Deaths on 17 December
2000s
Igor Kirillov (general)
2024
Russian general (1970–2024)
Marisa Paredes
2024
Spanish film actress (1946–2024)
Ronaldo Valdez
2023
Filipino actor (1947–2023)
James McCaffrey (actor)
2023
American actor (1958–2023)
Jeremy Bulloch
2020
English actor (1945–2020)
Allen Dines
2020
American politician (1921–2020)
Benjamin Gilman
2016
American politician (1922–2016)
Henry Heimlich
2016
American thoracic surgeon (1920–2016)
Gordon Hunt (director)
2016
American filmmaker (1929–2016)
Hal Brown
2015
American baseball player (1924–2015)
Osamu Hayaishi
2015
Japanese biochemist
Michael Wyschogrod
2015
German-American philosopher of religion and Jewish theologian (1928-2015)
Dieter Grau
2014
American aerospace engineer
Richard C. Hottelet
2014
American broadcast journalist (1917-2014)
Oleh Lysheha
2014
Ukrainian poet, playwright, translator and intellectual (1949 – 2014)
Lowell Steward
2014
Tuskegee Airmen (1919–2014)
Ivan Vekić (politician)
2014
Croatian politician and lawyer
Fred Bruemmer
2013
Latvian Canadian artist (1929-2013)
Ricardo María Carles Gordó
2013
Richard Heffner
2013
American communications professor, broadcaster
Tetsurō Kashibuchi
2013
Musical artist
Janet Rowley
2013
American human geneticist (1925–2013)
Conny van Rietschoten
2013
Dutch yacht racer
Richard Adams (activist)
2012
Filipino-American gay rights activist
James Gower
2012
American Roman Catholic priest
Daniel Inouye
2012
American politician (1924–2012)
Laurier LaPierre
2012
Canadian politician (1929–2012)
Frank Pastore
2012
American baseball player (1957–2012)
Eva Ekvall
2011
Venezuelan TV news anchor, and former Miss Venezuela
Kim Jong Il
2011
Leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011
Captain Beefheart
2010
American musician (1941–2010)
Walt Dropo
2010
American baseball player (1923–2010)
Ralph Coates
2010
English footballer (1946–2010)
Chris Henry (wide receiver)
2009
American football player (1983–2009)
Jennifer Jones
2009
American actress (1919–2009)
Alaina Reed Hall
2009
American actress and singer (1946–2009)
Sammy Baugh
2008
American football player and coach (1914–2008)
Freddy Breck
2008
Musical artist
Dave Smith (pitcher, born 1955)
2008
American baseball player (1955–2008)
Gregoire (chimpanzee)
2008
Africa's oldest chimpanzee
Larry Sherry
2006
American baseball player (1935–2006)
Jack Anderson (columnist)
2005
American newspaper columnist (1922–2005)
Marc Favreau
2005
Canadian actor and poet
Haljand Udam
2005
Estonian orientalist and translator
Tom Wesselmann
2004
American artist (1931 - 2004)
Otto Graham
2003
American football player, coach, and executive (1921–2003)
K. W. Devanayagam
2002
Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician, government minister and Member of Parliament
1900s
Rex Allen
1999
American film actor, singer and songwriter (1920–1999)
Grover Washington Jr.
1999
American jazz saxophonist (1943–1999)
C. Vann Woodward
1999
American historian (1908–1999)
Günther Anders
1992
German-Austrian philosopher (1902–1992)
Dana Andrews
1992
American actor (1909–1992)
Bernardus Johannes Alfrink
1987
Dutch Catholic cardinal (1900–1987)
Linda Wong (pornographic actress)
1987
American pornographic actress
Marguerite Yourcenar
1987
French novelist and essayist (1903–1987)
Guillermo Cano Isaza
1986
Colombian journalist (1925–1986)
Homer S. Ferguson
1982
American politician, diplomat, and judge
Antiochos Evangelatos
1981
Greek composer and conductor
Don Ellis
1978
American musician (1934–1978)
Oliver W. Larkin
1970
American art historian and educator
Harold Holt
1967
Prime Minister of Australia from 1966 to 1967
Victor Hess
1964
Austrian–American experimental physicist (1883–1964)
Thomas Mitchell (actor)
1962
American actor and writer (1892–1962)
Dorothy L. Sayers
1957
English novelist, translator and Christian writer (1893–1957)
Eddie Acuff
1956
American actor (1903–1956)
Christos Tsigiridis
1947
Greek electrical engineer
Allen Bathurst, Lord Apsley
1942
British politician
Alicia Boole Stott
1940
Irish mathematician (1860–1940)
Lizette Woodworth Reese
1935
American poet
13th Dalai Lama
1933
Spiritual leader of Tibet from 1879 to 1933
Charles Winckler
1932
Danish athlete (1867–1932)
Peter Warlock
1930
British composer and music critic (1894–1930)
Manuel Gomes da Costa
1929
Portuguese president and politician
Frank Rinehart
1928
American photographer (1861–1928)
Rajendra Lahiri
1927
Indian revolutionary (1901–1927)
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
1917
English physician, doctor and feminist (1836–1917)
Leopold II of Belgium
1909
King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909
Lord Kelvin
1907
British physicist, engineer and mathematician (1824–1907)
William Shiels
1904
Australian politician
1800s
José María Iglesias
1891
President of Mexico in 1876
Francis Beaufort
1857
Irish hydrographer and naval officer (1774–1857)
Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma
1847
Duchess of Parma (r. 1814–1847); Empress of the French (1810–1814)
Kaspar Hauser
1833
German youth kept in total isolation
Simón Bolívar
1830
Venezuelan statesman and military officer (1783–1830)
Before 1800
Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough
1721
English Army officer and politician (1650–1721)
Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba
1663
Ambundu queen in Angola (c. 1583–1663)
Eleanor of Toledo
1562
Duchess consort of Florence
Irene di Spilimbergo
1559
Italian painter (1538–1559)
Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy
1471
Duchess consort of Burgundy
William Gascoigne
1419
14th-/15th-century Chief Justice of England
Juan Fernández (bishop of León)
1316
Rumi
1273
Sufi mystic and poet (1207–1273)
Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut
1195
Count of Hainaut from 1171 to 1195
Pope Gregory VIII
1187
Head of the Catholic Church in 1187
William Longsword
942
Count of Normandy from 927 to 942
Al-Abbas ibn al-Hasan al-Jarjara'i
908
Senior Abbasid official and vizier from 904 to 908
Abdallah ibn al-Mu'tazz
908
Abbasid prince, poet and politician (861–908)
Saint Sturm
779
Austrian saint