Deaths in History on January 4

1761 Stephen Hales, English physiologist, chemist and inventor (first person to measure blood pressure), dies at 83
1773 Anton Losenko, Russian painter (b. 1737)
1778 Charles D J Eisen, French engraver/painter, dies at 57
1782 Ange-Jacques Gabriel, French court architect (Palace de la Concorde), dies at 83
1786 Mozes Mendelssohn, German Jewish enlightenment philosopher (Haksalah), dies at 56
1789 Thomas Nelson, American member of Continental Congress (signer of Declaration of Independence), plantation owner and Virginia militia general, dies at 50
1793 Bengt Lidner, Swedish poet (Medea/Yttersa domen), dies at 35
1804 Charlotte Lennox, English novelist (The Female Quixote), dies

Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821)

1st American Catholic saint (canonized 1975), dies in Maryland at 46

1825 Ferdinand I, King of Sicily/Naples (Ferdinand IV), dies at 73
1831 Nikola P Neofit Rilski, Bulgaria abbot/poet, dies at 37
1843 Petronella Moens, Frisian author and feminist, dies at 80
1874 Thomas Gregson, Premier of Tasmania (b. 1798)

Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877)

American shipping and railroad magnate (New York Central Railroad), dies at 82

1880 Anselm Feuerbach, German painter, dies at 50
1882 John William Draper, British-American scientist, chemist, and early photographer, dies at 70
1883 Antoine Eugène Alfred Chanzy, French general (b. 1823)
1886 Ernest Panckoucke, French publisher (Horace), dies at 77
1891 Antoine Labelle, Quebec catholic priest (b. 1833)
1895 Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque, Spanish general, dies at 66
1896 Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German Old Catholic bishop (b. 1821)
1898 Johnson Hagood, American politician (Governor of South Carolina 1880-82) and Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 68
1902 Jacobus ".Koot" Opperman, South African Boer general, killed in Battle of Onverwacht, South Africa at 40
1903 Geo[rge J H] Poggenbeek, Dutch surrealist painter, dies at 49
1903 Gulstan Ropert, French Roman Catholic prelate, dies at 63
1903 Topsy the elephant (b. circa 1875)
1908 Antony Winkler Prins, Dutch writer (Groiller Encyclopaedia), dies at 70
1910 Leon Delagrange, French aviation pioneer, dies
1913 Alfred von Schlieffen, Prussian general-field marshal, dies at 79
1914 Silas Weir Mitchell, American physician (discovered causalgia, erythromelalgia) and author (Roland Blake, Hugh Wynne), dies at 84
1919 Georg von Hertling, Chancellor of Germany (1917-18), dies at 75
1920 Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (Episodios Nacionales), dies at 76
1922 Eliza Ann Gardner, African-American abolitionist and religious leader, dies at 90
1926 Margherita of Savoy, Queen consort of the Kingdom of Italy by marriage to Umberto I (1878-1900), dies at 74
1933 Lucas Lindeboom, Dutch evangelist (Vredebond), dies at 87
1940 Conrad Weiss, German writer and poet (Heart of Words), dies at 59
1941 Henri Bergson, French philosopher (Le Rire, Nobel 1928), dies at 81
1943 Marina Raskova, Russian navigator, dies in airplane crash at 30
1944 Henri "Hans" Flu, Indonesian/Dutch family doctor/antifascist, murder
1944 Kaj Munk [Harald Leininger], anti-fascist writer (Kaj Munk), dies
1947 Forrest Reid, Irish author/critic (Young Tom, Apostate), dies at 71
1952 Constantl Permeke, Flemish painter (Boerin), dies at 65
1953 Prince Yasuhito Chichibu, brother of Emperor Showa, dies at 50
1955 G. G. van der Hoeven, Dutch editor-in-chief (NRC newspaper), dies at 82
1955 Jan Derk Domela Nieuwenhuis Nyegaard, Dutch vicar (Young Flanders), dies at 84
1957 Theodor Korner von Siegringen, 5th President of Austria (1951-57), dies at 84
1958 John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley, British civil servant, politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer (1943-45), dies at 75

Albert Camus (1913-1960)

French playwright (Les Justes - The Just Assassins), novelist (L'Étranger - The Stranger), and philosopher (Nobel Prize for Literature 1957), dies in an auto accident at 46

Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961)

Austrian physicist and Nobel Laureate (wave mechanics), dies at 73

1962 Hans Lammers, German SS officer and Nazi politician, dies at 82

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965)

American-born British poet (The Waste Land) and Nobel laureate (1948), dies in London at 76

