- Jan 1 William Joseph Westbrook, composer
- Jan 2 Justin Winston, historian/librarian (Harvard)
- Jan 11 James Ronald Chalmers, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Halifax County, Virginia (d. 1898)
- Jan 14 John Bullock Clark Jr, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1903)
- Jan 17 Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria (d. 1903)
- Jan 18 Edward Ferrero, American ballroom operator and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Granada, Spain (d. 1899)
- Jan 20 Pieter J Joubert, general (South Africa)
- Jan 26 Mary Mapes Dodge, American writer (Hans Brinker & the Silver Skates), born in NYC, New York
- Jan 28 Henry Brevard Davidson, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1899)
- Feb 3 Cyrus Ballou Comstock, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Wrentham, Massachusetts (d. 1910)
- Feb 4 Oliver Ames, 35th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1895)
- Feb 12 John Morrissey, boxer/developer of Saratoga Springs horse race track
- Feb 13 John Aaron Rawlins, Bvt Major General (Union Army), (d. 1869)
- Feb 16 Nikolai Leskow, writer
- Feb 17 Francisco Salvador Daniel, composer
- Feb 21 Eduard Rappoldi, composer
- Feb 23 Hendrik W Mesdag, Dutch painter (Panorama Mesdag)
- Feb 24 Georg Leo earl von Caprivi, German chancellor/premier of Prussia
- Feb 26 Filippo Marchetti, composer
- Feb 27 Hiram Bond Everest, American co-founder of The Vacuum Oil Company (d. 1913)
- Mar 1 Hiram Bronson Granbury, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1864)
- Mar 3 George M Pullman, inventor (railway sleeping car)
- Mar 6 Friedrich C K von Bodelschwingh, German theologist (Home Mission)
- Mar 6 Philip Henry Sheridan, Major General (Union Army), born in Albany, New York
- Mar 7 John Bratton [Old Reliable], American physician and Brigadier-General (Confederate Army), born in Winnsboro, South Carolina (d. 1898)
- Mar 12 Clement Studebaker, automobile pioneer (Studebaker)
- Mar 14 Leon Leopold Lewandoski, Polish composer, born in Kalisz, Poland (d. 1896)
- Mar 15 Edward Aylesworth Perry, Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
- Mar 15 Daniel Comboni, Italian missionary (d. 1881)
- Mar 20 Solomon L. Spink, U.S. Congressman (d. 1881)
- Mar 23 Eduard Schlagintweit, German writer (d. 1866)
- Mar 29 Amelia E. Barr, British-born American writer, born in Ulverston, Lancashire (d. 1919)
- Mar 31 Archibald Scott, Scottish chemist
- Apr 4 Edward Cary Walthall, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Richmond, Virginia (d. 1898)
- Apr 8 Allard Pierson, Dutch theologiost/philosopher/art historian/poet
- Apr 12 Constantin Meunier, Belgian painter and sculptor, born in Etterbeek, Belgium (d. 1905)
- Apr 12 George B. Anderson, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Hillsborough, North Carolina (d. 1862)
- Apr 12 Grenville Mellen Dodge, American engineer and Major General (Union Army), born in Danvers, Massachusetts (d. 1916)
- Apr 14 Gerhard Rohlfs, German explorer/ambassador in Abyssinia
- Apr 22 Alexander McDowell McCook, American Major General (Union Army), born in Columbiana County, Ohio (d. 1903)
- May 1 Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and suffragist (d. 1903)
- May 13 Willem baron of Goltstein of Oldenaller, Dutch minister of Colonies
David Edward Hughes
May 16 David Edward Hughes, British-American inventor (microphone, teleprinter), born in either London, England or Corwen, Wales (d. 1900)
David Edward Hughes
- May 24 Richard Hoffman, composer
- May 28 Eliza Ann Gardner, underground railway conductor
- Jun 1 John Bell Hood, Gen (Confederate Army), (d. 1879)
- Jun 2 Benjamin Hardin Helm, Brigadier General (Conf)/Lincoln's brother-in-law
- Jun 2 Jan G Palm, Curacao, bandmaster/choir master/composer
- Jun 3 Otho French Strahl, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1864)
