- January 17
- Joannes A Veraart, Dutch judge/Member of Parliament, (Jews in Netherlands), dies at age 68. [1]
- January 21
- Maarten P Vrij, Dutch lawyer/criminologist/High Council, dies at age 59. [1]
- January 29
- Hans Hedtoft, premier of Denmark (1947-55), dies at age 51. [1]
- January 31
- John R Mott, US theologist/founder (YMCA, Nobel Prize 1946), dies at age 89. [1]
- February 12
- Tom Moore, actor (Ladies be Seated, Majority Rules), dies at age 71. [1]
- February 15
- S Z Sakall, actor (Dolly Sisters, Casablanca), dies at age 71. [1]
- February 17
- Otto J Gombosi, Hungarian/American musicologist, dies at age 52. [1]
- February 23
- Paul Claudel, French poet/playwright (L'otage), dies at age 86. [1]
- February 27
- Tom Howard, comedian (It Pays to be Ignorant), dies at age 66. [1]
- March 7
- Tom Dugan, actor (Pick a Star), dies at age 66. [1]
- March 8
- Princess Clementine of Belgium, wife of V Napoleon Bonaparte, dies at age 82. [1]
- March 9
- Matthew A Henson, met Peary at North Pole, dies at age 88. [1]
- March 11
- Meat packer Oscar Mayer dies. [5]
- Alexander Fleming, English bacteriologist (penicillin), dies at age 73. [1]
- March 12
- Charlie "Bird" Parker, US jazz saxophonist, dies in New York City, New York at age 34. [1]
- March 13
- Yung Deva, king of Nepal (191?-55), dies at about age 48. [1]
- March 29
- Everard Verachtert, Flemish linguist (I Can Speak Nicely), dies at age 81. [1]
- March 30
- Harl McDonald, US composer (Santa Fé Trail), dies at age 55. [1]
- April 1
- Silvio d'Amico, Italian theater critic (Il Teatro Italian), dies at age 68. [1]
- April 7
- Theda Bara, actress (Camille, Cleopatra, Two Orphans), dies at age 62. [1]
- April 16
- Abdullah Seif el-Islam, brother of Yemenite king Ahmed, beheaded. [1]
- April 18
- Albert Einstein, German/American physicist (E=MC^2, Theory of Relativity), dies. [1] [5]
- Don Blackie, cricket player (3 Tests for Australia 1928-29), dies at age 46. [1]
- Eugen Herrigel, Zen philosopher/scholar, dies in Germany at age 70. [1]
- April 23
- Robert H Woltjer, classical/AR-First-Member of parliament, dies at age 76. [1]
- April 24
- Alfred Polgar, Austrian writer/theater critic, dies at age 79. [1]
- April 25
- Constance Collier, actress (Perils of Pauline), dies at age 77. [1]
- Paulus B Barth, Swiss painter/lithographer, dies at age 73. [1]
- April 28
- Lode Cantens, Flemish playwrite (Gnomes of the City), dies at age 43. [1]
- May 3
- Philips C Visser, explorer/ambassador to Moscow, dies. [1]
- May 4
- Georges Enescu, Romanian/French violist/composer (Oedipe), dies at age 73. [1]
- Louis Breguet, French aviation pioneer, dies at age 75. [1]
- May 11
- G L Jessop, cricket player (match-winning batsman, brilliant field), dies. [1]
- May 16
- James Agee, US critic/writer (Death in Family), dies in New York. [1]
- May 17
- Alan Fairfax, cricket player (10 Tests for Australia 1928-31), dies. [1]
- Leslie Hylton, cricket player (West Indies quickie 1939), hung for murder. [1]
- May 18
- Edwin Scharff, German painter/sculptor (Rossebändiger), dies at age 68. [1]
- Mary McLeod Bethune, educator and civil rights leader, dies at age 79. [1]
- May 31
- "Wild Bill" Vukovich killed in the Indianapolis 500. [1]
- June 22
- Wyllis Cooper, TV narrator (Volume One), dies at age 56. [1]
- July 22
- Joseph Foley, actor (Mr Peepers), dies at age 45. [1]
- July 23
- Harry Haden, actor (Harry - Stu Erwin Show), dies at age 73. [1]
- August 28
- Emmett Till kidnapped and lynched at age 14, in Money, Mississippi, USA. [1]
