| | 343 - Saint Nicholas |
| | 1185 - King Afonso I of Portugal (b. 1109) |
| | 1352 - Pope Clement VI (b. 1291) |
| | 1562 - Jan van Scorel Dutch painter and architect |
| | 1618 - Jacques-Davy Duperron, French cardinal (b. 1556) |
| | 1658 - Baltasar Gracián y Morales, Spanish writer (b. 1601) |
| | 1672 - King John II Casimir of Poland (b. 1609) |
| | 1675 - John Lightfoot, English churchman (b. 1602) |
| | 1718 - Nicholas Rowe, English poet and dramatist (b. 1674) |
| | 1746 - Lady Grizel Baillie, Scottish songwriter (b. 1665) |
| | 1771 - Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist (b. 1682) |
| | 1779 - Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter (b. 1699) |
| | 1788 - Jonathan Shipley, British bishop and politician (b. 1714) |
| | 1867 - Jean Pierre Flourens, French physician (b. 1794) |
| | 1868 - August Schleicher, German linguist (b. 1821) |
| | 1879 - Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American industrialist (b. 1814) |
| | 1882 - Anthony Trollope, British author (b. 1815) |
| | 1882 - Alfred Escher, Swiss politician and railroad entrepreneur (b. 1819) |
| | 1889 - Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America (b. 1808) |
| | 1892 - Ernst Werner von Siemens, German inventor and industrialist (b. 1816) |
| | 1924 - Gene Stratton-Porter, American author, screenwriter and naturalist (b. 1863) |
| | 1949 - Leadbelly, American musician (b. 1885) |
| | 1951 - Harold Ross, American magazine editor (b. 1892) |
| | 1955 - Honus Wagner, baseball player (b. 1874) |
| | 1956 - Dr. Bhimji Ramji Ambedkar, Indian Minister of Law and architect of The Constitution of India (b. 1891) |
| | 1961 - Frantz Fanon, West Indian psychiatrist and writer (b. 1925) |
| | 1972 - Janet Munro, British actress (b. 1934) |
| | 1976 - João Goulart, President of Brazil (b. 1918) |
| | 1983 - Lucienne Boyer, French singer (b. 1903) |
| | 1985 - Burr Tillstrom, American puppeteer (b. 1917) |
| | 1985 - Burleigh Grimes, baseball player (b. 1893) |
| | 1988 - Roy Orbison, American singer, guitarist, and songwriter (b. 1936) |
| | 1989 - Frances Bavier, American actress (b. 1902) |
| | 1989 - Sammy Fain, American popular music composer (b. 1902) |
| | 1989 - John Payne, American movie actor (b. 1912) |
| | 1991 - Sir Richard Stone, British economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913) |
| | 1992 - Mary Smith or Mimi, Maternal Aunt and Guardian of John Lennon (b. 1914) |
| | 1993 - Don Ameche, American actor (b. 1908) |
| | 1996 - Pete Rozelle, commissioner of the National Football League (b. 1926) |
| | 1997 - Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer (b. 1942) |
| | 2000 - Werner Klemperer, German-born actor (b. 1920) |
| | 2001 - Sir Peter Blake, New Zealand sailor and environmentalist (b. 1948) |
| | 2001 - Charles McClendon, Hall of Fame college football coach (b. 1923) |
| | 2002 - Philip Berrigan, American civil rights activist (b. 1923) |
| | 2003 - Hans Hotter, German bass-baritone (b. 1909) |
| | 2003 - Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, President of Guatemala (b. 1918) |
| | 2003 - Jerry Tuite, American professional wrestler (b. 1966) |
| | 2004 - Raymond Goethals, Belgian football coach (b. 1921) |
| | 2005 - Charly Gaul, Luxembourg cyclist (b. 1932) |
| | 2005 - Devan Nair, 3rd President of Singapore (b. 1923) |
| | 2005 - Danny Williams, South African-born singer (b. 1942) |