- 397 Saint Ambrose, Governor of Liguria and Bishop of Milan (374-97), dies at about 57
- 636 Saint Isidore of Seville, Church Father and the proposed patron of the Internet (b. cira 560)
- 896 Formosus, Pope (891-96), dies
- 1229 Hugo van Pierrepont, bishop of Liege, dies
- 1284 Alfonso X, 'the Wise' King of Castile & Leon (1252-84), dies at 62
- 1292 Nicholas IV [Girolamo Masci], Italian Pope (1288-92) who was the 1st Franciscan elected, dies at 64
- 1305 Joan I, Queen of Navarre, Countess of Champagne and Queen of France as wife of Philip IV, dies allegedly in childbirth at 32
- 1393 Floris van Wevelinkhoven, bishop of Utrecht, dies
- 1406 Robert III, King of Scots (1390-1406), dies, succeeded by 12 year old son James I
- 1417 John van Touraine, 1st husband of Jacoba of Bavaria, dies
- 1536 Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1486-1536), dies at 75
- 1585 Caspar de Robles, Spanish viceroy of Frisia, dies at about 57
- 1588 Frederick II, King of Denmark and Norway (1559-88), dies at 53
- 1604 Thomas Churchyard, poet/pamphleteer, dies
- 1609 Charles de L'Ecluse, Flemish botanist (b. 1526)
John Napier (1550-1617)
Scottish mathematician and inventor (logarithms), dies from effects of gout at 67
- 1643 Simon Episcopius [Bisschop], Dutch theologist, dies at 60
- 1661 Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven, Scottish soldier (b. circa 1580)
- 1662 Leonhart Kern, German sculptor, dies at about 73
- 1664 Adam Willaerts, Dutch seascape painter, dies
- 1701 Joseph Haines, entertainer and author
- 1714 Karel, duke of Berry/French heir to the throne, dies
- 1734 Johann C van Erckel, old Catholic theologist, dies at about 79
- 1743 Daniel Neal, English historian, dies at 64
- 1761 Théodore Gardelle, Swiss painter and enameler, dies at 38
- 1766 John Taylor, English classical scholar (b. 1704)
- 1774 Oliver Goldsmith, Irish novelist and dramatist (She Stoops to Conquer), dies at 45
- 1784 Mary Mead, wife of English radical and journalist John Wilkes (b. 1715)
- 1792 James Sykes, American politician (b. 1725)
- 1807 Joseph Jerome Le Francais de Lalande, French astronomer, dies a 74
- 1817 André Masséna, Duke of Rivoli, Prince d'Essing and Marshal of France (b. 1758)
William Henry Harrison (1773-1841)
9th President of the United States (Whig: March 4-April 4, 1841), dies of pneumonia and becomes 1st president to die in office
Ludwig Leichhardt (1813-1848)
German explorer of northern and central Australia, disappears on an expedition at 34
- 1861 John McLean, American Supreme Court Justice (1829-61) and Postmaster General, dies at 76
- 1862 Harmen S Sytstra, Dutch poet/editor (Iduna), dies at 45
- 1863 Ludwig Emil Grimm, German painter and engraver, dies at 73
- 1864 Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American naval officer (b. 1808)
- 1870 Heinrich Gustav Magnus, German chemist and physicist (b. 1802)
- 1874 Charles Ernest Beulé, French archaeologist and politician (b. 1826)
- 1878 Richard Brewer, American gunslinger/cowboy (b. 1850)
- 1879 Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, Prussian physicist and meteorologist, dies at 75
- 1883 Peter Cooper, American industrialist, inventor and philanthropist (Cooper Union, steam locomotive), dies at 92
- 1889 Thomas T H Jorissen, historian, dies at 56
- 1890 Edmond Hébert, French geologist, dies at 77
- 1890 Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, French Canadian politician (1st Premier of Quebec), dies at 69
- 1893 Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle, French-Swiss botanist, dies at 86
- 1903 Margaret Ann Neve, British 1st recorded female Supercentenarian, who lived in three centuries, dies at 110
- 1905 Constantin Meunier, Belgian painter and sculptor, dies at 73
- 1912 Charles Brantley Aycock, 50th Governor of North Carolina (1901-05), dies at 52
- 1912 Isaac Kauffman Funk, American publisher (Funk & Wagnalls), dies at 72
- 1919 William Crookes, English chemist and physicist (Crookes-pipe, thallium), dies at 86
