- 661 Death of Ali [Ali ibn Abu Talib], 4th Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate (656-61) and 1st Shia Imam (632-661), assassinated by Ibn Muljam a Kharijite at around 59
- 1119 Pope Gelasius II [Giovannis Caetani], in office from 1118-19, dies at about 57 [birth details murky]
- 1342 Louis I, Duke of Bourbon (b. 1279)
- 1559 Thomas Pope, English politician, benefactor, dies at about 52
- 1601 Louise de Lorraine, Queen consort of France (1575-89), dies at 47
- 1608 Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg, dies at 50
- 1647 Francis Meres, English writer (b. 1565)
- 1663 Robert Sanderson, Bishop of Lincoln (1660-63), dies
- 1676 Tsar Alexis I of Russia [Aleksey Mikhaylovich], Tsar of Russia (1645-76), dies at 46
- 1678 Jeronimo Lobo, Portuguese Jesuit missionary (b. 1593)
- 1696 Ivan V, co-tsar of Russia (1682-89), dies at 29
- 1706 Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and courtier (b. 1638)
- 1737 George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, British soldier (b. 1666)
- 1743 Andre Hercule Fleury, French cardinal (1726-43), dies
- 1763 Louis Racine, French poet (La Religion), dies at 70
- 1814 Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (Wissenschaftslehre), dies at 51
George III (1738-1820)
King of Great Britain and Ireland and King/Elector of Hanover (1760-1820), dies after years of mental illness at 81
- 1824 Louise of Stolberg-Gedern, Countess of Albany, wife of Bonnie Prince Charlie, dies at 71
- 1829 Paul-François-Jean-Nicolas, French politician of the French Revolution, dies at 73
- 1841 Juan Lovera, Venezuelan artist, dies at 64
- 1859 Seth Thomas, American manufacturer and pioneer in the mass production of clocks, dies at 73
- 1859 William Cranch Bond, American astronomer (codiscovered Hyperion), dies at 69
- 1870 Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, dies at 72
- 1871 Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé, French Canadian writer, dies at 84
- 1879 Antonio Benedetto Antonucci, Italian cardinal and diplomat, dies at 80
- 1888 Edward Lear, English poet and author (famous for his nonsense poems - The Owl and the Pussycat), dies at 75
- 1897 John E. Smith, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), dies at 80
- 1899 Alfred Sisley, French impressionist painter, dies at 59
- 1899 Robert Fruin, Dutch historian (80 year war), dies at 75
- 1906 Christian IX, King of Denmark (1893-1906), dies at 87
- 1910 Édouard Rod, French-Swiss writer (Mishel' Tes'e), dies at 52
- 1912 Hermann Bang, Danish writer, dies at 54
- 1917 Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer, British diplomat (Consul-General in Egypt, 1883-1907), and writer, dies at 75
Douglas Haig (1861-1928)
British fieldmarshal (Sudan, WWI) nicknamed "Butcher Haig" due to mass casualties under his command during the Battle of the Somme, dies from a heart attack at 66
- 1933 Sara Teasdale, American lyric poet, commits suicide at 48
- 1934 Fritz Haber, German physicist and chemist (Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1918 for process to synthesize ammonia), dies at 65
- 1941 Ioannis Metaxas, Greek general and dictator (1936-41), commits suicide at 69
- 1942 Bion J. Arnold, American electrical engineer and inventor (railroad electrification), dies at 80
- 1944 William Allen White, American journalist (Emporia Gazette), dies at 75
- 1946 Harry Hopkins, American statesman and presidential advisor (US Secretary of Commerce, Loan & Lease law), dies at 55
- 1948 Tomislav II of Croatia, 4th Duke of Aosta, Italian aristocrat (b. 1900)
- 1950 Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1885)
- 1951 James Bridie [Osborne Henry Mavor], Scottish dramatist, dies at 63
- 1955 Hans Hedtoft, 14th Prime Minister of Denmark (1947-50, 53-55), dies at 51
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)
American newspaperman and critic (Prejudices, Smart Set), dies at 75
Robert Frost (1874-1963)
American poet (New Hampshire, 4 Pulitzers), dies at 88
- 1966 Josef Winckler, German dentist and writer (Tolle Bomberg), dies at 84
- 1970 B. H. Liddell Hart, English military historian and publicist (The Rommel Papers), dies at 74
- 1976 Jesse Fuller, American one-man blues band ("San Francisco Bay Blues"), dies of heart disease at 80
- 1988 James R. Killian Jr., 10th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1948-59), dies at 83
- 1991 Yasushi Inoue, Japanese writer (The Bullfight), dies at 83
- 1993 Hank Werba [Herman Werblowski], American journalist (Variety), dies at 79
- 1995 Guy Clutton-Brock, English social worker (declared a national hero in Zimbabwe), dies at 88
- 1995 Ray Cecil, British architect, dies at 69
- 1996 Jack Sutherland, Scottish journalist, dies at 79
- 1996 John Terence Reese, British bridge master, dies at 82
- 1997 Eric Schneider, American murderer of 2 teachers, executed in MO at 35
- 1997 Louis Pauwels, French writer and editor, dies at 76
- 1997 Osvaldo Soriano, Argentine writer and journalist, dies of cancer at 54
- 1998 Joseph Alioto, American politician (Mayor of San Francisco 1968-76), dies at 81
- 2002 James Marjoribanks, British ambassador to the European Economic Community, dies at 90
- 2003 Frank Moss, American politician (Senator(D) Utah 1959-77), dies at 91
- 2004 Janet Frame, New Zealand writer (An Angel at My Table, Care, Owls Do Cry), dies at 79
- 2004 M. M. Kaye, British writer (The Far Pavilions), dies at 95
- 2007 Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim, Iraqi extremist leader (b. 1970)
- 2008 Raymond Jacobs, American Marine Corp sergeant (one of the WWII Iwo Jima flag planters), and news journalist, dies at 82
- 2009 Alfred Mabbs, British Archivist (Public Records Office), dies at 87
- 2009 Hélio Gracie, Brazilian martial artist, co-founder and 'Godfather' of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, dies at 95
- 2012 Goody Petronelli, American boxing trainer and manager, dies at 88
- 2012 Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Italian President (1992-99), dies at 93
- 2013 Frank Hahn, British economist, dies at 87
- 2014 (Ildefonso Paez) "IP" Santos, Filipino landscape architect (National Artist of the Philippines in Architecture, 2006), dies of heart failure at 84
- 2014 Ashutosh Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader and founder of the Divine Light Awakening Mission, claims 30 million followers, dies at 68
- 2015 Colleen McCullough, Australian author (Tim, Indecent Obsession, The Thorn Birds), dies at 77