October 15

Events

Pre-1600

*1066 – Following the death of Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, Edgar the Ætheling is proclaimed King of England by the Witan; he is never crowned, and concedes power to William the Conqueror two months later.
* 1211 – Battle of the Rhyndacus: The Latin emperor Henry of Flanders defeats the Nicaean emperor Theodore I Laskaris.
* 1529 – The Siege of Vienna ends when Austria routs the invading Ottoman forces, ending its European expansion.
* 1582 – Adoption of the Gregorian calendar begins, eventually leading to near-universal adoption.

1601–1900

* 1783 – The Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon makes the first human ascent, piloted by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier.
* 1793 – Queen Marie Antoinette of France is tried and convicted of treason.
*1815 – Napoleon begins his exile on Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
* 1863 – American Civil War: The ''H. L. Hunley'', the first submarine to sink a ship, sinks, killing its inventor.
*1864 – American Civil War: The Union garrison of Glasgow, Missouri surrenders to Confederate forces.
* 1878 – The Edison Electric Light Company begins operation.
* 1888 – The "From Hell" letter allegedly sent by Jack the Ripper is received by investigators.

1901–present

* 1910 – Airship ''America'' is launched from New Jersey in the first attempt to cross the Atlantic by a powered aircraft.
* 1923 – The German Rentenmark is introduced in Germany to counter hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic.
*1928 – The airship '' Graf Zeppelin'' completes its first trans-Atlantic flight, landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey – Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight.
*1939 – The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed LaGuardia Airport) is dedicated.
* 1940 – President Lluís Companys of Catalonia is executed by the Francoist government.
*1944 – World War II: Germany replaces the Hungarian government after it announces an armistice with the Soviet Union.
*1951 – Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes completes the synthesis of norethisterone, the basis of an early oral contraceptive.
*1954 – Hurricane Hazel devastates the eastern seaboard of North America, killing 95 and causing massive floods as far north as Toronto.
* 1956 – FORTRAN, the first modern computer language, is first shared with the coding community.
*1965 – Vietnam War: A draft card is burned during an anti-war rally by the Catholic Worker Movement, resulting in the first arrest under a new law.
* 1966 – The Black Panther Party is created by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.
*1970 – During the construction of Australia's West Gate Bridge, a span of the bridge falls and kills 35 workers. The incident is the country's worst industrial accident to this day.
* 1979 – Supporters of the Malta Labour Party ransack and destroy the ''Times of Malta'' building and other locations associated with the Nationalist Party.
* 1979 – A coup d'état in El Salvador overthrows President Carlos Humberto Romero and begins the 12 year-long Salvadoran Civil War.
*1987 – Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 460 crashes near Conca di Crezzo, Italy, killing all 37 people on board.
*1987 – A coup d'état in Burkina Faso overthrows and kills then President Thomas Sankara.
* 1989 – Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL.
*1990 – Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen Cold War tensions and open up his nation.
*1991 – The "Oh-My-God particle", an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray measured at 40,000,000 times that of the highest energy protons produced in a particle accelerator, is observed at the University of Utah HiRes observatory in Dugway Proving Ground, Utah.
* 1991 – The leaders of the Baltic States, Arnold Rüütel of Estonia, Anatolijs Gorbunovs of Latvia and Vytautas Landsbergis of Lithuania, signed the OSCE Final Act in Helsinki, Finland.
*1994 – The United States, under the Clinton administration, returns Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to the island.
*1997 – The Cassini probe launches from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn.
*2001 – NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within of Jupiter's moon Io.
*2003 – China launches Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission.
*2006 – The 6.7 Kiholo Bay earthquake rocks Hawaii, causing property damage, injuries, landslides, power outages, and the closure of Honolulu International Airport.
* 2007 – Seventeen activists in New Zealand are arrested in the country's first post-9/11 anti-terrorism raids.
*2008 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes down 733.08 points, or 7.87%, the second worst percentage drop in the Dow's history.
*2013 – The 7.2 Bohol earthquake strikes the Philippines. At least 215 were killed.
*2016 – One hundred and ninety-seven nations amend the Montreal Protocol to include a phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons.
*2018 – 13-year-old American girl, Jayme Closs, is kidnapped from her Barron, Wisconsin home after her parents were both murdered.

Births

Pre-1600

*99 BC (probable) – Lucretius, Roman poet and philosopher (d. 55 BCE)
*70 BC – Virgil, Roman poet (d. 19 BC)
*1265 – Temür Khan, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan (d. 1307)
* 1440 – Henry III, Landgrave of Upper Hesse, German noble (d. 1483)
* 1471 – Konrad Mutian, German epigrammatist and academic (d. 1526)
* 1542 – Akbar, Mughal emperor (d. 1605)
* 1561 – Richard Field, English cathedral dean (d. 1616)
* 1564 – Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1613)
* 1599 – Cornelis de Graeff, Dutch mayor and regent of Amsterdam (d. 1664)

1601–1900

*1608 – Evangelista Torricelli, Italian physicist and mathematician (d. 1647)
*1622 – Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, Swedish statesman and military man (d. 1686)
* 1686 – Allan Ramsay, Scottish poet and playwright (d. 1758)
* 1701 – Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, Canadian nun and saint, founded Grey Nuns (d. 1771)
*1711 – Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine (d. 1741)
* 1762 – Samuel Adams Holyoke, American composer and educator (d. 1820)
* 1767 – Gabriel Richard, French-born American Roman Catholic priest, missionary, educator, and politician (d. 1832)
* 1784 – Thomas Robert Bugeaud, French general and politician, Governor-General of Algeria (d. 1849)
* 1785 – José Miguel Carrera, Chilean general and politician (d. 1821)
* 1789 – William Christopher Zeise, Danish chemist who prepared Zeise's salt, one of the first organometallic compounds (d. 1847)
* 1802 – Louis-Eugène Cavaignac, French general and politician, head of state of France in 1848 (d. 1857)
* 1814 – Mikhail Lermontov, Russian author, poet, and painter (d. 1841)
*1816 – John Robertson, English-Australian politician, 5th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1891)
* 1818 – Alexander Dreyschock, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1869)
* 1825 – Marie of Prussia (d. 1889)
* 1829 – Asaph Hall, American astronomer and academic (d. 1907)
*1833 – John Alexander MacPherson, Australian politician, 7th Premier of Victoria (d. 1894)
*1836 – James Tissot, French painter and illustrator (d. 1902)
*1840 – Honoré Mercier, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 9th Premier of Quebec (d. 1894)
* 1844 – Friedrich Nietzsche, German composer, poet, and philosopher (d. 1900)
* 1858 – John L. Sullivan, American boxer, actor, and journalist (d. 1918)
* 1865 – Charles W. Clark, American singer and educator (d. 1925)
*1872 – Wilhelm Miklas, Austrian educator and politician, 3rd President of Austria (d. 1956)
* 1872 – August Nilsson, Swedish pole vaulter, shot putter, and tug of war competitor (d. 1921)
* 1874 – Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1899)
* 1878 – Paul Reynaud, French lawyer and politician, 118th Prime Minister of France (d. 1966)
* 1879 – Jane Darwell, American actress (d. 1967)
* 1881 – P. G. Wodehouse, English novelist and playwright (d. 1975)
*1882 – Charley O'Leary, American baseball player and coach (d. 1941)
*1884 – Archibald Hoxsey, American pilot (d. 1910)
* 1887 – Frederick Fleet, English sailor (d. 1965)
* 1888 – S. S. Van Dine, American author and critic (d. 1939)
*1890 – Álvaro de Campos, Portuguese poet and engineer (d. 1935)
*1893 – Carol II of Romania (d. 1953)
* 1894 – Moshe Sharett, Ukrainian-Israeli lieutenant and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1965)
* 1897 – Johannes Sikkar, Estonian soldier and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (d. 1960)
* 1899 – Adolf Brudes, Polish-German racing driver (d. 1986)
*1900 – Mervyn LeRoy, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1987)

