- Jan 1 Nikola Pasic, Serbian nationalist and premier (over many periods from 1891 to 1926), born in Zaječar, Serbia (d. 1926)
- Jan 5 Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German idealist philosopher (Nobel 1908), born in Aurich, Germany (d. 1926)
- Jan 29 Karol Olszewski, Polish scientist (d. 1915)
- Jan 30 Francis H. Bradley, British idealist philosopher (Appearance and Reality), born in Clapham, Surrey, England (d. 1924)
- Feb 4 Nikolay Umov, Russian physicist and mathematician known for discovering the Umov-Poynting vector and Umov effect, born in Simbirsk, Russian Empire (d. 1915)
- Feb 9 Whitaker Wright, English mining tycoon (d. 1904)
- Feb 9 Wilhelm Maybach, German industrialist and engine designer (the 1st Mercedes), born in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg (d. 1929)
- Feb 10 Charles Beresford, British admiral and politician (d. 1919)
- Feb 10 Ira Remsen, American chemist (d. 1927)
- Feb 10 Mildred Childe Lee, American favourite daughter of confederate General Robert E. Lee, born at Arlington Plantation, Virginia (d. 1905)
- Feb 14 Julian Scott, American artist and Civil War Medal of Honor recipient, born in Johnson, Vermont (d. 1901)
- Feb 26 William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Wild West hunter and showman (Buffalo Bill's Wild West), born in Davenport Iowa (d. 1917)
- Mar 7 Whitcomb Judson, American inventor (zipper), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1909)
- Mar 10 Edward Baker Lincoln, son of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (d. 1850)
- Mar 11 Antonio Cândido Gonçalves Crespo, Brazilian-born Portuguese poet, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (d. 1886)
- Mar 16 Gösta Mittag-Leffler, Swedish mathematician (d. 1927)
- Mar 17 Kate Greenaway, English artist known for her children's book illustrations (Under the Window), born in London (d. 1901)
- Mar 22 Randolph Caldecott, English illustrator (Caldecott Medal namesake), born in Chester, England (d. 1886)
- Apr 4 Comte de Lautréamont, French writer (Les Chants de Maldoror), born in Montevideo, Uruguay (d. 1870)
- Apr 4 Raoul Pictet, Swiss physicist who invented liquid nitrogen and was a pioneer of cryogenics, born in Geneva, Switzerland (d. 1929)
- Apr 26 Giuseppe Arimondi, Italian general who fought in the Italo-Ethiopian War, born in Savigliano (d. 1896)
- Apr 28 Johann Oskar Backlund, Swedish-Russian astronomer (planets/asteroids), born in Länghem, Sweden (d. 1916)
- May 5 Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish author (Quo Vadis, Nobel 1905), born in Wola Okrzejska, Poland (d. 1916)
- May 14 Arnold Kerdijk, Dutch lib politician/founder (Social Weekly newspaper)
- May 14 Pieter W A Cort van de Linden, Dutch premier (1913-18)
- May 17 Edmund Bishop, English Roman Catholic historian and Secretary of Thomas Carlyle, born in Totnes, England (d. 1917)
- May 22 Oliver Perry Hay, American paleontologist, born in Saluda, Indiana (d. 1930)
- May 25 Naim Frashëri, Albanian poet and writer, born in Frashër, Janina Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (d. 1900)
- May 25 Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria, born in Buckingham Palace, London (d. 1923)
- May 29 Albert Apponyi, Hungarian politician (Minister of Religion and Education of Hungary), born in Vienna, Austrian Empire (d. 1933)
- May 30 Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian goldsmith and jeweler (famous for Fabergé eggs), born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1920)
- Jun 11 William Louis Marshall, American general and engineer, born in Washington, Kentucky (d. 1920)
- Jun 19 Antonio Abetti, Italian astronomer, born in San Pietro di Gorizia (d. 1928)
- Jun 27 Charles Stewart Parnell, English-Irish Home Rule Party leader, born in Avondale, County Wicklow, Ireland (d. 1891)
- Jul 11 Léon Bloy, French novelist and essayist, born in Périgueux, France (d. 1917)
- Jul 19 Charles Edward Pickering, American astronomer and pioneered American spectroscopist, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1919)
- Jul 29 Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil (while serving as regent signed law abolishing slavery), born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (d. 1921)
- Aug 16 Justus van Maurik, Dutch author and cigar manufacturer, born in Amsterdam (d. 1904)
- Aug 19 Luis Martín, Spanish Superior-General of the Society of Jesus, born in Melgar de Fernamental, Burgos, Spain (d. 1906)
- Aug 22 Amalie Skram, Norwegian author (Hellemyrsfolket), born in Bergen, Norway (d. 1905)
- Aug 23 Alexander Milne Calder, Scottish-American sculptor, born in Aberdeen, Scotland (d. 1923)
- Aug 25 Judith Gautier, French poetess, novelist (Le Dragon Impérial) and daughter of Theophile Gautier, born in Paris (d. 1917)
- Sep 4 Daniel Burnham, American architect and urban designer (built skyscrapers), born in Henderson, New York (d. 1912)
- Sep 5 John W Cromwell, American lawyer and civil right activist (American Negro Academy), born in Portsmouth, Virginia (d. 1927)
- Sep 13 Richard Kiepert, German cartographer (Africa), born in Weimar, Germany (d. 1915)
- Sep 25 Wladimir Köppen [Vladimir Köppen], German meteorologist and climatologist who developed the Köppen climate classification system for the regions of the world, born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 1940)
George Westinghouse (1846-1914)
Oct 6 American entrepreneur and engineer (air brakes, alternating current system) who was a pioneer of the electrical industry (Westinghouse Electric), born in Central Bridge, New York
- Oct 21 Edmondo de Amicis, Italian writer (Cuore)
- Oct 28 Auguste Escoffier, French chef and culinary writer, 'king of chefs & chef of kings', born in Villeneuve-Loubet, France (d. 1935)
- Nov 5 Duncan Gordon Boyes, English recipient of the Victoria Cross, born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England (d. 1869)
- Nov 18 Prince Louis of Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein nobleman and politician, born in Prague (d. 1920)
- Nov 19 Emile Wauters, Belgian painter (Van der Goes in the Red Monastery), born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1933)
- Nov 25 Carrie Nation, American temperance advocate who smashed hotels with a hatchet, born in Garrard County, Kentucky (d. 1911)
- Dec 2 Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau, French politician (29th Prime Minister of France), born in Nantes, France (d. 1904)
- Dec 31 Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, Dutch socialist politician (1st Socialist MP in parliament), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1919)