Vlad the Impaler (1431-1476)
Wallachian prince, killed in battle at 45
- 1510 Duke Friedrich of Saxony, 36th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (1498-1510), dies at 37
James V (1512-1542)
King of Scotland (1513-42), dies likely of cholera or dysentery at 30
- 1553 Hanibal Lucić, Croatian writer, dies at 68
- 1591 St. John of the Cross [Juan de Yepes y Álvarez], Spanish Carmelite friar, poet and saint, dies at 49
- 1624 Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, English statesman, dies at 73
- 1651 Pierre Dupuy, French historian & scholar, dies at 69
- 1713 Thomas Rymer, English historian, dies at 72
- 1715 Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury, dies at 79
- 1732 Johann Philipp Förtsch, German Baroque composer, statesman, and physician, dies at 80
- 1734 Noel-Nicolas Coypel, French painter & cartoonist, dies at 44
- 1735 Thomas Tanner, English bishop & antiquarian (b. 1674)
- 1741 Charles Rollin, French historian, dies at 80
- 1754 Mahmud I, Sultan of Ottoman Empire (1730-54) who fought Austria & Russia, dies at 58
- 1760 Kacic Miosic, Croatian poet (Razgovar Ugodni Naroda Slovinskoga), dies at 56
- 1780 Ignatius Sancho, African-born British writer, shopkeeper and composer (1st person of African descent to vote in a British general election), dies (b. c. 1729) [1]
- 1788 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer, dies at 74
- 1788 Carlos III, King of Spain (1759-88) & King of Naples and Sicily (1734-59), dies at 72
George Washington (1732-1799)
American Founding Father, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during War for Independence and 1st President of the United States (1789-97), dies at 67
- 1806 John Breckinridge, American lawyer (5th United States Attorney General) & politician (U.S. Senator from Kentucky), dies at 46
- 1823 Vincenzo Cuoco, Italian historian (Naples Revolution 1799), dies at 53
- 1829 Luigi Marchesi, Italian composer, dies at 74
- 1838 Jean-Olivier Chénier, French Canadian physician & Patriote, dies during Battle of Saint-Eustache at 32
- 1843 John Claudius Loudon, Scottish horticulturist, dies at 60
- 1849 Conradin Kreutzer, German composer, dies at 69
George Hamilton-Gordon (1784-1860)
4th Earl of Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (Peelite: 1852-55) and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1841-46), dies at 76
- 1861 Albert, English prince consort & husband of Queen Victoria, dies at 42
- 1861 Heinrich August Marschner, German opera composer, dies at 66
- 1862 George Dashiell Bayard, Union Brigadier General, dies at 27
- 1865 Johan Georg Forchhammer, Danish geologist, dies at 71
- 1873 Alexander Keith, Scottish-Canadian politician (4th Mayor of Halifax) & brewer (founder of the Alexander Keith's Nova Scotia Brewery), dies at 78
- 1873 Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American naturalist & geologist, dies at 66
- 1875 Marie-Anne Gaboury, French-Canadian settler (first white woman to settle in Western Canada), dies at 95 [1]
- 1878 Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Grand Duchess of Hesse, dies at 35
- 1886 Antoni Wincenty Rutkowski, Polish-Russian composer, dies at 27
- 1893 Karolina Pawlowa, Russian poet & novelist, dies at 86
- 1900 Jean Baptiste August Kessler, Dutch entrepreneur & director of oil on Dutch Indies, dies at 46
- 1902 Julia Dent Grant, American First Lady (1869-77), wife of US President Ulysses S. Grant, dies at 76
- 1906 Jean Abraham Oudemans, Dutch geographer and astronomer, dies at 78
- 1912 Belgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis, British Army lieutenant, Antarctic explorer, and dog handler (Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic expedition), dies after falling into a deep crevasse at 25
- 1914 Giovanni Sgambati, Italian pianist & composer, dies at 73
