Deaths on 22 December
2000s
Chris Rea
2025
English musician and producer (1951–2025)
Leon Coates
2023
English composer (1937–2023)
Ram Dass
2019
American spiritual teacher (1931–2019)
Paddy Ashdown
2018
British politician (1941–2018)
Simcha Rotem
2018
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising veteran
Seventeen (Indonesian band)
2018
Indonesian pop rock band
Gonzalo Morales Sáurez
2017
Chad Robinson
2016
Australian rugby league footballer
Peter Lundblad
2015
Swedish singer and songwriter
Freda Meissner-Blau
2015
Austrian politician and activist (1927–2015)
John Robert Beyster
2014
American scientist and entrepreneur
Christine Cavanaugh
2014
American actress (1963–2014)
Joe Cocker
2014
English singer (1944–2014)
Bernard Stone
2014
Chicago alderman (1927–2014)
Diomedes Díaz
2013
Colombian vallenato artist (1957–2013)
Hans Hækkerup
2013
Danish politician (1945–2013)
Oscar Peer
2013
Swiss novelist, playwright and philologist
Chuck Cherundolo
2012
American football player and coach (1916–2012)
Ryan Freel
2012
American baseball player (1976–2012)
Cliff Osmond
2012
American actor (1937–2012)
Lim Keng Yaik
2012
Malaysian politician
Fred Foy
2010
American actor (1921–2010)
Luis Francisco Cuéllar
2009
Colombian politician (1940–2009)
Albert Scanlon
2009
English footballer (1935–2009)
Charles Court
2007
Australian politician (1911–2007)
Adrian Cristobal
2007
Filipino writer (1932–2007)
Elena Mukhina
2006
Soviet gymnast (1960–2006)
Galina Ustvolskaya
2006
Russian composer (1919-2006)
Doug Ault
2004
American baseball player (1950–2004)
Desmond Hoyte
2002
President of Guyana, politician, lawyer (1929–2002)
Joe Strummer
2002
British musician (1952–2002)
Ovidiu Iacov
2001
Romanian footballer
Walter Newton Read
2001
American lawyer (1918-2001)
1900s
Sebastian Arcos Bergnes
1997
Cuban human rights activist
Jack Hamm
1996
American cartoonist
Butterfly McQueen
1995
American actress (1911–1995)
James Meade
1995
British economist and Nobel Laureate (1907–1995)
Don DeFore
1993
American actor (1913–1993)
Harry Bluestone
1992
English-American composer and violinist (1907–1992)
Frederick Franz
1992
American Jehovah's Witness (1893–1992)
Samuel Beckett
1989
Irish playwright and poet (1906–1989)
Chico Mendes
1988
Brazilian trade union leader and environmentalist (1944–1988)
Luca Prodan
1987
Italian-born Argentine musician
Mary Burchell
1986
British novelist, campaigner for Jewish refugees (1904–1986)
David Penhaligon
1986
British politician (1944–1986)
D. Boon
1985
American guitarist and singer (1958–1985)
Darryl F. Zanuck
1979
American film producer (1902–1979)
Sterling North
1974
American writer
Carlos Alberto Sacheri
1974
Argentine philosopher (1932–1974)
Godfried Bomans
1971
Dutch author (1913–1971)
Enrique Peñaranda
1969
President of Bolivia from 1940 to 1943
Raymond Gram Swing
1968
American journalist
Richard Dimbleby
1965
English journalist and broadcaster (1913–1965)
Ross McLarty
1962
Australian politician (1891–1962)
Ninian Comper
1960
British architect (1864–1960)
Gilda Gray
1959
Polish-American dancer and actress (1895–1959)
Frank George Woollard
1957
British mechanical engineer
Frederick Freake
1950
British polo player
Harry Langdon
1944
American actor and comedian (1884–1944)
Beatrix Potter
1943
English writer and illustrator (1866–1943)
Franz Boas
1942
German-born American anthropologist (1858–1942)
Karel Hašler
1941
Czech songwriter and actor (1879 –1941)
Nathanael West
1940
American novelist (1903–1940)
Ma Rainey
1939
American blues singer (1886–1939)
Amelie Beese
1925
German aviator (1886–1925)
Frank Munsey
1925
American publisher and politician (1854–1925)
Karl Denke
1924
German serial killer (1860–1924)
Hermann Weingärtner
1919
German gymnast (1864–1919)
Aristeidis Moraitinis (aviator)
1918
Greek naval aviator (1891–1918)
Frances Xavier Cabrini
1917
Italian-American Catholic religious sister and saint
Rose Talbot Bullard
1915
American physician
Richard von Krafft-Ebing
1902
Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, and nobleman (1840–1902)
1800s
Dwight L. Moody
1899
American evangelist (1837–1899)
Paul de Lagarde
1891
German biblical scholar and orientalist (1827–1891)
John Chisum
1884
American businessman, rancher (1824–1884)
George Eliot
1880
English novelist and poet (1819–1880)
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
1870
Spanish poet and writer (1836–1870)
Jean-Victor Poncelet
1867
French engineer and mathematician (1788–1867)
Manuel María Lombardini
1853
President of Mexico in 1853
William Hyde Wollaston
1828
English chemist and physicist (1766–1828)
William Vernon
1806
18th century American slave trader & merchant (1719-1806)
Before 1800
Percivall Pott
1788
English surgeon (1714–1788)
John Newbery
1767
English publisher (1713–1767)
Richard Alleine
1681
English clergyman (1610–1681)
Guercino
1666
Italian Baroque artist (1591–1666)
André Tacquet
1660
Brabantian mathematician and priest (1612–1660)
Petro Mohyla
1646
Eastern Orthodox Saint, Metropolitan and reformer
Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully
1641
17th-century French soldier and politician
Mehmed III
1603
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1595 to 1603
François Clouet
1572
French Renaissance miniaturist and painter (c. 1510–1572)
Moretto da Brescia
1554
Italian painter (c. 1498 – c. 1554)
Willibald Pirckheimer
1530
German Renaissance lawyer, author and Renaissance humanist
Antipope John XXIII
1419
Italian bishop and Pisan antipope from 1410 to 1415
Olav Magnusson
1115
King of Norway from 1103 to 1115
Bretislav II
1100
Duke of Bohemia from 1092 to 1100
Cynesige
1060
Archbishop of York from 1051 to 1060
Baha al-Dawla
1012
Amir of Iraq from 988 to 1012
Yuan Qianyao
731
Chinese politician during the Tang dynasty
AD 69
69
Calendar year