People

Famous People Who Were Struck by Lightning

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Updated November 30, 2023 22.2K views 9 items

List of famous people who were struck by lightning, including photos, birthdates, professions, and other information. These celebrities who died from being hit by lightning are listed alphabetically and include the famous lightning strike victims’ hometown and biographical info about them when available. This list contains people like Apollodorus and Samuel B. Avis. These notable lightning deaths include modern and long-gone famous men and women, from politicians to religious leaders to writers. Everyone on this list has struck by lightning as a cause of death somewhere in their public records, even if it was just one contributing factor for their death. (9 People)

  • James Otis, Jr.

    James Otis, Jr.

    James Otis, Jr. was a lawyer in colonial Massachusetts and the creator of the famous phrase "taxation without representation is tyranny" which helped to lead to the American Revolution. He is reported to have once said to his sister "My dear sister, I hope, when God Almighty in his righteous providence shall take me out of time into eternity that it will be by a flash of lightning." Soon after he was killed by a bolt of lightning while standing in the doorway of his friend's house.
    • Age: Dec. at 58 (1725-1783)
    • Birthplace: Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA
  • Carus

    Carus

    Carus was the Roman emperor from 282 to 283. He died during a storm, and according to reports it was either murder, illness, or a bolt of lightning that caused it.
    • Age: Dec. at 53 (230-283)
    • Birthplace: Narbonne, France
  • Hernán Gaviria
    • Photo:

    Hernán Gaviria

    Hernán Gaviria was a Colombian footballer who played as a central midfielder. On October 24, 2002, Gavira was practicing with a fellow teammate and was struck by lightning and killed instantly. He was only 34 years-old and left behind a wife and two children.
    • Age: Dec. at 32 (1969-2002)
    • Birthplace: Carepa, Colombia
  • John White
    • Photo:

    John White

    John White was a Scottish footballer who played midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur. On July 21, 1964 when he was only 27, he hid under a tree during a lightning storm at a golf course. Lightning struck him and he was killed instantly.
    • Age: Dec. at 27 (1937-1964)
    • Birthplace: Musselburgh, United Kingdom
  • Geremi González

    Geremi González

    Geremi González was a Major League baseball player who played for the Cubs, the Devil Rays, the Red Sox, and the Mets, over the course of his nine year career. On May 25, 2008 he was struck by lightning and killed while on vacation.
    • Age: Dec. at 33 (1975-2008)
    • Birthplace: Maracaibo, Venezuela
  • Leontius Pilatus

    Leontius Pilatus

    Leontius Pilatus was a Calabrian scholar and one of the earliest promoters of Greek studies in Western Europe. He was responsible for translating The Illiad, The Odyssey and other famous works into Latin.
    • Birthplace: Seminara, Italy

  • Samuel B. Avis

    Samuel B. Avis was an American politician who represented West Virgina in the House of Representatives.
    Samuel Brashear Avis (February 19, 1872 – June 8, 1924) was an American politician who represented West Virginia in the United States House of Representatives from 1913 to 1915. Avis was born in Harrisonburg, Virginia where he attended the public schools and Staunton Military Academy. He was graduated from the law department of Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia. Admitted to the bar in 1893, he commenced practice in Charleston, West Virginia. Avis was commissioned senior captain of Company A, Second West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, during the Spanish–American War in 1898. He served until 1899 when he was honorably discharged. After the war, he served as prosecuting attorney of Kanawha County, West Virginia from January 1, 1900, to December 31, 1912. Later, he was an assistant United States attorney for the southern district of West Virginia from August 22 to November 15, 1904. He was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-third Congress (March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915) but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1914 to the Sixty-fourth Congress. After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of law. He was killed by lightning in Charleston, West Virginia June 8, 1924, and was interred there in Spring Hill Cemetery.
    • Age: Dec. at 52 (1872-1924)
  • Becky Godwin

    Becky Godwin

    Becky Godwin was the adopted daughter of former Governor of Virginia Miles Godwin Jr.. She died in a freak accident on a perfectly clear summer day on the beach. While exiting the water onto the sand she was struck by a single bolt of lightning and killed instantly. Many schools and memorials have been named in her honor.
    • Age: Dec. at 14 (1954-1968)
    • Birthplace: Virginia

  • Apollodorus

    Apollodorus was an ancient Macedonian runner who won in the Olympics and then was struck by lightning on his walk home, killing him.
    Apollodorus (Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος; fl. 1st century AD) was an ancient Macedonian runner who, after winning in Olympics, was killed by lightning on his way back home. He is commemorated by Antipater of Thessalonica in the below epigram (Greek Anthology 7.390): Every year the Race of Apollodoros (Greek: Δρόμος Απολλοδώρου) is organized in modern Aiani and Veria (Greece).