- Jun 5 Marcus Joseph Wright, American lawyer and Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Purdy, Tennessee (d. 1922)
- Jun 7 Amelia Edwards, English author and Egyptologist (d. 1892)
- Jun 8 Thomas J. Higgins, decorated Union Army soldier (d. 1917)
- Jun 10 W. A. Remy [Wilhelm Mayer], Austro-Bohemian composer (d. 1898)
- Jun 13 James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist (electromagnetic theory, speed of light), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1879)
- Jun 26 Julius Rodenberg, [Levy], German writer (Kriegs-Songs of War & Peace)
- Jun 28 Joseph Joachim, Kittsee Germany, violinist (Hungarian Concerto)
- Jun 29 William Thomas Clark, American politician and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Norwalk, Connecticut (d. 1905)
John Pemberton
Jul 8 John Pemberton, American pharmacist (inventor of Coca-Cola), born in Knoxville, Georgia (d. 1888)
John Pemberton
- Jul 9 Johan P van der Kellen, Dutch stamp cutter/lithographer/writer
- Jul 14 William Dwight, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Springfield, Massachusetts (d. 1888)
- Jul 17 Xianfeng, Emperor of China (d. 1861)
- Jul 30 Helene P Blavatsky, founder (Theosophist Cooperation)
- Aug 13 Salomon Jaoassohn, composer
- Aug 16 Edward Payson Chapin, American lawyer and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Waterloo, New York (d. 1863)
- Aug 16 John Jones Ross, Quebec politician (d. 1901)
- Aug 19 Stephen Gano Burbridge, "Butcher of Kentucky", American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Georgetown, Kentucky (d. 1894)
- Aug 28 Fredrick Vilhelm Ludvig Norman, Swedish composer, born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1885)
- Aug 28 Lucy Ware Webb Hayes, 1st lady of the United States (1877-81), born in Chillicothe, Ohio (d. 1889)
- Sep 7 Alexandre Falguière, French sculptor and painter (d. 1900)
- Sep 8 Wilhelm Raabe, [Jakob Corvinus], German author (Der Hungerpastor)
- Sep 13 Andrew Noble, Greenock, Scottish Physicist who was a founder of the science of ballistics
- Sep 29 John McAlister Schofield, American Major General (Union Army), born in Gerry, New York (d. 1906)
- Oct 1 Claudius Charles Wilson, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1863)
- Oct 6 Richard Dedekind, German mathematician (Nature & Meaning of Numbers), born in Braunschweig, Germany (d. 1916)
- Oct 8 Michal Jelski, composer
- Oct 15 Helen Maria Hunt Jackson, author (Ramona)
- Oct 18 Frederik III NK of Hohenzollern, German Kaiser/king of Prussia
- Oct 31 Daniel Butterfield, American Major General (Union Army), assistant US Treasurer, born in Utica, New York (d. 1901)
- Oct 31 Paolo Mantegazza, Italian neurologist and anthropologist, born in Monza, Italy (d. 1910)
- Nov 8 Edward R L Bulwer-Lytton, English statesman and Viceroy of India (1876-1880)
- Nov 12 Anton Kerner Ritter von Marilaun, Austria botanist
James Garfield
Nov 19 James A. Garfield, 20th US President (Republican: 1881), born in Moreland Hills, Ohio (d. 1881)
James Garfield
- Nov 21 John Franklin Miller, American lawyer, businessman, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in South Bend, Indiana (d. 1886)
- Dec 6 Joshua Woodrow Sill, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Chillicothe, Ohio (d. 1862)
- Dec 10 Alexander Conze, German archaeologist
- Dec 19 Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Hawaiian philanthropist (d. 1884)
- Dec 22 Mark Rutherford [Hale White], English writer, born in Bedford, England (d. 1913)
- Dec 22 Robert Ogden Tyler, Bvt Major General (Union Army), (d. 1874)
- Dec 25 Johann Herbeck, composer
- Dec 27 Lucius Fairchild, American politician, diplomat, and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Kent, Ohio (d. 1896)
- Dec 29 Adam Badeau, US author, Union Army officer, and diplomat, born in NYC, New York (d. 1895)