Deaths
- 1248 – King Sancho II of Portugal (b. 1207)
- 1428 – Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (b. 1370)
- 1564 – Hosokawa Ujitsuna, Japanese military commander (b. 1514)
- 1584 – Tobias Stimmer, Swiss painter and drawer (b. 1539)
- 1695 – François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg, French general (b. 1628)
- 1752 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (b. 1704)
- 1761 – Stephen Hales, English physiologist (b. 1677)
- 1773 – Anton Losenko, Russian painter (b. 1737)
- 1782 – Ange-Jacques Gabriel, French architect (b. 1698)
- 1786 – Moses Mendelssohn, German philosopher (b. 1729)
- 1804 – Charlotte Lennox, English author and poet (b. c.1730)
- 1821 – Elizabeth Ann Seton, American saint (b. 1774)
- 1825 – King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (b. 1751)
- 1863 – Roger Hanson, American Confederate general (b. 1827)
- 1874 – Thomas Gregson, Premier of Tasmania (b. 1798)
- 1877 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American entrepreneur (b. 1794)
- 1882 – John William Draper, English scientist, photographer (b. 1811)
- 1883 – Antoine Eugène Alfred Chanzy, French general (b. 1823)
- 1891 – Antoine Labelle, Quebec catholic priest (b. 1833)
- 1896 – Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German Old Catholic bishop (b. 1821)
- 1901 – Nikolaos Gyzis, Greek painter (b. 1842)
- 1903 – Gulstan Ropert, Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1839)
- 1903 – Topsy the elephant (b. c. 1875)
- 1910 – Léon Delagrange, French aviator and sculptor (b. 1873)
- 1919 – Georg von Hertling, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1843)
- 1920 – Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (b. 1843)
- 1924 – Alfred Grünfeld, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1852)
- 1931 – Art Acord, American actor (b. 1890)
- 1931 – Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife (b. 1867)
- 1931 – Maulana Mohammad Ali, Indian Muslim leader, activist, scholar, journalist and poet (b. December 1878)
- 1940 – Flora Finch, British-American silent-film comedienne (b. 1867)
- 1941 – Henri Bergson, French philosopher, Nobel laureate (b. 1859)
- 1944 – Kai Munk, Danish playwright and pastor (b. 1898)
- 1945 – Harold Fraser, American golfer (b. 1872)
- 1947 – Julian Ashby Burruss, American academic (b. 1876)
- 1960 – Albert Camus, Algerian-born philosopher and Nobel laureate (b. 1913)
- 1961 – Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist and Nobel laureate (b. 1887)
- 1962 – Hans Lammers, German SS officer (b. 1879)
- 1965 – T. S. Eliot, American-born British Nobel laureate (b. 1888)
- 1967 – Donald Campbell, English motorboat racer (b. 1921)
- 1969 – Daisy and Violet Hilton, British conjoined twins (b. 1908)
- 1970 – Jean-Étienne Valluy, French general (b. 1899)
- 1971 – Arthur Ford, American clairaudient (b. 1896)
- 1974 – Epameinondas Thomopoulos, Greek artist (b. 1878)
- 1975 – Carlo Levi, Italian painter, writer and activist (b. 1902)
- 1981 – Ruth Lowe, Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1914)
- 1985 – Brian Horrocks, British general (b. 1895)
- 1985 – Lovro von Matacic, Croatian conductor (b. 1899)
- 1986 – Christopher Isherwood, English writer (b. 1904)
- 1986 – Phil Lynott, Irish musician (Thin Lizzy) (b. 1949)
- 1988 – Lily Laskine, French harpist (b. 1893)
- 1990 – Henry Bolte, Australian politician (b. 1908)
- 1990 – Harold Edgerton, American electrical engineer (b. 1903)
- 1993 – Charles Bridgford, Australian politician (b. 1910)
- 1994 – Rahul Dev Burman, Indian musician (b. 1939)
- 1995 – Eduardo Mata, Mexican conductor and composer (b. 1942)
- 1995 – Sol Tax, American anthropologist (b. 1907)
- 1996 – Ramón Vinay, Chilean operatic tenor (b. 1911)
- 1997 – Harry Helmsley, American real estate mogul (b. 1909)
- 1998 – John Gary, American singer (b. 1932)
- 1998 – Mae Questel, American actress (b. 1908)
- 1999 – Iron Eyes Cody, American actor (b. 1904)