1967 Donald Campbell, English boat and land racer (world land and water records 1964; only person to complete in same year), dies in record attempt at 45
1968 Joseph Pholien, Belgian politician (Prime Minister of Belgium 1950-52), dies at 83
1969 Daisy and Violet Hilton, British conjoined twins, die at 60
1970 Jean-Étienne Valluy, French general (b. 1899)
1971 Arthur Ford, American clairaudient (b. 1896)
1975 Carlo Levi, Italian writer (Parole Sono Pietre), dies at 72
1978 Willem Bruynzeel, Dutch timber/lumber/wood manufacturer, dies at 76
1986 Christopher Isherwood, English novelist (Lions & Shadows), dies at 81
1987 Frederik van Heek, Dutch sociologist, dies at 79
1987 Peggy Bacon, American author and illustrator (Off With Their Heads), dies at 91
1990 Alberto Lleras Camargo, president of Colombia (1945-46, 58-62), dies
1990 Harold Edgerton, American electrical engineer (b. 1903)
1990 Robert F Adams, American sci-fi author (Castaways in Time), dies at 57
1990 Sir Henry Bolte, Premier of Victoria 1955-1972 (b. 1908)
1991 Poon Lim, Chinese sailor who survived 133 days adrift at sea, dies at 72
1993 Charles Bridgford, Australian politician
1994 Jim Booth, New Zealand producer (Heavenly Creatures), dies at 48
1994 Michiel P "Michael" Gorsira, Gov of Curacao (1951-67), dies at 80
1995 Brooks Stevens, American automotive designer (1949 Hydra-Glide Harley; 1963 Jeep Wagoneer), dies at 84
1995 Robert Clifford Latham, pepys Scholar, dies at 82
1995 Sol Tax, American anthropologist (founded the journal Current Anthropology), dies at 87
1997 Harry B Helmsley, American billionaire real estate developer (purchased Empire State Building, 1961), dies at 87
2003 Sabine Ulibarri, Mexican American writer (b. 1919)
2004 Jeff Nuttall, English writer (b. 1933)
2004 Joan Aiken, English writer of children's books (The Whispering Mountain), dies at 79
2004 John Toland, American political writer (Rising Sun, Pulitzer 1971), dies at 91
2005 Alton Tobey, American artist, dies at 90
2005 Frank Harary, American mathematician (b. 1921)
2005 Guy Davenport, American author, artist, and scholar (b. 1927)
2005 Humphrey Carpenter, English author (b. 1946)
2005 Robert Heilbroner, American economist (b. 1919)
2006 Irving Layton, Canadian poet (b. 1912)
2006 Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (1971-79) and Ruler of Dubai (1990-2006), dies of a heart attack at 62
2006 Robert Howard White, Mayor of Papatoetoe, New Zealand (b. 1914)
2007 Ben Gannon, Australian theatre film and television producer (b. 1952)
2007 Gáspár Nagy, Hungarian poet and writer (b. 1949)
2007 Gren, Welsh newspaper cartoonist (b. 1934)
2007 Marais Viljoen, former State President of South Africa (b. 1915)
2007 Osman Waqialla, Sudanese artist and calligrapher (b. 1925)
2007 Sir Lewis Hodges, British Air Chief Marshal (b. 1918)
2008 Jimmy Nah, Singapore celebrity (b. 1968)
2008 Joyce Carlson, American artist (b. 1923)
2008 Xavier Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan journalist and newspaper editor (La Prensa; El Nuevo Diario), dies of heart disease at 75
2010 Casey Johnson, American heiress and socialite (b. 1979)
2010 Johan Ferrier, Surinamian politician (b. 1910)
2010 Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese Businessman, and Survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombings (b. 1916)
2011 Dick King-Smith English Author (b. 1922)
2012 Eve Arnold, American photojournalist, dies at 99
2012 Gatewood Galbraith [Louis], lawyer, American political activist, iconic Kentucky political figure, dies from pneumonia at 64
2012 James Crow, American geneticist, dies at 95
2012 Rod Robbie, Canadian architect and planner (Roger's Centre/Sky Dome, Toronto), dies at 83
2012 Ruben Ayala, American politician (California State Senator 1974-1998), dies of natural cause at 89
2013 Yevgeny Pepelyaev, Soviet fighter pilot, dies at 94
2015 Barbara Tizard, British educator and author, dies at 88
2017 Douglas Wass, British civil servant (Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury, 1974-83), dies at 93
2019 John Burningham, English author and illustrator of children's books (Mr Grumpy's Outing), dies at 82
2021 Albert Roux, French chef and restaurateur (Le Gavroche, 1st Michelin three-starred restaurant in Britain), dies at 85 [1]
2023 Fay Weldon [Franklin Birkinshaw], British feminist, novelist (Praxis; The Lives and Loves of a She-Devil), playwright, and screenwriter, dies at 91 [1]