- 779 Walburgis, Anglo-Saxon abbess and saint (Walpurgis Night), dies
- 1246 Dafydd ap Llywelyn, King of Gwynedd, 1st to take name Prince of Wales, dies at about 33
- 1247 Hendrik IV, duke of Limburg/earl of Bergen (1226-47), dies
- 1495 Cem [Djem] Sultan, son of Turkish sultan Mehmed II, dies at 35
- 1522 William Lilye, English classical scholar
- 1536 Berthold Haller, German-born reformer (b. 1492)
- 1553 Hirate Masahide, Japanese diplomat and tutor of Oda Nobunaga, commits suicide (b. 1492)
- 1558 Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal and France, dies at 59
- 1601 Robert Devereux, English 2nd Earl of Essex, beheaded at the Tower of London at 35
- 1602 Everard van Reyd, Dutch historian, dies at about 51
Albrecht von Wallenstein (1583-1634)
Bohemian-German general and statesman (Thirty Years' War), assassinated at 50
Christopher Wren (1632-1723)
English astronomer and architect (St. Paul's Cathedral), dies at 90
- 1798 Louis-Jules Mancini-Mazarini, Duc de Nivernais, French diplomat and writer (b. 1716)
- 1805 Thomas Pownall, British colonial statesman (b. 1722)
- 1826 Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen, Baltic German courtier, general and military governor of St Petersburg, dies at 80
- 1826 Peter von der Pahlen, Baltic courtier and military governor of St Petersburg, dies at 80
- 1841 Philip Pendleton Barbour, American politician and U.S. Supreme Court justice, dies at 57
- 1850 Daoguang, 8th Emperor of Qing Dynasty, dies at 67
- 1860 Chauncey Allen Goodrich, American clergyman, educator, and lexicographer (b. 1790)
- 1865 Otto Ludwig, German writer (Zwischen Himmel und Erde), dies at 47
- 1878 Townsend Harris, American diplomat (1st Western consul to reside in Japan), dies at 73
- 1899 Paul Julius von Reuter, German-born founder of Reuters news agency, dies at 82
- 1912 Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1905-12), dies at 59
- 1914 John Tenniel, British illustrator (Alice in Wonderland), dies at 93
- 1915 George Mimot, physician (Nobel-1934), dies
- 1920 Prince Louis of Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein nobleman and politician, dies at 73
- 1922 Henri Désiré Landru, French sex murderer, guillotined at 52
- 1940 Mary Mills Patrick, American author and 1st President of Istanbul Woman's College, dies at 89
- 1945 Mário de Andrade, Brazilian writer, photographer and modernist, dies of a heart attack at 51
- 1947 Friedrich Paschen, German physicist (Paschen series), dies at 82
- 1950 George Minot, American physician (Nobel 1934 - introduction of a raw-liver diet in the treatment of pernicious anemia), dies at 64
Bugs Moran (1891-1957)
American gangster of the Prohibition-era, dies of lung cancer in prison at 65
- 1957 Mark Aldanov, Russian-French writer and critic (Novy Zhurnal), dies at 70
- 1960 Everhardus Jacobus van Romondt, Dutch Antillean minister, dies at 51
- 1962 Wilhelm Pessler, German sociologist, dies at 81
- 1964 Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian-American sculptor and water colors painter, dies at 76
- 1964 Grace Metalious, American writer (b. 1924)
- 1968 Camille Huysmans, Belgian premier (1946-47), dies at 96
- 1969 Jan Zajic, Czech student, who died setting himself alight to protest the Communist takeover at 18
- 1970 Mark Rothko [Marcus Rothkovich], Latvian-American abstract expressionist (Green on Blue), takes his own life at 66
- 1971 Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist, worked with colloids (Nobel 1926), dies at 86
Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975)
American religious leader, and Black separatist (Nation of Islam, 1934-75), dies of heart failure at 77
Tennessee Williams (1911-1983)
American playwright (A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), dies at 71
- 1991 Mhlabunzima Maphumulo, South African Kwazulu politician (first President of Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (CONTRALESA)), dies at 41
- 1992 Ollie O'Toole, dies after long illness at 79
- 1994 Baruch Goldstein, physician/murderer (53 in mosque), lynched at 42
- 1994 Yann Piat, French MP (FN/PR), murdered at 44
- 1995 Jack Clayton, British director (Great Gatsby), dies at 73
- 1995 Oh Jin Woo, Korean minister of defense, dies
- 1996 Marion Farouk Political scientist-Sluglett, dies at 59
- 1996 Vehbi Koc, indistrialist/philanthropist, dies at 94
- 1997 Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky, Russian writer and critic, dies at 71
- 1998 B.A. Santamaria, Australian political activist and journalist, dies at 82
- 1998 Luigi Veronesi, Italian abstract artist (Campo Grafico), dies at 90
- 1998 Umberto Mastroianni, Italian sculptor, dies at 87
- 1999 Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist (AEC, Plutonium, Nobel 1951), dies at 86
- 2003 Tom O'Higgins, Irish Chief Justice (b. 1916)
- 2004 Donald Hings, Canadian inventor (b. 1907)
- 2005 Peter Benenson, Britsh founder of Amnesty International, dies at 83
- 2007 William R. Anderson, CO USS Nautilus submarine, US Congressman (b. 1921)
- 2008 Hans Raj Khanna, Judge of the Supreme Court of India (b. 1912)
- 2009 Ivan Cameron, son of David Cameron UK politician
- 2009 Philip José Farmer, American sci-fi writer (Riverworld), dies aged 91
- 2010 İhsan Doğramacı, Turkish paediatrician, academic and the founder of YÖK, dies at 94
- 2012 Lynn Compton, American jurist and commissioned officer, dies from heart attack at 90
- 2013 C Everett Koop, American pediatric surgeon, health administrator and 13th US Surgeon General (1982-89), dies at 96
- 2017 Boaz Vaadia, Israeli-born sculptor who worked in America, dies of cancer at 65
- 2018 Penny Vincenzi [Hannaford], British novelist (An Absolute Scandal, Spoils of Time trilogy), dies at 78
Hosni Mubarak (1928-2020)
Egyptian president (1981-2011) who was ousted during the Arab spring, dies at 91