Died On December 23rd

Discover the most famous people who died on December 23. The list includes people like Thomas Robert Malthus, Noor Jehan, P. V. Narasimha Rao, Oscar Peterson, Victor Borge. Famous personalities featured on this list, include soldiers, political leaders, actors and military leaders and from other domains of life. This list includes people from United States, United Kingdom, Japan & India and many more countries.
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 1 
Mikhail Kalashnikov
(Inventor of 'AK-47' Assault Rifle, PK Machine Gun and 'RPK Light Machine Gun')
Mikhail Kalashnikov
14
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: November 10, 1919
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Kur'ya, Russia
Died: 2013
Russian military leader Mikhail Kalashnikov is remembered for inventing the AK-47 assault rifle, along with other weapons such as the AKM, the AK-74, the PK machine gun, and the RPK light machine gun. He was named the Hero of the Russian Federation and received the Order of Military Merit.
 2 
Jack Webb
(Actor)
Jack Webb
3
Birthdate: April 2, 1920
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Santa Monica, California, USA
Died: 1982
Height: 5'10" (178 cm)
 3 
Oscar Peterson
(Jazz Pianist)
Oscar Peterson
6
Listed In: Musicians
Birthdate: August 15, 1925
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Montreal
Died: 2007
Seven-time Grammy-winning jazz pianist Oscar Peterson had initially wished to be a trumpeter but switched to the piano because of a lung ailment. He was the first living person, apart from a king, to get a commemorative Canadian stamp. He used a signature handkerchief between performances.
 4 
Victor Borge
(Pianist and Comedian Known for His Popular Radio and TV Performances in Europe and the US)
Victor Borge
9
Birthdate: January 3, 1909
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Copenhagen, Denmark
Died: 2000

Victor Borge was a Danish-American pianist, conductor, and comedian. He is best remembered for blending comedy and music for which he achieved popularity across Europe and the United States. Recipient of several prestigious awards, Borge received badges of chivalric orders from countries like Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. In 1999, he received the Kennedy Center Honors.

 5 
Billy Barty
(Actor)
Billy Barty
1
Birthdate: October 25, 1924
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Millsboro, Pennsylvania, USA
Died: 2000
Height: 3'9" (114 cm)
 6 
Effie Gray
(Artist)
Effie Gray
11
Birthdate: May 7, 1828
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Perth, United Kingdom
Died: 1897

Effie Gray was a Scottish painter. She was married to draughtsman and watercolorist, John Ruskin, before leaving him to marry John Everett Millais. This popular love triangle has been depicted in several plays and films, including the 1912 silent movie, The Love of John Ruskin. After marrying Millais, Effie Gray had a major influence on his works.

 7 
Capital Steez
(He was a founder of the Brooklyn-based rap collective Pro Era)
Capital Steez
8
Listed In: Singers
Birthdate: July 7, 1993
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died: 2012
 8 
Peggy Guggenheim
(Art Collector)
Peggy Guggenheim
3
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: August 26, 1898
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: 1979
 9 
P. V. Narasimha Rao
(Indian Politician Who Served as the 9th Prime Minister of India from 1991 to 1996)
P. V. Narasimha Rao
22
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: June 28, 1921
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Karimnagar, India
Died: 2004

The ninth Prime Minister of India, P. V. Narasimha Rao, is often called the Father of Indian Economic Reforms due to a major economic transformation in India during his prime ministership. He dismantled the Licence Raj and his economic policies rescued India from an impending economic collapse. 

 10 
Thomas Robert Malthus
(Political Economist)
Thomas Robert Malthus
7
Birthdate: February 13, 1766
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Surrey, England
Died: 1834

Thomas Robert Malthus was an English economist and demographer, who viewed poverty as man’s unavoidable destiny. Author of An Essay on the Principle of Population; he believed that increase in national food production results in feeling of well-being, leading to population growth, which in turn results in poverty. Commonly referred as Malthusianism, it made immediate impact on British social policy.

 11 
Leslie West
(American Guitarist, Singer and Songwriter)
Leslie West
2
Listed In: Singers
Birthdate: October 22, 1945
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: New York, United States
Died: 2020
Height: 5'10" (178 cm)
 12 
Vesna Vulović
(Flight attendant)
Vesna Vulović
3
Listed In: Activists
Birthdate: January 3, 1950
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Belgrade, Serbia
Died: 2016
 13 
Noor Jehan
(Singer and Actress)
Noor Jehan
36
Birthdate: September 21, 1926
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Kasur
Died: 2000

Noor Jehan was a Pakistani actress and playback singer. In a career spanning over 60 years, she is estimated to have sung around 20,000 songs. One of the most important Pakistani singers of all time, Noor Jehan is also widely regarded as one of the most influential and greatest South Asian singers of all time.

 14 
Wendell Scott
(One of the First African-American Drivers in Nascar & First African-American Winner in the Grand National Series)
Wendell Scott
0
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: August 29, 1921
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Danville, Virginia, United States
Died: 1990

One of the pioneering Black drivers of NASCAR, Wendell Scott rose to be a NASCAR Cup Series winner. He has been named to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, too. Initially an auto mechanic, he also owned his own auto repair shop. He had also been a cab driver.

