EVENTS OF THIS DAY IN THE PAST. 14/12

• 557 – Constantinople is severely damaged by an earthquake.
• 835 – Sweet Dew Incident: Emperor Wenzong of the Tang dynasty conspires to kill the powerful eunuchs of the Tang court, but the plot is foiled.
• 1287 – St. Lucia's flood: The Zuiderzee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses, killing over 50,000 people.
• 1542 – Princess Mary Stuart becomes Queen of Scots at the age of one week on the death of her father, James V of Scotland.
• 1751 – The Theresian Military Academy is founded in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.
• 1780 – Founding Father Alexander Hamilton marries Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany, New York
• 1782 – The Montgolfier brothers first test fly an unmanned hot air balloon in France; it floats nearly 2 km (1.2 mi).
• 1812 – The French invasion of Russia comes to an end as the remnants of the Grande Armée are expelled from Russia.
• 1814 – War of 1812: The Royal Navy seizes control of Lake Borgne, Louisiana.
• 1819 – Alabama becomes the 22nd U.S. state.
• 1836 – The Toledo War unofficially ends.
• 1896 – The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.
• 1900 – Quantum mechanics: Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law.
• 1902 – The Commercial Pacific Cable Company lays the first Pacific telegraph cable, from San Francisco to Honolulu.
• 1903 – The Wright brothers make their first attempt to fly with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
• 1907 – The Thomas W. Lawson, the largest ever ship without a heat engine, runs aground and founders near the Hellweather's Reef within the Isles of Scilly in a gale. The pilot and 15 seamen die.
• 1909 – New South Wales Premier Charles Wade signs the Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909, formally completing the transfer of State land to the Commonwealth to create the Australian Capital Territory.
• 1911 – Roald Amundsen's team, comprising himself, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting, becomes the first to reach the South Pole.
• 1913 – Haruna, the fourth and last Kongō-class ship, launches, eventually becoming one of the Japanese workhorses during World War I and World War II.
• 1914 – Lisandro de la Torre and others found the Democratic Progressive Party (Partido Demócrata Progresista, PDP) at the Hotel Savoy, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 1918 – Friedrich Karl von Hessen, a German prince elected by the Parliament of Finland to become King Väinö I, renounces the Finnish throne.
• 1918 – Portuguese President Sidónio Pais is assassinated.
• 1918 – The 1918 United Kingdom general election occurs, the first where women were permitted to vote.
• 1939 – Winter War: The Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations for invading Finland.
• 1940 – Plutonium (specifically Pu-238) is first isolated at Berkeley, California.
• 1941 – World War II: Japan signs a treaty of alliance with Thailand.
• 1948 – Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann are granted a patent for their cathode-ray tube amusement device, the earliest known interactive electronic game.
• 1955 – Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Ceylon, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania and Spain join the United Nations through United Nations Security Council Resolution 109.
• 1958 – The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility.
• 1960 – Convention against Discrimination in Education of UNESCO is adopted.
• 1962 – NASA's Mariner 2 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus.
• 1963 – The dam containing the Baldwin Hills Reservoir bursts, killing five people and damaging hundreds of homes in Los Angeles, California.
• 1964 – American Civil Rights Movement: Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Congress can use the Constitution's Commerce Clause to fight discrimination.
• 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: Over 200 of East Pakistan's intellectuals are executed by the Pakistan Army and their local allies. (The date is commemorated in Bangladesh as Martyred Intellectuals Day.)
• 1972 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final extravehicular activity (EVA) of the Apollo 17 mission.
• 1981 – Arab–Israeli conflict: Israel's Knesset ratifies the Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the occupied Golan Heights.
• 1985 – Wilma Mankiller takes office as the first woman elected to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
• 1992 – War in Abkhazia: Siege of Tkvarcheli: A helicopter carrying evacuees from Tkvarcheli is shot down, resulting in at least 52 deaths, including 25 children. The incident catalyses more concerted Russian military intervention on behalf of Abkhazia.
• 1994 – Construction begins on the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze river.
• 1995 – Yugoslav Wars: The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris by the leaders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 1998 – Yugoslav Wars: The Yugoslav Army ambushes a group of Kosovo Liberation Army fighters attempting to smuggle weapons from Albania into Kosovo, killing 36.
• 1999 – Torrential rains cause flash floods in Vargas, Venezuela, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, the destruction of thousands of homes, and the complete collapse of the state's infrastructure.
• 2003 – Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.
• 2004 – The Millau Viaduct, the tallest bridge in the world, is formally inaugurated near Millau, France.
• 2008 – Muntadhar al-Zaidi throws his shoes at then-U.S. President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq.
• 2012 – Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.
• 2013 – A reported coup attempt in South Sudan leads to continued fighting and hundreds of casualties.
• 2017 – The Walt Disney Company announces that it would acquire 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox movie studio, for $52.4 billion.

Births[edit]

• 1009 – Go-Suzaku, emperor of Japan (d. 1045)
• 1332 – Frederick III, German nobleman (d. 1381)
• 1546 – Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer and chemist (d. 1601)
• 1599 – Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge, English politician (d. 1668)
• 1607 – János Kemény, Hungarian prince (d. 1662)
• 1625 – Barthélemy d'Herbelot, French orientalist and academic (d. 1695)
• 1631 – Anne Conway, English philosopher and author (d. 1679)
• 1640 – Aphra Behn, English playwright and author (d. 1689)
• 1678 – Daniel Neal, English historian and author (d. 1743)
• 1720 – Justus Möser, German jurist and theorist (d. 1794)
• 1730 – Capel Bond, English organist and composer (d. 1790)
• 1738 – Jan Antonín Koželuh, Czech composer and educator (d. 1814)
• 1775 – Philander Chase, American bishop and educator, founded Kenyon College (d. 1852)
• 1775 – Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Scottish admiral and politician (d. 1860)
• 1777 – Du Pre Alexander, 2nd Earl of Caledon, Irish politician, Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone (d. 1839)
• 1784 – Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily (d. 1806)
• 1789 – Maria Szymanowska, Polish composer and pianist (d. 1831)
• 1791 – Charles Wolfe, Irish priest and poet (d. 1823)
• 1794 – Erastus Corning, American businessman and politician (d. 1872)
• 1816 – Abraham Hochmuth, Hungarian rabbi and educator (d. 1889)
• 1824 – Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, French painter and illustrator (d. 1898)
• 1832 – Daniel H. Reynolds, American general, lawyer, and politician (d. 1902)
• 1851 – Mary Tappan Wright, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1916)
• 1852 – Daniel De Leon, Curaçaoan-American journalist and politician (d. 1914)
• 1853 – Errico Malatesta, Italian activist and theorist (d. 1932)
• 1856 – Louis Marshall, American lawyer and activist (d. 1929)
• 1866 – Roger Fry, English painter and critic (d. 1934)
• 1870 – Karl Renner, Austrian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Austria (d. 1950)
• 1881 – Katherine MacDonald, American actress and producer (d. 1956)
• 1883 – Manolis Kalomiris, Greek pianist and composer (d. 1962)
• 1883 – Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist, developed aikido (d. 1969)
• 1884 – Jane Cowl, American actress and playwright (d. 1950)
• 1887 – Xul Solar, Argentinian painter and sculptor (d. 1963)
• 1894 – Alexander Nelke, Estonian-American painter and carpenter (d. 1974)
• 1895 – George VI of the United Kingdom (d. 1952)
• 1895 – Paul Éluard, French poet and author (d. 1952)
• 1896 – Jimmy Doolittle, American general and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1993)
• 1897 – Kurt Schuschnigg, Italian-Austrian lawyer and politician, 15th Federal Chancellor of Austria (d. 1977)
• 1897 – Margaret Chase Smith, American educator and politician (d. 1995)
• 1899 – DeFord Bailey, American Hall of Fame country and blues musician (d. 1982)
• 1901 – Henri Cochet, French tennis player (d. 1987)
• 1901 – Paul of Greece (d. 1964)
• 1902 – Frances Bavier, American actress (d. 1989)
• 1902 – Herbert Feigl, Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1988)
• 1903 – Walter Rangeley, English sprinter (d. 1982)
• 1904 – Virginia Coffey, American civil rights activist (d. 2003)
• 1908 – Morey Amsterdam, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1996)
• 1908 – Claude Davey, Welsh rugby player (d. 2001)
• 1908 – Mária Szepes, Hungarian journalist, author, and screenwriter (d. 2007)
• 1909 – Edward Lawrie Tatum, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
• 1911 – Spike Jones, American singer and bandleader (d. 1965)
• 1911 – Hans von Ohain, German-American physicist and engineer (d. 1998)
• 1911 – Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz, Greek-Polish swimmer and water polo player (d. 1943)
• 1914 – Karl Carstens, German lieutenant and politician, 5th President of the Federal Republic of Germany (d. 1992)
• 1914 – Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichord player (d. 2003)
• 1915 – Dan Dailey, American dancer and actor (d. 1978)
• 1916 – Shirley Jackson, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1965)
• 1917 – C.-H. Hermansson, Swedish author and politician (d. 2016)
• 1917 – Elyse Knox, American actress and fashion designer (d. 2012)
• 1917 – June Taylor, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2004)
• 1918 – James T. Aubrey, American broadcaster (d. 1994)
• 1918 – Radu Beligan, Romanian actor and director (d. 2016)
• 1918 – B. K. S. Iyengar, Indian yoga instructor and author, founded Iyengar Yoga (d. 2014)
• 1920 – Clark Terry, American trumpet player, composer, and educator (d. 2015)
• 1922 – Nikolay Basov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
• 1922 – Don Hewitt, American journalist and producer, created 60 Minutes (d. 2009)
• 1922 – Junior J. Spurrier, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1984)
• 1923 – Gerard Reve, Dutch-Belgian author and poet (d. 2006)
• 1924 – Raj Kapoor, Indian actor, director, and producer (d. 1988)
• 1925 – Sam Jones, American baseball player (d. 1971)
• 1927 – Richard Cassilly, American tenor and actor (d. 1998)
• 1927 – Koos Rietkerk, Dutch lawyer and politician, Dutch Minister of the Interior (d. 1986)
• 1929 – Ron Jarden, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1977)
• 1930 – David R. Harris, English geographer, anthropologist, and archaeologist (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Margaret Bakkes, South African author (d. 2016)
• 1931 – Jon Elia, Pakistani philosopher, poet, and scholar (d. 2002)
• 1931 – Vladimir-Georg Karassev-Orgusaar, Estonian director and politician (d. 2015)
• 1932 – George Furth, American actor and playwright (d. 2008)
• 1932 – Abbe Lane, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1932 – Charlie Rich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1995)
• 1934 – Shyam Benegal, Indian director and screenwriter
• 1934 – Charlie Hodge, American guitarist and singer (d. 2006)
• 1935 – Lewis Arquette, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
• 1935 – Lee Remick, American actress (d. 1991)
• 1938 – Leonardo Boff, Brazilian theologian and author
• 1938 – Charlie Griffith, Barbadian cricketer
• 1939 – Ann Cryer, English academic and politician
• 1939 – Ernie Davis, American football player (d. 1963)
• 1940 – Lex Gold, Scottish footballer and civil servant
• 1941 – Karan Armstrong, American soprano and actress
• 1941 – Ellen Willis, American journalist, critic, and academic (d. 2006)
• 1942 – Chris Harris, English actor and director (d. 2014)
• 1942 – Dick Wagner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2014)
• 1943 – Tommy McAvoy, Scottish politician
• 1943 – Emmett Tyrrell, American journalist, author, and publisher, founded The American Spectator
• 1944 – Graham Kirkham, Baron Kirkham, English businessman, founded DFS
• 1946 – Antony Beevor, English historian and author
• 1946 – Jane Birkin, English-French actress and singer
• 1946 – John Du Prez, English conductor and composer
• 1946 – Patty Duke, American actress (d. 2016)
• 1946 – Ruth Fuchs, German javelin thrower and politician
• 1946 – Peter Lorimer, Scottish footballer
• 1946 – Michael Ovitz, American talent agent, co-founded Creative Artists Agency
• 1946 – Stan Smith, American tennis player and coach
• 1946 – Joyce Vincent Wilson, American singer
• 1947 – Christopher Parkening, American guitarist and educator
• 1947 – Dilma Rousseff, Brazilian economist and politician, 36th President of Brazil
• 1948 – Lester Bangs, American journalist and author (d. 1982)
• 1948 – Kim Beazley, Australian politician and diplomat, 9th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
• 1948 – Boudewijn Büch, Dutch author, poet, and television host (d. 2002)
• 1948 – Peeter Kreitzberg, Estonian lawyer and politician (d. 2011)
• 1949 – Bill Buckner, American baseball player and manager (d. 2019)
• 1949 – Cliff Williams, Australian bass player
• 1951 – Jan Timman, Dutch chess player and author
• 1952 – John Lurie, American actor, saxophonist, painter, director, and producer
• 1953 – Vijay Amritraj, Indian tennis player and sportscaster
• 1953 – Wade Davis, Canadian anthropologist, author, and photographer
• 1953 – René Eespere, Estonian composer
• 1953 – Vangelis Meimarakis, Greek lawyer and politician, 4th Greek Minister for National Defence
• 1953 – Mikael Odenberg, Swedish soldier and politician, 29th Swedish Minister for Defence
• 1954 – Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (d. 1993)
• 1954 – Steve MacLean, Canadian physicist and astronaut
• 1955 – Jane Crafter, Australian golfer
• 1955 – Jill Pipher, American mathematician and academic
• 1956 – Linda Fabiani, Scottish politician
• 1956 – Hanni Wenzel, German skier
• 1958 – Mike Scott, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1958 – Spider Stacy, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1959 – Bob Paris, American-Canadian bodybuilder and actor
• 1959 – Jorge Vaca, Mexican boxer
• 1960 – Don Franklin, American actor
• 1960 – Chris Waddle, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
• 1960 – Diane Williams, American sprinter
• 1960 – James Comey, 7th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
• 1961 – Jeff Robinson, American baseball player (d. 2014)
• 1961 – Patrik Sundström, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1963 – Greg Abbott, English footballer and manager
• 1963 – Diana Gansky, German discus thrower
• 1965 – Craig Biggio, American baseball player and coach
• 1965 – Ken Hill, American baseball player
• 1965 – Ted Raimi, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1966 – Fabrizio Giovanardi, Italian race car driver
• 1966 – Anthony Mason, American basketball player (d. 2015)
• 1966 – Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Danish academic and politician, 41st Prime Minister of Denmark
• 1966 – Bill Ranford, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1966 – Tim Sköld, Swedish bass player and producer
• 1967 – Ewa Białołęcka, Polish author
• 1967 – Hanne Haugland, Norwegian high jumper and coach
• 1968 – Kelley Armstrong, Canadian author
• 1969 – Scott Hatteberg, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1969 – Archie Kao, American actor and producer
• 1969 – Arthur Numan, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1969 – Natascha McElhone, English-Irish actress
• 1970 – Anna Maria Jopek, Polish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
• 1970 – Beth Orton, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1971 – Michaela Watkins, American actor and comedian
• 1972 – Miranda Hart, English actress
• 1972 – Marcus Jensen, American baseball player and coach
• 1973 – Falk Balzer, German hurdler
• 1973 – Pat Burke, Irish basketball player
• 1973 – Tomasz Radzinski, Polish-Canadian footballer
• 1973 – Saulius Štombergas, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
• 1974 – Billy Koch, American baseball player
• 1975 – Justin Furstenfeld, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1975 – Ben Kay, English rugby player
• 1976 – Tammy Blanchard, American actress and singer
• 1976 – Leland Chapman, American bounty hunter
• 1976 – Sebastien Chaule, French-German rugby player
• 1976 – André Couto, Portuguese race car driver
• 1976 – Santiago Ezquerro, Spanish footballer
• 1977 – Brendan Nash, Australian-Jamaican cricketer
• 1977 – Jamie Peacock, English rugby player and manager
• 1978 – Dean Brogan, Australian footballer and coach
• 1978 – Shedrack Kibet Korir, Kenyan runner
• 1978 – Zdeněk Pospěch, Czech footballer
• 1978 – Patty Schnyder, Swiss tennis player
• 1978 – Kim St-Pierre, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1979 – Jean-Alain Boumsong, French footballer
• 1979 – Andrei Makrov, Estonian ice hockey player
• 1979 – Sophie Monk, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actress
• 1979 – Michael Owen, English footballer and sportscaster
• 1980 – Gordon Greer, Scottish footballer
• 1980 – Didier Zokora, Ivorian footballer
• 1980 – Thed Björk, Swedish race car driver
• 1981 – Rebecca Jarvis, American journalist
• 1981 – Johnny Jeter, American wrestler
• 1981 – Liam Lawrence, Irish footballer
• 1981 – Shaun Marcum, American baseball player
• 1982 – Josh Fields, American baseball player
• 1982 – Steve Sidwell, English footballer
• 1982 – Anthony Way, English singer and actor
• 1983 – Leanne Mitchell, English singer-songwriter
• 1984 – Chris Brunt, Northern Irish footballer
• 1984 – Rana Daggubati, Indian actor and producer
• 1984 – Ed Rainsford, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1985 – Jakub Błaszczykowski, Polish footballer
• 1985 – Alex Pennie, Welsh keyboard player
• 1985 – Paul Rabil, American lacrosse player
• 1985 – Tom Smith, English-Welsh rugby player
• 1985 – Nonami Takizawa, Japanese actress and singer
• 1987 – Kenneth Medwood, Belizean-American hurdler
• 1988 – Nicolas Batum, French basketball player
• 1988 – Nate Ebner, American football player
• 1988 – Vanessa Hudgens, American actress and singer
• 1988 – Hayato Sakamoto, Japanese baseball player
• 1989 – Sam Burgess, English rugby league player
• 1989 – Pedro Roberto Silva Botelho, Brazilian footballer
• 1989 – Onew, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
• 1991 – Ben Henry, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1991 – Offset, American rapper
• 1992 – Tori Kelly, American singer-songwriter
• 1992 – Ryo Miyaichi, Japanese footballer
• 1993 – Antonio Giovinazzi, Italian race car driver
• 1995 – Calvyn Justus, South African swimmer
• 1996 – Li Zijun, Chinese figure skater

Deaths[edit]

• 618 – Xue Rengao, emperor of Qin
• 704 – Aldfrith, king of Northumbria (or 705)
• 872 – Pope Adrian II (b. 792)
• 1077 – Agnes of Poitou, Holy Roman Empress and regent (b. c. 1025)
• 1293 – Al-Ashraf Khalil, Mamluk sultan of Egypt
• 1311 – Margaret of Brabant, German queen consort (b. 1276)
• 1332 – Rinchinbal Khan, Mongolian emperor (b. 1326)
• 1359 – Cangrande II della Scala, Lord of Verona (b. 1332)
• 1417 – John Oldcastle, English Lollard leader
• 1460 – Guarino da Verona, Italian scholar and translator (b. 1370)
• 1480 – Niccolò Perotti, humanist scholar (b. 1429)
• 1503 – Sten Sture the Elder, regent of Sweden (b. 1440)
• 1510 – Friedrich of Saxony (b. 1473)
• 1542 – James V of Scotland (b. 1512)
• 1591 – John of the Cross, Spanish priest and saint (b. 1542)
• 1595 – Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon (b. 1535)
• 1624 – Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, English politician, Lord High Admiral (b. 1536)
• 1651 – Pierre Dupuy, French historian and scholar (b. 1582)
• 1715 – Thomas Tenison, English archbishop (b. 1636)
• 1735 – Thomas Tanner, English bishop and historian (b. 1674)
• 1741 – Charles Rollin, French historian and educator (b. 1661)
• 1785 – Giovanni Battista Cipriani, Italian painter and engraver (b. 1727)
• 1788 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German pianist and composer (b. 1714)
• 1788 – Charles III of Spain (b. 1716)
• 1799 – George Washington, American general and politician, 1st President of the United States (b. 1732)
• 1831 – Martin Baum, American businessman and politician, 5th Mayor of Cincinnati (b. 1765)
• 1838 – Jean-Olivier Chénier, Canadian physician (b. 1806)
• 1842 – Ben Crack-O, king of several tribes around Cape Palmas
• 1860 – George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Scottish-English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1784)
• 1861 – Albert, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom (b. 1819)
• 1865 – Johan Georg Forchhammer, Danish geologist and mineralogist (b. 1794)
• 1873 – Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American zoologist and geologist (b. 1807)
• 1878 – Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (b. 1843)
• 1912 – Belgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis, English lieutenant and explorer (b. 1887)
• 1917 – Phil Waller, Welsh rugby player (b. 1889)
• 1920 – George Gipp, American football player (b. 1895)
• 1927 – Julian Sochocki, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1842)
• 1929 – Henry B. Jackson, 74, British admiral (b. 1855)
• 1935 – Stanley G. Weinbaum, American author (b. 1902)
• 1937 – Fabián de la Rosa, Filipino painter and educator (b. 1869)
• 1940 – Anton Korošec, Slovenian priest and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1872)
• 1943 – John Harvey Kellogg, American physician and businessman, co-invented corn flakes (b. 1852)
• 1944 – Lupe Vélez, Mexican actress (b. 1908)^[1]
• 1947 – Stanley Baldwin, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1867)
• 1947 – Edward Higgins, English-American 3rd General of The Salvation Army (b. 1864)
• 1953 – Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, American author and academic (b. 1896)
• 1956 – Juho Kusti Paasikivi, Finnish lawyer and politician, 7th President of Finland (b. 1870)
• 1963 – Dinah Washington, American singer and pianist (b. 1924)
• 1964 – William Bendix, American actor (b. 1906)
• 1970 – Franz Schlegelberger, German judge and politician, German Reich Minister of Justice (b. 1876)
• 1971 – Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury, Bangladeshi linguist and scholar (b. 1926)
