EVENTS OF THIS DAY IN THE PAST

[edit]

• 571 BC – Servius Tullius, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans.
• 885 – Siege of Paris: Viking forces sail the Seine River with a fleet of 300 longships and lay siege to Paris.
• 1034 – Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots, dies. His grandson, Donnchad, son of Bethóc and Crínán of Dunkeld, inherits the throne.
• 1120 – The White Ship sinks in the English Channel, drowning William Adelin, son and heir of Henry I of England.
• 1177 – Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Châtillon defeat Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard.
• 1343 – A tsunami, caused by an earthquake in the Tyrrhenian Sea, devastates Naples and the Maritime Republic of Amalfi, among other places.
• 1487 – Elizabeth of York is crowned Queen of England.
• 1491 – The siege of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, ends with the Treaty of Granada.
• 1667 – A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha in the Caucasus, killing 80,000 people.
• 1755 – King Ferdinand VI of Spain grants royal protection to the Beaterio de la Compañia de Jesus, now known as the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary.
• 1758 – French and Indian War: British forces capture Fort Duquesne from French control. Later, Fort Pitt will be built nearby and grow into modern Pittsburgh.
• 1759 – An earthquake hits the Mediterranean destroying Beirut and Damascus and killing 30,000-40,000.
• 1783 – American Revolutionary War: The last British troops leave New York City three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
• 1795 – Partitions of Poland: Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last king of independent Poland, is forced to abdicate and is exiled to Russia.
• 1826 – The Greek frigate Hellas arrives in Nafplion to become the first flagship of the Hellenic Navy.
• 1833 – A massive undersea earthquake, estimated magnitude between 8.7-9.2, rocks Sumatra, producing a massive tsunami all along the Indonesian coast.
• 1839 – A cyclone slams India with high winds and a 40-foot storm surge, destroying the port city of Coringa (which has never been completely rebuilt). The storm wave sweeps inland, taking with it 20,000 ships and thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 deaths result from the disaster.
• 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Missionary Ridge: At Missionary Ridge in Tennessee, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant break the Siege of Chattanooga by routing Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg.
• 1864 – American Civil War: A group of Confederate operatives calling themselves the Confederate Army of Manhattan starts fires in more than 20 locations in an unsuccessful attempt to burn down New York City.
• 1874 – The United States Greenback Party is established as a political party consisting primarily of farmers affected by the Panic of 1873.
• 1876 – American Indian Wars: In retaliation for the American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops sack the sleeping village of Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife at the headwaters of the Powder River.
• 1905 – Prince Carl of Denmark arrives in Norway to become King Haakon VII of Norway.
• 1915 – Albert Einstein presents the field equations of general relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences.
• 1917 – World War I: German forces defeat Portuguese army of about 1200 at Negomano on the border of modern-day Mozambique and Tanzania.
• 1918 – Vojvodina, formerly Austro-Hungarian crown land, proclaims its secession from Austria–Hungary to join the Kingdom of Serbia.
• 1926 – The deadliest November tornado outbreak in U.S. history kills 76 people and injures more than 400.
• 1936 – In Berlin, Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, agreeing to consult on measures "to safeguard their common interests" in the case of an unprovoked attack by the Soviet Union against either nation. The pact is renewed on the same day five years later with additional signatories.
• 1940 – World War II: First flight of the de Havilland Mosquito and Martin B-26 Marauder.
• 1941 – HMS Barham is sunk by a German torpedo during World War II.
• 1943 – World War II: Statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina is re-established at the State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 1947 – Red Scare: The "Hollywood Ten" are blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios.
• 1947 – New Zealand ratifies the Statute of Westminster and thus becomes independent of legislative control by the United Kingdom.
• 1950 – The Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 impacts 22 American states, killing 353 people, injuring over 160, and causing US$66.7 million in damages (1950 dollars).
• 1952 – Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. It will become the longest continuously-running play in history.
• 1952 – Korean War: After 42 days of fighting, the Battle of Triangle Hill ends with Chinese victory, American and South Korean units abandon their attempt to capture the "Iron Triangle".
• 1958 – French Sudan gains autonomy as a self-governing member of the French Community.
• 1960 – The Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic are assassinated.
• 1963 – President John F. Kennedy is buried in Washington, D.C..
• 1963 – Lee Harvey Oswald is buried in Fort Worth, Texas.
• 1966 – First television link between Australia and the UK.
• 1970 – In Japan, author Yukio Mishima and one compatriot commit ritualistic seppuku after an unsuccessful coup attempt.
• 1973 – Georgios Papadopoulos, head of the military Regime of the Colonels in Greece, is ousted in a hardliners' coup led by Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioannidis.
• 1975 – Suriname gains independence from the Netherlands.
• 1977 – Former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., is found guilty by the Philippine Military Commission No. 2 and is sentenced to death by firing squad. He is later assassinated in 1983.
• 1981 – Pope John Paul II appoints Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
• 1984 – Thirty-six top musicians gather in a Notting Hill studio and record Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
• 1986 – Iran–Contra affair: U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
• 1986 – The King Fahd Causeway is officially opened in the Persian Gulf.
• 1987 – Typhoon Nina pummels the Philippines with category 5 winds of 165 mph and a surge that destroys entire villages. At least 1,036 deaths are attributed to the storm.
• 1992 – The Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia votes to split the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with effect from January 1, 1993.
• 1996 – An ice storm strikes the central U.S., killing 26 people. A powerful windstorm affects Florida and winds gust over 90 mph, toppling trees and flipping trailers.
• 1999 – A 5-year-old Cuban boy, Elian Gonzalez, is rescued by fishermen while floating in an inner tube off the Florida coast.
• 2000 – The 2000 Baku earthquake, with a Richter magnitude of 7.0, leaves 26 people dead in Baku, Azerbaijan, and becomes the strongest earthquake in the region in 158 years.
• 2008 – Cyclone Nisha strikes northern Sri Lanka, killing 15 people and displacing 90,000 others while dealing the region the highest rainfall in nine decades.
• 2009 – Jeddah floods: Freak rains swamp the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during an ongoing Hajj pilgrimage. Three thousand cars are swept away and 122 people perish in the torrents, with 350 others missing.
• 2015 – Pope Francis makes his first official visit to Africa.

Births[edit]

• 902 – Emperor Taizong of Liao
• 1075 – Emperor Taizong of Jin (d. 1135)
• 1454 – Catherine Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus (d. 1510)
• 1467 – Thomas Dacre, 2nd Baron Dacre, Knight of Henry VIII of England (d. 1525)
• 1493 – Osanna of Cattaro, Dominican visionary and anchoress (d. 1565)
• 1562 – Lope de Vega, Spanish playwright and poet (d. 1635)
• 1566 – John Heminges, English actor (d. 1630)
• 1577 – Piet Pieterszoon Hein, Dutch admiral (d. 1629)
• 1587 – Sir Gervase Clifton, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1666)
• 1609 – Henrietta Maria of France (d. 1669)
• 1638 – Catherine of Braganza (d. 1705)
• 1666 – Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri, Italian violin maker (d. 1740)
• 1703 – Jean-François Séguier, French astronomer and botanist (d. 1784)
• 1752 – Johann Friedrich Reichardt, German composer and critic (d. 1814)
• 1753 – Robert Townsend, American spy (d. 1838)
• 1758 – John Armstrong, Jr., American general and politician, 7th United States Secretary of War (d. 1843)
• 1778 – Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, English author and activist (d. 1856)
• 1787 – Franz Xaver Gruber, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1863)
• 1814 – Julius Robert von Mayer, German physician and physicist (d. 1878)
