Deaths in History on May 2

  • May
  • 373 Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria (b. 298)
  • 649 Maruta of Tagrit, theology/1st mafriaan Jakobitische church, dies
  • 756 Emperor Shōmu, Emperor of Japan (b. 701)
  • 907 Boris I, King of Bulgaria (852-889), saw Bulgaria converted to Christianity
  • 1230 William de Braose, Lord of Abergavenny (b. 1197)
  • 1250 Toeransa, sultan of Egypt, murdered
  • 1300 Blanche of Artois, regent of Navarre (b. 1248)
  • 1450 William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English military leader (b. 1396)
  • 1459 Pierozzi Antoninus, Italian archbishop of Florence/saint, dies
  • 1488 Jacob van Horne, Burgundy statesman, dies

Person of interestLeonardo da Vinci

1519 Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, scientist and visionary, dies at 67

Painter, Scientist and Visionary Leonardo da Vinci
Painter, Scientist and Visionary
Leonardo da Vinci
  • 1564 Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist (b. 1500)
  • 1567 Marin Drzic, Croatian playwright (Dundo Maroje), dies
  • 1667 George Wither, English writer (Abuses Stript and Whipt), dies at 78
  • 1669 Pieter Jansz Post, master builder (Waag, Gouda), dies at 61
  • 1683 Stjepan Gradić, Croatian philosopher and scientist (b. 1613)

  • 1685 Adriaen van Ostade, Dutch painter, buried
  • 1711 Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, English statesman (b. 1641)
  • 1727 Paul Aler, French jesuit and poet (Gradus ad Parnassum), dies at 70
  • 1736 Albert Seba, Amsterdam pharmacist, dies at 71
  • 1802 Herman Willem Daendels, Dutch statesman (b. 1762)
  • 1810 Rev. Dr. Henry Jerome de Salis, divine (b.1740)
  • 1818 Herman W Daendels, governor-gen of Guinea (1815-18), dies at 55
  • 1819 Mary Moser, English painter (Flowers Still Life), dies at 74
  • 1844 William Beckford, British writer (Epsiodes of Vathek), dies at 83
  • 1845 August Pauly, German writer (Real Encyclopedia), dies at 48
  • 1849 David H Chasse, baron/gen (fought Napoleon at Waterloo), dies at 84
  • 1857 Alfred de Musset, French poet (Lesson caprices Marianne), dies at 46
  • 1859 Eliza Courtney, English illegitimate daughter of Charles Grey and Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, dies at 67
  • 1898 Charles C. Walcutt, American general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, dies of an old war wound at 60
  • 1915 Clara Immerwahr, German chemist, first woman to be awarded a doctorate in chemistry in Germany, dies at 44
  • 1919 Gustav Landauer, German socialist, dies
  • 1927 Ernest Starling, British physiologist (Frank–Starling law of the heart), dies at 61
  • 1934 Sergey Vasilyevich Lebedev, Russian Chemist who invented the first commercially viable and mass-produced synthetic rubber, dies at 59

Person of interestMartin Bormann

1945 Martin Bormann, German Nazi leader (Hitler's secretary, chief of the Party Chancellery), most likely commits suicide age 44 [remains identified in 1972]

Nazi leader Martin Bormann
Nazi leader
Martin Bormann
  • 1945 Ludwig Stumpfegger, German SS doctor and Hitler's personal surgeon commits suicide at 34
  • 1947 Dorothea Binz, Nazi war criminal (b. 1920)

Person of interestJoseph McCarthy

1957 Joseph McCarthy, American Senator (Rep - Wisconsin) who claimed communists infiltrated the US government, dies at 48

US Senator Joseph McCarthy
US Senator
Joseph McCarthy
  • 1958 Alfred Weber, German economist and sociologist, dies at 89
  • 1960 Caryl Chessman, rapist executed after 12 years of appeals at 39
  • 1963 Van Wyck Brooks, American historian (Ordeal of Mark Twain), dies at 77

  • 1964 Nancy N Witcher Astor, US/Eng feminist/ex of Waldorf Astor, dies
  • 1968 Donald L Hall, American airplane designer (Spirit of St Louis), dies at 69
  • 1969 Franz JHMM von Papen, German chancellor (1932), dies at 89
  • 1972 Hugo Hartung, writer, dies at 69

Person of interestJ. Edgar Hoover

1972 J. Edgar Hoover, first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1924-72) dies at 77

First Director of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover
First Director of the FBI
J. Edgar Hoover
  • 1979 Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
  • 1983 Marius F Duintjer, architect, dies
  • 1984 Jack Barry, american game show emcee (Joker's Wild), dies of cardiac arrest at 66
  • 1984 Piet van Aken, Flemish writer (Klinkaart, Het begeren), dies at 64
  • 1985 Milton S Eisenhower, US diplomat, dies at 85
  • 1985 Bridget D'Oyly Carte, British theater & hotel director, dies of lung cancer at 77
  • 1989 Giuseppe Siri, Italian Catholic Cardinal (b. 1906)
  • 1989 Veniamin Kaverin, Russian writer (b. 1902)
  • 1990 Oleg Anatolyevich Yakovlev, Russian cosmonaut, dies at 49
  • 1991 Hal Bell, dies at 65
  • 1991 Leib Lensky, dies at 82
  • 1991 Ronald McKie, Australian author (The Mango Tree), dies at 81
  • 1992 Lee Salk, Russian-American child psychologist and author, dies of cardiac arrest at 65
  • 1992 Wilbur Mills, American politician who involved with Fanne Foxe, dies at 82
  • 1993 Julio Gallo, wine maker (Gallo), dies in a car accident at 82
  • 1993 Will Weng, Sunday Times crossword puzzle editor (1968-78), dies at 86
  • 1994 Louis Calaferte, writer (Requiem of the Innocents), dies at 65
  • 1994 Wilson Charles Geoffrey Baldwin, hero, dies at 75
  • 1996 Arthur Leslie Noel Douglas Houghton, civil servant, dies at 97
  • 1996 Emile Habibi, Palestinian Israeli writer (The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist), dies at 73
  • 1997 Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator and philosopher, dies at 75
  • 1997 Queen Mother Moore, African-American civil rights activist and humanitarian, dies at 98
  • 1999 Edward Portman, 9th Viscount Portman, British landowner and multimillionaire, dies at 65
  • 2002 W. T. Tutte, English-born codebreaker (b. 1917)
  • 2005 Kenneth Bancroft Clark, American civil rights activist (Dark Ghetto) and first black president of the American Psychological Association, dies at 90
  • 2005 Wee Kim Wee, 4th President of Singapore (b. 1915)
  • 2006 Louis Rukeyser, American columnist (b. 1933)
  • 2009 Jack Kemp, former United States Congressman and 1996 Vice Presidential Candidate (b. 1935)

Person of interestOsama bin Laden

2011 Osama bin Laden, Islamic militant and founder of al-Qaeda, shot and killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan by navy seals during Operation Neptune Spear at 54

Islamic Militant and Terrorist Osama bin Laden
Islamic Militant and Terrorist
Osama bin Laden
  • 2014 Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., American actor, dies at 95
  • 2015 Ruth Rendell, English thriller writer (Inspector Wexford novels), dies at 85
  • 2016 Afeni Shakur, mother of Tupac Shakur, Black Panther Party member, dies at 69
  • 2017 Leo Thorsness, American Vietnam War pilot (Medal of Honor), dies at 85
  • 2018 Gord Brown, Canadian politician (MP, 2004–2018), dies of a heart attack at 57
  • 2018 Paul Dick, Canadian politician, dies at 77 of a heart attack
  • 2018 Dick Edell, American lacrosse coach (Maryland Terrapins), dies at 74 of pneumonia
  • 2018 Katherine O'Regan, New Zealand politician (MP for Waipa, 1984–1996; list MP, 1996–1999), dies of cancer at 71
  • 2018 Kottayam Pushpanath, Indian author, dies at 80
  • 2018 Harald Range, German jurist (Attorney General, 2011–2015), dies at 70
  • 2018 James Thorp, American electrical engineer, dies at 81
  • 2018 Chris Walsh, American politician (Massachusetts House of Representatives, 2010–2018), dies of lymphoma at 66
  • 2018 Sir Keith Williamson, British air force commander (Chief of the Air Staff, 1982–1985), dies at 90

May in History