October 4

Pre-1600

 * AD 23 – Rebels sack the Chinese capital Chang'an during a peasant rebellion.
 * 1209 – Otto IV is crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III.
 * 1302 – The Byzantine–Venetian War comes to an end.
 * 1363 – Battle of Lake Poyang: In one of the largest naval battles in history, Zhu Yuanzhang's rebels defeat rival Chen Youliang.
 * 1511 – Formation of the Holy League of Aragon, the Papal States and Venice against France.
 * 1535 – The Coverdale Bible is printed, with translations into English by William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale.
 * 1582 – The Gregorian Calendar is introduced by Pope Gregory XIII.
 * 1597 – Governor Gonzalo Méndez de Canço begins to suppress a native uprising against his rule in what is now the state of Georgia.

1601–1900

 * 1602 – Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War: A fleet of Spanish galleys are defeated by English and Dutch galleons in the English Channel.
 * 1636 – Thirty Years' War: The Swedish Army defeats the armies of Saxony and the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Wittstock.
 * 1693 – Nine Years' War: Piedmontese troops are defeated by the French.
 * 1777 – American Revolutionary War: Troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under William Howe.
 * 1795 – Napoleon first rises to prominence by suppressing counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the National Convention.
 * 1824 – Mexico adopts a new constitution and becomes a federal republic.
 * 1830 – The Belgian Revolution takes legal form when the provisional government secedes from the Netherlands.
 * 1853 – The Crimean War begins when the Ottoman Empire declares war on the Russian Empire.
 * 1876 – The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas opens as the first public college in Texas.
 * 1883 – First run of the Orient Express.
 * 1883  – First meeting of the Boys' Brigade in Glasgow, Scotland.
 * 1895 – Horace Rawlins wins the first U.S. Open Men's Golf Championship.

1901–present

 * 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Broodseinde is fought between the British and German armies in Flanders.
 * 1918 – World War I: An explosion kills more than 100 people and destroys a Shell Loading Plant in New Jersey.
 * 1920 – The Mannerheim League for Child Welfare, a Finnish non-governmental organization, is founded on the initiative of Sophie Mannerheim.
 * 1925 – Great Syrian Revolt: Rebels led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji captured Hama from the French Mandate of Syria.
 * 1925  – S2, a Finnish Sokol class torpedo boat, sinks during a fierce storm near the coast of Pori in the Gulf of Bothnia, taking with it the whole crew of 53.
 * 1927 – Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mount Rushmore.
 * 1936 – The Metropolitan Police and various anti-fascist organizations violently clash in the Battle of Cable Street.
 * 1941 – Norman Rockwell's Willie Gillis character debuts on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
 * 1957 – Sputnik 1 becomes the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.
 * 1958 – The current constitution of France is adopted.
 * 1960 – An airliner crashes on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport, killing 62 people.
 * 1963 – Hurricane Flora kills 6,000 in Cuba and Haiti.
 * 1965 – Pope Paul VI begins the first papal visit to the Americas.
 * 1966 – Basutoland becomes independent from the United Kingdom and is renamed Lesotho.
 * 1967 – Omar Ali Saifuddien III of Brunei abdicates in favour of his son.
 * 1983 – Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 mph at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
 * 1985 – The Free Software Foundation is founded.
 * 1991 – The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty is opened for signature.
 * 1992 – The Rome General Peace Accords end a 16-year civil war in Mozambique.
 * 1992  – El Al Flight 1862 crashes into two apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 39 on the ground.
 * 1993 – Battle of Mogadishu occurs killing 18 U.S. Special Forces, two UN Peacekeepers and at least 600 Somalian militia men and civilians.
 * 1993  – Tanks bombard the Russian parliament, while demonstrators against President Yeltsin rally outside.
 * 1997 – The second largest cash robbery in U.S. history occurs in North Carolina.
 * 2001 – Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 crashes after being struck by an errant Ukrainian missile. Seventy-eight people are killed.
 * 2003 – The Maxim restaurant suicide bombing in Israel kills twenty-one Israelis, both Jews and Arabs.
 * 2004 – SpaceShipOne wins the Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight.
 * 2006 – WikiLeaks is launched.
 * 2010 – The Ajka plant accident in Hungary releases a million cubic metres of liquid alumina sludge, killing nine, injuring 122, and severely contaminating two major rivers.
 * 2017 – Joint Nigerien-American Special Forces are ambushed by Islamic State militants outside the village of Tongo Tongo.
 * 2021 – Bubba Wallace becomes the first African-American Driver in the modern era of NASCAR to win a major race.
 * 2022 – Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger are jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Pre-1600

 * 1160 – Alys, Countess of the Vexin, daughter of Louis VII of France (d. c. 1220)
 * 1274 – Rudolf I, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1319)
 * 1276 – Margaret of Brabant (d. 1311)
 * 1289 – Louis X of France (d. 1316)
 * 1331 – James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond, Irish politician, Lord Justice of Ireland (d. 1382)
 * 1379 – Henry III of Castile (d. 1406)
 * 1507 – Francis Bigod, English noble (d. 1537)
 * 1515 – Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter (d. 1586)
 * 1522 – Gabriele Paleotti, Catholic cardinal (d. 1597)
 * 1524 – Francisco Vallés, Spanish physician (d. 1592)
 * 1532 – Francisco de Toledo, Catholic cardinal (d. 1596)
 * 1542 – Robert Bellarmine, Italian cardinal and saint (d. 1621)
 * 1550 – Charles IX of Sweden (d. 1611)
 * 1562 – Christen Sørensen Longomontanus, Danish astronomer and author (d. 1647)
 * 1570 – Péter Pázmány, Hungarian cardinal and philosopher (d. 1637)
 * 1579 – Guido Bentivoglio, Italian cardinal (d. 1644)
 * 1585 – Anna of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1618)

1601–1900

 * 1625 – Jacqueline Pascal, French nun and composer (d. 1661)
 * 1626 – Richard Cromwell, English academic and politician, Lord Protector of Great Britain (d. 1712)
 * 1633 – Bernardino Ramazzini, Italian physician (d. 1714)
 * 1657 – Francesco Solimena, Italian painter and illustrator (d. 1747)
 * 1694 – Lord George Murray, Scottish Jacobite General (d. 1760)
 * 1720 – Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian sculptor and illustrator (d. 1778)
 * 1723 – Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus, German entomologist and author (d. 1798)
 * 1759 – Louis François Antoine Arbogast, French mathematician and academic (d. 1803)
 * 1768 – Francisco José de Caldas, Colombian naturalist, executed by royalists in the war of independence (d. 1816)
 * 1787 – François Guizot, French historian and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of France (d. 1874)
 * 1793 – Charles Pearson, English lawyer and politician (d. 1862)
 * 1807 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of Canada East (d. 1864)
 * 1814 – Jean-François Millet, French painter and educator (d. 1875)
 * 1822 – Rutherford B. Hayes, American general, lawyer, and politician, 19th President of the United States (d. 1893)
 * 1835 – Jenny Twitchell Kempton, American opera singer and educator (d. 1921)
 * 1836 – Juliette Adam, French author (d. 1936)
 * 1837 – Auguste-Réal Angers, Canadian judge and politician, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 1919)
 * 1841 – Prudente de Morais, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Brazil (d. 1912)
 * 1841  – Maria Sophie of Bavaria (d. 1925)
 * 1843 – Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas, Palestinian nun and Catholic Saint (d. 1927)
 * 1858 – Léon Serpollet, French businessman (d. 1903)
 * 1861 – Walter Rauschenbusch, American pastor and theologian (d. 1918)
 * 1861  – Frederic Remington, American painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 1909)
 * 1862 – Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, sister-in-law of Vincent van Gogh, who is credited with promoting his posthumous fame (d. 1925).
 * 1862 – Edward Stratemeyer, American author and publisher (d. 1930)
 * 1868 – Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 20th President of Argentina (d. 1942)
 * 1874 – John Ellis, English executioner (d. 1932)
 * 1876 – Florence Eliza Allen, American mathematician and suffrage activist (d. 1960)
 * 1877 – Razor Smith, English cricketer (d. 1946)
 * 1879 – Robert Edwards, American artist, musician, and writer (d. 1948)
 * 1880 – Damon Runyon, American newspaperman and short story writer. (d. 1946)
 * 1881 – Walther von Brauchitsch, German field marshal (d. 1948)
 * 1884 – Ramchandra Shukla, Indian historian and author (d. 1941)
 * 1888 – Lucy Tayiah Eads, American tribal chief (d. 1961)
 * 1888  – Oscar Mathisen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 1954)
 * 1890 – Alan L. Hart, American physician and author (d. 1962)
 * 1890  – Osman Cemal Kaygılı, Turkish writer and journalist (d. 1945)
 * 1892 – Engelbert Dollfuss, Austrian soldier and politician, 14th Federal Chancellor of Austria (d. 1934)
 * 1892  – Hermann Glauert, English aerodynamicist and author (d. 1934)
 * 1892  – Robert Lawson, American author and illustrator (d. 1957)
 * 1895 – Buster Keaton, American film actor, director, and producer (d. 1966)
 * 1895  – Richard Sorge, German journalist and spy (d. 1944)
 * 1896 – Dorothy Lawrence, English reporter, who secretly posed as a man to become a soldier during World War I (d. 1964)
 * 1900 – August Mälk, Estonian author and playwright (d. 1987)

1901–present

 * 1903 – Bona Arsenault, Canadian genealogist, historian, and politician (d. 1993)
 * 1903  – John Vincent Atanasoff, American physicist and academic, invented the Atanasoff–Berry computer (d. 1995)
 * 1903  – Pierre Garbay, French general (d. 1980)
 * 1903  – Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Austrian-German lawyer and general (d. 1946)
 * 1906 – Mary Celine Fasenmyer, American mathematician (d. 1996)
 * 1907 – Alain Daniélou, French-Swiss historian and academic (d. 1994)
 * 1910 – Frankie Crosetti, American baseball player and coach (d. 2002)
 * 1910  – Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı, Turkish poet and author (d. 1956)
 * 1911 – Mary Two-Axe Earley, Canadian indigenous women's rights activist (d. 1996)
 * 1913 – Martial Célestin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Haiti (d. 2011)
 * 1914 – Jim Cairns, Australian economist and politician, 4th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2003)
 * 1914  – Brendan Gill, American journalist and essayist  (d. 1997)
 * 1916 – Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
 * 1916  – Jan Murray, American comedian, actor, and game show host (d. 2006)
 * 1916  – George Sidney, American director and producer (d. 2002)
 * 1916  – Ken Wood, inventor of the Kenwood Chef food mixer (d. 1997)
 * 1917 – Violeta Parra, Chilean singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1967)
 * 1918 – Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
 * 1921 – Stella Pevsner, American children's author (d. 2020)
 * 1922 – Malcolm Baldrige Jr., American businessman and politician, 26th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 1987)
 * 1922  – Shin Kyuk-ho, South Korean-Japanese businessman, founded Lotte Group (d. 2020)
 * 1922  – Don Lenhardt, American baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
 * 1923 – Charlton Heston, American actor, director and gun rights activist (d. 2008)
 * 1924 – Donald J. Sobol, American soldier and author (d. 2012)
 * 1925 – Roger Wood, Belgian-American journalist (d. 2012)
 * 1926 – Raymond Watson, American businessman (d. 2012)
 * 1927 – Wolf Kahn, American painter and academic (d. 2020)
 * 1928 – Alvin Toffler, German-American journalist and author (d. 2016)
 * 1928  – Torben Ulrich, Danish-American tennis player (d. 2023)
 * 1929 – Scotty Beckett, American actor and singer (d. 1968)
 * 1929  – John E. Mack, American psychiatrist and author (d. 2004)
 * 1929  – Leroy Van Dyke, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1931 – Terence Conran, English designer and businessman (d. 2020)
 * 1931  – Basil D'Oliveira, South African-English cricketer and footballer (d. 2011)
 * 1931  – Richard Rorty, American philosopher and author (d. 2007)
 * 1932 – Felicia Farr, American actress and model
 * 1933 – German Moreno, Filipino television host and actor (d. 2016)
 * 1933  – Ann Thwaite, English author
 * 1934 – Sam Huff, American football player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2021)
 * 1935 – Jimmy Orr, American football player (d. 2020)
 * 1936 – Charlie Hurley, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2024)
 * 1936  – Giles Radice, Baron Radice, English politician (d. 2022)
 * 1937 – Jackie Collins, English-American author and actress (d. 2015)
 * 1937  – David Crocker, American philosopher and academic
 * 1937  – Gail Gilmore, Canadian-American actress and dancer (d. 2014)
 * 1937  – Lloyd Green, American steel guitar player
 * 1937  – Jim Sillars, Scottish lawyer and politician
 * 1938 – Norman D. Wilson, American actor (d. 2004)
 * 1938  – Kurt Wüthrich, Swiss chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate
 * 1939 – Ivan Mauger, New Zealand speedway rider (d. 2018)
 * 1940 – Vic Hadfield, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1940  – Silvio Marzolini, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 2020)
 * 1940  – Steve Swallow, American bass player and composer
 * 1940  – Alberto Vilar, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2021)
 * 1941 – Roy Blount Jr., American humorist and journalist
 * 1941  – Karen Cushman, American author
 * 1941  – Karl Oppitzhauser, Austrian race car driver
 * 1941  – Anne Rice, American author (d. 2021)
 * 1941  – Frank Stagg, Irish hunger striker (d. 1976)
 * 1941  – Robert Wilson, American director and playwright
 * 1942 – Bernice Johnson Reagon, American singer-songwriter
 * 1942  – Karl W. Richter, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1967)
 * 1942  – Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Icelandic politician, 24th Prime Minister of Iceland
 * 1942  – Christopher Stone, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1995)
 * 1943 – H. Rap Brown, American activist
 * 1943  – Owen Davidson, Australian tennis player (d. 2023)
 * 1943  – Karl-Gustav Kaisla, Finnish ice hockey player and referee (d. 2012)
 * 1943  – Dietmar Mürdter, German footballer
 * 1943  – Jimy Williams, American baseball player and manager (d. 2024)
 * 1944 – Colin Bundy, South African-English historian and academic
 * 1944  – Rocío Dúrcal, Spanish singer and actress (d. 2006)
 * 1944  – Tony La Russa, American baseball player and manager
 * 1944  – John McFall, Baron McFall of Alcluith, Scottish educator and politician
 * 1945 – Clifton Davis, American singer-songwriter, actor, and minister
 * 1946 – Larry Clapp, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
 * 1946  – Chuck Hagel, American sergeant and politician, 24th United States Secretary of Defense
 * 1946  – Michael Mullen, American admiral
 * 1946  – Susan Sarandon, American actress and activist
 * 1947 – Julien Clerc, French singer-songwriter and pianist
 * 1947  – Jim Fielder, American bass player
 * 1947  – Ann Widdecombe, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Health
 * 1948 – Iain Hewitson, New Zealand-Australian chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality
 * 1948  – Linda McMahon, American businesswoman and politician
 * 1948  – Duke Robillard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1949 – Armand Assante, American actor and producer
 * 1949  – Stephen Gyllenhaal, American director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1950 – Alan Rosenberg, American actor
 * 1951 – Bakhytzhan Kanapyanov, Kazakh poet and author
 * 1951  – Truck Robinson, American basketball player and coach
 * 1952 – Anita DeFrantz, American rower and sports administrator
 * 1952  – Jody Stephens, American rock drummer
 * 1952  – Zinha Vaz, Bissau-Guinean women's rights activist and politician
 * 1953 – Gil Moore, Canadian singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer
 * 1953  – Andreas Vollenweider, Swiss harp player
 * 1955 – John Rutherford, Scottish rugby player
 * 1955  – Jorge Valdano, Argentinian footballer, coach, and manager
 * 1956 – Lesley Glaister, English author and playwright
 * 1956  – Charlie Leibrandt, American baseball player
 * 1956  – Sherri Turner, American golfer
 * 1956  – Christoph Waltz, Austrian-German actor
 * 1957 – Bill Fagerbakke, American actor
 * 1957  – Yngve Moe, Norwegian bass player and songwriter (d. 2013)
 * 1957  – Russell Simmons, American businessman, founded Def Jam Recordings and Phat Farm
 * 1958 – Barbara Kooyman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1958  – Wendy Makkena, American actress
 * 1958  – Anneka Rice, Welsh radio and television host
 * 1959 – Chris Lowe, English singer and keyboard player
 * 1959  – Tony Meo, English snooker player
 * 1959  – Hitonari Tsuji, Japanese author, composer, and director
 * 1960 – Joe Boever, American baseball player
 * 1960  – Henry Worsley, English colonel and explorer (d. 2016)
 * 1961 – Philippe Russo, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1961  – Jon Secada, Cuban-American singer-songwriter
