This Day in History for 20th May Famous Deaths
685 - King Ecgfrith of Northumbria (b. 645)
1277 - John XXI, [Petrus Juliani/Hispanus], Portuguese Pope (1276-77), dies. (b. 1215)
1285 - John II of Jerusalem, King of Cyprus (b. 1259)
1444 - Bernardinus van Siena, Italian saint, dies at 63
1449 - Peter, Prince/regent of Portugal/writer (Virtuosa Benfeitoria), dies
1471 - Henry VI, king of England (1422-61, 70-71)/France (1431-71), dies
1503 - Lorenzo de Medici, Italian patron (b. 1463)
1506 - Christopher Columbus, explorer, dies in poverty, in Spain at 55
1509 - Catharina Sforza, Italian duchess of Forli, dies at 45
1550 - Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shogun (b. 1510)
1597 - Matthijs Heldt, dies in battle
1622 - Osman II, sultan of Turkey (1618-22), dies
1648 - Wladyslaw IV Wasa, King of Poland, dies
1650 - Francesco Sacrati, composer, dies at 44
1669 - Joris van der Hagen, landscape painter, dies
1677 - George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, British statesman (b. 1612)
1713 - Thomas Sprat, English writer (b. 1635)
1717 - John Trevor, British statesman (b. 1637)
1722 - Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist (b. 1669)
1732 - Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (b. 1676)
1751 - Domingo Miguel Bernaube Terradellas, composer, dies at 38
1782 - Carlo Giovanni Testori, composer, dies at 68
1782 - Christoph Gottlieb Schroter, composer, dies at 82
1782 - William Emerson, British mathematician (b. 1701)
1793 - Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturalist (b. 1720)
1795 - Ignác Martinovics, Hungarian physicist/revolutionary, beheaded
1825 - Papaflessas, Greek priest and government official (b. 1788)
1834 - Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert de Motier, nobleman, dies
1834 - Marquis de Lafayette, French general, dies
1841 - Joseph Blanco White, theological writert, dies
1847 - Mary Lamb, writer, dies
1864 - John Clare, English poet (Little Trotty Wagtail), dies at 70
1873 - Sir George-Étienne Cartier, French-Canadian statesman (b. 1814)
1875 - Amalia, wife of King Otto of Greece, dies at 58
1876 - Harold, grandson of English queen Victoria, dies at 8 days old
1876 - Khristo Botev, Bulgarian poet, dies
1880 - Eugene LFC prince the Ligne, Belgian prince of Ambise, dies at 76
1883 - William Chambers, author/publisher, dies
1896 - Clara Josephine Wieck Schumann, composer/pianist, dies at 76
1900 - Gustav Heinrich Graben-Hoffman, composer, dies at 80
1909 - Ernest Hogan, blackface comedian and musician (b. 1859)
1910 - Jean-Baptiste Theodore Weckerlin, composer, dies at 88
1911 - E M Grace, cricketer (one Test v Australia 1880, 36 & 0), dies
1917 - Philipp von Ferrary, Italian philatelist (b. 1850)
1917 - Valentine Fleming, Scottish politician (b. 1887)
1919 - Jacob Verdam, philosopher, dies
1923 - Hans Goldschmidt, German chemist, dies
1926 - Dick Pougher, cricketer (17 & 3-26 in only Test for Engld 1892), dies
1935 - Ivans, [Jacob van Schevichaven], lawyer/detective writer, dies at 68
1939 - Joe Carr, NFL hall of famer/NFL president (1921-39), dies at 59
1940 - Amar Singh, cricketer (of pneumonia Indian pace bowler 1932-36), dies
1940 - Joris [Georges] van Severen, Flem fascist/Member of parliament, dies
1946 - Jacob Ellehammer, Danish inventor (b. 1871)
1947 - Philipp Lenard, Austrian physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1862)
1949 - Randolph West, American biochemist, known for the Dakin-West reaction (b. 1890)
1956 - Andre Eugene Maurice Charlot, actor (Summer Storm), dies
1956 - Max Beerbohm, caricturist/writer (Yet Again), dies
1959 - Alfred Schutz, Austrian/US architect/philosopher, dies at 60
1961 - Josef "Pips" Priller, German fighter ace (b. 1915)
1968 - Albert Hartkopf, cricketer (one Test for Australia), dies
1968 - Kees van Dongen, Dutch/French painter, dies at 91
1969 - Fred Sherman, actor (Chain Lightning), dies after a stroke at 64
1969 - Royal Beal, actor (Death of a Salesman), dies of cancer, at 69
1971 - Waldo Williams, Welsh poet (b. 1904)
1972 - Cornelis J van der Klauw, Dutch biologist/zoologist, dies at 78
1972 - Walter Winchell, columnist/narrator (Untouchables), dies at 75
1973 - Jarno Saarinen, Finnish motorcycle racer (b. 1945)
1975 - Dame Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor, dies in fire at 72
1975 - Jacques Stehman, composer, dies at 62
1976 - Syd Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1911)
1976 - Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan politician, member of the Christian-Democrat party, and Héctor
Gutiérrez Ruiz "disappeared"
1980 - Jack Walsh, cricketer (at Wallsend)/commentator (NBN), dies
1984 - Peter Bull, British actor (Dr Doolittle), dies of a heart attack at 72
1985 - George Memmoli, actor (Earl-Hello Larry), dies at 46
1986 - Bernard Naylor, composer, dies at 78
1986 - Willem Pee, Belgian linguistic, dies at 83
1989 - Anton Diffring, actor (Zeppelin, Fahrenheit 451), dies at 70
1989 - Gilda Radner, comedienne (SNL, Haunted Honeymoon), dies at 42
1989 - John R Hicks, English economist (Nobel 1972), dies
1991 - Julian Orbon De Soto, composer, dies at 65
1992 - Roger Keith Coleman, American convict
1993 - Max Klein, inventor (paint by numbers), dies at 77
1994 - Dallas Pratt, collector, dies at 79
1994 - Ronald Russell, actor/manager (We Are Angels), dies at 83
1994 - Vivien John, artist, dies at 79
1996 - Eric Davidson, comedy scriptwriter, dies at 65
1996 - George Malcolm Thomson, journalist, dies at 96
1996 - Jack Wyngaard, dancer, dies at 37
1996 - Janaki Ramachandran, PM of Indian state of Tamil Nadu (1988), dies
1996 - John Pertwee, actor (Dr Who), dies at 76
1996 - Julius Marmur, biochemist/geneticist, dies at 70
1996 - Lewis B Combs, naval commander/civil engineer, dies at 101
1997 - Virgilio Boat, president of Colombia (1986-90), dies
2000 - Jean Pierre Rampal, French flutist (b. 1922)
2000 - Malik Sealy, American basketball player (b. 1970)
2001 - Renato Carosone, Italian musician (b. 1920)
2002 - Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist (b. 1941)
2005 - Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher (b. 1913)
2005 - William Seawell, United States Army Brigadier General (b. 1918)
2007 - Norman Von Nida, Australian golfer (b. 1914)
2008 - Hamilton Jordan, former Carter White House Chief of Staff (b. 1944)
2009 - Arthur Erickson, Canadian architect (b.1924)
2009 - Lucy Gordon, British model and actress (b. 1980)
2011 - Randy Savage, American Pro-Wrestler (b. 1952)
2012 - Abdel Basset Ali Al-Megrahi, convicted bomber (Pan Am 103), dies from prostate cancer at 60
2012 - Robin Gibb, British singer song-writer, dies from colon and liver cancer at 62