On This Day

Deaths in History on August 20

  • 535 Mochta of Louth, disciple of St. Patrick
  • 984 John XIV [Petrus Canepanova], Italian Pope (983-84), dies
  • 1153 Bernard of Clairvaux, French saint (preached famous sermon advocating for the Second Crusade), dies
  • 1384 Geert Groote, Dutch founder of the Brethren of the Common Life, dies at 43
  • 1538 Aefgen Listinck, Dutch anabaptist, burned at stake
  • 1572 Miguel López de Legazpi, Spanish conquistador (b. 1502)
  • 1580 Jeronymo Osorio, Portuguese historian (b. 1506)
  • 1603 Aḥmad al-Manṣūr 'the Golden', Moroccan ruler (1578-1603) who captured Songhai Empire, dies at 53 or 54 (alternative date 25 August)
  • 1632 Valentin de Boulogne, French painter, buried at 38
  • 1639 Martin Opitz, German poet/historian (Troerinnen), dies at 41
  • 1643 Anne Hutchinson, English Puritan preacher, killed in Native American uprising (b. 1591)
  • 1648 Edward Herbert of Cherbury, English military/philosopher, dies at 65
  • 1672 Cornelis de Witt, Dutch statesman (Chatham), lynched at 49

Johan de WittJohan de Witt (1625-1672)

Dutch statesman and Grand Pensionary of Holland (1653-72), lynched at 46

Johan de Witt
  • 1679 Jacob Alting, Dutch theologist, dies at 60
  • 1680 William Bedloe, English fraudster and Popish Plot informer, dies at 30
  • 1701 Charles Sedley, English playwright (b. 1639)
  • 1773 Enrique Florez, Spanish historian, dies at 72
  • 1804 Charles Floyd, only fatality of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
  • 1811 Louis Antoine de Bougainville, French explorer (b. 1729)
  • 1823 Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, German encyclopedia publisher, dies at 51

Pius VIIPius VII (1742-1823)

Italian bishop of Imola and Pope (1800-23), dies at 83

Pius VII
  • 1825 William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock, Governor of Newfoundland, dies at 72

Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph SchellingFriedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775-1854)

German philosopher (Views on Christianity), dies at 79

Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling
  • 1864 Daniel Chaplin, US Union brigadier general, dies
  • 1864 John H Kelly, US Confederate brigadier general, dies in battle at 24
  • 1885 Edouard J. A. Agneessens, Flemish painter (Slave Market), dies at 42
  • 1887 Jules Laforgue, French poet (Les Complaintas), dies at 27

William BoothWilliam Booth (1829-1912)

English preacher and founder of the Salvation Army, dies at 83 [1]

William Booth
  • 1914 Pius X [Giuseppe M Sarto], Pope (1903-14), dies
  • 1915 Paul Ehrlich, German bacteriologist and physician (Chemotherapy, Nobel Prize 1908), dies in 61
  • 1917 JFW Adolf Ritter von Baeyer, German chemist (Nobel 1905), dies
  • 1932 Paul Keller, German writer (Vergrabenes Gut), dies at 59
  • 1945 Alexander Roda Roda, Austrian writer, dies at 73
  • 1947 Franz VM Cumont, Belgian religious historian, dies at 79
  • 1952 Kurt Schumacher, German political chairman (SPD), dies at 56
  • 1959 Alfred Kubin, Austrian writer and illustrator, dies at 82
  • 1961 Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist (Nobel 1946 - physics of high pressure), dies at 79
  • 1961 Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Canadian-American Arctic explorer and ethnologist, dies at 82
  • 1963 Joan Voûte, Dutch astronomer, dies at 84
  • 1968 Channing H. Cox, American politician (49th Governor of Massachusetts), dies at 88
  • 1970 Hildo Krop, modernistic sculptor, dies at 86
  • 1971 Rashid Minhas, Pakistani Air Force pilot (b. 1951)
  • 1983 Kerwin Duinmeijer, Dutch of Antillean descent, murdered by in a racially motivated attack at 15
  • 1985 Harchand Singh Longowai [Sant Ji], Indian Sikh leader and President of the Akali Dal during the Punjab insurgency of the 1980s, assassinated by Sikh extremists less than a month after he signed a peace accord with the government [1]
  • 1986 Milton Acorn, Canadian poet (b. 1923)
  • 1989 George Adamson [Baba ya Simba - "Father of Lions"], British conservationist (Born Free), murdered in Kenya at 82
  • 1990 Marc Turfkruijer, Flemish movie journalist and writer, dies at 90
  • 1991 Lenore Strunsky Gershwin, widow of Ira Gershwin, dies at 90
  • 1992 Ivan Nikolayevich Anikeyev, cosmonaut, dies at 59
  • 1992 William Taylor, chairman (FDIC), dies at 53
  • 1993 Bernard Delfgaauw, Dutch philosopher (Johnson murderer!), dies at 80
  • 1994 Kalman Kahana, Polish co-founder of state Israel, dies at 81
  • 1995 Hugo Pratt, graphic artist, dies at 68
  • 1997 Norris Bradbury, American physicist (b. 1909)
  • 2001 Fred Hoyle, English astronomer (Steady State Theory, coined phrase 'Big Bang') and sci-fi writer, dies at 86
  • 2006 Bryan Budd, British soldier (Afghanistan), dies at 29
  • 2006 Joe Rosenthal, American photographer (Pulitzer Prize-Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima), dies at 94
  • 2006 Richard Arthur de Yarburgh-Bateson, 6th Lord Deramore, British architect, dies at 95
  • 2007 Larry Hartsell, American martial artist, bodyguard, trainer, student of Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto, dies at 65
  • 2007 Leona Helmsley, American real estate billionaire and convicted of federal income tax evasion, dies at 87

Hua GuofengHua Guofeng (1921-2008)

Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (1976-81) and Premier of the People's Republic of China (1976-80), dies at 87

Hua Guofeng
  • 2008 Stephanie Tubbs Jones, American politician (b. 1949)
  • 2012 Dom Mintoff, Maltese Prime Minister (1955-58, 1971-84), dies at 96
  • 2012 Meles Zenawi, Ethiopian politician (President, 1991-95; Prime Minister, 1995-2012), dies from liver cancer at 57
  • 2013 Elmore Leonard, American author (Glitz, Mr Majestyk, Touch, 52 Pick-Up), dies from complications from a stroke at 87
  • 2014 B.K.S. Iyengar, Indian yoga advocate, dies at 95
  • 2015 Egon Bahr, German journalist and politician (Ostpolitik policy), dies at 93


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