Qin Shi Huang (259-210 BC)
Founder of the Qin dynasty and 1st emperor of a unified China (220 - 210 BC), dies reportedly from ingesting mercury pills meant to make him immortal at 49
- 584 Salvius of Albi, Catholic bishop of Albi (574-84) and saint, life recorded by Gregory of Tours, dies of the plague
- 827 Pope Valentine dies after 40 days in office [date approximate]
- 918 Baldwin II, Count of Flanders, dies at about 53
- 954 Louis IV [Louis of Overseas], King of France (936-54), dies at about 33
- 1167 Empress Matilda [Maud], claimant to the English throne, daughter of Henry I of England, wife of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1102)
- 1197 Henry II of Champagne (b. 1166)
- 1217 William de Reviers, 5th Earl of Devon
- 1279 Robert Kilwardby [Anglicus], English Archbishop of Canterbury (1272-78), philosopher and Cardinal, dies (b. 1215)
- 1305 Nicholas van Tolentino, Italian saint, dies
- 1308 Emperor Go-Nijō of Japan (b. 1285)
- 1382 Louis I, the Great, King of Hungary (1342-82) and Poland (1370-82), dies at 56
John the Fearless (1371-1419)
Duke of Burgundy (1404-19), assassinated by adherents of the Dauphin, the future Charles VII of France at 48
- 1482 Federico da Montefeltro, Italian Renaissance condottiero and arts patron
- 1519 John Colet, English churchman and educator
- 1547 Pierlugi Faraese, Italian son of Pope Paul III, murdered
- 1559 Anthony Denny, English knight of the shire and confidant of King Henry VIII of England, dies at 58
- 1600 John Bruhesius [Bruhesen], bishop of Groningen, dies
- 1604 William Morgan, Welsh Bible translator (b. 1545)
- 1607 Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Italian composer and organist, at about 63 [birth date unconfirmed]
- 1623 John I Van de Velde the Elder, Dutch calligrapher (Mirror of Write-Konste), dies
- 1669 Henrietta Maria, French-born daughter of Henry IV of France and queen of Charles I of England (b. 1609)
- 1676 Gerrard Winstanley, English religious reformer (b. 1609)
- 1680 Baldassare Ferri, Italian castrato singer, dies at 69
- 1680 Marco Uccellini, Italian composer and violinist, dies (b. 1603)
- 1732 Jacques D'Allonville, French astronomer and mathematician, dies at 61
- 1748 Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, Filipino Religious Sister of the Roman Catholic Church, dies at 85
- 1749 Émilie du Châtelet, French mathematician and physicist (translation of Newton's Principia), dies in childbirth at 42
- 1759 Ferdinand Konščak, Croatian explorer and Jesuit missionary, dies at 55
- 1765 Jacob Gilles, Grand Pensionary of Holland, dies at about 74
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)
English author and feminist (A Vindication of the Rights of Woman), mother of Mary Shelley, dies of septicaemia at 38
- 1801 Jason Fairbanks, American murderer (stabbed girlfriend Elizabeth Banks in famous case), hung at 20
- 1806 Johann Christoph Adelung, German linguist, librarian, translator and lexicographer, dies at 74
- 1828 Count d'Andreossi, French general and parliament leader, dies at 67
- 1831 George Guest, English organist and composer, dies at 60
- 1839 Pieter Fontijn, Dutch painter, dies at 66
- 1842 Letitia Tyler, US President Tyler's (1841-45) wife, dies at 51
- 1845 Joseph Story, American lawyer and 19th Supreme Court justice (1812-45), dies at 65
- 1845 Karl August von Lichtenstein, German composer, dies at 78
- 1851 Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, American pioneer of educating the deaf, dies at 63
- 1858 Henry Wellington Greatorex, English American composer (Gloria Patri), dies at 44
- 1862 Carlos Antonio López, 1st President of Paraguay (1844-62), dies at 71
