EVENTS OF THIS DAY IN THE PAST

[edit]

• 303 – Roman Emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
• 532 – Byzantine Emperor Justinian I orders the building of a new Orthodox Christian basilica in Constantinople – the Hagia Sophia.
• 1455 – Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed with movable type.
• 1554 – Mapuche forces, under the leadership of Lautaro, score a victory over the Spanish at the Battle of Marihueñu in Chile.
• 1739 – Richard Palmer is identified at York Castle, by his former schoolteacher, as the outlaw Dick Turpin.
• 1778 – American Revolutionary War: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to help to train the Continental Army.
• 1820 – Cato Street Conspiracy: A plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers is exposed.
• 1821 – Alexander Ypsilantis starts the Greek War of Independence in Iași, Wallachia (now part of Romania).
• 1836 – Texas Revolution: The Battle of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas.
• 1847 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Buena Vista – In Mexico, American troops under future president General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
• 1854 – The official independence of the Orange Free State is declared.
• 1861 – President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after the thwarting of an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland.
• 1870 – Reconstruction Era: Post-U.S. Civil War military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union.
• 1883 – Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an anti-trust law.
• 1885 – Sino-French War: French Army gains an important victory in the Battle of Đồng Đăng in the Tonkin region of Vietnam.
• 1886 – Charles Martin Hall produced the first samples of man-made aluminum, after several years of intensive work. He was assisted in this project by his older sister Julia Brainerd Hall.
• 1887 – The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000.
• 1896 – The Tootsie Roll is invented.
• 1898 – Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing "J'accuse", a letter accusing the French government of antisemitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
• 1900 – Second Boer War: Boers and British troops fight in the Battle of Hart's Hill.
• 1903 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".
• 1905 – Chicago, Illinois attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world's first service club.
• 1909 – The AEA Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire.
• 1917 – First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution.
• 1918 – Last monarch of Mecklenburg-Strelitz commits suicide.
• 1927 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill by Congress establishing the Federal Radio Commission (later replaced by the Federal Communications Commission) which was to regulate the use of radio frequencies in the United States.
• 1927 – German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg writes a letter to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli, in which he describes his uncertainty principle for the first time.
• 1934 – Leopold III becomes King of Belgium.
• 1941 – Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.
• 1942 – World War II: Japanese submarines fire artillery shells at the California coastline near Santa Barbara.
• 1943 – A fire breaks out at St. Joseph's Orphanage, County Cavan, Ireland, killing 36 people (35 of whom are children).
• 1943 – Greek Resistance: The United Panhellenic Organization of Youth is founded is Greece.
• 1944 – The Soviet Union begins the forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia.
• 1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines and a commonly forgotten U.S. Navy Corpsman, reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag.
• 1945 – World War II: The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, free the captives of the Los Baños internment camp.
• 1945 – World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined Filipino and American forces.
• 1945 – World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań. The city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces.
• 1945 – World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is annihilated in a raid by 379 British bombers.
• 1947 – The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded.
• 1954 – The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh.
• 1955 – First meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
• 1958 – Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world F1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
• 1966 – In Syria, Ba'ath Party member Salah Jadid leads an intra-party military coup that replaces the previous government of General Amin Hafiz, also a Baathist.
• 1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.
• 1980 – Iran hostage crisis: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
• 1981 – In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d'état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.
• 1983 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.
• 1987 – Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
• 1991 – Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.
• 1991 – In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d'état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.
• 1998 – In the United States, tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42.
• 1999 – Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.
• 1999 – An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31.
• 2005 – The controversial French law on colonialism is passed, requiring teachers to teach the "positive values of colonialism". After public outcry, it is repealed at the beginning of 2006.
• 2007 – A train derails on an evening express service near Grayrigg, Cumbria, England, killing one person and injuring 22. This results in hundreds of points being checked over the UK after a few similar accidents.
• 2008 – A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber crashes on Guam. It is the first operational loss of a B-2.
• 2010 – Unknown criminals pour more than 2.5 million liters of diesel oil and other hydrocarbons into the river Lambro, in Northern Italy, sparking an environmental disaster.
