- Oct 2 William Corby, American Catholic priest and President of the University of Notre Dame, born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1897)
- Oct 5 Cyrus Bussey, American politician and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Hubbard, Ohio (d. 1915)
- Oct 15 Klaas Kater, Dutch Christian Worker's Union Leader, born in Amsterdam (d. 1916)
- Oct 17 Paul Bert, French Zoologist, Physiologist and pioneer of aerospace medicine whose study of the effects of air pressure on the body, such as altitude sickness and 'the bends', made possible space and ocean exploration, born in Auxerre, Burgundy (d. 1886)
- Oct 18 Johannes Habert, Austrian composer, born in Oberplan, Bohemia (now Hornà Planá, Czech Republic) (d. 1896)
Alfred Nobel (1833-1896)
Oct 21 Swedish chemist who invented dynamite and founded the Nobel Prizes, born in Stockholm, Sweden
