10 January

Across recorded history, 1,825 notable lives are recorded as having ended on 10 January. Below are the 24 most widely documented — ranked by how many language editions of Wikipedia carry an article about them.

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David Bowie

1947–2016

English musician and actor

David Bowie was an English musician and actor known for his extensive career in music and film.

Gabriela Mistral

1889–1957

Chilean poet, diplomat and educator

Gabriela Mistral was a Chilean poet who served as a diplomat and educator.

Coco Chanel

1883–1971

French fashion designer

Coco Chanel was a French fashion designer who founded the Chanel brand.

Sinclair Lewis

1885–1951

American writer and playwright

Sinclair Lewis was an American writer and playwright known for his novels critiquing middle-class society.

Jaroslav Seifert

1901–1986

Czechoslovak poet, Nobel prize laureate

Jaroslav Seifert was a poet who received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Constantine II of Greece

1940–2023

King of Greece from 1964 to 1973

Constantine II of Greece was a monarch who served as the King of Greece.

Roman Herzog

1934–2017

former President of the Federal Republic of Germany

Roman Herzog was a politician who served as the President of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Dashiell Hammett

1894–1961

American writer

Dashiell Hammett was an American writer known for his contributions to the hardboiled detective genre.

Samuel Colt

1814–1862

19th-century American industrialist and inventor

Samuel Colt was an inventor who established a company for the mass production of firearms.

Alexander Todd

1907–1997

British biochemist and Nobel laureate

Alexander Todd was a British biochemist who received the Nobel Prize for his research on nucleotides and nucleotide co-enzymes.

Jeff Beck

1944–2023

English guitarist

Jeff Beck was an English guitarist known for his influential work as a rock musician.

Carlo Ponti

1912–2007

Italian film producer

Carlo Ponti was an Italian film producer who oversaw the production of numerous internationally acclaimed motion pictures.

Erich von Däniken

1935–2026

Swiss pseudoscientific writer and ufologist

Erich von Däniken is a Swiss writer known for his work regarding ufology and pseudoscientific theories about ancient civilizations.

Jean-Léon Gérôme

1824–1904

French painter and sculptor

Jean-Léon Gérôme was a French painter and sculptor known for his academic style and historical subjects.

Eino Leino

1878–1926

Finnish poet and journalist

Eino Leino was a Finnish poet who worked extensively as a journalist.

Oliver Smithies

1925–2017

Biochemistry, genetics, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007

Geneticist Oliver Smithies was a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Buffalo Bill

1846–1917

American frontiersman and showman

Buffalo Bill was an American showman who gained international fame for his traveling exhibition featuring scenes from the American West.

Ōkuma Shigenobu

1838–1922

Japanese politician

Ōkuma Shigenobu was a Japanese politician who served as the head of government.

Valentin Glushko

1908–1989

Soviet rocket engineer

Valentin Glushko was a Soviet aerospace engineer who designed rocket engines for the Soviet space program.

Francesco Rosi

1922–2015

Italian film director

Francesco Rosi was an Italian film director known for his work in political cinema.

María Elena Walsh

1930–2011

Argentine author and composer

María Elena Walsh was an Argentine writer and composer known for her extensive body of work in literature and music.

Vittorio Emanuele I of Sardinia

1759–1824

King of Sardinia

Vittorio Emanuele I of Sardinia served as the King of Sardinia.

George Pell

1941–2023

Australian Catholic cardinal

George Pell was an Australian Catholic cardinal who served as a senior official within the church hierarchy.

Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev

1925–1970

Soviet cosmonaut

Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev was a Soviet cosmonaut who served as the commander of the Voskhod 2 mission.

Source: Wikidata, released into the public domain under CC0. Snapshot: 2026-07. Names, dates and roles come from Wikidata; summaries are condensed from it. Nothing here is generated to fill a gap.