- Oct 7 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American physician and author (Old Ironsides), dies at 85
- Oct 8 Norbert Rillieux, American chemical engineer and inventor (sugar refiner), dies at 88
- Oct 19 James Darmesteter, French author and antiquarian (translations of the Avesta, the sacred scripture of Zoroastrianism), dies at 45
- Oct 20 James Anthony Froude, English historian and novelist (The Nemesis of Faith), dies at 76
- Oct 30 Honoré Mercier, Canadian politician and 9th Premier of Quebec (1887-91), dies at 54