• 1815 – William Sawyer, Canadian merchant and politician (d. 1904)
• 1817 – John Bigelow, American lawyer and politician, United States Ambassador to France (d. 1911)
• 1835 – Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1919)
• 1841 – Ernst Schröder, German mathematician and academic (d. 1902)
• 1843 – Henry Ware Eliot, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1919)
• 1844 – Karl Benz, German engineer and businessman, founded Mercedes-Benz (d. 1929)
• 1845 – José Maria de Eça de Queirós, Portuguese-French journalist and author (d. 1900)
• 1846 – Carrie Nation, American activist (d. 1911)
• 1858 – Alfred Capus, French journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1922)
• 1862 – Ethelbert Nevin, American pianist and composer (d. 1901)
• 1862 – Gustaf Söderström, Swedish tug of war competitor, shot putter, and discus thrower (d. 1958)
• 1865 – Kate Gleason, American engineer, businesswoman, and philanthropist (d. 1933)
• 1867 – Talaat Harb, Egyptian economist, founded the Banque Misr (d. 1941)
• 1868 – Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse (d. 1937)
• 1869 – Ben Lindsey, American lawyer and judge (d. 1934)
• 1870 – Winthrop Ames, American director, producer, and playwright (d. 1937)
• 1870 – Maurice Denis, French painter of Les Nabis movement (d. 1943)
• 1872 – Robert Maysack, American gymnast and triathlete (d. 1960)
• 1873 – Albert Henry Krehbiel, American painter and illustrator (d. 1945)
• 1874 – Joe Gans, American boxer (d. 1910)
• 1876 – Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1936)
• 1877 – Harley Granville-Barker, British actor, director and playwright (d. 1946)
• 1880 – John Flynn, Australian minister and pilot, founded the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (d. 1951)
• 1880 – Elsie J. Oxenham, English author (d. 1960)
• 1881 – Jacob Fichman, Romanian-Israeli poet and critic (d. 1958)
• 1881 – Pope John XXIII (d. 1963)
• 1883 – Harvey Spencer Lewis, American mystic and author (d. 1939)
• 1887 – Nikolai Vavilov, Russian botanist and geneticist (d. 1943)
• 1889 – Reşat Nuri Güntekin, Turkish author and playwright (d. 1956)
• 1890 – Isaac Rosenberg, English soldier and poet (d. 1918)
• 1891 – Ōnishiki Uichirō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 26th Yokozuna (d. 1941)
• 1893 – Joseph Wood Krutch, American author and critic (d. 1970)
• 1895 – Wilhelm Kempff, German pianist and composer (d. 1991)
• 1895 – Anastas Mikoyan, Soviet politician, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (d. 1978)
• 1895 – Helen Hooven Santmyer, American poet and author (d. 1986)
• 1895 – Ludvík Svoboda, Czech general and politician, 8th President of Czechoslovakia (d. 1979)
• 1896 – Albertus Soegijapranata, Indonesian archbishop (d. 1963)
• 1896 – Virgil Thomson, American composer and critic (d. 1989)
• 1898 – Debaki Bose, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1971)
• 1898 – Aarne Viisimaa, Estonian tenor and director (d. 1989)
• 1900 – Rudolf Höss, German SS officer (d. 1947)
• 1900 - Helen Gahagan Douglas, American actress and politician (d. 1980)
• 1901 – Arthur Liebehenschel, German SS officer (d. 1948)
• 1902 – Eddie Shore, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1985)
• 1904 – Lillian Copeland, American discus thrower and shot putter (d. 1964)
• 1904 – Toni Ortelli, Italian composer and conductor (d. 2000)
• 1905 – Samiha Ayverdi, Turkish mystic and author (d. 1993)
• 1906 – Alice Ambrose, American philosopher and logician (d. 2001)
• 1907 – John Stuart Hindmarsh, English race car driver and pilot (d. 1938)
• 1908 – NatyaguruNurul Momen, Bangladeshi Trailblazer pioneer playwright, author, educator, director & media personality (d.1990)
• 1909 – P. D. Eastman, American author and illustrator (d. 1986)
• 1911 – Roelof Frankot, Dutch painter and photographer (d. 1984)
• 1913 – Lewis Thomas, American physician, etymologist, and educator (d. 1993)
• 1914 – Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player and coach (d. 1999)
• 1914 – Léon Zitrone, Russian-French journalist (d. 1995)
• 1915 – Augusto Pinochet, Chilean general and politician, 30th President of Chile (d. 2006)
• 1915 – Armando Villanueva, Peruvian politician, 121st Prime Minister of Peru (d. 2013)
• 1916 – Peg Lynch, American actress and screenwriter (d. 2015)
• 1917 – Luigi Poggi, Italian cardinal (d. 2010)
• 1917 – Alparslan Türkeş, Cypriot-Turkish colonel and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey (d. 1997)
• 1919 – Norman Tokar, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1979)
• 1920 – Ricardo Montalbán, Mexican-American actor, singer, and director (d. 2009)
• 1920 – Noel Neill, American actress (d. 2016)
• 1922 – Shelagh Fraser, English actress (d. 2000)
• 1922 – Ilja Hurník, Czech composer and playwright (d. 2013)
• 1922 – Fernance B. Perry, Portuguese-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Mauno Koivisto, Finnish banker and politician, 9th President of Finland (d. 2017)
• 1923 – Art Wall Jr., American golfer (d. 2001)
• 1924 – Paul Desmond, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1977)
• 1924 – Sybil Stockdale, American activist, co-founded the National League of Families (d. 2015)
• 1924 – Takaaki Yoshimoto, Japanese poet, philosopher, and critic (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Poul Anderson, American author (d. 2001)
• 1926 – Jeffrey Hunter, American actor and producer (d. 1969)
• 1926 – Ranganath Misra, Indian lawyer and jurist, 21st Chief Justice of India (d. 2012)
• 1927 – John K. Cooley, American journalist and author (d. 2008)
• 1929 – Judy Crichton, American director and producer (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Nat Adderley, American cornet and trumpet player (d. 2000)
• 1932 – Takayo Fischer, American actress and singer
• 1933 – Kathryn Crosby, American actress and singer
• 1935 – Robert Berner, American geologist and academic (d. 2015)
• 1936 – Trisha Brown, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2017)
• 1936 – Phoebe S. Leboy, American biochemist
• 1938 – Erol Güngör, Turkish sociologist and psychologist (d. 1983)
• 1938 – Rosanna Schiaffino, Italian actress (d. 2009)
• 1939 – Martin Feldstein, American economist and academic
• 1940 – Reinhard Furrer, Austrian-German physicist and astronaut (d. 1995)
• 1940 – Joe Gibbs, American football player and coach
• 1940 – Jan Jongbloed, Dutch footballer and coach
• 1940 – Karl Offmann, Mauritian politician, 3rd President of Mauritius
• 1940 – Shyamal Kumar Sen, Indian jurist and politician, 21st Governor of West Bengal
• 1940 – Percy Sledge, American singer (d. 2015)
• 1941 – Christos Papanikolaou, Greek pole vaulter
• 1941 – Gerald Seymour, English journalist and author
• 1941 – Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi, Pakistani spiritual leader and author
• 1942 – Bob Lind, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1942 – Mimis Papaioannou, Greek footballer and manager
• 1943 – Jerry Portnoy, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
• 1944 – Ben Stein, American actor, television personality, game show host, lawyer, and author
• 1944 – Michael Kijana Wamalwa, Kenyan lawyer and politician, 8th Vice President of Kenya (d. 2003)
• 1945 – Gail Collins, American journalist and author
• 1945 – Patrick Nagel, American painter and illustrator (d. 1984)
• 1945 – George Webster, American football player (d. 2007)
• 1946 – Marc Brown, American author and illustrator
• 1946 – Mike Doyle, English footballer (d. 2011)
• 1947 – Jonathan Kaplan, French-American director and producer
• 1947 – John Larroquette, American actor
• 1948 – Jacques Dupuis, Canadian lawyer and politician, 14th Deputy Premier of Quebec
• 1948 – Lars Eighner, American author
• 1949 – Kerry O'Keeffe, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
• 1950 – Chris Claremont, English-American author
• 1950 – Giorgio Faletti, Italian author, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2014)
• 1950 – Alexis Wright, Australian author
• 1951 – Bucky Dent, American baseball player and manager
• 1951 – Charlaine Harris, American author and poet
• 1951 – Bill Morrissey, American singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
• 1951 – Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Spanish author and journalist
• 1951 – Johnny Rep, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1952 – Crescent Dragonwagon, American author and educator
• 1952 – John Lynch, American businessman and politician, 80th Governor of New Hampshire
• 1952 – Gabriele Oriali, Italian footballer and manager
• 1953 – Graham Eadie, Australian rugby league player and coach
• 1953 – Mark Frost, American author, screenwriter, and producer
• 1953 – Jeffrey Skilling, American businessman
• 1955 – Don Hahn, American director and producer
• 1955 – Kurt Niedermayer, German footballer and manager
• 1955 – Connie Palmen, Dutch author
• 1955 – Bruno Tonioli, Italian dancer and choreographer
• 1957 – Bob Ehrlich, American lawyer and politician, 60th Governor of Maryland
• 1958 – Naomi Oreskes, American historian of science
• 1959 – Charles Kennedy, Scottish journalist and politician (d. 2015)
• 1959 – Steve Rothery, English guitarist and songwriter
• 1960 – Amy Grant, American singer-songwriter
• 1960 – John F. Kennedy Jr., American lawyer, journalist, and publisher (d. 1999)
• 1961 – Paul Comstive, English footballer (d. 2013)
• 1962 – Scott Cam, Australian carpenter and television host
• 1962 – Gilbert Delorme, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1962 – Hironobu Sakaguchi, Japanese game designer, founded Mistwalker
• 1962 – Jimon Terakado, Japanese comedian and actor
• 1963 – Kevin Chamberlin, American actor and director
• 1963 – Holly Cole, Canadian singer and actress
• 1963 – Chip Kelly, American football player and coach
• 1963 – Bernie Kosar, American football player and sportscaster
• 1964 – Mark Lanegan, American singer-songwriter
• 1965 – Tim Armstrong, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1965 – Cris Carter, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1965 – Dougray Scott, Scottish actor and producer
• 1966 – Stacy Lattisaw, American R&B singer
• 1967 – Anthony Nesty, Surinamese swimmer
• 1967 – Gregg Turkington, Australian comedian and singer
• 1968 – Jacqueline Hennessy, Canadian actress and journalist
• 1968 – Jill Hennessy, Canadian actress and singer
• 1968 – Erick Sermon, American rapper and producer
• 1969 – Kim Ofstad, Norwegian drummer and composer
• 1971 – Christina Applegate, American actress, singer, dancer, and producer
• 1971 – Magnus Arvedson, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
• 1971 – Göksel Demirpençe, Turkish singer-songwriter
• 1972 – Deepa Marathe, Indian cricketer
• 1973 – Steven de Jongh, Dutch cyclist
• 1973 – Octavio Dotel, Dominican baseball player
• 1973 – Erick Strickland, American basketball player
• 1973 – Eddie Steeples, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1974 – Kenneth Mitchell, Canadian actor
• 1975 – Abdelkader Benali, Moroccan-Dutch journalist and author
• 1976 – Clint Mathis, American soccer player and coach
• 1976 – Donovan McNabb, American football player and sportscaster
• 1976 – Olena Vitrychenko, Ukrainian gymnast and coach
• 1977 – Guillermo Cañas, Argentinian tennis player
• 1977 – Marcus Marshall, Australian race car driver
• 1978 – Ringo Sheena, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
• 1979 – Michael Lehan, American football player
• 1980 – John-Michael Liles, American ice hockey player
• 1980 – Josh Mathews, American wrestler and sportscaster
• 1980 – Aaron Mokoena, South African footballer
• 1980 – Alviro Petersen, South African cricketer
• 1980 – Nick Swisher, American baseball player
• 1980 – Steffen Thier, German rugby player
• 1981 – Xabi Alonso, Spanish footballer
• 1981 – Lee Bum-ho, South Korean baseball player
