- Jan 4 Iosif Kotek, Russian composer and violinist, dies at 29
- Jan 6 Harishchandra, Indian poet, dramatist and commonly referred as "father of modern Hindi", dies at 34
- Jan 6 Peter C Asbjornsen, Norwegian fairy tale writer, dies at 72
- Jan 11 Rodolphe Bresdin, French cartoonist and lithographer (Le Bon Samaritain), dies at 60
- Jan 13 Schuyler Colfax, American politician (17th US Vice President 1869-73), dies at 61
- Jan 15 Levin Minn Powell, American Commander (Union Navy), dies at 81
- Jan 16 Edmond François Valentin About, French writer (Le Roi des montagnes), dies at 56
- Jan 19 Fred Burnaby, English colonel/balloon pioneer, dies in battle
- Jan 24 Martin Delany, African-American abolitionist and physician (1st African American major in US Army), dies at 72
- Jan 26 Charles George Gordon, British general (put down Taiping rebellion in China) and administrator (Governor-General of Sudan), killed during the fall of Khartoum at 51
- Jan 26 Edward Davy, English inventor (b. 1806)
- Feb 4 Sarah Miriam Peale, American portrait painter (General Lafayette, 1825), dies at 84
- Feb 14 Jules Vallès, French writer (b. 1832)
- Feb 15 Leopold Damrosch, German-American composer, and conductor (New York Oratorio Society; New York Symphony), dies at 52
- Feb 18 Charlotte Sainton-Dolby, English contralto and composer, dies at 61
- Mar 13 Titian Peale, American artist and naturalist (American Ornithology), dies at 85
- Mar 25 Karl Schwarz, German theologian, dies at 72
- Mar 28 Fredrick Vilhelm Ludvig Norman, Swedish composer, dies at 53
- Mar 31 Franz W Abbot, German composer/choir conductor, dies at 65
- Mar 31 Philipp Fahrbach the Elder, Austrian composer, dies at 69
- Apr 7 Carl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, German physiologist (b. 1804)
- Apr 10 John H Scholten, theologist (Free Want), dies at 73
- Apr 20 Gustav Nachtigal, German physician and explorer (consul in Tunis, secured protectorates for Germany in central Africa), dies at sea at 51
- Apr 23 William Henry Holmes, English composer, dies at 73
- Apr 30 J. P. [Jens Peter] Jacobsen, Danish writer (Niels Lyhne), dies of tuberculosis at 38
- May 4 Alexander Karađorđević, Prince of Serbia (1842-58), dies at 78
- May 5 Lauro Rossi, Italian composer (I falsi monetari), dies at 73
- May 8 Pavel Křížkovský, Czech choral composer and conductor (Sts. Cyril and Methodius), dies at 65
- May 10 Edward Stephen, Welsh musician and composer, dies at 62
- May 10 Ferdinand Hiller, German pianist, composer and conductor, dies at 73
- May 13 Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, German pathologist, dies at 75
- May 13 Juliana Horatia Ewing [Gatty], English children's author (Lob Lie-by-the-Fire), dies at 43
- May 19 Peter W. Barlow, English engineer (b. 1809)
- May 21 Gavril Yakimovich Lomakin, Russian composer and teacher, dies at 73
Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
May 22 French author (Hunchback of Notre Dame, Les Miserables), dies at 83
- May 29 Alfred Meissner, Austrian poet (Ziska), dies at 62
- Jun 5 Julius Benedict, German opera composer (Protoghesi), dies at 80
- Jun 8 Ignace Bourget, French Canadian Bishop of Montreal, dies at 85
- Jun 16 Wilhelm Camphausen, German painter (b. 1818)
- Jun 17 Edwin Freiherr von Manteuffel, Prussian Generalfeldmarschall noted for his victories in the Franco-Prussian War, dies at 76
- Jun 22 Mahdi [Muhammad Ahmed], Sudanese music reviewer, dies
- Jul 1 Hermann von Fehling, German chemist (Fehling's reagens), dies at 73
- Jul 7 Nicola De Giosa, Italian composer, dies at 66
- Jul 8 Henry Waelput, Flemish compose and conductor (Blessing of Arms), dies at 39
- Jul 15 Rosalia de Castro, Spanish writer and poet in the Galician language ('Séculos Escuros') (b. 1837)
- Jul 17 Jean-Charles Chapais, Canadian politician (considered Father of the Canadian Confederation), dies at 73
Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885)
Jul 23 18th US President (1869-77) and Union general, dies of esophageal cancer in Mount McGregor NY at 63
- Aug 7 Anthony Modderman, Dutch politician (Minister of Justice, 1879-83), dies at 46
- Aug 12 Georg Curtius, German classical linguist, dies at 65
- Aug 12 Helen Hunt Jackson, American author (Ramona), dies at 54
- Aug 20 Edouard J. A. Agneessens, Flemish painter (Slave Market), dies at 42
- Aug 25 Reuben Fenton, American merchant and politician (22nd Governor of New York), dies at 66
- Aug 28 Julius Hopp, Austrian composer, dies at 66
- Sep 13 Friedrich Kiel, Austrian composer, and mountain climber, dies at 63
- Sep 15 Juliusz Zarębski, Polish pianist, composer, and pedagogue, dies of tuberculosis at 31
- Sep 15 Jumbo, P. T. Barnum's circus elephant, dies after being hit by a train
- Sep 30 Maria Gartmann, Dutch actress, dies at 60
Doc Durant (1820-1885)
Oct 5 American financier and railroad promoter (Transcontinental Railroad-Union Pacific), dies at 65
George McClellan (1826-1885)
Oct 29 American Major General (Union Army), dies of a heart attack at 58
Louis Riel (1844-1885)
Nov 16 Canadian politician, founder of the province of Manitoba and leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies, hanged for treason at 41
- Nov 25 Alfonso XII, King of Spain (1874-85), dies at 27
- Nov 25 Thomas A. Hendricks, 21st Vice President of the United States (D), dies 8 months after taking office at 66
- Nov 26 Thomas Andrews, Irish chemist and physicist (ozone), dies at 71
- Dec 8 William Henry Vanderbilt, American businessman, member of the Vanderbilt family, dies at 64
- Dec 15 Ferdinand II, German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry and King of Portugal (1837-53), dies at 69
- Dec 15 Robert Toombs, American lawyer and 1st Confederate States Secretary of State, dies at 75
- Dec 24 Louis-Prosper Gachard, Belgian historian National Archives of Belgium), dies at 85