2017 review

2017 was a year when terror attacks became less organised, more random, but just as deadly. The celebrity death toll was lower than in 2016 but still claimed some dearly-loved figures. Politics took an unpredictable and sometimes unpleasant turn.  

January

Scarborough

39 killed in new year gun attack on Istanbul nightclub.
Queen misses church through ill health.
3.9 magnitude earthquake off Scarborough.
Four earthquakes in Italy trigger avalanche that buries hotel.
Protests across USA after Trump brings in 'Muslim ban'.
Six dead and eight injured in shooting at Quebec mosque.
Demonstrations across the UK against Trump Muslim ban.



Gone beyond
M.A.S.H.'s Father Mulcahy, William Christopher, 84. (New Year's Eve)
Bollywood actor Om Puri, 66.

John Hurt

Singer songwriter Peter Sarstedt, 75.
Former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, 82.
Ex-England football manager Graham Taylor, 72.
Lord Snowdon (Princess Margaret's husband), 86.
Last man to walk on the moon, Eugene Cernan, 82.
Former England women's cricket captain Rachel Heyhoe Flint, 77.
Actor Gorden Kaye, 75.
Mott the Hoople bassist Pete Overend Watts, 69.
Actress Mary Tyler Moore, 80.
Actor Sir John Hurt, 77.
Nazi propagandist Goebbels' secretary Brunhilde Pomsel, 106.
Scottish politician Sir Tam Dalyell, 84.
Perry Mason actress Barbara Hale, 94.

February
UK Parliament votes to leave the EU.
Black Sabbath play their farewell gig in Birmingham.
Avalanches in Afghanistan and Pakistan kill more than 100.
House of Commons Speaker John Bercow opposes POTUS Trump addressing MPs.
Queen celebrates record 65 years on the throne by taking a day off.
UK Government rejects 1.8million petition against POTUS visit.
Lots more anti-Potus activities.
Introduction of "Scrotus" (So-called ruler of the United States)
NASA announces discovery of earth-like planets 40 light years away.
Metropolitan Police appoints first female Commissioner. (She's called Dick.)
Storm Doris causes damage across the UK.
Oscars chaos as wrong film named as best picture.
Record snowfall in Reykjavik.

Through the veil
Sir Ken Morrison, supermarket supremo, 85.
Broadcaster and actor Desmond Carrington, 90.
Radio 4 newsreader Howard Philpott, 63.
Battlestar Galactica star (Captain Apollo) Richard Hatch, 71.
Socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, 45. (Brain tumour)
Steptoe and Son writer Alan Simpson, 87.
The Archers star Sara Coward (Caroline Sterling), 69.
Singer Al Jarreau, 76.
Singer Peter Skellern, 69.
Miffy creator Dick Bruna, 89.
Britain's tallest man Neil Fingleton, 36. (Heart failure)
Aliens and Titanic star Bill Paxton, 61. (Complications from heart surgery)
Labour politician Sir Gerald Kaufman, 86.

March
East African countries face famine.
Brexit gets the go ahead after delays from House of Lords.
Huge snow storm hits North East US.
Muirfield golf club finally admits women members.
Mount Etna eruption.
Gun attack at Orly Airport in Paris.
Terrorist incident outside Houses of Parliament. 5 dead, 28 injured.
Dozens injured in Wirral gas explosion.
PM starts Brexit process.

Joined the choir eternal
World champion motorcyclist John Surtees, 83.
Singer Jonie Sledge, 60. (Sister Sledge)
Character actor Tony Haygarth, 72. (Emmerdale, The Bill, New Tricks, Casualty)
Nobel Prize winning poet Sir Derek Walcott, 87.
Father of Rock n Roll Chuck Berry, 90.
Irish Republican politician Martin McGuinness, 66.
Inspector Morse author Colin Dexter, 86.

April
Mudslide in Colombia kills 250+
Explosion on St Petersburg Metro.
Lorry driven into crowd in Stockholm. Four dead.
United Airlines forcibly removes passenger in over-booking fiasco.
US drops 'mother of all bombs' on Afghanistan.
PM May announces snap election.
Britain goes 24 hours without needing coal to generate power.
Political relations failing between US and North Korea.

In memoriam
Broadcaster, writer, and civil liberties campaigner Darcus Howe, 74.
Actor Tim Pigott-Smith, 70.
Radio presenter Brian Matthew, 88.
Jamiroquai keyboard player Toby Smith, 46.
Guitarist J Geils, 71.
Theatre director Michael Bogdanov, 78.
Actress Erin Moran, 56. (Happy Days)
Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme, 73.
Bash Street Kids and Minnie the Minx artist Leo Baxendale, 86.

May

Prince Philip announces his retirement.

Emmanuel Macron

Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron wins French presidential election.
Trump sacks FBI head James Comey.
Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Legoland close water rides following death of 11-year-old at Drayton Manor.
Cyber ransom attack threatens UK hospitals as well as businesses worldwide.
Rape allegation dropped against Julian Assange.
Rolf Harris released from jail.
Trump: 'No politician in history has been treated more unfairly'
Historians reply to Trump's claim. Cite Gandhi, Mandela, Kennedy, among others.
22 dead in terrorist attack on Manchester Arena.
80 dead and 350 injured in Kabul car bomb attack.

Catweazle

Shuffled off this mortal coil
11-year-old Evha Jannath dies after falling from a ride at Drayton Manor Park.
Catweazel actor Geoffrey Bayldon, 93.
Moors murderer Ian Brady, 79.
Chris Cornell, Audioslave and Soundgarden singer, 52.
Former Wales First Minister Rhodri Morgan, 77.
The Saint and James Bond star Sir Roger Moore, 89.
Blue Peter presenter John Noakes, 83.
Musician Greg Allman, 69.
Panamanian politician Manuel Noriega, 83.
Zoo keeper Rosa King, 33. (Killed by tiger)


June
Seven dead and many injured in terror attack at London Bridge and Borough Market.
General election ends in a hung parliament. Chaos ensues.
Phil Collins abandons tour after a fall.
Scottish Episcopal Church approves gay marriage.
French President Emmanuel Macron wins landslide in parliamentary elections.
Estimated 79 dead in fire at Grenfell Tower, London.
Van drives into Ramadan worshippers at Finsbury Park Mosque.
Portuguese forest fires. 62 dead 132 injured.
China landslide: 15 dead, more than 100 missing in Sichuan.
Actor Sir Daniel Day-Lewis announces his retirement.
Queen’s Speech delayed two days for Tory/DUP alliance to be arranged
Jeremy Corbyn appears at Glastonbury.
HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier begins sea trials.
Brexit negotiations begin.
Trump cancels the annual White House Eid celebration.
Fallout from Grenfell Tower disaster continues: 60 tower blocks fail safety checks.
Six people face charges over 1989 Hillsborough deaths.

Only resting

Brian Cant

This was the month that stole my childhood: Wallace,
Bodger and Badger, Batman, Playschool and Paddington.

Coronation Street actor Roy Barraclough, 81.
Peter Sallis, the voice of Wallace, 96.
Children’s TV star Andy Cunningham, 67. (Bodger and Badger)
Batman star Adam West, 88.
Model Anita Pallenberg, 73.
Astrophysics professor and telescope designer Jerry Nelson, 73.
Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl, 87.
Playschool's Brian Cant, 83.
Paddington Bear author Michael Bond, 91.

July
Canada's 150th anniversary.
Fire hits Camden Lock Market in London.
Lake District given UNESCO World Heritage status.
A “quarter size of Wales” iceberg calves from Antarctica.
Humber Bridge given Grade I listing.

The new Dr Who is female.
Actor Paul Nicholls breaks both legs in Thai waterfall accident.
Flash flood hits Coverack in Cornwall.
State pension age will rise to 68 in 2037.
Largest rise in crime figures for 10 years.
North sea cod is officially sustainable again.
Two dead and 100 injured in Turkey/Greece earthquake.
BBC wages revealed as unfair to women and BME presenters.
Buddhist temple in Magway, central Myanmar washed into river by rising floodwaters.
Courts rule terminally-ill baby Charlie Gard must be allowed to die.
Met Office warns of potentially dangerous rainfall levels next winter.
Y Not festival in Derbyshire cancelled due to excessive mud.
N Korea runs missile tests.

Gone to meet their maker
Film critic Barry Norman, 83.
Actor Martin Landau, 89.  (Space 1999, Mission: Impossible)
Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington, 41. (suicide)
Dr Who assistant Victoria, actress Deborah Watling, 69.
Home Alone actor John Heard, 71.
Baby Charlie Gard, 11 months.

August
Mo Farah ends his career with gold and silver medals.
Usain Bolt's last race ends with cramp.
Trump threatens North Korea with "fire and fury". And "frankly power".
Norovirus devastates World Athletics Championship.
Heavy rain causes floods and land slips in Nepal.
North Korea threatens Guam as tensions rise.
White supremacy march in Charlottesville, VA. leaves 1 dead and 19 injured.
Trump under fire for not condemning Nazis.
Sierra Leone mudslide.
Terror attack in Barcelona kills 14 and injures dozens more.
Hurricane Harvey brings 'catastrophic floods' to Houston Texas.
North Korea fires missile over Japan.

Pushing up daisies

All Creatures Great and Small actor Robert Hardy, 91
Shelley actor Hywell Bennett, 73.
Country music great Glen Campbell, 81.
George Medal hero Bernard Kenny, who tried to save Jo Cox, 79.
Doctor at Large author Richard Gordon, 95.
Sir Bruce Forsyth, 89.
Comedian Jerry Lewis, 91.
Author Brian Aldiss, 92.



September

One of the last Cassini images of Jupiter

Yellow Pages to stop printing directory after 51 years.
The Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant again.
Hurricane Irma devastates Caribbean and Florida Keys.
8.2 quake hits Mexico.
Archaeologists discover tomb of Egyptian goldsmith Amenemhat.
Cricket commentator Henry Blofeld retires.
Operatic Dame Kiri Te Kanawa announces retirement.
Jane Austen £10 note released.
District tube line bomb attack at Parsons Green.
Cassini probe crashes into Jupiter.
7.1 earthquake hits Mexico.
Hurricane Maria adds to devastation in the Caribbean.
Travel chaos as Ryan Air cancels hundreds of flights at short notice.
Remains of 6,000-year-old dwelling found in Ayrshire.
Radio One is 50 years old.

Passed on
Senior Roman Catholic Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, 85.
Holby City star John Michie's daughter dies at Bestival.
Steely Dan guitarist Walter Becker, 67.
TV presenter Mike Neville, 80.

David Shepherd painting

Theatre director Sir Peter Hall, 86.
Actor Harry Dean Stanton, 91.
"Raging Bull" boxer Jake LaMotta, 95.
Former MP Sir Teddy Taylor, 80.
Quiz host William G Stewart, 84.
Animal artist David Shepherd, 86.
Comedy actor Bobby Knutt, 71.
Coronation Street actress Liz Dawn, 77.
Till Death Us Do Part actor Tony Booth, 85.
Playboy Hugh Hefner, 91.

October
Monarch Airlines collapses.
"Biggest evacuation since Dunkirk" to rescue Monarch passengers.
More than 50 dead in Las Vegas shooting.
London museum road crash deemed 'not terrorist'.
Catalonia votes for independence from Spain.
Harvey Weinstein accused of sexual harassment.
Wildfires in northern California.
Red sun and yellow skies over UK. Saharan sand blamed.
Ex-hurricane Ophelia hits Northern Ireland.
Round pound taken out of circulation.
Kevin Spacey comes out as a gay man after child molesting accusation.
Terror attack in NY kills 8.

Through the Pearly Gates
Former general secretary of Unison Rodney Bickerstaffe, 72.
Actor Roy Dotrice, 94.
Comedian Sean Hughes, 51. (cirrohsis)
Canadian rock band Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie, 53. (brain cancer)
Musician Tom Petty, 66.
Australian songwriter and producer of AC/DC, George Young, 70.
Actress Rosemary Leach, 81.
Benson actor Robert Guillaume, 89.
Singer 'Fats' Domino, 89.