• 1981 – Barbara Pierce Bush, American activist
• 1981 – Jared Jeffries, American basketball player
• 1981 – Chevon Troutman, American basketball player
• 1982 – Mitchell Claydon, Australian-English cricketer
• 1983 – Kirsty Crawford, Scottish singer-songwriter and actress
• 1983 – Jhulan Goswami, Indian cricketer
• 1984 – Peter Siddle, Australian cricketer
• 1985 – Remona Fransen, Dutch pentathlete
• 1986 – Katie Cassidy, American actress
• 1986 – Craig Gardner, English footballer
• 1988 – Nodar Kumaritashvili, Georgian luger (d. 2010)
• 1988 – Jay Spearing, English footballer
• 1989 – Tom Dice, Belgian singer-songwriter
• 1990 – Rye Rye, American rapper, dancer, and actress
• 1990 – Everton Heleno dos Santos, Brazilian footballer
• 1991 – Kyler Fackrell, American football player
• 1991 – Jamie Grace, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
• 1991 – Philipp Grubauer, German ice hockey player
• 1991 – Luca Tremolada, Italian footballer
• 1991 – Kevin Woo, American-South Korean singer and dancer
• 1992 – Ana Bogdan, Romanian tennis player
• 1993 – Danny Kent, English motorcycle racer

Deaths[edit]

• 311 – Pope Peter I of Alexandria
• 734 – Bilge Khagan, Turkic emperor (b. 683)
• 1034 – Malcolm II of Scotland (b. 954)
• 1120 – William Adelin, son of Henry I of England (sinking of the White Ship) (b. 1103)
• 1185 – Pope Lucius III (b. 1097)
• 1326 – Prince Koreyasu, Japanese shogun (b. 1264)
• 1374 – Philip II, Prince of Taranto (b. 1329)
• 1456 – Jacques Cœur, French merchant and banker (b. 1395)
• 1560 – Andrea Doria, Italian admiral (b. 1466)
• 1565 – Hu Zongxian, Chinese general (b. 1512)
• 1626 – Edward Alleyn, English actor, founded Dulwich College (b. 1566)
• 1694 – Ismaël Bullialdus, French astronomer and mathematician (b. 1605)
• 1700 – Stephanus Van Cortlandt, American lawyer and politician, 10th Mayor of New York City (b. 1643)
• 1748 – Isaac Watts, English hymnwriter and theologian (b. 1674)
• 1755 – Johann Georg Pisendel, German violinist and composer (b. 1687)
• 1785 – Richard Glover, English poet and politician (b. 1712)
• 1865 – Heinrich Barth, German explorer and scholar (b. 1821)
• 1884 – Hermann Kolbe, German chemist and academic (b. 1818)
• 1885 – Thomas A. Hendricks, American lawyer and politician, 21st Vice President of the United States (b. 1819)
• 1885 – Alfonso XII of Spain (b. 1857)
• 1909 – Edward P. Allen, American lawyer and politician (b. 1839)
• 1920 – Gaston Chevrolet, French-American race car driver and businessman (b. 1892)
• 1925 – Vajiravudh, Siam king (b. 1880)
• 1934 – N. E. Brown, English plant taxonomist and authority on succulents (b. 1849)
• 1944 – Kenesaw Mountain Landis, American lawyer and judge (b. 1866)
• 1948 – Kanbun Uechi, Japanese martial artist, founded Uechi-ryū (b. 1877)
• 1949 – Bill Robinson, American actor and dancer (b. 1878)
• 1950 – Mao Anying, Chinese general (b. 1922)
• 1950 – Johannes V. Jensen, Danish author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1873)
• 1950 – Gustaf John Ramstedt, Finnish linguist and diplomat (b. 1873)
• 1956 – Alexander Dovzhenko, Ukrainian-Russian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894)
• 1957 – Prince George of Greece and Denmark (b. 1869)
• 1959 – Gérard Philipe, French actor (b. 1922)
• 1961 – Hubert Van Innis, Belgian archer (b. 1866)
• 1963 – Alexander Marinesko, Russian lieutenant (b. 1913)
• 1965 – Myra Hess, English pianist and educator (b. 1890)
• 1968 – Upton Sinclair, American novelist, critic, and essayist (b. 1878)
• 1968 – Paul Siple, American geographer and explorer (b. 1908)
• 1970 – Yukio Mishima, Japanese author, actor, and director (b. 1925)
• 1972 – Henri Coandă, Romanian engineer, designed the Coandă-1910 (b. 1886)
• 1973 – Laurence Harvey, Lithuania-born English actor (b. 1928)
• 1974 – Nick Drake, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1948)
• 1974 – U Thant, Burmese lawyer and diplomat, 3rd Secretary-General of the United Nations (b. 1909)
