- 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)
John Ballance ()
Mar 27 14th Prime Minister of New Zealand and the founder of the Liberal Party, born in Glenavy, Ireland
