January 1

On This Day, we give you knowledge about what has happened around the globe on January 1.

On this day in world

Events On this day

1701 – 1800

• 1707 – John V is proclaimed King of Portugal and the Algarves in Lisbon.
• 1739 – Bouvet Island, the world’s remotest island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.
• 1772 – The first traveler’s cheques, which could be used in 90 European cities, were issued by the London Credit Exchange Company.
• 1776
  • American Revolutionary War: Norfolk, Virginia is burned by combined Royal Navy and Continental Army action.
  • General George Washington hoists the first United States flag; the Grand Union Flag at Prospect Hill.

1801 – 1850

• 1801
  • The legislative union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland is completed, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is proclaimed.
  • Ceres, the largest and first known object in the Asteroid belt, is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
• 1803 – Emperor Gia Long orders all bronze wares of the Tây Sơn dynasty to be collected and melted into nine cannons for the Royal Citadel in Huế, Vietnam.
• 1804 – French rule ends in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first black-majority republic and second independent country in North America after the United States.
• 1806 – The French Republican Calendar is abolished.
• 1808 – The United States bans the importation of slaves.
• 1810 – Major-General Lachlan Macquarie officially becomes Governor of New South Wales.
• 1822 – The Greek Constitution of 1822 is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.
• 1847 – The world’s first “Mercy” Hospital is founded in Pittsburgh, the United States, by a group of Sisters of Mercy from Ireland;  the name will go on to grace over 30 major hospitals throughout the world.

1851 – 1900

• 1860 – The first Polish “stamp” is issued.
• 1861 – Liberal forces supporting Benito Juárez enter Mexico City.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect in Confederate territory.
• 1877 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom is proclaimed Empress of India.
• 1890 – Eritrea is consolidated into a colony by the Italian government.
• 1892 – Ellis Island begins processing immigrants into the United States.
• 1899 – Spanish rule ends in Cuba.

1901 – 1950

• 1901 – Nigeria becomes a British protectorate.
• 1902 – The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena, California.
• 1910 – Captain David Beatty becomes the youngest admiral in the Royal Navy (except for Royal family members).
• 1912 – The Republic of China is established.
• 1914 – The SPT Airboat Line becomes the world’s first scheduled airline to use a winged aircraft.
• 1923 – Britain’s Railways are grouped into the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, and LMS.
• 1925– Norway’s capital Christiania changes name to Oslo
• 1927 – New Mexican oil legislation goes into effect, leading to the formal outbreak of the Cristero War.
• 1928 – Boris Bazhanov defects through Iran. He is the only assistant of Joseph Stalin’s secretariat to have defected from the Eastern Bloc.
• 1929 – The former municipalities of Point Grey, British Columbia, and South Vancouver, British Columbia are amalgamated into Vancouver.
• 1932 – The United States Post Office Department issues a set of 12 stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s birth.
• 1934 – Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay becomes a United States federal prison.
• 1934 – A “Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring” comes into effect in Nazi Germany.
• 1942 – The Declaration by the United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.
• 1945 – World War II: In retaliation for the Malmedy massacre, U.S. troops kill 60 German POWs at Chenogne.
• 1945 – World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches Operation Bodenplatte.
• 1947 – The Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 comes into effect, converting British subjects into Canadian citizens. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the first Canadian citizen.
• 1948 – The British railway network is nationalized to form British Railways.

1951 – 1970

• 1956 – Sudan achieves independence from Egypt and the United Kingdom.
• 1957 – George Town, Penang, is made a city by a royal charter of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
• 1958 – European Economic Community is established.
• 1959 – Cuban Revolution: Fulgencio Batista, the dictator of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro’s forces.
• 1960 – Cameroon achieves independence from France and the United Kingdom.
• 1962 – Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.
• 1964 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.
• 1965 – The People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan is founded in Kabul, Afghanistan.
• 1970 – The defined beginning of Unix time, at 00:00:00.

1971 – 1980

• 1971 – Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.
• 1973 – Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom are admitted into the European Economic Community.
• 1976 – A bomb explodes on board Middle East Airlines Flight 438 over Qaisumah, Saudi Arabia, killing all 81 people on board.
• 1978 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747, crashes into the Arabian Sea.
• 1979 – Normal diplomatic relations are established between the People’s Republic of China and the United States.

1981 – 2000

• 1981 – Greece is admitted into the European Community.
• 1982 – Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar becomes the first Latin American to hold the title of Secretary-General of the United Nations.
• 1983 – The ARPANET officially changes to using TCP/IP, the Internet Protocol, effectively creating the Internet.
• 1984 – Brunei becomes independent of the United Kingdom.
• 1985 – The first British mobile phone call is made by Michael Harrison to his father Sir Ernest Harrison, chairman of Vodafone.
• 1987 – The Isleta Pueblo tribe elect Verna Williamson to be their first female governor.
• 1988 – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.
• 1989 – The Montreal Protocol comes into force, stopping the use of chemicals contributing to ozone depletion.
• 1990 – David Dinkins is sworn in as New York City’s first black mayor.
• 1993 – Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.
• 1994 – The Zapatista Army of National Liberation initiates twelve days of armed conflict in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
• 1994 – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) comes into effect.
• 1995
  • The World Trade Organization comes into being.
  • The Draupner wave in the North Sea in Norway is detected, confirming the existence of freak waves.
  • Austria, Finland, and Sweden join the EU.
• 1999 – In 11 member nations of the European Union introduced the Euro currency.

2001 – 2010

• 2007
  • Bulgaria and Romania join the EU.
  • Adam Air Flight 574 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes near the Makassar Strait, Indonesia killing all 102 people on board.
• 2009 – Sixty-six people die in a nightclub fire in Bangkok, Thailand.
• 2010 – A suicide car bomber detonates at a volleyball tournament in Lakki Marwat, Pakistan, killing 105 and injuring 100 more.

2010 – 2020

• 2011
  • A bomb explodes as Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt, leave a new year service, killing 23 people.
  • Estonia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the 17th Eurozone country.
• 2015 – The Eurasian Economic Union comes into effect, creating a political and economic union between Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Born On this day

• 1431 – Pope Alexander VI (d. 1503)
• 1449 – Lorenzo de’ Medici, Italian politician (d. 1492)
• 1467 – Sigismund I the Old, Polish king (d. 1548)
• 1484 – Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss pastor and theologian (d. 1531)
• 1511 – Henry, Duke of Cornwall, first-born child of Henry VIII of England (d. 1511)
• 1557 – Stephen Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania (d. 1606)
• 1600 – Friedrich Spanheim, Dutch theologian and academic (d. 1649)
• 1628 – Christoph Bernhard, German composer and theorist (d. 1692)
• 1655 – Christian Thomasius, German jurist and philosopher (d. 1728)
• 1684 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch scholar and author (d. 1748)

1701 – 1800

• 1704 – Soame Jenyns, English author, poet, and politician (d. 1787)
• 1711 – Baron Franz von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (d. 1749)
• 1714 – Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian pastor and poet (d. 1780)
• 1735 – Paul Revere, American silversmith, and engraver (d. 1818)
• 1745 – Anthony Wayne, American general and politician (d. 1796)
• 1752 – Betsy Ross, American seamstress, credited with designing the Flag of the United States (d. 1836)
• 1768 – Maria Edgeworth, Anglo-Irish author (d. 1849)
• 1769 – Marie-Louise Lachapelle, French obstetrician (d. 1821)
• 1774 – André Marie Constant Duméril, French zoologist and academic (d. 1860)
• 1779 – William Clowes, English publisher (d. 1847)