- 1867 Simon Sechter, Austrian composer and music theorist, dies at 78
- 1868 Franz Anton Adam Stockhausen, German composer and harpist, dies at 79
- 1895 Harrison Millard, American composer, dies at 64
- 1898 Elisabeth, Empress of Austria, and wife of Franz Joseph I, dies from a stab wound at 60
- 1905 Pete Browning, American baseball outfielder (AA batting champion 1882, 85 Louisville Eclipse/Colonels; Player's League batting champion 1890 Cleveland Infants), dies of asthenia at 44
- 1915 Charles Boucher de Boucherville, Premier of Quebec, dies at 93
- 1916 Friedrich Gernsheim, German composer, dies at 77
- 1920 Olive Thomas, American silent screen actress (The Flapper), whose accidental death was one of Hollywood's first big scandals, dies by poisoning at 25
- 1922 Arpad Szendy, Hungarian composer, dies at 59
- 1922 Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, English writer (Irish Land League), traveller and Arabian stud founder, dies at 82
- 1924 Walter Lees, English cricket fast bowler (5 Tests, 26 wickets), dies at 48
- 1925 Henry Lincoln "Linc" Johnson, American attorney and politician, remembered as one of the most prominent early 20th century African-American Republicans, dies of a stroke at 55
- 1930 Aubrey Faulkner, South African cricket all-rounder (25 Tests, 4 x 100s, TS 204; Transvaal), dies from self inflicted gas poisoning at 48
- 1931 Alfonso Rendano, Italian composer, dies at 78
- 1931 Dmitri Egorov, Russian mathematician (differential geometry and mathematical analysis), dies at 61
- 1931 Salvatore Maranzano, Sicilian-born American organized crime figure, murdered at 63
- 1932 Percy Fletcher, British composer, dies at 52
- 1934 George Henschel, German-British baritone, pianist, conductor, and composer, dies at 84
- 1937 Sergei Tretyakov, Russian constructivist writer, playwright and special correspondent for Pravda, executed by Stalinist regime at 47
- 1940 Edward LeSaint, American actor and director (Modern Times, The Dumb Messenger), dies at 69
- 1942 Nachman N "Neddy" Bamberg, actor, dies in Auschwitz at 63
- 1944 Jaap P. Musch, Dutch resistance fighter, murdered by Nazis
- 1945 Väinö Raitio, Finnish composer, dies at 54
- 1948 Ferdinand I, 1st tsar of modern Bulgaria (1908-18), dies at 87
- 1951 Giuseppe Mulè, Italian composer, dies at 66
- 1952 Youssef Aftimus, Lebanese civil engineer and architect (b. 1866)
- 1954 Peter Anders, German opera singer, dies at 46
- 1955 Robert Blackburn, British aviation pioneer and the founder of Blackburn Aircraft, dies at 70
- 1960 Fjodor Panfjorov, Russian author (Volga - matushka-reka), dies at 63
Harold Gillies (1882-1960)
New Zealand father of modern plastic surgery who pioneered skin graft techniques on injured soldiers in WWI, dies at 78 of a slight cerebral thrombosis gained while operating on the leg of an 18-year-old girl [1]
- 1961 Leo Carrillo, American actor (American Empire, Cisco Kid), dies at 80
- 1961 Wolfgang von Trips, German auto racer (29 x F1 GP, 2 wins), dies in 1961 Italian Grand Prix (with 15 spectators) at 33
- 1962 Rollin Henry White, American inventor of steam boilers for early automobiles and Cletrac tractors, dies at 90 [1]
- 1963 Eugène Baie, Belgian author (Sub rosa et sub umbra), dies at 89
- 1965 Father Divine [Reverend Major Jealous Divine], "the Messenger", African American religious leader
- 1965 Robert "Bobby" Jordan, American actor (Dead End Kids, Kid Dynamite, Flying Wild), dies of sclerosis of liver at 42
- 1966 Albert Warner, American trombonist (Eureka Brass Band, 1932-66), dies at 75
- 1966 Emil Gumbel, German mathematician and pacifist (b. 1891)
- 1966 James Langridge, English cricketer (242 runs & 19 wkts for England), dies at 60