- 1918 Sidónio Pais, Portuguese politician (4th President of Portugal, 66th Prime Minister of Portugal), murdered at 46
- 1920 George "The Gipper" Gipp, American football player (Notre Dame), dies of a streptococcal throat infection and pneumonia at 25
- 1923 Giuseppe Gallignani, Italian composer and conductor, takes his own life at 72
- 1926 Theo van Rysselberghe, Belgian painter (pointillism), dies at 64
- 1927 Julian Sochocki, Russian-Polish mathematician, dies at 85
- 1928 Theodore Roberts, American actor (Roaring Road, 10 Commandments), dies at 77
- 1935 Stanley G. Weinbaum, American sci-fi writer (Martian Odyssey), dies at 33
- 1938 Maurice Emmanuel, French composer & musicologist (Salamine), dies at 76
- 1942 Edo Fimmen, Dutch trade union leader, dies at 61
- 1943 John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon and nutritionist, inspired flaked cereal industry, dies at 91
- 1945 Constantino Gaito, Argentinian composer, dies at 67
- 1945 Forrester Harvey, Irish actor (Rebecca, Tarzan, Chump at Oxford), dies at 61
- 1945 Henry van Goudoever, Dutch lawyer & judge, dies on his 69th birthday
- 1945 Josef Kramer, German Nazi war criminal ("The Beast of Belsen"), hanged at 39
- 1947 Edward Higgins, English General of The Salvation Army, dies at 84
- 1947 Franz Zorell, German lexicographer, dies at 84
Stanley Baldwin (1867-1947)
British Prime Minister (Conservative: 1923-24, 1924-29, 1935-37), dies at 80
- 1948 R. O. Morris [Reginald Owen], British composer & music teacher, dies at 62
- 1950 Albrecht Schaeffer, German writer (Heroische Fahrt), dies at 65
- 1951 Coretté Alefred [Hardy], American-Russian-Soviet jazz, spiritual and pop lyrical and dramatic soprano, dancer, and actress, dies at 70
- 1952 (Olav) Fartein Valen, Norwegian composer, pianist, polyglot, and rosarian, dies at 65
- 1953 Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, American writer (The Yearling), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 57
- 1955 Dorothy Bernard, American stage, silent and sound screen actress (Life With Father - "Margaret"), dies of a heart attack at 65
- 1956 Juho Kusti Paasikivi, Finnish politician (7th President of Finland 1946-56), dies at 86
- 1959 Lizzy Ansingh, Dutch painter (Cast Off), dies at 84
- 1960 Gregory Ratoff, Russian producer, director and actor (Exodus, Skyscraper Souls, Corsican Brothers), dies of leukemia at 63
- 1963 Dinah Washington [Ruth Lee Jones], American jazz, blues, pop, and R&B singer ("What a Diff'rence a Day Makes": "September In The Rain"), dies of sleeping pill overdose at 39
- 1963 Erich Ollenhauer, German politician, leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (1952-63), dies at 62
- 1964 William Bendix, American actor (Lifeboat, Babe Ruth Story, Life of Riley), dies from lobar pneumonia at 58
- 1965 Herman Sandby, Danish cellist and composer, dies at 84
- 1966 Emma Dunn, British-American stage, silent and sound film actress (Dr. Monica; Dr. Kildare (films); Hideaway), dies at 91
- 1966 Richard Whorf, American actor (Yankee Doodle Dandy; Keeper of Flame), and director (It Happened In Brooklyn), dies from a heart attack at 60
- 1966 Verna Felton, American actress (Hilda-December Bride), dies at 76
- 1967 Frank Moran, American heavyweight boxer & film actor, dies of a heart attack at 80
- 1970 Elmer Schoebel, American jazz pianist, arranger (New Orleans Rhythm Kings; Isham Jones), and composer ("Farewell Blues"; "Prince Of Wails"), dies at 73
- 1970 Franz Schlegelberger, German Nazi politician, dies at 94
- 1971 Dick Tiger, Nigerian professional boxer, dies at 42
- 1973 Yitzhak Edel, Israeli composer, dies at 77
Walter Lippmann (1889-1974)
American journalist and political writer (Public Opinion), dies at 85
- 1975 Arthur Treacher, British character actor (The Little Princess; Thank You, Jeeves), TV announcer/sidekick (The Merv Griffin Show, 1965-70), and fish and chips restaurant namesake, dies of cardiovascular disease at 81
