Famous Deaths on February 14

Richard II (1367-1400)

king of England (1377-99), murdered at age 33 at Pontefract Castle

1528 Edzard I 'Edzard the Great', Count of East Frisia (1494-1528) who waged three-year war with Saxony, dies at 66
1571 Benvenuto Cellini, Italian sculptor, goldsmith and author (Perseus), dies at 70
1571 Odet de Coligny, Cardinal of Châtillon and count of Beauvais, dies at 53
1676 Abraham Bosse, French engraver and artist, dies at about 72 (birthdate uncertain, c. 1604)
1681 Francesco Nigetti, Italian composer, dies at 77
1714 Maria Luisa of Savoy, Queen consort of Spain to Philip V (1701-14), dies tuberculosis at 25
1737 Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot of Hensol, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1685)
1744 John Hadley, English mathematician and inventor (octant), dies at 61
1760 François Colin de Blamont, French composer, dies at 69

James Cook (1728-1779)

British explorer, navigator and cartographer, discovered and explored Australia, Pacific Islands and New Zealand for Britain, killed in a fight with Hawaiians near Kealakekua at 50

William Blackstone (1723-1780)

English jurist (Blackstone's Commentaries), dies at 56

1790 Capel Bond, composer, dies at 59

John Dickinson (1732-1808)

American lawyer and Governor of Delaware and Pennsylvania, dies at 75

1820 Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, son of French King Charles X, assassinated by a Bonapartist at 42
1820 Cosme Argerich, Argentine physician and founder of the Medicine School of Buenos Aires, dies at 61
1831 Henry Maudslay, English inventor of the metal lathe, dies at 59

Vicente Guerrero (1782-1831)

Mexican revolutionary hero, general and 2nd President of Mexico (1829, executed by firing squad at 48

1841 Antun Sorkocevic, composer, dies at 65
1845 Joseph Lakanal, French Politician and Educator, dies at 82
1846 Cornelis Felix van Maanen, Dutch Minister of Justice (1807-42), dies at 76
1857 Johannes Bernardus van Bree, Dutch violinist/composer/conductor, dies at 56
1864 William Dyce, Scottish painter and educator, dies at 57
1870 St. John Richardson Liddell, American Civil War Confederate General, dies at 54
1873 Charles Samvei Bovy-Lysberg, Swiss pianist and composer, dies at 51
1881 Fernando Wood, New York City mayor (b. 1812)
1884 Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, 1st wife of Theodore Roosevelt, dies of Bright's disease at 22
1885 Jules Vallès, French writer (b. 1832)
1891 Giulio Roberti, Italian composer, dies at 61

William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891)

American Major General in the Union Army, dies at 71

1894 Eugène Charles Catalan, French-Belgian mathematician (worked on continued fractions, descriptive geometry, number theory and combinatorics), dies at 79
1901 Edward John Hopkins, English organist and composer, dies at 82
1908 Georges Jean Pfeiffer, French composer, dies at 72
1916 Petko Todorov, Bulgarian writer (Zmejova), dies at 36
1922 Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish lawyer and politician (Minister of the Interior), assassinated at 41
1929 Tom Burke, American athlete (Olympic gold 100m, 400m 1896), dies at 53
1937 Erkki Melartin, Finnish composer (Juhlamarssi; Summer Symphony; Fantasia Apocaliptica), dies at 62
1942 Adnan Bin Saidi, Officer of the Malay Regiment killed in the defense of Singapore (b. 1915)
1943 David Hilbert, German mathematician (Hilbert spaces, invariant theory, axiomatization of geometry, dies at 81
1943 Dora Gerson, German-Jewish actress, cabaret singer, and Holocaust victim (Caravan of Death), dies in Auschwitz concentration camp at 43
1948 Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, American Baseball HOF pitcher (World Series 1907, 08; NL wins leader 1909; MLB ERA leader 1906; Chicago Cubs), dies at 71
1949 Yusuf Salman Yusuf, Iraqi-Assyrian communist leader (b. 1901)
1950 Eduard Hermann, German linguist (Homer), dies at 80
1950 Karl Jansky, American engineer (discovered cosmic radio emissions), dies of a heart condition at 44
1952 Maurice De Waele, Belgian cyclist (b. 1896)
1955 Charles Cuvillier, French composer of operetta (The Naughty Princess), dies at 77
1958 Abdul Rab Nishtar, veteran leader of Pakistan Movement, (b. 1899)
1959 Warren "Baby" Dodds, American jazz drummer, dies at 60
1961 Wallis Clark, British-American stage and screen actor (Penny Serenade; Great Guy; Postal Inspector; Easy Money), dies at 78
1965 Désiré Inghelbrecht, French composer, conductor and writer, dies at 84
1967 James Schneider, American silent film director (A Foolish Romance) and actor (Keystone Kops shorts), dies at 85
1967 Sig Ruman [Siegfried Albon Rumann], German-American actor (Schultz-Life With Luigi), dies at 82
1969 (Charles) Kenneth Horne, British radio comedian (Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh; Beyond Our Ken), dies of a heart attack at the podium whilst hosting an awards program at 61
1969 Vito Genovese, Italian-American crime syndicate boss, dies at 71
1969 Wolfe Barzell, actor (Blue Angel), dies of a heart attack at 72
1972 (Lambertus) "Bertus" van Lyre, Dutch composer and conductor (Dike), dies at 65
1974 Stewie Dempster, New Zealand cricket batsman (10 Tests, 2 x 100s; Wellington CA, Leicestershire CCC, Warwickshire CCC), dies at 70
1975 Heintje Davids [Hendrika David], Dutch cabaret artist (Zandvoort by the sea), dies at 87
1975 Julian S. Huxley, English biologist, 1st director-general of UNESCO, dies at 87