1801 – 1850

• 1803 – Edward Dickinson, American politician, and father of poet Emily Dickinson (d. 1874)
• 1806 – Lionel Kieseritzky, Estonian-French chess player (d. 1853)
• 1809 – Achille Guenée, French lawyer and entomologist (d. 1880)
• 1813 – George Bliss, American politician (d. 1868)
• 1814 – Hong Xiuquan, Chinese rebellion leader and king (d. 1864)
• 1818 – William Gamble, Irish-born American general (d. 1866)
• 1819 – George Foster Shepley, American general (d. 1878)
• 1823 – Sándor Petőfi, Hungarian poet and activist (d. 1849)
• 1833 – Robert Lawson, Scottish-New Zealand architect, designed the Otago Boys’ High School and Knox Church (d. 1902)
• 1834 – Ludovic Halévy, French author and playwright (d. 1908)
• 1839 – Ouida, English-Italian author and activist (d. 1908)
• 1848 – John W. Goff, Irish-American lawyer and politician (d. 1924)

1851 – 1870

• 1852 – Eugène-Anatole Demarçay, French chemist and academic (d. 1904)
• 1854 – Thomas Waddell, Irish-Australian politician, 15th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1940)
• 1857 – Tim Keefe, American baseball player (d. 1933)
• 1859 – Michael Joseph Owens, American inventor (d. 1923)
• 1860 – Michele Lega, Italian cardinal (d. 1935)
• 1863 – Pierre de Coubertin, French historian, and educator, founded the International Olympic Committee (d. 1937)
• 1864 – Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer, and curator (d. 1946)
• 1864 – Qi Baishi, Chinese painter (d. 1957)
• 1867 – Mary Ackworth Evershed, English astronomer and scholar (d. 1949)

1871 – 1900

• 1874 – Frank Knox, American publisher, and politician, 46th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1944)
• 1874 – Gustave Whitehead, German-American pilot and engineer (d. 1927)
• 1877 – Alexander von Staël-Holstein, German sinologist and orientalist (d. 1937)
• 1878 – Agner Krarup Erlang, Danish mathematician, statistician, and engineer (d. 1929)
• 1879 – William Fox, Hungarian-American screenwriter, and producer, founded the Fox Film Corporation and Fox Theatres (d. 1952)
• 1883 – William J. Donovan, American general, lawyer, and politician (d. 1959)
• 1884 – Konstantinos Tsaldaris, Egyptian-Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1970)
• 1887 – Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral (d. 1945)
• 1888 – Georgios Stanotas, Greek general (d. 1965)
• 1889 – Charles Bickford, American actor (d. 1967)
• 1890 – Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer and academic (d. 1966)
• 1891 – Sampurnanand, Indian educator and politician, 3rd Governor of Rajasthan (d. 1969)
• 1892 – Manuel Roxas, Filipino lawyer and politician, 5th President of the Philippines (d. 1948)
• 1893 – Mordechai Frizis, Greek colonel (d. 1940)
• 1894 – Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian physicist, and mathematician (d. 1974)
• 1894 – Edward Joseph Hunkeler, American clergyman (d. 1970)
• 1895 – J. Edgar Hoover, American law enforcement official; 1st Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (d. 1972)
• 1900 – Xavier Cugat, Spanish-American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1990)

1901 – 1920

• 1902 – Buster Nupen, Norwegian-South African cricketer and lawyer (d. 1977)
• 1904 – Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th President of Pakistan (d. 1982)
• 1905 – Stanisław Mazur, Ukrainian-Polish mathematician and theorist (d. 1981)
• 1906 – Manuel Silos, Filipino filmmaker and actor (d. 1988)
• 1907 – Kinue Hitomi, Japanese sprinter and long jumper (d. 1931)
• 1909 – Dana Andrews, American actor (d. 1992)
• 1911 – Basil Dearden, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1971)
• 1912
  • Boris Vladimirovich Gnedenko, Russian mathematician and historian (d. 1995)
  • Kim Philby, British spy (d. 1988)
  • Nikiforos Vrettakos, Greek poet and academic (d. 1991)
• 1914 – Noor Inayat Khan, British SOE agent (d. 1944)
• 1917 – Shannon Bolin, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
• 1918
  • Patrick Anthony Porteous, Scottish colonel, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 2000)
  • Willy den Ouden, Dutch swimmer (d. 1997)
• 1919 – Rocky Graziano, American boxer and actor (d. 1990)
• 1920 – Osvaldo Cavandoli, Italian cartoonist (d. 2007)

1921 – 1930

• 1921 – César Baldaccini, French sculptor and academic (d. 1998)
• 1922 – Ernest Hollings, American soldier, and politician, 106th Governor of South Carolina (d. 2019)
• 1923 – Milt Jackson, American jazz vibraphonist, and composer (d. 1999)
• 1924 – Francisco Macías Nguema, Equatorial Guinean politician, 1st President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea (d. 1979)
• 1925
  • Matthew Beard, American child actor (d. 1981)
  • Paul Bomani, Tanzanian politician and diplomat, 1st Tanzanian Minister of Finance (d. 2005)
• 1926 – Kazys Petkevičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (d. 2008)
• 1927
  • Doak Walker, American football player and businessman (d. 1998)
  • James Reeb, American clergyman and political activist (d. 1965)
  • Maurice Béjart, French-Swiss dancer, choreographer, and director (d. 2007)
  • Vernon L. Smith, American economist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1928 – Gerhard Weinberg, German-American historian, author, and academic
• 1929 – Larry L. King, American journalist, author, and playwright (d. 2012)
• 1930 – Gaafar Nimeiry, Egyptian-Sudanese politician, 4th President of Sudan (d. 2009)

1931 – 1950

• 1932 – Giuseppe Patanè, Italian conductor (d. 1989)
• 1933 – James Hormel, American philanthropist, and diplomat
• 1934 – Lakhdar Brahimi, Algerian politician, Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1935 – Om Prakash Chautala, Indian politician
• 1936 – James Sinegal, American businessman, co-founded Costco
• 1939
  • Michèle Mercier, French actress
  • Phil Read, English motorcycle racer and businessman
  • Senfronia Thompson, American politician
• 1941 – Younoussi Touré, Malian politician, Prime Minister of Mali
• 1942
  • Alassane Ouattara, Ivorian economist and politician, President of the Ivory Coast1942 – Anthony Hamilton-Smith, 3rd Baron Colwyn, English dentist, and politician
  • Country Joe McDonald, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • Dennis Archer, American lawyer, and politician, 67th Mayor of Detroit
• 1943
  • Don Novello, American comedian, screenwriter, and producer
  • Tony Knowles, American soldier, and politician, 7th Governor of Alaska
  • Vladimir Šeks, Croatian lawyer and politician, 16th Speaker of the Croatian Parliament
• 1944 
  • Mati Unt, Estonian author, playwright, and director (d. 2005)
  • Omar al-Bashir, Sudanese field marshal and politician, 7th President of Sudan
  • Teresa Torańska, Polish journalist and author (d. 2013)
  • Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Pakistani field hockey player and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Pakistan
• 1945 – Victor Ashe, American politician and former United States Ambassador to Poland
• 1946
  • Claude Steele, American social psychologist and academic
  • Rivellino, Brazilian footballer and manager
• 1947 – Jon Corzine, American sergeant, and politician, 54th Governor of New Jersey
• 1948 – Devlet Bahçeli, Turkish economist, academic, and politician, 57th Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
• 1948
  • Dick Quax, New Zealand runner and politician (d. 2018)
  • Pavel Grachev, Russian general, and politician, 1st Russian Minister of Defence (d. 2012)
• 1949 – Borys Tarasyuk, Ukrainian politician and diplomat

1951 – 1970

• 1952 – Shaji N. Karun, Indian director, and cinematographer
• 1953 – Gary Johnson, American businessman, and politician, 29th Governor of New Mexico
• 1954 – Bob Menendez, American lawyer, and politician
• 1954 – Dennis O’Driscoll, Irish poet and critic (d. 2012)
• 1954 – Yannis Papathanasiou, Greek engineer and politician, Greek Minister of Finance
• 1955 – LaMarr Hoyt, American baseball player
• 1956 – Sergei Avdeyev, Russian engineer and astronaut
• 1957 – Evangelos Venizelos, Greek lawyer, and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece
• 1958 – Grandmaster Flash, Barbadian rapper and DJ
• 1959
  • Abdul Ahad Mohmand, Afghan colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • Azali Assoumani, Comorian colonel and politician, President of Comoros
  • Panagiotis Giannakis, Greek basketball player and coach
• 1962 – Anton Muscatelli, Italian-Scottish economist and academic
• 1963 – Jean-Marc Gounon, French racing driver
• 1964 – Dedee Pfeiffer, American actress
• 1966
  • Anna Burke, Australian businesswoman, and politician, 28th Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives
  • Ivica Dačić, Serbian journalist and politician, 95th Prime Minister of Serbia
• 1966 – Tihomir Orešković, Croatian–Canadian businessman, 11th Prime Minister of Croatia
• 1968 – Davor Šuker, Croatian footballer

1970 – 2000

• 1971
  • Bobby Holík, Czech-American ice hockey player and coach
  • Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, Indian politician
  • Sammie Henson, American wrestler, and coach
• 1972 – Lilian Thuram, French footballer
• 1974 – Christian Paradis, Canadian lawyer, and politician, 9th Canadian Minister of Industry
• 1975
  • Becky Kellar-Duke, Canadian ice hockey player
  • Chris Anstey, Australian basketball player, and coach
  • Fernando Tatís, Dominican baseball player
  • Joe Cannon, American soccer player, and sportscaster
• 1976 – Chai Jing, Chinese former reporter, and host
• 1979 – Vidya Balan, Indian actress
• 1981 – Mladen Petrić, Croatian footballer
• 1982 – David Nalbandian, an Argentinian tennis player
• 1982 – Egidio Arévalo Ríos, Uruguayan footballer
• 1983
  • Melaine Walker, Jamaican hurdler
  • Park Sung-Hyun, South Korean archer
  • Calum Davenport, English footballer
• 1984 – Paolo Guerrero, Peruvian footballer
• 1985 – Tiago Splitter, Brazilian basketball player
• 1986 – Pablo Cuevas, an Uruguayan tennis player
• 1986 – Ramses Barden, American football player
• 1987 – Meryl Davis, American ice dancer
• 1988 – Marcel Gecov, Czech footballer
• 1989 – Jason Pierre-Paul, American football player
• 1991 – Darius Slay, American football player

Deaths On this day

401 – 1500

• 404 – Telemachus, Christian monk, and martyr
• 466 – Qianfei, Chinese emperor of the Liu Song Dynasty (b. 449)
• 898 – Odo I, Frankish king (b. 860)
• 951 – Ramiro II, king of León and Galicia
• 1031 – William of Volpiano, Italian abbot (b. 962)
• 1189 – Henry of Marcy, Cistercian abbot (b. c. 1136)
• 1204 – Haakon III, king of Norway (b. 1182)
• 1387 – Charles II, king of Navarre (b. 1332)
• 1496 – Charles d’Orléans, count of Angoulême (b. 1459)

1501 – 1800

• 1515 – Louis XII, king of France (b. 1462)
• 1559 – Christian III, king of Denmark (b. 1503)
• 1560 – Joachim du Bellay, French poet and critic (b. 1522)
• 1617 – Hendrik Goltzius, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1558)
• 1697 – Filippo Baldinucci, Florentine historian and author (b. 1625)
• 1716 – William Wycherley, English playwright and poet (b. 1641)
• 1748 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and academic (b. 1667)
• 1780 – Johann Ludwig Krebs, German organist and composer (b. 1713)
• 1782 – Johann Christian Bach, German composer (b. 1735)
• 1789 – Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, English lawyer and politician, British Speaker of the House of Commons (b. 1716)
• 1793 – Francesco Guardi, Italian painter and educator (b. 1712)

1801 – 1900

• 1817 – Martin Heinrich Klaproth, German chemist and academic (b. 1743)
• 1846 – John Torrington, English sailor and explorer (b. 1825)
• 1853 – Gregory Blaxland, Australian farmer, and explorer (b. 1778)
• 1862 – Mikhail Ostrogradsky, Ukrainian mathematician and physicist (b. 1801)
• 1881 – Louis Auguste Blanqui, French activist (b. 1805)
• 1892 – Roswell B. Mason, American lawyer, and politician, 25th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1805)
• 1894 – Heinrich Hertz, German physicist and academic (b. 1857)
• 1896 – Alfred Ely Beach, American publisher, and lawyer, created the Beach Pneumatic Transit (b. 1826)

