Jan 4 Cornelius Vanderbilt, American shipping and railroad magnate (New York Central Railroad), dies at 82 Jan 9 Alexander Brullov, Russia painter (b. 1799) Jan 11 Pietro Romani, Italian conductor and composer, dies at 85 Jan 24 Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist (b. 1796) 1876 Famous Deaths by Year 1878