 * 1961  – Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese author and illustrator, created Yu-Gi-Oh! (d. 2022)
 * 1962 – Carlos Carsolio, Mexican mountaineer
 * 1963 – A.C. Green, American basketball player
 * 1963  – Koji Ishikawa, Japanese author and illustrator
 * 1964 – Francis Magalona, Filipino rapper, producer, and actor (d. 2009)
 * 1964  – Yvonne Murray, Scottish runner
 * 1965 – Olaf Backasch, German footballer
 * 1965  – Skip Heller, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
 * 1965  – Steve Olin, American baseball player (d. 1993)
 * 1965  – Micky Ward, American boxer
 * 1967 – Vicky Bullett, American basketball player and coach
 * 1967  – Nick Green, Australian rower
 * 1967  – Liev Schreiber, American actor and director
 * 1968 – Richard Hancox, English footballer and manager
 * 1968  – Tim Wise, American activist and author
 * 1969 – Abraham Benrubi, American actor
 * 1971 – Darren Middleton, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1972 – Kurt Thomas, American basketball player
 * 1973 – M. Ward, American singer-songwriter
 * 1974 – Paco León, Spanish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1975 – Cristiano Lucarelli, Italian footballer and manager
 * 1976 – Mauro Camoranesi, Argentinian-Italian footballer and manager
 * 1976  – Elisandro Naressi Roos, Brazilian footballer
 * 1976  – Alicia Silverstone, American actress, producer, and author
 * 1976  – Ueli Steck, Swiss mountaineer and rock climber (d. 2017)
 * 1977 – Richard Reed Parry, Canadian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
 * 1978 – Dana Davis, American actress and author
 * 1978  – Phillip Glasser, American actor and producer
 * 1978  – Kei Horie, Japanese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1978  – Kyle Lohse, American baseball player
 * 1979 – Caitríona Balfe, Irish actress
 * 1979  – Rachael Leigh Cook, American actress
 * 1979  – Björn Phau, German tennis player
 * 1979  – Adam Voges, Australian cricketer
 * 1980 – Sarah Fisher, American race car driver
 * 1980  – James Jones, American basketball player
 * 1980  – Tomáš Rosický, Czech footballer
 * 1981 – Shaura, Japanese singer
 * 1981  – Justin Williams, Canadian-American ice hockey player
 * 1982 – Tony Gwynn Jr., American baseball player
 * 1982  – Jered Weaver, American baseball player
 * 1983 – Dan Clarke, English race car driver
 * 1983  – Vicky Krieps, Luxembourgish actress
 * 1983  – Marios Nicolaou, Cypriot footballer
 * 1983  – Chansi Stuckey, American football player
 * 1983  – Kurt Suzuki, American baseball player
 * 1984 – Lena Katina, Russian singer-songwriter
 * 1984  – Petri Kontiola, Finnish ice hockey player
 * 1984  – Álvaro Parente, Portuguese race car driver
 * 1984  – Karolina Tymińska, Polish heptathlete
 * 1985 – Shontelle, Barbadian singer-songwriter
 * 1985  – Thorsten Wiedemann, German rugby player
 * 1987 – Rawez Lawan, Swedish footballer
 * 1987  – Will Puddy, English footballer
 * 1987  – Marina Weisband, German politician
 * 1988 – Melissa Benoist, American actress and singer
 * 1988  – Lonnie Chisenhall, American baseball player
 * 1988  – Caner Erkin, Turkish footballer
 * 1988  – Evgeni Krasnopolski, Israeli figure skater
 * 1988  – Derrick Rose, American basketball player
 * 1989 – Dakota Johnson, American actress
 * 1990 – Signy Aarna, Estonian footballer
 * 1990  – Saki, Japanese guitarist and songwriter
 * 1990  – Sergey Shubenkov, Russian hurdler
 * 1991 – Leigh-Anne Pinnock, English singer and songwriter
 * 1993 – Mitchell Swepson, Australian cricketer
 * 1994 – Mike Williams, American football player
 * 1995 – Kenny Clark, American football player
 * 1995  – Mikolas Josef, Czech singer and songwriter
 * 1996 – Ella Balinska, English actress
 * 1997 – Rishabh Pant, Indian cricketer
 * 1997  – Yuju, South Korean singer

Pre-1600

 * 744 – Yazid III, Umayyad caliph (b. 701)
 * 863 – Turpio, Frankish nobleman
 * 1052 – Vladimir of Novgorod (b. 1020)
 * 1160 – Constance of Castile, Queen of France (b. 1141)
 * 1189 – Gerard de Ridefort, Grand Master of the Knights Templar
 * 1221 – William IV Talvas, Count of Ponthieu (b. 1179)
 * 1227 – Caliph al-Adil of Morocco
 * 1250 – Herman VI, Margrave of Baden (b. 1226)
 * 1305 – Emperor Kameyama of Japan (b. 1249)
 * 1361 – John de Mowbray, 3rd Baron Mowbray, English baron (b. 1310)
 * 1497 – John, Prince of Asturias, only son of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (b. 1478)
 * 1582 – Teresa of Ávila, Spanish nun and saint (b. 1515)
 * 1597 – Sarsa Dengel, Ethiopian emperor (b. 1550)

1601–1900

 * 1646 – Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, English courtier and politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (b. 1586)
 * 1660 – Francesco Albani, Italian painter (b. 1578)
 * 1661 – Jacqueline Pascal, French nun and composer (b. 1625)
 * 1669 – Rembrandt, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1606)
 * 1680 – Pierre-Paul Riquet, French engineer, designed the Canal du Midi (b. 1609)
 * 1743 – John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, Scottish commander and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Surrey (b. 1678)
 * 1747 – Amaro Pargo, Spanish corsair (b. 1678)
 * 1749 – Baron Franz von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (b. 1711)
 * 1755 – Samuel von Cocceji, Prussian jurist and statesman (b. 1679)
 * 1821 – John Rennie the Elder, Scottish engineer, designed the Waterloo Bridge (b. 1761)
 * 1827 – Grigorios Zalykis, Greek-French lexicographer and scholar (b. 1785)
 * 1851 – Manuel Godoy, Spanish general and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1767)
 * 1852 – James Whitcomb, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Indiana (b. 1795)
 * 1859 – Karl Baedeker, German publisher, founded Baedeker (b. 1801)
 * 1864 – Joseph Montferrand, Canadian logger and strongman (b. 1802)
 * 1867 – Francis Xavier Seelos, German-American priest and missionary (b. 1819)
 * 1871 – Sarel Cilliers, South African spiritual leader and preacher (b. 1801)
 * 1890 – Catherine Booth, English theologian and saint, co-founded The Salvation Army (b. 1829)