- September 1
- Philip Loeb, actor (Jake - The Goldbergs), dies at age 61. [1]
- September 30
- James Dean is killed in an auto collision at age 24 near Cholame, California. [1] [5]
- October 27
- Clark Griffith, baseball player/manager (New York Yankees), dies at age 85. [1]
- November 14
- Robert E Sherwood, dramatist (Abe Lincoln in Illinois), dies at age 59. [1]
- December 5
- Paul Harvey, actor (Calamity Jane, Heldorado, Jamboree), dies at age 73. [1]
- December 8
- Jacques Handschin, Swiss musicologist, dies at age 69. [1]
- December 11
- Johan C Altorf, sculptor (October 3 Monument), dies at age 79. [1]
- December 21
- Dorothy Bernard, actress (Margaret - Life With Father), dies at age 65. [1]
- December 22
- Len Braund, cricket player (23 Tests for England 987 runs 47 wickets), dies. [1]
- December 24
- Nana Bryant, actress (Mrs Nestor - Our Miss Brooks), dies at age 67. [1]
1956
- January 3
- Death of Joseph Wirth in Freiburg, Germany; chancellor of the Weimar Republic (1921-22). [37]
- January 4
- Alexander Tikhonovich Grechaninov, Russian/American composer, dies at age 91. [1]
- January 5
- Jeanne F Bourgeois, French head mistress (Moulin Rouge), dies at age 84. [1]
- January 10
- Henricus P Bremmer, Dutch art historian (Beeldende Kunst), dies at age 84. [1]
- Karl L Schmidt, German/Swiss theologist (Urchristentum), dies at age 64. [1]
- January 12
- John Raedecker, Dutch sculptor (WWII Monument Amsterdam), dies at age 70. [1]
- Norman Kerry, actor (Air Eagles, Phantom of Opera), dies at age 61. [1]
- January 14
- Siegfried F Nadel, Australian/British anthropologist (Nuba), dies at age 52. [1]
- January 22
- P A M Speet, Dutch broadcast CEO (KRO), dies. [1]
- January 23
- Alexander Korda, English movie producer (Henry VIII), dies at age 62. [1]
- January 27
- Erich Kleiber, Austrian conductor, dies. [1]
- January 29
- H[enry] L[ouis] Mencken, American essayist/critic/satirist (Smart Set), dies in Baltimore, Maryland at age 75. [1] [5]
- January 30
- Gerrit Mannoury, mathematician/philosopher, dies at age 88. [1]
- Jane Seymour, actress (Young Mr Bobbin), dies at age 56. [1]
- February 2
- Charley Grapewin, actor (Ellery Queen), dies at age 86. [1]
- February 4
- Leendert A Donker, Dutch Social Democrat party-minister of Justice, dies at age 56. [1]
- February 5
- Savilly Tartakower, Austrian/Polish/French chess player, dies at age 74. [1]
- February 8
- Connie Mack, baseball manager (Philadelphia Athletics, 1901-50), dies at age 93. [1]
- February 18
- Gustave Charpentier, French opera composer (Louise), dies at age 95. [1]
- February 22
- Paul Léautaud [Maurice Boissard], French writer (Petit ami), dies at age 84. [1]
- February 26
- Herman Courtens, Belgian baron/painter, dies at age 72. [1]
- February 27
- Frank Dailey, orchestra leader (Music at Meadowbrook), dies at age 54. [1]
- Günther Ramin, German organist/composer/choir conductor, dies at age 57. [1]
- February 29
- Elpidio Quirino, President of Philippines (1949-53), dies at age 65. [1]
- March 3
- Willem H Keesom, Dutch physicist (Helium I/II), dies at age 79. [1]
- March 11
- Sergey Nikiforovich Vasilenko, Russian opera composer, dies at age 83. [1]
- March 17
- Fred Allen, comedian (Colgate Comedy Hour, Fred Allen Radio Show), dies at age 61. [1]
- March 18
- Friedrich Panzer, German germanist (Hilde-Gudrun), dies at age 85. [1]
- March 22
- George A L Sarton, Belgian/US historian, dies at age 71. [1]
- March 25
- Robert Newton, actor (Henry V, Odd Man Out), dies at age 50. [1]
- March 27
