- Jan 1 Arleigh Burke, American admiral (WW II, Solomon Islands, Navy Cross), dies at 94
- Jan 1 Arthur Rudolph, German rocket engineer, dies at 89
- Jan 1 Hamish Imlach, Scottish folk-comic singer-songwriter ("Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice"), dies at 55
- Jan 1 Orapin Chaiyakan, first Thai woman elected to the Parliament of Thailand, dies at 91
- Jan 2 Karl Targownik, Hungarian psychiatrist & Holocaust survivor, dies at 80
- Jan 2 Thornton Page, American astrophysicist, dies at 82
- Jan 3 Geoffrey Pardoe, British engineer (Project Manager for the Blue Streak ballistic missile programme), dies at 67
- Jan 3 Terence Cuneo, English artist (official artist for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953), dies at 88
- Jan 4 Ramon Vinay, Chilean operatic tenor, dies at 83
- Jan 5 Danny White, American singer and bandleader, dies at 84
- Jan 5 Jay Arena, American pediatrician (Duke Poison Center Director, inventor of the child-proof safety cap), dies at 86
- Jan 5 Lincoln Kirstein, American writer and impresario, dies at 88
- Jan 5 Richard Versaille, tenor, dies at 63
- Jan 5 Yahya Ayyash, Palestinian militant and chief bombmaker for Hamas, assassinated by booby trapped cell phone at 29
- Jan 6 (Robert) "Chubby" Wise, American bluegrass fiddler, dies at 80
- Jan 6 Duane Hanson, American artist, made life-sized realistic sculptures of people, dies at 70
- Jan 6 Henry Lennox d'Aubigny Hopkinson, British diplomat and Conservative politician, dies at 94
- Jan 6 John Phillipps Kenyon, historian/teacher, dies at 68
- Jan 6 Johnny Johnston, American singer and actor (Make that Spare), dies at 80
- Jan 7 James Holland, English artist and exhibition organiser, dies at 90
- Jan 7 Károly Grósz, Hungarian communist politician, dies at 65
- Jan 7 Robley D. Evans, American nuclear physicist (one of the founders nuclear Medicine), dies at 88
- Jan 7 Seton Lloyd, English Archaeologist (Arzawa civilization, Turkey), dies at 93
- Jan 7 Tarō Okamoto, Japanese avant-garde artist (b. 1911)
- Jan 8 (William) Mac Lance "Tiny" McCloud, musician/songwriter, dies at 52
François Mitterrand (1916-1996)
Jan 8 21st President of France (1981-95), dies of prostate cancer at 79
- Jan 8 Howard Taubman, American music and theater critic, dies at 88
- Jan 8 Ian Dawson-Shepherd, British disabilities campaigner (cerebrally palsied people), dies at 80
- Jan 8 Kurt Schmucker, member (Union of Christian Democrats), dies
- Jan 9 "Fearless" Nadia [Mary Ann Evans], Australian stuntwoman and actress (Hunterwali), dies at 88
- Jan 9 Kurt Schmucker, German RFA minister of Economy (1963-66), dies
- Jan 9 Michael Lynn Synar, American politician (Rep-D-Oklahoma, 1979-95), dies at 45
- Jan 9 Walter M. Miller Jr., American sci-fi author (Hugo; View from Stars), dies at 72
- Jan 10 Alexander Robertus, organic chemist, dies at 88
- Jan 10 Arthur Sydney Martin, British M15 spycatcher, dies at 81
- Jan 11 Eric Hebborn, British artist and art forger, dies of massive head trauma at 61 [1]
- Jan 11 Harold Walter Bailey, British philologist (Khotanese, Sanskrit, scholar who spoke 50 languages), dies at 96
- Jan 11 Hubert Nicholson, poet/novelist, dies at 87
- Jan 11 Ike Isaacs, Burmese-English jazz guitarist, dies at 76
- Jan 12 Edmund Happold, British structural engineer (founder of Buro Happold), dies at 65
- Jan 12 Joachim Nitsche, German mathematician (b. 1926)
- Jan 12 John Howard Purnell, Welsh chemist (Royal Society of Chemistry), dies at 70
- Jan 12 Peggy Braithwaite, lighthouse-keeper, dies at 76
- Jan 13 Denise Grey [Edouardine Verthuy], actress (Julietta), dies at 99
- Jan 13 Willian Myuon Bany Guerrilla leader, dies
- Jan 14 Eric Briault, British educationalist, dies at 84
- Jan 14 Jacques LeBrun, French yachtsman (Olympic gold Snowbird class 1932), dies at 85
- Jan 14 Pamelo Mounk'a, Congolese musician, dies at 50
- Jan 15 Les Baxter, American exotica musician, orchestra leader and composer (Ritual Of The Savage, Born Again), dies at 73
- Jan 15 Minnesota Fats [Rudolf Wanderone Jr], American billiard player and entertainer, dies at 82
- Jan 15 Moshoeshoe II, King of Lesotho (1966-90), dies at 51
- Jan 15 Richard Cobb, British historian, dies at 78
- Jan 16 Harry Potts, English soccer forward (Burnley, Everton) and manager (Burnley, Shrewsbury Town, Blackpool), dies at 75
- Jan 16 Kaye Webb, English writer and publisher (Puffin Club), dies at 81
- Jan 16 Marcia Davenport, American author and music critic (b. 1903)
- Jan 16 Richard Kermode, American rocker (Kozmic Blues Band), dies at 49
- Jan 17 Amber Hagerman, American namesake of the Amber Alert system (b. 1986)
- Jan 17 Barbara Charline Jordan, politician, dies at 59
- Jan 17 Charles Henry Madge, English poet and founder of Mass-Observation, dies at 83
- Jan 17 F. Don Miller, American sports executive (executive director USOC 1973-85; President US Olympic Foundation 1985-96), dies at 75