Cy Denneny (1891-1970)
Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame left wing (NHL leading scorer 1923-24), dies at 78
- 1971 Bella Darvi [Bajla Węgier], Polish actress (The Egyptian, Hell and High Water, Racers), commits suicide at 42
- 1971 Pier Angeli [Anna Maria Pierangeli], Italian actress (Sodom & Gomorrah, Vintage, Battle of the Bulge), dies of barbiturate overdose at 39
- 1972 Sidney Pegler, South African cricket leg spinner (16 Tests), dies at 84
- 1975 George Paget Thomson, English physicist who demonstrated electron diffraction (Nobel 1937), dies at 83 [1]
- 1975 Hans Swarowsky, Austrian pianist, conductor (Graz Opera, 1947-50), and educator (Vienna Music Academy, 1949-75), dies at 75
- 1975 Robert Gordon Sproul, American educator and college president (University of California), dies at 84
- 1976 Dalton Trumbo, American writer and film director (Johnny Got His Gun), dies at 70
- 1976 Dorothy Devore, American silent film actress (Newscast, Senor Daredevil), dies at 77
- 1976 George Baxter, French actor (Flying Saucer, Lili, Caged), dies at 71
- 1976 John Heaton, American sledder (Olympic silver skeleton 1928, 48, bronze bobsled 1932; American team's flag bearer 1948), dies at 68
- 1976 Mordecai Johnson, 1st African American president of Howard U, dies at 86
- 1977 Hamida Djandoubi, Tunisian convicted murderer who was the last person to be executed in Western Europe, is beheaded in Marseille by guillotine at 28
- 1978 Ronnie Peterson, Swedish auto racer (World F1 C'ship runner-up 1971, 78), dies in crash during Italian F1 GP at 34
- 1979 Agostinho Neto, 1st President of Angola (1975-79), dies at 56
- 1979 Stanyslav Lyudkevych, Ukranian composer, and musicologist, dies at 100
- 1982 Max Winders, Belgian architect (WWII), responsible for bringing the Belgian gold stock, dies at 100
- 1983 "John Vorster, South African Prime Minister (1966-78), dies at 67
- 1983 Felix Bloch, Swiss-American nuclear physicist (1st Director of CERN, Nobel Prize for Physics 1952), dies at 77
- 1983 Jon Brower Minnoch, American, world's heaviest recorded man at 1,400lb (635 kilograms; 100 stone), dies at 41
- 1983 Norah Lofts, British author (The Town House), dies at 79
- 1985 Alexa Kenin, American actress (Mousie-Coed Fever), dies at 23
- 1985 Ernest Julius Öpik, Estonian astronomer and astrophysicist known for his studies of meteors and the structure and evolution of the cosmos, dies at 91
- 1985 Jock Stein, Scottish soccer manager (Dunfermline Athletic, Hibernian, Scotland [1965, 78-85], Celtic, Leeds United), dies from a pulmonary edema at 62
- 1989 Jeff Stollmeyer, West Indian cricket batsman (32 Tests 4 x 100, HS 160; Trinidad & Tobago) and executive (President WI Board of Control 1974-81), dies from wounds suffered in home invasion at 68
- 1990 Samuel Kanyon Doe, president of Liberia (1980-90), assassinated
- 1991 Jack Crawford, Australian tennis player (6 Grand Slam singles titles), dies at 83
- 1993 Janice Carroll, American actress (End, April Fools), dies of cancer at 61
- 1993 Rita Karin, Polish-Latvia/American actress (Sophie's Choice), dies at 73
- 1993 Stuart Rose, British designer (British Post Office), dies at 81
- 1994 Amy Clampitt, American poet (Silence Opens), dies at 74
- 1994 Charles Drake [Ruppert], American actor (Harvey, Air Force, Glenn Miller Story), dies of a heart attack at 92
- 1995 Charles Denner, French actor (The Bride Wore Black, The Man Who Loved Women), dies at 69
- 1995 Derek Meddings, British TV and film special effects technician (Supermarionation, James Bond), dies at 64
- 1995 Molly Hide, English cricketer who captained England for 17 years, dies at 81
