- Jan 1 Charles Renouvier, French philosopher, born in Montpellier, France (d. 1903)
- Jan 8 George Webb Morell, American Major General (Union Army), born in Cooperstown, New York (d. 1883)
- Jan 8 Lawrence Pike Graham, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Amelia County, Virginia (d. 1905)
- Jan 9 William Jackson of Masham, English composer and organist, born in Masham, Yorkshire (d. 1866)
- Jan 10 Alexander Brydie Dyer, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Richmond, Virginia (d. 1874)
- Jan 10 Thomas Williams, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Albany, New York (d. 1862)
John A. Macdonald (1815-1891)
Jan 11 1st Prime Minister of Canada (1867-73 and 1878-91), born in Glasgow, Scotland
- Jan 13 William Henry French, American Major General (Union Army), born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1881)
- Jan 15 Henry Morris Naglee, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1886)
- Jan 16 Adolph Trube, German organist, teacher and composer, born in Waldenburg, Saxony (d. 1857)
- Jan 16 Henry Wagner "Old Brains" Halleck, American expert in military studies and Major General (Union Army), born in Oneida County, New York (d. 1872)
- Jan 18 Constantin von Tischendorf, German biblical scholar (d. 1874)
- Jan 18 James Chesnut Jr, American politician and Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Camden, South Carolina (d. 1885)
- Jan 18 Richard Yates, American politician (Governor of Illinois 1861-65 and Senator, supported the Union), (born in Warsaw, Kentucky (d. 1873)
- Jan 21 Horace Wells, American dentist (pioneered use of medical anesthesia), born in Hartford, Vermont (d. 1848)
- Jan 21 John Bingham, American lawyer, politician (US Representative from Ohio (R), 1865-73), and diplomat (US Ambassador to Japan, 1873-85), born in Mercer, Pennsylvania (d. 1900)
- Jan 22 Ferdinand Christian Wilhelm Praeger, Dutch-British pianist, composer, composer, and writer (Wagner As I Knew Him), born in Leipzig, Germany (d. 1891)
- Jan 28 Andrew Jackson Hamilton, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Huntsville, Alabama (d. 1875)
- Feb 2 Nathaniel Collins McLean, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1905)
- Feb 12 Edward Forbes, English Naturalist and pioneer in the field of biogeography, born in Douglas, Isle of Man (d. 1854)
- Feb 18 Jan August Hendrik Leys, Belgian Romantic painter, born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1869)
- Feb 21 Ernest Meissonier, French painter and sculptor (depictions of Napoleon), born in Lyon, France (d. 1891)
- Feb 25 Robert Hall Chilton, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1879)
- Mar 2 Antonio Buzzolla, Italia composer, born in Adria (d. 1871)
- Mar 4 Mykhailo Verbytsky, Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest and composer (Prostachka; The State Anthem of Ukraine), born in Nadsyannia, Russian Empire (now Poland) (d. 1870)
- Mar 5 John Wentworth, American politician (d. 1888)
- Mar 9 David Davis, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, born in Cecil County, Maryland (d. 1886)
- Mar 13 James Curtis Hepburn, American missionary and linguist, born in Milton, Pennsylvania (d. 1911)
- Mar 14 Josephine Lang, German composer, born in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria (now Germany) (d. 1880)
- Mar 28 Arsène Houssaye, French novelist and poet, born in Bruyères, France (d. 1896)
- Mar 30 Wincenty Studzinski, Polish violinist and composer, born in Kraków (d. 1854)
Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898)
Apr 1 German chancellor (1866-90) who helped unify Germany, born in Schönhausen, Prussia
- Apr 6 Friedrich Robert Volkmann, German composer, born in Lommatzsch, Saxony (d. 1883)
- Apr 11 Clara Fey, German Roman Catholic Nun and the founder of the Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus, born in Aachen, Prussia (d. 1894)
- Apr 12 Henry Hugo Pierson, English composer, born in Oxford (d. 1873)
