- Jan 4 Carl Humann, German engineer (d. 1896)
- Jan 4 Casimiro de Abreu, Brazil, poet (Meus oito anos), novelist and playwright (Camoes e o jau), born in Casimiro de Abreu, Rio de Janeiro, Empire of Brazil (d. 1860)
- Jan 9 John Knowles Paine, American composer (Symphony No. 2 - In Spring), born in Portland, Maine (d. 1906)
- Jan 11 Eugenio Maria de Hostos, Puerto Rican educator and nationalist, born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico (d. 1903)
- Jan 14 Emil Bohn, German musician, born in Bielau, Germany (d. 1909)
- Jan 19 Bohumil Pazdirek, Czech composer, born in Drahanovice, Moravia (d. 1919)
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Jan 19 French artist and Post-Impressionist painter (The Basket of Apples), born in Aix-en-Provence, France
- Jan 25 Seldon Connor, American banker, 35th Governor of Maine, and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Fairfield, Maine, (d. 1917)
- Feb 1 James A. Herne, American playwright (Hearts of Oak; Margaret Fleming), born in Troy, New York (d. 1901)
- Feb 7 Nicolaas Pierson, Dutch economist and politician (Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1897-1901), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1909)
- Feb 9 Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (d. 1896)
- Feb 11 Josiah Willard Gibbs, American theoretical physicist and chemist (created statistical mechanics, 1st US doctorate in engineering), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 1903)
- Feb 20 Benjamin Waugh, English social reformer who founded the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, born in Settle, North Yorkshire, England (d. 1908)
- Feb 22 Francis Pharcellus Church, American editor and publisher (The New York Sun - "Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus"), born in Rochester, New York (d. 1906)
- Feb 22 Octavius Catto, American educator (Institute for Colored Youth, 1859-71), civil rights activist, and baseball player (Philadelphia Pythians, 1865-71), born in Charleston, South Carolina (d. 1871)
- Mar 1 Laura Netzel (née Pistolekors), Finnish-Swedish pianist, composer, concert organizer, and humanitarian, born in Rantasalmi, Finland (d. 1927)
- Mar 3 Jamsetji Tata, Indian pioneer industrialist (Tata Group), born in Navsari, British India (d. 1904)
- Mar 8 James Mason Crafts, American chemist (Friedel-Crafts alkylation synthesis), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1917)
- Mar 8 Josephine Cochrane, American inventor (automatic dishwasher), born in Ashtabula County, Ohio (d. 1913)
- Mar 9 Felix Huston Robertson, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas (d. 1928)
- Mar 9 Phoebe Knapp, American hymn writer and organist, born in NYC, New York (d. 1908)
- Mar 10 Dudley Buck, American organist, composer, and music writer, born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 1909)
- Mar 16 Sully Prudhomme, French poet (1st Nobel Prize for Literature winner 1901), born in Paris, France (d. 1907)
- Mar 17 Josef Rheinberger, German organist, composer, and educator (Munich Conservatory, 1877-1901), born in Vaduz, Liechtenstein (d. 1901)
- Mar 18 Francis Fessenden, American lawyer, politician, and Major General (Union Army), born in Portland, Maine (d. 1906)
Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
Mar 21 Russian composer (Boris Godunov; Night on Bald Mountain; Pictures at an Exhibition), born in Karevo, Russia
- Mar 25 William Bell Wait, American educator of the blind (NY Point system), born in Amsterdam, New York (d. 1916)
- Mar 27 John Ballance, 14th Prime Minister of New Zealand and the founder of the Liberal Party, born in Glenavy, Ireland (d. 1893)
- Apr 5 Robert Smalls, African-American congressman (1875-87), born in Beaufort, South Carolina (d. 1915)
- Apr 5 Stanislaw Pilinski, French pianist and composer, born in Paris (d. 1905)
- Apr 12 Nikolay Przhevalsky, Russian naturalist and explorer (East and Central Asia), born in Kimborovo, Russia (d. 1888) (OS 31 March)
- Apr 12 Victorin de Joncières, French composer (Dimitiri), and music critic, born in Paris (d. 1903)
- Apr 18 Frantz Jehin-Prume, Canadian violinist and composer, born in Spa, Liège, Belgium (d. 1899)
- Apr 18 Henry Clarence Kendall, Australian poet (Bell Birds), born in Yatte Yattah, New South Wales (d. 1882)
- Apr 20 Carol I, King of Romania (1881-1914), born in Sigmaringen, Germany (d. 1914)
- Apr 22 August W. Eichler, German botanist (developed a new system of classification of plants to reflect the concept of evolution), born in Neukirchen, Hesse (d. 1887)
- Apr 26 Cyrus Hamblin, American attorney, politician, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Hampden, Maine (d. 1867)
- May 1 Hilaire de Chardonnet, French industrialist and inventor (rayon), born in Besançon, France (d. 1924)
- May 8 Adolphe-Basile Routhier, French Canadian lyricist ("O! Canada"), born in Saint-Placide, Quebec (d. 1920)
- May 8 Francis Warre-Cornish, English scholar and writer (d. 1916)
- May 19 Alice Mary Smith, British composer, born in London (d. 1884)