- 1996 Hans List, Austrian scientist and inventor, dies at 100
- 1996 Ray Coleman, British author (biographies of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Brian Epstein, and Phil Collins), and music journalist (Melody Maker), dies at 59
- 1997 Jack Adkisson, professional wrestler (b. 1929)
- 1998 Carl Forgione, British actor (b. 1944)
- 1998 Vernon Guy, American R&B and gospel singer (Cool Sounds; Sharpees), dies in a car accident at 53
- 1999 Alfredo Kraus, Spanish bel canto operatic tenor, dies at 71
- 2000 Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah, Pakistani journalist and writer. (b. 1921)
- 2001 DJ Uncle Al [Albert Moss] American DJ, shot and killed at 32
- 2004 Brock Adams, American politician, dies at 77
- 2005 Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, American blues singer (Mary is Fine), dies at 81
Patty Berg (1918-2006)
American golfer (15 major titles, US Open 1946), dies of Alzheimer's disease at 88
Jane Wyman (1917-2007)
American Academy Award-winning actress (Johnny Belinda; Magnificent Obsession) and 1st wife of Ronald Reagan, dies of natural causes at 90
- 2007 Ted Stepien, American businessman and basketball team owner, dies at 82
- 2010 Edwin Charles Tubb, British sci-fi writer (Earth is Heaven, Earthfall), dies at 90
Cliff Robertson (1923-2011)
American actor (Charly, Spider-Man) and spokesman for AT&T, dies at 88
- 2012 Lance LeGault, American actor (The A-Team - "Col. Decker"), dies of heart failure at 77
- 2012 Steven Springer, American guitarist, dies from lung cancer at 60
- 2013 Clay Shaw, American politician (Rep-R-FL, 1981-2007), dies from lung cancer at 74
- 2014 Oldřich František Korte, Czech pianist, composer, and writer, dies at 88
- 2014 Richard Kiel, American actor, dies from a heart attack at 74
- 2015 Franco Interlenghi, Italian actor (I Vitelloni, Ulysses, Sciuscià), dies at 83
- 2016 Eddie Antar, founder and CEO (Crazy Eddie Electronics Store), dies at 68
- 2016 Knut Wiggen, Norwegian computer music pioneer and composer, dies at 89
- 2017 Harry Landers [Sorokin], American actor (Star Trek, Ben Casey, Drive a Crooked Road), dies at 96
- 2018 John J "Jannie" Geldenhuys, South African army general (Chief of the South African Defence Force, 1985-90; Chief of the Army, 1980-85), dies from complications of Alzheimer's disease at 84
- 2019 Stefano Delle Chiaie, Italian neo-fascist terrorist (founder of Avanguardia Nazionale), dies at 82
- 2020 Diana Rigg, English actress (Emma Peel-Avengers, Game of Thrones), dies at 82
- 2021 Jorge Sampaio, Portuguese lawyer and Socialist Party politician (President of Portugal, 1996-2006; Mayor of Lisbon, 1990-95), dies of respiratory failure at 81
- 2021 Michael Chapman, British progressive folk-rock guitarist and singer-songwriter (Looking for Eleven; Fully Qualified Survivor), dies at 80
- 2022 Frank Cignetti Sr., American College Football HOF coach (West Virginia Uni, Indiana University of Pennsylvania; career college record 199–77–1), dies at 84
- 2022 William Klein, American-French photographer (1957 Prix Nadar), dies at 96
- 2023 Brendan Croker, English folk-rock musician and songwriter (The Five O'Clock Shadows: The Notting Hillbillies; Sally Tmms and the Drifting Cowgirls), dies of leukemia at 70
- 2023 Charlie Robison, American country singer-songwriter ("I Want You Bad"), dies of a heart attack at 59
- 2023 Hernán Carrasco, Chilean soccer manager (El Salvador; CONCACAF Champions' Cup 1967 Alianza FC, 1969, 70 CD Atlético Marte, 1968 CD Águila), dies at 100
- 2023 Nico Ladenis, Greek-Tanganyikan-British restaurateur (Nico at 90), dies at 89
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide