- Jan 4 Alexander Freiherr von Bach, Austrian attorney and politician (Premier of Austria 1852-59), born in Loosdorf, Austria (d. 1893)
Isaac Pitman (1813-1897)
Jan 4 English teacher and inventor of Pitman shorthand (Stenographic Soundhand), born in Trowbridge, England
- Jan 4 Louis Lucien Bonaparte, English-French philogist and nephew of Napoleon, born in Grimley, England (d. 1891)
- Jan 5 Thomas Neville Waul, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Sumter County, South Carolina (d. 1903)
- Jan 7 Ann Rutledge, said to be Abraham Lincoln's true love, born in Henderson, Kentucky (d. 1835)
Agostino Depretis (1813-1887)
Jan 13 Italian statesman, Prime Minister of Italy (1876-78, 1778-79, 1881-87), born in Bressana Bottarone, Kingdom of Italy
- Jan 15 James Marion Sims, American physician & surgical pioneer (vesicovaginal operation), born in Lancaster County, South Carolina (d. 1883)
- Jan 18 Joseph Glidden, American inventor of 1st commercial usable barbed wire, born in Charlestown, New Hampshire (d. 1906)
- Jan 19 Henry Bessemer, English inventor (Bessemer engine), born in Charlton, England (d. 1898)
- Jan 20 Jacon Gartner Lauman, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Taneytown, Maryland (d. 1867)
- Jan 23 Franz Commer, German composer & musicologist, born in Cologne, Germany (d. 1887)
- Jan 26 Juan Pablo Duarte, Dominican founding father (d. 1876
- Jan 31 Samuel Sarphati, Amsterdam, physician, pharmacist and social activist in Amsterdam, born in Amsterdam (d. 1866)
- Feb 8 Jacob Georg Agarah, Swedish botanist, born in Lund, Sweden (d. 1901)
- Feb 11 Otto Ludwig, German writer and critic (d. 1865)
- Feb 13 Charles Pierre Schimpf, Dutch general (Governor of Suriname 1855-59) (d. 1886)
- Feb 14 Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky, Russian composer, born in Troitsko village, Tula, Russia (d. 1869)
- Feb 14 John McNeil, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (d. 1891)
- Feb 16 Joseph Reid Anderson, Brigadier General (Confederate Army) (d. 1892)
- Feb 16 Semyon Stepanovich Gulak-Artemovsky, Ukrainian baritone, playwright and composer, born in Gorodishche (d. 1873)
- Mar 2 George Alexander Macfarren, British composer and musicologist, born in London, England (d. 1887)
- Mar 4 Wijnand Nuijen, Dutch romantic and water color painter (Wrecked), born in Den Haag, Netherlands (d. 1839)
John Snow (1813-1858)
Mar 15 English epidemiologist who studied cholera and is considered the 'Father of modern epidemiology', born in York England
- Mar 18 Friedrich Hebbel, German poet and dramatist (Maria Magdalena), born in Wesselburen, Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1863)
David Livingstone (1813-1873)
Mar 19 Scottish explorer who was famously found by Henry Morton Stanley in Africa, born in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland
- Mar 20 Matthias Keller, German hymn writer (O Farther un High), born in Ulm, Württemberg (d. 1875)
- Mar 21 James Strang, American religious leader (self-proclaimed King of the Mormons on Beaver Island, Michigan 1850-56), born in Scipio, New York (d. 1856)
- Mar 22 Gabriel René Paul, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1886)
- Mar 26 Thomas West Sherman, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Newport, Rhode Island (d. 1879)
- Mar 27 Nathaniel Currier, American lithographer (Currier & Ives), born in Roxbury, Massachusetts (d. 1888)
- Mar 29 John Letcher, American lawyer and politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia, born in Lexington, Virginia (d. 1884)
- Apr 14 Junius Spencer Morgan, American merchant and philanthropist (Metro Museum of Art), born in Holyoke, Massachusetts (d. 1890)
- Apr 17 Henry Washington Benham, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Cheshire, Connecticut (d. 1884)
- Apr 18 James McCune Smith, African-American doctor and abolitionist, born in Manhattan, New York (d. 1865)
- Apr 23 Frédéric Ozanam, French scholar and founder of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, born in Milan, Italy (d. 1853)
- Apr 23 Stephen A. Douglas, American politician, US senator from Illinois (Lincoln-Douglas debates), born in Brandon, Vermont (d. 1861)
- May 5 Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher, born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1855)
- May 6 Joseph Tarr Copeland, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in New Castle, Maine (d. 1893)
- May 10 Montgomery Blair, American lawyer (Dred Scott v. Sandford), born in Franklin County, Kentucky (d. 1883)
- May 12 Johann Czerski, German clergyman, founded German Catholicism, born in Warlubien, West Prussia (d. 1893)
- May 15 Stephen Heller, Hungarian composer and pianist, born in Pest (d. 1888)
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
May 22 German composer, noted chiefly for his operas (The Ring of the Nibelung; The Flying Dutchman), born in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
- May 23 Mason Brayman, American attorney, newspaperman and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1895)
