- 373 Athanasius, Greek early church Father and theologian (Patriarch of Alexandria (328-273) (b. 298)
- 649 Maruta of Tagrit, theology/1st mafriaan Jakobitische church, dies
- 907 Boris I, King of Bulgaria (852-889), saw Bulgaria converted to Christianity
- 1230 William de Braose, Lord of Abergavenny (b. 1197)
- 1250 Toeransa, sultan of Egypt, murdered
- 1300 Blanche of Artois, regent of Navarre (b. 1248)
- 1450 William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English military leader (b. 1396)
- 1459 Pierozzi Antoninus, Italian archbishop of Florence/saint, dies
- 1488 Jacob van Horne, Burgundy statesman, dies
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Italian painter, sculptor, scientist and visionary, dies at 67
- 1564 Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist (b. 1500)
- 1567 Marin Drzic, Croatian playwright (Dundo Maroje), dies
- 1667 George Wither, English writer (Abuses Stript and Whipt), dies at 78
- 1669 Pieter Jansz Post, master builder (Waag, Gouda), dies at 61
- 1683 Stjepan Gradić, Croatian philosopher and scientist (b. 1613)
- 1685 Adriaen van Ostade, Dutch painter, buried
- 1711 Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, English statesman (b. 1641)
- 1727 Paul Aler, French jesuit and poet (Gradus ad Parnassum), dies at 70
- 1736 Albert Seba, Amsterdam pharmacist, dies at 71
- 1810 Henry Jerome de Salis, English churchman, dies at 69
- 1818 Herman Willem Daendels, Dutch military leader (Brigadier-General) and politician (Governor-General of Dutch-East Indies, 1808-11; Governor-General of Dutch Gold Coast, 1811-15), dies at 55
- 1819 Mary Moser, English painter (Flowers Still Life), dies at 74
- 1844 William Beckford, British writer (Epsiodes of Vathek), dies at 83
- 1845 August Pauly, German writer (Real Encyclopedia), dies at 48
- 1849 David H Chasse, baron/gen (fought Napoleon at Waterloo), dies at 84
- 1857 Alfred de Musset, French poet (Lesson caprices Marianne), dies at 46
- 1859 Eliza Courtney, English illegitimate daughter of Charles Grey and Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, dies at 67
- 1898 Charles C. Walcutt, American general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, dies of an old war wound at 60
- 1915 Clara Immerwahr, German chemist, first woman to be awarded a doctorate in chemistry in Germany, dies at 44
- 1919 Gustav Landauer, German socialist, dies
- 1922 Richard T. Greener, African-American pioneering scholar and diplomat who was Harvard College's 1st Black graduate, University of South Carolina 1st Black professor and America's 1st Black diplomat to a white country, dies of natural causes at 78 [1]
- 1927 Ernest Starling, British physiologist (Frank–Starling law of the heart), dies at 61
- 1934 Sergey Lebedev, Russian chemist, inventor of first commercially viable, mass-produced polybutadiene synthetic rubber for tires, and synthetic motor oil for aircraft engines, dies at 59
- 1945 Ludwig Stumpfegger, German SS doctor and Hitler's personal surgeon commits suicide at 34
Martin Bormann (1900-1945)
German Nazi leader (Hitler's secretary, chief of the Party Chancellery), most likely commits suicide on this date at 44 [remains identified in 1972]
- 1947 Dorothea Binz, German Nazi war criminal (Ravensbrück concentration camp), executed by hanging for her crimes at 27
- 1947 William Moulton Marston, American psychologist (inventor of an early prototype of the lie detector) and writer (co-creator, Wonder Woman), dies at 53
Joseph McCarthy (1909-1957)
American Senator (Rep - Wisconsin) who claimed communists infiltrated the US government, dies of acute hepatitis, exacerbated by chronic alcohol abuse at 48
Nancy Astor (1879-1964)
American born British politician, 1st female MP in UK House of Commons, dies at 84
- 1968 Donald L Hall, American airplane designer (Spirit of St Louis), dies at 69