- 2000 – Tom Fears, American football player (b. 1922)
- 2000 – Spyros Markezinis, Greek politician (b. 1909)
- 2001 – Les Brown, American bandleader (b. 1912)
- 2001 – Yoshika, Japanese fashion model (b. 1983)
- 2003 – Hanno Drechsler, German politician (b. 1931)
- 2003 – Conrad Hall, American cinematographer (b. 1927)
- 2003 – Yfrah Neaman, Lebanese-born violinist (b. 1923)
- 2003 – Sabine Ulibarri, American writer (b. 1919)
- 2004 – Joan Aiken, English author (b. 1924)
- 2004 – Brian Gibson, English film director (b. 1944)
- 2004 – Jake Hess, American singer (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Jeff Nuttall, English writer (b. 1933)
- 2004 – John Toland, American historian (b. 1912)
- 2005 – Humphrey Carpenter, English author (b. 1946)
- 2005 – Guy Davenport, American author and scholar (b. 1927)
- 2005 – Ali al-Haidri, Iraqi governor of Baghdad
- 2005 – Frank Harary, American mathematician (b. 1921)
- 2005 – Robert Heilbroner, American economist (b. 1919)
- 2005 – Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1924)
- 2005 – Alton Tobey, American artist (b. 1914)
- 2006 – John Hahn-Petersen, Danish actor (b. 1930)
- 2006 – Milton Himmelfarb, American sociographer (b. 1918)
- 2006 – Robert Howard White, New Zealander politician (b. 1914)
- 2006 – Irving Layton, Romanian born Canadian poet (b. 1912)
- 2006 – Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubaian politician and statesman (b. 1946)
- 2007 – Ben Gannon, Australian theatre producer (b. 1952)
- 2007 – Gren, Welsh newspaper cartoonist (b. 1934)
- 2007 – Helen Hill, American filmmaker (b. 1970)
- 2007 – Lewis Hodges, British Air Chief Marshal (b. 1918)
- 2007 – Steve Krantz, American film and TV producer (b. 1923)
- 2007 – Gáspár Nagy, Hungarian poet and writer (b. 1949)
- 2007 – Sandro Salvadore, Italian footballer (b. 1939)
- 2007 – Jan Schröder, Dutch cyclist (b. 1941)
- 2007 – Marais Viljoen, South African politician (b. 1915)
- 2007 – Osman Waqialla, Sudanese artist and calligrapher (b. 1925)
- 2008 – Joyce Carlson, American artist (b. 1923)
- 2008 – Xavier Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan print editor (b. 1932)
- 2008 – Jimmy Nah, Singaporan comedian and actor (b. 1968)
- 2008 – Yannis Tamtakos, Greek political activist (b. 1908)
- 2009 – Gert Jonke, Austrian poet, playwright and novelist (b. 1946)
- 2009 – Giselle Salandy, Trinidadian female boxer (b. 1987)
- 2010 – Johan Ferrier, Surinamian politician (b. 1910)
- 2010 – Casey Johnson, American heiress and socialite (b. 1979)
- 2010 – Rory Markas, American sportscaster (b. 1955)
- 2010 – Sandro, Argentine songwriter (b. 1945)
- 2010 – Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese Businessman, and Survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombings (b. 1916)
- 2011 – Mohamed Bouazizi, Tunisian vegetable vendor and activist (b. 1984)
- 2011 – Mick Karn, Cypriot-born British musician (Japan) (b. 1958)
- 2011 – Dick King-Smith English Author (b. 1922)
- 2011 – Coen Moulijn, Dutch footballer (b. 1937)
- 2011 – Alireza Pahlavi, Iranian Prince and younger son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (b. 1966)
- 2011 – Gerry Rafferty, British musician and songwriter (The Humblebums and Stealers Wheel) (b. 1947)
- 2011 – Salmaan Taseer, Governor of Punjab (b. 1944)
- 2012 – Harry Fowler, British actor (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Kerry McGregor, British singer and reality contestant (b. 1974)
- 2012 – Carmen Naranjo, Costa Rican novelist, poet and essayist (b. 1928)
Read more about this topic: January 4
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)
“You lived too long, we have supped full with heroes,
they waste their deaths on us.”
—C.D. Andrews (19131992)
“This is the 184th Demonstration.
...
What we do is not beautiful
hurts no one makes no one desperate
we do not break the panes of safety glass
stretching between people on the street
and the deaths they hire.”
—Marge Piercy (b. 1936)