748 – GenshÅ, 44th Empress of Japan (715-24) and 5th woman to rule Japan, dies at 67 or 68 (b. 680)
1545 – Sher Shah Suri, Afghan Emperor of Bihar and Hindustan, established Sur Dynasty, dies in battle (b. 1472 or 1486)
1910 – Jules Renard, French writer (Le plaisir the rompre), dies at 46
1922 – Ada Jane Jones, English-American popular singer, among the earliest female singers to be recorded, dies of kidney failure at 48
1928 – William Henry Temple Gairdner, British Christian missionary in Cairo, Egypt (Church Missionary Society). dies at 54
1943 – Helen Herron Taft, American First lady (1909-13) wife of President William Howard Taft, planted Washington’s cherry trees, dies at 81
1967 – Langston Hughes, American poet (Weary Blues), playwright (Mulatto), and librettist (Troubled Island), dies at 65
1971 – Frank Ottersen, Norwegian jazz violinist and saxophonist (Ding, Dong, Dang), dies at 50
2013 – Fusilier Lee Rigby, British Army soldier, murdered near the Royal Artillery Barracks in London by two Islamic terrorists, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale
2017 – (Granville) “Mickey” Roker, American jazz drummer (Art Farmer; Milt Jackson; Dizzy Gillespie), dies suffering from diabetes and lung cancer at 84