- 641 Heraclius, emperor of Byzantium (610-641), dies at about 65
- 731 Gregory II, Greek-Syrian Pope, dies
- 821 Benedict of Aniane, saint, dies
- 824 Paschal I, Italian Pope (817-24), dies
- 867 Theodora, the Saint, beauty queen/empress of Byzantine, dies
- 1141 Hugo of St-Victor, philosopher/theologist/mystic, dies
- 1160 Minamoto no Yoshitomo, Japanese general (b. 1123)
- 1503 Elizabeth of York, Queen Consort of England and wife of King Henry VII, dies on 38th birthday
- 1511 Henry, Duke of Cornwall, son of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, dies at 7 weeks
- 1543 Ahmed Gran, sultan of Adal, dies in battle at Wayna Daga
- 1626 Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician, dies at 77
René Descartes
1650 René Descartes, French philosopher "I think therefore I am", stops thinking due to pneumonia at 53
René Descartes
- 1685 David Teniers III, Flemish painter, dies at 46
- 1713 Jahandar Shah, Mughal emperor of India (b. 1664)
- 1755 Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, Italian archaeologist (b. 1675)
- 1763 William Shenstone, English poet, dies at 48
- 1829 Alexandr Griboyedov, Russian playwright (b. 1795)
- 1841 J H Ferdinand Olivier, German painter, dies at 55
- 1862 Elizabeth Siddal, British poet and artist (b. 1829)
- 1868 Leon Foucault, discovers 1st physical proof of Earth's rotation, dies at 48
- 1870 Jacob de Kempenaer, Dutch lawyer and Minister of Internal Affairs (1848-49), dies at 76
- 1878 Gideon Welles, 24th U.S. secretary of the navy under presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, dies at 75
- 1879 Honore Daumier, caricaturist/painter, dies
- 1879 Willem Josephus van Zeggelen, Dutch author, dies at 67
- 1888 William Kelly, American inventor (pneumatic process of steelmaking), dies at 76
- 1899 George Morgan, 1st English motorist to die in an motor accident, dies
- 1901 Milan I, King of Serbia, dies at 56
- 1907 Peter J Savelberg, Dutch Limbourg monastery founder, dies at 80
- 1911 Albert Salomon Anselm von Rothschild, Austrian banker and member of the Rothschild banking family of Austria, dies at 66
- 1917 Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian physician (b. 1872)
- 1918 Taytu Betul, Empress of Ethiopia (1889-13) and founder of Addis Ababa, dies at 66 or 67
- 1922 Gerardus J P Bolland, Dutch philosopher (Bolland Society), dies at 67
- 1923 Wilhelm Killing, German mathematician (b. 1847)
- 1931 Charles Algernon Parsons, British inventor (steam turbine), dies at 76
- 1940 John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Gov-Gen of Canada (1935-40), dies
- 1941 Rudolf Hilferding, German economist/Min of Finance (SPD), suicide at 63
- 1945 J S H Lokerman, Dutch resistance fighter, dies in Neugengamme
- 1948 Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director (Battleship Potemkin), dies at 50
- 1954 Adolph M. Christianson, justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court (b. 1877)
- 1958 Ernest Jones, British psychonanalyst (b. 1879)
- 1961 Patrice Lumumba, Congolese revolutionary, 1st prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, assassinated by the Belgian government at 34
- 1961 Kate Carew [Mary Williams], American caricaturist, dies at 91
Sylvia Plath
1963 Sylvia Plath, American poet/novelist (Ariel), commits suicide at 30
Sylvia Plath
- 1971 Whitney Young Jr, National Urban League director, drowns in Nigeria
- 1972 Jan Wils, architect (Olympian Stadium, Amsterdam), dies at 80
- 1973 J. Hans D. Jensen, German physicist (Nobel prize 1963), dies at 65
- 1975 Richard Ratsimandrava, Malagasy soldier and statesman, assassinated (b. 1931)
- 1976 Alexander Lippisch, German scientist and pioneer of aerodynamics, dies at 81
- 1976 Frank Arnau [Heinrich Schmitt], German crime fiction writer, dies at 81
- 1977 Louis J M Beel, Dutch premier (1946-48, 58-59), dies at 74
- 1977 Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indian leader and 5th President of India (1974-77), dies of a heart attack at 72
- 1978 James B. Conant, American chemist and President of Harvard University, dies at 84
- 1978 Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist and poet (Trade Wind-Nobel 1974), dies at 73
- 1985 Ben Abruzzo, American businessman and balloonist (b. 1930)
- 1986 Frank [Patrick] Herbert, American sci-fi author (Dune), dies at 65
- 1986 Evelio Javier, Filipino politician, lawyer, and civil servant (b. 1942)
- 1987 Sadequain, famous Pakistani painter and artist. (b. 1930)
- 1991 Oscar Nitzchke, German architect (Alcoa building, Centre Pompidou), dies at 90
- 1991 Robert W. Holley, American biochemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1922)
- 1991 Ajla Rachmanova, Russian-Austrian author (Students), dies at 92
- 1993 George A Stephen, inventor (Weber Kettle Grill), dies at 71
- 1994 Vincent Wigglesworth, British entomologist (Metamorphosis hormones), dies at 94
- 1996 Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet, commits suicide at 65
- 1996 Bob Shaw, Irish sci-fi writer, dies of cancer at 64
- 1996 Kebby Musokotwane, prime minister of Zambia in (1985-89), dies
- 2000 Roger Vadim, French director (b. 1928)
- 2000 Jacqueline Auriol, French aviator, dies at 82
- 2004 Shirley Strickland, Australian athlete (b. 1925)
- 2004 Ryszard Kukliński, Polish colonel and Cold War spy for NATO, dies at 73
- 2005 Jack L. Chalker, American author (b. 1944)
Peter Benchley
2006 Peter Benchley, American author, dies at 65
Peter Benchley
- 2007 Marianne Fredriksson, Swedish author (Simon and the Oaks), dies at 79
- 2008 Tom Lantos, member of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1928)
- 2008 Frank Piasecki, American aeronautical designer and helicopter aviation pioneer, dies at 88
- 2009 Willem J Kolff, Dutch-American Physician and Biomedical Engineer (artificial kidney, hemodialysis), dies at 97
- 2010 [Lee} Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, commits suicide at 40