- 869 King Edmund of East Anglia
- 967 Aboe al-Faradj al-Isfahani, Arabic author (Book of Liederen), dies
- 1348 Stefano Colonna, Roman senator, dies in battle against Roman revolutionaries by Porta Tiburtina
- 1437 Thomas Langley, bishop of Durham, cardinal and lord chancellor (b. 1363)
- 1480 Eleonora van Austrian, translator, dies
- 1518 Marmaduke Constable, English soldier (battle of Flodden), dies after swallowing a frog, at about 61
- 1527 Wendelmoet "Weyntjen" Claesdochter, 1st Dutch woman burned as heretic
- 1529 Karl von Miltitz, German papal nuncio (met with Martin Luther), drowns at about 39
- 1591 Christopher Hatton, English politician (b. 1540)
- 1612 John Harington, English Elizabethan courtier, writer (Orlando Furios) and inventor of the flush toilet, dies at about 52
- 1651 Mikołaj Potocki, Polish soldier who fought Cossack rebellions, dies at about 56
- 1662 Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (b. 1614)
- 1669 Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher (Cholera), dies at 45
- 1675 Francisco de Moura y Cortereal, Spanish Vicroy of Sardinia and Governor of Hapsburg Netherlands (1664-68)
- 1678 Karel Dujardin, Dutch painter and etcher (Learned Dog), dies at about 56
- 1704 Charles Plumier, French botanist (Frangipani genus Plumeria is named after him), dies at 58
- 1713 Thomas Tompion, English clock maker (cylinder tunnel), dies at 74
- 1737 Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach, German born Queen of Great Britain, consort to King George II, dies at 54
- 1741 Melchior de Polignac, French diplomat, Cardinal and poet, dies at 80
- 1750 Wilhelmus Schortinghuis, Dutch Christian theologist, dies at 50
- 1764 Christian Goldbach, German mathematician, dies
- 1778 Francesco Cetti, Italian Jesuit priest and scientist, dies at 52
- 1856 Farkas Bolyai, Hungarian mathematician known for his work on the foundations of geometry and the parallel axiom (Wallace–Bolyai–Gerwien theorem), dies at 81
- 1863 James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin & Kincardine and Governor (Jamaica), dies at 52
- 1882 Henry Draper, American amateur astronomer (photos of the Moon, Orion Nebula), dies of pleurisy at 45
- 1887 Louis Gallait, Belgian historical painter (Egmont & Receiver), dies at 77
- 1888 Nathaniel Currier, American lithographer (Currier & Ives), dies at 75
- 1889 August Ahlqvist, Finnish poet (Suomalainen Runousoppi), dies at 63
- 1898 John Fowler, English engineer (London Metropolitan Railway), dies at 81
Tom Horn (1860-1903)
American gunfighter and outlaw, hanged to death at 42
- 1908 Georgy Voronoy, Russian mathematician (Voronoi diagram), dies at 40
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)
Russian novelist (Anna Karenina, War and Peace), dies of pneumonia at 82
John Jellicoe (1859-1935)
1st Earl Jellicoe, British Admiral of the Fleet in World War I (Battle of Jutland), dies of pneumonia at 75
- 1936 Jose A Primo de Rivera, Spanish lawyer and politician (founder of Spanish Falange), executed at 33
- 1938 Edwin Hall, American physicist (discovered Hall effect), dies at 83
- 1938 Enzo Matsunaga, Japanese writer (b. 1895)
- 1938 Maud of Wales, Queen of Norway, spouse of King Haakon VII, dies at 68
- 1944 Sekio Nishina, Japanese inventor (kaiten-suicide submarine), dies at 21
- 1945 Francis William Aston, British chemist and physicist who won a Nobel laureate for his work with isotopes and the whole number rule, dies at 68
- 1947 Wolfgang Borchert, German writer, dies at 26
- 1952 Benedetto Croce, Italian philosopher (La Critica), dies at 86
- 1954 Clyde Cessna, American aviator and airplane manufacturer, dies at 74
- 1957 Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian-Lithuanian artist, dies at 82
- 1959 Alfonso López Pumarejo, 16th President of Colombia (Liberal: 1934-38 and 1942-46) and statesman (President of UN security council 1948), dies at 73
