- 786 Al-Hadi, Arabic kalief of Islam (185-86), dies
- 911 Ludwig III, the child, last Carolingian German King (899-911), dies
- 1054 Hermann of Reichenau [Hermannus Contractus], German Benedictine monk and scholar, dies at 41
- 1118 Robert of Knaresborough, English hermit who lived in a cave, dies at about 58
- 1120 Welf II, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1072)
- 1143 Agnes of Germany, daughter of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1072)
- 1143 Innocent II [Gregorio de' Papareschi], Italian Pope (1130-43), dies
- 1180 Manuel I Komnenos, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire (1143-80), dies at 61
- 1213 Gertrude of Merania, wife of Andrew II of Hungary (murdered) (b. 1185)
- 1228 Stefanus I Nemanjic de Eerstgekroonde, king of Serbia (1217-28), dies
- 1230 Alfonso IX, King of León and Galicia (1188-1230), dies at 59
- 1275 Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford, Constable of England (b. 1208)
- 1435 Isabeau of Bavaria, Queen and wife of Charles VI of France, who ruled during her husband's periods of insanity, dies at about 65
- 1494 Poliziano, Italian humanist (b. 1454)
Paracelsus (1493-1541)
Swiss physician and alchemist (Zinc, Laudanum), dies at 47
- 1545 Albrecht von Brandenburg, German archbishop and monarch of Mainz, dies at 55
- 1568 Antoon van Stralen, Flemish mayor of Antwerp, beheaded at about 47
- 1621 Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, Polish military commander (b. 1560)
- 1707 Vincenzo da Filicaja, Italian poet (b. 1642)
- 1732 Emperor Reigen, 112th Emperor of Japan, dies at 78
- 1742 Johann Matthias Hase, German scientist (b. 1684)
- 1790 John Keyse Sherwin, engraver/painter, dies
- 1802 Alexander Radishchev, Russian writer (Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow), commits suicide by drinking poison at 53
- 1815 John Sevier, American soldier, Governor of Tennessee (1796-1801, 1803-09), dies at 70
- 1834 Pedro I of Brazil, Emperor of Brazil (1822-31) and King of Portugal (1826), dies at 35
- 1848 Branwell Brontë [Patrick Branwell Brontë], English painter and writer and brother of the writers Charlotte, Emily and Anne, dies at 31
- 1856 Henry Hardinge, British army officer and politician, 1st viscount Hardinge of Lahore, Governor-General of India (1844-48), dies at 71
- 1889 Daniel Harvey Hill, Confederate General (American Civil War), dies at 68
- 1892 Cornelis A van Sypesteyn, Dutch governor of Suriname, dies at 69
- 1894 Martinus Nijhoff, Dutch publisher (Van Dale) and founder (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers), dies at 68
- 1896 Louis Gerhard De Geer, 1st Swedish Prime Minister (1876-80), dies at 78
- 1904 Niels Ryberg Finsen, Danish physician and phototherapist (Nobel 1903), dies at 43
- 1920 Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian goldsmith and jeweler (famous for Fabergé eggs), dies at 74
- 1924 Manuel Estrada Cabrera, 13th President of Guatemala (1898-1920), dies in prison at 66
- 1930 William A. MacCorkle, American politician, 90th Governor of West Virginia, dies at 73
- 1933 Alice Muriel Williamson, British novelist (b. 1869)
- 1937 Clarence Larkin, American prison warden (Folsom Prison, California), dies from injuries inflicted during attempted prison break at 46
- 1938 Lev Schnirelmann, Russian mathematician (b. 1900)
- 1945 Hans Geiger, German physicist (co-inventor of the Geiger counter), dies at 62
- 1951 Georges Rency, Belgian poet and literature, dies at 75
- 1954 Edward Pilgrim, British homeowner who committed suicide due to housing bureaucracy scandal, hangs himself at 53
- 1961 Sumner Welles, American diplomat (Good Neighbor Policy), dies at 68
- 1967 Robert van Gulik, Dutch diplomat and writer (Judge Dee), dies at 57
- 1968 Robert Arthur Ley, English sci-fi author (Telepath, Power of X), dies at 47
- 1975 Earle Cabell, American politician, 48th Mayor of Dallas (1961-64), dies at 68
- 1978 Hasso von Manteuffel, German WWII general (5th Panzer Army) and politician, dies at 81
Dr. Seuss (1904-1991)
American children's author (The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham), dies of cancer at 87
- 1993 Bruno Pontecorvo, Italian nuclear physicist, dies at 80
- 1994 Colin Berry Haycraft, publisher, dies at 65
- 1994 David Napley, English solicitor, dies at 79
- 1994 Otto F. Walter, Swiss writer and publisher (Walter Verlag), dies of pulmonary cancer at 66
- 1996 Henry Charles Gordon, American engineer and astronaut (Dynasoar), dies at 70
- 1996 Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards, egyptologist, dies at 87
- 1996 Pavel Anatolievich Sudoplatov, spy, dies at 89
- 1997 Jonathon Silver, entrepreneur/arts patron, dies at 47
- 1999 Cyril Bowles, British clergyman (Bishop of Derby, 1969-88), dies at 83
- 2002 Youssouf Togoïmi, Chadian rebel (b. 1953)
- 2004 Françoise Sagan [Quoirez], French novelist (Bonjour Trieste), dies at 69
- 2004 Marvin Davis, CEO (Davis Oil Company), dies at 79
- 2008 Bengt Anderberg, Swedish poet and writer (Kain), dies at 88
- 2009 Susan Atkins, American murderer (b. 1948)
- 2010 Gennady Yanayev, Soviet politician (b. 1937)
- 2014 Deborah "Debs" Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire and the Chatsworth estate, one of the Mitford sisters, dies at 94
- 2014 Stephen Sykes, Church of England bishop, dies at 75
- 2017 Joseph M. McDade, American politician (Rep-R-Pennsylvania, 1963-1999), dies at 85
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide