Famous Deaths on April 18

1690 Charles V, Duke of Lorraine & Austrian field marshal, dies at 47
1732 Louis Feuillée, French explorer, dies at 72
1794 Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, dies at 80
1796 Johan Wilcke, Swedish physicist, dies at 63
1800 Johann Evangelist Schreiber, Swiss Baroque composer, dies at 84
1800 Pieter Fouquet, Dutch art merchant (Atlas of Fouquet), dies at 71
1802 Erasmus Darwin, English physician writer & botanist (grandfather of Charles Darwin), dies at 70
1803 Louis François Antoine Arbogast, French mathematician (Du calcul des derivations), dies at 43
1818 Quint Ondaatje, Dutch jurist & politician, dies at 59
1824 Edward Jones, Welsh harpist and composer, dies at 72
1830 José Maurício Nunes Garcia, Brazilian classical composer (Master of Music at the Royal Chapel), dies at 63
1845 Nicolas Théodore de Saussure, Swiss chemist, dies at 77
1853 William R. King, American politician (Vice President 1853), dies at 67 one month after his inauguration
1854 Józef Elsner, Polish composer, musicologist, and teacher of Chopin, dies at 84
1855 Jean-Baptiste Isabey, French painter, dies at 88
1861 August Neithardt, German composer, dies at 67
1861 Heinrich August Neithardt, German military bandleader (1816-40), choirmaster (Berlin Cathedral, 1843-61), and composer, dies at 67
1863 Job Plimpton, American composer and organ builder, dies at 79
1867 Robert Smirke, English architect, dies at 86
1871 Omar Pasha [Mihajlo Latas], Serbian-Ottoman field marshal (Crimean War) and Governor (Bosnia, Iraq), dies at 64

1873 Justus von Liebig, German agricultural & biological chemist who is considered the founder of organic chemistry, dies at 69
1879 Anthony Pannizi, Italian-born British librarian (British Museum), dies at 81
1882 Henry Cole, English inventor & civil servant, 1st director of the V&A Museum, promoter of 1851 Great Exhibition, dies at 73
1883 Agnes Tyrrell, Czech pianist & composer, dies at 36
1888 Roscoe Conkling, American politician (U.S. Senator from New York 1867-81), dies at 58
1898 Gustave Moureau, French Symbolist artist, dies at 72
1906 Luis Martín, Spanish Superior-General of the Society of Jesus, dies at 59
1917 Moritz von Bissing, Prussian general, dies at 73
1917 Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist, dies at 59
1921 Earnest [Bachigaloupi] Tourniaire, Dutch actor (Inkwartiering, Kloris & Roses), dies at 70
1925 Charles Ebbets, American sports executive (co-owner of Brooklyn Dodgers 1897-1902), dies at 65
1928 Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński, Polish pianist, composer, and conductor, dies of a heart attack at 58
1935 Ignazio Guidi, Italian orientalist & archaeologist, dies at 90
1935 Panait Istrati, Romanian writer, dies at 50
1936 Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer (The Pines of Rome; Belkis), dies at 56
1936 Seaborn McDaniel Denson, American composer, dies at 82
1938 Richard Terry, English organist and musicologist, dies at 73
1939 Theo Mann, Dutch actress (Pink Bernd, Hedda Gabler), dies at 88
1940 Florrie Forde [Flannagan], Australian singer and British music hall performer, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 64
1940 Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher, English historian & politician, dies after being hit by a car during London blackout at 75

1941 Alexandros Koryzis, Prime Minister of Greece in 1941, commits suicide at about 65 as German troops closed in on Athens
1942 Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American sculptor & art patron (founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art NYC), dies at 67

Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943)

Japanese World War II Marshall Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese fleet who led the attack on Pearl Harbor, killed in action at 59 by a US ambush after the "Magic" code-breaking team intercepted and decoded his flight plan

1944 Thomas Hitchcock Jr., American polo player (Westchester Cup 1924,27,30,39), dies testing a new fighter plane during WWII at 44
1945 Ernie Pyle, American journalist and war correspondent during WW II (Pulitzer Prize, 1944), killed by enemy fire in the South Pacific during Battle of Okinawa at 44
1945 John Ambrose Fleming, English electrical engineer & physicist (right-hand and left-hand rules), dies at 95
1947 Benny Leonard, American boxer (world lightweight title 1917-25), dies from a heart attack at 51

