- Jan 6 Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American naval officer, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1864)
- Jan 7 Jacob Ammen, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Fincastle, Virginia (d. 1894)
- Jan 11 Antoine Schayes, Belgian historian and archaeologist (d. 1808)
- Jan 12 Paul "the Great" Taglioni, Italian-Austrian ballet choreographer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1884)
- Jan 13 Salmon P. Chase, American politician and jurist (Senator and Governor of Ohio, US Chief Justice 1864-73), born in Cornish, New Hampshire (d. 1873)
- Jan 19 Lysander Spooner, American philosopher, born in Athol, Massachusetts (d. 1887)
- Jan 27 David Strauss, German theologist (focused on historical Jesus' Life), born in Ludwigsburg (d. 1874)
- Feb 4 Josef Kajetán Tyl, Czech playwright, writer and author of the Czech national anthem (Kde domov můj), born in Kutná Hora, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (d. 1856)
- Feb 5 Carl Spitzweg, German painter (d. 1885)
- Feb 25 James Bowen, American Major General (Union Army), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 1886)
- Feb 26 Honoré Daumier, French caricaturist painter, and sculptor, born in Marseilles France (d. 1879) (or born 20 Feb)
- Feb 26 Nathan Kelley, American architect, active mainly in Ohio, (d. 1871)
- Feb 28 Elias Parish Alvars, British harpist and composer ("Voyage d'un Harpiste en Orient"), born in Teignmouth, England (d. 1849)
- Mar 12 Gerrit van der Linde, "The Schoolmaster", Dutch poet, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1858)
- Mar 14 Catharinus Putnam Buckingham, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Zanesville, Ohio (d. 1888)
- Mar 14 Narcissa Whitman (née Prentiss), American missionary and pioneer woman, born in Prattsburgh, New York (d. 1847)
- Mar 23 Jeronimo de Bosch Kemper, Dutch sociologist and historian (Statistic yearbook), born in Amsterdam, Kingdom of Holland (d. 1876)
- Mar 24 Maria Malibran (née Garcia) Spanish operatic contralto and soprano, born in Paris, (d. 1836)
- Mar 25 Jose de Espronceda y Delgado, Spanish revolutionary and poet (Cortes), born in Almendralejo, Spain (d. 1842)
- Apr 10 Auguste Franchomme, French cellist and composer, born in Lille, France (d. 1884)
- Apr 13 Antonio Meucci, Italian inventor (invented a telephone-like device), born in Florence, Italy (d. 1889)
- Apr 13 Henry Haywood Bell, U.S. Rear Admiral (Union Navy), born in Orange County, North Carolina (d. 1868)
- Apr 16 Caleb Blood Smith, American journalist and politician, 6th U.S. Secretary of the Interior, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1864)
- Apr 26 Martha Finley, American children's book author (Elsie Dinsmore series), born in Chillicothe, Ohio (d. 1909)
- May 15 Gottfried Herrmann, composer
- May 15 Michael William Balfe, Irish violinist and composer (The Bohemian Girl), born in Dublin (d. 1870)
- May 17 Charles-Louis-Adolphe Vogel, French composer (Les trois couleurs), born in Lille, France (d. 1892)
- May 19 Samuel Jameson Gholson, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1883)
- May 22 Gérard de Nerval [Gérard Labrunie], French writer, born in Paris (d. 1855)
- May 30 Joaquim Casimiro Jr., Portuguese composer, born in Lisbon (d. 1862)
Jefferson Davis (1808-1889)
Jun 3 President of the Confederate States of America (1861-65), born in Fairview, Kentucky
- Jun 10 Friedrich Kaiser, Dutch astronomer (Kaiser compass-card), born in Amsterdam (d. 1872)
- Jun 11 Charles Henry Poor, U.S. Navy Officer, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1882)
- Jun 17 Everhardus Johannes Potgieter, Dutch writer and publisher (The Guide), born in Zwolle, Netherlands (d. 1875)
- Jun 17 Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian poet (Creation, Humanity, and Messiah) and author, born in Kristiansand, Norway (d. 1845)
- Jun 20 Samson Raphael Hirsch, German Orthodox rabbi and intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism, born in Hamburg, French Empire (d. 1888)
- Jun 28 Cristina Trivulzio di Belgioioso, Italian princess and politician, born in Milan, Lombardy, Italy (d. 1871)
- Jul 8 Mindon, King of Burma (1853-1878) penultimate ruler of the Konbaung dynasty and founder of Mandalay, born in Burma (d. 1878)
- Jul 9 Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and soldier, born in Mason County, Kentucky (d. 1887)
- Jul 10 Solomon Northup, American abolitionist and author (12 Years a Slave), born in Minerva, New York (or 10 Jul 1807) (d. 1863)
- Jul 15 Henry Cole, English Inventor and civil servant, 1st director of the V&A Museum, promoter of 1851 Great Exhibition, born in Bath, England (d. 1882)
- Jul 15 Henry Edward Manning, cardinal/archbishop (Westminster)
- Jul 21 Simion Bărnuţiu, Romanian philosopher and politician, born in Bocșa, Sălaj, Ottoman Empire (d. 1864)
- Jul 28 Charles Lucas, British cellist composer, publisher, and educator (Principal of the Royal Academy of Music, 1859-66), born in Salisbury, England (d. 1869)
- Jul 31 Frederick Crouch, English-born composer, born in London, England (d. 1896)
- Aug 1 Henry Darwin Rogers, American Geologist (theory of mountain building, first geological mapping of Pennsylvania), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1866)
- Aug 3 Hamilton Fish, American politician (Governor of New York), born in NYC, New York (d. 1893)
- Aug 9 William Thomas Ward, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Amelia County, Virginia (d. 1878)
- Aug 10 Carl Friedrich Weitzmann, composer
- Aug 19 James Nasmyth, Scottish engineer and inventor of the steam hammer, born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1890)
- Aug 24 Thomas Fenwick Drayton, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Charleston, South Carolina (d. 1891)
- Aug 26 Benjamin Grubb Humphreys, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Claiborne County, Mississippi (d. 1882)
- Aug 29 Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch, German politician and reformer, born in Delitzsch, Saxony (d. 1883)
- Aug 30 Princess Ludovika of Bavaria, Mother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, born in Munich (d. 1892)
- Sep 6 Emir Abdelkader, Algerian political and military leader, born in Mascara, Algeria (d. 1883)
- Sep 15 Louis Clapisson, French composer and violinist, born in Naples, Italy (d. 1866)
- Sep 30 Lambertus GC Ledeboer, Dutch vicar (Folies-old Calvinist communities)
- Oct 1 Eduard Sobolewski, Polish-American violinist and composer, born in Königsberg (d. 1872)
- Oct 5 Thomas Algeo Rowley, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1892)
- Oct 5 Winand Staring, Dutch geologist (Geology of Netherlands), born in Wildenborch, Vorden, Netherlands (d. 1877)
- Oct 6 Frederik VII, 1st constitutional king of Denmark (1848-63), born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1863)
- Oct 12 John Liptrot Hatton, English composer and pianist, born in Liverpool, England (d. 1886)
- Oct 20 Karl [Theodor] Andree, German geographer and journalist (Globus)
- Oct 24 Bernhard von Cotta, German geologist, born in Meiningen, Germany (d. 1879)
- Oct 24 Ernst Richter, German musical theorist and composer, born in Großschönau, Saxony, Germany (d. 1879)
- Nov 1 John Taylor, American religious leader (3rd President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), born in Milnthorpe, Westmorland, England (d. 1887)
- Nov 2 Jules-Amédée Barbey d’Aurevilly, French writer and critic, born in Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, France (d. 1889)
- Nov 17 Alberich Zwyssig, Swiss monk and composer (Swiss psalm - Swiss National Anthem), born in Bauen, Switzerland (d. 1854)
- Nov 18 Antoine-Amable-Elie Elwart, French composer, born in Paris (d. 1877)
- Nov 22 Thomas Cook, British founder and CEO of Thomas Cook & Son travel agency (Cook Travel Bureau), born in Derbyshire, England (d. 1892)
- Nov 27 Hugh W. Mercer, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Fredericksburg, Virginia (d. 1877)
- Dec 4 Ernest Panckoucke, French publisher (Horatius), born in Paris (d. 1886)
- Dec 6 Johan Michiel Dautzenberg, Flemish author (Future), born in Heerlen, Netherlands (d. 1869)
- Dec 6 Johann Christian Gebauer, Danish composer, born in Copenhagen (d. 1884)
- Dec 7 Hugh McCulloch, US Treasury Secretary (1865-69, 1884-85), born in Kennebunk, Maine (d. 1895)
- Dec 20 Thomas Tinsley Craven, Commander (Union Navy), (d. 1887)
- Dec 23 Thomas Turner, American Commander (Union Navy), (d. 1883)
- Dec 25 Stephen Cleeg Rowan, Commander (Union Navy), (d. 1890)
- Dec 26 Albert Grisar, Belgian composer, born in Antwerp (d. 1869)
Andrew Johnson (1808-1875)
Dec 29 17th US President (Unionist: 1865-69), born in Raleigh, North Carolina
- Dec 29 Györg Apponyi, Hungarian politician, born in Pozsony, Kingdom of Hungary (d. 1899)