1901 – 1950

• 1906 – Hugh Nelson, Scottish-Australian farmer, and politician, 11th Premier of Queensland (b. 1833)
• 1918 – William Wilfred Campbell, Canadian poet and author (b. 1858)
• 1921 – Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, German lawyer and politician, 5th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1856)
• 1929 – Mustafa Necati, Turkish civil servant and politician, Turkish Minister of Environment and Urban Planning (b. 1894)
• 1931 – Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (b. 1851)
• 1937 – Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Indian religious leader, founded the Gaudiya Math (b. 1874)
• 1940 – Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao, Indian author, and educator (b. 1865)
• 1944 – Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (b. 1862)

1951 – 1970

• 1953 – Hank Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1923)
• 1954 – Duff Cooper, English politician and diplomat, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1890)
• 1954 – Leonard Bacon, American poet, and critic (b. 1887)
• 1955 – Arthur C. Parker, American archaeologist, and historian (b. 1881)
• 1960 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress (b. 1909)
• 1966 – Vincent Auriol, French journalist, and politician, 16th President of the French Republic (b. 1884)
• 1969 – Barton MacLane, American actor, playwright and screenwriter (b. 1902)

1971 – 2000

• 1971 – Amphilochius of Pochayiv, Ukrainian saint (b. 1894)
• 1972 – Maurice Chevalier, French actor, and singer (b. 1888)
• 1978 – Carle Hessay, German-Canadian painter (b. 1911)
• 1980 – Pietro Nenni, Italian journalist, and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1891)
• 1981 – Hephzibah Menuhin, American-Australian pianist (b. 1920)
• 1982 – Victor Buono, American actor (b. 1938)
• 1984 – Alexis Korner, French-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1928)
• 1992 – Grace Hopper, American computer scientist, and admiral, co-developed COBOL (b. 1906)
• 1994 – Arthur Porritt, Baron Porritt, New Zealand physician, and politician, 11th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1900)
• 1994 – Cesar Romero, American actor (b. 1907)
• 1995 – Eugene Wigner, Hungarian-American physicist, and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
• 1996 – Arleigh Burke, American admiral (b. 1901)
• 1997 – Townes Van Zandt, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1944)
• 1998 – Helen Wills, American tennis player and coach (b. 1905)
• 2000 – Betty Archdale, English-Australian cricketer, and educator (b. 1907)

2001 – 2010

• 2001 – Ray Walston, American actor (b. 1914)
• 2002 – Julia Phillips, American film producer and author (b. 1944)
• 2003 – Joe Foss, American soldier, pilot, and politician, 20th Governor of South Dakota (b. 1915)
• 2005 – Shirley Chisholm, American educator, and politician (b. 1924)
• 2006 – Harry Magdoff, American economist and journalist (b. 1913)
• 2007 – Tillie Olsen, American short-story writer (b. 1912)
• 2008 – Pratap Chandra Chunder, Indian educator and politician (b. 1919)
• 2009 – Claiborne Pell, American politician (b. 1918)
• 2010 – Lhasa de Sela, American-Mexican singer-songwriter (b. 1972)

2010 – 2020

• 2012
  • Kiro Gligorov, Bulgarian-Macedonian lawyer and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1917)
  • Nay Win Maung, Burmese physician, businessman, and activist (b. 1962)
  • Tommy Mont, American football player and coach (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Patti Page, American singer, and actress (b. 1927)
• 2014 – William Mgimwa, Tanzanian banker and politician, 13th Tanzanian Minister of Finance (b. 1950)
• 2015 – Donna Douglas, American actress (b. 1932)
• 2016 – Vilmos Zsigmond, Hungarian-American cinematographer and producer (b. 1930)
• 2017 – Yvon Dupuis, Canadian politician (b. 1926)
• 2018 – Robert Mann, American violinist (b. 1920)
• 2019 – Pegi Young, American singer, songwriter, environmentalist, educator and philanthropist (b. 1952)