1901–present

* 1901 – Enrique Jardiel Poncela, Spanish playwright and novelist (d. 1952)
* 1905 – C. P. Snow, English chemist and author (d. 1980)
* 1906 – Hiram Fong, American soldier and politician (d. 2004)
* 1906 – Alicia Patterson, American journalist and publisher, co-founded ''Newsday'' (d. 1963)
* 1906 – Victoria Spivey, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1976)
* 1907 – Varian Fry, American journalist and author (d. 1967)
* 1908 – Herman Chittison, American pianist (d. 1967)
* 1908 – John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian-American economist and diplomat, 7th United States Ambassador to India (d. 2006)
*1909 – Jesse L. Greenstein, American astronomer and academic (d. 2002)
* 1909 – Robert Trout, American journalist (d. 2000)
* 1910 – Edwin O. Reischauer, Japanese-American scholar and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Japan (d. 1990)
*1912 – Nellie Lutcher, American singer and pianist (d. 2007)
*1913 – Wolfgang Lüth, German commander (d. 1945)
*1914 – Mohammed Zahir Shah, Afghan king (d. 2007)
* 1916 – Al Killian, American trumpet player and bandleader (d. 1950)
* 1916 – George Turner, Australian author and critic (d. 1997)
* 1917 – Jan Miner, American actress (d. 2004)
* 1917 – Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., American historian and critic (d. 2007)
* 1917 – Paul Tanner, American trombonist and educator (d. 2013)
*1919 – Malcolm Ross, American captain, balloonist, and physicist (d. 1985)
* 1919 – Chuck Stevenson, American race car driver (d. 1995)
* 1920 – Chris Economaki, American sportscaster and actor (d. 2012)
* 1920 – Patricia Jessel, Hong Kong-English actress (d. 1968)
* 1920 – Peter Koch, American industrial engineer and wood scientist (d. 1998)
* 1920 – Mario Puzo, American author and screenwriter (d. 1999)
* 1920 – Henri Verneuil, Turkish-French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
*1921 – Angelica Rozeanu, Romanian-Israeli table tennis player (d. 2006)
*1922 – Agustina Bessa-Luís, Portuguese author (d. 2019)
* 1922 – Preben Munthe, Norwegian economist and politician, State Conciliator of Norway (d. 2013)
* 1923 – Italo Calvino, Italian novelist, short story writer, and journalist (d. 1985)
* 1923 – Antonio Fontán, Spanish journalist and politician (d. 2010)
* 1923 – Eugene Patterson, American journalist and activist (d. 2013)
* 1923 – Lindsay Thompson, Australian politician, 40th Premier of Victoria (d. 2008)
* 1924 – Marguerite Andersen, German-Canadian author and educator (d. 2022)
* 1924 – Lee Iacocca, American businessman and author (d. 2019)
* 1924 – Warren Miller, American director and screenwriter (d. 2018)
*1925 – Mickey Baker, American-French guitarist (d. 2012)
* 1925 – Aurora Bautista, Spanish actress (d. 2012)
* 1925 – Tony Hart, English painter and television host (d. 2009)
* 1926 – James E. Akins, American soldier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (d. 2010)
* 1926 – Agustín García Calvo, Spanish philosopher and poet (d. 2012)
* 1926 – Michel Foucault, French historian and philosopher (d. 1984)
* 1926 – Ed McBain, American author and screenwriter (d. 2005)
* 1926 – Jean Peters, American actress (d. 2000)
* 1926 – Karl Richter, German organist and conductor (d. 1981)
* 1927 – B. S. Abdur Rahman, Indian businessman and philanthropist (d. 2015)
*1929 – Will Insley, American painter and architect (d. 2011)
*1930 – FM-2030, Belgian-Iranian basketball player, philosopher and diplomat (d. 2000)
*1931 – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Indian engineer, academic, and politician, 11th President of India (d. 2015)
* 1931 – Pauline Perry, Baroness Perry of Southwark, English academic and politician
*1932 – Jaan Rääts, Estonian guitarist and composer (d. 2020)
* 1933 – Nicky Barnes, American drug lord (d. 2012)
*1934 – Alan Elsdon, English trumpet player (d. 2016)
* 1934 – N. Ramani, Indian flute player (d. 2015)
* 1935 – Barry McGuire, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1935 – Dick McTaggart, Scottish boxer
* 1935 – Bobby Morrow, American sprinter (d. 2020)
* 1935 – Willie O'Ree, Canadian ice hockey player
*1936 – Michel Aumont, French actor (d. 2019)
* 1936 – Robert Baden-Powell, 3rd Baron Baden-Powell, South African-English businessman (d. 2019)
* 1937 – Linda Lavin, American actress and singer
*1938 – Marv Johnson, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1993)
* 1938 – Brice Marden, American painter
* 1938 – Robert Ward, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2008)
* 1938 – Fela Kuti, Nigerian musician and activist (d. 1997)
* 1940 – Tommy Bishop, English rugby league player and coach
* 1940 – Peter C. Doherty, Australian surgeon and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate
*1941 – Roy Masters, Australian rugby league coach, journalist, and author
*1942 – Hilo Chen, Taiwanese-American painter
* 1942 – Harold W. Gehman, Jr., American admiral
* 1942 – Don Stevenson, American singer-songwriter and drummer
*1943 – Penny Marshall, American actress, director, and producer (d. 2018)
*1944 – Sali Berisha, Albanian cardiologist and politician, 2nd President of Albania
* 1944 – A. Chandranehru, Sri Lankan Tamil merchant seaman and politician (d. 2005)
* 1944 – Haim Saban, Israeli-American businessman, co-founded Saban Entertainment
* 1944 – David Trimble, Northern Irish lawyer and politician, 3rd First Minister of Northern Ireland, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2022)
*1945 – Steve Camacho, Guyanese cricketer (d. 2015)
* 1945 – Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Spanish cardinal
* 1945 – Neophyte of Bulgaria, Bulgarian patriarch
* 1945 – Jim Palmer, American baseball player and sportscaster
*1946 – Victor Banerjee, Indian actor and director
* 1946 – Richard Carpenter, American singer-songwriter and pianist
* 1946 – Palle Danielsson, Swedish bassist and composer
* 1946 – Stewart Stevenson, Scottish engineer and politician, Minister for Environment and Climate Change
*1947 – Hümeyra, Turkish singer-songwriter and actress
* 1947 – Jaroslav Erno Šedivý, Czech drummer
* 1948 – Renato Corona, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 23rd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (d. 2016)
* 1948 – Chris de Burgh, British-Irish singer-songwriter and pianist
* 1949 – Laurie McBain, Indian journalist, economist, and broadcaster, founded NDTV
* 1950 – Candida Royalle, American porn actress, director, and producer (d. 2015)
*1951 – Peter Richardson, English actor, director, and screenwriter
* 1951 – Roscoe Tanner, American tennis player
* 1951 – Rafael Vaganian, Armenian chess player
* 1953 – Betsy Clifford, Canadian skier
* 1953 – Tito Jackson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1953 – Peter Phillips, English conductor and musicologist
*1954 – Peter Bakowski, Australian poet and educator
* 1954 – Steve Bracks, Australian politician, 44th Premier of Victoria
* 1954 – Jere Burns, American actor
* 1954 – Julia Yeomans, English physicist and academic
*1955 – Kulbir Bhaura, Indian field hockey player
* 1955 – Emma Chichester Clark, English author and illustrator
*1957 – Michael Caton-Jones, Scottish actor, director, and producer
* 1957 – Mira Nair, Indian-American actress, director, and producer
* 1957 – Stacy Peralta, American skateboarder, director, producer, and businessman, co-founded Powell Peralta
* 1958 – Stephen Clarke, English-French journalist and author
*1959 – Sarah, Duchess of York
* 1959 – Emeril Lagasse, American chef and author
* 1959 – Alex Paterson, English keyboard player
* 1959 – Todd Solondz, American actor, director, and screenwriter
*1961 – Vyacheslav Butusov, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist
*1963 – Stanley Menzo, Dutch footballer and manager
*1964 – Roberto Vittori, Italian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
*1965 – Nasser El Sonbaty, German bodybuilder and trainer (d. 2013)
* 1966 – Jorge Campos, Mexican footballer and manager
* 1966 – Bill Charlap, American pianist and composer
* 1966 – Ilse Huizinga, Dutch singer
* 1966 – Dave Stead, English drummer
* 1967 – Götz Otto, German actor and screenwriter
* 1967 – Dan Forest, American politician, 34th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina
* 1968 – Didier Deschamps, French footballer and manager
* 1968 – Vanessa Marcil, American actress
* 1968 – Rod Wishart, Australian rugby league player
* 1968 – Trent Zimmerman, Australian politician
* 1969 – Vítor Baía, Portuguese footballer
* 1969 – Dominic West, English actor and director
*1970 – Eric Benét, American musician
* 1970 – Ginuwine, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
* 1970 – Pernilla Wiberg, Swedish skier
*1971 – Joey Abs, American wrestler
* 1971 – Andy Cole, English footballer and coach
* 1971 – Lauri Pilter, Estonian author and translator
*1972 – Fred Hoiberg, American basketball player and coach
* 1972 – Matt Keeslar, American actor
* 1972 – Michél Mazingu-Dinzey, German-Congolese footballer and manager
* 1973 – Aleksandr Filimonov, Russian footballer
* 1973 – Maria Hjorth, Swedish golfer
*1974 – Ömer Çatkıç, Turkish footballer
* 1974 – Bianca Rinaldi, Brazilian actress
*1975 – Alessandro Doga, Italian footballer
* 1975 – Glen Little, English footballer and manager
*1976 – Christian Allen, American video game designer
* 1976 – Manuel Dallan, Italian rugby player
* 1977 – Masato Kawabata, Japanese racing driver
* 1977 – David Trezeguet, French footballer
* 1977 – Patricio Urrutia, Ecuadorian footballer
*1978 – Devon Gummersall, American actor, director, and screenwriter
* 1978 – Takeshi Morishima, Japanese wrestler
* 1979 – Blue Adams, American football player and coach
* 1979 – Bohemia, Pakistani-American rapper and producer
* 1979 – Jekaterina Golovatenko, Estonian figure skater
* 1979 – Paul Robinson, English footballer
* 1979 – Jaci Velasquez, American singer-songwriter and actress
* 1979 – Māris Verpakovskis, Latvian footballer
* 1980 – Tom Boonen, Belgian cyclist
*1981 – Keyshia Cole, American singer-songwriter and producer
* 1981 – Elena Dementieva, Russian tennis player
* 1983 – Stephy Tang, Hong Kong singer
*1984 – Izale McLeod, English footballer
* 1984 – Johan Voskamp, Dutch footballer
* 1984 – Jessie Ware, English singer-songwriter
*1985 – Arron Afflalo, American basketball player
* 1985 – Walter Alberto López, Uruguayan footballer
* 1985 – Marcos Martínez, Spanish racing driver
*1986 – Lee Donghae, South Korean singer-songwriter
* 1986 – Carlo Janka, Swiss skier
* 1986 – Nolito, Spanish footballer
*1987 – Ott Tänak, Estonian racing driver
*1988 – Lassy Mbouity, Congolese writer and politician
* 1988 – Mesut Özil, German footballer
* 1989 – Leandro Antonio Martínez, Argentinian-Italian footballer
* 1989 – Anthony Joshua, British professional boxer
*1990 – Jeon Ji-yoon, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
*1995 – Jakob Pöltl, Austrian basketball player
*1995 – Jack Flaherty, American baseball player
* 1996 – Zelo, South Korean rapper and dancer
* 1996 – Charly Musonda, Belgian footballer
* 1999 – Bailee Madison, American actress

