On This Day

Deaths in History on March 3

  • 1239 Vladimir III Rurikovich, Grand Prince of Kiev (b. 1187)
  • 1459 Ausiàs March, Catalan poet of Valencian literature, dies at 59
  • 1554 Johann Friedrich, the Generous, Elector of Saxony (1532-47) and Head of the Protestant Confederation of Germany (the Schmalkaldic League), dies at 50
  • 1580 Jacob Hillebrand, Dutch mayor of Groningen, dies
  • 1635 Philips de l'Espinoy, historian/mayor of Ghent, dies

Robert HookeRobert Hooke (1635-1703)

English scientist (Micrographia), dies at 67

Robert Hooke
  • 1707 Aurangzeb, 6th Mughal Emperor (1658-1707), dies at 88
  • 1717 Pierre Allix, French/British theologist/vicar, dies at about 75
  • 1744 Jean Barbeyrac, French jurist
  • 1765 William Stukeley, English physician and archaeologist (pioneered investigation of Stonehenge and Avebury), dies at 77
  • 1792 Robert Adam, Scottish architect and designer (Adelphi Terrace, London), dies at 63
  • 1806 Heinrich Christian Boie, German author and editor, dies at 61
  • 1808 Johann Christian Fabricius, Danish Entomologist, dies at 63
  • 1848 Heinrich Olivier, German painter, dies
  • 1850 Oliver Cowdery, American religious leader (Later Day Saint apostle), dies at 43
  • 1858 Jozsef Bajza, Hungarian poet and critic, dies at 54
  • 1864 Ulric Dahlgren, Union colonel, dies in battle at 21
  • 1878 Joseph Bonomi the Younger, English artist and Egyptologist, dies at 81
  • 1899 William P. Sprague, American politician from Ohio (b. 1827)
  • 1902 Isaac D France van de Putte, Dutch premier (1866), dies at 79
  • 1908 Karl Josef Rudolph Cornely, German Jesuit biblical scholar, dies at 77
  • 1920 Theodor Philipsen, Danish painter, dies at 79
  • 1921 P.J.H. [Pierre] Cuypers, Dutch architect (Amsterdam museum), dies at 93
  • 1927 Mikhail Artsybashev, Russian writer (b. 1878)
  • 1928 Jan [Jean] T Toorop, Dutch graphic artist (3 Brides), dies at 69
  • 1941 Constant W L Scheurleer, archaeologist/banker/art expert, dies at 59
  • 1941 Ernst Cahn, owner of Amsterdam Koco ice cream parlor, executed
  • 1942 Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, viceroy (Ethiopia), dies at 43
  • 1945 Arthur Vanderpoorten, Flemish Internal minister (1940), dies at 61
  • 1955 Katharine Drexel, American philanthropist and Roman Catholic Saint, dies at 96
  • 1956 Willem Hendrik Keesom, Dutch physicist (Helium I/II), dies at 79
  • 1976 Pierre Molinier, French painter and photographer, dies at 75
  • 1982 Georges Perec, French writer, dies at 45

HergéHergé (1907-1983)

Belgian comic book creator (The Adventures of Tintin), dies at 75

Hergé
  • 1984 Heinrich Kirchner, German sculptor, dies at 81
  • 1985 Sarah Blanding, 1st US fem college head (Vassar 1946-64), dies at 86
  • 1990 Frans Goedhart, Dutch journalist/founder (Parool), dies at 86
  • 1990 Gérard Blitz, Belgian waterpoloist and entrepreneur (b. 1912)
  • 1991 Clara Eggink, Dutch poet (Life with J C Bloem), dies at 84
  • 1991 William Penney, British physicist (developed Britain's 1st atomic bomb), dies at 81

Albert SabinAlbert Sabin (1906-1993)

Polish American physician who invented the oral polio vaccine, dies of heart failure at 86

Albert Sabin
  • 1993 Carlos Marcello, Tunisian-born gangster (b. 1910)
  • 1994 Mauritius van Haegendoren, Flemish historian and senator, dies at 90
  • 1995 Gilbert Gadoffre, French scholar (Professor of French) and Wartime resister, dies at 84
  • 1995 Howard Hunter, US leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1994-95), dies at 87
  • 1995 Howard Yanks, American founder of the Philadelphia folk festival, dies at 65
  • 1995 Pierre Tisseyre, publisher (Circle du livre de France), dies at 85
  • 1996 David Bowman, Scottish trade unionist (National Union of Railwaymen), dies at 82
  • 1996 John Joseph Krol, American clergyman (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia, 1961-88), dies at 85
  • 1996 Leo Malet, French crime novelist, dies at 86
  • 1996 Ludwig Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord, German journalist, dies at 76
  • 1996 Marguerite Duras, French novelist and playwright (Sea Wall), dies at 81
  • 1996 Meyer Schapiro, Lithuanian-born American art historian, dies at 91
  • 1997 Stanislav Shatalin, Russian economist (500 Days), dies
  • 1998 Fred W. Friendly, American journalist and broadcast executive, dies at 82
  • 1999 Gerhard Herzberg, German-Canadian chemist (1971 Nobel Prize), dies at 94
  • 2003 Luis Marden, American photojournalist (b. 1913)
  • 2003 Peter Smithson, English architect, dies at 79
  • 2005 Max M. Fisher, American philanthropist (b. 1928)
  • 2006 Ivor Cutler, Scottish poet (b. 1923)
  • 2006 William Herskovic, Holocaust hero and philanthropist (b. 1914)
  • 2010 Michael Foot, British politician (L) and writer, Leader of the Opposition (1980-83), dies at 96
  • 2011 May Cutler, Canadian politician and publisher (b. 1923)
  • 2014 William R. Pogue, American astronaut, dies at 84

René PrévalRené Préval (1943-2017)

President of Haiti (1996-2001, 2006-2011), dies of cardiac arrest at 74

René Préval
  • 2017 Stephen Ross, American economist (arbitrage pricing theory), dies at 73
  • 2019 Bobbi Fiedler, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California), dies at 81
  • 2021 Yuri Rozanov, Russian sports broadcaster (NTV Plus, Match TV; TEFI Award 2012), dies from cancer at 59


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