November
Australia bans climbing on Uluru.
The sexual harassment scandal grows.
    - Sir Michael Fallon resigns from cabinet.
    - Dustin Hoffman accused.
First UK interest rate rise in 10 years.
New orangutan species discovered in Indonesia.

Salvator Mundi

26 killed in Texas church shooting.
Political fallout from sexual harrassment claims continues.
Massive backlash after Aston Merrygold loses Strictly Come Dancing place.
Queen accused of tax avoidance by investing offshore.
Kevin Spacey edited out of film in response to sexual harassment claims.
Military coup in Zimbabwe.
Leonardo da Vinci painting Salvator Mundi sells for record $450m.
Grenfell Tower final death toll stands at 71.
Zimbabwe's ruling party sacks Robert Mugabe as leader.
Four dead as helicopter and light aircraft collide over Waddesdon.
Explorer Benedict Allen rescued from jungle.
Robert Mugabe resigns before he's impeached.
Disco floor collapse injures 40 in Tenerife.
Royal Navy performs Changing of the Guard for the first time.

Left the building

Welsh Labour AM Carl Sargeant, 49. (After allegations of poor conduct.)
Chef Antonio Carluccio, 80.
Actor John Hillerman, 84. (Magnum, PI’s butler)
Comedy actor Keith Barron, 83.
AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young, 64.
Murderous cult leader Charles Manson, 83.
Former Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna, 49. (Cancer)
“Grandpa Huxtable” actor Earle Hyman, 91.
Partridge Family singer David Cassidy, 67.
Likely Lads actor Rodney Bewes, 79.

December
Californian wildfires.
Brexit negotiations scuppered by DUP protest vote.
Russia is banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang by the International Olympic Committee.
Trump reinstates the Muslim ban.
The United States officially recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Heavy snow hits the Midlands and Wales.
May pledges not to be derailed on Brexit.
Mo Farah is BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Joe McFadden wins Strictly Come Dancing.
Mutterings about racism affecting the Strictly result.
Six dead in Birmingham pile-up.
Two dead in Scottish hotel blaze.
Train falls on motorway in Washington state.

Paid the ferryman

Kevin Rice

"Well he would, wouldn't he?" Profumo affair model Christine Keeler, 75.
Bollywood legend Shashi Kapoor, 79.
French rock singer Johnny Hallyday, 74.
Disgraced celebrity publicist Max Clifford, 74.
TV presenter Keith Chegwin, 60.
Science expert Prof. Heinz Wolff, 89.
Actress Heather Menzies-Urich, 68. (Sound of Music, Logan's Run.)
Star Wars actor Alfie Curtis, 87. (Mos Eisley cantina scene)
Actor and model Kevin Rice, 43. (The Mistover Tale, Serendipity, The Woodsman) (Blood clot)

History never stops: 2015 in review

January
Prince Andrew named in US under-age sex case.
Australian bush fires.
17 dead in three days of Paris terror, including attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
USAF announces plans to quit Mildenhall, Alconbury and Molesworth.
Severe winds sweep north and west UK.
Two die after being swept out to sea by high waves at Brighton.
Severe snow storms in Scotland.
Lost Beagle 2 lander found on Mars, more than 10 years after it went missing during a landing.
Lorry fire closes channel tunnel.
Stephen Fry marries partner Elliot Spencer.
2.9 earthquake in Winchester.
Worst snow on record hits north-east coast USA. (NY and Boston on lock-down)
Heavy snow hits northern UK.
Manchester airport closed.

  Passed away

Lance Percival

American country music singer-songwriter Little Jimmy Dickens, 94.
US skiers Ronnie Berlack, 20, and Bryce Astle, 19. (Avalanche)
Actor Rod Taylor, 84. (The Time Machine)
Comedy actor Lance Percival, 81.
Film producer Samuel Goldwyn Jnr, 88.
Film actress Anita Ekberg, 83.
Scriptwriter Brian Clemens, 83. (The Avengers, Danger Man, Bergerac)
 Trevor Ward-Davies (Dave Dee etc's Dozy), 70.
"The last Victorian" Ethel Lang, 114.
Coronation Street's Deirdre, Anne Kirkbride, 60.
Soup supremo Ena Baxter, 90.
Former UK Home Secretary Leon Brittan, 75.
Lotte Hass, half of husband and wife diving team Hans and Lotte Hass, 86.
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, 90.
Greek singer Demis Roussos, 68.
Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds author, 77
Songwriter Rod McKuen, 81. (Hear him here)
Actress Geraldine McEwan, 82. (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie)

February
TransAsia plane clips bridge and ditches in the sea off Taipei, Taiwan. Twelve dead.
300-plus migrants killed in the Mediterranean as their boats capsize.
Australia signs up for Eurovision Song Contest.
Terror attacks on a Synagogue and a free speech debate in Copenhagen.  Two dead, five wounded.
30 year anniversary of Eastenders marked by 'who killed Lucy' row.
New ichthyosaur fossil found in Doncaster museum.
Australia strips Rolf Harris of titles.

  Across the Rainbow Bridge

Lived long and prospered

New Romantic singer Steve Strange, 55. (heart attack)
Northants cricketer Brian Reynolds, 82.
'Mr Nutella' Michele Ferrero, 89. 
Gigi star Louis Jourdan, 93.
Actor Alan Howard, 77.
Actress Pamela Cundell, 95. (Dad's Army's Mrs Fox)
Russian opposition politician, former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, 55, shot dead in Moscow.
Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek's Mr Spock, 83.   


March
New royal portrait revealed for UK coin obverse.
It's still snowing in Scotland.
Then it's gale force winds.
Solar-powered aircraft - Solar Impulse-2 begins round-the-world trip in Abu Dhabi.

Queues to see Richard III's grave

BBC suspends Jeremy Clarkson after a 'fracas' with a producer. Cyclone Pam devastates Vanuatu.
Lost grave of Don Quixote author Miguel de Cervantes found in Madrid.
Solar eclipse visible in northern hemisphere.
Richard III reburied in Leicester Cathedral after being discovered in a council car park.
First edition of William Smith's 1815 geological map of mainland UK found at The Geological Society.
Alps crash plane was deliberately downed by its co-pilot. Depression blamed.
Gale force winds last right to the end of the month across UK.

On the other side

SIR TERRY, WE MEET AT LAST

Thendara Satisfaction, known as Jagger, 3. Crufts-winning red setter. (Poison)
Tango and Cash actor Robert Z'Dar, 64. "Conan the Barbarian".
10 dead in helicopter crash in Argentina during reality show filming.
Simpsons co-creator and Cheers writer Sam Simon, 59.(cancer)
Discworld author Sir Terry Pratchett, 66. (Alzheimer's disease)
 21 dead after terrorist attack on Tunis museum.
Musician Andy Fraser, (Free: All Right Now) 62.
Shaw Taylor, (Police Five) 90.
Singer-songwriter Jackie Trent, 74.
Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, 91.
150 passengers and crew killed in Germanwings airline crash in French alps.
Andrew Getty, grandson of J Paul Getty, 47. (complications of drug abuse)

April
2,000 people evacuated because of electrical fire in Holborn, London.
US sailor Louis Jordan, 37, rescued after 66 days lost at sea.
UK election campaigning.
7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes central Nepal
Jockey A P McCoy rides his last race at Sandown.
Runner Paula Radcliffe takes part in her last race at the London Marathon.
National Trust-run Clandon Park House devastated by fire.
Riots in Baltimore, USA.

Through the veil
Cynthia (first wife of John) Lennon, 75.
 World's oldest person, Misao Okawa of Japan, 117.

Keith Harris with Orville

147 dead in terrorist attack on Kenyan university.
World's oldest person Gertrude Weaver, 116. (Days after taking over the title from Misao Okawa.)
Record numbers of refugees die at sea off the Italian coast.
Musician Percy Sledge, 74.
German novelist Gunther Grass, 87.
Actor Nigel Terry, 69.
African American Freddie Gray, 25, fatally injured in police custody.
3,200 plus dead in Nepal earthquake.
Keith Harris (Orville ventriloquist) 67.
Cinematographer of the Lord of the Rings films Andrew Lesnie, 59. (heart attack)
Jean Nidetch, founder of Weight Watchers, 91.

