Deaths in History on July 15

Juan Ponce de León (1460-1521)

Spanish explorer and conquistador who searched for the fountain of youth and the first European to discover Florida, dies at 61

1571 Shimazu Takahisa, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1514)
1609 Annibale Carracci, Italian painter, dies at 48
1614 Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme, French historian and biographer (b. c.1540)
1655 Girolamo Rainaldi, Italian architect (b. 1570)
1685 James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, bastard son of English king Charles II, executed at 36
1738 Alexander Voznitsyn, Rus Naval officer converted to Judaism, executed
1738 Baruch Leibov, converted Russian Naval officer to Judaism, executed
1750 Vasily Tatishchev, Russian statesman, dies at 73
1751 John Wilson, botanist, dies
1765 Charles-André Van Loo, French Rococo painter, dies at 60
1767 Michael Bruce, Scottish poet (Elegy written in Spring), dies at 21
1784 Johan B Straub, South German sculptor, dies
1828 Jean Antoine Houdon, French sculptor (b. 1741)
1839 Winthrop Mackworth Praed, English politician and poet, dies at 36
1844 Claude Charles Fauriel, French historian (b. 1772)
1856 Margaretha Jacoba de Neufville, Dutch author (The Kidnap), dies at 81
1862 David Emanuel Twiggs, US Confederate gen-mjr (Monterrey), dies at 72
1865 Reinier C. Bakhuizen van de Brink, Dutch historian, dies at 55
1868 William T. G. Morton, American dentist who first used ether as a surgical anaesthetic (HOF 1920), dies at 48
1869 A J Haynes, US army captain and civil war veteran, assassinated by KKK
1871 Tad Lincoln, youngest son of US President Abraham Lincoln, dies at 18
1883 Charles Stratton [General Tom Thumb], American entertainer and famous small person (40"), worked with P. T. Barum, dies of a stroke at 44
1885 Rosalia de Castro, Spanish writer and poet in the Galician language ('Séculos Escuros') (b. 1837)
1898 Jean Baptiste Salpointe, French born second Archbishop of Santa Fe, dies at 75

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)

Russian author and playwright (Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya), dies of tuberculosis at 44

1906 William Painter, American inventor (crown cork bottle cap and opener), dies at 67
1907 Qiu Jin, Chinese revolutionary, feminist, and writer considered a national heroine in China, executed after a failed uprising at 32
1916 Ilya Mechnikov, Russian zoologist and bacteriologist known as the "father of natural immunity" (Nobel 1908), dies of heart failure at 71

Emil Fischer (1852-1919)

German chemist, discovered Fischer esterification (Nobel Prize 1902), commits suicide at 66

1927 Constance Markievicz, Irish politician, revolutionary and suffragist (1st woman elected to UK House of Commons, 1st female cabinet minister in Europe), dies of complications after surgery at 59 [1]
1929 Hugo Von Hofmannsthal, Austrian playwright (Der Unbestechliche) and poet, dies of a stroke at 55
1931 Ladislaus Bortkiewicz, Russian mathematician (Poisson distribution) and economist, dies at 62
1933 Irving Babbitt, American writer (Democracy & Leadership), dies at 67
1934 Jules Renkin, Belgian politician (28th Prime Minister of Belgium 1931-32), dies at 71
1935 Pieter WA Cort van de Linden, Dutch premier (1913-18), dies at 89
1937 Walter Gay, artist, dies
1939 Johon Mellanby, physiologist, dies
1939 Percy Scott Worthington, architect, dies
1940 Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist (introduced the term schizophrenia to describe the disorder previously known as dementia praecox), dies at 82
1940 Robert Wadlow, American who was world's tallest known person (8'11.1"), dies at 22

John J. Pershing (1860-1948)

American general and World War I commander, dies of coronary artery disease at 87

1951 Mary White Ovington, American journalist, suffragist, and co-founder of the NAACP, dies at 86
1953 Servant of God Archbishop Mar Ivanios (b.1882)
1955 Marie-Louise de Baufremont, wife of Prince Jean de Merode of Netherlands, dies at 81
1957 James M. Cox, American politician (b. 1870)
1957 Marie C of Zeggelen, author (Dessajongen), dies at 87
1957 Vasily Maklakov, Russian orator and liberal politician (b. 1869)
1958 Nuri al-Said, Iraqi politician, 8-time Prime Minister of Iraq, assassinated while trying to escape during the revolution at 69
1959 Peter Egge, Norwegian writer (The Dream), dies at 90
1959 Vance Palmer, Australian author, dies at 73
1960 Set Persson, Swedish communist politician, dies at 63
1961 John E. Brownlee, Canadian politician (b. 1884)
1965 Francis Cherry, American politician (b. 1908)
1975 Charles Weidman, US dancer/choreographer (Fables for Our Time), dies
1976 Paul William Gallico, writer, dies at 78
1977 Konstantin Fedin, writer, dies
1979 Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Mexican politician (President of Mexico 1964-70), dies of cancer at 68
1982 Wendy Caulfield, 1st Green River victim, found near Seattle
1988 Eleanor Estes, American children's author and illustrator (Ginger Pye, Moffats), dies at 82
1992 Chingiz Mustafayev, Azerbaijan's most noted journalist (b. 1960)
1992 Hammer DeRoburt, First President of Nauru, dies at 69
1993 Bobby Kent, alleged Florida bully murdered by his friends (b. 1973)
1993 Stephen Jurika, American naval officer (WWII Doolittle raid over Tokyo), dies at 82
1994 Jeanne Bieruma Oosting, Dutch painter/illustrator, dies

Gianni Versace (1946-1997)

Italian fashion designer (Versace), shot and murdered by Andrew Cunanan at 50

1999 George Brown Jr, American politician (Rep-D-CA, 1963-71, 73-99), dies at 79
2003 Roberto Bolaño, Chilean writer (2066), dies at 50
2005 Arthur Crook, British editor (Times Literary Supplement), dies at 93
2006 Robert H. Brooks, founder of Hooters of America (b. 1937)
2010 James E. Akins, American diplomat and advisor to Richard Nixon (b. 1926)
2014 James MacGregor Burns, American political writer (The Lion & the Fox), dies at 95
2015 Wan Li, Chinese reform politician, dies at 98
2021 Jerry Lewis, American politician (Rep-R-California, 1979-2013), dies at 86