September 16
Events
Pre-1600
1601–1900
- 1620 - Pilgrims set sail for Virginia from Plymouth, England in the Mayflower.
- 1701 - James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland on the death of his father, James II.
- 1732 - In Campo Maior, Portugal, a storm hits the Armory and a violent explosion ensues, killing two-thirds of its inhabitants.
- 1776 - American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
- 1779 - American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.
- 1810 - With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain.
- 1822 - French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel, in a "note" read to the Academy of Sciences, reports a direct refraction experiment verifying David Brewster's hypothesis that photoelasticity is stress-induced birefringence.
- 1863 - Robert College, in Istanbul, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.
- 1880 - The Cornell Daily Sun prints its first issue in Ithaca, New York.
- 1893 - Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma.
1901–present
- 1908 - The General Motors Corporation is founded.
- 1914 - World War I: The Siege of Przemyśl begins.
- 1920 - The Wall Street bombing: A bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan building in New York City killing 38 and injuring 400.
- 1940 - World War II: Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani.
- 1943 - World War II: The German Tenth Army reports that it can no longer contain the Allied bridgehead around Salerno.
- 1945 - World War II: The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong comes to an end.
- 1953 - American Airlines Flight 723 crashes in Colonie, New York, killing 28 people.
- 1955 - The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight.
- 1955 - A Soviet Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a ballistic missile.
- 1956 - TCN-9 Sydney is the first Australian television station to commence regular broadcasts.
- 1959 - The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.
- 1961 - The United States National Hurricane Research Project drops eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther. Wind speed reduces by 10%, giving rise to Project Stormfury.
- 1961 - Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Osaka, Japan, killing 173 people.
- 1961 - Pakistan establishes its Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission with Abdus Salam as its head.
- 1963 - Malaysia is formed from the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak. However, Singapore is soon expelled from this new country.
- 1966 - The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra.
- 1970 - King Hussein of Jordan declares war against the Palestine Liberation Organization, the conflict came to be known as Black September.
- 1975 - Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia.
- 1975 - Cape Verde, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe join the United Nations.
- 1975 - The first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight.
- 1976 - Armenian champion swimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from a trolleybus that had fallen into a Yerevan reservoir.
- 1976 - Night of the Pencils: In the city of La Plata, Argentina, a group of high-school students were kidnapped and later tortured, raped and murdered during the Argentinian military dictatorship
- 1978 - The 7.4 Tabas earthquake affects the city of Tabas, Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX. At least 15,000 people are killed.
- 1979 - Eight people escape from East Germany to the west in a homemade hot air balloon.
- 1982 - Lebanon War: The Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon takes place.
- 1987 - The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.
- 1990 - The railroad between the People's Republic of China and Kazakhstan is completed at Dostyk, adding a sizable link to the concept of the Eurasian Land Bridge.
- 1992 - The trial of the deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega ends in the United States with a 40-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering.
- 1992 - Black Wednesday: The British pound is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark.
- 1994 - The British government lifts the broadcasting ban imposed against members of Sinn Féin and Irish paramilitary groups in 1988.
- 1996 - Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-79 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.
- 2004 - Hurricane Ivan makes landfall in Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Category 3 hurricane.
- 2005 - The Camorra organized crime boss Paolo Di Lauro is arrested in Naples, Italy.
- 2007 - One-Two-Go Airlines Flight 269 carrying 130 crew and passengers crashes in Thailand, killing 90 people.
- 2007 - Security guards working for Blackwater Worldwide shoot and kill 17 Iraqis in Nisour Square, Baghdad.
- 2013 - A gunman kills twelve people at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.
- 2014 - The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant launches its Kobani offensive against Syrian–Kurdish forces.
- 2015 - A 8.3 earthquake strikes the Chilean city of Illapel, killing 15 people, injuring at least 34, leaving at least six missing, and causing extensive damage. One person also dies in Argentina.
- 2021 - A 6.0 earthquake strikes Lu County, Sichuan, China, killing three and injuring more than 88.
- 2021 - Inspiration4, the first private orbital crewed spaceflight, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center.
- 2022 - During the Let Yet Kone massacre, the Burmese military kills 13 villagers, including eight children, after attacking a school in Sagaing Region, Myanmar.
- 2022 - The death of Mahsa Amini occurred in Tehran, Iran, sparking worldwide protests.
Births
Pre-1600
1601–1900
- 1615 - Heinrich Bach, German organist and composer
- 1625 - Gregorio Barbarigo, Roman Catholic saint
- 1651 - Engelbert Kaempfer, German physician and botanist
- 1666 - Antoine Parent, French mathematician and theorist
- 1678 - Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English philosopher and politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department
- 1716 - Angelo Maria Amorevoli, Italian tenor and actor
- 1722 - Gabriel Christie, Scottish-Canadian general
- 1725 - Nicolas Desmarest, French geologist, zoologist, and author
- 1745 - Mikhail Kutuzov, Russian field marshal
- 1777 - Nathan Mayer Rothschild, German-English banker and financier
- 1782 - Daoguang Emperor of China
- 1812 - Anna Louisa Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint, Dutch novelist
- 1822 - Charles Crocker, American businessman
- 1823 - Francis Parkman, American historian and author
- 1823 - Ludwik Teichmann, Polish anatomist
- 1827 - Jean Albert Gaudry, French geologist and paleontologist
- 1828 - Per Pålsson, Swedish murderer
- 1830 - Patrick Francis Moran, Irish-Australian cardinal
- 1837 - Pedro V of Portugal
- 1838 - James J. Hill, Canadian-American railroad executive
- 1844 - Paul Taffanel, French flute player and conductor
- 1846 - Anna Kingsford, English author, poet, and activist
- 1853 - Albrecht Kossel, German physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1858 - Edward Marshall Hall, English lawyer and politician
- 1858 - Bonar Law, Canadian-Scottish banker and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1859 - Yuan Shikai, Chinese general and politician, President of the Republic of China
- 1861 - Miriam Benjamin, African-American educator and inventor
- 1866 - Georg Voigt, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Marburg
- 1870 - John Pius Boland, Irish tennis player and politician
- 1875 - James Cash Penney, American businessman and philanthropist, founded J. C. Penney
- 1876 - Marvin Hart, American boxer
- 1877 - Jacob Schick, American-Canadian inventor and businessman, founded Schick Razors
- 1878 - Karl Albiker, German sculptor, lithographer, and educator
- 1880 - Clara Ayres, American nurse
- 1880 - Alfred Noyes, English author, poet, and playwright
- 1881 - Clive Bell, English philosopher and critic
- 1883 - T. E. Hulme, English poet and critic
- 1886 - Jean Arp, Alsatian sculptor and painter
- 1887 - Nadia Boulanger, French composer and educator
- 1888 - W. O. Bentley, English race car driver and engineer, founded Bentley Motors Limited
- 1888 - Frans Eemil Sillanpää, Finnish author, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1890 - Avigdor Hameiri, Israeli author
- 1891 - Karl Dönitz, German admiral and politician, President of Germany
- 1891 - Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Austrian-German spy
- 1893 - Alexander Korda, Hungarian-English director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1893 - Albert Szent-Györgyi, Hungarian-American physiologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1895 - Zainal Abidin Ahmad, Malaysian author and scholar
- 1897 - Milt Franklyn, American composer
- 1898 - H. A. Rey, American author and illustrator, co-created Curious George
- 1899 - Hans Swarowsky, Hungarian-Austrian conductor and educator
1901–present
- 1901 - Josef Schächter, Austrian rabbi and philosopher from the Vienna Circle
- 1905 - Vladimír Holan, Czech poet and author
- 1906 - Jack Churchill, Sri Lankan-British colonel
- 1910 - Erich Kempka, German colonel and chauffeur
- 1910 - Karl Kling, German race car driver and manager
- 1911 - Wilfred Burchett, Australian journalist and author
- 1911 - Paul Henning, American screenwriter and producer
- 1914 - Allen Funt, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1915 - Cy Walter, American pianist
- 1916 - Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw, Caribbean politician, 1st Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
- 1916 - Frank Farrell, Australian rugby league player and policeman
- 1916 - M. S. Subbulakshmi, Indian Carnatic vocalist
- 1916 - Frank Leslie Walcott, Barbadian cricketer, umpire, and politician
- 1916 - Marie Vieux-Chauvet, Haitian writer
- 1916 - Raosaheb Gogte, Indian industrialist
- 1918 - Władysław Kędra, Polish pianist
- 1919 - Bill Daley, American football player and sportscaster
- 1919 - Laurence J. Peter, Canadian-American hierarchiologist and educator
- 1919 - Andy Russell, American singer and actor
- 1920 - Staryl C. Austin, American air force general
- 1920 - Sheila Quinn, English nurse and educator
- 1920 - Art Sansom, American cartoonist
- 1921 - Ursula Franklin, German-Canadian metallurgist
- 1921 - Jon Hendricks, American singer-songwriter
- 1921 - Korla Pandit, American pianist and composer
- 1922 - Guy Hamilton, French-English director and screenwriter
- 1922 - Janis Paige, American actress and singer
- 1923 - Lee Kuan Yew, Singaporean lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Singapore
- 1924 - Lauren Bacall, American actress
- 1924 - Raoul Coutard, French cinematographer and director
- 1925 - Charlie Byrd, American singer and guitarist
- 1925 - Charles Haughey, Irish accountant, lawyer, and politician, 7th Taoiseach of Ireland
- 1925 - B.B. King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1926 - Eric Gross, Austrian-Australian pianist and composer
- 1926 - John Knowles, American novelist
- 1926 - Roger McKee, American baseball player
- 1926 - Robert H. Schuller, American pastor and author
- 1927 - Peter Falk, American actor
- 1927 - Jack Kelly, American actor and politician
- 1927 - Sadako Ogata, Japanese academic and diplomat, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- 1928 - Rex Trailer, American television host, actor, and singer
- 1928 - Lady Gwen Thompson, English author and educator
- 1928 - Patricia Wald, American judge
- 1929 - Jamshid bin Abdullah of Zanzibar, last sultan of Zanzibar
- 1929 - Stan Stephens, Canadian-American politician, 20th Governor of Montana
- 1930 - Anne Francis, American actress
- 1931 - K. D. Arulpragasam, Sri Lankan zoologist and academic
- 1931 - Little Willie Littlefield, American-Dutch singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1932 - George Chakiris, American actor
- 1932 - Micky Stewart, English cricketer and coach
- 1933 - Steve Shirley, German-English businesswoman and philanthropist, founded Xansa
- 1934 - Elgin Baylor, American basketball player and coach
- 1934 - Ronnie Drew, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1935 - Carl Andre, American sculptor
- 1935 - Billy Boy Arnold, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1935 - Jules Bass, American director, producer, composer, and author
- 1935 - Lilia Cuntapay, Filipino actress
- 1935 - Bob Kiley, American-English businessman
- 1935 - Esther Vilar, Argentinian-German author and playwright
- 1935 - Helen Williams, American fashion model
- 1937 - Aleksandr Medved, Russian wrestler
- 1937 - Vince Naimoli, American businessman and philanthropist
- 1939 - Breyten Breytenbach, South African-French poet and painter
- 1939 - Bill McGill, American basketball player
- 1940 - Hamiet Bluiett, American jazz saxophonist and composer
- 1940 - Butch Buchholz, American tennis player
- 1940 – Paul White, Baron Hanningfield, British life peer
- 1941 - Joe Butler, American singer, autoharp player, and drummer
- 1941 - Richard Perle, American political scientist and politician
- 1942 - Bernie Calvert, English bass player and keyboard player
- 1942 - Susan L. Graham, American computer scientist and academic
- 1943 - Wang Houjun, Chinese footballer and manager