- 1923 John Venn, English mathematician (Venn Diagram), dies at 88
- 1923 L. Martov [Yuly Osipovich Tsederbaum], Russian revolutionary (leader of the Mensheviks), dies at 49
Karl Benz (1844-1929)
German inventor, engine designer and automobile manufacturer (Mercedes-Benz), dies of bronchial inflammation at 84
- 1930 Vladimir Majakovski, Russian poet, dies
André Michelin (1853-1931)
French industrialist, tire manufacturer (Michelin) and publisher of the Michelin Guide, dies of respiratory failure at 78
- 1932 Ottokar Czernin, Austro-Hungarian diplomat (Imperial Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary) and politician, dies at 59
- 1932 Wilhelm Ostwald, Baltic German physical chemist (Nobel Prize - 1909), dies at 78
- 1937 Frantisek X Salda, Czech writer/critic, dies at 69
- 1941 Max Frisch, writer, dies at 29
- 1943 Oskar Schlemmer, German painter, sculptor and choreographer (Triadisches Ballett), dies at 54
- 1944 John Peale Bishop, American poet (Undertaker's Garland), dies at 51
- 1947 William O'Donnell, Irish politician (b. ?)
- 1951 George Albert Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dies
- 1953 Carol II, King of Romania (1930-40), dies at 59
- 1953 Rachilde [Marguerite Vallette-Eymery], French author, dies at 93
- 1957 E. Herbert Norman, Canadian diplomat (b. 1909)
- 1958 Hendrik Heyman, Belgian minister of Nijverheid/mayor, dies at 78
- 1961 Simion Stoilow, Romanian mathematician (b. 1873)
- 1962 James Hanratty, executed at Bedford Prison, England, for the murder of Michael Gregsten (b. 1936)
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
American clergyman and leader of the Civil Rights Movement (Nobel 1964), assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee at 39
- 1970 Victor Otto Stomps, German writer and publisher, dies at 72
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (1908-1972)
American politician (Rep-D-NY), dies of acute prostatitis at 63
- 1972 Jan A.H.J.S. Bruins Slot, Dutch co-founder and editor (illegal), dies at 66
- 1976 Harry Nyquist, Swedish contributor to information theory (b. 1889)
- 1979 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani president, hanged in Pakistan at 51
- 1984 Oleg Antonov, Soviet airplane engineer (b. 1906)
- 1985 Kate Roberts, Welsh nationalist and writer (b. 1891)
- 1986 Frank Mortelmans, Belgian painter, dies at 87
- 1987 C. L. Moore, American science fiction and fantasy writer (Judgment Night), dies at 76
- 1991 John Heinz, American businessman and Republican politician (Senator from Pennsylvania, 1977-1991), dies in a plane crash at 52
- 1991 Max Frisch, Swiss architect/writer (Stiller, Biedermann), dies at 79
- 1992 Karl Tunberg, US scriptwriter (Ben Hur), dies
- 1993 Alfred Mosher Butts, American architect and game inventor (Scrabble), dies at 93
- 1994 Olga Lowina, Dutch yodeler (Edelweisskapel), dies at 69
- 1995 Jo Sinclair [Ruth Seid], American writer (Wasteland), dies at 81
- 1996 Seumas MacNeill, Scottish bagpiper, and educator (College of Bagpipes), dies at 79
- 1997 Vladimir Solouchin, Russian writer, dies at 72
- 2001 Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, American custom hot rod car designer, dies of a heart attack at 69
- 2004 Casey Sheehan, American soldier, son of Cindy Sheehan (b. 1979)
- 2005 Edward Bronfman, Canadian businessman (b. 1924)
- 2006 Philip Attenborough, English publisher (Hodder & Stoughton), dies at 69
- 2010 Clifford M. Hardin, American politician (17th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture), dies at 94
- 2010 Rudy Kousbroek, Dutch writer and literary (Leopold the Buch), dies at 81
- 2013 Carmine Infantino, American comic book artist, dies at 87
- 2015 John Read, British businessman, CEO (TSB Group), dies at 97
- 2020 Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, dies at 87
- 2020 Patrick Kincaid, American computer programmer (TODAY) and communications consultant, dies at 72
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide