Deaths in History on January 26

  • 946 Eadgyth, English-born German Queen, wife of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
  • 1109 Albericus of Côteaux, French saint, dies
  • 1567 Nicholas Wotton, English diplomat
  • 1630 Henry Briggs, English mathematician (b. 1556)
  • 1636 Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul, French diplomat (b. 1552)
  • 1697 Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician (b. 1640)
  • 1744 Ludwig Andreas Graf Khevenhüller, Austrian field marshal (b. 1683)
  • 1750 Albert Schultens, Dutch philologist (b. 1686)
  • 1799 Gabriel Christie, British general, dies at 76
  • 1823 Edward Jenner, English physician, father of immunology, pioneered smallpox vaccinations, dies at 73
  • 1824 Théodore Géricault, French painter (The Raft of the Medusa), dies at 32
  • 1844 John Wedgwood, British ceramicist and founder of the Royal Horticultural Society, dies at 77
  • 1849 Thomas Lovell Beddoes, English poet (Death's Jest-Book), suicide at 45
  • 1850 Francis Jeffrey, Baron Jeffrey, judge/literary critic, dies
  • 1855 Gérard de Nerval, French writer (b. 1808)
  • 1869 Duncan Gordon Boyes, English recipient of the Victoria Cross (b. 1846)

  • 1870 Victor, 3rd duc de Broglie, French statesman and diplomat (b. 1785)
  • 1884 John Letcher, American lawyer and politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia, dies at 70
  • 1885 Charles George Gordon, British Governor-General of Sudan, executed at 51
  • 1885 Edward Davy, English inventor (b. 1806)
  • 1886 David Rice Atchison, American politician (possibly served as President of the United States on March 3, 1849), dies at 78
  • 1891 Nicholaus Otto, German auto pioneer (internal combustion engine), dies. (b. 1833)
  • 1895 Arthur Cayley, mathematician, dies
  • 1904 John P R Tak, Dutch liberal politician, dies at 64
  • 1904 Whitaker Wright, English mining tycoon (b. 1846)
  • 1911 Charles Dilke, British statesman and Radical politician, dies at 67
  • 1920 Matthias Enzberger, German minister of finance, murdered
  • 1926 John Flannagan, Catholic priest, 2nd president of St. Ambrose University, dies at 66
  • 1933 Alva Belmont, American socialite (b. 1853)
  • 1942 Gerard Philips, Dutch industrialist and manufacturer (Philips), dies at 83
  • 1943 Nikolai Vavilov, geneticist, Saratovv labour camp, dies
  • 1943 Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenicist (b. 1880)
  • 1946 Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer (b. 1884)
  • 1947 Gustav Adolf, crown prince of Sweden, dies in air crash
  • 1952 Louis van Deyssel, Dutch writer (Diary of Franc Rozelaar), dies at 87
  • 1952 Khorloogiin Choibalsan, leader of Mongolia (b. 1895)
  • 1953 Martinus Nijhoff, Dutch poet and linguistic (spelling), dies at 58
  • 1953 Athanase David, French Canadian politician and businessman (b. 1882)
  • 1954 Carl J Eldh, Swedish sculptor, dies at 80

Person of interestCharles "Lucky" Luciano

1962 Charles "Lucky" Luciano, NYC Mafia gangster, dies of a heart attack at 65

NYC Gangster Charles
NYC Gangster
Charles "Lucky" Luciano
  • 1965 Ali Mansoer, premier of Persia, murdered

  • 1968 Merrill C. Meigs, American newspaper publisher (b. 1883)
  • 1968 Yvor Winters, American poet (b. 1900)
  • 1973 Meijer Sluyser, Dutch journalist/commentator (VARA), dies at about 71
  • 1974 Siegfried von Vegesack, German writer, dies at 85
  • 1976 João Branco Núncio, Portuguese Bullfighter (b. 1901)

Person of interestNelson Rockefeller

1979 Nelson Rockefeller, American politician (Vice President: 1974-1977; Governor of New York (R), 1959-73), dies of a heart attack at 70

Businessman and US Vice President Nelson Rockefeller
Businessman and US Vice President
Nelson Rockefeller
  • 1985 James Cameron, journalist, dies
  • 1989 Paul Daels, Flemish chairman (IJzerbedevaart committee), dies
  • 1990 Boy Trip, Dutch minister, dies at 68
  • 1990 Lewis Mumford, American historian (b. 1895)
  • 1991 Johnny van Doorn, Dutch writer/poet, dies at 46
  • 1992 Okke Jager, Dutch theologist, writer and poet, dies at 63
  • 1993 Axel Von Dem Bussche, German aristocrat, dies
  • 1993 Jan Gies, Dutch resistance fighter (helped Anne Frank), dies at 87
  • 1993 Robert Jacobsen, Danish sculptor (large iron sculptures), dies at 80
  • 1993 Jeanne Sauvé, Governor-General of Canada (b. 1922)
  • 1995 Bernardo Leighton, Chilian politician (1964-70), dies
  • 1995 Louis Heren, journalist, dies at 65
  • 1996 Harold Brodkey, American writer (My Venice), dies at 65
  • 1996 Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg, head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, dies at 74
  • 1996 Gerrit Cornelis Berkouwer, Dutch theologist (Dogmatic Studies), dies at 92
  • 1997 Margaret Hesse, princess of Hesse/the Rhine, dies at 83
  • 1997 Sarah Lucas, theatre administrator, dies at 53
  • 1997 Jeane Dixon, American astrologer (b. 1904)
  • 1998 Walter Edmonds, writer (Drums Along the Mohawk), dies at 93
  • 2000 Kathleen Hale, British author (b. 1898)
  • 2000 A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-born author (b. 1912)
  • 2003 Hugh Trevor-Roper, English historian (The Last Days of Hitler), dies at 89
  • 2003 George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, British politician (b. 1931)
  • 2006 Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Pakistani opposition leader and Pashtun nationalist (b. 1917)
  • 2006 Carol Lambrino, son of Carol II of Romania and Zizi Lambrino (b. 1920)
  • 2007 Hans J. Wegner, Danish furniture designer (b. 1914)
  • 2008 Viktor Schreckengost, American industrial designer, dies at 101
  • 2013 Hiroshi Nakajima, Japanese doctor, dies at 84
  • 2015 Tom Uren, Australian politician, Australian heritage and conservation campaigner, dies at 93

January in History