- May 25 John Eliot, English meteorologist, born in Lamesley, Durham (d. 1908)
- May 28 Luigi Capuana, Sicilian author and critic (Roccaverdina), born in Mineo, Sicily, Italy (d. 1915)
- May 29 Nat Thomson, Australian cricket all-rounder (2 Tests, 1 wicket, HS 41; NSW CA), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 1896)
- May 29 Ned Gregory, Australian cricket batsman (1 Test; first recognised Test in 1877), born in Sydney, New South Wales (d. 1899)
- Jun 3 Paul Lindau, German playwright/critic (Der Herr im Hause)
- Jun 10 Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg, Danish politician (Council President of Denmark), born in Hochberg (now Remseck am Neckar), Württemberg (d. 1912)
- Jun 17 Fr. Arthur Tooth SSC, Anglican Clergyman prosecuted for ritualist activities, born in Cranbrook, Kent (d. 1931)
- Jun 18 William Henry Seward Jr, American banker and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Auburn, New York (d. 1920)
- Jun 21 Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Brazilian writer (Epitaph of a small winner), born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (d. 1908)
- Jun 21 John Decatur Barry, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Wilmington, North Carolina (d. 1867)
- Jun 24 Gustavus Franklin Swift, American founder of the meatpacking firm Swift & Company, born in West Sandwich, Massachusetts (d. 1903)
John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937)
Jul 8 American industrialist and founder of Standard Oil, born in Richford, New York
- Jul 9 Carl Baermann, German composer, born in Munich, Germany (d. 1913)
- Jul 10 Adolphus Busch, German-born American brewer (Anheuser-Busch), born in Mainz, Hesse, Germany (d. 1913)
- Jul 14 (Edward) Sydney Smith, British pianist and composer, born in Dorchester, England (d. 1889)
- Jul 16 Philippus Jacobus Hoedemaker, Dutch theologist, born in Utrecht, Netherlands (d. 1910)
- Jul 17 Ephraim Shay, American inventor of Shay type of geared steam locomotive, born in Huron, Ohio (d. 1916)
- Jul 17 Friedrich Gernsheim, German composer, born in Worms, Germany (d. 1916)
- Jul 25 Francis Garnier, French explorer, born in Saint-Étienne, France (d. 1873)
- Aug 4 Walter Pater, writer (Plato & Platoism), born in London, England
- Aug 8 Nelson Appleton Miles, American Major General (Union Army), born in Westminster, Massachusetts (d. 1925)
- Aug 10 Aleksandr Grigorievich Stoletov, Russian physicist (d. 1896)
- Aug 15 Hugh Archibald Clarke, Canadian organist, composer, and educator (The Music of The Spheres), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 1927)
- Aug 17 Hubert Platt Main, American hymn composer, and music publisher, born in Ridgefield, Connecticut (d. 1925)
- Aug 17 Thijs [Matthijs] Maris, Dutch painter/etcher
- Aug 19 Oskar Brefeld, German botanist and founder of modern mycology, born in Telgte, Germany (d. 1925)
- Aug 24 Eduard Napravnik, Czech conductor and composer, born in Býšť, Czech Republic (d. 1916)
- Aug 27 Emory Upton, Bvt Major General (Union Army), born in Batavia, New York (d. 1881)
- Aug 30 Gulstan Ropert, French Roman Catholic prelate, born in Kerfago, Brittany, France (d. 1903)
- Sep 2 Henry George, land reformer/writer (Progress & Poverty)
- Sep 10 Charles Peirce, American scientist and philosopher known as "the father of pragmatism", born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1914)
- Sep 10 Isaac Kauffman Funk, American publisher (Funk & Wagnalls), born in Clifton, Ohio (d. 1912)
- Sep 17 Ira Erastus Davenport, American magician, claimed to be a spirit medium, born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1911)
- Sep 25 Karl Alfred Ritter von Zittel, German geologist and paleontologist (Libya), born in Bahlingen, Germany (d. 1904)
- Sep 25 Mina Kruseman, Dutch writer and feminist, born in Velp, Netherlands (d. 1922)
- Sep 28 Frances Willard, American educator and founder (Woman's Christian Temperance Union), born in Churchville, New York (d. 1898)
- Oct 2 Hans Thoma, German painter, born in Bernau, Black Forest (d. 1924)
- Oct 21 Georg von Siemens, founder (Deutsche Bank)
- Oct 30 Alfred Sisley, French impressionist painter, born in Paris (d. 1899)
- Nov 7 Henry Holmes, English violinist and composer, born in London (d. 1905)
- Nov 12 Frank Furness, American architect (University of Pennsylvania Library; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1912) [1]
- Nov 16 Louis-Honoré Fréchette, Canadian poet, born in Lévis, Canada (d. 1908)
- Nov 18 August Kundt, German physicist (sound vibration, test of Kundt), born in Schwerin, Mecklenburg, Germany (d. 1894)
- Nov 20 Christian Wilberg, German painter, born in Havelberg, Germany (d. 1882)
- Nov 25 Stanisław Duniecki, Polish composer, born in Lviv, Ukraine (d. 1870)
- Nov 29 Ludwig Anzengruber, Austrian playwright (Der Schandfleck), born in Vienna (d. 1889)
George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876)
Dec 5 United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars, born in New Rumley, Ohio
- Dec 7 Redvers Buller, English general and recipient of the Victoria Cross, born in Crediton, Devon (d. 1908)