References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2008 August 9.

1978 January 4 Willem Bruynzeel, Dutch timber/lumber/wood manufacturer, dies at age 76. [1] January 6 John D MacArthur, US insurance billionaire, dies at age 80. [1] January 8 Walter Keirnan, TV panelist (I've Got a Secret), dies at age 75. [1] January 9 Eddie Gilbert, cricket (Aboriginal Queensland quick got Don for a duck), dies. [1] January 10 Don Gillis, US composer (Symphony #5 1/2), dies at age 65. [1] John D Rockefeller III, US billionaire/philanthropist, dies at age 71. [1] Pedro Joaquín Chamorro of La Prensa, assassinated in Managua. [1] Zeb Turner, country-rock performer (Chew Tobacco Rag), dies at age 62. [1] January 11 Michael Bates, actor (Clockwork Orange, Salt and Pepper), dies at age 57. [1] January 12 Nancy Spungen stabbed to death by boyfriend Sid Vicious. [1] January 13 Hubert Humphrey (Senator-Democrat-Minnesota, Vice President), dies at age 66 in Waverly, Minnesota. [1] Joseph V McCarthy, baseball manager (New York Yankees), dies at age 96. [1] January 14 Blossom Rock, actress (Grandmamma - Addams Family), dies at age 81. [1] Robert Heger, composer, dies at age 91. [1] Death of Kurt Gödel in Princeton, New Jersey (born in Brünn, Austria); mathematician who developed "Gödel's proof" which shows that mathematics can have internal contradictions. [37] January 15 Theodore Bundy kills Florida State University co-eds Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman. [1] January 18 Carl Betz, actor (Alex Stone - Donna Reed Show), dies at age 56. [1] Ivan Ivonovich Dzerzhinsky, composer, dies at age 68. [1] January 22 Herbert Sutcliffe, cricketer (54 Tests for England 4555 runs), dies. [1] January 23 Jack Oakie, actor (Great Dictator, Gang Buster), dies at age 74. [1] January 25 Tango Duke dies in Australia at age 42; oldest known thoroughbred horse. [1] January 26 Leo Genn, actor (Lady Chatterley's Lover, Henry V), dies at age 72. [1] January 27 Marguerite Canal, composer, dies at age 87. [1] Oscar Homolka, actor (Seven Year Itch, Ball of Fire), dies at age 79. [1] January 29 Tim McCoy, actor (Arizona Bound), dies at age 86. [1] February 2 Wendy Barrie, TV hostess (Wendy Barrie Show), dies at age 65. [1] February 4 Dr Bergen Evans, English professor ($64,000 Question), dies at age 73. [1] February 5 Annie [Anna HM] Romein-Verschoor, Dutch historian (Omzien), dies at age 83. [1] Frans van Immerseel, Belgian graphic artist, dies at age 68. [1] February 9 Ted Bundy kills Kimberly Leach, age 12, in Lake City, Florida. [1] February 11 James B Conant, headmaster (Harvard University), dies at age 84. [1] February 15 Ilka Chase, actress (Masquerade Party), dies at age 72. [1] February 18 Charlotte Greenwood, actress (Oklahoma, Moon over Miami), dies at age 84. [1] Derrick De Marney, actor (Inheritance, Projected Man), dies at age 71. [1] Maggie McNamara, actress (Three Coins in a Fountain, Cardinal), dies at age 49. [1] February 20 Vitorino Nemésio, Portuguese author (Presença), dies at age 76. [1] February 22 Ilka Chase, actress (Masquerade Party, Trials of O'Brien), dies at age 74. [1] Phyllis McGinley, US poetess (Pulitzer 1961), dies at age 72. [1] February 25 Daniel "Chappie" James Jr, retired Air Force General, dies at age 58. [1] February 27 Vadim Nikolayevich Salmanov, composer, dies at age 65. [1] February 28 Eric Frank Russell, sci-fi author (Hugo, Deep Space), dies at age 73. [1] Philip Ahn of Los Angeles, California, actor (Master Kan - Kung Fu), dies at age 66. [1] March 12 John Cazale, actor (Dog Day Afternoon, Deer Hunter), dies at age 41. [1] Tolchard Evans, composer/conductor, dies. [1] March 13 David McKinley Williams, composer, dies at age 91. [1] Ghulam Mustafa Guard, cricketer (3 wickets in two Tests for India), dies. [1] March 16 Aldo Moro, five-time Prime Minister of Italy, assassinated by terrorists. [1] March 17 George Dickinson, cricketer (8 wickets in three Tests for New Zealand), dies. [1] March 18 Faith Baldwin, US author (They Who Love), dies at age 84. [1] Peggy Wood, actress (One Life to Live, Mama), dies at age 86. [1] March 22 Karl Wallenda falls to death walking high-wire in Puerto Rico, at age 73. [1] March 24 Brackett Hamilton Leigh [Douglass], author (Ginger Star), dies at age 62. [1] March 25 Jack Hulbert, actor (Bulldog Jack), dies at age 85. [1] March 27 Wilfred Pickles, actor (Billy Liar, Gay Dog), dies at age 73. [1] March 29 Jayasinghrao Mansinghrao Ghorpade, cricketer (8 Tests for India), dies. [1] March 30 George Paine, lefty cricket spinner (for England in West Indies 1935), dies. [1] Harold Gimblett, cricketer (batted in three Tests for England), dies by suicide. [1] March 31 Astrid Allwyn, actress (Love Affair, Girl for Calgary), dies at age 68. [1] April 4 Gino Contilli, composer, dies at age 70. [1] April 6 Nicolas Nabokov, composer (Holy Devil), dies at age 74. [1] Reinoud Anders, Dutch actor (Unrest of Grave), dies at age 65. [1] April 7 Ernest Kanitz, composer, dies at age 83. [1] April 8 Ford C Frick, baseball commissioner, dies at age 83. [1] April 13 Paul McGrath, actor (The Witness, No Time for Love), dies at age 74. [1] April 16 Lucius D Clay, General/Governor US zone West Germany (airlift), dies at age 80. [1] April 19 Emile de Strijker, Belgian philosopher, dies at age 70. [1] April 21 Sandy Denny, country singer, dies at age 37. [1] April 22 Will[iam Auge] Geer, actor (Grandpa - The Waltons), dies from a respiratory ailment at age 75. [1] April 27 Mohammed Daud, premier/President of Afghanistan, murdered. [1] May 1 Aram Katchaturian, Russian composer (The Earth), dies at age 74. [1] May 3 Wim van Doorne, Dutch auto manufacturer (DAF), dies at age 71. [1] May 5 Alfred H H Gilligan, cricketer (4 Tests for England), dies. [1] May 6 Ethelda Bleibtrey, US swimmer (Olympics-3 gold-1920), dies at age 76. [1] Ko van Dijk Jr, Dutch actor (Zaak M P), dies at age 61. [1] May 11 John Clinge Doorenbos, Dutch journalist/poet, dies at age 93. [1] May 13 Albert Roberts, cricketer (5 Tests for New Zealand, 7 wickets), dies. [1] May 14 William Powell Lear, inventor of Lear Jet, dies in Reno, Nevada. [1] May 17 John Selwyn Brooke Selwyn Lloyd, speaker of house of commons, dies. [1] May 19 George Gladstone, cricketer (one Test West Indies vs England 1930), dies. [1] May 21 Joseph EA "Jo" Spier, Dutch cartoonist/water color painter, dies at age 77. [1] May 22 Bjarne Brustad, composer, dies at age 83. [1] June 17 Cully Richards, actor (Don't Call Me Charlie), dies at age 68. [1] June 29 Actor Bob Crane (Hogan's Heroes), murdered at age 49. [1] [5] July 3 James Daly, actor (Medical Center), dies at age 59. [1] July 31 Enoch Light, orchestra leader (Gulf Road Show with Bob Smith), dies at age 70. [1] August 5 Queenie Smith, actress/dancer (Funny Side), dies at age 79. [1] August 6 Pope Paul VI dies of heart attack at summer residence at age 80. [1] August 22 Jomo Kenyatta, president of Kenya, dies at age 83. [1] August 24 Louis Prima dies. [5] August 26 Charles Boyer, actor (The Rogues), dies at age 78. [1] August 27 Robert Shaw, actor (Dan - Buccaneers), dies at age 51. [1] September 7 Keith Moon, drummer for rock group The Who, dies. [5] September 28 Pope John Paul I, 65-year-old found dead, after only 33 days as Pope. [1] September 30 Edgar Bergen, ventriloquist (Charlie McCarthy), dies at age 75. [1] October 8 Karl Swenson, actor (Lara - Little House on the Prairie), dies at age 70. [1] October 10 Ralph H Metcalfe (Representative-Democrat-Illinois), dies at age 68. [1] October 16 Dan Dailey, actor (Governor Drinkwater-Governor and JJ), dies at age 63. [1] October 19 Gig Young kills his bride of three weeks and then commits suicide at age 64. [1] October 23 Maybelle Carter, country singer (Johnny Cash Show), dies at age 69. [1] October 30 Edgar Bergen dies. [5] November 6 Flora Campbell, actress (Faraway Hill, Date With Judy), dies at age 67. [1] November 7 Gene Tunney, former heavyweight boxing champ, dies at age 80. [1] November 8 Norman Rockwell, artist, dies in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, at age 84. [1] November 9 Joe Wong, actor (Ken Murray Show), dies at age 75. [1] November 10 Linda Scott dies at age 28. [1] November 15 Margaret Mead, anthropologist, dies in New York at age 76. [1] November 17 Claude Dauphin, actor (Paris Precinct), dies at age 75. [1] November 18 Leo J Ryan (Republican-California) and four killed in Jonestown, Guyana. [1] November 27 George Moscone (San Francisco Mayor) and City Superintendant Harvey Milk shot by Dan White. [1] December 3 William Grant Still, composer, dies at age 83. [1] December 4 Samuel Abraham Goldsmith, Netherlands/US phycist, dies at age 76. [1] December 8 Golda Meir, Israel's Prime Minister (1969-74), dies in Jerusalem at age 80. [1] December 10 Edward D Wood Jr, director (Plan 9), dies of heart failure at age 54. [1] Miura Isshu, Zen teacher, Hakuin Rinzai line, dies at age 75. [1] December 12 Clifton Chenier, US accordionist (Bayou Blues), dies at age 53. [1] Fay Compton, actress (Othello), dies at age 74. [1] December 15 Chill Wills, actor (Frontier Circus, Rounders), dies at age 75. [1] December 16 Blanche Calloway, US singer/dancer/radio hostess, dies at age 76. [1] December 27 Bob de Lange, Dutch actor/director (Daniel), dies at age 62. [1] Chris Bell, rock guitarist (Big Star), dies at age 27 in car crash. [1] Houari Boumédiene, Algerian President, dies after 40 days in a coma at age 53. [1] December 28 Harry Winston, US jeweler for the "rich and famous", dies at age 82. [1]