- 840 Eginhard, French nobleman/biographer (Vita Karoli Magni), dies at 69
- 968 Matilda of Ringelheim, German Queen (c. 895)
- 1272 Enzo of Sardinia, illegitimate son of Emperor Frederick II von Hohenstaufen who appointed him King of Sardinia (1238-49) and poet, dies in prison
- 1298 Petrus Johannis Olivi, French theologian and philosopher, dies (b. 1248)
- 1457 Jingtai, 7th Emperor of the Ming dynasty of China (1449-57), dies at 28
- 1471 Thomas Malory, English writer (Le Morte d'Arthur), dies at 55
- 1490 Charles I, Duke of Savoy (1482-90), dies at 21
- 1559 Jacques d'Auchy, Walloon baptist merchant, executed
- 1571 John Sigismund Zápolya, King of Hungary as John II (1540-51, 1556-70) who ruled parts of the Kingdom of Hungary with support from the Ottomans, dies at 30
- 1573 Claude of Lorraine, French Duke of Aumale, dies in the siege of La Rochelle at 47
- 1590 Philip van Egmont, general/prince of Gavere, dies in battle at Ivry at 30
- 1612 Philip Galle, Flemish engraver, dies at about 74
Frederick Henry (1584-1647)
Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel (1625-47), dies at 63
- 1648 Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English general, dies at 63
- 1680 René Le Bossu, French critic (b. 1631)
- 1696 Jean Domat, French jurist, dies at 70
- 1698 Claes Rålamb, Swedish statesman, dies at 75
- 1748 George Wade, British military leader (b. 1673)
- 1757 John Byng, English admiral executed by firing squad at 52 for neglecting his duty in defence of Minorca, dies at 53
- 1791 Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and Bible commentator (b. 1725)
- 1803 Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German poet (Der Messias), dies at 78
- 1805 Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki, Russian general (b. 1753)
Augustus FitzRoy (1735-1811)
3rd Duke of Grafton, British Prime Minister (1768-70), dies at 75
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
German philosopher (Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital), dies at 64
- 1884 Quintino Sella, Italian statesman (b. 1827)
- 1899 Emile Erckmann, French writer (Waterloo), dies at 76
- 1902 Daniel H. Reynolds, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 69
- 1903 Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch, Dutch landscape painter, dies at 88
- 1918 Lucretia Garfield, First Lady of the United States as the wife of James A. Garfield (1881), dies at 85
- 1919 Roger Atkinson Pryor, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 90
- 1932 Frederick Jackson Turner, American historian (known for his "frontier thesis"), dies at 70
George Eastman (1854-1932)
American inventor (Kodak camera and founder of the Eastman Kodak Company), shoots himself in the heart at 77
- 1933 Balto, Siberian husky dog who led the sled team delivering diphtheria antitoxin from to Nenana, Alaska to Nome, Alaska in 1925, dies at 14
- 1943 Pieter Cornelis Boutens, Dutch poet, classicist, and mystic (Voices, Carmina), dies at 73
- 1949 John Callan O'Laughlin, American political and military figure and journalist (b. 1873)
- 1953 Klement Gottwald, Czech Communist politician, Premier and President of Czechoslovakia, dies at 56
- 1957 Evagoras Pallikarides, Cypriot freedom fighter (b. 1938)
- 1967 Paul Faucher, French author and pioneering children's publisher (Père Castor), dies at 68
- 1968 Erwin Panofsky, German-American art historian and iconologist, dies
- 1969 Ben Shahn, Lithuanian-American painter (1964 Arts & Letters), dies at 70
- 1970 Fritz Perls, German-American psychiatrist and psychotherapist (father of Gestalt therapy), dies at 76
- 1973 Howard Aiken, American computing pioneer (Harvard Mark I computer), dies at 73
- 1973 Murat B. "Chic" Young, US comic strip artist (Blondie), dies at 72
- 1976 Martha Saalfeldt German writer and poet, dies at 78
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977)
American civil rights activist (Freedom Summer, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), dies of breast cancer at 59
- 1980 Mohammad Hatta, Indonesian politician (b. 1902)
- 1984 Aurelio Peccei, Italian industrialist and chairman (Club of Rome), dies at 75
- 1989 Edward Abbey American environmental author (The Monkey Wrench Gang), dies after surgery at 62
- 1989 Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, dies at 96
- 1991 Jef Houthuys, Belgian union leader (ACV, 1968-87), dies at 68
- 1991 Margery Sharp, English children's author (The Rescuers), dies at 86
- 1992 Steven Brian Pennell, 1st person to be executed in Delaware in 45 years, dies at 34
- 1994 Abdelkader Alloula, Algerian playwright, assassinated by GIA terrorists (b. 1939)
- 1994 Sally Mary Caroline Belfrage, American writer and journalist, dies at 57
- 1995 Jo van Marle, Dutch football official (Chairman of the KNVB, 1980-93), dies at 70
John Peters Humphrey (1905-1995)
Canadian jurist and human rights advocate (Universal Declaration on Human Rights), dies at 89
- 1995 William Fowler, American nuclear scientist and astrophysicist (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1983), dies at 83
- 1997 Fred Zinnemann Austrian-American director (From Here to Eternity, Julia), dies of a heart attack at 89
- 1997 John Curtis Jr, American executive (Luby's Cafe), commits suicide at 49
- 1997 Jurek Becker, Polish-born German writer (Jacob the Liar), dies at 59
- 1997 Lucy Kroll, American talent agent, dies at 87
- 2002 Cherry Wilder [Cherry Barbara Grimm], New Zealand sci-fi author (Nearest Fire), dies at 71
- 2003 Jack Goldstein, Canadian-born artist (b. 1945)
- 2003 Jean-Luc Lagardère, French publisher (b. 1928)
- 2006 Ann Calvello, American roller derby queen, dies at 76
- 2006 Lennart Meri, Estonian politician, writer and director (President of Estonia 1992-2001), dies at 76
- 2007 Lucie Aubrac, French history teacher and member of the French Resistance (b. 1912)
- 2008 Chiara Lubich, Italian Catholic activist and leader and foundress of the Focolare (b. 1920)
- 2009 Altovise Davis [née Gore], American entertainer, best known as Sammy Davis, Jr.'s third wife, dies from stroke complications at 65
- 2010 (Donald) "Der" Scutt, American architect (Grand Hyatt; One Astor Place; Trump Tower), dies of liver failure at 75
- 2012 Censu Tabone, President of Malta (1989-94), dies at 98
- 2013 Mirja Hietamies, Finnish skier, dies at 82
- 2014 Tony Benn, British politcian, Minister of Technology and President of the Stop the War Coalition, dies aged 88
- 2015 Valentin Rasputin, Russian writer (To Live and Remember), dies at 77
- 2018 Adrián Lamo, American threat analyst and hacker (NYT, Yahoo!, Microsoft) who reported Chelsea Manning to the FBI, dies at 37
- 2018 Emily Nasrallah, Lebanese writer and women's rights activist (Birds of September, A Cat’s Diary), dies at 86
- 2018 Marielle Franco, Brazilian politician and human rights activist, assassinated at 38
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018)
English physicist (Black Holes & Baby Universes), dies at 76