- 1016 Edmund II, Ironsides, King of the Saxons (1016), dies at 27
- 1519 Michael Wolgemut, German painter (Weltchronik), dies at about 85
- 1528 Great Wierd, Dutch Gelderland army commander, beheaded
- 1603 William Gilbert, English physician and physicist (research into magnetism), dies probably of the plague at 59
- 1631 Rabbi Samuel Eliezer ben Judah ha-levi Edels, dies
- 1646 John C Lichthart, admiral (Cape Augustine), dies at about 45
- 1654 John Selden, English jurist and oriental scholar, dies at 69
- 1675 Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, colonial Governor of Maryland (b. 1605)
- 1678 Andries de Graeff, mayor of Amsterdam (1657..71), dies at 67
- 1679 Pieter van Schooten, Dutch mathematician/fort architect, dies at 45
- 1694 Marcello Malpighi, Italian physician who founded the science of microscopic anatomy, dies at 66
- 1700 Artus Quellinus II, Flemish sculptor, dies at 75
- 1705 Catherine of Braganza, Portuguese Roman Catholic Queen of Charles II of England, dies at 67
Charles XII (1682-1718)
King of Sweden (1697-1718), shot in battle invading Norway at Fortress of Fredriksten, dies at 36
- 1761 John Dollond, British optician and owner of 1st patent for achromatic lens, dies at 55
- 1765 George Glas, British merchant and adventurer (b. 1725)
- 1786 Bernardo de Gálvez, Spanish military leader and colonial administrator (Spanish Governor of Louisiana and Cuba, 1777-83, Viceroy of New Spain, 1785-6), dies of typhus at 40
- 1830 Pius VIII [Francesco Saverio Castiglioni], Italian 253rd Pope (1829-30), dies at 69
- 1836 Pierre-Simon Girard, French mathematician and engineer (fluid mechanics), dies at 71
- 1837 Deaf Smith, American frontiersman and revolutionary, dies at 50
- 1841 Charles Louis W J van Keverberg, Dutch government official, dies at 73
- 1864 Hiram Bronson Granbury, Confederate brigadier general, dies in the Battle of Franklin at 33
- 1864 John Adams, US Confederate brigadier general, dies in the Battle of Franklin at about 39
- 1864 Otto French Strahl, US Confederate brigadier general, dies in the Battle of Franklin at 33
- 1864 Patrick Ronayne Cleburne, US Confederate brigadier general, dies in the Battle of Franklin at 33
- 1878 George Henry Lewes, English philosophical writer (Life of Goethe), dies at 61
- 1893 Jacobus J Backer, German sea historian, dies at 68
- 1894 Joseph E. Brown, American attorney and politician (42nd Governor of Georgia), dies at 73
- 1897 Abraham Carel Wertheim, Dutch banker and philanthropist, dies at 64
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Irish playwright and novelist (Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray), dies of cerebral meningitis in Paris at 46
- 1901 Edward J Eyre, British explorer/governor (Jamaica), dies at 86
- 1909 Innokenti F Annenski, Russian poet and translator, dies at 53 [NS=Dec 13]
- 1930 Mother [Mary Harris] Jones, American labor organizer (cofounded Industrial Workers of the World), dies at 93
- 1933 Arthur Currie, Canadian soldier (fought in WWI), dies at 57
- 1934 Hélène Boucher, French aviatrix (b. 1908)
- 1935 Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet and writer (The Book of Disquiet), dies at 47
- 1938 Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, Romanian politician (founder and leader of the Iron Guard), dies at 39
Albert B. Fall (1861-1944)
American Senator (R-New Mexico 1912-21) and US Secretary of the Interior (1921-23), convicted for his part in the Teapot Dome scandal, dies at 83
Terence Rattigan (1911-1977)
British playwright (Winslow Boy, Browning Version), dies at 66
- 1983 Richard Llewellyn, Welsh novelist (How Green Was My Valley), dies at 76
- 1987 Arthur H Dean, lawyer/advisor to FDR, dies at 89
- 1987 Simon Carmiggelt, journalist/literary (Kronkel), dies at 74
- 1989 Alfred Herrhausen, German CEO (Deutsche Bank), murdered at 59
- 1990 Hilde Spiel, Austrian writer, dies at 78
- 1990 Norman Cousins, American editor (Saturday Review) and peace activist, dies at 75
- 1993 Bob Wolf, agent (New Kids on the Block, Larry Bird), dies
- 1993 Sebastian Kappen, Indian theologian (b. 1924)
- 1994 Guy Debord, situationist, dies at 63
- 1995 June Rosemary Thorndycraft, teacher and trade unionist, dies at 66
- 1996 Koji Kobayashi, industrialist, dies at 89
- 1997 Clare Lucy Madeleine Evans, historian, dies at 37
- 1997 Kathy Acker, American experimental novelist (Blood and Guts in High School), dies at 54
- 1997 Ronald Gulliford, English educationalist (Dean of the Faculty of Education, Birmingham University 1979-81), dies at 76
Pierre Berton (1920-2004)
Canadian author (War of 1812), dies of heart failure at 84
Evel Knievel (1938-2007)
American motorcycle daredevil (Snake River Canyon), dies of pulmonary disease at 69
- 2008 Naomi Datta, British geneticist and bacteriologist (pioneer in investigating the development of resistance to antibiotics by bacteria), dies at 86
- 2010 Garry Gross, American photographer (b. 1937)
- 2010 Rajiv Dixit, Indian scientist and Swadeshi movement figure (b. 1967)
- 2010 Sri Daya Mata [Faye Wright], American spiritual figure (Self-Realization Fellowship ), dies at 96 [1]
- 2011 Leka, Crown Prince of Albania, referred to as King Leka I by Albanian monarchists (b. 1939)
- 2011 William L. Waller, American politician and ex-Governor of Mississippi, dies at 85
- 2012 I. K. [Inder Kumar] Gujral, Indian politician, Prime Minister of India (1997-98), dies at 92
- 2013 John Zochonis, British industrialist (PZ Cussons) and philanthropist, dies at 84
- 2013 Paul Crouch, American televangelist (Trinity Broadcasting Network), dies at 79
- 2014 Fred Catherwood, British politician, Vice President of the European Parliament (1989-1992), dies at 89
- 2014 Go Seigen [Wu Qingyuan], Chinese-born Japanese Go master considered the greatest Go player in the 20th century, dies of natural causes at 100
- 2015 Marcus Klingburg, Israeli soviet spy and epidemiologist, dies at 97
- 2015 Shigeru Mizuki, Japanese soldier and Manga artist (GeGeGe no Kitarō), dies at 93
Marina Popovich (1931-2017)
Soviet Air Force colonel, engineer and test pilot (102 world records), dies at 86
George H. W. Bush (1924-2018)
41st US President (R, 1989-93) and 43rd US Vice President (R, 1981-89), dies at 94
- 2021 C. Herbert Oliver, American clergyman and civil rights activist (Inter-Citizens Committee), dies at 96
Jiang Zemin (1926-2022)
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (1989-2002) and President of the People's Republic of China (1993-2003), dies of leukemia and multiple organ failure at 96