- 1943 - James Alan McPherson, American short story writer and essayist
- 1944 - Linda Kaye Henning, American actress
- 1944 - Betty Kelly, American soul/R&B singer
- 1946 - Sonny LeMaire, American country music singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1946 - Mike Reynolds, Australian lawyer and politician
- 1946 - Camilo Sesto, Spanish singer-songwriter and producer
- 1947 - Dusty Hughes, English director and playwright
- 1948 - Ron Blair, American bass player
- 1948 - Rosemary Casals, American tennis player and sportscaster
- 1948 - Julia Donaldson, English author and playwright
- 1948 - Kenney Jones, English drummer
- 1948 - Susan Ruttan, American actress
- 1949 - Ed Begley Jr., American actor and environmental activist
- 1950 - David Bellamy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1950 - Henry Louis Gates Jr., American historian, scholar, and journalist
- 1950 - Loyd Grossman, American-English singer, guitarist, and television host
- 1951 - Vince Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 - Andy Irvine, Scottish rugby player and coach
- 1951 - Cornelius Sim, Bruneian cardinal
- 1952 - Tony Cunningham, English educator and politician
- 1952 - Česlovas Laurinavičius, Lithuanian historian
- 1952 - Karen Muir, South African swimmer and physician
- 1952 - Mickey Rourke, American boxer and actor
- 1953 - Kurt Fuller, American character actor
- 1953 - Alan Barton, English singer and guitarist
- 1953 - Nancy Huston, Canadian-American author and translator
- 1953 - Earl Klugh, American musician
- 1953 - Mark Malloch Brown, Baron Malloch-Brown, English journalist and politician, 2nd Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
- 1953 - Jerry Pate, American golfer and sportscaster
- 1953 - Manuel Pellegrini, Chilean footballer and manager
- 1953 - Christopher Rich, American actor
- 1953 - Eric Vail, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1954 - Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, Indian sitar player and composer
- 1954 - William McKeen, American author and academic
- 1954 - Colin Newman, English singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
- 1954 - Frank Reed, American singer-songwriter
- 1954 - Roger Woolley, Australian cricketer
- 1955 - Ron Brewer, American basketball player
- 1955 - Robin Yount, American baseball player and coach
- 1956 - Maggie Atkinson, English educator and civil servant
- 1956 - David Copperfield, American magician and actor
- 1956 - Ross Greenberg, American journalist and antivirus pioneer
- 1956 - Dave Schulthise, American bass player
- 1956 - Kazuharu Sonoda, Japanese wrestler
- 1957 - D. C. Drake, American wrestler
- 1957 - Clara Furse, English businesswoman
- 1957 - Norman Lamb, English lawyer and politician
- 1957 - David McCreery, Northern Irish footballer and manager
- 1957 - Anca Parghel, Romanian singer and pianist
- 1958 - Orel Hershiser, American baseball player and coach
- 1958 - Neville Southall, Welsh footballer and manager
- 1958 - Jennifer Tilly, American actress and poker player
- 1959 - Peter Keleghan, Canadian actor and screenwriter
- 1959 - Tim Raines, American baseball player, coach, and manager
- 1959 - Dave Richardson, South African cricketer, manager, and lawyer
- 1959 - Victory Tischler-Blue, American bass player, director, and producer
- 1960 - Jayne Brook, American actress
- 1960 - Graham Haynes, American trumpet player and composer
- 1960 - Mike Mignola, American author and illustrator
- 1961 - Bilinda Butcher, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1961 - Philip Lafon, Canadian wrestler
- 1961 - Annamária Szalai, Hungarian journalist, economist, and politician
- 1962 - Seth, Canadian author and illustrator
- 1963 - Richard Marx, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1964 - Mary Coustas, Australian actress and screenwriter
- 1964 - Rossy de Palma, Spanish-French model and actress
- 1964 - Dave Sabo, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1964 - Molly Shannon, American actress, comedian and producer
- 1965 - Katy Kurtzman, American actress and producer
- 1965 - Karl-Heinz Riedle, German footballer and manager
- 1965 - Stephen Shareaux, American singer-songwriter
- 1966 - John Bel Edwards, American attorney and politician
- 1966 - Wil McCarthy, American author and playwright
- 1966 - Kevin Young, American hurdler
- 1967 - Hiroya Oku, Japanese author and illustrator
- 1967 - Damon Thayer, Kentucky State Senate Majority Leader
- 1968 - Marc Anthony, American singer-songwriter, actor, and producer
- 1968 - Walt Becker, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 - Tommy Keane, Irish footballer
- 1969 - Justine Frischmann, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1969 - Janno Gibbs, Filipino singer-songwriter and actor
- 1970 - Mark Schultz, American singer-songwriter
- 1971 - Joel Heyman, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1971 - Charlie Jacobs, American businessman
- 1971 - Amy Poehler, American actress, comedian, and producer
- 1971 - Richard Slinger, American wrestler
- 1971 - Shawntel Smith, American beauty pageant contestant
- 1972 - Mark Bruener, American football player
- 1972 - Mike Doyle, American actor and producer
- 1972 - Alessandro Nunziati, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1973 - George Corrie, English footballer
- 1973 - Camiel Eurlings, Dutch businessman and member of the International Olympic Committee
- 1973 - Justin Haythe, American author and screenwriter
- 1973 - Alexander Vinokourov, Kazakh cyclist and manager
- 1974 - Loona, Dutch singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1974 - Monique Brumby, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1974 - Joaquin Castro, American lawyer and politician
- 1974 - Julian Castro, American lawyer and politician, 16th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- 1975 - Jason Leffler, American race car driver
- 1975 - Shannon Noll, Australian singer-songwriter
- 1975 - Toks Olagundoye, Nigerian actress
- 1976 - Elīna Garanča, Latvian soprano
- 1976 - Tina Barrett, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
- 1976 - Greg Buckner, American basketball player and coach
- 1977 - Gregory Ball, American captain and politician
- 1977 - Musiq Soulchild, American singer-songwriter
- 1978 - Dan Dickau, American basketball player and coach
- 1978 - Claudia Marx, German runner
- 1978 - Sensei, Mexican wrestler
- 1978 - Brian Sims, American lawyer, politician, and LGBT activist
- 1979 - Bobby Korecky, American baseball player
- 1979 - Flo Rida, American rapper, singer, and songwriter
- 1980 - Kenny van Weeghel, Dutch wheelchair racer
- 1981 - Fan Bingbing, Chinese actress, singer, and producer
- 1981 - Alexis Bledel, American actress
- 1981 - LaVerne Jones-Ferrette, Virgin Islander sprinter
- 1982 - Leon Knight, English footballer
- 1982 - Michele Rizzo, Italian rugby player
- 1983 - John Afoa, New Zealand rugby player
- 1983 - Katerine Avgoustakis, Belgian singer and pianist
- 1983 - Jennifer Blake, Canadian wrestler
- 1983 - Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwean swimmer and 10th President of the International Olympic Committee
- 1983 - Brandon Moss, American baseball player
- 1984 - Sabrina Bryan, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
- 1984 - Katie Melua, Georgian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1985 - Matt Harrison, American baseball player
- 1985 - Max Minghella, English actor
- 1985 - Madeline Zima, American actress
- 1986 - Gordon Beckham, American baseball player
- 1986 - Ian Harding, American actor
- 1986 - Kyla Pratt, American actress and singer
- 1987 - Merve Boluğur, Turkish actress
- 1987 - Kyle Lafferty, Northern Irish footballer
- 1987 - Louis Ngwat-Mahop, Cameroonian footballer
- 1987 - Anthony Padilla, American internet personality and filmmaker
- 1987 - Burry Stander, South African cyclist
- 1987 - Travis Wall, American dancer and choreographer
- 1988 - Teddy Geiger, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
- 1989 - Robbie Grossman, American baseball player