• 1971 – Munier Choudhury, Bangladeshi author, playwright, and critic (b. 1925)
• 1971 – Shahidullah Kaiser, Bangladeshi journalist and author (b. 1927)
• 1974 – Walter Lippmann, American journalist and author (b. 1889)
• 1975 – Arthur Treacher, English-American entertainer (b. 1894)
• 1978 – Salvador de Madariaga, Spanish historian and diplomat, co-founded the College of Europe (b. 1886)
• 1980 – Elston Howard, American baseball player and coach (b. 1929)
• 1984 – Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish poet and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
• 1985 – Catherine Doherty, Russian-Canadian activist, founded the Madonna House Apostolate (b. 1896)
• 1985 – Roger Maris, American baseball player and coach (b. 1934)
• 1989 – Jock Mahoney, American actor and stuntman (b. 1919)
• 1989 – Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1921)
• 1990 – Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss author and playwright (b. 1921)
• 1991 – Robert Eddison, Japanese-English actor (b. 1908)
• 1993 – Jeff Alm, American football player (b. 1968)
• 1993 – Myrna Loy, American actress (b. 1905)
• 1994 – Orval Faubus, American soldier and politician, 36th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1910)
• 1995 – G. C. Edmondson, American soldier and author (b. 1922)
• 1996 – Gaston Miron, Canadian poet and author (b. 1928)
• 1997 – Stubby Kaye, American actor and comedian (b. 1918)
• 1997 – Emily Cheney Neville, American author (b. 1919)
• 1997 – Kurt Winter, Canadian guitarist and songwriter (b. 1946)
• 1998 – Norman Fell, American actor and comedian (b. 1924)
• 1998 – A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., American lawyer, judge, and activist (b. 1928)
• 1998 – Annette Strauss, American philanthropist and politician, Mayor of Dallas (b. 1924)
• 2001 – W. G. Sebald, German novelist, essayist, and poet (b. 1944)
• 2003 – Jeanne Crain, American actress (b. 1925)
• 2003 – Blas Ople, Filipino journalist and politician, 21st President of the Senate of the Philippines (b. 1927)
• 2003 – Frank Sheeran, American union leader and mobster (b. 1920)
• 2004 – Rod Kanehl, American baseball player (b. 1934)
• 2004 – Fernando Poe Jr., Filipino actor, director, producer, and politician (b. 1939)
• 2006 – Anton Balasingham, Sri Lankan-English strategist and negotiator (b. 1938)
• 2006 – Ahmet Ertegün, Turkish-American composer and producer, co-founded Atlantic Records (b. 1923)
• 2006 – Mike Evans, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1949)
• 2009 – Alan A'Court, English footballer and manager (b. 1934)
• 2010 – Timothy Davlin, American politician, Mayor of Springfield (b. 1957)
• 2010 – Neva Patterson, American actress (b. 1920)
• 2010 – Dale Roberts, English footballer (b. 1986)
• 2011 – Joe Simon, American author and illustrator (b. 1913)
• 2011 – Billie Jo Spears, American singer-songwriter (b. 1937)
• 2012 – John Graham, English general (b. 1923)
• 2012 – Edward Jones, American police officer and politician (b. 1950)
• 2012 – Victoria Leigh Soto, American educator (b. 1985)
• 2013 – Janet Dailey, American author (b. 1944)
• 2013 – C. N. Karunakaran, Indian painter and illustrator (b. 1940)
• 2013 – Dennis Lindley, English statistician and academic (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Peter O'Toole, British-Irish actor (b. 1932)
• 2013 – George Rodrigue, American painter (b. 1944)
• 2014 – Theo Colborn, American zoologist and academic (b. 1927)
• 2014 – Irene Dalis, American soprano and pianist (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Louis Alphonse Koyagialo, Congolese politician, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1947)
• 2014 – Bess Myerson, American model, activist, game show panelist and television personality; Miss America 1945 (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Fred Thurston, American football player (b. 1933)
• 2015 – Terry Backer, American soldier and politician (b. 1954)
• 2015 – Glen Sonmor, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Vadym Tyshchenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1963)
• 2015 – Lillian Vernon, German-American businesswoman and philanthropist, founded the Lillian Vernon Company (b. 1927)
• 2016 – Paulo Evaristo Arns, Brazilian cardinal (b. 1921)
• 2016 – Bernard Fox, Welsh actor (b. 1927)
• 2017 – Yu Kwang-chung, Chinese writer (b. 1928)