- Jan 17 Giles Playfair, English writer, dies at 85
- Jan 17 Mostafa Sid Ahmed, Sudanese singer (b. 1953)
- Jan 17 Robert Covington, American drummer and singer, dies at 54
- Jan 18 Jos Kunst, Dutch composer, dies at 60
- Jan 18 Leonor Fini, Argentine artist, dies at 87
- Jan 18 Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, also known as NTR, Indian film star (Patala Bhairavi; Mayabazar), and politician (Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (1983-89 & 1994-95), dies at of a heart attack at 72
- Jan 19 Bernard Baily, American comic artist (co-creator of DC Comics), dies at 79
- Jan 19 Donald Simpson, American film producer (Flashdance), dies at 52
- Jan 19 Harold Wolpe, South African sociologist, lawyer, and activist, dies at 70
- Jan 20 Arley "Buster" Benton, American blues singer and guitarist, dies at 63
- Jan 20 David Greville, 8th Earl of Warwick who sold his castle to Madame Tussauds, dies of heart failure at 61 [1]
- Jan 20 David Robin Francis Guy Greville, 8th Duke of Warwick, dies at 61
- Jan 20 Ellis Hillman, British Labour party politician, lecturer, and writer (London Under London), dies during heart surgery at 68
- Jan 20 Gerry Mulligan, American jazz baritone saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (Jazz on a Summer Day), dies of complications from a knee infection at 68
- Jan 20 Liesbeth Askonas, Austrian concert agent, dies at 82
- Jan 20 Peter Stadlen, Austrian pianist and critic, dies at 85
- Jan 20 Sidney Korshak, lawyer, dies at 87
- Jan 21 René Marc Jalbert, sergeant-at-Arms at the National Assembly of Quebec (b. 1921)
- Jan 21 Roman Cieślewicz, Polish French artist and graphic designer, dies at 66
- Jan 21 Sam Green, industrialist/inventor, dies at 88
- Jan 22 Edward Thomas, British historian and intelligence expert (Bletchley park), dies at 77
- Jan 22 Efua Sutherland, Ghanaian writer (Nyamekye), dies at 71
- Jan 22 Israel Eldad, Israeli Revisionist Zionist philosopher and member of the pre-state underground group Lehi, dies at 85
- Jan 22 Mabel Leigh, potter, dies at 80
- Jan 23 Norman MacCaig, Scottish poet, dies at 85
- Jan 24 Sandor Iharos, Hungarian runner, dies at 65
- Jan 25 Jonathan Larson, American composer (Rent), dies of an aortic aneurysm at 35
- Jan 25 Ruth Berghaus, German choreographer and opera director, dies at 68
- Jan 26 Charles Jewtraw, American 500m speed skater (Olympic gold 1924), dies at 95
- Jan 26 David Schultz, American freestyle wrestler (Olympic gold 74kg 1984; World C'ship gold 1983), dies from gunshot wounds at 36
- Jan 26 Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg, head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, dies at 74
- Jan 26 Gerrit Cornelis Berkouwer, Dutch theologist (Dogmatic Studies), dies at 92
- Jan 26 Harold Brodkey, American writer (My Venice), dies at 65
- Jan 26 Henry Jay Lewis, American double-bassist and conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic 1948-65), dies of a heart attack at 63
- Jan 26 Neil Lawson, British high court judge, dies at 88
- Jan 26 Stevie Plunder, Australian musician (b. 1963)
- Jan 27 Barbara Skelton, English writer, memoirist and socialite (mistress to King Farouk), dies at 79
- Jan 27 Julian W. Hill, American research chemist (developed nylon), dies at 91
- Jan 27 Olga Havlová (nee Šplíchalová) Czech political activist (First Lady of the Czech Republic, 1993-96; First Lady of Czechoslovakia, 1989-92), dies of cancer at 63
- Jan 27 Patrick Ludlow, British actor (Naughty Husbands, Evergreen and Modesty Blaise), dies at 93
- Jan 27 Ralph Webster Yarborough, American politician, U.S. Senator from Texas (1957-71), dies at 92
- Jan 27 Tommy Mitchell, English cricket spin bowler (5 Tests, 8 wickets; Derbyshire CCC), dies at 93
- Jan 27 Willian Edward Hanford, American chemist (process for making polyurethanes), dies at 87 [1]
- Jan 28 Burne Hogarth, American strip-cartoon artist (Tarzan), dies at 84
- Jan 28 Dan Duva, American boxing promoter and producer (Howard Stern New Years Party), dies at 44
- Jan 28 Jerry Siegel, American comic book writer (co-creator, with Joe Shuster, of "Superman"), dies of a heart attack at 81
- Jan 28 Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and writer (Less than One, Nobel 1987), dies at 55
- Jan 28 San Yu, Burmese General and the 5th President of Burma (1981-88), dies at 77
- Jan 29 Jack Sutherland, Scottish journalist, dies at 79
- Jan 29 John Terence Reese, British bridge master, dies at 82
- Jan 30 Bob Thiele, American radio broadcaster, and record producer (John Coltrane; B.B. King), dies of kidney failure at 73
- Jan 30 Guy Doleman, actor (Deadly Bees, Idol, Thunderball), dies at 72
- Jan 31 Gustave Solomon, American mathematician (Reed-Solomon codes for digital information), dies at 65
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning