- Jan 1 William Joseph Westbrook, British organist and sacred music composer, born in London, England (d. 1894)
- Jan 2 Justin Winsor, American librarian (Boston Public Library, 1866-78; Harvard, 1878-97), founder of American Library Association, and writer, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1897)
- Jan 7 Heinrich von Stephan, German Director of the Post service who introduced the telephone to Germany, born in Stolp, Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1897)
- Jan 11 James Ronald Chalmers, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Halifax County, Virginia (d. 1898)
- Jan 14 John Bullock Clark Jr., American general (Confederate Army), born in Fayette, Missouri (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 Piet Joubert, South African general and vice-president, born in Prince Albert, British Cape Colony (d. 1900)
- Jan 26 Mary Mapes Dodge, American children's author (St. Nicholas Magazine), editor and writer (Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates), born in NYC, New York (d. 1905)
- 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, Irish born American boxer, US Congressman developer of Saratoga Springs horse race track, born in Templemore, Ireland (d. 1878)
- Feb 13 John Aaron Rawlins, Bvt Major General (Union Army), (d. 1869)
- Feb 16 Nikolai Leskow [M. Stebnitsky], Russian writer (The Tale of Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea), born in Gorokhovo, Russia (d. 1895)
- Feb 17 Francisco Salvador Daniel, French composer, and ethno-musicologist, born in Bourges, France (d. 1871)
- Feb 21 Eduard Rappoldi, Austrian composer and violinist, born in Vienna (d. 1903)
- 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, Italian opera composer, born in Bolognola, Papal States (now Italy) (d. 1902)
- 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 Daniel Comboni, Italian missionary (d. 1881)
- Mar 15 Edward Aylesworth Perry, Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
- 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 theologist, philosopher and art historian, born in Amsterdam (d. 1896)
- 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)
Grenville M. Dodge (1831-1916)
Apr 12 American railroad engineer (Transcontinental Railroad-Union Pacific) and Major General (Union Army), born in Danvers, Massachusetts
- Apr 14 Gerhard Rohlfs, German explorer and ambassador in Abyssinia, born in Vegesack, Bremen, Germany (d. 1896)
- Apr 22 Alexander McDowell McCook, American Major General (Union Army), born in Columbiana County, Ohio (d. 1903)
- May 1 Emily Stowe, Canadian suffragist and first woman licensed to practise medicine in Canada, born in Norwich Township, Oxford County, Ontario (d. 1903)
- May 13 Willem baron of Goltstein of Oldenaller, Dutch minister of Colonies
David Edward Hughes (1831-1900)
May 16 British-American inventor (microphone, teleprinter), born in either London, England or Corwen, Wales
- May 24 Richard Hoffman, British-American pianist, and composer, born in Manchester, England (d. 1909)
- May 28 Eliza Ann Gardner, African-American abolitionist and religious leader, born in NYC, New York (d. 1922)
- Jun 1 John Bell Hood, American Confederate general during the American Civil War (Army of Tennessee), born in Owingsville, Kentucky (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 (The Phantom Coach) and Egyptologist, born in London (d. 1892)
- Jun 8 Thomas J. Higgins, Union Army soldier during the American Civil War, recipient of America's highest military decoration (Medal of Honor), born in Huntington, Quebec, Canada (d. 1917)
- Jun 10 W. A. Remy [Wilhelm Mayer], Austro-Bohemian composer, born in Prague (d. 1898)
James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879)
Jun 13 Scottish physicist (electromagnetic theory, speed of light), born in Edinburgh, Scotland
- Jun 26 Julius Rodenberg [Levy], German writer (Kriegs-Songs of War & Peace), born in Rodenberg, Germany (d. 1914)
- Jun 28 Joseph Joachim, German violinist (Hungarian Concerto), born in Köpcsény, Moson County, Kingdom of Hungary (d. 1907)
- Jun 29 William Thomas Clark, American politician and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Norwalk, Connecticut (d. 1905)
John Pemberton (1831-1888)
Jul 8 American pharmacist (inventor of Coca-Cola), born in Knoxville, Georgia
- Jul 9 Johan Philip van der Kellen, Dutch stamp cutter, lithographer and writer, born in Utrecht, Netherlands (d. 1906)
- Jul 14 William Dwight, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Springfield, Massachusetts (d. 1888)
- Jul 17 Xianfeng, Emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, born in Old Summer Palace, Beijing, Qing dynasty, China (d. 1861)
- Jul 30 Helena Blavatsky, Russian occultist, philosopher, and author (co-founded Theosophical Society), born in Yekaterinoslav, Ukraine (d. 1891)
- Aug 13 Salomon Jadassohn, German pianist and composer, born in Wrocław, Poland (d. 1902)
- Aug 16 Ebenezer Cobb Morley, English sportsman (drafted first FA rules), born in Kingston upon Hull, England (d. 1924)
- Aug 16 Edward Payson Chapin, American lawyer and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Waterloo, New York (d. 1863)
- Aug 16 John Jones Ross, Canadian politician, 7th Premier of Quebec (1884-87), born in Quebec City, Canada (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, born in Toulouse, France (d. 1900)
- Sep 8 Wilhelm Raabe [Jakob Corvinus], German author (Der Hungerpastor), born in Eschershausen, Germany (d. 1910)
- Sep 13 Andrew Noble, Scottish physicist who was a founder of the science of ballistics, born in Greenock (d. 1915)
- Sep 29 John McAlister Schofield, American Major General (Union Army), born in Gerry, New York (d. 1906)
- Oct 1 Claudius Charles Wilson, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Effingham County, Georgia (d. 1863)
- Oct 6 Richard Dedekind, German mathematician (Nature & Meaning of Numbers), born in Braunschweig, Germany (d. 1916)
- Oct 15 Helen Hunt Jackson, American author (Ramona), born in Amherst, Massachusetts (d. 1885)
- Oct 18 Frederick III, German Emperor (1888), born in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1888)
- 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 3 Ignatius Donnelly, American politician, writer, and amateur scientist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1901)
- Nov 8 Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, English statesman and Viceroy of India (1876-1880) (d. 1891)
- Nov 12 Anton Kerner Ritter von Marilaun, Austrian botanist (d. 1898)
James Garfield (1831-1881)
Nov 19 20th US President (Republican: 1881), born in Moreland Hills, Ohio
- 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, born in Hanover, Germany (d. 1914)
- 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), born in Hunter, New York (d. 1874)
- Dec 25 Johann Herbeck, Austrian composer and conductor (conducted premiere of Franz Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony"), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1877)
- Dec 27 Lucius Fairchild, American politician, diplomat, and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Kent, Ohio (d. 1896)
- Dec 29 Adam Badeau, American author, Union Army officer, and diplomat, born in NYC, New York (d. 1895)