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

Last updated: 2008 June 28.

2005 January 1 Death of Shirley Chisholm, U.S. Congresswoman (born 1924). [26] Death of Eugene J. Martin, U.S. artist (born 1938). [26] Death of Bob Matsui, U.S. Congressman from California (born 1941). [26] January 4 Death of Alton Tobey, American artist (born 1914). [26] Death of Guy Davenport, American author, artist, and scholar (born 1927). [26] Gunmen assassinate the Governor of Baghdad, Ali Al-Haidri. [26] January 7 Death of Pierre Daninos, French writer and humorist (born 1913). [26] January 10 Death of Joséphine-Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (born 1927). [26] Death of Gene Baylos, comedian (born 1906). [26] January 12 Death of Alessia di Matteo, first survivor of eight transplants in one operation (born 2003). [26] Death of Amrish Puri, Indian actor (born 1932). [26] January 15 Death of Victoria de los Ángeles, Catalan soprano (born 1923). [26] Death of Deem Bristow, voice actor best known as the voice of Doctor Eggman (born 1947). [26] January 17 Death of Zhao Ziyang, Premier of the People's Republic of China (born 1919). [26] January 19 Death of Anita Kulcsár, Hungarian handball player (born 1976). [26] January 20 Death of Per Borten, Prime Minister of Norway (born 1913). [26] January 21 Death of Don Poier, U.S. play-by-play man for the Memphis Grizzlies (born 1951). [26] Death of Theun de Vries, Dutch writer (born 1907). [26] January 23 Death of Johnny Carson, American television host (born 1925). [26] January 25 Death of Philip Johnson, American architect (born 1906). [26] February 2 Death of Max Schmeling, German boxer (born 1905). [26] February 3 Death of Zurab Zhvania, Prime Minister of Georgia (born 1963). [26] February 5 Death of Gnassingbe Eyadema, President of Togo (born 1937). [26] February 6 Death of Merle Kilgore, American singer and songwriter (born 1934). [26] February 10 Death of Arthur Miller, American playwright (born 1915). [26] February 11 Death of Stan Richards, former Emmerdale actor (born 1930). [26] February 13 Death of Lucia dos Santos (born 1907). [26] February 16 Death of Nicole DeHuff, American actress (born 1974). [26] February 17 Death of Nariman Sadeq, Queen of Egypt (born 1934). [26] February 20 Death of Sandra Dee, American actress (born 1944). [26] Death of Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist (born 1937). [26] February 22 Death of Lee Eun Joo, Korean Actress (born 1980). [26] February 26 Jef Raskin dies. [5] March 3 Death of Rinus Michels, Dutch soccer player and coach (born 1928). [26] March 6 Death of Teresa Wright, American actress (born 1918). [26] Death of Tommy Vance, British radio disc jockey (born 1941). [26] March 9 Death of Jeanette Schmid, German-born professional whistler (born 1924). [26] Death of Chris LeDoux, American rodeo performer and singer (born 1949). [26] March 10 Death of Dave Allen, Irish comedian (born 1936). [26] March 21 Death of Jeff Weise, American murderer (born 1988). [26] March 22 Death of Clemente Domínguez y Gómez, Antipope Gregory XVII (born 1946). [26] March 26 Death of James Callaghan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1912). [26] Death of Paul Hester, Australian musician (born 1959). [26] March 29 Death of Johnnie Cochran, American lawyer (born 1937). [26] Death of Mitch Hedberg, American comedian (born 1968). [26] March 30 Death of Fred Korematsu, American civil rights activist (born 1919). [26] March 31 Death of Terri Schiavo, American right-to-die cause célèbre (born 1963). [26] April 2 Pope John Paul II dies at his home in the Vatican, following complications from the flu. [26] [129] April 5 Death of John Sichel, British film and television director. [26] April 6 Death of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (born 1923). [26] Rainier III, Prince of Monaco dies, succeeded by his son Albert II. [26] April 20 Death of Zygfryd Blaut, Polish footballer (born 1943). [26] April 22 Death of Norman Bird, British actor (born 1920). [26] April 23 Death of John Mills, English actor (born 1908). [26] April 24 Death of Ezer Weizman, President of Israel (born 1924). [26] April 26 Death of Mason