Famous Deaths on October 15

1651 James Stanley 7th Earl of Derby, English aristocrat who fought on the Royalist side during English Civil War, executed for treason after being captured by Roundhead forces at 44
1674 Robert Herrick, English poet ('Gather ye rosebuds while ye may'), dies at 83
1682 John Ferrabosco, English organist at Ely Cathedral and composer, dies at 56
1715 Humphry Ditton, English mathematician, dies at 40
1730 Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac, French explorer and trader in New France (founder of Detroit and Governor of Louisiana 1710-16), dies at 71
1788 Samuel Greig, Scottish-Russian admiral (Battle of Chesma), dies at 53
1789 John Morgan, American physician-in-chief of Continental Army and co-founder of the Medical College at the University of Pennsylvania, the first medical school in Colonial America, dies at 54
1810 Alfred Moore, American judge (US Supreme Court), dies at 55
1811 Nathaniel Dance-Holland, English painter (b. 1735)
1817 Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, Swiss traveller and orientalist, 1st European to discover Petra and Abu Simbel, dies at 32

Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746-1817)

Polish-Lithuanian military leader and statesman considered a national hero, dies at 71 after falling from a horse, developing a fever and suffering a stroke

1819 Princess Louise of Orange-Nassau, daughter of viceroy Willem V & Wilhelmina of Prussia, dies at 48
1819 Sergey Vyazmitinov, Russian general and statesman (b. 1744)
1820 Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg, Austrian field marshal, dies at 49
1833 Michał Ogiński, Polish politician, violinist, balalaika player, and composer (Farewell to My Homeland), dies at 68
1837 Ivan Dmitriev, Russian statesman and poet, dies at 77
1838 Letitia Elizabeth Landon, English poet (Heath's Book of Beauty), dies at 36
1852 Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, German educator and founder of the turnverein (gymnastics) movement, dies at 74
1873 [Eleanor] Agnes Lee, American daughter of US Confederate general Robert E. Lee, dies of typhoid fever at 32
1883 Francesco Schira, Maltese-born composer, dies at 74
1889 Edward Aylesworth Perry, American soldier and politician (General under Lee for Confederate Army, 14th Governor of Florida 1885-89), dies of a stroke at 58
1891 Gilbert Arthur à Beckett, English writer (Punch), dies at 54
1891 William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 54
1900 Zdenek Fibich, Czech classical composer (Šárka; The Bride of Messina), dies at 49
1910 Larkin Goldsmith Mead, American sculptor who worked in Florence, dies at 75
1910 Stanley Ketchel [The Michigan Assassin], Polish-American heavyweight boxing champion (1908-10), murdered at a ranch in Missouri at 24
1914 Aleksander Różycki, Polish pianist, composer, and music teacher dies at 59

Mata Hari (1876-1917)

Dutch exotic dancer, courtesan and convicted German WWI spy, executed by firing squad at 41

1918 Sai Baba of Shirdi, Indian saint (b. circa 1838)
1920 Hendrik Peter Staal, Dutch reformed officer and politician, dies at 75
1930 Ernest Wilson, English botanist (plant collector in China), dies in a car accident at 54

Herbert Henry Dow (1866-1930)

American chemical industrialist (Dow Chemical), dies from cirrhosis of the liver at 64

1934 Raymond Poincaré, French president and Prime Minister (1912), dies at 74
1937 James Marcus, American actor (The Eagle, The Lonely Trail), dies from a heart attack at 70
1944 Philip Mechanicus, Dutch journalist, executed at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp at 55

Pierre Laval (1883-1945)

Prime Minister of France (1931-32 and 1935-36) and Head of Vichy France (1942-44), executed by firing squad for high treason at 62

Hermann Goering (1893-1946)

German Nazi Party leader, convicted war criminal, Vice-Chancellor of Germany (1941-45) and World War I fighter pilot ace, poisons himself in prison at 53

1948 Edythe Chapman, American actress (b. 1863)
1955 Fumio Hayasaka, Japanese film score composer (Rashomon; Seven Samurai), dies of tuberculosis at 41
1958 Jack Mason, English cricketer (England all-rounder v Australia 1897-98), dies at 84
1958 Jan Poortenaar, Dutch painter, etcher and cartoonist, dies at 72
1958 John Hamilton, American actor (The Adventures of Superman - "Perry White"), dies of heart failure at 71
1959 Lipót Fejér, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1880)

Ukrainian nationalist, leader of the terrorist Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B), Nazi collaborator and anti-communist, assassinated via cyanide gas at 50 by the KGB in Munich, West Germany

1960 Clara Kimball Young, American actress (Return of Chandu), dies of stroke at 70
1960 Henny Porten, German silent screen actress (Mother Love), dies at 70
1960 Maude Eburne, Canadian actress (Ladies They Talk About, Guardsman), dies at 84
1963 Edmond Fleg[enheimer], Swiss-French writer (Ecoute Israel), dies at 88
1963 Horton Smith. American golfer (US Masters 1934, 36), dies of Hodgkin's disease at 55

Cole Porter (1891-1964)

American composer and lyricist ("Anything Goes"; "Night And Day"; "I've Got You Under My Skin"), dies of kidney failure at 73

1965 Carl Hoff, American orchestra leader (Music Hall), dies at 60
1968 Bea Benaderet, American actress (Kate-Petticoat Junction), dies at 62
1968 Franz Reizenstein, German-British pianist, composer, and educator (Concerto Popolare), dies at 57
1969 Abdirashid Shermake, President of Somali Republic, shot by one of his bodyguards at 50
1969 Rod La Rocque, American actor (Mystery Woman), dies at 70
1971 Sylvester Magee, last living American slave and oldest person who ever lived, dies at 130

Carlo Gambino (1902-1976)

Italian-born American mafioso (Gambino family), dies of a heart attack at 74

1977 Ralph Truman, British actor (Henry V, Treasure Island, Web of Evidence), dies at 77
1978 W. Eugene Smith, American photojournalist (Saipan, Walk to Paradise Garden), dies of a stroke at 59
1980 Apostolos Nikolaidis, Greek footballer and volleyball player (b. 1896)
1980 Mikhail Lavrentyev, Russian hydrodynamicist and mathematician, dies at 79
1981 Frank DeKova, American actor (Chief Wild Eagle-F Troop), dies at 71
1981 Philip Fotheringham-Parker, British racing driver (b. 1907)
1982 Elsie Randolph, English actress (That'll Make You Whistle), dies at 77
1983 Pat O'Brien, American actor (Knute Rockne; Angels with Dirty Faces), dies of a heart attack at 83
1985 Meret Oppenheim, German born Swiss surrealist artist and photographer (Object: Le Déjeuner en fourrure), dies at 72
1985 Ted Steele, American orchestra leader (Cavalcade of Stars), dies at 68
1987 Thomas Sankara, Burkinabé revolutionary and politician, President of Burkina Faso (1983-87), assassinated in a coup at 37
1988 Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji [Leon Dudley Sorabji], Parsi-British pianist and composer (Opus clavicembalisticum), dies of heart failure at 96
1990 Delphine Seyrig, French actress (Freak Orlando, Reperages), dies of lung disease at 58
1991 Hotze de Roos, Dutch carpenter and writer (Chameleon series), dies at 81
1992 Oliver Franks, British civil servant, ambassador to US (Report into Falklands War), and philosopher, dies at 87
1993 Ken E. Jones, musician (New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra), dies of AIDS at 34
1994 Hannes Wustinger, Austrian race car driver, dies in a crash during a race at 29
1994 Karl Edward Wagner, American sci-fi author (Bloodstone, Night Winds), dies at 48
1994 Sarah Kofman, French philosopher, dies at 60
1995 Phil Sidey, English broadcaster (Radio Leeds), dies at 69
2000 Konrad Emil Bloch, German-American biochemist, (1964 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work on cholesterol), dies at 88
2001 Zhang Xueliang, Chinese ruler of Manchuria, dies at 100
2003 Ben Metcalfe, Canadian environmental activist (helped found Greenpeace), dies at 83
2003 Bertram N. Brockhouse, Canadian physicist, (1994 Nobel Prize for Physics for neutron spectroscopy), dies at 85
2005 Jason Collier, American basketball player, dies of an enlarged heart at 28
2005 Matti Wuori, Finnish politician, dies of cancer at 60
2006 Derek Bond, British actor (Nicholas Nickelby, Armchair Theatre), dies at 86
2008 Chris Mims, American NFL defensive end, 1992-99 (San Diego Chargers; Washington Redskins), dies of cardiomegaly (enlarge heart) at 38
2008 Edie Adams [Edith Enke], American businesswoman, singer, actress and comedian (Murial Cigar), dies at 81
2008 Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca, Turkish poet, dies at 94
2008 Jack Narz, American TV game show host (Dotto, Video Village), dies at 85
2008 Nathan Davis, American actor (Dunston Checks In, Holes, Code of Silence), dies from emphysema and pneumonia at 91
2008 Tom Tresh, American baseball infielder (MLB All Star 1962-63; AL Rookie of Year 1962; NY Yankees), dies from a heart attack at 70
2010 Johnny Sheffield, American actor (Boy-Tarzan Finds a Son), dies at 79
2010 Mildred Fay Jefferson, American physician and pro-life activist (b. 1926)
2010 Richard C. Miller, American photographer (b. 1912)
2011 Elizabeth "Betty" Driver, British singer and actress (Coronation Street; Pardon the Expression), dies from pneumonia at 91
2011 Matthew G. Martinez, American politician (Rep-D+R-CA, 1982-2001), dies at 82
2012 Axel Borup-Jørgensen, composer (Nordisk Sommerpastorale; Thalatta! Thalatta!), dies at 87
2012 Claude Cheysson, French politician (Minister of Foreign Affairs), dies at 92

Norodom Sihanouk (1922-2012)

King of Cambodia (1941-55 and 1993-2004), Chief of State (1960-70), independence campaigner and film producer, dies from a heart attack at 89

2013 Gloria Lynne [Wilson], American jazz vocalist (Dell Tones), dies of a heart attack at 83
2013 Peter Miles, British Army officer, businessman and courtier in the Household of Elizabeth II, dies at 89
2013 Rudolf Friedrich, Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1982-84), dies at 90
2014 Nobby Wirkowski, American-Canadian football player and coach (Toronto Argonauts), dies at 88
2016 Barbara Romack, American golfer (US Curtis Cup team 1954, 56, 58), dies at 83

Paul Allen (1953-2018)

American business magnate (co-founder Microsoft, owner Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle Seahawks), dies of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at 65

2018 Shelley Hamlin, American golfer (US Open runner-up 1973), dies of breast cancer at 69
2019 Hossein Dehlavi, Persian composer, conductor and teacher (Sarbaz; Plectrum Orchestra), dies of Alzheimer complications at 92
2020 Gordon Haskell, British pop, rock and blues musician (Fleur De Lys; King Crimson, 1970; Harry's Bar), dies of cancer at 74
2020 Sonja Edström-Ruthström, Swedish cross-country skier (Olympic gold 3 × 5k relay 1960), dies at 89
2021 Miguel de Oliveira, Brazilian boxer (WBC light middleweight champion 1975), dies from pancreatic cancer at 74
2022 Joyce Sims, American R&B singer-songwriter ("All and All"; "Come into My Life"), dies at 63
2022 Mikaben [Michael Benjamin], Haitian zouk and dancehall singer-songwriter, dies onstage in Paris of a heart attack at 41