- 254 St Lucius I, Pope and Bishop of Rome (253-54), dies
- 1291 Sa'ad al'Da'ulah, Jewish grand vizier of Persia, assassinated
- 1534 Antonio da Correggio, Italian painter (b. 1489)
- 1539 Nuno da Cunha, Portuguese governor in India (b. 1487)
- 1574 Philip of Saint-Aldegonde, Flem viceroy Holland/Zealand/Utrecht, dies
- 1576 Don Luis de Requesens y Zuniga, viceroy of Neth (1573-76), dies at 70
- 1605 Clement VIII [Ippolito Aldofireini], Pope (1592-1605), dies at 69
- 1611 Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese warlord and samurai (b. 1533)
- 1622 Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza (1592-1622), dies at 52
- 1644 Louise Juliana of Nassau, Regent of Bohemia by marriage to Frederick IV, Elector Palatine, dies at 73
- 1695 Henry Wharton, English writer (b. 1664)
- 1726 Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, English politician
Crispus Attucks
1770 Crispus Attucks, possible slave, is 1st of 5 killed during Boston Massacre at beginning of the American Revolution
Crispus Attucks
Alessandro Volta
1827 Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist and inventor of the 1st battery, dies at 82
Alessandro Volta
- 1827 Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician (b. 1749)
- 1827 Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace, French mathematician, astronomer and physicist (stability of the solar system), dies at 77
- 1829 John Adams, last surviving HMS Bounty mutineer (b. 1766)
- 1849 David Scott, Scottish painter (b. 1806)
- 1853 August Kestner, German art collector and diplomat, dies at 75
- 1893 Hippolyte Taine, French philosopher and historian (Voyage in Italy), dies at 64
- 1895 Nikolai Leskow, writer, dies at 64
- 1895 Henry Rawlinson, British army officer and oriental scholar (major role in deciphering cuneiform), dies at 84
- 1903 George Francis Robert Henderson, British soldier (b. 1854)
- 1904 Alfred von Waldersee, Prussian field marshal and Chief of the German General Staff, dies at 71
- 1907 Friedrich Blass, German classical scholar (b. 1843)
- 1926 Clément Ader, French aviation pioneer (b. 1841)
- 1927 Franz Mertens, German mathematician (b. 1840)
- 1929 David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-American automobile pioneer (Buick Motor Company), dies at 74
- 1931 Fr. Arthur Tooth SSC, Anglican Clergyman prosecuted and imprisoned for ritualist activities, dies ta 91
- 1932 Takuma Dan, Japanese baron/financier/industrial, murdered
- 1940 Cai Yuanpei, Chinese educator (b. 1868)
- 1941 Ludwig Quidde, German historian/politician (Nobel 1927), dies at 82
- 1944 Max Jacob, French poet and writer, dies in nazi concentration camp at 67
- 1945 Lena Baker, American murderer, convicted of capital murder of her employer, Ernest Knight, dies at 44
- 1950 Edgar Lee Masters, American poet and novelist (Spoon River Anthology), dies at 81
- 1950 Roman Shukhevych, Ukrainian nationalist and military leader, dies at 42
Joseph Stalin
1953 Joseph Stalin, dictator and leader of the Soviet Union (1922-53), dies of a stroke at 73
Joseph Stalin
- 1954 Julian Coolidge, American mathematician (Study-Segre school), dies at 80
- 1955 Antanas Merkys, President of Lithuania (b. 1888)
- 1962 Anne C Veth, Dutch cartoonist/art critic, dies at 82
- 1965 Chen Cheng, Chinese politician (b. 1897)
- 1966 Anna Achmatova, Ukrainian poet, dies at 76
- 1966 Enrique E Ecker, Curacaos/US bacteriologist, dies at 79
Mohammad Mosaddegh
1967 Mohammad Mosaddegh, Prime Minister of Iran (1951-53) who was overthrown in a coup d'état aided by the CIA and the British SIS, dies at 84
Mohammad Mosaddegh
- 1967 Georges Vanier, French-Canadian soldier and 19th Governor General of Canada, dies at 78
- 1974 Sol Hurok, American theatrical impresario, dies at 85
- 1980 Winifred Wagner-William, German World Festival organizer, dies at 82
- 1982 Clifford P. Case, American lawyer and politician, U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey, dies at 77
- 1990 Gloria Carter Spann, US President Jimmy Carter's sister, dies of cancer at 63
- 1991 August de Schryver, Belgian politician/founder (CVP), dies at 92
- 1991 Trijntje Jansma-Boskma, oldest person in Netherland, dies at 109
- 1993 Diana Ochoa, dies after long illness at 80
- 1993 Peter Bierdrager, Dutch Fokker's-test pilot, dies in air crash
- 1994 Abdullah Al-Sallal, President of Yemen (1962-67), dies
- 1994 Paul Vincze, Jewish-Hungarian designer of coins and medal, dies at 86
- 1995 Peter John Norton, naval diplomat/artist, dies at 82
- 1995 Lord Benson [Henry Alexander], British accountant (Coopers & Lybrand), dies at 85
- 1996 Joshua Compston, English art impresario, dies at 26
- 1996 Khundaqar Mushtaq Amhed, president of Bangladesh (1975), dies
- 1996 Nicolás Cotoner, 23rd Marquess of Mondéjar, Spanish nobleman and military officer, dies at 90
- 1997 Samm Sinclair Baker, American diet author (b. 1909)
Richard Kuklinski
2006 Richard Kuklinski, American Mafia hit man, dies at 70
Richard Kuklinski
Hugo Chávez
2013 Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela, dies from respiratory failure at 58
Hugo Chávez
- 2014 Geoff Edwards, American game show host, dies from pneumonia at 83
- 2016 Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer (invented email and the @ sign), dies at 74
- 2017 Anthony Beilenson, American politician (Rep-D-California, 1977-97), dies at 84
- 2017 Leonard Manasseh, British architect (Rutherford School), dies at 100
- 2018 Trevor Baylis, English inventor of the wind-up radio, dies of Crohn's disease at 80
- 2018 Helmut Maucher, German businessman, CEO of Nestlé (1990-97), dies at 90
- 2018 Hayden White, American "literary criticism" historian (Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe), dies at 89