- 1580 Emanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy/governor of Netherlands, dies
- 1619 Shimazu Yoshihiro, Japanese samurai and warlord, dies at 84
- 1666 Benedictus Carpzovius [Benedikt Carpzov], German lawyer, dies at 71
- 1751 Christopher Polhem, Swedish scientist and inventor (b. 1661)
- 1809 Ignacy Potocki, Polish Foreign Minister (constitution), dies
- 1844 Francis Baily, English astronomer and describer of "Baily's Beads" during solar eclipse, dies at 70
- 1855 Feargus O'Connor, Leader of English Chartists, dies at 61
- 1856 Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English writer (b. 1811)
- 1856 John Ross, British naval officer and explorer, dies at 79
- 1862 Charles Bernard Desormes, French Physicist and Chemist (carbon monoxide and carbon disulphide compositions), dies at 91
- 1877 Raphael Semmes, American Rear Admiral (Confederate Navy), dies at 67
- 1879 John B Hood, confederate general (lost Atlanta), dies at 48
- 1886 Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American military officer and politician (US Representative from New York 1881-83), dies at 50
- 1896 Alexei Lobanov-Rostovsky, Russian statesman (b. 1824)
- 1903 Vicente Fidel López, Argentine historian (Historia the Chile), dies at 87
- 1906 Hans Auer, Swiss-Austrian architect, dies at 59
- 1908 Alexander P. Stewart, American Lieutenant General (Confederate Army), dies at 86
- 1910 Albert Vandal, French earl/historian (Napoleon), dies at 57
- 1914 Adrian H Stewart, British lieutenant, dies in battle in Cameroon at 26
- 1914 Alexander Samsonov, Russian general, commits suicide after Russian defeat at the Battle of Tannenberg at 54
- 1917 Uritsky, leader of Petrogradse Czech, dies
- 1919 Jóhann Sigurjónsson, Icelandic writer (Dr Rung), dies at 39
- 1928 Wilhelm Wien, German physicist (laws of motion, Nobel 1911), dies at 64
- 1932 Willem Marinus van Rossum, Dutch cardinal and prefect of Propaganda Fide, dies at 77
- 1934 Earnest L Wolzogen, German writer (That tolle Komtess), dies at 79
- 1935 Henri Barbusse, French novelist (Le feu), dies at 62
- 1938 Max Factor, Polish-American make-up artist, inventor and founder of cosmetics manufacturer Max Factor & Company, dies at 60
J. J. Thomson
1940 J. J. Thomson, English physicist who discovered the electron (Nobel 1906), dies at 83
J. J. Thomson
- 1941 Peder Oluf Pedersen, Danish engineer and physicist, dies at 67
- 1943 A[braham] Merritt, American sci-fi author (The Moon Pool, Burn Witch Bun), dies from a heart attack at 58
- 1943 Eustáquio van Lieshout, Dutch priest and missionary in Brazil, dies at 52
- 1944 Morten Nielsen, Danish resistance fighter, dies
- 1946 Grigory Semyonov, Russian counter-revolutionary (executed) (b. 1890)
- 1950 Ralph Hancock, Welsh garden designer (Rockefeller Center), dies at 57
- 1963 Guy Burgess, English-born Soviet spy, dies of acute liver failure at 52
- 1970 Anna Casati, Italian marchesa, murdered at 41
- 1974 Abraham Schierbeek, Dutch biologist (Leeuwenhoek), dies at 87
- 1981 Mohammad-Ali Rajai, President of Iran (1981), assassinated by a bomb at 48
- 1985 Taylor Caldwell [Janet Miriam Holland Taylor Caldwell], Anglo-American novelist (Dynasty of Death, Dear and Glorious Physician), dies at 84
- 1988 Albert F. Frey-Wyssling, Swiss botanist and pioneer of submicroscopic morphology and the discipline of molecular biology, dies at 87
- 1989 Seymour Krim, American journalist, essayist, and literary critic (b. 1922)
- 1989 Dorothy Schiff, American owner and publisher (NY Post), dies at 86
- 1991 Hans Koetsier, Dutch sculptor artist (KLM-Schiphol), dies at 61
- 1991 Jean Tinguely, Swiss sculptor artist (moving objects), dies at 66
- 1995 Dame Pattie Maie Menzies, Australian, dies at 96
- 1995 Fischer S Black Jr, American financial Theorist, dies at 57
- 1996 José Toribio Merino, Chilean admiral (one of the principal leaders of the 1973 Chilean coup d'état), dies at 80
- 1999 Raymond Poïvet, French comics artist (b. 1910)
- 2001 Ivor Spencer-Thomas, English farmer, entrepreneur and inventor, dies at 94
- 2003 Donald Davidson, American philosopher (b. 1917)
- 2004 Fred Lawrence Whipple, American astronomer (dirty-snowball theory), dies at 97
- 2004 Indian Larry, American motorcycle builder and stuntman (b. 1949)
- 2005 James H. Scheuer, American politician (Rep-D-NY, 1965-73, 75- 93), dies of heart and kidney failure at 85
- 2006 Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian novelist (Palace Walk, Sugar Street) and first Arabic writer to win a Nobel Prize (1988), dies at 94
- 2006 Robin Cooke, Baron Cooke of Thorndon, New Zealand jurist and member of the British House of Lords (b. 1926)
- 2007 Michael Jackson, British beer and whiskey author/expert. (b. 1942)
- 2007 Charles Vanik, American politician (b. 1918)
- 2007 Augustine Harris, British Bishop of Middlesbrough, dies at 89
Seamus Heaney
2013 Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and playwright (Nobel Prize in Literature 1995), dies at 74
Seamus Heaney
- 2015 Oliver Sacks, English Neurologist and author (Awakenings), dies at 82
- 2015 Brad Anderson, American cartoonist (Marmaduke), dies at 91
- 2016 Joe Sutter, American engineer and head of the Boeing 747 program, dies at 95