- Jun 5 Prosper Sainton, French violin teacher, and conductor (The Queen's Band, 1848-55), born in Toulouse, France (d. 1890)
- Jun 6 Israel Washburn Jr., American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Maine (1853-61), born in Livermore, Massachusetts (d. 1883)
- Jun 8 David Dixon Porter, United States Navy admiral, born in Chester, Pennsylvania (d. 1891)
- Jun 16 Otto Jahn, German archaeologist (d. 1869)
- Jun 18 Pavel Annenkov, Russian literature historian (Zametsjatelnoje desjatileti), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1887)
- Jun 24 Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman and orator (Independent), born in Litchfield, Connecticut (d. 1887)
- Jun 25 William High Keim, American politician and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Reading, Pennsylvania (d. 1862)
- Jul 7 William Scott Ketchum, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Norwalk, Connecticut (d. 1871)
- Jul 12 Claude Bernard, French physiologist involved in the founding of modern physiology (blind experiments), born in Saint-Julien, Rhône (d. 1878)
- Jul 26 Isaac Baumann, Jewish pioneer and trader in Bloemfontein, South Africa, born in Kassel Hesse, Germany (d. 1881)
- Jul 28 Alberto Mazzucato, Italian opera composer, born in Udine, Italy (d. 1877)
- Aug 5 Carnot Posey, American Confederate brigadier general, born in Wilkinson County, Mississippi (d. 1863)
- Aug 5 Ivar Aasen, Norwegian linguist and poet, born in Ørsten, Norway (d. 1896)
- Aug 10 William Henry Fry, American composer (Niagara Symphony), music director (Musical Fund Society), journalist, and music critic, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1864)
- Aug 15 Jules Grévy, 2nd President of the French Third Republic, born in Mont-sous-Vaudrey, France (d. 1891)
- Aug 18 Benjamin Alvord, American scientist and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Vancouver, Washington (d. 1884)
- Aug 21 Jean Stas, Belgian chemist, born in Leuven, Belgium (d. 1891)
- Aug 26 Nicaise de Keyser, Belgian painter (Battle of Guilder Tracks), born in Zandvliet, Belgium (d. 1887)
- Aug 30 Princess Mathilde Caroline of Bavaria, eldest daughter of Ludwig I of Bavaria, born in Augsburg, Germany (d. 1862)
Mark Hopkins (1813-1878)
Sep 1 American business tycoon and railroad executive (Central Pacific Railroad), born in Henderson, New York
- Sep 11 Conrad Feger Jackson, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Alsace Township, Pennsylvania (d. 1862)
- Sep 13 John Sedgwick, American Major General (Union Army), who is best remembered for his famous last words "they couldn't hit an elephant at this distance" before being shot in battle, born in Cornwall, Connecticut (d. 1864)
- Sep 28 Anton Wallerstein, German composer, born in Dresden, Germany (d. 1892)
- Oct 8 Carl Ludwig Amand Mangold, German composer, born in Darmstadt, Germany (d. 1889)
- Oct 9 John J. Pettus, American politician, Confederate governor (D-Miss, 1859-63), born in Wilson County, Tennessee (d. 1867)
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Oct 10 Italian opera composer (Rigoletto, La Traviata), born in Busseto
Ludwig Leichhardt (1813-1848)
Oct 23 German explorer of northern and central Australia, born in Trebatsch, Prussia
- Oct 26 Henry Smart, English organist and composer, born in London (d. 1879)
- Nov 2 Abraham van Lier, Dutch theater director (Grand Théâtre des Variétés), born in Amsterdam (d. 1887)
- Nov 13 John Wolcott Phelps, American abolitionist, author and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Guilford County, Vermont (d. 1885)
- Nov 13 Peter II, prince-bishop of Montenegro (1830-51) and poet (The Ray of The Microcosm), born in Njeguši, Montenegro (d. 1851)
- Nov 27 Michele Puccini, Italian organist and composer (father of Giacomo), born in Luca (d. 1864)
- Nov 29 Franz von Miklosich, Slovenian linguist (d. 1891)
- Nov 30 Charles-Valentin Alkan, French pianist and composer, born in Paris (d. 1888)
- Nov 30 Hermann Kurz, German poet and novelist (Schillers Heimatjahre), born in Reutlingen, Germany (d. 1873)
- Nov 30 Louise-Victorine Ackermann, French poet (works characterized by a deep sense of pessimism), born in Paris (d. 1890)
- Dec 2 Jacob Rosenhaim, Jewish-German composer, born in Mannheim, Germany (d. 1894)
- Dec 10 Errico Petrella, Italian composer, born in Palermo, Italy (d. 1877)
- Dec 10 Zachariah Chandler, American merchant and politician (found Republican Party), born in Bedford, New Hampshire (d. 1879)
- Dec 19 Thomas Andrews, Irish chemist and physicist (ozone), born in Belfast (d. 1885)
- Dec 20 Samuel Jordan Kirkwood, American politician (Gov-Iowa)/US Sect of Interior (1881-82), born in Harford Country, Maryland (d. 1894)
- Dec 24 Henry Wellington Greatorex, English-American musician, born in Burton upon Trent, United Kingdom (d. 1853)
- Dec 25 Milledge Luke Bonham, (Confederacy) (d. 1890)
- Dec 29 Etienne-Joseph Soubre, Belgian composer, born in Liège, Belgium (d. 1871)
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
80-89
Over 90