• 2012 – A series of attacks across Iraq leave at least 83 killed and more than 250 injured.
• 2014 – The closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics take place in Sochi, Russia.

Births[edit]

• 1417 – Pope Paul II (d. 1471)
• 1443 – Matthias Corvinus, Hungarian king (d. 1490)
• 1583 – Jean-Baptiste Morin, French mathematician, astrologer, and astronomer (d. 1656)
• 1633 – Samuel Pepys, English politician (d. 1703)
• 1646 – Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shogun (d. 1709)
• 1648 – Arabella Churchill, English mistress of James II of England (d. 1730)
• 1664 – Georg Dietrich Leyding, German organist and composer (d. 1710)
• 1680 – Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, Canadian politician (d. 1767)
• 1685 – George Frideric Handel, German-English composer (d. 1759)
• 1723 – Richard Price, Welsh philosopher (d. 1791)
• 1729 – Josiah Hornblower, English-American engineer and politician (d. 1809)
• 1744 – Mayer Amschel Rothschild, German banker (d. 1812)
• 1752 – Simon Knéfacz, Croatian monk and author (d. 1819)
• 1809 – William Sprague, American minister and politician (d. 1868)
• 1840 – Carl Menger, Austrian economist (d. 1921)
• 1840 – Frederick Wicks, English author and inventor (d. 1910)
• 1842 – Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher (d. 1906)
• 1850 – César Ritz, Swiss businessman, founded The Ritz London Hotel and Hôtel Ritz Paris (d. 1918)
• 1852 – Dục Đức, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1883)
• 1868 – W. E. B. Du Bois, American sociologist, historian, and activist (d. 1963)
• 1868 – Anna Hoffman-Uddgren, Swedish actress and director (d. 1947)
• 1873 – Liang Qichao, Chinese scholar (d. 1929)
• 1874 – Konstantin Päts, Estonian politician, 1st President of Estonia (d. 1956)
• 1877 – Frederic L. Paxson, American historian (d. 1948)
• 1878 – Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian painter and theorist (d. 1935)
• 1882 – Max Hainle, German swimmer (d. 1961)
• 1883 – Karl Jaspers, German philosopher (d. 1969)
• 1886 – Antonio Alice, Argentinian painter (d. 1943)
• 1889 – János Garay, Jewish Hungarian 1928 Summer Olympics gold medalist in fencing, murdered at Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp (d. 1945)
• 1889 – Musidora, French actress and director (d. 1957)
• 1889 – Victor Fleming, American director, cinematographer, and producer (d. 1949)
• 1889 – John Gilbert Winant, American politician, 60th Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1947)
• 1889 – Cyril Delevanti, English actor (d. 1975)
• 1891 – Harold Horder, Australian rugby player (d. 1978)
• 1892 – Kathleen Harrison, English actress (d. 1995)
• 1899 – Erich Kästner, German author and poet (d. 1974)
• 1899 – Norman Taurog, American director and screenwriter (d. 1981)
• 1901 – Edgar Ende, German painter (d. 1965)
• 1904 – Terence Fisher, English director and screenwriter (d. 1980)
• 1904 – William L. Shirer, American journalist and historian (d. 1993)
• 1904 – Leopold Trepper, Polish-Austrian spy (d. 1982)
• 1907 – Lee Hyo-seok, South Korean author and poet (d. 1942)
• 1908 – William McMahon, Australian politician, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1988)
• 1914 – Theofiel Middelkamp, Dutch cyclist (d. 2005)
• 1915 – Jon Hall, American actor (d. 1979)
• 1915 – Paul Tibbets, American general and pilot (d. 2007)
• 1918 – Richard Girnt Butler, American engineer, founded the Aryan Nations (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Derek Ezra, Baron Ezra, English politician
• 1919 – William McLean Hamilton, Canadian politician (d. 1989)
• 1920 – Paul Gérin-Lajoie, Canadian lawyer and politician
• 1923 – Miljenko Smoje, Croatian journalist (d. 1995)
• 1923 – Rafael Addiego Bruno, Uruguayan jurist and politician, President of Uruguay (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Ioannis Grivas, Greek judge and politician, 176th Prime Minister of Greece
• 1923 – Mary Francis Shura, American author (d. 1991)
• 1924 – Allan McLeod Cormack, South-African-American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
• 1924 – Claude Sautet, French director and author (d. 2000)
• 1924 – Lee Hu-rak, South Korean intelligence officer and politician (d. 2009)
• 1926 – Merv Hunter, Australian politician (d. 2013)
• 1926 – William R. Roy, American physician, journalist, and politician (d. 2014)
• 1927 – Régine Crespin, French soprano (d. 2007)
• 1928 – Hans Herrmann, German race car driver
• 1928 – Vasily Lazarev, Russian colonel, physician, and astronaut (d. 1990)
• 1929 – Jaan Einasto, Estonian astronomer and physicist
• 1929 – Elston Howard, American baseball player and coach (d. 1980)
• 1929 – Alexy II of Moscow, Estonian-Russian patriarch (d. 2008)
• 1931 – Tom Wesselmann, American painter and sculptor (d. 2004)
• 1932 – Majel Barrett, American actress and producer (d. 2008)
• 1933 – Donna J. Stone, American poet (d. 1994)
• 1934 – Linda Cristal, Argentine-American actress
• 1935 – Gerrianne Raphael, American actress
• 1937 – Tom Osborne, American football player, coach, and politician
• 1937 – Christopher Tugendhat, Baron Tugendhat, English journalist, academic, and politician, Vice-President of the European Commission
• 1938 – Paul Morrissey, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1938 – Diane Varsi, American actress (d. 1992)
• 1940 – Peter Fonda, American actor
• 1940 – Jackie Smith, American football player
• 1941 – Ron Hunt, American baseball player
• 1943 – Fred Biletnikoff, American football player and coach
• 1943 – Harry Pilling, English cricketer (d. 2012)
• 1944 – Bernard Cornwell, English author
• 1944 – John Sandford, American author
• 1944 – Johnny Winter, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2014)
• 1945 – Allan Boesak, South African cleric and politician
• 1946 – Rusty Young, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Poco)
• 1947 – Pia Kjærsgaard, Danish politician
• 1947 – John McWethy, American journalist (d. 2008)
• 1947 – Anton Mosimann, Swiss chef and author
• 1948 – Bill Alexander, English director and producer
• 1948 – Doug Moench, American author
• 1948 – Steve Priest, English singer-songwriter and bass player (Sweet)
• 1949 – Marc Garneau, Canadian engineer, astronaut, and politician
• 1950 – Maxi, Irish singer, actor, and radio host
• 1951 – Ed Jones, American football player
• 1951 – Patricia Richardson, American actress
• 1952 – Brad Whitford, American guitarist (Aerosmith and The Joe Perry Project)
• 1953 – Kenny Bee, Hong Kong singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (The Wynners)
• 1953 – Satoru Nakajima, Japanese race car driver
• 1953 – Walter Wick, American photographer and author
• 1954 – Carlos Guirao, Spanish guitarist, keyboard player, and composer (Neuronium) (d. 2012)
• 1954 – Rajini Thiranagama, Sri Lankan physician and academic (d. 1989)
• 1954 – Viktor Yushchenko, Ukrainian politician, 3rd President of Ukraine
• 1955 – Tom Bodett, American voice actor, radio host, and author
• 1955 – Howard Jones, English singer-songwriter
• 1955 – Flip Saunders, American basketball player and coach
• 1955 – Francesca Simon, American author
• 1956 – Sandra Osborne, Scottish politician
• 1957 – Ria Brieffies, Dutch singer (Dolly Dots) (d. 2009)
• 1957 – Viktor Markin, Russian runner
• 1958 – Patrick Marriott, English general
• 1958 – David Sylvian, English singer-songwriter (Japan and Nine Horses)
• 1959 – Clayton Anderson, American engineer and astronaut
• 1959 – Nick de Bois, English politician
• 1959 – Richard Dodds, English field hockey player
• 1959 – Ian Liddell-Grainger, Scottish soldier and politician
• 1959 – Graeme Morrice, Scottish politician
• 1959 – Linda Nolan, Irish singer and actress (The Nolans)
• 1959 – Aris Pavlis, Greek musician
• 1960 – Alan Griffin, Australian politician
• 1960 – Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan
• 1960 – Ivan Vdović, Serbian drummer (Suncokret, Šarlo Akrobata, Supernaut, and Ekatarina Velika) (d. 1992)
• 1962 – Michael Wilton, American guitarist (Queensrÿche and Soulbender)
• 1962 – Ahn Byeong-Keun, South Korean martial artist
• 1962 – Louise Wilson, English designer and academic
• 1963 – Bobby Bonilla, American baseball player
• 1963 – Radosław Sikorski, Polish journalist and politician, 11th Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland
• 1964 – David E. Clemmer, American chemist
• 1964 – Jeff Green, English comedian and author
• 1964 – John Norum, Norwegian guitarist and songwriter (Europe)
• 1965 – Michael Dell, American businessman, founded Dell
• 1965 – Sylvie Guillem, French ballet dancer
• 1965 – Ashok Kamte, Indian police officer (d. 2008)
• 1965 – Helena Suková, Czech tennis player
• 1966 – Mark Abrahamian, American guitarist (Starship) (d. 2012)
• 1967 – Hélène Darroze, French chef
• 1967 – Chris Vrenna, American drummer, songwriter, and producer (Nine Inch Nails, Tweaker, Die Warzau, and Exotic Birds)
• 1967 – Naim Süleymanoğlu, Turkish World and Olympic Champion in weightlifting
• 1968 – Justin Bell, English race car driver
• 1969 – Michael Campbell, New Zealand golfer
• 1969 – Daymond John, American fashion designer, founded FUBU
• 1969 – Marc Wauters, Belgian cyclist
• 1970 – Marie-Josée Croze, Canadian actress
• 1970 – Niecy Nash, American actress
• 1970 – Keanna Reeves, Filipino actress
• 1971 – Jung Chan, South Korean actor
• 1971 – Risto Kallaste, Estonian footballer
• 1971 – Arvo Kraam, Estonian footballer
• 1971 – Don Maxwell, Canadian cricketer
• 1971 – Melinda Messenger, English model and television host
• 1971 – Joe-Max Moore, American soccer player
• 1972 – Steve Holy, American singer
• 1972 – Alessandro Sturba, Italian footballer
• 1972 – Rondell White, American baseball player
• 1973 – Jason Boyd, American baseball player
• 1973 – Arnold Dwarika, Trinidadian footballer
• 1973 – Tatyana Gracheva, Russian volleyball player
• 1973 – Lars-Olof Johansson, Swedish guitarist (The Cardigans)
• 1973 – Jeff Nordgaard, American-Polish basketball player
• 1973 – Peng Weijun, Chinese footballer
• 1973 – Brad Young, Australian cricketer
• 1974 – Herschelle Gibbs, South African cricketer
• 1975 – Michael Cornacchia, American actor
• 1975 – Robert Lopez, American composer
• 1975 – Maryse Turcotte, Canadian weightlifter
• 1975 – Natalia Verbeke, Argentinian actress
• 1976 – Scott Elarton, American baseball player
• 1976 – Kelly Macdonald, Scottish actress
• 1976 – Jeff O'Neill, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1976 – Satoshi Yoneyama, Japanese wrestler
• 1976 – Irina Zahharenkova, Estonian pianist
• 1977 – Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, Estonian skier
• 1978 – Residente, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter (Calle 13)
• 1978 – Dan Snyder, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2003)
• 1979 – Sascha Zacharias, Swedish actress
• 1979 – S. E. Cupp, American journalist and author
• 1980 – Erika Ervin, American transgender actress
• 1981 – Gareth Barry, English footballer
• 1981 – Josh Gad, American actor
• 1981 – Mai Nakahara, Japanese voice actress
• 1981 – Charles Tillman, American football player
• 1981 – Dylan Ryder, American porn actress
• 1982 – Anna-Maria Galojan, Estonian politician
• 1982 – Karan Singh Grover, Indian actor
• 1982 – Adam Hann-Byrd, American actor
• 1982 – Malia Metella, French swimmer
• 1982 – Nick Dupree, disability rights activist
• 1983 – Mido, Egyptian footballer
• 1983 – Aziz Ansari, American comedian and actor
• 1983 – Mirco Bergamasco, Italian rugby player
• 1983 – Emily Blunt, English actress
• 1983 – Courtney Culkin, American model
• 1986 – Emerson da Conceição, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – Skylar Grey, American singer-songwriter
• 1986 – Kazuya Kamenashi, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor (KAT-TUN and Shūji to Akira)
• 1986 – Boipelo Makhothi, Lesotho swimmer
• 1986 – Jerod Mayo, American football player
• 1986 – Ola Svensson, Swedish singer-songwriter
• 1988 – Nicolás Gaitán, Argentinian footballer
• 1989 – Amara Baby, French footballer
• 1989 – Evan Bates, American ice dancer
• 1990 – Kevin Cheung, Mauritian swimmer
• 1992 – Casemiro, Brazilian footballer
• 1992 – Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1992 – Samara Weaving, Australian actress and model
• 1993 – Kasumi Ishikawa, Japanese table tennis player
• 1994 – Dakota Fanning, American actress
• 1995 – Andrew Wiggins, Canadian basketball player
• 2012 – Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland

Deaths[edit]

• 572 – Chihor-Vishnasp, governor (marzban) of Persian Armenia (b. 6th-century)
• 715 – Al-Walid I, Muslim caliph (b. 668)
• 943 – Herbert II, Count of Vermandois, (b. 884)
• 1011 – Willigis, German archbishop (b. 940)
• 1100 – Emperor Zhezong of Song (b. 1076)
• 1270 – Isabel of France (b. 1225)
• 1447 – Pope Eugene IV (b. 1383)
• 1447 – Humphrey of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester, English politician (b. 1390)
• 1464 – Zhengtong Emperor of China (b. 1427)
• 1554 – Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English politician (b. 1515)
• 1572 – Pierre Certon, French composer (b. 1510)
• 1603 – Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (b. 1519)
• 1669 – Lieuwe van Aitzema, Dutch historian and diplomat (b. 1600)
• 1704 – Georg Muffat, French organist and composer (b. 1653)
• 1766 – Stanisław Leszczyński, Polish king (b. 1677)
• 1781 – George Taylor, Irish-American politician (b. 1716)
• 1792 – Joshua Reynolds, English painter (b. 1723)
• 1800 – Joseph Warton, English academic and critic (b. 1722)
• 1821 – John Keats, English poet (b. 1795)
• 1848 – John Quincy Adams, British-American politician, 6th President of the United States (b. 1767)
• 1855 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (b. 1777)
• 1859 – Zygmunt Krasiński, Polish poet (b. 1812)
• 1879 – Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and politician, 10th Minister-President of Prussia (b. 1803)
• 1897 – Woldemar Bargiel, German composer (b. 1828)
• 1908 – Friedrich von Esmarch, German surgeon and academic (b. 1823)
• 1918 – Adolphus Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1882)
• 1922 – Albert Victor Bäcklund, Swedish physicist (b. 1845)
• 1925 – Samuel Berger, American boxer (b. 1884)
• 1930 – Horst Wessel, German SA officer (b. 1907)
• 1931 – Nellie Melba, Australian soprano (b. 1861)
• 1934 – Edward Elgar, English composer and academic (b. 1857)
• 1944 – Leo Baekeland, Belgian-American chemist (b. 1863)
• 1944 – Oszkár Gerde, two-time Olympic gold medalist in fencing in 1908 and 1912, murdered at Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp (b. 1883)
• 1946 – Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese general (b. 1885)
• 1948 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-American publisher (b. 1866)
• 1955 – Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (b. 1868)
• 1957 – Marika Ninou, Greek singer (b. 1918)
• 1960 – Arthur Legat, Belgian race car driver (b. 1898)
• 1961 – Davey Crockett, American baseball player (b. 1875)
• 1965 – Stan Laurel, English actor and director (b. 1890)
• 1969 – Madhubala, Indian actress (b. 1933)
• 1970 – Hirsch Jacobs, American horse trainer (b. 1904)
• 1973 – Dickinson W. Richards, American physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
• 1974 – Harry Ruby, American composer and screenwriter (b. 1895)
• 1975 – Hans Bellmer, German artist (b. 1902)
• 1976 – L. S. Lowry, English painter (b. 1887)
• 1979 – W. A. C. Bennett, Canadian politician, 25th Premier of British Columbia (b. 1900)
• 1983 – Herbert Howells, English organist and composer (b. 1892)
