- Jan 8 Jacob Collamer, American politician (Sen-Vt), born in Troy, New York (d. 1865)
- Jan 14 Calvin Phillips, American midget & shortest known adult male (67 cm; 2' 2"), born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts (d. 1812)
- Jan 15 Franz Gillparzer, Austrian tragic dramatist (Golden Fleece), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1872)
- Feb 12 Jan David Zocher Jr., Dutch garden architect (Vondelpark, Amsterdam), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1870)
- Feb 12 Peter Cooper, American industrialist, inventor and philanthropist (Cooper Union, steam locomotive), born in NYC, New York (d. 1883)
- Mar 6 Anna Claypoole Peale, American painter of miniatures, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1878)
- Mar 9 George Hayward, American surgeon, 1st to use ether (d. 1863)
- Mar 15 Charles Knight, English publisher (The Penny Cyclopaedia), born in Windsor, England (d. 1873)
- Apr 3 Anne Lister, English diarist 'the 1st modern lesbian', born in Halifax, England (d. 1840)
- Apr 9 George Peacock, English mathematician (algebraic theory), born in County Durham, England (d. 1858)
- Apr 12 Francis Preston Blair, American journalist and newspaper editor (Washington Globe), born in Abingdon, Virginia (d. 1876)
- Apr 13 Félix de Mérode, Earl of Merode, Belgian minister of War and Finance, born in Maastricht, Belgium (d. 1857)
- Apr 23 Friedrich von Olivier, German landscape painter, born in Dessau, Germany (d. 1859)
James Buchanan (1791-1868)
Apr 23 15th US President (1857-61), born in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania
- Apr 24 Nikolaj Bestuzhev, Russian Navy officer, writer and painter (Decembrist revolt), born in Saint Petersburg (d. 1855)
Samuel Morse (1791-1872)
Apr 27 American inventor (telegraph, Morse code) and painter, born in Charlestown, Massachusetts
- May 15 Baron Floris van Hall, Dutch nobleman and politician (Prime Minister 1853-56, and 1860-61), born in Amsterdam, Dutch Republic (now Netherlands) (d. 1866)
- Jun 9 Thomas L. Jennings, American tailor and inventor (dry-cleaning), abolitionist, and desegregationist, born in New York City (d. 1856) [birth date is uncertain, but taken from burial record; many sources cite default of Jan. 1] [1]
- Jun 21 Robert Napier, Scottish marine engineer, born in Dumbarton, Dunbartonshire, Scotland (d. 1876)
- Jun 30 Félix Savart, French surgeon and physicist (law of Biot & Savart), born in Mézières, France (d. 1841)
- Sep 1 Lydia Sigourney (née Huntley), American poet and writer (How to Be Happy; Letter of Life), known as "the Sweet Singer of Hartford", born in Norwich, Connecticut (d. 1865)
- Sep 3 Francisco Acuña de Figueroa, Uruguayan poet (Toraidas), born in Montevideo, Uruguay (d. 1862)
- Sep 20 Sergey Aksakov, Russian writer (Semejnaja chronika), born in Ufa, Russian Empire (d. 1859) [NS 10/01]
Michael Faraday (1791-1867)
Sep 22 English scientist, discovered electromagnetic induction, invented 1st electric motor, born in Newington Butts, England
- Sep 23 Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer (Encke Comet), born in Hamburg, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1865)
- Sep 23 Theodor Körner, German soldier and poet (Zriny, Leyer und Schwerdt), born in Dresden, Saxony (d. 1813)
Théodore Géricault (1791-1824)
Sep 26 French painter (The Raft of the Medusa), born in Rouen, Normandy, France
- Oct 1 Sergey Aksakov, Russian novelist (Chronicles of a Russian Family), born in Ufa, Russian Empire (d. 1859) [OS 09/20]
- Oct 26 Charles Sprague, American banker and poet (Curiosity), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1875)
- Nov 11 Josef Munzinger, Swiss Federal Councillor, born in Olten, Switzerland (d. 1855)
- Dec 12 Marie-Louise of Austria, Duchess of Parma and second wife of Napoleon, born in Hofburg, Vienna, Austria (d. 1847)
- Dec 14 Charles Wolfe, Irish poet, born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1823)
- Dec 24 Eugène Scribe, French dramatist (Bertrand et Raton), born in Paris, France (d. 1861)
Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
Dec 26 British mathematician and inventor (calculating machine) considered the "father of the computer", born in London
