- Aug 3 Yamagata Aritomo, Japanese soldier and statesman (Prime Minister of Japan 1889–91,1898–1900), born in Hagi, Japan (d. 1922)
- Aug 12 Joseph Barnby, British conductor, composer, and music educator, born in York, England (d. 1896)
- Aug 17 Laura de Force Gordon, California lawyer, a prominent suffragette, and 1st woman to run a daily newspaper in the US (Stockton Daily Leader, 1874), born in North East, Pennsylvania (d. 1907)