 15 
Susan Berman
(Memoirist of Easy Street, detailed her life as a mobster's daughter)
Susan Berman
4
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: May 18, 1945
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Died: 2000
Height: 5'6" (168 cm)
 16 
Jean Harris
(Author)
Jean Harris
6
Listed In: Criminals
Birthdate: April 27, 1923
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died: 2012
 17 
Anthony Fokker
(Aviation Entrepreneur & Aircraft Designer Who Pproduced Fighter Aircraft in Germany During WW I)
Anthony Fokker
2
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: April 6, 1890
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Blitar, Indonesia
Died: 1939

Though a high-school drop-out, Dutch aviation designer and entrepreneur Anthony Fokker showed his interest in mechanics quite early. He designed over 40 types of fighter aircrafts for the Germans during World War I. The aircraft that completed the first nonstop flight across the U.S. was also made by him.

 18 
Yusef Abdul Lateef
(Musician)
Yusef Abdul Lateef
2
Listed In: Musicians
Birthdate: October 9, 1920
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
Died: 2013
 19 
Hideki Tojo
(27th Prime Minister of Japan)
Hideki Tojo
30
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: December 30, 1884
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Kōjimachi, Tokyo, Japan
Died: 1948

Hideki Tojo headed the Imperial Japanese Army and was the Japanese minister of war, apart from being Japan’s prime minister from 1941 to 1944. His tenure witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor. After Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers, Tojo was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death.

 20 
Frankie Randall
(Boxer)
Frankie Randall
9
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: September 25, 1961
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Died: 2020
Height: 5'8" (173 cm)
 21 
Eddie Hazel
(Guitarist, Songwriter)
Eddie Hazel
1
Listed In: Musicians
Birthdate: April 10, 1950
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died: 1992
 22 
Michael Kidd
(Choreographer, Ballet Dancer)
Michael Kidd
1
Listed In: Dancers
Birthdate: August 12, 1915
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: New York City
Died: 2007
Abraham Joshua Heschel
0
Birthdate: January 11, 1907
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Warsaw
Died: 1972

Born into a family of rabbis in Warsaw, Abraham Joshua Heschel managed to move to London before Germany’s invasion of Poland but lost his mother and sisters to the Holocaust. The theologian eventually set base in New York, where he continued his work on Jewish philosophy and American civil rights.

 24 
Gerard Kuiper
(Dutch Astronomer, Planetary Scientist, Selenographer, Author and Professor)
Gerard Kuiper
1
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: December 7, 1905
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Tuitjenhorn, Netherlands
Died: 1973

Gerard Kuiper was blessed with an unusually sharp eyesight and could see stars clearly with the naked eye. The Dutch-born scientist later moved to the U.S., where he established the University of Arizona’s LPL. He also initiated research on the belt of comets surrounding the Sun, known as the Kuiper belt.

 25 
Charles-Michel de l'Épée
(Educator)
Charles-Michel de l'Épée
1
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: November 24, 1712
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Versailles, Yvelines, France
Died: 1789

Eighteenth-century philanthropic educator Charles-Michel de l'Épée is regarded as the Father of the Deaf for pioneering the education of the deaf and dumb. He laid down the Signed French system, which enabled the deaf to participate in legal proceedings. His French Sign Language laid the path to the American Sign Language.

 26 
Piers Sellers
(British-American Astronaut and Meteorologist)
Piers Sellers
3
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: April 11, 1955
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Crowborough
Died: 2016

Starting his career with NASA as a research meteorologist, Piers Sellers later became a NASA astronaut. The British-American astronaut and climate scientist was a Space Shuttle mission expert and had visited the International Space Station thrice. He also appeared in the documentary Before the Flood, partially produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.

 27 
Jeremy Lloyd
(Writer)
Jeremy Lloyd
1
Birthdate: July 22, 1930
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Danbury, England
Died: 2014
 28 
Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
(British Ambassador to the United States (1940-46))
Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
7
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: April 16, 1881
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Powderham Castle, Devon, England
Died: 1959
Height: 6'5" (196 cm)
 29 
Walton Walker
(Army General)
Walton Walker
0
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: December 3, 1889
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Belton, Texas, United States
Died: 1950
 30 
Henry I, Duke of Guise
(Noblemen)
Henry I, Duke of Guise
1
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: December 31, 1550
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: France
Died: 1588
 31 
George Catlin
(American Painter, Adventurer, Traveler, Lawyer, and Author)
George Catlin
1
Birthdate: July 26, 1796
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: 1872
 32 
Rick Cassidy
(American Pornographic Actor, Model and Bodybuilder)
Rick Cassidy
7
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: July 22, 1943
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: 2013
 33 
Denise Darcel
(Actress)
Denise Darcel
0
Birthdate: September 8, 1924
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: 2011
Height: 5'4" (163 cm)
 34 
Charles Dana Gibson
(Illustrator)
Charles Dana Gibson
0
Birthdate: September 14, 1867
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Died: 1944
 35 
Miruts Yifter
(Ethiopian Long-Distance Runner)
Miruts Yifter
1
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: May 15, 1944
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Adigrat, Ethiopia
Died: 2016

Miruts Yifter was an Ethiopian athlete who specialized in long-distance running. He is best remembered for winning two gold medals at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. He also won four gold medals at the IAAF World Cup. Miruts Yifter also had success at the 1973 All-Africa Games where he won a gold medal and a silver medal.