• 1984 – Jessamyn West, American author (b. 1902)
• 1990 – José Napoleón Duarte, Salvadoran politician, President of El Salvador (b. 1925)
• 1992 – Markos Vafiadis, Greek politician (b. 1906)
• 1995 – Melvin Franklin, American singer (The Temptations) (b. 1942)
• 1995 – James Herriot, English veterinarian and author (b. 1916)
• 1996 – William Bonin, American serial killer and sex offender (b. 1947)
• 1996 – Paul Saagpakk, Estonian linguist and lexicographer (b. 1910)
• 1997 – Tony Williams, American drummer, composer, and producer (The Tony Williams Lifetime) (b. 1945)
• 1999 – Carlos Hathcock, American sniper (b. 1942)
• 1999 – Rick Wilson, American wrestler (b. 1965)
• 2000 – Ofra Haza, Israeli singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1957)
• 2000 – Stanley Matthews, English footballer (b. 1915)
• 2001 – Robert Enrico, French director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
• 2001 – Sergio Mantovani, Italian racing driver (b. 1929)
• 2003 – Howie Epstein, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) (b. 1955)
• 2003 – Robert K. Merton, American sociologist (b. 1910)
• 2003 – Titos Vandis, Greek actor (b. 1917)
• 2004 – Vijay Anand, Indian director, producer, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1934)
• 2004 – Carl Anderson, American singer and actor (b. 1945)
• 2004 – Neil Ardley, English pianist and composer (b. 1937)
• 2004 – Sikander Bakht, Indian politician (b. 1918)
• 2004 – Don Cornell, American singer (b. 1919)
• 2004 – Carl Liscombe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1915)
• 2006 – Benno Besson, Swiss actor and director (b. 1922)
• 2006 – Telmo Zarraonaindía, Spanish footballer (b. 1921)
• 2007 – Donnie Brooks, American singer (b. 1936)
• 2007 – John Ritchie, English footballer (b. 1941)
• 2008 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian politician, 2nd President of Slovenia (b. 1950)
• 2008 – Douglas Fraser, Scottish-American union leader (b. 1916)
• 2008 – Paul Frère, Belgian race car driver and journalist (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Denis Lazure, Canadian politician (b. 1925)
• 2010 – Orlando Zapata, Cuban plumber and activist (b. 1967)
• 2011 – Nirmala Srivastava, Indian religious leader, founded Sahaja Yoga (b. 1923)
• 2012 – William Gay, American author (b. 1941)
• 2012 – Peter King, English footballer (b. 1964)
• 2012 – William Raggio, American lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
• 2012 – David Sayre, American physicist and mathematician (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Bruce Surtees, American cinematographer (b. 1937)
• 2012 – Kazimierz Żygulski, Polish sociologist and activist (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Benedict Ashley, American theologian and philosopher (b. 1915)
• 2013 – Eugene Bookhammer, American soldier and politician, 18th Lieutenant Governor of Delaware (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Joan Child, Australian politician, 19th Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Mary Ann McMorrow, American judge (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Julien Ries, Belgian cardinal (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Sonny Russo, American trombonist (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Lotika Sarkar, Indian lawyer and academic (b. 1945)
• 2013 – Richard Worsley, English general (b. 1923)
• 2014 – K. Alison Clarke-Stewart, Canadian psychologist and academic (b. 1943)
• 2014 – Ely Capacio, Filipino basketball player and coach (b. 1955)
• 2014 – Penny DeHaven, American singer and actress (b. 1948)
• 2014 – Alice Herz-Sommer, Czech-English pianist and educator (b. 1903)
• 2014 – Roger Hilsman, American soldier, academic, and politician (b. 1919)
• 2014 – Samuel Sheinbein, American-Israeli murderer (b. 1980)
• 2014 – Norman Whiting, English cricketer (b. 1920)