- 852 Amalarius [Fortunatus] Frankish Bishop of Metz and Lyon, dies at 76
- 926 Burchard II, Duke of Swabia
- 1380 Catherine of Siena, Italian Dominican saint and Doctor of the Church (The Dialogue of Divine Providence), dies at 33
- 1499 John IV, Dutch army leader, Earl of Egmond, dies
- 1594 Thomas Cooper, English bishop, lexicographer, and writer
- 1630 Agrippa d'Aubigné, French poet (b. 1552)
- 1658 John Cleveland, English poet (b. 1613)
- 1676 Michiel A. de Ruyter, Dutch rear-admiral, (Newport), killed at 69
- 1698 Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis, First Lord of the British Admiralty (b. 1655)
- 1699 Samuel Apostool, Flemish religious preacher (Zonisten), dies at 50
- 1707 George Farquhar, Irish dramatist (b. 1678)
- 1743 Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre, French writer (b. 1658)
- 1768 Georg Brandt, Swedish chemist and minerologist, dies at 73
- 1776 Edward Wortley Montagu, English traveler and writer (b. 1713)
- 1793 John Michell, English scientist and polymath, first to propose existence of black holes (b. 1724)
- 1793 Yechezkel Landau, Polish rabbi and Talmudist, dies at 79
Abraham Gesner (1797-1864)
Canadian geologist (inventor of kerosene), dies at 66
- 1864 Charles-Julien Brianchon, French mathematician (Brianchon's theorem), dies at 80
- 1867 Cadwalader Ringgold, American Commander (Union Navy), dies at 64
- 1871 John Gelinde van Blom, Dutch Frisian poet, dies at 75
- 1879 Douglas H. Cooper, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 63
- 1891 Armistead Lindsay Long, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 65
- 1903 Paul du Chaillu, French-American explorer who the 1st modern explorer to confirm existence of gorillas and pygmies, dies aged between 61-73
- 1916 Jørgen Pedersen Gram, Danish mathematician (Gram-Schmidt process), dies at 65
- 1920 William Henry Seward, Jr., Union Brigadier General in the American Civil War (b. 1839)
- 1928 Henrich Federer, Swiss writer (I Switch Off The Light), dies at 61
- 1933 Constantine P. Cavafy, Egyptian Greek poet, journalist and civil servant, dies at 70
- 1936 Florentinus M. Wibaut, Amsterdam social alderman, dies at 76
- 1937 Wallace Carothers, American chemist and inventor (nylon), commits suicide at 41
- 1943 Sidney Keyes, English poet (Foreign Gate), dies fighting during WWII at 20
- 1944 Bernardino Machado, President of Portugal (1915–17, 1925–26), dies at 93
- 1944 Billy Bitzer, American cinematography pioneer, dies at 72
- 1945 Matthias Kleinheisterkamp, German SS officer (b. 1893)
- 1947 Irving Fisher, US economist, dies at 80
- 1951 Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austria English philosopher (Philosophical Investigations), dies at 62
- 1953 Moïse Kisling, Polish-French painter (La souris boiteuse), dies at 62
- 1954 Ernst Heldring, Dutch ship owner and financier, dies at 82
- 1959 Kenneth Anderson, British general (Operation Torch - North Africa), dies at 67
- 1964 Albert Saverys, Flemish painter, dies at 77
- 1972 Ntare V, deposed King of Burundi, killed in an abortive coup
- 1975 Darwin Judge, USMC-corporal, 1 of last US soldiers killed in Vietnam
- 1975 Michael John Shea, USMC-lt/pilot, 1 of last soldiers killed in Vietnam
- 1975 William Craig Nystul, USMC capt, 1 of last US soldiers killed in Vietnam
- 1986 Seamus McElwaine, Irish IRA-terrorist, killed at 25
- 1991 Claude Gallimard, French publisher, dies
- 1993 Cy Howard, director (Lovers & Other Strangers), dies at 77
- 1994 Oscar Sheldon A Williams, artist/critic, dies at 74
- 1995 Angier Biddle Duke, American diplomat and the youngest American ambassador in history, dies at 79
- 1995 Robert Gibb, British zoo and theme park creator (Flamingo Land; Pleasure Island), dies in a car accident at 57
- 1996 Jaime Garcia Terre, poet/essayist, dies at 71
- 1996 Siti Hartinah, Second First Lady of Indonesia, wife of President Suharto of Indonesia, dies at 72
- 1996 Tony Hymphris, political activist, dies at 45
- 1997 Mike Royko, American journalist (Chicago Daily News) and author (Boss), dies of stroke at 64
- 1997 Peter Tali Coleman, Governor of American Samoa (1956-61, 78-85, 89-93), dies at 77
- 2001 Barend Biesheuvel, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1971-73), dies at 81
- 2002 Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist, dies at 100
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006)
Canadian-American economist and writer (Affluent Society - Sidney Hillman Award, 1958), dies of natural causes at 97
- 2007 Ivica Račan, former Prime Minister of Croatia (b. 1944)
- 2007 Zhang Taofang, Chinese sniper (b. 1931)
Albert Hofmann (1906-2008)
Swiss chemist who first synthesized and ingested LSD, dies of a heart attack at 102
- 2012 Amarillo Slim, American professional poker player, dies at 83
- 2012 Shukri Ghanem, Libyan Prime Minister, dies at 69
- 2014 Bob Hoskins, English actor (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), dies from pneumonia at 71
- 2015 Brian Sedgemore, British MP (Labour Party 1974-79 and 1983-2005), dies at 78
- 2015 Jean Nidetch, American businesswoman and founder of Weight Watchers, dies at 91
- 2018 Michael Martin, British politician and Speaker of the House of Commons (2000-09), dies at 72
- 2020 Denis Goldberg, South African anti-apartheid activist (convicted alongside Mandela), dies at 87
- 2020 Maj Sjowall, Swedish writer (Martin Beck crime novels), dies at 84
- 2021 Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, Queen of the Zulu nation, dies a month after becoming regent at 65