Franz von Papen (1879-1969)
German diplomat and chancellor (1932), dies at 89
- 1972 Hugo Hartung, writer, dies at 69
J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972)
American 1st Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1924-72), dies at 77
- 1979 Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1980 Alioune Diop, Senegalese writer & editor (Présence africaine), dies at 70
- 1983 Marius Duintjer, Dutch architect (Kolenkit), dies at 74
- 1984 Jack Barry, american game show emcee (Joker's Wild), dies of cardiac arrest at 66
- 1984 Piet van Aken, Flemish writer (Klinkaart, Het begeren), dies at 64
- 1985 Bridget D'Oyly Carte, British theater & hotel director, dies of lung cancer at 77
- 1985 Milton S Eisenhower, US diplomat, dies at 85
- 1989 Giuseppe Siri, Italian Catholic Cardinal (b. 1906)
- 1989 Veniamin Kaverin, Russian writer (b. 1902)
- 1990 Oleg Anatolyevich Yakovlev, Russian cosmonaut, dies at 49
- 1991 Hal Bell, dies at 65
- 1991 Leib Lensky, dies at 82
- 1991 Ronald McKie, Australian author (The Mango Tree), dies at 81
- 1992 Lee Salk, Russian-American child psychologist and author, dies of cardiac arrest at 65
- 1992 Wilbur Mills, American congressmen (Democrat-AZ: 1939-77), famous for his involvement in a sex scandal with Fanne Foxe, dies at 82
- 1993 Julio Gallo, American wine maker (Gallo), dies in a car accident at 83
- 1993 Will Weng, Sunday Times crossword puzzle editor (1968-78), dies at 86
- 1994 Louis Calaferte, writer (Requiem of the Innocents), dies at 65
- 1994 Wilson Charles Geoffrey Baldwin, hero, dies at 75
- 1996 Arthur Leslie Noel Douglas Houghton, civil servant, dies at 97
- 1996 Emile Habibi, Palestinian Israeli writer (The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist), dies at 73
- 1997 Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator and philosopher (critical pedagogy), dies at 75
- 1997 Queen Mother Moore, African-American civil rights activist and humanitarian, dies at 98
- 2002 W. T. Tutte, English-born codebreaker (b. 1917)
- 2004 John MacKenzie, Scottish-Canadian bagpiper and pipe-major, dies at 83 [1]
- 2005 Kenneth Bancroft Clark, American civil rights activist (Dark Ghetto) and first black president of the American Psychological Association, dies at 90
- 2005 Wee Kim Wee, 4th President of Singapore (b. 1915)
- 2006 Louis Rukeyser, American columnist (b. 1933)
- 2009 Marilyn French, American author (The Women's Room), dies at 79
Osama bin Laden (1957-2011)
Islamic militant and founder of al-Qaeda, shot and killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan by navy seals during Operation Neptune Spear at 54
- 2014 Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., American actor (77 Sunset Strip; Scruples; The F.B.I.), dies at 95
- 2015 Ruth Rendell, English thriller writer (Inspector Wexford novels), dies at 85
- 2016 Afeni Shakur, mother of Tupac Shakur, Black Panther Party member, dies at 69
- 2017 Abelardo Castillo, Argentine writer and novelist, dies at 82
- 2017 Leo Thorsness, American Vietnam War pilot (Medal of Honor), dies at 85
- 2018 Chris Walsh, American politician (Massachusetts House of Representatives, 2010–2018), dies of lymphoma at 66
- 2018 Dick Edell, American lacrosse coach (Maryland Terrapins), dies at 74 of pneumonia
- 2018 Gord Brown, Canadian politician (MP, 2004–2018), dies of a heart attack at 57
- 2018 Harald Range, German jurist (Attorney General, 2011–2015), dies at 70
- 2018 James Thorp, American electrical engineer, dies at 81
- 2018 Katherine O'Regan, New Zealand politician (MP for Waipa, 1984–1996; list MP, 1996–1999), dies of cancer at 71
- 2018 Kottayam Pushpanath, Indian author, dies at 80
- 2018 Paul Dick, Canadian politician, dies at 77 of a heart attack
- 2018 Sir Keith Williamson, British air force commander (Chief of the Air Staff, 1982–1985), dies at 90