May
The Royal baby is a girl: Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.
Tories regain power in shock election result.  Fallout from the polls includes new leaders for three losing parties.
Second earthquake hits Nepal. 7.3 magnitude.
Passenger train derailed in Philadelphia killing at least five people and injuring dozens.
Nine dead and 18 injured in biker shootout in Waco, Texas.
4.2 earthquake hits Kent
Chaos at FIFA as US begins investigation into alleged corruption.
Lots of support for Sepp Blatter, including re-election as President.
3.0 earthquake hits Caernarfon, Wales.
Severe storms blast UK. Heavy rain and gale force winds.

Gone beyond

Motorcycle racer Geoff Duke, 92.
R&B legend Ben E King, 76.
Author Ruth Rendell, 85.
Hot Chocolate singer Errol Brown, 71.
Blues guitarist B B King. 89.
'Lifeguard' dog Bilbo, 12. (Newfoundland from Sennen Cove, Cornwall.)
Daredevil athlete Dean Potter, 43. (Parachuting accident.)
Television distributor Michael King, 67. (King World Productions: The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr Phil. )
Star Trek actress Grace Lee Whitney,85.  (Yeoman Rand.)
Grange Hill actor Terry Sue-Patt, 50. (Benny Green)
Nobel Prize winning mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr. 86. (Inspiration for the film A Beautiful Mind)

June
Summer takes a few days to arrive in storm-hit UK. (June 1 is official meteorological start of summer.)
FIFA President Sepp Blatter to stand down - but not till next year.
Alton Towers closes as 16 injured - four seriously - in crash on Smiler ride.
Smiler victim Leah Washington, 17, has her leg amputated.
Robin voted UK national bird.
Chris Evans announced as new Top Gear presenter.
US Supreme Court rules gay marriage is legal nationwide
Second Alton Towers victim Vicky Balch, 20, has leg amputated.
"Leap second" added to the world's clocks to bring them back in sync with the earth.

Crossed the Styx

Katherine Chappell, American visual effects editor, 29. (Attacked by lion in game park.)
Actor Richard Johnson, 87. (The Haunting, Julius Caesar, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas)
Former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, 55. (complications due to alcoholism)
Band leader James Last, 86.
Cookery writer Marguerite Patten, 99.
Dracula actor Sir Christopher Lee, 93.
Jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman, 85.
Fagin actor (You gotta pick a pocket or two) Ron Moody, 91.
Film composer James Horner, 61. A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Titanic. (Plane crash)
Actor Patrick Macnee, 93.  (The Avengers)
Yes bass guitarist Chris Squire, 67.
Actor Edward Burnham, 98. (To Sir with Love, 10 Rillington Place, Doctor Who)
Nine killed in hate-crime shooting at North Carolina church.
Day of terrorism around the world:
 - 38 dead in beach shooting in Tunisia (30 British victims)
 - 25 dead in Kuwait mosque bombing
 - man beheaded in attack on French gas factory

July
UK's hottest July day on record. (36.7C 98F)
Two dead and two hospitalised by lightning strikes in the Brecon Beacons, Wales.
Forth Bridge given Unesco World Heritage Site status
Uncertainty continues over Greece's place in the EU. Several 'last chances' pass without resolution.
Eventually settle for severe austerity plan.
Police in Scotland take three days to find body of man and injured female passenger after a car crash.
(Woman dies four days later in hospital.) 
UK tourists brought home from Tunisia following terrorism threats.
Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer in Wimbledon final.
Prince William starts work as an East Anglian air ambulance pilot.
Bird flu H7N7 confirmed at Lancashire farm.
Labour Party leadership contest gets heated.
Cyclist Chris Froome is the first Brit to win the Tour de France twice.
Peer Lord Sewel resigns after 'drugs and prostitutes' accusation.
World's oldest panda Jia Jia celebrates her 37th birthday in Hong Kong.

Joined the choir eternal

Cecil the lion, 13. Shot by a US dentist.
'British Schindler' Sir Nicholas Winton, 106.
Irish 'Paddy McGinty's Goat' singer Val Doonican, 88.
Actor Omar Sharif, 83. 
Actor Roger Rees, 71.
Actor Aubrey Morris, 89. 
Nintendo chief executive Satoru Iwata, 55. (cancer)
American author E. L. Doctorow, 84.
Four missing, feared dead after explosion at a Cheshire mill.
Two dead after shooting at Lafayette, Louisiana, cinema.
Hull schoolgirl Jessica Lawson, 12. (Swimming on a school trip in France)
Racing driver Jules Bianchi, 25. (From injuries sustained in Japanese Grand Prix in October 2014) 
Racing commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan, 97.
Whitney Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, 22. (Found in the bath tub)

August
Part of an aircraft wing found on Reunion Island identified as from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Outcry over Cecil the Lion hunt continues.
Charity Kids Company closes after funding row.
England cricketers regain the Ashes in record-breaking test match run.
Cryptosporidium parasite found in Lancashire water supply.
Massive explosion in Tianjin,China.
Kent and Sussex under water after unseasonal downpour. 
VJ Day - 70 years on.
Terrorist bomb at Bangkok temple.
Greek PM Alexis Tsipras resigns.
Chinese stock market crash worries world markets.
Migrant crisis across Europe as people flee Syria. 

Bought the farm 

Pilot Kevin Whyman, 39. (CarFest air crash)
Wrestler 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper, 61.
Singer Cilla Black, 72.
The 'Last Dambuster' Les Munro, 96. 
Minder actor George Cole, 90.
The voice of Hitchhiker's Trillian, Susan Sheridan, 68. (Cancer)
Goodnight Mister Tom director Jack Gold, 85
Canine star Uggie, 13. (The Artist)
Actor Stephen Lewis (On the Buses Blakey), 88.
Death toll for Chinese explosion tops 110.
Seven deaths during bull running events in Spain.
Emmerdale actress Kitty McGeever, 44. (Kidney failure)
Batgirl Yvonne Craig, 78.
Eleven dead in jet crash at Shoreham Airshow.
Reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward shot dead during a live interview on WDBJ7 TV in Virginia.
TV medium Colin Fry, 53. (cancer)
Neurologist Oliver Sacks, 82. (The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat)
Horror film director Wes Craven, 76.
Beaulieu motoring collector Lord Montagu, 88.
Beverley Sister Joy, 91.

September

Archaeologists discover buried 100+ stone circle at Durrington Walls, near Stonehenge.
Work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith criticised for referring to people without a disability as “normal”.
Queen Elizabeth II becomes UK's longest serving monarch - overtaking Queen Victoria's 63 years, seven months and two days.
UK Parliament rejects assisted dying bill.
Jeremy Corbyn is new Labour leader.
Hungary erects border fence to keep out migrants.
8.3 earthquake hits Chile.
Fifa boss Sepp Blatter faces criminal investigation.
Lunar eclipse meets supermoon.
Is there life on Mars? Nasa says there is water.

Gone the way of all things
Star of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In Judy Carne, 76.
Former England and Yorkshire cricket captain Brian Close, 84.
Crane collapse at Mecca mosque kills 107.
Brian Sewell, art critic, 84.
Novelist Jackie Collins, 77.
Legendary baseball player Yogi Berra, 90. 
453 people killed in stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage.
Actor Dean Jones, 84. (Beethoven, Love Bug)
Gen Mario Menendez, military governor of the Falkland Islands during Argentina's occupation in 1982, 85.
Twin Peaks ‘log lady’, actress Catherine Coulson, 72.

October
Massive sinkhole opens up in St Albans street.
Smoking in cars with children banned in England and Wales.
5p plastic bag tax introduced in England.
Fifa suspends Sepp Blatter.
Fatal crash after driver goes the wrong way up the M1.
Northern Philippines hit by typhoon.
Oscar Pistorius released to house arrest.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visits UK.
"Back to the Future" Day. October 21, 2015 was the date Marty traveled to in the film.




7.5 magnitude earthquake kills 370 people in Afghanistan and Pakistan.


Shuffled off this mortal coil
Irish playwright Brian Friel, 86.
Labour Party elder statesman Denis Healey, 98. 
Nine dead in school shooting in Oregon, US.
Two dead after bus hits supermarket in Coventry.
PC Dave Phillips, 34. (Run down by burglary getaway driver)
Antiques Roadshow presenter Hugh Scully, 72.
Former ITN newsreader Gordon Honeycombe, 79.
95 dead in two explosions in Turkish capital.
Former Tory chancellor Lord Geoffrey Howe, 88.
Labour MP and former minister Michael Meacher, 75.
42 dead in bus and lorry collision near Bordeaux.
One shot dead at Tennessee State University in Nashville.
Coronation Street actor Peter Baldwin, 82.
Hollywood actress Maureen O'Hara, 95.
Five killed as whale-watching boat sinks off the coast of western Canada.
16-year-old Bailey Gwynne stabbed at school in Aberdeen.
Happy Days diner owner Al Molinaro, 96.
224 killed in Russian air crash in Sinai.

November
Egyptian flights cancelled after fears that plane crash was caused by bomb.
World Anti-Doping Agency brands Russia's athletes "cheats".
More than 40 dead in suicide bomb attacks in Beirut.
Magnitude 7.0 earthquake hits Japan
Night of horror in Paris as more than 128 die in terrorist attacks.
170 taken hostage in Mali hotel.

The Davis Cup

Russian air crash was a bomb say experts.
Russian warplane shot down by Turkey.
UK flights to Sharm el Sheik stopped until January.
Great Britain wins the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936.

RIP
BBC Radio 4 newsreader Peter Donaldson, 70.
Oscar winning screen writer and actor Colin Welland, 81.
Eleven-time champion jockey Pat Eddery, 63.
Motorhead drummer Phil Taylor, 61.
Brothel keeper Cynthia Payne, 82.
Former West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt, 96.
"Alf Garnett" actor Warren Mitchell, 89.
Henry VIII actor Keith Michell, 89. 
Veteran Bollywood actor Saeed Jaffrey, 86.
New Zealand rugby union star Jonah Lomu, 40.
Bless This House actor, Robin Stewart, 69. 

December
Trackway with 100-plus dinosaur footprints found on the Isle of Skye.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg gives 99% of company to charity.
14 killed in terrorist shooting in San Bernadino, California. 
UK begins bombing raids on Syria.
Structural faults close the Forth Road Bridge.
Storm Desmond floods Cumbria and Lancashire.
Cumbrian village Glenridding floods for the second time in five days.
World Climate Summit agrees to limit global temperature increase 2 degrees.
87 killed in attacks on military sites in Burundi.
UK astronaut Tim Peake reaches the International Space Station.
Last round pound coin minted in the UK.
Premiere of the latest Star Wars movie.
UK's last coal mine in Kellingley, North Yorkshire closes.
Glenridding floods for third time in three weeks.
Widespread flooding across the North of England, Wales and Southern Scotland wrecks Christmas Day.
Storm Frank piles on the misery.
300 year old bridge in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire collapses under pressure of rainwater.

Taking harp lessons

Anthony Valentine

Colditz star Anthony Valentine , 76.
Crime author William McIlvanney, 79.
Are You Being Served? (Mr Rumbold) actor Nicholas Smith, 81.  Emmerdale actress Shirley Stelfox, 74.
MASH star Harry Morgan (Col. Potter) 96.
TOWIE's Nanny Pat, 80.
Lord Greville Janner,  87.
Football player, pundit and commentator Jimmy Hill, 87.
Conductor Kurt Masur, 88.
Lost Boys actor Brooke McCarter, 52. (Genetic liver deficiency)
Former England football coach Don Howe, 80.
Motorhead frontman Lemmy, 70. (Cancer)
Specials drummer John Bradbury, 62.
Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon, 83.