31December Deaths

December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Tuesday or Wednesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Friday or Sunday (56). It is widely known as New Year's Eve since the following day is New Year's Day. It is the last day of the year. The following day is January 1 of the following year.
Deaths
45 BC – Quintus Fabius Maximus, consul suffectus
192 – Commodus, Roman emperor (b. 161)
335 – Pope Sylvester I
669 – Li Shiji, Chinese general (b. 594)
878 – Seiwa, Japanese emperor (b. 850)
1164 – Ottokar III of Styria (b. 1124)
1194 – Leopold V, Duke of Austria (b. 1157)
1297 – Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford, English politician, Lord High Constable of England (b. 1249)
1302 – Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1238)
1384 – John Wycliffe, English philosopher, theologian, and translator (b. 1331)
1426 – Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter (b. 1377)
1460 – Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, English politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (b. 1400)
1535 – William Skeffington, English-Irish politician, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1465)
1568 – Shimazu Tadayoshi, Japanese daimyo (b. 1493)
1575 – Pierino Belli, Italian commander and jurist (b. 1502)
1583 – Thomas Erastus, Swiss physician and theologian (b. 1524)
1610 – Ludolph van Ceulen, German-Dutch mathematician and academic (b. 1540)
1650 – Dorgon, Chinese emperor (b. 1612)
1655 – Janusz Radziwiłł, Polish–Lithuanian politician (b. 1612)
1673 – Oliver St John, English judge and politician, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (b. 1598)
1679 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (b. 1608)
1691 – Robert Boyle, Irish chemist and physicist (b. 1627)
1691 – Dudley North, English merchant and economist (b. 1641)
1705 – Catherine of Braganza (b. 1638)
1719 – John Flamsteed, English astronomer and academic (b. 1646)
1730 – Carlo Gimach, Maltese architect, engineer and poet (b. 1651)
1742 – Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine (b. 1661)
1799 – Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and author (b. 1723)
1872 – Aleksis Kivi, Finnish author and playwright (b. 1834)
1876 – Catherine Labouré, French nun and saint (b. 1806)
1877 – Gustave Courbet, French-Swiss painter and sculptor (b. 1819)
1888 – Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi and scholar (b. 1808)
1889 – Ion Creangă, Romanian author and educator (b. 1837)
1890 – Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican soldier (b. 1826)
1891 – Samuel Ajayi Crowther, Nigerian bishop and linguist (b. 1809)
1894 – Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch mathematician and academic (b. 1856)
1909 – Spencer Trask, American financier and philanthropist (b. 1844)
1910 – Archibald Hoxsey, American pilot (b. 1884)
1910 – John Moisant, American pilot and engineer (b. 1868)
1921 – Boies Penrose, American lawyer and politician (b. 1860)
1936 – Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish philosopher, author, and poet (b. 1864)
1948 – Malcolm Campbell, English race car driver and journalist (b. 1885)
1949 – Rıza Tevfik Bölükbaşı, Turkish philosopher, poet, and politician (b. 1869)
1949 – Raimond Valgre, Estonian pianist and composer (b. 1913)
1950 – Charles Koechlin, French composer and educator (b. 1867)
1953 – Albert Plesman, Dutch businessman, founded KLM (b. 1889)
1964 – Bobby Byrne, American baseball and soccer player (b. 1884)
1964 – Ólafur Thors, Icelandic lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1892)
1964 – Henry Maitland Wilson, English field marshal (b. 1881)
1968 – George Lewis, American clarinet player and composer (b. 1900)
1972 – Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and soldier (b. 1934)
1972 – Henry Gerber, German-American activist, founded the Society for Human Rights (b. 1892)
1978 – Basil Wolverton, American illustrator (b. 1909)
1980 – Marshall McLuhan, Canadian philosopher and theorist (b. 1911)
1980 – Raoul Walsh, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1887)
1983 – Sevim Burak, Turkish author and playwright (b. 1931)
1985 – Ricky Nelson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1940)
1987 – Jerry Turner, American journalist (b. 1929)
1988 – Nicolas Calas, Greek-American poet and critic (b. 1907)
1990 – George Allen, American football player and coach (b. 1918)
1990 – Vasily Lazarev, Russian physician, colonel, and astronaut (b. 1928)
1990 – Giovanni Michelucci, Italian architect and urban planner, designed the Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station (b. 1891)
1993 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgian anthropologist and politician, 1st President of Georgia (b. 1939)
1994 – Woody Strode, American football player, wrestler, and actor (b. 1914)
1996 – Wesley Addy, American actor (b. 1913)
1997 – Floyd Cramer, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1933)
1997 – Billie Dove, American actress (b. 1903)
1998 – Ted Glossop, Australian rugby league player and coach (b. 1934)
1999 – Elliot Richardson, American lawyer and politician, 69th United States Attorney General (b. 1920)
2000 – Alan Cranston, American journalist and politician (b. 1914)
2000 – José Greco, Italian-American dancer and choreographer (b. 1918)
2000 – Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, American-Israeli rabbi and scholar (b. 1966)
2001 – Eileen Heckart, American actress (b. 1919)
2002 – Kevin MacMichael, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1951)
2003 – Arthur R. von Hippel German-American physicist and author (b. 1898)
2004 – Gérard Debreu, French economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1921)
2005 – Enrico Di Giuseppe, American tenor and educator (b. 1932)
2005 – Phillip Whitehead, English screenwriter, producer, and politician (b. 1937)
2006 – Seymour Martin Lipset, American sociologist, author, and academic (b. 1922)
2006 – George Sisler, Jr., American businessman (b. 1917)
2007 – Roy Amara, American scientific researcher (b. 1925)
2007 – Michael Goldberg, American painter and educator (b. 1924)
2007 – Bill Idelson, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1919)
2007 – Milton L. Klein, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1910)
2007 – Ettore Sottsass, Austrian-Italian architect and designer (b. 1917)
2008 – Donald E. Westlake, American author and screenwriter (b. 1933)
2009 – Cahal Daly, Irish cardinal and philosopher (b. 1917)
2009 – Justin Keating, Irish surgeon, journalist, and politician, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (b. 1930)
2010 – Raymond Impanis, Belgian cyclist (b. 1925)
2010 – Per Oscarsson, Swedish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1927)
2012 – Peter Ebert, English director and producer (b. 1918)
2012 – Tarak Mekki, Tunisian businessman and politician (b. 1958)
2012 – Jovette Marchessault, Canadian author and playwright (b. 1938)
2012 – Günter Rössler, German photographer and journalist (b. 1926)
2013 – James Avery, American actor (b. 1945)
2013 – Roberto Ciotti, Italian guitarist and composer (b. 1953)
2013 – Bob Grant, American radio host (b. 1929)
2013 – Irina Korschunow, German author and screenwriter (b. 1925)
2014 – Edward Herrmann, American actor (b. 1943)
2014 – Abdullah Hussain, Malaysian author (b. 1920)
2014 – Norm Phelps, American author and activist (b. 1939)
2014 – S. Arthur Spiegel, American captain, lawyer, and judge (b. 1920)
2014 – Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington, British soldier and politician (b. 1915)
2015 – Natalie Cole, American singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1950)
2015 – Marvin Panch, American race car driver (b. 1926)
2015 – Wayne Rogers, American actor and investor (b. 1933)

Source: Wikipedia