20 May Deaths

May 20 is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 225 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Wednesday, Friday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Monday or Tuesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Thursday or Saturday (56).

Deaths

685 – Ecgfrith of Northumbria (b. 645)
794 – Æthelberht II, king of East Anglia
965 – Gero the Great, Saxon ruler (b.c. 900)
1277 – Pope John XXI (b. 1215)
1285 – John II of Jerusalem (b. 1259)
1291 –Sufi Saint Sayyid Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari
1366 – Maria of Calabria, Empress of Constantinople (b. 1329)
1444 – Bernardino of Siena, Italian-Spanish missionary and saint (b. 1380)
1449 – Álvaro Vaz de Almada, 1st Count of Avranches
1449 – Infante Pedro, Duke of Coimbra (b. 1392)
1501 – Columba of Rieti, Italian Dominican tertiary Religious Sister (b. 1467)
1503 – Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, Italian banker and politician (b. 1463)
1506 – Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer, discovered the Americas (b. 1451)
1550 – Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shogun (b. 1510)
1622 – Osman II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1604)
1645 – Shi Kefa, Chinese general and calligrapher (b. 1601)
1648 – Władysław IV Vasa, Polish son of Sigismund III Vasa (b. 1595)
1677 – George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, Spanish-English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1612)
1713 – Thomas Sprat, English bishop (b. 1635)
1717 – John Trevor, Welsh lawyer and politician, 102nd Speaker of the House of Commons (b. 1637)
1722 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist and mycologist (b. 1669)
1732 – Thomas Boston, Scottish author and educator (b. 1676)
1782 – William Emerson, English mathematician and academic (b. 1701)
1793 – Charles Bonnet, Swiss botanist and biologist (b. 1720)
1812 – Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Austrian archbishop (b. 1732)
1834 – Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, French general (b. 1757)
1841 – Joseph Blanco White, Spanish poet and theologian (b. 1775)
1873 – George-Étienne Cartier, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 9th Premier of East Canada (b. 1814)
1880 – Ana Néri, Brazilian nurse and philanthropist (b. 1814)
1896 – Clara Schumann, German pianist and composer (b. 1819)
1909 – Ernest Hogan, American actor and composer (b. 1859)
1917 – Valentine Fleming, Scottish soldier and politician (b. 1887)
1917 – Philipp von Ferrary, Italian stamp collector (b. 1850)
1925 – Joseph Howard, Maltese politician, 1st Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1862)
1931 – Ernest Noel, Scottish businessman and politician (b. 1831)
1940 – Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
1942 – Hector Guimard, French Architect (b. 1867)
1946 – Jacob Ellehammer, Danish pilot and engineer (b. 1871)
1947 – Philipp Lenard, Slovak-German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
1947 – Georgios Siantos, Greek sergeant and politician (b. 1890)
1949 – Damaskinos of Athens, Greek archbishop and politician, 137th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1891)
1956 – Max Beerbohm, English essayist, parodist, and caricaturist (b. 1872)
1956 – Zoltán Halmay, Hungarian swimmer and trainer (b. 1881)
1961 – Josef Priller, German colonel and pilot (b. 1915)
1964 – Rudy Lewis, American singer (b. 1936)
1971 – Waldo Williams, Welsh poet and academic (b. 1904)
1973 – Renzo Pasolini, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1938)
1973 – Jarno Saarinen, Finnish motorcycle racer (b. 1945)
1975 – Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor and lithographer (b. 1903)
1976 – Syd Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1911)
1976 – Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan journalist and politician (b. 1924)
1976 – Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz, Uruguayan politician (b. 1934)
1989 – John Hicks, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
1989 – Gilda Radner, American actress and comedian (b. 1946)
1995 – Les Cowie, Australian rugby league player (b. 1925)
1996 – Jon Pertwee, English actor, portrayed the Third Doctor (b. 1919)
1998 – Robert Normann, Norwegian guitarist (b. 1916)
2000 – Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flute player (b. 1922)
2000 – Malik Sealy, American basketball player and actor (b. 1970)
2000 – Yevgeny Khrunov, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1933)
2001 – Renato Carosone, Italian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1920)
2002 – Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist, biologist, and academic (b. 1941)
2005 – Paul Ricœur, French philosopher and academic (b. 1913)
2005 – William Seawell, American general (b. 1918)
2007 – Norman Von Nida, Australian golfer (b. 1914)
2008 – Hamilton Jordan, American politician, 8th White House Chief of Staff (b. 1944)
2009 – Arthur Erickson, Canadian architect and urban planner, designed Roy Thomson Hall (b. 1924)
2009 – Pierre Gamarra, French author, poet, and critic (b. 1919)
2011 – Randy Savage, American wrestler and actor (b. 1952)
2012 – Leela Dube, Indian anthropologist and scholar (b. 1923)
2012 – Robin Gibb, Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1949)
2012 – David Littman, English-Swiss historian, author, and academic (b. 1933)
2012 – Ken Lyons, American bass guitarist (b. 1953)
2012 – Eugene Polley, American engineer, invented the remote control (b. 1915)
2012 – Andrew B. Steinberg, American lawyer (b. 1958)
2013 – Flavio Costantini, Italian painter and illustrator (b. 1926)
2013 – Billie Dawe, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (b. 1924)
2013 – Anders Eliasson, Swedish composer (b. 1947)
2013 – Miloslav Kříž, Czech basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
2013 – Ray Manzarek American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (b. 1939)
2013 – Denys Roberts, English judge and politician (b. 1923)
2013 – Zach Sobiech, American singer-songwriter (b. 1995)
2014 – Sandra Bem, American psychologist and academic (b. 1944)
2014 – Ross Brown, New Zealand rugby player (b. 1934)
2014 – Robyn Denny, English-French painter (b. 1930)
2014 – Arthur Gelb, American journalist, author, and critic (b. 1924)
2014 – Prince Rupert Loewenstein, Spanish-English businessman (b. 1933)
2014 – Barbara Murray, English actress (b. 1929)
2015 – Bob Belden, American saxophonist, composer, and producer (b. 1956)
2015 – Femi Robinson, Nigerian actor and playwright (b. 1940)

Source: wikipedia