1546 – Francisco de Vitoria, Spanish theology/lawyer, dies
1750 – Rachel Ruysch, royal painter of soverign Johan von de Pfalz, dies
1810 – Etienne Louis Geoffroy, French pharmacist and entomologist, dies at 84
1848 – George Stephenson, English engineer known as the “Father of Railways” (Locomotion No. 1, Standard Gauge), dies of pleurisy at 67
1943 – Georges Martin Witkowski, composer, dies at 76
1973 – Karl Ziegler, German chemist and Nobel Laureate (polymers), dies at 74
1994 – Gene Cherico, American jazz bassist, dies at 59
1997 – Jack Delano [Jacob Ovcharov], Russian-born American composer and photographer, dies at 83
1997 – Luther Allison, blues performer (Motown), dies of cancer at 57
1999 – Jean Drapeau, Quebec politician, mayor of Montreal (b. 1916)