• 1981 – Jack Albertson, American actor and singer (b. 1907)
• 1983 – Saleem Raza (Pakistani singer), Pakistani Christian playback singer (b. 1932)
• 1984 – Yashwantrao Chavan, Indian lawyer and politician, 5th Deputy Prime Minister of India (b. 1913)
• 1985 – Geoffrey Grigson, English poet and critic (b. 1905)
• 1985 – Franz Hildebrandt, German pastor and theologian (b. 1909)
• 1987 – Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (b. 1922)
• 1989 – Alva R. Fitch, American general (b. 1907)
• 1990 – Merab Mamardashvili, Georgian philosopher and academic (b. 1930)
• 1991 – Eleanor Audley, American actress and voice artist (b. 1905)
• 1995 – Léon Zitrone, Russian-French journalist (b. 1914)
• 1997 – Hastings Banda, Malawian physician and politician, 1st President of Malawi (b. 1898)
• 1998 – Nelson Goodman, American philosopher and academic (b. 1906)
• 1998 – Flip Wilson, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1933)
• 1999 – Valentín Campa, Mexican union leader and politician (b. 1904)
• 2000 – Hugh Alexander, American baseball player and scout (b. 1917)
• 2001 – Harry Devlin, American painter and illustrator (b. 1918)
• 2002 – Karel Reisz, Czech-English director and producer (b. 1926)
• 2004 – Ed Paschke, American painter and academic (b. 1939)
• 2005 – George Best, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1946)
• 2005 – Richard Burns, English race car driver (b. 1971)
• 2006 – Luciano Bottaro, Italian author and illustrator (b. 1931)
• 2006 – Valentín Elizalde, Mexican singer-songwriter (b. 1979)
• 2006 – Phyllis Fraser, American actress and publisher, co-founded Beginner Books (b. 1916)
• 2006 – Kenneth M. Taylor, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1919)
• 2007 – Peter Lipton, American philosopher and academic (b. 1954)
• 2010 – Alfred Balk, American journalist and author (b. 1930)
• 2010 – Peter Christopherson, English keyboard player, songwriter, and director (b. 1955)
• 2010 – C. Scott Littleton, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1933)
• 2010 – Bernard Matthews, English businessman, founded Bernard Matthews Farms (b. 1930)
• 2011 – Vasily Alekseyev, Russian weightlifter and coach (b. 1942)
• 2011 – Coco Robicheaux, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1947)
• 2012 – Earl Carroll, American singer (b. 1937)
• 2012 – Lars Hörmander, Swedish mathematician and educator (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Dave Sexton, English footballer and manager (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Dinah Sheridan, English actress (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Jim Temp, American football player and businessman (b. 1933)
• 2013 – Lou Brissie, American baseball player (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Ricardo Fort, Argentinian businessman (b. 1968)
• 2013 – Bill Foulkes, English footballer and manager (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Chico Hamilton, American drummer and bandleader (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Egon Lánský, Czech journalist and politician (b. 1934)
• 2013 – Al Plastino, American author and illustrator (b. 1921)
• 2014 – Irvin J. Borowsky, American publisher and philanthropist (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Sitara Devi, Indian actress, dancer, and choreographer (b. 1920)
• 2014 – Petr Hapka, Czech composer and conductor (b. 1944)
• 2014 – Denham Harman, American biogerontologist and academic (b. 1916)
• 2015 – O'Neil Bell, Jamaican boxer (b. 1974)
• 2015 – Jeremy Black, English admiral (b. 1932)
• 2015 – Svein Christiansen, Norwegian drummer and composer (b. 1941)
• 2015 – Lennart Hellsing, Swedish author and translator (b. 1919)
• 2015 – Elmo Williams, American director, producer, and editor (b. 1913)
• 2016 – Fidel Castro, Communist leader of Cuba, and revolutionary (b. 1926)
• 2016 – Ron Glass, American actor (b. 1945)