 36 
Emilia Plater
(Polish-Lithuanian Revolutionary and Noblewoman)
Emilia Plater
2
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: November 13, 1806
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Vilnius, Lithuania
Died: 1831

Emilia Plater was a Polish-Lithuanian revolutionary and noblewoman. Often compared with France's Joan of Arc, Plater is seen as a national heroine in Belarus, Lithuania, and Poland. Emilia Plater's story has inspired numerous works of art and literature and she is often seen as a symbol of women empowerment in Lithuania.

 37 
Ronnie Scott
(Jazz Saxophonist)
Ronnie Scott
0
Listed In: Musicians
Birthdate: January 28, 1927
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Aldgate, England
Died: 1996
 38 
Jimmy Shand
(Musician)
Jimmy Shand
0
Listed In: Musicians
Birthdate: January 28, 1908
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: East Wemyss, Scotland
Died: 2000
 39 
K. Balachander
(Film director, Actor, Screenwriter)
K. Balachander
3
Birthdate: July 9, 1930
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Nannilam, Tamil Nadu, India
Died: 2014
 40 
Henry Clinton
(Military officer)
Henry Clinton
0
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: April 16, 1730
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Newfoundland, Canada
Died: 1795
 41 
Saint Naum
(Bulgarian Writer, Enlightener and One of the Seven Apostles of the First Bulgarian Empire)
Saint Naum
2
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: 0830 AD
Birthplace: Moesia, Bulgaria
Died: 0910

Saint Naum was a Bulgarian enlightener and writer. Counted among the Seven Apostles of the earliest Bulgarian Empire, Naum is often associated with the formation of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic script. He is also credited with co-founding the Pliska Literary School. Saint Naum is also credited with converting many Slavs into Bulgarians.

 42 
Ernest B. Schoedsack
(American Cinematographer, Director and Producer Best Known for Being the Co-director of the 1933 Film, ‘King Kong')
Ernest B. Schoedsack
0
Birthdate: June 8, 1893
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States
Died: 1979

American cinematographer-producer-director, Ernest Beaumont Schoedsack is perhaps best known for his successful collaborations with Merian C. Cooper, together making such hits like King Kong and Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness etc.  Beginning his career as Director of Photography in The Lost Empire, he later went into directing, some of his other important directorial ventures being Dr. Cyclops, and Rango.

 43 
Elias M. Stein
(Mathematician Who Was a Leading Figure in the Field of Harmonic Analysis)
Elias M. Stein
0
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: January 13, 1931
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Antwerp, Belgium
Died: 2018
 44 
Sasha Filippov
(Spy)
Sasha Filippov
0
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: June 26, 1925
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Volgograd, Russia
Died: 1942
 45 
Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans
(Duchess)
Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans
0
Birthdate: September 13, 1676
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Château de Saint-Cloud, Saint-Cloud, France
Died: 1744
 46 
Kōki Hirota
(Former Prime Minister of Japan (1936 - 1937))
Kōki Hirota
1
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: February 14, 1878
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Chuo Ward, Fukuoka, Japan
Died: 1948

Son of a stonemason, Kōki Hirota grew up to graduate in law. Stepping into politics, he eventually became the prime minister of Japan. He had previously been an ambassador to Russia, too. He resigned amid army pressure and was executed by hanging for war crimes during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

 47 
John Cotton
(Theologian & Preacher)
John Cotton
3
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: December 4, 1585
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Derbyshire, England
Died: 1652
John Cotton was a clergyman in the American and England colonies. He was widely regarded as the greatest theologian and minister of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. A prolific writer, John Cotton is credited with writing the first known children's book by an American, Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes.
 48 
Marjorie Husted
(Businesswoman)
Marjorie Husted
1
Listed In: Business People
Birthdate: April 2, 1892
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Died: 1986
 49 
Heitarō Kimura
(Military personnel)
Heitarō Kimura
0
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: September 28, 1888
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Saitama, Japan
Died: 1948
 50 
Georg Elias Müller
(German Experimental Psychologist Who Is Credited with the Theory of Retroactive Interference)
Georg Elias Müller
0
Birthdate: July 20, 1850
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Grimma, Germany
Died: 1934

German psychologist Georg Elias Müller was born into a family of theologians and had initially been interested in mysticism, philosophy, and history. However, he eventually drifted apart to study psychology. A pioneer in the research on sensations, learning, and memory, he also laid down the concept of retroactive interference.