- 1989 - Braden Holtby, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1989 - Salomón Rondón, Venezuelan footballer
- 1989 - Dustin Tokarski, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1991 - Alexandra Paul, Canadian figure skater
- 1992 - Vytenis Čižauskas, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1992 - Nick Jonas, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1992 - Jake Roche, English singer-songwriter and actor
- 1992 - Chase Stokes, American actor
- 1993 - Metro Boomin, American record producer and songwriter
- 1993 - Sam Byram, English footballer
- 1993 - Bryson DeChambeau, American golfer
- 1993 - Joji, Japanese-Australian singer-songwriter
- 1994 - Anthony Mantha, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1994 - Aleksandar Mitrović, Serbian footballer
- 1994 - Mitchell Moses, Australian rugby league player
- 1995 - Aaron Gordon, American basketball player
- 1997 - Jackie Young, American basketball player
- 1999 - Brady Tkachuk, American ice hockey player
- 2000 - Sam Howell, American football player
- 2000 - Oliver Skipp, English footballer
- 2001 - Avishag Semberg, Israeli Olympic taekwondo bronze medalist
- 2003 - Toby Couchman, Australian rugby league player
Deaths
Pre-1600
- 307 - Flavius Valerius Severus, Roman emperor
- 655 - Pope Martin I
- 1087 - Pope Victor III
- 1100 - Bernold of Constance, German priest and historian
- 1122 - Vitalis of Savigny, Catholic French saint and itinerant preacher
- 1226 - Pandulf Verraccio, Roman ecclesiastical politician
- 1343 - Philip III of Navarre
- 1345 - John IV, Duke of Brittany
- 1360 - William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton
- 1380 - Charles V of France
- 1394 - Antipope Clement VII
- 1406 - Cyprian, Metropolitan of Moscow
- 1498 - Tomás de Torquemada, Spanish friar
- 1581 - Peter Niers, notorious German bandit
- 1583 - Catherine Jagiellon, queen of John III of Sweden
- 1589 - Michael Baius, Belgian theologian and academic
1601–1900
- 1607 - Mary Stuart, English-Scottish princess
- 1672 - Anne Bradstreet, English poet
- 1701 - James II of England
- 1736 - Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, Polish-Dutch physicist and engineer, invented the thermometer
- 1792 - Nguyễn Huệ, Vietnamese emperor
- 1803 - Nicolas Baudin, French explorer, hydrographer, and cartographer
- 1819 - John Jeffries, American physician and surgeon
- 1824 - Louis XVIII of France
- 1843 - Ezekiel Hart, Canadian businessman and politician
- 1845 - Thomas Davis, Irish poet and publisher
- 1865 - Christian de Meza, Danish general
- 1887 - Sakaigawa Namiemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 14th Yokozuna
- 1896 - Antônio Carlos Gomes, Brazilian composer
- 1896 - Pavlos Kalligas, Greek jurist and politician, Foreign Minister of Greece
- 1898 - Ramón Emeterio Betances, Puerto Rican surgeon and politician
1901–present
- 1911 - Edward Whymper, English-French mountaineer, explorer, and author
- 1914 - C. X. Larrabee, American businessman
- 1919 - Maria Nikiforova, Ukrainian anarchist partisan leader
- 1925 - Leo Fall, Czech-Austrian composer
- 1925 - Alexander Friedmann, Russian physicist and mathematician
- 1931 - Omar Mukhtar, Libyan theorist and educator
- 1932 - Millicent Lilian "Peg" Entwistle, British stage and screen actress
- 1932 - Ronald Ross, Indian-English physician and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1933 - George Gore, American baseball player and manager
- 1936 - Jean-Baptiste Charcot, French physician and explorer
- 1940 - Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, English-Scottish politician, 8th Governor of Queensland
- 1944 - Gustav Bauer, German journalist and politician, 11th Chancellor of Germany
- 1945 - John McCormack, Irish tenor and actor
- 1946 - James Hopwood Jeans, English physicist, astronomer, and mathematician
- 1950 - Pedro de Cordoba, American actor
- 1955 - Leo Amery, Indian-English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies
- 1961 - Hasan Polatkan, Turkish politician, 15th Turkish Minister of Finance