Adams, American actor (born 1919). [26] April 28 Death of Chris Candido, American professional wrestler (born 1972). [26] May 2 Death of Wee Kim Wee, President of Singapore (born 1915). [26] May 6 Joe Grant dies at age 96. [6] May 7 Death of Peter Wallace Rodino, U.S. Congressman (born 1909). [26] May 8 Death of Lloyd Cutler, American attorney and Presidential advisor (born 1917). [26] May 11 Serial killer Michael Ross becomes the first person executed in New England in 45 years. [26] May 13 Death of George Dantzig, American mathematician (born 1914). [26] May 14 Death of Jimmy Martin, American musician (born 1927). [26] May 18 Death of Frank Gorshin, American actor (born 1933). [26] May 22 Death of Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor (born 1914). [26] May 25 Death of Robert Jankel, British coachbuilder (born 1938). [26] May 27 Death of Eddie Albert, American actor (born 1906). [26] June 6 Death of Maurice Rabb, Jr., American ophthalmologist (born 1932). [26] Death of Anne Bancroft, American actress (born 1931). [5] [26] June 13 Death of Álvaro Cunhal, Portuguese politician (born 1913). [26] June 21 Jack Kilby dies at age 81. [4] June 26 Death of Richard Whiteley, British journalist and television presenter (born 1943). [26] June 28 Death of Brenda Howard, American activist (born 1946). [26] July 1 Death of Luther Vandross, American R&B singer (born 1951). [26] July 9 Death of Alex Shibicky, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1914). [26] July 11 Death of Shinya Hashimoto, Japanese professional wrestler (born 1965). [26] July 17 Death of Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1916). [26] July 18 Death of William Westmoreland, U.S. general (born 1914). [26] July 19 Death of John Tyndall, British activist (born 1934). [26] July 20 James Doohan dies. [5] July 21 Death of Long John Baldry, British musician (born 1941). [26] Death of Alfred Hayes, English wrestling announcer (born 1928). [26] July 22 A Brazilian electrician, Jean Charles de Menezes, is shot dead at a London underground station by police who mistake him for a suicide bomber. [26] July 23 Death of Myron Floren, American accordianist & musician (born 1919). [26] July 26 Death of Jack Hirshleifer, American economist (born 1925). [26] Death of Robert C. Turner, American potter (born 1913). [26] July 31 Death of Wim Duisenberg (born 1935), the first president of the European Central Bank. Duisenberg served his term (1998 - 2003) at its headquarters in Frankfurt. [26] [37] August 1 King Fahd of Saudi Arabia dies, succeeded by his half-brother Abdullah. [26] August 6 Death of Robin Cook, British politician (born 1946). [26] Death of Carlo Little, British drummer (born 1938). [26] August 7 Death of Peter Jennings, Canadian-born news anchor (former host of World News Tonight on ABC) (born 1938). [26] August 10 103-year old Ted Radcliffe, probably the oldest professional baseball player, dies from cancer; 1943 Negro American League Most Valuable Player. [56] Lee Seung Seop dies from exhaustion in South Korea after playing the computer game StarCraft continuously for 49 hours. [5] August 12 Death of Lakshman Kadirgamar, foreign minister of Sri Lanka (assassinated) (born 1932). [26] Death of Frère Roger, Swiss founder of the Taizé Community (born 1915). [26] August 13 Death of David Lange, Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1942). [26] August 16 Death of Joe Ranft, American animator (born 1960). [26] August 19 Death of Mo Mowlam, British politician (born 1949). [26] August 20 Death of Thomas Herrion, American football player (born 1981). [26] August 21 Death of István Cserháti, Hungarian keyboardist (P.Box) (born 1954). [26] Electronic music pioneer Robert Moog dies. [5] August 26 Death of Robert Denning, American interior designer (born 1927). [26] September 2 Death of Bob Denver, American actor (born 1935). [26] September 3 Death of William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States (born 1924). [26] September 10 Death of Clarence Gatemouth Brown, American musician (born 1924). [26] September 14 Death of Robert Wise, American film director (born 1914). [26] September 20 Simon Wiesenthal, Nazi hunter, dies