Famous Deaths for 3rd January 2026

1501 – Ali-Shir Nava’i, Timurid poet and writer (Mahbub ul-Qulub) considered a founder of early Turkic literature, dies at 59
1767 – Luca Antonio Predieri, Italian composer and violinist, dies at 78
1795 – Josiah Wedgwood, English pottery designer and manufacturer (Wedgwood), dies at 64
1882 – William Harrison Ainsworth, English writer (Guy Fawkes), dies at 76
1942 – Pauline Beersmans [PLJM van Cuyck], Flemish actress, dies at 70
1967 – Jack Ruby [Jacob Rubenstein], American nightclub owner who murdered assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, dies of pulmonary embolism at 55
1976 – Mateusz Gli?ski, Polish conductor, musicologist (Scriabin, Chopin), composer, and pedagogue (Winsdor University), dies at 83
2011 – Fadil Hadži?, Croatian film director, dies at 88
2012 – Harold Zirin, American astronomer, dies at 82
2012 – Robert L. Carter, American civil rights activist and judge (Brown v. Board of Education, NAACP v. Alabama), dies after complications from a stroke at 94

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