Deaths on 21 January
2000s
Virginia Oliver
2026
American lobster fisherwoman (1920–2026)
Mauricio Funes
2025
President of El Salvador from 2009 to 2014
Garth Hudson
2025
Canadian multi-instrumentalist (1937–2025)
Louie Anderson
2022
American stand-up comedian (1953–2022)
Leonor Oyarzún
2022
Chilean socialite (1919–2022)
Terry Jones
2020
Welsh actor, comedian, director, historian and writer (1942–2020)
Morgan Wootten
2020
American basketball coach (1931–2020)
Kaye Ballard
2019
American actress and singer (1925–2019)
Henri, Count of Paris (born 1933)
2019
French noble (1933–2019)
Emiliano Sala
2019
Argentine footballer (1990–2019)
Harris Wofford
2019
American politician (1926–2019)
Bill Johnson (skier)
2016
American alpine skier (1960–2016)
Mrinalini Sarabhai
2016
Indian classical dancer
Marcus Borg
2015
American theologian, New Testament scholar and writer (1942–2015)
Leon Brittan
2015
British politician (1939–2015)
Johnnie Lewis
2015
Liberian lawyer and politician
Canek Sánchez Guevara
2015
Cuban author and dissident (1974–2015)
Ahmet Mete Işıkara
2013
Turkish geophysicist (1941–2013)
Chumpol Silpa-archa
2013
Thai politician (1940–2013)
Michael Winner
2013
British filmmaker, food writer (1935–2013)
Jonathan Idema
2012
American mercenary and criminal (1956–2012)
Theoni V. Aldredge
2011
American costume designer (1922–2011)
Dennis Oppenheim
2011
American artist, sculptor and photographer
E. V. V. Satyanarayana
2011
Indian film director (1956–2011)
Paul Quarrington
2010
Canadian writer, filmmaker and musician (1953–2010)
Krista Kilvet
2009
Estonian radio journalist, politician and diplomat
Ibrahim Rugova
2006
Kosovo-Albanian politician
Theun de Vries
2005
Dutch writer and poet
John L. Hess
2005
American journalist
Kaljo Raid
2005
Estonian composer, cellist and clergyman
Yordan Radichkov
2004
Bulgarian writer and playwright
Paul Haines (poet)
2003
Canadian songwriter and poet (1933–2003)
Paul Kuusberg
2003
Estonian writer (1916–2003)
Peggy Lee
2002
American singer (1920–2002)
1900s
Susan Strasberg
1999
American actress and author (1938–1999)
Jack Lord
1998
American actor (1920–1998)
Bassel al-Assad
1994
Syrian military officer, engineer and politician (1962–1994)
Charlie Gehringer
1993
American baseball player (1903–1993)
Eddie Mabo
1992
Land rights activist for Indigenous Australians (1936–1992)
Carl Furillo
1989
American baseball player (1922–1989)
Billy Tipton
1989
American jazz musician (1914–1989)
Vincent Lingiari
1988
Aboriginal Australian rights activist (born 1908)
Charles Goodell
1987
American politician and lawyer (1926–1987)
James Beard
1985
American chef (1903–1985)
Eddie Graham
1985
American professional wrestler (1930–1985)
Giannis Skarimpas
1984
Jackie Wilson
1984
American soul and R&B singer (1934–1984)
Lamar Williams
1983
American musician (1949–1983)
Freda Utley
1978
English scholar, political activist and author (1898–1978)
Sandro Penna
1977
Italian poet
Ann Sheridan
1967
American actress and singer (1915–1967)
Acharya Shivpujan Sahay
1963
Indian Hindi novelist (1893–1963)
Spiros Xenos
1963
Greek-Swedish artist
Blaise Cendrars
1961
Swiss-born novelist and poet (1887–1961)
Cecil B. DeMille
1959
American film director, producer and actor (1881–1959)
Frances Gertrude McGill
1959
Canadian forensic pathologist and allergologist (1882–1959)
Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer
1959
American actor and singer (1927–1959)
Archie Hahn (sprinter)
1955
American athlete
George Orwell
1950
English author and journalist (1903–1950)
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
1948
Italian composer (1876–1948)
Rash Behari Bose
1945
Indian independence leader (1886–1945)
Georges Méliès
1938
French filmmaker and illusionist (1861–1938)
Marie Prevost
1937
Canadian actress (1896–1937)
George Moore (novelist)
1933
Irish writer and critic (1852–1933)
Lytton Strachey
1932
English writer and critic (1880–1932)
Felix Blumenfeld
1931
Russian composer and conductor (1863–1931)
George Washington Goethals
1928
United States Army general (1858–1928)
Camillo Golgi
1926
Italian biologist and pathologist (1843–1926)
Vladimir Lenin
1924
Leader of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924
Gojong of Korea
1919
Monarch of Korea from 1864 to 1907
Ahmed Muhtar Pasha
1919
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (1839-1919)
Jan Drozdowski
1918
Polish pianist
Theodor Kittelsen
1914
Norwegian artist (1857–1914)
Elisha Gray
1901
American electrical engineer (1835–1901)
1800s
Calixa Lavallée
1891
Canadian composer
Wilhelm Matthias Naeff
1881
Swiss politician (1802-1881)
Franz Grillparzer
1872
Austrian writer (1791–1872)
Alexander Herzen
1870
Russian author and revolutionary (1812–1870)
Božena Němcová
1862
Czech writer
Albert Lortzing
1851
German opera composer (1801–1851)
Achim von Arnim
1831
German poet and novelist (1781–1831)
Cayetano José Rodríguez
1823
Argentine cleric, journalist and poet
Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre
1814
French writer and botanist (1737–1814)
Josiah Hornblower
1809
American politician
David Ker
1805
American professor and judge (1758–1805)
Before 1800
Samuel Wallis
1795
Royal Navy officer and explorer (1728–1795)
Louis XVI
1793
King of France from 1774 to 1792
Baron d'Holbach
1789
German-born French philosopher (1723–1789)
Yemelyan Pugachev
1775
Russian Cossack rebel leader (1742–1775)
Mustafa III
1774
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774
Alexis Piron
1773
French dramatist
Ignjat Đurđević
1731
Croatian poet
Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton
1722
English politician (1661–1722)
Johann Georg Gichtel
1710
German mystic (1638–1710)
Adrien Baillet
1706
French scholar and critic (1649–1706)
Obadiah Walker
1699
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury
1683
English politician and founder of the Whig party (1621–1683)
Claude Duval
1670
French highwayman
Ignazio Donati
1638
Italian composer
Joseph Justus Scaliger
1609
French historian (1540–1609)
Azai Sukemasa
1546
Daimyo of the Sengoku period
Juan de Grijalva
1527
Spanish conquistador
Árni Helgason
1320
Roman Catholic bishop (1260–1320)
Agnes II, Abbess of Quedlinburg
1203
German artist (1139–1203)
Pope Paschal II
1118
Head of the Catholic Church from 1099 to 1118
Yang Guangyuan
945
Chinese prince and general (died 945)
An Chongrong
942
Chinese general (died 942)
Yang Pu
939
Emperor of Wu from 927 to 937
Liu Zhijun (Later Liang)
918
Chinese general (died c. 918)
Erchanger, Duke of Swabia
917
Epiphanius of Pavia
496
AD 420
420
Calendar year