Famous Deaths on April 21

  • April
  • 1073 Alexander II, [Anselmo da Baggio], Pope (1061-73), dies
  • 1109 Anselmus, philosopher/archbishop of Canterbury, dies
  • 1142 Pierre Abélard, French writer (b. 1079)
  • 1329 Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1282)
  • 1509 Henry VII, 1st Tudor king of England (1485-1509), dies at 52, Henry VIII succeeds him aged 17
  • 1551 Oda Nobuhide, Japanese warlord (b. 1510)
  • 1552 Petrus Apianus [Peter Apian], German mathematician, astronomer and cartographer, dies at 50
  • 1574 Cosimo de Medici, Italian duke of Toscane, dies at about 54
  • 1652 Pietro Della Valle, Italian composer, dies at 66
  • 1696 Andres de Sola, Spanish composer, dies at 61
  • 1699 Jean Racine, French dramatist (Iphigénie), dies at 59
  • 1701 Asano Naganori, Japanese warlord (daimyō), dies at 33
  • 1719 Philippe de la Hire, French mathematician and historian (b. 1640)
  • 1720 Antoine Hamilton, French writer (b. 1646)
  • 1722 Robert Beverley, Jr., historian of Colonial Virginia (b. 1673)
  • 1730 Jan Palfijn, Flemish physician/inventor (forceps), dies at 79

  • 1736 Frans Eugenius, duke/prince of Savoye, dies at 72
  • 1780 Ferdinand Zellbell the younger, Swedish composer and co-founder of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, dies at 60
  • 1792 Tiradentes, Brazilian revolutionary (b. 1746)
  • 1793 John Michell, English seismologist (b. 1724)
  • 1815 Joseph Winston, U.S. Congressman from North Carolina (b. 1746)
  • 1821 Thursday October Christian, son of Fletcher Christian (leader of the historical mutiny on the Bounty), dies at 40
  • 1825 Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathemattician (b. 1765)
  • 1852 Ivan Nabokov, Russian general (b. 1787)
  • 1868 Henry James O'Farrell, Australian would-be assassin of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh
  • 1871 Elisabeth Grube, writer, dies
  • 1878 Temistocle Solera, composer, dies at 62
  • 1898 Louis Théodore Gouvy, French-German composer, dies at 78
  • 1899 Heinrich Kiepert, German cartographer/geographer, dies at 80
  • 1900 Heinrich Vogl, composer, dies at 55

Person of interestMark Twain

1910 Mark Twain [Samuel Clemens], American author (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), dies at 74

Author Mark Twain
Author
Mark Twain

Person of interestThe Red Baron

1918 Manfred von Richthofen [The Red Baron], German World War I fighter ace, dies at 25 after his plane is shot down

World War I Fighter Ace The Red Baron
World War I Fighter Ace
The Red Baron
  • 1922 Alessandro Moreschi, Italian castrato (b. 1858)
  • 1924 Eleanora Duse, Italian actress (La Gioconda, La Locandiera), dies at 64
  • 1930 Alex Smith, Scottish-American golfer (US Open 1906, 10), dies at 56
  • 1930 Robert Bridges, English poet (Testament of beauty) and British Poet Laureate (1913-30), dies at 85
  • 1938 Muhammad Iqbal, British East Indies lawyer and Pakistan national hero, dies at 65
  • 1938 Allama Iqbal, Indian philosopher and poet, dies at 60
  • 1939 Herman Finck, composer, dies at 66
  • 1945 John Poston, British major/Montgomery's ADC, dies in battle at 25
  • 1946 Robert Graham, cricketer (3 wkts for South Africa in 2 Tests 1898-99), dies

BattleJohn Maynard Keynes

1946 John Maynard Keynes, English economist whose ideas changed the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, dies of a heart attack at 62