- Apr 24 Anthony Trollope, English novelist and poet (Barchester Towers), born in London (d. 1882)
- Apr 24 James E. Harrison, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Greenville District, South Carolina (d. 1875)
- Apr 28 Andrew Jackson Smith, American Major General (Union Army), born in Livingston County, Kentucky (d. 1897)
- Apr 29 Abram Duryée, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in NYC, New York (d. 1890)
- May 3 Hermanus Willem Witteveen, Dutch theologist, born in Boornbergum, Netherlands (d. 1884)
- May 5 Eugène Marin Labiche, French playwright (The Italian Straw Hat), born in Paris (d. 1888)
- May 8 Jean-Delphin Alard, French violinist and composer, born in Bayonne, France (d. 1888)
- May 18 Thomas Stanhope Bocock, American politician (Speaker in Confederates House of Represetnatives), born in Buckingham County, Virginia (d. 1891)
- May 19 John Gross Barnard, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Sheffield, Massachusetts (d. 1882)
- May 27 Henry Parkes, Australian politician (longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales), born in Canley, Warwickshire, England (d. 1896)
- Jun 1 Otto of Greece, King of Greece (1832-62), born in Salzburg, Bavaria (d. 1862)
- Jun 2 Philip Kearny, American Major General (Union Army), born in NYC, New York (d. 1862)
- Jun 3 Martin Edward Green, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1863)
- Jun 4 Paul Jones Semmes, American businessman and Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Wilkes County, Georgia (d. 1863)
- Jun 6 Francesco Antonio Norberto Pinto, Portuguese violinist, hornist and composer (Adoração ao Sol), born in Lisbon, Portugal (d. 1860)
- Jun 11 Julia Margaret Cameron, English photographer, born in Calcutta, India (d. 1879)
- Jun 19 Cornelius Krieghoff, Dutch-Canadian painter, born in Amsterdam (d. 1872)
- Jun 19 John William Glover, Irish composer, born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1899)
- Jul 13 James Alexander Seddon, politician and lawyer (Confederate Secretary of War, 1862-65), born in Falmouth, Virginia (d. 1880)
- Jul 21 Stewart Van Vliet, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Ferrisburgh, Vermont (d. 1901)
- Jul 24 Arnaud-Michel d'Abbadie, French explorer (Ethiopia), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1893)
- Jul 28 Stefan Dunjov, Banat Bulgarian military figure (d. 1889)
- Jul 30 Thomas Jackson Rodman, American Brevet Brigadier General (Union Army), inventor of the rodman gun and perforated-cake gunpowder, born in Salem, Indiana (d. 1871)
- Aug 1 Richard Henry Dana Jr., American author (Two Years Before the Mast), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1882)
- Aug 2 Adolf Friedrich von Schack, German poet, born in Brüsewitz, Germany (d. 1894)
- Aug 4 Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich, German physician (established normal temperature as 37 °C (98.6 °F)), born in Sulz am Neckar (d. 1877)
- Aug 5 Edward John Eyre, British explorer and Governor of Jamaica, born in Whipsnade, England (d. 1901)
- Aug 16 John Bosco, Italian priest, youth worker, educator, founder of the Salesian Society, born in Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Italy (d. 1888)
- Aug 19 John P. McCown, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Sevier County, Tennessee (d. 1879)
- Aug 29 Anna Ella Carroll, American politician and civil war writer (Reconstruction), born in Pocomoke City, Maryland (d. 1894)
- Sep 4 Andreas Ignatius Schaepman, Archbishop of Utrecht (1868-82), born in Zwolle, Netherlands (d. 1882)
- Sep 4 Mihály Mosonyi, Hungarian composer, born in Boldogasszony, Austria-Hungary (d. 1870)
- Sep 5 Karl Wilhelm, German composer, born in Schmalkalden, Germany (d. 1873)
- Sep 5 Tyree Harris Bell, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Covington, Kentucky (d. 1902)
- Sep 6 St. John Richardson Liddell, American Civil War Confederate General, born in Wilkinson County, Mississippi (d. 1870)
- Sep 7 Howell Cobb, American politician (U.S. Secretary of Treasury), born in Jefferson County, Georgia (d. 1868)
