On This Day

Deaths in History on February 2

  • 672 Chad of Mercia, Ango-Saxon saint credited with introducing Christianity to the Mercian kingdom, dies at about 38
  • 1032 Rudolf III, last independent king of Bourgundy, dies
  • 1124 Bořivoj II of Bohemia, Duke of Bohemia (1100-1107, 1117-1120)
  • 1218 Konstantin of Rostov, Prince of Novgorod (b. 1186)
  • 1250 Eric XI of Sweden (b. 1216)
  • 1294 Louis II, Duke of Bavaria, ruler of Upper Bavaria, dies at 64
  • 1435 Johanna II, Queen of Naples (1414-35), dies at 61
  • 1461 Owen Tudor, Welsh founder of the Tudor dynasty of England
  • 1491 Martin Schongauer, German painter, dies at 40
  • 1512 Hatüey, Taíno chief known as Cuba's First National Hero, is burned alive by Spanish colonialists
  • 1529 Baldassare Castiglione, Italian diplomat and author, dies at 50
  • 1540 George Schenck van Toutenburg, gov/viceroy of Frisia/Groningen
  • 1563 Hans Neusiedler, Hungarian/German luitist/author, dies at approx 54
  • 1580 Bessho Nagaharu, Japanese retainer (b. 1558)
  • 1597 Lucas van Valckenborch, Flemish painter, buried at about 61
  • 1648 George Abbot, English writer
  • 1660 Gaston, Duke of Orleans, brother of French King Louis XIII, dies at 51
  • 1660 Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (Isaac blesses Jacob), dies at 45
  • 1661 Lucas Holstenius, German humanist (b. 1596)
  • 1688 Abraham Duquesne, French naval officer (b. 1610)
  • 1704 Guillaume F A de l'Hospital, French mathematician, dies at about 62
  • 1712 Martin Lister, English naturalist and physician
  • 1714 John Sharp, English Archbishop of York (1691-1714), dies at 68
  • 1723 Antonio M Valsalva, Italian anatomist, dies at 66
  • 1768 Robert Smith, English mathematician (b. 1689)
  • 1769 Clement XIII [Carlo Rezzonico], Pope (1758-69), dies at 75
  • 1793 William Aiton, English botanist (Kew Gardens), dies at 61
  • 1802 Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, British statesman (b. 1713)
  • 1804 Caesar Rodney, American judge (signed US Declaration of Independence), dies at 62
  • 1804 George Walton, Signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1749-50)
  • 1828 Frederik Sigismund van Bylandt, Dutch count and vice-admiral, dies at 78
  • 1852 Francis Libermann, French religious leader (Congregation of Heart), dies at 49
  • 1867 Forceythe Willson, American poet (The Old Sergeant), dies at 29
  • 1873 Edward Johnson, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 56
  • 1881 Aleksej F Pisemski, Russian writer (Clodhopper), dies at 59
  • 1895 Archduke Albert, Austrian general (b. 1817)
  • 1904 William C. Whitney, American financier and 31st United States Secretary of the Navy, dies at 62

Dmitri MendeleevDmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907)

Russian chemist and inventor who devised the periodic table of the elements, dies at 72

Dmitri Mendeleev
  • 1909 Adolf Stoecker, German conservative politician, and reformer who founded the German Christian Social Party, dies at 73
  • 1925 Antti Aarne, Finnish folklorist, dies at 57
  • 1926 Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general (b. 1848)
  • 1931 Theodor Batthynyi, Hungarian contra-revolutionary, dies at 71
  • 1932 Agha Petros, Assyrian nationalist leader
  • 1936 Owen Seaman, British poet and editor (Punch), dies at 74
  • 1941 Johannes Schlaf, German writer and translator, dies at 78
  • 1942 Daniil Kharms [Yuvatchov], Russian surrealist and absurdist writer, poet, and playwright, dies of starvation during the siege of Leningrad at 36
  • 1945 Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German Leipzig mayor and Nazi regime opponent (20th July plot), hanged at 60
  • 1948 Thomas W. Lamont, American banker; father or Corliss Lamont; great-grandfather of Ned Lamont (b. 1870)
  • 1950 Constantin Carathéodory, Greek mathematician (b. 1873)
  • 1950 George A. Birmingham, Irish clergyman and novelist, dies at 84
  • 1956 Pyotr Konchalovsky, Russian painter (b. 1876)
  • 1957 Grigory Landsberg, Russian physicist (b. 1890)
  • 1957 Julia Morgan, American architect (Hearst Castle, and other Hearst properties), first female degreed by Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and first licensed in California, dies at 85 [1]
  • 1965 Richard P. Blackmur, American critic, poet and publisher (Good European), dies at 61

Bertrand RussellBertrand Russell (1872-1970)

English mathematician and philosopher (Nobel 1950), dies at 97

Bertrand Russell
  • 1972 Natalie Clifford Barney, American writer (b. 1876)
  • 1973 Hendrik Elias, Flemish historian and Mayor of Ghent (1941-44), dies at 70
  • 1980 William H. Stein, American biochemist (Nobel 1972), dies at 68
  • 1981 Jan Donner, Dutch chairman of High Council, dies at 89
  • 1982 Paul Desruisseaux, Canadian lawyer and politician (Senator for Wellington, Quebec), dies at 76
  • 1982 Stringfellow Barr, US educationalist (100 Great Books), dies at 85
  • 1983 Roy Horb, Suriname sergeant/putschist, commits suicide
  • 1987 Alfred Lion, record founder (Blue Note), dies at 78
  • 1987 Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist (The Guns of Navarone), dies at 64
  • 1988 Clive Epstein, British music artist manager, and brother of Brian Epstein, dies at 51
  • 1988 G. Mennen Williams, American lawyer, politician (Governor of Michigan, 1949-61), diplomat, and jurist (Chief Justice of Michigan Supreme Court, 1983-86), dies at 76
  • 1992 Jack [John T] Aitken, British anatomist, dies at 78
  • 1992 Maurice J Hill, writer (Track of Thunder), dies of pneumonia at 89
  • 1992 Maurice L Kusell, dies
  • 1995 Alexis d'Anjou de Bourbon-Condé, French prince/Russian, dies at 47
  • 1995 Andre Frossard, French publicist (Defense of Pope), dies at 80
  • 1995 David Kindersley, British stone letter-carver and typeface designer, dies at 79
  • 1995 Phillip Borsos, Tasmanian/Canadian director (Mean Season), dies
  • 1996 Ray McIntire, American chemical engineer, dies at 77
  • 1997 Godfrey Baseley, British radio executive, dies at 92
  • 1997 Infanta Luisa Fernanda, Duchess of Montpensier, dies at 65
  • 2002 Claude Brown, American writer (b. 1937)
  • 2004 Alan Bullock, British historian and author (Hitler: A Study in Tyranny), dies at 89
  • 2007 Filippo Raciti, Italian police officer (b. 1967)
  • 2008 Earl Butz, 18th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1971-76), dies at 98
  • 2012 Dorothy Gilman, American mystery writer, dies from Alzheimer's disease at 88
  • 2013 Chris Kyle, American sniper, is shot at 38
  • 2016 Intizar Hussain, Pakistani and Urdu writer and columnist, dies in his early 90s
  • 2018 Dave Barrett, 26th Premier of British Columbia (1972-75), dies at 87
  • 2018 Joseph Polchinski, American leading theoretical physicist (multiverse), dies of brain cancer at 63
  • 2021 Tom Moore, English army captain knighted for raising £32 million for the NHS, dies with COVID-19 at 100


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