1901–present

 * 1903 – Otto Weininger, Austrian philosopher and author (b. 1880)
 * 1904 – Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, French sculptor, designed the Statue of Liberty (b. 1834)
 * 1904  – Carl Josef Bayer, Austrian chemist and academic (b. 1847)
 * 1910 – Sergey Muromtsev, Russian lawyer and politician (b. 1850)
 * 1935 – Jean Béraud, French painter and academic (b. 1849)
 * 1935  – Marie Gutheil-Schoder, German soprano, actress, and director (b. 1874)
 * 1943 – Irena Iłłakowicz, German-Polish lieutenant (b. 1906)
 * 1944 – Al Smith, American lawyer and politician, 42nd Governor of New York (b. 1873)
 * 1946 – Barney Oldfield, American race car driver and actor (b. 1878)
 * 1947 – Max Planck, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)
 * 1951 – Henrietta Lacks, American medical patient (b. 1920)
 * 1955 – Alexander Papagos, Greek general and politician, 152nd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1883)
 * 1958 – Ida Wüst, German actress and screenwriter (b. 1884)
 * 1961 – Benjamin, Russian metropolitan (b. 1880)
 * 1963 – Alar Kotli, Estonian architect (b. 1904)
 * 1970 – Janis Joplin, American singer-songwriter (b. 1943)
 * 1974 – Anne Sexton, American poet and author (b. 1928)
 * 1975 – Friedrich Lutz, German economist (b. 1901)
 * 1975  – Joan Whitney Payson, American businesswoman and philanthropist (b. 1903)
 * 1977 – José Ber Gelbard, Argentinian activist and politician (b. 1917)
 * 1980 – Pyotr Masherov, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia (b. 1918)
 * 1981 – Freddie Lindstrom, American baseball player and coach (b. 1905)
 * 1982 – Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist and conductor (b. 1932)
 * 1982  – Stefanos Stefanopoulos, Greek politician, 165th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1898)
 * 1988 – Zlatko Grgić, Croatian-Canadian animator, director, and screenwriter (b. 1931)
 * 1989 – Graham Chapman, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1941)
 * 1990 – Mārtiņš Zīverts, Latvian playwright (b. 1903)
 * 1992 – Denny Hulme, New Zealand race car driver (b. 1936)
 * 1994 – Danny Gatton, American guitarist (b. 1945)
 * 1997 – Otto Ernst Remer, German general (b. 1912)
 * 1997  – Gunpei Yokoi, Japanese game designer, created the Game Boy (b. 1941)
 * 1998 – S. Arasaratnam, Sri Lankan historian and academic (b. 1930)
 * 1999 – Bernard Buffet, French painter and illustrator (b. 1928)
 * 1999  – Art Farmer, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1928)
 * 2000 – Yu Kuo-hwa, Chinese politician, 32nd Premier of the Republic of China (b. 1914)
 * 2000  – Michael Smith, English-Canadian biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1932)
 * 2001 – Blaise Alexander, American race car driver (b. 1976)
 * 2001  – John Collins, American guitarist (b. 1913)
 * 2001  – Ahron Soloveichik, Russian rabbi and scholar (b. 1917)
 * 2002 – André Delvaux, Belgian-Spanish director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
 * 2003 – Sid McMath, American lawyer and politician, 34th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1912)
 * 2004 – Gordon Cooper, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1927)
 * 2005 – Stanley K. Hathaway, American lawyer and politician, 40th United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1924)
 * 2007 – Qassem Al-Nasser, Jordanian general (b. 1925)
 * 2009 – Gerhard Kaufhold, German footballer (b. 1928)
 * 2009  – Günther Rall, German general and pilot (b. 1918)
 * 2010 – Norman Wisdom, English actor, comedian, and singer-songwriter (b. 1915)
 * 2011 – Doris Belack, American actress (b. 1926)
 * 2012 – David Atkinson, Canadian actor and singer (b. 1921)
 * 2012  – Stan Mudenge, Zimbabwean historian and politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1941)
 * 2012  – Tom Stannage, Australian footballer, historian, and academic (b. 1944)
 * 2013 – John Cloudsley-Thompson, Pakistani-English commander (b. 1921)
 * 2013  – Ulric Cross, Trinidadian navigator, judge, and diplomat (b. 1917)
 * 2013  – Akira Miyoshi, Japanese composer (b. 1933)
 * 2013  – Diana Nasution, Indonesian singer (b. 1958)
 * 2013  – Võ Nguyên Giáp, Vietnamese general and politician, 3rd Minister of Defence for Vietnam (b. 1911)
 * 2013  – Nicholas Oresko, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1917)
 * 2014 – Konrad Boehmer, German-Dutch composer and educator (b. 1941)
 * 2014  – Hugo Carvana, Brazilian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1937)
 * 2014  – Fyodor Cherenkov, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1959)
 * 2014  – Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haitian politician, 41st President of Haiti (b. 1951)
 * 2015 – Dave Pike, American vibraphone player and songwriter (b. 1938)
 * 2015  – Edida Nageswara Rao, Indian director and producer (b. 1934)
 * 2015  – Neal Walk, American basketball player (b. 1948)
 * 2020 – Clark Middleton, American actor (b. 1957)
 * 2020  – Kenzō Takada, Japanese-French fashion designer (b. 1939)
 * 2022 – Loretta Lynn, American singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1932)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * Amun
 * Francis of Assisi
 * Petronius of Bologna
 * October 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Cinnamon Roll Day (Sweden and Finland)
 * Day of Peace and Reconciliation (Mozambique)
 * Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Lesotho from the United Kingdom in 1966.
 * The beginning of World Space Week (International)
 * World Animal Day