Deaths

Pre-1600

* 412 – Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria
* 892 – Al-Mu'tamid, Muslim caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate
* 898 – Lambert of Italy (b. 880)
* 912 – Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi, Spanish emir (b. 844)
* 925 – Rhazes, Persian polymath (b. 864)
* 961 – Abd-al-Rahman III, caliph of Córdoba
* 1002 – Otto-Henry, Duke of Burgundy (b. 946)
*1080 – Rudolf of Rheinfelden (b. 1025)
* 1173 – Petronilla of Aragon (b. 1135)
* 1240 – Razia Sultana, sultan of Delhi (b. 1205)
* 1243 – Hedwig of Silesia, Polish saint (b. 1174)
* 1326 – Walter de Stapledon, English bishop and politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1261)
* 1385 – Dionysius I, Metropolitan of Moscow
*1389 – Pope Urban VI (b. 1318)
*1404 – Marie Valois, French princess (b. 1344)Jean d'Arras, ''Melusine; or, The Noble History of Lusignan'', transl. Donald Maddox, (The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2012), 234.
* 1496 – Gilbert, Count of Montpensier (b. 1443)
* 1564 – Andreas Vesalius, Belgian-Greek anatomist, physician, and author (b. 1514)

1601–1900

* 1674 – Robert Herrick, English poet (b. 1591)
*1684 – Géraud de Cordemoy, French historian, philosopher and lawyer (b. 1626)
* 1690 – Juan de Valdés Leal, Spanish painter and illustrator (b. 1622)
* 1715 – Humphry Ditton, English mathematician and philosopher (b. 1675)
*1788 – Samuel Greig, Scottish-Russian admiral (b. 1735)
* 1810 – Alfred Moore, American captain and judge (b. 1755)
*1811 – Nathaniel Dance-Holland, English painter and politician (b. 1735)
* 1817 – Tadeusz Kościuszko, Polish-Lithuanian general and engineer (b. 1746)
* 1819 – Sergey Vyazmitinov, Russian general and politician, War Governor of Saint Petersburg (b. 1744)
* 1820 – Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg (b. 1771)
*1837 – Ivan Dmitriev, Russian poet and politician, Russian Minister of Justice (b. 1760)
* 1838 – Letitia Elizabeth Landon, English poet and novelist (b. 1802)
* 1891 – Gilbert Arthur à Beckett, English author and songwriter (b. 1837)
*1900 – Zdeněk Fibich, Czech pianist and composer (b. 1850)

1901–present

* 1910 – Stanley Ketchel, American boxer (b. 1886)
* 1917 – Mata Hari, Dutch dancer and spy (b. 1876)
* 1918 – Sai Baba of Shirdi, Indian guru and saint (b. 1838)
*1925 – Dolores Jiménez y Muro, Mexican revolutionary (b. 1848?)
*1930 – Herbert Henry Dow, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Dow Chemical Company (b. 1866)
*1934 – Raymond Poincaré, French lawyer and politician, 10th President of France (b. 1860)
* 1940 – Lluís Companys, Catalan lawyer and politician, President of Catalonia (b. 1882)
*1945 – Pierre Laval, French lawyer and politician, 101st Prime Minister of France (b. 1883)
*1946 – Hermann Göring, German general and politician (b. 1893)
* 1948 – Edythe Chapman, American actress (b. 1863)
*1955 – Fumio Hayasaka, Japanese composer (b. 1914)
* 1958 – Asaf Halet Çelebi, Turkish poet and author (b. 1907)
* 1958 – Elizabeth Alexander, British geologist, academic, and physicist (b. 1908)
*1959 – Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian soldier and politician (b. 1909)
* 1959 – Lipót Fejér, Hungarian mathematician and academic (b. 1880)
* 1960 – Clara Kimball Young, American actress and producer (b. 1890)
*1961 – Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala', Indian poet and author (b. 1896)
*1963 – Horton Smith, American golfer and captain (b. 1908)
*1964 – Cole Porter, American composer and songwriter (b. 1891)
*1965 – Abraham Fraenkel, German-Israeli mathematician and academic (b. 1891)
* 1966 – Frederick Montague, 1st Baron Amwell, English lieutenant and politician (b. 1876)
* 1968 – Virginia Lee Burton, American author and illustrator (b. 1909)
*1976 – Carlo Gambino, Italian-American mob boss (b. 1902)
*1978 – W. Eugene Smith, American photojournalist (b. 1918)
* 1980 – Mikhail Lavrentyev, Russian physicist and mathematician (b. 1900)
* 1980 – Apostolos Nikolaidis, Greek footballer and volleyball player (b. 1896)
* 1983 – Pat O'Brien, American actor (b. 1899)
*1987 – Thomas Sankara, Burkinabe captain and politician, 5th President of Burkina Faso (b. 1949)
* 1987 – Donald Wandrei, American author and poet (b. 1908)
*1988 – Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, English composer, music critic, pianist and writer (b. 1892)
* 1989 – Danilo Kiš, Serbian novelist, short story writer, essayist and translator. (b. 1935)
*1990 – Delphine Seyrig, French actress and director (b. 1932)
* 1993 – Aydın Sayılı, Turkish historian and academic (b. 1913)
*1994 – Sarah Kofman, French philosopher and academic (b. 1934)
*1995 – Bengt Åkerblom, Swedish ice hockey player (b. 1967)
* 1995 – Marco Campos, Brazilian racing driver, only driver ever killed in the International Formula 3000 series (b. 1976)
* 1999 – Josef Locke, British-Irish soldier, policeman, tenor and actor (b. 1917)
*2000 – Konrad Emil Bloch, Polish-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
* 2000 – Vincent Canby, American journalist and critic (b. 1924)
*2001 – Chang Hsüeh-liang, Chinese general and warlord (b. 1901)
*2003 – Ben Metcalfe, Canadian journalist and activist (b. 1919)
* 2004 – Per Højholt, Danish poet (b. 1928)
*2005 – Jason Collier, American basketball player (b. 1977)
* 2005 – Matti Wuori, Finnish lawyer and politician (b. 1945)
* 2007 – Piet Boukema, Dutch jurist and politician (b. 1933)
*2008 – Edie Adams, American actress and singer (b. 1927)
* 2008 – Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca, Turkish soldier and poet (b. 1914)
* 2008 – Jack Narz, American game show host and announcer (b. 1922)
*2009 – Heinz Versteeg, Dutch-German footballer (b. 1939)
*2010 – Richard C. Miller, American photographer (b. 1912)
* 2010 – Mildred Fay Jefferson, American physician and activist (b. 1926)
* 2010 – Johnny Sheffield, American actor (b. 1931)
*2011 – Betty Driver, English actress, singer, and author (b. 1920)
*2012 – Claude Cheysson, French lieutenant and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1920)
* 2012 – Erol Günaydın, Turkish actor and screenwriter (b. 1933)
* 2012 – Maria Petrou, Greek-English computer scientist and academic (b. 1953)
* 2012 – Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1922)
* 2012 – Pat Ward, American lawyer and politician (b. 1957)
*2013 – Donald Bailey, American drummer (b. 1933)
* 2013 – Nevill Drury, English-Australian journalist and publisher (b. 1947)
* 2013 – Cancio Garcia, Filipino lawyer and jurist (b. 1937)
* 2013 – Gloria Lynne, American singer (b. 1931)
* 2013 – Rudy Minarcin, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930)
* 2013 – Hans Riegel, German businessman (b. 1923)
*2014 – Giovanni Reale, Italian philosopher and historian (b. 1931)
* 2014 – Jiří Reynek, Czech poet and graphic designer (b. 1929)
* 2014 – Robert Tiernan, American lawyer and politician (b. 1929)
* 2014 – Nobby Wirkowski, American-Canadian football player and coach (b. 1926)
*2015 – Sergei Filippenkov, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1971)
* 2015 – Nate Huffman, American basketball player (b. 1975)
* 2015 – Neill Sheridan, American baseball player (b. 1921)
* 2015 – Kenneth D. Taylor, Canadian businessman and diplomat (b. 1934)
* 2015 – Tyrone Young, American football player (b. 1960)
*2017 – Chinggoy Alonzo, Filipino theater, movie & television actor (b. 1950)
*2018 – Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, philanthropist, owner of the Seattle Seahawks (b. 1953)
*2021 – David Amess, British politician, member of Parliament for Southend West (b. 1952)

Holidays and observances

* Anniversary of the 1987 Coup d'État (Burkina Faso)
*Breast Health Day (Europe)
*Christian feast day:
**Bruno of Querfurt
** Cúan of Ahascragh
**Teresa of Ávila
** Thecla of Kitzingen
**October 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
*Evacuation Day (Tunisia)