P. G. Wodehouse (1881-1975)

English-American writer (Bertie Wooster novels), dies at 93

1978 Paul Governali, American professional football player (b. 1921)
1979 Adolph Dubs, US ambassador to Afghanistan, murdered
1980 Luitkonwar Rudra Baruah, Assamese composer and actor
1982 Henk Schaer [Hendricus Schaareman], Dutch actor and conductor (Majoor Barbara, Lijmen), dies at 79
1983 Lina Radke, German 800m runner (Olympic gold 1928), dies at 79
1984 Elmer Keith, American firearms enthusiast and author (Guns & Ammo), dies at 84
1986 Edmund Rubbra, English composer (Morning Watch), dies after a stroke at 86
1987 Bola Sete, Brazilian guitarist, dies at 63
1987 Karolos Koun, Greek theater director (b. 1908)
1988 Frederick Loewe [Friedrich Löwe], Austrian-American musical theater composer (with Alan Jay Lerner: My Fair Lady; Camelot; Brigadoon), dies at 86
1989 James Bond, American ornithologist (b. 1900)
1989 Vincent Crane [Cheesman], British rock Hammond organist, and songwriter (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - "Fire"), dies of deliberate painkiller overdose at 45
1990 Graeme Hole, Australian cricket batsman (18 Tests, 6 x 50; NSW CA), dies from cancer at 59
1990 Jean Wallace [Walasek], actress (Big Combo), dies of hemorrhage at 66
1990 Tony Holiday, German singer
1991 Arno Breker, German architect and sculptor (Third Reich), dies at 90
1991 Carlo L. Golino, Italian-American scholar, dies at 77
1991 John A. McCone, American politician (Head of CIA 1961-65), dies at 89
1991 Roy Lanham, American western swing and jazz guitarist (The Whippoorwills; Sons of the Pioneers, 1961-86), dies at 68
1992 Angelique Pettyjohn [Dorothy Lee Perrins], American actress (Clambake; Repo Man), and burlesque queen, dies of from cervical cancer at 48
1992 Roepie Kruize, Dutch field hockey player (Olympic bronze, 1948 & silver, 1952), dies at 67
1993 Buddy Pepper, composer, dies of heart failure at 70
1994 Andrei Chikatilo, Soviet-Russian serial killer who murdered at least 52 women and children between 1978 and 1990, executed by a single gunshot at 57
1994 Christopher Lasch, American historian and author (The Culture of Narcissism), dies of metastatic cancer at 61
1994 Gary "BB" Coleman, blues vocal/guitarist/producer, dies at 47
1995 Israël "Ischa" Meijer, Dutch journalist, critic and author (Een Dik Uur Ischa, Boezemvriend), dies of a myocardial infarction at 52
1995 Michael V. Gazzo, American playwright (A Hatful Of Rain), and actor (The Godfather Part II; Cookie; Fear City), dies of complications from a stroke at 71
1995 Nigel Finch, English TV director and film-maker (Chelsea Hotel; Vampyr; Stonewall), dies from AIDS-related illness at 45
1995 Roger de Grey, British landscape painter and President of Royal Academy (1984-93), dies at 76
1995 Siem Suurhoff, Dutch TV-director (Behind the News, Sonja), dies at 58

U Nu (1907-1995)

1st Prime Minister of Burma (1948-56, 1960-62), dies at 87

1996 Bob Paisley, football manager, dies at 77
1996 Eva Hart, British Titanic passenger, one of last living survivors, dies at 91
1996 Ivan William Hannaford, sociologist, dies at 64
1996 Lady Caroline Blackwood, British journalist and writer (The Last of the Duchess), dies at 64
1996 Taiguara [Chalar da Silva], Brazilian singer and songwriter, dies at 50
1998 Claude Prey, French composer, dies at 72
1999 Buddy Knox, American singer and songwriter (Party Doll, Lovey Dovey), dies at 65
1999 John Ehrlichman, American presidential advisor (b. 1925)
2000 Walter Zinn, Canadian-American nuclear physicist (invented the breeder reactor), dies at 93
2001 Alan Ross, British poet and editor (London Magazine), dies at 78
2002 Mick Tucker, English rock drummer (Sweet - "Ballroom Blitz"), dies of leukemia at 54
2002 Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer (b. 1922)

Dolly the Sheep (1996-2003)

first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, dies young from a progressive lung disease aged 6

Johnny Longden (1907-2003)

Canadian hall of fame jockey and trainer (1943 Triple Crown on Count Fleet), dies of a stroke at 96

2004 Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (Tour de France 1998), dies of acute cocaine poisoning at 34
2005 Rafik Hariri, Lebanese politician and billionaire businessman (b. 1944)
2006 Darry Cowl, French musician and actor, dies at 80
2006 Hans Olof “Putte” Wickman, Swedish jazz clarinetist, dies at 81
2006 Lynden David Hall, British singer (b. 1974)
2006 Shoshana Damari, Israeli singer and actress (b. 1923)
2007 Gareth Morris, British flautist (b. 1920)
2007 Lee Patterson, Canadian actor (Dave-Surfside Six, Another World), dies of congestive heart failure at 77
2007 Ryan Larkin, Canadian animated filmmaker. (b. 1943)
2008 Perry Lopez, American actor (Chinatown, Death Wish 4), dies at 78
2009 Bernard Ashley, English businessperson, fashion designer and co-founder of Laura Ashley, dies of cancer at 82
2009 Louie Bellson, American jazz drummer and orchestra leader (Pearl Bailey Show), dies at 84
2010 Dick Francis, British jockey and detective writer (Whip Hand, High Stakes), dies at 89
2010 Doug Fieger, American singer–songwriter (The Knack - "My Sharona"), dies of cancer at 57
2011 George Shearing, British-American blind jazz pianist (Lullaby of Birdland), dies at 91
2012 Dory Previn, American singer-songwriter, dies at 86
2013 Reeva Steenkamp, South African model and paralegal, shot and killed by boyfriend Oscar Pistorius, at 29
2015 Alan Howard, British actor (Royal Shakespeare Company), dies at 77
2015 Louis Jourdan [Louis Robert Gendre], French actor (The Paradine Case, Count Dracula, Gigi, Octopussy), dies at 93
2015 Michele Ferrero, Italian entrepreneur (Ferrero SpA) created Nutella, dies at 89
2015 Pamela Cundell, British stage and screen character actress (Dad's Army - "Mrs. Fox"), dies at 95
2015 Philip Levine, American poet (1995 Pulitzer prize), dies at 87
2016 Steven Stucky, American Pulitzer Prize-winning composer (Silent Spring; August 4, 1964; Los Angeles Philharmonic, 1988-2009), conductor (Ensemble X, 1997-2006), educator, and musicologist, dies of brain cancer at 66
2018 Ruud Lubbers, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1982-94), dies at 78
2020 Garrett Fitzgerald, Irish rugby union coach and administrator (CEO Munster Rugby 1999-2019), dies at 65
2020 Jimmy Conway, Irish soccer midfielder (20 caps Republic of Ireland; Fulham), dies at 73
2021 Doug Mountjoy, Welsh snooker player (Masters 1977; Pot Black 1978, 85; UK C'ship 1988, World C'ship 1981 runner-up), dies at 78
2021 Peter Martinček van Grob, Slovakian contemporary classical composer and conductor, dies at 58
2022 Julio Morales, Uruguayan soccer striker (24 caps; Racing Montevideo, Nacional, Austria Wien), dies at 76
2022 Sandy Nelson, American rock drummer ("Teen Beat"; "Let There Be Drums"), dies of stroke complications at 83
2023 Charley Ferguson, American football tight end (AFL All-Star 1965; AFL C'ship 1964, 65; Buffalo Bills), dies at 83
2023 Greg McMackin, American football coach (Oregon Institute of Technology 1986-89; University of Hawaii 2008-11), dies at 77
2023 Jerry Jarrett, American pro wrestling promoter (founder Continental Wrestling Association, US Wrestling Association, NWA:TNA), dies of cancer at 80
2023 John M. Veitch, American thoroughbred horse trainer (Breeders' Cup Classic 1985 [Proud Truth]; Alydar; National Museum of Racing HOF), dies at 77