Jozef Tiso (1887-1947)

Slovak politician (President of the First Slovak Republic), executed for treason for collaborating with Nazi Germany at 59

1949 Leonard Bloomfield, American linguist (Structural Linguistics), dies at 62
1949 Will Hay [William Thomson Hay], British comedian, actor and amateur astronomer, dies from a stroke at 60
1951 António Óscar Carmona, 97th Prime Minister of Portugal & 11th President of Portugal, dies at 81

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

German-born theoretical physicist & Nobel laureate (theory of relativity), dies of an abdominal aortic aneurysm at 76

1955 Don Blackie, Australian cricketer (3 Tests for Australia 1928-29), dies at 46
1955 Eugen Herrigel, German philosopher and scholar (early pioneer of Zen in Europe), dies at 70
1958 Maurice Gamelin, French Army officer (World War I - First Battle of the Marne; World War II - failure to stop German assault on France), dies at 85
1958 Richard B. Goldschmidt, German-American zoologist (butterflies), dies at 80
1959 Irving Cummings, American silent screen actor & director (In Old Ariz), dies at 70
1960 Emory Johnson, American actor & director (Phantom Express, Shield of Honor), dies at 66
1963 Meyer Jacobstein, American politician, dies at 83
1964 Albe Vidaković, Croatian composer, dies at 49
1964 Ben Hecht, American novelist, screenwriter and playwright (The Front Page), dies at 71
1965 Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican inventor, dies at 48
1967 Karl Miller, German soccer defender (12 caps; Dresdner SC), dies at 53
1969 Piotr F. Scharoff, Russian-Italian actor & director (Chechov), dies at 82
1971 Masao Ohki, Japanese composer (Idea of the Night; Hiroshima Symphony), dies of cancer at 69
1974 Betty Compson, American actress (Barker, Weary River, Drag Net), dies at 77
1974 John Henry Lewis, American boxer (World Light-Heavyweight champion, 1935-38), dies of emphysema and Parkinson's at 59
1974 Marcel Pagnol, French playwright, filmmaker (Topaze; The Baker's Wife), and novelist, dies at 79
1976 Mahmoud Younis, Suez Canal nationalization engineer, dies at 65
1977 Irene Steer, Welsh swimmer (Olympic gold GB 4 x 100m relay 1912), dies at 87
1981 James H. Schmitz, American sci-fi author (Lion Game), dies at 69
1983 Alan Melville, South African cricket batsman (11 Tests, 4 x 100, HS 189; Natal, Oxford University CC, Sussex CCC, Transvaal), dies at 72
1984 Arvi Kivimaa, Finnish writer (Groenende Cross), dies at 79
1984 Francis De Wolff, British character actor (A Christmas Carol, From Russia With Love), dies at 71
1984 John Lee Mahin, American screenwriter, dies of emphysema at 81
1985 Gertrude Caton-Thompson, English archaeologist (Zimbabwe, So Arabia), dies at 97
1986 Marcel Dassault [Bloch], French airplane engineer and manufacturer, dies at 94
1988 Pierre Desproges, French humorist, dies at 48
1989 Julia Smith, American composer (Prairie Kaleidoscope; Cynthia Parker), pianist (Orchestrette Classique), teacher, and musicologist (Aaron Copland: His Work and Contribution to American Music), dies at 84
1990 Gory Guerrero, Mexican-American professional wrestler, dies at 69
1990 Robert D Webb, American director & actor (Love Me Tender, Jackals), dies at 87
1991 Barry Rogers, American jazz, salsa, and session trombonist (Eddie Palmiere; Fania All-Stars; Chaka Khan; Todd Rundgren), dies at 55
1991 Heino Jurisalu, Estonian composer (Kvintett puhkpillidele), dies at 60
1991 Martin Hannett, British record producer (Joy Division; OMD), dies of heart failure at 42
1993 Dame Elisabeth Frink, English sculptor & printmaker, dies of cancer aged 62
1993 Masahiko Kimura, Japanese judoka, dies at 75
1994 Bill Rexford, American auto racer (NASCAR Grand National Series championship 1950, youngest Cup champion [23]), dies at 67
1994 Ken Oosterbroek, South African press photographer, shot dead at 32
1995 Arturo Frondizi, 35th President of Argentina (1958-62), dies at 86
1996 Hubert Opperman, Australian road cyclist, politician (multi-distance world records), dies of heart failure at 91
1996 Kalim Siddiqui, Pakistani-British writer & Islamic activist, dies at 62
1996 Michael Leander, English songwriter and record producer, dies at 54
1996 Piet Hein, Danish poet and inventor, dies at 80
1997 David Branson, British piano prodigy, composer, musicologist, and visual artist, dies at 88
1997 Edward Barker, English cartoonist, dies at 46
1998 Terry Sanford, American politician, dies at 80
1999 Gian-Carlo Rota, Italian-born American mathematician & philosopher, dies at 66

Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002)

Norwegian anthropologist and explorer (Kon Tiki, Aku-Aku), dies of a brain tumor at 87

2002 Wahoo McDaniel, American football player & professional wrestler, dies at 63
2003 Edgar F. Codd, English-American computer scientist who contributed to the theory and practice of database management systems, dies at 79 [1]
2004 Frances Rafferty, American WWII pin-up girl, dancer and actress (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood), dies at 81
2004 Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, Fijian tribal chief, first Prime Minister of Fiji (1970-92) President of Fiji (1994-2000), dies at 83
2005 Kenneth Schermerhorn, American conductor (American Ballet), dies at 75
2005 Sam Mills, American football player, dies at 46
2006 John Lyall, English soccer manager (West Ham United 1974-89; FA Cup 1980), dies from a heart attack at 66
2007 Iccho Itoh, mayor of Nagasaki, dies at 61
2009 Enrique Franco, Spanish pianist, composer (Cuerda de presos), music promoter, and broadcaster (National Spanish Radio; Radio Clásica), dies at 89
2009 Stephanie Parker, Welsh actress, dies at 22
2011 Mason Rudolph, American golfer (Ryder Cup 1971; PGA C'ship 1973 3rd), dies at 76
2011 Olubayo Adefemi, Nigerian footballer, dies at 25
2011 William Donald Schaefer, American politician (Gov-D-Md), dies at 89

Dick Clark (1929-2012)

American radio and television personality (American Bandstand), dies from a heart attack at 82

2012 Robert O. Ragland, American film score composer (The Thing With Two Heads), dies at 80
2013 Cordell "Boogie" Mosson, American musician (Parliament-Funkadelic collective), dies of liver failure at 60
2013 Storm Thorgerson, British graphic designer & music video director (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, The Cranberries), dies of cancer at 69
2014 Brian Priestman, British conductor and teacher, dies at 87
2015 Joseph Lechleider, American electrical engineer (invented DSL/high speed internet technology), dies at 82
2016 Brian Asawa, Japanese-American countertenor, dies of liver failure at 49
2016 [Julia Liane] Aleah Stanbridge, South African metal musician (Trees of Eternity), dies of cancer at 39
2017 Gordon Langford [Colman], British composer and arranger of brass, choral, and orchestral music (Facets of Glass; Rhapsody for Trombone), dies at 86

Bruno Sammartino (1935-2018)

Italian-American strongman and professional wrestler, dies at 82

Lorraine Warren (1927-2019)

American paranormal investigator (Amityville haunting), dies in her sleep at 92

2019 Lyra McKee, Northern Irish journalist, shot by the New IRA in a terrorist attack at 29
2019 Mark Medoff, American playwright, director, actor and professor (Children of a Lesser God), dies at 79
2020 François Lafortune Jr., Belgian rifle shooter (7 x Olympic Games 1952-1976, 50m Rifle, Prone Position), dies from Parkinson's disease at 87
2020 Takuo Aoyagi, Japanese engineer who invented the pulse oximeter, dies at 84
2021 Iain Watson Gallaway, New Zealand sports broadcaster (Radio Sport; Halberg Award) and author ("Not a Cloud in the Sky"), dies at 98
2022 Harrison Birtwistle, British contemporary classical composer (The Minotaur; The Mask of Orpheus), dies at 87 [1]
2022 Janez Matičič, Slovenian pianist. conductor, and pedagogue, dies at 95
2022 Nicholas Angelich, American concert pianist, dies of degenerative lung disease at 51
2022 Sid Mark [Fliegelman], American disc jockey and 'Frank-ophile' (The Sounds of Sinatra, 1960-2022), dies at 88