- Aug 8 Friedrich Wilhelm Jahns, German composer, voice teacher and musicologist, dies at 79
- Aug 9 Charles Cros, French inventor and poet (Le Hareng Saur), dies at 45
- Aug 9 Isaac Strauss, French violinist, conductor and composer, dies at 82
Charles Crocker
Aug 14 Charles Crocker, American business tycoon & railroad executive (Central Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific Railroad), dies at 65
- Aug 15 Carter L. Stevenson, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 70
John Pemberton
Aug 16 John Pemberton, American pharmacist (inventor of Coca-Cola), dies of stomach cancer at 55
- Aug 17 James Jameson, Scottish heir to Jameson Whisky and explorer who paid for a 10 yr old girl to be eaten in the Congo, dies of a fever at 32
- Aug 19 Spencer F. Baird, US biologist (Wood's Hole Station), dies at 65
- Aug 21 Simon Vissering, Dutch minister of Finance (1879-81), dies at 70
- Aug 24 Rudolph J E Clausius, German physicist (thermodynamics), dies
Mary Ann Nichols
Aug 31 Mary Ann Nichols, English prostitute and 1st victim of Jack the Ripper, found stabbed to death in London at 42
