Deaths in History on March 31

Francis I of France (1494-1547)

dies complaining about the weight of the crown at 52

1567 Philip, the Generous, count of Hessen, dies at 62
1578 Juan de Escobedo, sec of Spanish land guardian Don Juan, murdered

Philip III (1578-1621)

King of Spain & Portugal (1598-1621), dies at 42

1631 John Donne, Metaphysical poet, dies (birth date unknown)
1671 Anne Hyde, wife of James II of England (b. 1637)
1722 Campegius Vitringa, Dutch theologist/exegete, dies at 62
1723 Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, British Governor of New York and New Jersey, dies at 61

Isaac Newton (1643-1727)

English physicist, mathematician and astronomer (Gravity, Laws of Motion), dies at 84

1741 Pieter Burman the Elder, Dutch classical scholar, dies at 72
1797 Betty Washington, younger sister of George Washington, dies at 63
1837 John Constable, English landscape painter (Hay Wain), dies at 60

John C. Calhoun (1782-1850)

US Vice President (1825-32), dies of tuberculosis at 68

Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855)

English novelist (Jane Eyre), dies at 38

1869 Allan Kardec, French author and founder of Spiritism, dies at 64
1877 Antoine Cournot, French philosopher and mathematician (rule of Cournot), dies at 75
1884 Jan Theodoor Beelen, Dutch-Belgian bible scholar, dies at 77
1898 Edward Noyes Westcott, US attorney/writer (David Harum), dies
1903 Ebenezer Butterick, American inventor (tissue paper dress pattern), dies at 76

J. P. Morgan (1837-1913)

Sr. [John Pierpont], American financier and banker (General Electric, US Steel Corporation, AT&T), dies in his sleep at 75

1914 Christian Morgenstern, German poet (Ich und die Welt), dies at 42
1928 Gustave Ador, Swiss politician and 36th President of the Swiss Confederation (1919), dies at 82
1928 Medardo Rosso, Italian sculptor (portraits), dies at 69
1931 Hermann Kutter, Swiss Protestant theologian (founder of Christian Socialism in Switzerland), dies at 67
1934 Franz Ehrle, German Jesuit, head of Vatican library, dies at 88
1938 Willem Kloos, Dutch poet and critic (New Guide), dies at 78
1944 Mineichi Koga, admiral of Japanese fleet, dies

Hans Fischer (1881-1945)

German organic chemist (Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1930), commits suicide at 63

1945 Hans Riegel Sr., German sweet inventor (founder of Haribo), dies at 51
1945 Maurice Donnay, French playwright (Lovers), dies at 85
1945 Maurice Rose, 1st US general in Nazi Germany, killed in action at 45
1948 Egon Kisch, Austrian-Czech writer and journalist (Raging Reporter), dies at 62
1952 Wallace H. White, Jr., American politician (Senate Majority Leader), dies at 74
1959 Peter Suhrkamp, German publisher (Suhrkamp Verlag), dies at 68
1961 Seerp Anema, Dutch poet and writer (Modern Art & Degenerating), dies at 85
1970 Semjon Timoshenko, Russ marshal/inspector-general (WWII), dies at 75
1976 Paul Strand, American photographer (b. 1890)
1978 Charles Best, American-Canadian medical scientist and co-discoverer of insulin, dies at 79
1980 Vladimír Holan, Czech poet, dies at 74
1981 Enid Bagnold, British novelist (Chalk Garden, 1956 Award of Merit), dies at 91
1982 Fritz Eberhard, West German lawyer and resistor (Law), dies at 85
1983 Christina Stead, Australian writer (b. 1902)
1984 Ronald Clark O'Bryan, American murderer, dies of lethal injection at 39
1988 William McMahon, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (Liberal: 1971-72), dies in his sleep at 80
1989 Bill Chappell Jr., American politician (Rep-D-FL, 1969-89), dies at 67
1990 Lillian "Miss" Miller, audience member (Merv Griffin, Tonight), dies
1993 Jose Maria Lemus, president of El Salvador (1956-60), dies
1994 Léon Degrelle, Belgian Walloon-Spanish facisct Rexist Party leader, and Nazi collaborator, dies of a heart attack at 87
1996 Dante Giacosa, Italian engineer and automobile designer (Fiat), dies at 91
1996 Dario Bellezza, Italian poet, dies of AIDS at 51
1996 Julius Young, fast food entrepreneur, dies at 73
1997 Edwin Alberian, TV celebrity (Clarabell), dies at 76
1997 Laxmishankar Pathak, food retailer, dies at 62
1998 Bella Abzug "Battling Bella", American politician, feminist and activist (Rep-D-NY, 1970-74), dies at 77
1999 Yuri Knorozov, Russian linguist and epigrapher (major role indeciphering Mayan script), dies at 77
2001 Clifford Shull, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1915)
2003 H.S.M. Coxeter, English-born geometer (b. 1907)
2005 Frank Perdue, American poultry farmer (b. 1920)
2005 Justiniano Montano, Filipino politician, dies at 99
2005 Stanley J. Korsmeyer, American oncologist (b. 1951)
2005 Terri Schiavo, American figure in right to die case (b. 1963)
2007 Paul Watzlawick, Communications & Constructivism Theorist (b. 1921)
2008 William L. Dickinson, American politician (Rep-R-AL, 1965-93), dies at 82
2009 Jarl Alfredius, Swedish news anchor (b. 1943)
2009 Raúl Alfonsín, President of Argentina (1983-89), dies of lung cancer at 82
2014 Charles Keating, American district attorney (Los Angeles California), dies at 90
2016 Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German Minister of Foreign Affairs (FDP), worked to re-unify Germany, dies at 89

Imre Kertész (1929-2016)

Hungarian writer (Nobel Laureate 2002) and concentration camp survivor, dies at 86

2016 Zaha Hadid, Iraqi-British Pritzker Prize-winning (London Aquatic Centre), dies at 65
2017 Gilbert Baker, American gay activist, designed the rainbow flag, dies at 65
2017 James Rosenquist, American pop artist, dies at 83
2020 Pape Diouf, Senegalese journalist and football agent (president Olympique de Marseille 2005-09; first black president in Europe's top 6 leagues), dies from COVID-19 at 68
2020 Richard Friedman, American psychoanalyst who proved sexual orientation biological, dies at 79
2022 Georgi Atanasov, Bulgarian communist politician, (Prime Minister 1986-90), dies at 88