- 741 Leo III de Isaurier, Byzantine Emperor (717-41), dies
- 1234 Emperor Chūkyō, 85th emperor of Japan, dies at 15
- 1291 Alfonso III, King of Aragon (1285-91), dies
- 1464 Rogier van der Weyden, Flemish painter, dies at 65
- 1580 Juliana van Stolberg, Engraver of Nassau, dies
- 1588 Anna van Nassau, daughter of William the Silent and his second wife, Anna of Saxony and wife of William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, dies at 24
- 1588 Robert Crowley, English printer and poet
Piet Heyn (1577-1629)
Dutch privateer who captured a Spanish silver fleet and admiral who became a folk hero, shot by cannonball during a skirmish with privateers at 51
Jeanne Mance (1606-1673)
French-Canadian settler who founded the first hospital in North America (Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal), dies at 66
- 1704 Thomas "Tom" Brown, English translator and writer of satire (Amusements Serious and Comical, calculated for the Meridian of London), dies at 41
- 1742 John Aislabie, English politician (Chancellor of the Exchequer), dies at 71
- 1749 Ambrose Philips, English poet (b. 1674)
- 1772 Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-Austrian physician (Austrian Empress Maria Theresa's personal physician), dies at 72
- 1772 Johann Ulrich von Cramer, German judge and philosopher, dies at 65
- 1788 Adam Gib, Scottish religious leader, dies at 74
- 1794 James Murray, British military officer and administrator (b. 1721)
- 1815 Guillaume Philibert Duhesme, French general (b. 1766)
- 1815 Thomas Picton, British general (killed in battle) (b. 1758)
- 1817 Joannes Siberg, Dutch Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (1801-05), dies
- 1824 Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1790-1801), dies at 55
- 1835 William Cobbett, English journalist and author, dies at 72
- 1853 Branko Radicevic, Serbian poet (1st Serbian Uprising), dies
- 1858 Lakshmi Bai, Indian Queen of the princely state of Jhansi in North India and leader of the Indian Mutiny (1857-58), dies at 23
- 1866 Jacob Abels, Dutch painter, dies at 62
- 1871 George Grote, British historian (History of Greece), dies at 76
- 1880 John Sutter, German-Swiss-American colonist who established Sutter's Fort in what is now Sacramento and where gold was first discovered in California, dies at 77
- 1884 Juan Bautista Alberdi, Argentine political theorist and writer (Crime of War), dies at 74
- 1886 Joannes Paredis, Belgian Bishop of Roermond, dies at 90
- 1902 Samuel Butler, English author (Erewhom, Way of All Flesh), dies at 66
- 1916 Helmuth von Moltke, German chief general of staff, dies at 67
- 1916 Max Immelmann, German pilot (1st flying ace of WWI), shot down over Northern France at 25
- 1917 Eufemio Zapata, Mexican revolutionary and brother of Emiliano Zapata, killed at 44 by Sidronio Comancho after Zapata became drunk and beat and insulted his father
- 1921 Eduardo Acevedo Díaz, Uruguayan writer (Nativa, Lanza y Sable), dies at 70
- 1921 Herman Baccaert, Flemish philological and writer (Kantkennis), dies at 37
- 1922 John Kapteyn, Dutch astronomer (studied the Milky Way), dies at 71
- 1925 Robert M. La Follette, American lawyer and presidential candidate (Progressive), dies at 70
- 1926 Olga Constantinovna of Russia, Queen consort of the Hellenes as the wife of King George I, dies at 74
Roald Amundsen (1872-1928)
Norwegian polar explorer who led the 1st expedition to the South Pole, dies in a plane crash while flying on a rescue mission in the Arctic at 55
Maxim Gorky (1868-1936)
Russian playwright and author (Mother and The Lower Depths), dies at 68
- 1937 Gaston Doumergue, 60th Prime Minister of France (1913-14 and 1934) and 1st protestant French President (1924-31), dies at 73
- 1942 Adolf Opalka, Czech resistance fighter, shot down
- 1942 John Kubris, Czech resistance fighter, killed Heydrich, dies at 28
- 1945 Florence Bascom, American geologist and 1st woman hired by the US Geological Survey, dies at 82
- 1945 Harold C. Roberts, American commandant 22nd regiment marines (3 Navy Crosses), dies in battle during Okinawa campaign at 46
- 1945 Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr, American Lieutenant General of 10th Army, dies in action during Battle of Okinawa at 58
- 1947 Shigematsu Sakaibara, Japanese admiral, hanged for war crimes at 48
- 1948 Edward Brooker, British politician (interim Premier of Tasmania, Dec 1947-Feb 1948), dies of a pulmonary edema at 57
- 1954 Albert Patterson, American politician and attorney, asassinated in Phenix City, Alabama, shortly after his designation as the Democratic candidate for Alabama Attorney General, at 60
- 1971 Paul Karrer, Swiss organic chemist (Nobel 1937), dies at 82
- 1973 Willem Vogt, Dutch radio pioneer/founder AVRO, dies at 84
Georgy Zhukov (1896-1974)
Russian deputy commander-in-chief of the Red Army during WWII (Battles of Stalingrad, Kursk and Berlin) and Minister of Defense, dies at 77
- 1974 Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian writer (The Man Who Counted), dies at 79
- 1975 Faisal Ibn Mussed Abdul Aziz, Saudi prince, beheaded in Riyadh shopping center parking lot for killing his uncle the king
- 1978 Walter C. Alvarez, American physician (b. 1884)
- 1982 Djuna Barnes, American author (Nightwood), dies at 80
- 1982 John Cheever, American writer (Wapshot Chronicle, Pulitzer), dies at 70
- 1982 Roberto Calvi, Italian banker and director (Banco Ambrosiano), hangs himself at 62
- 1984 Alan Berg, American radio talk show host, dies after being shot by White Nationalists at 50
- 1985 Paul Colin, French poster designer, dies at 92
- 1986 Frances Scott Fitzgerald, Daughter of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre. (b. 1921)
- 1987 Bruce Marshall, Scottish writer, dies at 87
- 1989 I. F. Stone, American journalist (b. 1907)
- 1992 Mordecai Ardon, one of Israel's greatest painters (b. 1896)
- 1992 Peter Allen, entertainer (Legs Diamond), dies of aids at 48
- 1994 Jack Harkness, British rose grower (R. Harkness & Co. Ltd), dies at 75
- 1995 Charles Martin, cartoonist, dies at 85
- 1997 Lev Kopelev, Russian writer and dissident (b. 1912)
- 2005 J.J. Pickle, American politician (Rep-D-Texas, 1963-95), dies at 91
- 2005 Manuel Sadosky, Argentine mathematician (b. 1914)
- 2008 Tasha Tudor, American illustrator and children's books author (Pumpkin Moonshine, Corgiville Fair), dies at 92
José Saramago (1922-2010)
Portuguese writer, novelist (Blindness, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ) and Nobel laureate, dies of leukemia at 87
- 2011 Frederick Chiluba, 2nd President of Zambia (1991-2001), dies at 68
- 2011 Yelena Bonner, Soviet dissident and wife of Andre Sakharov, dies of heart failure at 88 [1]
- 2015 Ralph J Roberts, American businessman and founder of Comcast, dies of natural causes at 95
- 2016 Paul Cox, Dutch-born Australian director (Lonely Hearts), dies at 76
- 2017 Hope Ryden, American wildlife activist and photographer, dies at 87
- 2017 Lord Joffe [Joel Goodman Joffe], South African-born British lawyer (instructing solicitor for Nelson Mandela’s defence team) and businessman, dies at 85