- 1960 Ya'akov Cahan, Hebrew poet and writer, dies at 79
- 1962 Jasper McLevy, American politician (Socialist mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1933-57), dies at 84
- 1976 Trofim Lysenko, Soviet biologist and agronomist, dies at 78
- 1977 Maxie Wander, Austrian writer (Good Morning My Lovely), dies at 44
- 1978 Giorgio De Chirico, Italian painter (founded the scuola metafisica art movement), dies at 90
- 1978 Vasilisk Gnedov, Russian poet (b. 1890)
- 1980 John McEwen, 18th Prime Minister of Australia (1967-68), dies at 80
- 1981 Rolf Bongs, German writer, dies at 74
- 1984 Trygve Bratteli, Norwegian Prime Minister (Labour: 1971-72, 1973-76), dies at 74
- 1986 William Bradford Huie, American writer and publisher, dies at 76
- 1992 John Foreman, producer (Prizzi's Honor), dies at 67 of heart attack
- 1993 Christopher Frank, French writer, dies at 51
- 1993 Emile Ardolino, American Emmy and Academy Award-winning director (He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin'; Dirty Dancing; Sister Act), dies of AIDs at 50
- 1994 Ali-Akbar Sa'idi Sirjani, Iranian poet and journalist, dies at 64
- 1994 John Lucarotti, British Canadian scriptwriter (Doctor Who), dies at 68
- 1995 Ahmed Abel-Wadoud Karadawi, Sudanese academic/activist, dies at 50
- 1995 Robie Macauley, American editor (Houghton Mifflin) and novelist (A Secret History of Time to Come), dies of lymphoma at 76
- 1996 Bert Geoffrey Achong, Trinidadian pathologist and inventor (electron microscopist), dies at 67
- 1997 Gary Burris, American murderer (Kenneth Chambers), executed in Indiana at 40
- 1997 Robert Palmer, American rock critic, dies at 52
- 1998 Galina Starovoitova, Russian politician and dissident, assassinated at 52
- 1999 Amintore Fanfani, Italian politician and 5 x prime minister of Italy, dies at 91
- 2000 Kalle Päätalo, Finnish novelist (Iijoki), dies at 81
- 2000 Mike Muuss, American computer programmer (Ping), dies in a car accident at 42
- 2003 David Dacko, first President of the Central African Republic (b. 1930)
- 2003 Eugene Kleiner, American entrepreneur (b. 1923)
- 2003 Loris Azzaro, French fashion designer (b. 1933)
- 2003 Roger Short, British Consulate General (b. 1944)
- 2004 David Grierson, Canadian radio host (b. 1955)
- 2005 Manouchehr Atashi, Persian poet, dies at 74
- 2005 Sheldon Gardner, American psychologist (b. 1934)
- 2006 Zoia Ceauşescu, Romanian mathematician and daughter of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, dies of lung cancer at 57
- 2007 Ian Smith, Rhodesian farmer, fighter pilot, and politician (Prime Minister of Rhodesia, 1964-79), dies at 88
- 2008 Sven Inge, Swedish painter and modern artist (b. 1935)
- 2009 Lino Lacedelli, Italian mountaineer (b. 1925)
- 2010 Chalmers Johnson, American political scholar and author (b. 1931)
- 2010 Laurie Bembenek, American convicted murderer and fugitive (b. 1958)
- 2013 Peter Griffiths, British politician (C), controversially won his seat (1964), dies at 85
- 2013 Sylvia Browne, American author and self-proclaimed medium dubbed "America's most controversial psychic," dies at 77
- 2016 Kostis Stephanopoulos, Greek conservative politician (President of Greece, 1995-2005), dies at 90
- 2016 William Trevor, Irish writer (Children of Dynmouth, Fools of Fortune), dies at 88
- 2018 Aaron Klug, Lithuanian born British biochemist (Nobel prize for Chemistry 1982), dies at 92
- 2020 Jan Morris, Welsh journalist, historian, writer and pioneering trans woman (Venice, Conundrum), dies at 94 [1]
- 2020 Patriarch Irinej [Miroslav Gavrilović], Head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, dies of COVID-19 at 90 [1]
- 2022 Hebe de Bonafini, Argentine human rights activist (co-founded Mothers of Plaza de Mayo), dies at 93 [1]
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide