- Jan 6 Anselme Payen, French chemist, born in Paris, France (d. 1871)
- Jan 15 Willem de Clerq, Dutch merchant & man of letters, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1844)
- Jan 15 Alexandr Griboyedov, Russian playwright, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1829)
- Jan 18 Anna Pavlovna, Russian consort of William II of the Netherlands, daughter of Tsar Paul I, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1865)
- Feb 3 Antonio José de Sucre, South American independence leader (d. 1830)
- Feb 5 Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger, Austrian mineralogist (d. 1871)
- Feb 8 Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, German chemist (Chinoline), born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1867)
- Feb 8 Moritz Gottlieb Saphir, Austrian satirical writer and journalist, born in Lovasbereny, near Budapest (d. 1858)
- Feb 10 Ary Scheffer, Dutch painter/etcher/sculptor
- Feb 15 Charles Niellon, Belgian brigade general (10 day campaign)
- Feb 18 George Peabody, South Danvers Mass, merchant/philanthropist
- Feb 21 Francisco Manuel da Silva, Brazilian composer, born in Rio de Janeiro (d. 1865)
- Mar 12 William Lyon Mackenzie, Canadian-American newspaper publisher, politician, and failed rebel leader, born in Dundee, Scotland (d. 1861)
- Mar 14 Robert Lucas Pearsall, English composer, born in Bristol, England (d. 1856)
- Mar 23 Leopold Jansa, Bohemian violinist, composer, and teacher, born in Wildenschwert, Austria-Hungary (now Ústí nad Orlicí, Czech Republic) (d. 1875)
- Mar 28 Georg Heinrich Pertz, German historian, born in Hanover, Germany (d. 1876)
- Apr 5 Henry Havelock, British soldier (War in Afghanistan 1838-39), born in Bishopwearmouth, County Durham (d. 1857)
- Apr 19 Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg, German naturalist and zoologist (micro-organisms), born in Delitzsch, Germany (d. 1876)
- Apr 21 Vincenzo Pallotti, Italian saint (founder of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate), born in Rome (d. 1850)
- Apr 28 Charles Sturt, English explorer (Australia), born in Bengal, British India (d. 1869)
- May 7 Gerhard Moritz Roentgen, Dutch industrialist (founder of Fijenoord dockyard), born in Esen, East Frisia (d. 1852)
- May 10 Jacques-Nicolas-Augustin Thierry, historian
- May 13 Joshua Ratoon Sands, American Rear Admiral (Union Navy), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1883)
- May 13 Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist (d. 1875)
- May 15 Adolf B Marx, German music theorist
- May 19 Johns Hopkins, philanthropist, founded Johns Hopkins University
- May 23 Charles Barry, British architect, born in London (d. 1860)
- Jun 12 John Marston, U.S. Navy officer, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1885)
- Jun 13 Thomas Arnold, English educator and historian (History of Rome), born in West Cowes, Isle of Wight, England (d. 1842)
- Jun 24 Ernst Heinrich Weber, German anatomist and physiologist (one of the founders of experimental psychology), born in Wittenberg, Saxony, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1878)
- Jul 25 James Barry [Margaret Ann Bulkley], female disguised as a man, surgeon general (British army), born in County Cork, Ireland (d. 1865)
- Aug 16 Heinrich August Marschner, German opera composer, born in Zittau, Saxony (d. 1861)
- Aug 22 Abraham Capadose, Dutch physician and missionary, born in Amsterdam (d. 1874)
- Aug 28 Joannes Paredis, Belgian Bishop of Roermond, born in Bree, Belgium (d. 1886)
James Gordon Bennett
Sep 1 James Gordon Bennett, Sr., American newspaper publisher (New York Herald), born in Keith, Scotland (d. 1872)
- Sep 4 Friedrich August von Alberti, German geologist (Triasic Age), born in Stuttgart, Germany (d. 1878)
- Sep 6 Frances Wright, Scottish writer and lecturer, born in Dundee, Scotland (d. 1852)
- Sep 17 Saverio Mercadante, Italian composer, born in Altamura, Bari, Italy (d. 1870)
- Sep 20 Charles Zeuner, German-American composer and organist, born in Eisleben, Saxony (d. 1857)
- Sep 23 Alexander Twilight, minister and politician, first African American to graduate and to hold public office, born in Corinth Vermont (d. 1857)
- Oct 5 Alexander Keith, Scottish-Canadian politician (4th Mayor of Halifax) and brewer (founder of the Alexander Keith's Nova Scotia Brewery), born in Halkirk, Caithness, Highland, Scotland (d. 1873)
- Oct 15 Frederick William IV, King of Prussia (1840-61) and Germany (1849-61), born in Berlin (d. 1861)
- Oct 16 William Buell Sprague, American clergyman and author (d. 1876)
- Oct 26 Nikolaos Mantzaros, Italian-Greek composer, born in Corfu Island, Greece (d. 1872)
- Oct 28 Leonardus Antonius Lightenvelt, Dutch politician, born in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands (d. 1873)
John Keats
Oct 31 John Keats, English Romantic poet (Ode to a Grecian Urn), born in London (d. 1821)
James Knox Polk
Nov 2 James Knox Polk, 11th US President (Democrat: 1845-49), born in Pineville, North Carolina (d. 1849)
- Nov 9 Walter Geikie, Scottish painter, born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1837)
- Nov 24 Josif Josifovich Genishta, composer
- Nov 26 Carl Philipp Fohr, German painter and cartoonist, born in Heidelberg, Germany (d. 1818)
- Nov 26 Cornelis Pieter Jacob Elout, Dutch military and President of West Sumatra, born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1843)C
- Nov 28 Adolf Bernhard Marx, German composer, born in Halle, Germany (d. 1866)
- Dec 3 Rowland Hill, English inventor who introduced 1st adhesive postage stamp (1840), born in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England (d. 1879)
Thomas Carlyle
Dec 4 Thomas Carlyle, Scottish essayist and historian (The French Revolution), born in Ecclefechan, Scotland (d. 1881)
Leopold von Ranke
Dec 21 Leopold von Ranke, German historian who founded the modern concept of source-based history, born in Wiehe, Saxony, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1886)