- Jan 4 Ernest Panckoucke, French publisher (Horace), dies at 77
- Jan 9 Jakob Eduard Schmolzer, Austrian composer, dies at 73
- Jan 16 Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer (La Gioconda), dies at 51
- Jan 16 Jacob Kats, Flemish writer (Earthly Paradise), dies at 81
- Jan 18 Michal Czajchovski [Sadik Pasja], writer, dies
- Jan 18 Baldassare Verazzi, Italian painter (b. 1819)
- Jan 26 David Rice Atchison, American politician ((not President of the United States for a day on March 4, 1849), dies at 78 [1]