in Vienna, Austria, at age 96. He was responsible for tracking down over 1100 war criminals. [10] [26] [37] September 23 Death of Roger Brierley, English actor (born 1935). [26] Convicted bank robber and Boricua Popular Army leader, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, is killed in his home in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico when members of the FBI attempt to serve an arrest warrant. [26] September 25 Death of Don Adams, American actor (born 1923). [26] September 26 Death of Jerry Juhl, American writer (born 1938). [26] Death of Shawntinice Polk, American basketball player (born 1983). [26] September 27 Death of Brett Kebble, South African mining magnate (born 1964). [26] October 2 Death of Nipsey Russell, American actor and game show personality (born 1918). [5] [26] October 3 Death of Ronnie Barker, British comic actor (born 1929). [26] October 7 Death of Charles Rocket, American actor (born 1949). [26] October 9 Death of Louis Nye, American actor (born 1913). [26] October 10 Death of Milton Obote, President of Uganda (born 1925). [26] October 13 Death of Vivian Malone Jones, American civil rights activist (born 1942). [26] October 15 Death of Jason Collier, American basketball player (born 1977). [26] October 17 Death of Ba Jin, Chinese writer (born 1904). [26] October 24 Death of Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist (born 1913). [26] Death of José Azcona del Hoyo, President of Honduras (born 1926). [26] Death of Robert Sloman, writer (born 1926). [26] October 28 Death of Richard Smalley, American physicist (born 1943). [26] November 5 Death of Kristofer Duddy (born 1986). [26] November 6 Death of Minako Honda, Japanese singer and actress (born 1967). [26] November 9 Death of K. R. Narayanan, President of India (born 1921). [26] November 11 Death of Moustapha Akkad, film producer (Halloween films) (born 1930). [26] Death of Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield, British photographer (born 1939). [26] November 13 Death of Eddie Guerrero, Mexican-American professional wrestler (born 1967). [26] November 18 Death of Sharon Beshenivsky, West Yorkshire police constable (born 1967). [26] November 19 Death of Erik Balling, Danish television and film director (born 1924). [26] November 24 Death of Pat Morita, American actor (born 1932). [26] November 25 Death of George Best, Northern Irish footballer (born 1946). [26] Death of Richard Burns, English race car driver (born 1971). [26] November 26 Irving Ludwig dies, was president of Buena Vista Distribution. [6] November 29 E. Cardon Walker dies at age 89; president of Walt Disney Productions (1971-80), CEO (1976-83), and chairman (1980-83). [6] December 2 In Wentworth, North Carolina, Kenneth Boyd becomes the 1,000th person to be executed in the United States since the re-introduction of capital punishment in 1976. [26] Death of Nguyen Tuong Van executed in Singapore for drug trafficking. [26] December 4 Death of Greg Hoffman, producer (Saw, Saw II) (born 1963). [26] December 6 Death of Devan Nair, President of Singapore (born 1923). [26] December 10 Death of Richard Pryor, American comedian (born 1940). [26] December 12 Gebran Ghassan Tueni is assassinated by a car bomb. He is buried at Saint Dimitrius Cemetery after a funeral at Saint George Church in Beirut. [26] Death of Ramanand Sagar, Indian film director (born 1917). [26] December 13 Death of Stanley Williams, American gang founder (executed) (born 1953). [26] December 16 Death of John Spencer, American actor (born 1946). [26] December 18 Death of Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (born 1922). [26] December 21 Death of William C. Rodgers, American arsonist (born unknown). [26] December 23 Death of Yao Wenyuan, Chinese politician (born 1931). [26] December 25 Death of Birgit Nilsson, Swedish soprano (born 1918). [26] Death of Charles Socarides, American psychiatrist (born 1922). [26] December 26 Death of Kerry Packer, Australian media tycoon (born 1937). [26] Death of Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (born 1948). [26] December 29 Death of Gerda Boyesen, Norwegian-born body psychotherapist (born 1922). [26]