Deaths on December 23

Michael Drayton, English poet and playwright (b. 1563)

Michael Drayton (1563 – 23 December 1631) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. He died on 23 December 1631 in London.

25 Feb

Cardinal Richelieu
François de Bassompierre, a French courtier, is arrested on Richelieu's orders.
18 May

John Winthrop
In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
20 May

Sack of Magdeburg
The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years' War.
17 Jun

Taj Mahal
Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, will spend the next 17 years building her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.
20 Jun

Baltimore, County Cork
The sack of Baltimore: The Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates.