- Jan 3 Pierre Larousse, French editor (b. 1817)
- Jan 18 Joseph Philbrick Webster, composer, dies at 55
- Jan 20 Jean-François Millet, French painter (b. 1814)
- Jan 22 Charles Sprague, American banker and poet (Curiosity), dies at 83
- Jan 23 Charles Kingsley [Parson Lot], English vicar and historian (Westward Ho!), dies at 55
- Jan 25 Leopold Jansa, Bohemian violinist, composer, and teacher, dies at 79