Crazy Horse (1840-1877)
Dec 4 Oglala Sioux chief (Battle of the Little Bighorn), born in Fort Robinson, Nebraska
- Dec 7 Hermann Goetz, German composer, born in Königsberg, East Prussia (d. 1876)
- Dec 11 Namık Kemal, Turkish poet and author (Fatherland-1872), born in Tekirdağ, Ottoman Empire (d. 1888)
- Dec 17 C. F. E. Horneman, Danish composer, born in Copenhagen (d. 1906)
- Dec 21 Namık Kemal, Turkish journalist and political activist (Young Ottomans), born in Tekirdağ, Ottoman Empire (d. 1888)