- 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 (c. 1723-1770)
possible slave, is 1st of 5 killed during Boston Massacre at beginning of the American Revolution
Alessandro Volta (1745-1827)
Italian physicist and inventor of the 1st battery, dies at 82
- 1827 Pierre-Simon 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 Henry Rawlinson, British army officer and oriental scholar (major role in deciphering cuneiform), dies at 84
- 1895 Nikolai Leskow, writer, dies at 64
- 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 (1878-1953)
Dictator and General Secretary of the Soviet Union (1922-53), dies of a stroke at 73
- 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 Ecker, Curacaos-American bacteriologist (Rees-Ecker method for platelet counting), dies at 79
- 1967 Georges Vanier, French Canadian soldier and 19th Governor General of Canada, dies at 78
Mohammad Mosaddegh (1882-1967)
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
- 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 Lord Benson [Henry Alexander], British accountant (Coopers & Lybrand), dies at 85
- 1995 Peter John Norton, naval diplomat/artist, dies at 82
- 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 (1935-2006)
American mafia hit man, dies at 70
Hugo Chávez (1954-2013)
President of Venezuela (1998-2013), dies from respiratory failure at 58
- 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 Hayden White, American "literary criticism" historian (Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe), dies at 89
- 2018 Helmut Maucher, German businessman, CEO of Nestlé (1990-97), dies at 90
- 2018 Trevor Baylis, English inventor of the wind-up radio, dies of Crohn's disease at 80
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning