This Day in History for 17th May Famous Deaths
1050 - Guido van Arezzo, Italian music theorist, dies
1189 - Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Japanese general (b. 1159)
1336 - Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (b. 1288)
1365 - Louis VI the Roman, Duke of Bavaria and Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1328)
1395 - Constantine Dragas, Serbian ruler of a semi-independent realm
1464 - Thomas de Ros, 10th Baron de Ros, English politician (executed) (b. 1427)
1510 - Sandro Botticelli, Florentine Renaissance painter (Birth of Venus), dies at about 65
1521 - Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, English politician (b. 1478)
1575 - Matthew Parker, archbishop of Canterbury (1559-75), dies at 68
1591 - Jost/Jobst/Jodocus Amman, Swiss cartoonist/graphic artist, dies at 51
1606 - Forges Dimitri #1, czar of Russia (1605-06), murdered
1626 - Juan Pujol, Catalan composer (b. 1570)
1695 - Cornelis de Heem, painter, dies
1727 - Catherine I, Empress of Russia (1725-27), dies
1729 - Samuel Clarke, theologian, dies
1765 - Alexis Claude Clairault, French mathematician (b. 1713)
1796 - Jacob Wilhelm Lustig, composer, dies at 89
1797 - Michel-Jean Sedaine, French dramatist (b. 1719)
1801 - William Heberden, English physician (b. 1710)
1807 - John Gunby, Maryland Soldier in the American Revolutionary War (b. 1745)
1809 - Leopold Auenbrugger von Auenbrugg, physician, dies
1822 - Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, French-Russian statesman (b. 1766)
1829 - John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1745)
1838 - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French diplomat (b. 1754)
1838 - René Caillé, French explorer (b. 1799)
1839 - Archibald Alison, Scottish author (b. 1757)
1840 - Niccolo Paganini, composer, dies at 57
1851 - Jean E "Adrian" van Bevervoorde, journalist (Treason), dies at 31
1864 - N Hawthorne, writer, dies at 59
1866 - Adolf Bernhard Marx, composer, dies at 70
1868 - Isami Kondo, Shinsengumi Commander (b. 1834)
1872 - Fryderyk Edward Sobolewski, composer, dies at 63
1875 - John C. Breckinridge, Vice President of the United States (b. 1821)
1879 - Asa Packer, railroad magnate and founder of Lehigh Valley Railroad (b. 1805)
1883 - Lydia Estes Pinklham, patent-medicine manufacturer, dies
1884 - Louis Brassin, composer, dies at 43
1886 - John Deere, American blacksmith and manufacturer of agricultural equipment who founded
Deere & Company, dies at 82
1888 - Giacomo Zanella, Italian poet (b. 1820)
1889 - William Roxby Beverly, artist, dies
1892 - Gyorgy Klapka, Hungarian general/parliament leader, dies at 72
1914 - Peter Leyten, bishop of Breda (1885-1914), dies at 79
1916 - Gervais Bernard Gaston Salvayre, composer, dies at 68
1916 - Boris Borisovich Galitzine, Russian physicist (b. 1862)
1917 - Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke, ruler of Sarawak (b. 1829)
1919 - Bohumil Pazdirek, composer, dies at 80
1919 - Guido von List, German occult author (b. 1848)
1920 - Maitland Hathorn, cricketer (325 runs in 12 Tests S Afr 1901-11), dies
1926 - Lucien Herr, French leader (Correspondance entre Schiller), dies
1927 - Harold Geiger, U.S. Army aviation pioneer (b. 1884)
1930 - Herbert David Croly, US founder (New Republic), dies at 61
1931 - Johan [Eliza J] de Master, art critic/writer, dies
1931 - Timothy Cole, wood engraver, dies
1935 - Paul Dukas, French composer (b. 1865)
1936 - Panagis Tsaldaris, twice Greek prime minister (b. 1868)
1938 - Jakob Ehrlich, Austrian politician and zionist (b. 1877)
1943 - Montagu Love, actor (Wind), dies at 65
1945 - Jan van Geenen, resistance fighter, dies
1945 - Sasaki Shigetsu Sokei-an, founder 1st Zen Institute of America, dies
1947 - George William Forbes, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)
1950 - Eduardo Fabini, composer, dies at 67
1951 - Karl Heinrich David, composer, dies at 66
1953 - Eric De Lamarter, composer, dies at 73
1955 - Alan Fairfax, cricketer (10 Tests for Australia 1928-31), dies
1955 - Francesco Balilla Pratella, composer, dies at 75
1955 - Leslie Hylton, cricketer (West Indies quickie 1939), hung for murder
1957 - Shalva Azmayparashvili, composer, dies at 54
1961 - Frans van Cauwelaert, Flemish minister/mayor of Antwerp, dies at 81
1961 - Henri Gagnon, composer, dies at 74
1963 - John Wilce, physician and former head football coach at the Ohio State University (b. 1888)
1964 - Otto V Kuusinen, pres of Karelo-Finnish soviet rep (1940-56), dies 82
1967 - John Wesley Work, composer, dies at 65
1967 - Nigel Martin Balchin, novelist, dies
1969 - Joseph Beran, Czech archbishop of Prague/cardinal, dies at 80
1970 - Nigel M Balchin, English author (My Executioner), dies at 61
1973 - Alexander J Kropholler, Dutch architect/writer, dies at 91
1974 - Charles Braswell, actor (Only Game in Town), dies at 49
1974 - Ernest Nash, German born archaeologist (b. 1898)
1978 - John Selwyn Brooke Selwyn Lloyd, speaker of house of commons, dies
1981 - Hugo Freidhofer, composer, dies at 80
1981 - Jeannette Ridlon Piccard, 1st US woman free balloon pilot, dies
1985 - Bobby Ewing, (Patrick Duffy) killed off on Dallas
1985 - Hugh Burden, actor (Night of Laughing Dead), dies at 72
1985 - Abe Burrows, songwriter, composer, and writer (b. 1910)
1987 - Gunnar Myrdal, Sweden, economist (Nobel 1974), dies at 88
1992 - George Hurrell, Hollywood photographer, dies of cancer at 87
1992 - Lawrence Welk, conductor/accordionist (Lawrence Welk Show), dies of pneumonia at 89
1992 - Leonardo del Ferro, [Keyser], US epic tenor, dies
1992 - Warren Neal Boxer, dies of AIDS at 34
1994 - Alain Cuny, [René X Marie], French actor (La Dolce Vita), dies at 85
1994 - Andrew Brown, film Producer, dies at 55
1994 - Donald Keith Falkner, singer, dies at 94
1994 - Willian Noel Moffet, architect, dies at 82
1995 - Nathan "Dambuza" Mdledle, singer, dies at 72
1996 - Rusi Modi, cricketer (736 runs 10 post-war Tests for India), dies
1996 - Scott Evans Brayton, racing car driver, dies at 37
1996 - Willi Daume, olympic organiser, dies at 82
1996 - Willis Conover, broadcaster, dies at 75
1996 - Johnny "Guitar" Watson, musician, dies at 61
1996 - Kevin Gilbert, American singer, composer and instrumentalist (b. 1966)
1999 - Bruce Fairbairn, Canadian record producer and musician (b. 1949)
2000 - Donald Coggan, 101st Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1909)
2001 - Frank G. Slaughter, American novelist and physician (b. 1908)
2002 - Dave Berg, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
2002 - Sharon Sheeley, American songwriter (b. 1940)
2002 - Ladislao Kubala, Hungarian-Spanish footballer (b. 1927)
2003 - Frank "Pop" Ivy, American and Canadian football coach (b. 1916)
2004 - Jørgen Nash, Danish artist (b. 1920)
2004 - Ezzedine Salim, leader of Iraqi Governing Council (b. 1943)
2005 - Frank Gorshin, American actor (b. 1934)
2006 - Cy Feuer, American playwright (b. 1911)
2006 - Eric Forth, British Member of Parliament (b. 1944)
2006 - Captain Nichola Goddard, Canadian soldier (b. 1980)
2007 - Lloyd Alexander, author (b. 1924)
2009 - Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan journalist, novelist, and poet (b. 1920)
2009 - Jung Seung-hye, South Korean film producer (b. 1965)
2010 - Walasse Ting, Chinese/American painter (b. 1929)
2011 - Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player (b. 1936)
2012 - Donna Summer, American singer, dies from lung cancer at 63
