| 20851 | February 23 | Death | 1879 – Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and politician, 10th Minister President of Prussia (b. 1803) |
| 20852 | February 23 | Death | 1897 – Woldemar Bargiel, German composer and educator (b. 1828) |
| 20853 | February 23 | Death | 1908 – Friedrich von Esmarch, German surgeon and academic (b. 1823) |
| 20854 | February 23 | Death | 1918 – Adolphus Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1882) |
| 20855 | February 23 | Death | 1922 – Albert Victor Bäcklund, Swedish mathematician and physicist (b. 1845) |
| 20856 | February 23 | Death | 1925 – Samuel Berger, American boxer (b. 1884) |
| 20857 | February 23 | Death | 1930 – Horst Wessel, German SA officer (b. 1907) |
| 20858 | February 23 | Death | 1931 – Nellie Melba, Australian soprano and actress (b. 1861) |
| 20859 | February 23 | Death | 1934 – Edward Elgar, English composer and academic (b. 1857) |
| 20860 | February 23 | Death | 1937 – Claude Buckenham, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1876) |
| 20861 | February 23 | Death | 1944 – Leo Baekeland, Belgian-American chemist and engineer (b. 1863) |
| 20862 | February 23 | Death | 1946 – Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese general (b. 1885) |
| 20863 | February 23 | Death | 1948 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-American publisher and educator (b. 1866) |
| 20864 | February 23 | Death | 1955 – Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (b. 1868) |
| 20865 | February 23 | Death | 1957 – Marika Ninou, Greek singer (b. 1918) |
| 20866 | February 23 | Death | 1965 – Stan Laurel, English actor and director (b. 1890) |
| 20867 | February 23 | Death | 1969 – Madhubala, Indian actress (b. 1933) |
| 20868 | February 23 | Death | 1973 – Dickinson W. Richards, American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895) |
| 20869 | February 23 | Death | 1974 – Harry Ruby, American composer and screenwriter (b. 1895) |
| 20870 | February 23 | Death | 1976 – L. S. Lowry, English painter (b. 1887) |
| 20871 | February 23 | Death | 1979 – W. A. C. Bennett, Canadian businessman and politician, 25th Premier of British Columbia (b. 1900) |
| 20872 | February 23 | Death | 1983 – Herbert Howells, English organist and composer (b. 1892) |
| 20873 | February 23 | Death | 1984 – Jessamyn West, American author (b. 1902) |
| 20874 | February 23 | Death | 1990 – José Napoleón Duarte, Salvadoran engineer and politician, President of El Salvador (b. 1925) |
| 20875 | February 23 | Death | 1992 – Markos Vafiadis, Greek general and politician (b. 1906) |
| 20876 | February 23 | Death | 1995 – Melvin Franklin, American singer (The Temptations) (b. 1942) |
| 20877 | February 23 | Death | 1995 – James Herriot, English veterinarian and author (b. 1916) |
| 20878 | February 23 | Death | 1996 – William Bonin, American serial killer and sex offender (b. 1947) |
| 20879 | February 23 | Death | 1997 – Tony Williams, American drummer, composer, and producer (The Tony Williams Lifetime) (b. 1945) |
| 20880 | February 23 | Death | 1999 – The Renegade, American wrestler (b. 1965) |