 1447 – Pope Eugene IV (b. 1383)
• 1447 – Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (b. 1390)
• 1464 – Zhengtong, Emperor of China (b. 1427)
• 1526 – Diego Colón, Spanish Viceroy of the Indies
• 1554 – Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English politician and nobelman (b. c.1515)
• 1572 – Pierre Certon, French composer
• 1603 – Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (b. 1519)
• 1669 – Leo Aitzema, Dutch historian and statesman (b. 1600)
• 1704 – Georg Muffat, French composer (b. 1653)
• 1766 – Stanisław I Leszczyński, King of Poland (b. 1677)
• 1781 – George Taylor, American signatory to the Declaration of Independence (b. c.1716)
• 1792 – Joshua Reynolds, English painter (b. 1723)
• 1800 – Joseph Warton, English literary critic (b. 1722)
• 1821 – John Keats, English poet (b. 1795)
• 1848 – John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States (b. 1767)
• 1855 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (b. 1777)
• 1859 – Zygmunt Krasiński, Polish Romantic poet (b. 1812)
• 1879 – Albrecht Graf von Roon, Prime Minister of Prussia (b. 1803)
• 1897 – Woldemar Bargiel, German composer (b. 1828)
• 1908 – Johannes Friedrich August von Esmarch, German surgeon (b. 1823)
• 1918 – Adolphus_Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, last monarch of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1882) (suicide)
• 1922 – Albert Victor Bäcklund, Swedish physicist (b. 1845)
• 1925 – Samuel Berger, American heavyweight boxer (b. 1884)
• 1930 – Horst Wessel, Nazi ideologue and composer (b. 1907)
• 1931 – Dame Nellie Melba, Australian opera soprano (b. 1861)
• 1934 – Edward Elgar, English composer (b. 1857)
• 1944 – Leo Hendrik Baekeland, Flemish-American chemist and inventor of the first synthetic plastic, Bakelite (b. 1863)
• 1946 – Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese general (hanged) (b. 1885)
• 1948 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-born publisher and inventor (b. 1866)
• 1955 – Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (b. 1868)
• 1957 – Marika Ninou, Greek singer (b. 1918)
• 1960 – Arthur Legat, Belgian racing driver (b. 1898)
• 1961 – Davey Crockett, American baseball player (b. 1875)
• 1965 – Stan Laurel, British actor and comedian (b. 1890)
• 1969 – Madhubala, Indian actress (b. 1933)
• 1969 – King Saud of Saudi Arabia (b. 1902)
• 1970 – Hirsch Jacobs, American thoroughbred horse trainer and owner (b. 1904)
• 1973 – Dickinson W. Richards, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1895)
• 1974 – Harry Ruby, American composer and writer (b. 1895)
• 1976 – L. S. Lowry, English artist (b. 1887)
• 1979 – W.A.C. Bennett, Canadian politician (b. 1900)
• 1983 – Herbert Howells, English composer (b. 1892)
• 1990 – José Napoleón Duarte, President of El Salvador (b. 1925)
• 1991 – Nutan, Indian actress (b. 1936)
• 1992 – Markos Vafiadis, Greek politician (b. 1906)
• 1995 – Melvin Franklin, American singer (The Temptations) (b. 1942)
• 1995 – James Herriot, English writer (b. 1916)
• 1996 – William Bonin, American serial killer and sex offender (b. 1947)
• 1997 – Tony Williams, American jazz drummer (b. 1945)
• 1999 – Carlos Hathcock, USMC sniper (b. 1942)
• 2000 – Ofra Haza, Israeli singer (b. 1957)
• 2000 – Stanley Matthews, English footballer (b. 1915)
• 2001 – Robert Enrico, French film director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
• 2003 – Howie Epstein, American bass guitarist (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) (b. 1955)
• 2003 – Robert K. Merton, American sociologist (b. 1910)
• 2003 – Titos Vandis, Greek actor (b. 1917)
• 2004 – Vijay Anand, Indian film director (b. 1934)
• 2004 – Carl Anderson, American singer (b. 1945)
• 2004 – Neil Ardley, English jazz pianist and composer (b. 1937)
• 2004 – Sikander Bakht, Governor of Kerala (b. 1918)
• 2004 – Don Cornell, American singer (b. 1919)
• 2004 – Carl Liscombe, Canadian hockey player (b. 1915)
• 2006 – Benno Besson, Swiss actor and film director (b. 1922)
• 2006 – Telmo Zarraonaindía, Spanish footballer (b. 1921)
• 2007 – Donnie Brooks, American singer (b. 1936)
• 2007 – John Ritchie, British footballer (b. 1941)
• 2008 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian prime minister and president (b. 1950)
• 2008 – Douglas Fraser, Scottish pilot (b. 1916)
• 2008 – Paul Frère, Belgian race car driver and motorsport journalist (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Denis Lazure, Canadian politician (b. 1925)
• 2010 – Orlando Zapata, Cuban dissident (b. 1967)