| 2007 | Mstislav Rostropovich, cellist, conductor, commissioned new works, enlarged cello repertoire more than any cellist, considered greatest cellist of 20th century, died of intestinal cancer |
| 2003 | Dorothee Solle, German Theologian |
| 2002 | George Alec Effinger, writer, ", Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson: The Complete Stories, ", dies at 55 |
| 2002 | Ruth Handler, inventor, invented Barbie, dies at 85 |
| 2000 | Vickie Sue Robinson, disco diva, Turn the Beat Around, dies at 45 |
| 1999 | Al Hirt, jazz master, trumpeter, dies at 76 |
| 1998 | Carlos Castenada, Peruvian Writer |
| 1997 | Paul Lambert, actor (Tom-Executive Suite), dies at 73 |
| 1996 | Joan Sterndale Bennett, actress (Elizabeth-Dark Shadows), dies at 86 |
| 1996 | William Egan Colby, cIA Director, dies at 76 |
| 1996 | William Colby, American Public Servant |
| 1994 | Jerome Lejeune, physiologist, dies at 69 |
| 1994 | John Preston, U.S. writer (Gay House, Big Gay Book), dies at 48 |
| 1994 | Lynne Frederick Unger, actress (Trail of Pink Panther), dies at 39 |
| 1993 | Hans Sahl, German/U.S. writer (Tie Exil im Exil), dies at 90 |
| 1992 | Olivier Messiaen, French composer, dies at 83 |
| 1991 | Ken Curtis, actor (Lost, Freckles, California Gold Rush), dies at 74 |
| 1991 | Marcus Heeresma, writer/poet (Anna, Son of a Whore), dies |
| 1989 | Konosuke Matsushita, Japanese Businessman |
| 1986 | J. Allen Hynek, American Scientist |
| 1984 | Piet Kraak, Dutch soccer player, dies at 63 |
| 1982 | Tom Tully, actor (Line-up, Shane), dies at 85 |
| 1978 | Mohammed Daud, premier/president of Afghanistan, murdered |
| 1977 | Stanley Adams, actor (Lillies of the Field, Thunder Alley), dies at 61 |
| 1975 | Nicholas Soussanin, actor (Last Command), dies at 86 |
| 1973 | Libbe de Wal, founder of Humanistic Covenant, dies at 72 |
| 1972 | Kwame Nkrumah, president of Ghana, dies at 62 |
| 1972 | Phil King, rock (Blue Oyster Cult), shot in head at 24 while gambling |
| 1970 | Arthur Shields, actor (Your Show Time), dies at 73 |
| 1969 | Dino Terranova, actor (Young Dillinger), dies at 65 |
| 1965 | Alan Bunce, actor (Albert-Ethel and Albert), dies at 61 |
| 1965 | Edward R Murrow, newscaster (Person to Person), dies at 57 |
| 1965 | Edward R. Murrow, American Journalist |
| 1964 | Georg Britting, writer, dies at 73 |
| 1961 | Roy Del Ruth, director (About Face, Folies Bergere), dies at 67 |
| 1959 | Gordon Armstrong, inventor (baby incubator), dies |
| 1957 | Mario A Gianini, creator (maraschino cherry), dies |
| 1950 | Adam Tadeusz Wieniawski, composer, dies at 70 |
| 1950 | Karl Straube, German organist/conductor, dies |
| 1938 | Edmond Rubbens, Belgian minister to Colonies, dies at 44 |
| 1937 | Antonio Gramsci, Italian philosopher/marxist theorist, dies at 46 |
| 1936 | Frederik A Stoett, linguist (Dutch Proverbs), dies at 72 |
| 1936 | Karl Pearson, mathematician, dies |
| 1932 | Harold "Heart" Crane, U.S. poet (Bridge), commits suicide at 32 |
| 1915 | Alexander N. Skriabin, Russian pianist/composer (Prometheus), dies at 43 |
| 1915 | Alexander Scriabin, Russian Composer |
| 1902 | Julius Sterling Morton, who started Arbor Day, dies at 72 |
| 1901 | Richard Redhead, composer, dies at 81 |
| 1893 | John Murray Corse, U.S. general (Union), dies on his 58th birthday |
| 1882 | Ralph Waldo Emerson, U.S. poet (Representive Men), dies |
| 1881 | Ludwig A Benedek, Austrian general, dies at 76 |
| 1872 | Ion Heliade-Radulescu, Romanian politician/author, dies at 70 |
| 1871 | Sigismond Fortune Francois Thalberg, composer, dies at 59 |
| 1813 | Zebulon M Pike, U.S. explorer (Pike's Peak), dies in battle at 34 |
| 1806 | Amalia Furstin Gallitzin, Prussian daughter of Golitsyn, dies at 57 |
| 1794 | William Jones, British Orientalist/jurist, dies at 47 |
| 1764 | Jaime de Casellas, composer, dies at 73 |
| 1758 | Jan Francisci, composer, dies at 66 |
| 1702 | Jean Bart, French captain and sea hero (Escape out of Plymouth), dies at 51 |
| 1695 | Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Asbaje, Mexican poetress/nun, dies at 44 |
| 1694 | Johan Georg IV, elector of Saxony (1691-94), dies at 25 |
| 1682 | Theodorus III, czar of Russia (1676-82), dies |
| 1656 | Gerard van Honthorst, painter, dies at 65 |
| 1656 | Jan J van Goyen, Dutch landscape painter, dies at 60 |
| 1605 | Leo XI, Alessandro O de' Medici, Italian Pope (1605), dies at 69 |
| 1521 | Ferdinand Magellan, world traveler, killed by Filipino natives at 50 |
| 1404 | Philip, the Stout, Duke of Burgundy, dies at 62 |
| 1124 | Alexander I, king of Scotland (1107-24), dies |
| 1076 | Willem, bishop of Utrecht (1054-76), murderer of earl Floris I, dies |