- Sep 7 John McDouall Stuart, Australian explorer, born in Dysart, Fife, Scotland (d. 1866)
- Sep 8 Alexander Ramsey, American politician (1st Governor of Minnesota Territory), born in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania (d. 1903)
- Sep 10 Eleazer Arthur Paine, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Geauga County, Ohio (d. 1882)
- Sep 17 Halfdan Kjerulf, Norwegian composer (Brudefaerden i Hardanger), born in Christiania, Norway (d. 1868)
- Sep 18 Henry C. Wayne, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Savannah, Georgia (d. 1883)
- Sep 29 Andreas Aschenbach, German Romantic painter and engraver, born in Kassel (d. 1910)
- Oct 11 Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte, Corsican representative of the people, born in Rome, Italy (d. 1881)
- Oct 12 William J. Hardee, U.S. Army officer (Confederate Army), born in Camden County, Georgia (d. 1873)
- Oct 13 Jules Quicherat, French historian and archaeologist, born in Paris (d. 1882)
- Oct 16 Francis Lubbock, Governor of Texas (d. 1905)
- Oct 17 Emanuel Geibel, German poet and playwright (Gedichte), born in Lübeck (d. 1884)
- Oct 23 João Maurício Wanderley, Brazilian magistrate and politician (d. 1889)
- Oct 24 John Edwards, American politician (US Representative Arkansas) Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 1894)
- Oct 25 Ernesto Camillo Sivori, Italian violinist and composer, born in Genoa, Italy (d. 1894)
- Oct 25 Philipp Fahrbach the Elder, Austrian composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1885)
- Oct 29 Dan Emmett, American composer, born in Mount Vernon, Ohio (d. 1904)
- Oct 29 Ľudovít Štúr, Slovak politician and author of Slovak language, born in Uhrovec, Austrian Empire (d. 1856)
- Oct 31 Karl Weierstrass, German mathematician (theory of functions), born in Ostenfelde, Germany (d. 1897)
- Nov 1 Crawford Williamson Long, American surgeon and pioneer (use of ether as an anesthetic in surgery), born in Danielsville, Georgia (d. 1878)
- Nov 1 Douglas H. Cooper, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Amite County, Mississippi (d. 1879)
George Boole (1815-1864)
Nov 2 English mathematician and logician (Boolean algebra), born in Lincoln, England
- Nov 3 Adrien Louis Boieldieu, French composer, born in Paris (d. 1883)
- Nov 3 John Mitchel, Irish nationalist (Jail Journal), born in Camnish, County Londonderry (d. 1875)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)
Nov 12 American women's rights activist, abolitionist and writer, born in Johnstown, New York
- Nov 15 John Banvard, American artist who painted worlds largest painting (3 mile canvas), born in NYC, New York (d. 1892)
- Nov 23 William Dennison, American politician (US postmaster general, Governor of Ohio), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1882)
- Nov 24 Grace Darling, English heroine (d. 1842)
- Nov 24 James Trapier, N Gen (Confederate Army), (d. 1865)
- Nov 29 Stephen Augustus Hurlbut, American politician, commander of US Army of the Gulf, Major General (Union Army), born in Charleston, South Carolina (d. 1882)
- Dec 8 Adolph Menzel, German painter and graphic artist, born in Breslau, Prussian Silesia (d. 1905)
Ada Lovelace (1815-1852)
Dec 10 English mathematician considered the first computer programmer, born in London
- Dec 21 Thomas Couture, French history painter & teacher, born in Senlis, France (d. 1879)
- Dec 22 Johann Jakob Bachofen, Swiss antiquarian & jurist, born in Basel, Switzerland (d. 1887)
- Dec 22 Lucien Petipa, French ballet dancer, born in Marseille, France (d. 1898)
- Dec 23 Henry Highland Garnet, American minister, abolitionist and diplomat, born in Maryland (d. 1882)
- Dec 25 Temistocle Solera, Italian opera composer, born in Ferrara (d. 1878)
- Dec 26 Israel Bush Richardson, American Major General (Union Army), born in Fairfax, Vermont (d. 1862)
- Dec 31 George Gordon Meade, Spanish-American Major General (Union Army), born in Cádiz, Spain (d. 1872)