- Frans Beelaerts van Blokland, minister of Foreign affairs, dies at age 84. [1]
- April 2
- Albert de Bassompierre, Belgium ambassador to Tokyo, Japan, dies at age 82. [1]
- Chester Clute, actor (Niagara Falls), dies at age 65. [1]
- April 3
- Bulgarian vice-premier Traitsjo Kostov is executed. [1]
- April 4
- Fritz Künkel, German physician/charachterologist, dies at age 66. [1]
- April 10
- Clarence Beaumont, first batter in first World Series, dies at age 75. [1]
- April 12
- José Moscardo Ituarte, Spanish General (Alcázar 1936), dies at age 77. [1]
- April 15
- Emile Nolde [Hansen], German painter (Grablegung Christi), dies at age 88. [1]
- April 19
- Ernst R Curtius, German literature historian, dies at age 70. [1]
- Lionel K P "Buster" Crabb, British diver (WWII), dies at age 47. [1]
- Léon N H Jungschlaeger, head military intelligence Netherlands-Indies, dies at age 52. [1]
- April 20
- Jaap Vranken, organist/composer (Stabat mater), dies. [1]
- Lieven Duvosel, Flemish music composer (Levensschets), dies at age 78. [1]
- April 24
- Albrecht G Alt, German theologist (Small Schriften), dies at age 72. [1]
- Henry Stephenson, actor (Conquest, Mr Lucky), dies at age 85. [1]
- April 26
- Edward Arnold, actor (Mr Smith Goes to Washington), dies at age 66. [1]
- April 30
- Alben W Barkley (US Vice President-Democrat-1949-53), dies at age 78. [1]
- May 5
- Charles R Gallas, lexicographer (French Dictionary), dies at age 88. [1]
- May 11
- Walter S Adams, US astronomer/director of Mount Wilson, dies at age 79. [1]
- May 12
- Hendrik P Marchant, Dutch minister of Education, dies at age 87. [1]
- May 13
- Aleksandr A Fadejev, Russian author (Young Guard), commits suicide at age 54. [1]
- May 18
- Maurice Tate, cricket player (39 Tests for England, 155 wickets), dies. [1]
- May 20
- André Eugene Maurice Charlot, actor (Summer Storm), dies. [1]
- Max Beerbohm, caricturist/writer (Yet Again), dies. [1]
- May 24
- Guy Kibbee, actor (Captain Blood, Babes in Arms), dies at age 74. [1]
- May 26
- Al Simmons, outfielder (Kansas City Athletics) / lifetime batting average of .334, dies at age 54. [1]
- May 29
- Albert H Edelkoort, theologist (Christusverwachting), dies at age 65. [1]
- Hermann Abendroth, German conductor (Gewandhausorkest), dies at age 73. [1]
- June 6
- Margaret Wycherly, actress (Claudia), dies at age 75. [1]
- August 11
- Jackson Pollock, abstract artist, dies in auto accident (East Hampton). [1]
- September 21
- Anastasio Somoza, Nicaraguan dictator, assassinated by Roliberto Lopez. [1]
- September 23
- Earl Godwin, newscaster (Meet the Veep), dies at age 75. [1]
- September 27
- Milburn Apt in X-2 rocket plane reaches 3370 kph, but dies in crash. [1]
- October 6
- Walter Herlihy, announcer (Music at Meadowbrook), dies at age 42. [1]
- November 1
- Lajos Asztalos, International Chess Master (1950), dies at age 67. [1]
- November 5
- Art Tatum, black pianist, dies at age 46 in Los Angeles, California, USA. [1]
- November 11
- Victor Young, orchestra leader (Milton Berle Show), dies at age 56. [1]
- December 17
- Eddie Acuff, actor (Guns of Pecos), dies at age 48. [1]
- December 21
- Lewis M Terman, psychologist (Genetic studies of genius), dies at age 79. [1]
- December 26
- Holmes Herbert, actor (The Kiss), dies at age 74. [1]
- December 28
- Roelof Kranenburg, Dutch social democratic party-chairman, dies at age 76. [1]
- December 29
- Martin Albertz, German theologist (Jesus Christ's Church), dies at age 73. [1]
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