Economist John Maynard Keynes
Economist
John Maynard Keynes
  • 1948 Carlos Lopez Buchardo, Argentine composer, dies at 66
  • 1952 Leslie Banks, actor (Henry V, 21 Days, Eye Witness), dies at 61
  • 1952 Stafford Cripps, British Labour politician, dies at 62
  • 1956 Charles MacArthur, American writer (b. 1895)
  • 1961 James Melton, opera tenor (Ford Festival), dies at 57
  • 1962 Frederick Handley Page, designer of 1st big airplane (40 seats), dies
  • 1965 Edward Victor Appleton, English physicist (Nobel Prize 1947), dies at 72
  • 1967 Andre L Danjon, French astronomer, dies at 77
  • 1968 Norman Demuth, composer, dies at 69
  • 1968 Toby Halicki, car-crash film producer 48, killed shooting stunt
  • 1971 Edmund Lowe, American actor (Black Sheep, Good Sam, Dillinger, Hot Pepper), dies at 81
  • 1971 François Duvalier "Papa Doc", Dictator of Haiti (1957-71), dies at 64
  • 1973 Ursula Jeans, British actress (Cavalcade, Over the Moon, I Lived With You), dies of cancer at 66
  • 1973 Arthur Fadden, 13th Prime Minister of Australia, dies at 79
  • 1974 Charles "Chic" Harley, American football player (b. 1895)
  • 1975 Jack Westrup, English composer, dies at 70
  • 1977 Milton "Gummo" Marx, American comic (Marx Brothers), dies at 84
  • 1978 Sandy Denny, country singer, dies at 37
  • 1980 Aleksandr Oparin, Russian biochemist (b. 1894)
  • 1980 Sohrab Sepehri, Persian poet and painter (b. 1928)
  • 1981 Harry Lee, cricketer (scored 18 & 1 in only Test for England), dies
  • 1982 Joe Sawyer, actor (Biff O'Hara-Adventures of Rin Tin Tin), dies at 80
  • 1985 Rudi Gernreich, US designer (miniskirt), dies at 62
  • 1985 Tancredo Neves, president-elect of Brazil, dies at 75
  • 1985 Foster Hewitt, Canadian radio pioneer (b. 1902)
  • 1986 Salah Jaheen, Egyptian poet and cartoonist (b.1930)
  • 1987 Edith S Green, (Rep-D-Ore), dies at 77
  • 1988 I. A. L. Diamond, Hollywood screenwriter (1960 Acad Award-Apartment), dies at 67
  • 1989 James Kirkwood, American actor, author and playwright (A Chorus Line, P. S. Your Cat Is Dead!), dies of cancer at 64
  • 1989 Princess Deokhye of Korea, last princess of the Korean Empire, dies at 76
  • 1990 Johnny Beagley, winner of two 1942 World Series games, dies
  • 1990 Erté, French artist
  • 1991 Richard Bolling, American politician (Rep-D-Missouri 1949-83), dies at 74
  • 1991 Willi Boskovsky, Austrian conductor (new years concert), dies at 81
  • 1992 Robert Harris, American criminal and murderer, executed in a gas chamber at 39 in San Quentin State Prison, California
  • 1992 Vladimir K Romanov, Grand Duke/Rus pretender to the throne, dies at 74
  • 1993 Hal Schumacher, baseball pitcher, dies at 82
  • 1994 Clement Merk, animal trainer, dies at 93
  • 1995 Bob Wyatt, English cricketer (1927-37), dies at 93
  • 1995 Stafford Heginbotham, British toymaker (Tebro Toys) and Football Club Chairman, dies at 61
  • 1996 A H Kardar, cricketer (3 Tests for India & 23 for Pak 1946-58), dies
  • 1996 Dzhokhar Dudayev, separatist leader and President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (1991), dies at 52
  • 1996 Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder, sportscaster, LV bookmaker (The NFL Today; fired for racist remarks), dies of a heart attack at 77
  • 1996 Robert Hersant, press baron, dies at 76
  • 1996 Rodney Meredith Thomas, English architect and painter, dies at 93
  • 1996 Zora Arkus-Duntov, engineer, dies at 86
  • 1997 Andres Rodriguez, Paraguayan president (1989-93), dies
  • 1997 Diosdado Macapagal, President of the Philippines (1961-65), dies at 86
  • 1998 Jean Francois Lyotard, French philosopher and sociologist (b. 1924)
  • 1998 Peter Lind Hayes, American comedian and singer (Peter Lind Hayes Show), dies at 82
  • 1999 Charles "Buddy" Rogers, American musician actor (An Innocent Affair, Wings), dies at 94
  • 2000 Neal Matthews, Jr., American singer (The Jordanaires), dies at 70
  • 2001 David Hollestelle, Dutch baritone (Great-Broadcast chorus), dies at 84

Person of interestNina Simone

2003 Nina Simone [Eunice Waymon], American singer and civil rights activist (I Loves You, Porgy), dies of breast cancer at 70

Singer and Civil Rights Activist Nina Simone
Singer and Civil Rights Activist
Nina Simone
  • 2004 Mary McGrory, American journalist and columnist, dies at 85
  • 2005 Gerry Marshall, British racing driver (b. 1941)
  • 2006 T.K. Ramakrishnan, Indian politician (b. 1922)
  • 2006 Telê Santana, Brazilian football manager (b. 1931)
  • 2007 Lobby Loyde, Australian guitarist and songwriter (b. 1941)
  • 2007 Parry O'Brien, American shot putter (Olympic golds 1952, 1956, silver 1960), dies at 75
  • 2008 Al Wilson, American singer (b. 1939)
  • 2009 Vivian Maier, American street photographer unknown until her death, dies at 83
  • 2010 Gustav Lorentzen, Norwegian singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
  • 2010 Juan Antonio Samaranch, International Olympic Committee president (b. 1920)
  • 2012 Charles Colson, Nixon adviser (Watergate), dies from a brain hemorrhage at 80
  • 2013 Leopold Engleitner, Austrian Holocaust survivor, dies at 107
  • 2014 George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (helped invent LCD displays), dies at 77

Person of interestPrince Rogers Nelson

2016 Prince [Rogers Nelson], American singer-songwriter and musician (1999, Purple Rain), dies at 57

Singer Prince Rogers Nelson
Singer
Prince Rogers Nelson
  • 2016 Lonnie Mack, American rocker (Baby What's Wrong), dies at 74
  • 2018 Nabi Tajima, Japanese supercentenarian and the last living person certified to have been born in the 19th century, dies at 117
  • 2018 Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Brazilian movie director (Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês, Vidas Secas), dies at 89
  • 2018 Verne Troyer, American actor (Mini-Me in Austin Powers movies), dies at 49

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