- 1961 - Fatin Rüştü Zorlu, Turkish diplomat and politician, 21st Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
- 1965 - Ahn Eak-tai, North Korean composer and conductor
- 1965 - Fred Quimby, American animator and producer
- 1973 - Víctor Jara, Chilean singer-songwriter, teacher and theatre director
- 1976 - Bertha Lutz, Brazilian feminist and scientist
- 1977 - Marc Bolan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1977 - Maria Callas, Greek operatic soprano
- 1980 - Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist and philosopher
- 1984 - Louis Réard, French engineer and fashion designer, created the bikini
- 1984 - Richard Brautigan, American novelist, poet, and short story writer
- 1987 - Christopher Soames, English soldier and politician, Governor of Southern Rhodesia
- 1991 - Olga Spessivtseva, Russian-American ballerina
- 1992 - Millicent Fenwick, American journalist and politician
- 1993 - František Jílek, Czech conductor
- 1993 - Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Australian poet and activist
- 1996 - McGeorge Bundy, American intelligence officer and diplomat, 6th United States National Security Advisor
- 1996 - Gene Nelson, American actor, dancer, and director
- 2001 - Samuel Z. Arkoff, American producer
- 2002 - James Gregory, American actor
- 2003 - Sheb Wooley, American singer-songwriter
- 2004 - Michael Donaghy, American-English poet and author
- 2005 - Harry Freedman, Canadian horn player, composer, and educator
- 2005 - Gordon Gould, American physicist and academic, invented the laser
- 2006 - Floyd Curry, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 2006 - Zsuzsa Körmöczy, Hungarian tennis player and coach
- 2007 - Robert Jordan, American engineer and author
- 2008 - Norman Whitfield, American songwriter and producer
- 2009 - Myles Brand, American philosopher and academic
- 2009 - Ernst Märzendorfer, Austrian conductor
- 2009 - Mary Travers, American singer-songwriter
- 2010 - George N. Parks, American educator and bandleader
- 2010 - Jim Towers, English footballer
- 2011 - Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, American singer-songwriter, harmonica player, and drummer
- 2011 - Enamul Haque Chowdhury, Bangladeshi politician
- 2012 - Roman Kroitor, Canadian director and producer, co-founded IMAX
- 2012 - Julien J. LeBourgeois, American admiral
- 2012 - Friedrich Zimmermann, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of the Interior
- 2013 - Scott Adams, American football player
- 2013 - Ratiba El-Hefny, Egyptian soprano and director
- 2013 - Patsy Swayze, American dancer and choreographer
- 2015 - Guy Béart, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter
- 2015 - Julio Brady, Virgin Islander lawyer, judge, and politician, 5th Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands
- 2015 - Kurt Oppelt, Austrian figure skater and coach
- 2015 - Allan Wright, English captain and pilot
- 2016 - Tarık Akan, Turkish actor, director and activist
- 2016 - Edward Albee, American director and playwright
- 2016 - Gabriele Amorth, Italian priest and exorcist
- 2016 - Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Italian economist and politician, 10th President of Italy and 49th Prime Minister of Italy
- 2016 - W. P. Kinsella, Canadian novelist
- 2016 - Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, French-born American businessman
- 2016 - António Mascarenhas Monteiro, Cabo Verdean politician, 2nd President of Cape Verde
- 2017 - Marcelo Rezende, Brazilian journalist
- 2017 - Arjan Singh, Marshal of the Indian Air Force
- 2018 - James Burdette Thayer, American brigadier general
- 2019 - H. S. Dillon, Indonesian politician and human rights defender
- 2020 - Maxim Martsinkevich, Russian social activist and media personality
- 2021 - Jane Powell, American actress
- 2021 - Clive Sinclair, English entrepreneur and inventor
- 2024 - Song Binbin, Chinese revolutionary
- 2025 - Robert Redford, American actor, producer and director
Holidays and observances