- 1978 Salvador de Madariaga y Rojo, Spanish writer (Englishmen, Frenchmen, Spaniards) and diplomat, dies at 92
- 1979 Nirode Chowdhury, Indian cricket medium pace bowler (2 Tests, 1 wicket; Bengal, Bihar), dies at 56
- 1979 Nirode Ranjan Chowdhury, Indian cricketer (2 Tests for India, avg 205), dies at 56
Elston Howard (1929-1980)
American baseball catcher (12 × MLB All-Star; 6 × World Series; AL MVP 1963; first African-American NY Yankee), dies from myocarditis at 51
- 1980 Richard Gurley Drew, American inventor (created masking tape and cellophane at 3M), dies at 81
- 1984 Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish writer (Ambito, Bird of Paper, Nobel 1977), dies at 86
- 1985 Catherine Doherty, Russian-born Canadian activist, dies at 89
- 1985 Charlie Bachman, American College Football Hall of Fame guard & coach (Notre Dame, Florida, Michigan State), dies at 93
Roger Maris (1934-1985)
American baseball right fielder (7-time MLB All Star, 61 HRs 1961), dies of cancer at 51
Andrei Sakharov (1921-1989)
Russian nuclear physicist and an activist for disarmament, peace and human rights (Nobel 1975), dies of a heart attack at 68
- 1989 Jock Mahoney [Jacques Joseph O'Mahoney], American actor & stuntman (Dallas, Yancy Derringer, Day of Fury), dies of a stroke at 70
- 1989 Konrad Lechner, German composer, dies at 78
- 1989 Pattie Santos, American singer (It's a Beautiful Day), dies in a car accident at 40
- 1990 Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss playwright & novelist (The Physicists, The Visit). dies of heart failure at 69
- 1990 Hope Sansberry, American actress (Rats are Coming), dies at 94
- 1990 Johannes, 11th Prince of Thurn und Taxis, German businessman, dies at 64
- 1991 John Arlott, British cricket commentator & writer (BBC), dies of emphysema at 77
- 1991 Robert Eddison, British actor (Uncle Silas), dies at 83
- 1993 Josephine Riley Matthews "Mama Jo" , African-American midwife (delivered over 1300 babies), dies at 96
Myrna Loy (1905-1993)
American actress (The Great Ziegfeld, Thin Man, Vanity Fair), dies at 88
- 1994 Catherine Filene Shouse, American philanthropist (Wolf Trap Institute), dies at 98
- 1994 Mary Ann McCall, American singer, dies at 75
- 1994 Orval Faubus, American politician (Governor of Arkansas, 1955–67), dies at 84
- 1995 Rob Harris, American sky surfer, dies skydiving at 28
- 1996 Norman Hackforth, British musician & radio broadcaster (Noel Coward; Twenty Questions), dies at 88
- 1997 Kurt Winter, Canadian musician (The Guess Who), dies of kidney failure at 51
- 1997 Owen Barfield, British philosopher of language, dies at 99
- 1997 Robert Sutton, New Zealand electronics engineer, dies at 82
- 1997 Stubby Kaye [Bernard Solomon Kotzin], American actor (Guys & Dolls; Lil' Abner;, Cat Ballou), dies of lung cancer at 79
- 1998 Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr., American civil rights activist & author, dies at 70
- 1998 Annette Strauss, American philanthropist, dies at 74
- 1998 Norman Fell, American actor (Three's Company, The End, Graduate), dies of bone marrow cancer at 74
- 2000 George Sholty, American harness driver (2,934 career wins; $20 million+ purse money), dies at 68
- 2000 Ralph Louis Wain, British agricultural scientist, dies at 89
- 2001 (Secondo) "Conte" Candoli, American jazz, big band, and session trumpeter (Woody Herman; Stan Kenton; The Brothers Candoli; The Tonight Show, 1967-92), dies of prostate cancer at 74
- 2001 W. G. Sebald, German writer, dies at 57
- 2002 Ruth Kobart [Kahn], American actor & singer (King's Quest VII, Forum), dies at 78
- 2003 Blas Ople, Filipino journalist & politician, dies at 76
- 2003 Jeanne Crain, American actress (Man Without a Star, Pinky), dies at 78
- 2004 Fernando Poe, Jr., Filipino actor & politician (2004 presidential candidate), dies at 65
- 2004 Rod Kanehl, American baseball player, dies at 70
- 2005 Trevanian [Rodney William Whitaker], American film scholar & author, dies at 74
- 2006 Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-American, songwriter, businessman (co-founder of Atlantic Records), and philanthropist, dies from complications after tripping during a Rolling Stones concert at 83
- 2006 Anton Balasingham, Sri Lankan chief political strategist of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, dies at 68
- 2006 Mike Evans, American actor (All In The Family & The Jeffersons - "Lionel"), dies of throat cancer at 57
- 2006 Otmar Macha, Czech composer (Quattro Group), dies at 84
- 2007 Ernő Király, Yugoslavian composer and ethnomusicologist, dies at 88
- 2008 Ramon Barce, Spanish composer, dies at 80
- 2009 Alan A'Court, English footballer, dies at 75
- 2010 Neva Patterson, American actress (The Seven Year Itch, Taxi, Nichols), dies rom complications from a broken hip at 90
- 2010 Timothy Davlin, American politician, dies at 53
- 2011 Boris Chertok, Soviet & Russian rocket engineer, dies at 99
- 2012 Kenneth Kendall, British broadcaster (BBC News, Treasure Hunt), dies from a stroke at 88
- 2012 Klaus Köste, German gymnast, dies at 69
- 2013 Janet Dailey, American Romance author, dies at 69
Peter O'Toole (1932-2013)
Irish actor (Lord Jim, Beckett, Lawrence of Arabia), dies at 81
- 2014 Bess Myerson, 1st Jewish Miss America (1945), dies at 90
- 2015 Lillian Vernon, American founder and CEO of the Lillian Vernon Corporation (first company listed on US stock exchange started by a woman), dies at 88
- 2016 Garrett K. Gomez, American jockey (US Champion Jockey by earnings 2006-09; Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey 2007-08), dies of a drug overdose at 44
- 2016 Karel Husa, Czech-American Pulitzer prize winning composer (Trojan Women), dies at 95
- 2017 Lones Wigger, American competitive rifle shooter (Olympic gold/silver-1964, 72), dies at 80
- 2017 Yú Guāngzhōng [Yu Kwang-chung], Taiwanese poet, essayist, and translator (Nostalgia), dies from respiratory failure at 89
- 2018 Joe Osborn, American session bass player (Bridge Over Troubled Water), dies of pancreatic cancer at 81
- 2019 Anna Karina, Danish French 'New Wave' actress (Alphaville), dies at 79
- 2019 Randy Colley (Moondog Rex), American pro wrestler (WWF Tag Team champion 1981), dies after undergoing amputation of his right leg at 69
- 2020 Earl Hutto, American politician (Rep-D-Florida, 1979-95), dies at 94
- 2020 Eric Freeman, Australian cricket fast bowler (11 Tests, 34 wickets, 2 x 50s; South Australia), dies from a heart attack at 76
- 2020 Gérard Houllier, French soccer manager (Paris Saint-Germain, Lens, Liverpool, Olympique Lyonnais, Aston Villa, France), dies after heart operation at 73
- 2020 Günter Sawitzki, German soccer goalkeeper (10 caps West Germany; VfB Stuttgart), dies at 88
- 2020 Jeannie Morris, American sports journalist and author (Chicago Daily News, WMAQ; 'Brian Piccolo: A Short Season', 2014 Ring Lardner Award), dies from appendix cancer at 85
- 2021 Jethro [Geoffrey Rowe], British stand-up comedian (This Train Don't Stop Camborne Wednesdays), dies of lymphoma complicated by Covid-19 at 73
- 2021 Ken Kragen, American television producer (The Smothers Brothers), music artist manager (Lionel Richie; Kenny Rogers), and charity organizer (USA for Africa - "We Are The World"), dies at 85
- 2021 Phil Chen, Chinese-Jamaican rock session and touring bassist (Jeff Beck, 1974-76; Rod Stewart, 1977-80; Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger), dies of cancer at 75
- 2022 Billie Moore, American Basketball HOF coach (NCAA National C'ship California State-Fullerton Titans 1970, UCLA Bruins 1978), dies of multiple myeloma at 79
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide