- Jan 2 Helen Herron Taft, American First lady (1909-13) as wife of President William Howard Taft, planted Washington's cherry trees, born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1943)
- Jan 6 George Exton Lloyd, Anglican bishop and theologian, born in London, United Kingdom (d. 1940)
- Jan 6 Victor Horta, Belgium architect, founder of Art Nouveau movement (Hôtel Tassel), born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1947)
- Jan 12 James Mark Baldwin, American philosopher & psychologist, born in Columbia, South Carolina (d. 1934)
- Jan 13 Max Nonne, German neurologist (d. 1959)
- Jan 14 Wilhelm von Polenz, German writer (Der Pfarrer von Breitendorf), born in Cunewalde, Germany (d. 1903)
- Jan 18 Hans Goldschmidt, German chemist (alumino-thermic process), born in Berlin, Prussia (d. 1923)
- Feb 2 Mehmed VI Vahideddin, last sultan of Ottoman Empire (1918-22), born at Dolmabahçe Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (d. 1926)
- Feb 2 Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and philanthropist (Guggenheim Museum NYC), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1949)
- Feb 12 Lou [Andreas-]Salome, Russian German author (Im Kampf um Gott)
- Feb 13 Uchimura Kanzo, religious writer (How I Became a Christian), born in Tokyo, Japan
- Feb 15 Alfred North Whitehead, British mathematician and philosopher (Adventures of Ideas), born in Ramsgate, England (d. 1947)
- Feb 15 Halford John Mackinder, British geographer (Britain and the British Seas), born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England (d. 1947)
- Feb 17 Princess Helena, Duchess of Albany (d. 1922)
- Feb 20 Nicolaas van Meeteren, Curacao, folklorist
- Feb 26 Ferdinand I, 1st tsar of modern Bulgaria (1908-18), born in Vienna, Austria
- Feb 27 Rudolph Steiner, Kraljevic Aust, founder (doctrine of anthroposophy)
- Mar 19 Lomer Gouin, Quebec politician (d. 1929)
- Mar 30 Gratton Hanley "Grat" Dalton, American outlaw of the Old West (The Dalton Gang), born in Lawrence, Kansas (d. 1892)
- Apr 9 Charles Holroyd, English artist and curator, Director of the National Gallery (1906-16), born in Potternewton, Leeds (d. 1917)
- Apr 15 Bliss Carman, Canadian poet, born in Fredericton, New Brunswick (d. 1929)
- Apr 19 Edward Vermeulen, Flemish writer, born in Beselare, Belgium (d. 1934)
- Apr 23 Edmund Allenby, Viscount Allenby, British Fieldmarshal, General at Battle of Megiddo, born in Brackenhurst, England (d. 1936)
- Apr 27 Johan Skjoldborg, Danish writer (Dynaes-Digte), born in Øsløs, Thisted, Denmark (d. 1936)
- May 3 Emmett Dalton, American outlaw of the Old West (The Dalton Gang), born in Belton, Missouri (d. 1937)
- May 6 Motilal Nehru, Indian lawyer and freedom fighter, born in Agra, British India (d. 1931)
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
May 7 Indian philosopher, poet, writer (Nobel Prize for Literature 1913), born in Calcutta, British India
- May 11 Frederick Russell Burnham, American scout and adventurer whose friendship with Baden-Powell inspired the founding of the international scouting movement, born in Tivoli, a Dakota Sioux Indian reservation in modern-day Minnesota, (d. 1947)
H. H. Holmes (1861-1896)
May 16 American serial killer associated with 27 deaths, born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire
- May 27 Victoria Earle Matthews, American author and activist, born in Fort Valley, Georgia (d. 1907)
- May 31 Emily Bissell, American welfare worker and founder of Christmas Seals, born in Wilmington, Delaware (d. 1948)
- Jun 9 Floris Verster [van Wulverhorst], Dutch painter, cartoonist and etcher, born in Leiden, Netherlands (d. 1927)
- Jun 10 Joseph Cuypers, Dutch architect (St Bavo, Haarlem), born in Roermond, the Netherlands (d. 1949)
- Jun 10 Pierre Duhem, French naturalist, philosopher and historian, born in Paris (d. 1916)
- Jun 16 Scato Gocko de Vries, Dutch paleographer/librarian
- Jun 17 Omar Bundy, U.S. Army general (Spanish–American War in Cuba), born in New Castle, Indiana (d. 1940)
- Jun 18 José Trindade Coelho, Portuguese writer (Os Meus Amores), born in Mogadouro, Portugal (d. 1908)
Douglas Haig (1861-1928)
Jun 19 British fieldmarshal (Sudan, WWI), nicknamed "Butcher Haig" due to mass casualties under his command during the Battle of the Somme, born in Charlotte Square, Edinburgh
José Rizal (1861-1896)
Jun 19 Filipino nationalist and novelist ('Noli Me Tángere', 'El Filibusterismo'), born in Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines
- Jun 20 Frederick Gowland Hopkins, British biochemist (Nobel Prize 1929), born in Eastbourne, England (d. 1947)
- Jun 22 Maximilian von Spee, German admiral (Commander of the East Asia Squadron during WWI), born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1914)
- Jun 29 William James Mayo, American surgeon and co-founder (Mayo Clinic in Minnesota), born in Le Sueur, Minnesota (d. 1939)
- Jul 11 George W. Norris, U.S. Senator noted for his advocacy of political reform and of public ownership of hydroelectric-power plants, born in Sandusky, Ohio (d. 1944)
- Jul 23 Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg, Dutch politician of the Anti Revolutionary Party and Governor-General of Dutch Indies (1909-16), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1935)
- Jul 25 Andrew Cowper Lawson, Scottish-Canadian Geologist who was the first person to identify and name the San Andreas Fault, born in Anstruther, Scotland (d. 1952)
- Jul 29 Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, 1st wife of Theodore Roosevelt, born in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts (d. 1884)
- Jul 29 Sergei D Sazonov, Russian minister of Foreign Affairs (1910-16)
- Aug 2 Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray, Bengali chemist (founder of Bengal Chemicals And Pharmaceuticals), born in Khulna, British India (d. 1944)
Edith Roosevelt (1861-1948)
Aug 6 US First Lady and wife of Teddy Roosevelt, born in Norwich, Connecticut
- Aug 8 William Bateson, English biologist (originator of term "genetics")
- Aug 10 Almroth Wright, English bacteriologist (one of 1st vaccines for typhoid), born in Yorkshire England (d. 1947)
- Aug 14 Bion J. Arnold, American electrical engineer and inventor, born in Casnovia, Michigan (d. 1942)
- Sep 10 Niels Hansen Jacobsen, Danish sculptor and ceramist (Trold, der vejrer kristenblod), born in Vejen, Denmark (d. 1941)
- Sep 11 Juhani Aho, Finnish journalist and writer (Panu, Tuomio), born in Lapinlahti, Finland (d. 1921)
- Sep 17 Owen Seaman, British poet and editor (Punch), born in Shrewsbury, England (d. 1936)
- Sep 20 Herbert Putnam, American Librarian of Congress, born in NYC, New York (d. 1955)
- Sep 23 Robert Bosch, German inventor and industrialist (d. 1942)
- Sep 28 Amélie of Orléans, Queen of Portugal, wife of Carlos I, born in Twickenham, London (d. 1951)
- Sep 30 William Wrigley Jr., American industrialist (Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1932)
- Oct 4 Frederic Remington, American artist and sculptor of American West, born in Canton, New York (d. 1909)
Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930)
Oct 10 Norwegian Arctic explorer and advocate for refugees (Nobel Peace Prize 1922), born in Store Frøen, Christiania
- Oct 14 Artur Gavazzi, Croatian geographer, born in Split, Austria-Hungary (d. 1944)
- Oct 16 J. B. Bury, Irish historian (d. 1927)
- Oct 29 Andrei Ryabushkin, Russian painter, born in Borisoglebsk Uyezd (d. 1904)
- Oct 30 Antoine Bourdelle, French sculptor, born in Montauban, Tarn-et-Garonne, France (d. 1929)
- Nov 3 Johann Peter Kirsch, Luxembourg church historian and archaeologist, born in Dippach, Luxembourg (d. 1941)
- Nov 7 Jeff Milton, American lawman, born in Marianna, Florida (d. 1947)
- Nov 10 Robert T. A. Innes, Scottish astronomer (Proxima Centauri), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1933)
- Nov 14 Frederick Jackson Turner, American historian and educator (known for his "frontier thesis"), born in Portage, Wisconsin (d. 1932)
- Nov 18 Dorothy Dix [Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer], American journalist and columnist, born in Woodstock, Tennessee (d. 1951)
- Nov 22 Ranavalona III, Queen of Madagascar (1883-1897) last sovereign of Madagascar, born in Amparibe, Madagascar (d. 1917)
- Nov 23 Konstantin Korovin, Russian painter (d. 1939)
- Nov 24 João da Cruz, Brazilian poet, born in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil (d. 1898)
Albert B. Fall (1861-1944)
Nov 26 American Senator (R-New Mexico 1912-21) and US Secretary of the Interior (1921-23), convicted for his part in the Teapot Dome scandal, born in Frankfort, Kentucky
- Nov 30 Franz Gailliard, Belgian painter (Zeustempel in Athens), born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1932)
- Dec 5 Armando Diaz, Italian marshal and minister of War (1922-24), born in Naples, Kingdom of Italy (d. 1928)
- Dec 8 Aristide Maillol, French painter and sculptor (Seated Woman), born in Banyuls-sur-Mer, Roussillon, France (d. 1944)
- Dec 8 William C. Durant, American industry pioneer, founded General Motors, Frigidaire, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1947)
- Dec 15 Charles Duryea, American inventor (Duryea Motor Wagon Company, first auto built in the US), born in Canton, Illinois (d. 1938)
- Dec 16 Antonio de La Gandara, French painter (d. 1917)
- Dec 19 Constance Garnett, English translator of Russian (first to translate Chekhov and Dostoevsky into English), born in Brighton England (d. 1946)
- Dec 19 Italo Svevo, Italian writer (La Coscienza di Zeno), born in Trieste Austria (d. 1928)
- Dec 20 Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian painter, born in Ljubljana, Slovenia (d. 1926)
- Dec 22 Erich Schaeder, German theologist (Theocentric Theology), born in Clausthal, Germany (d. 1936)
- Dec 25 Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Indian founder of Banaras Hindu University (d. 1946)
- Dec 26 Friedrich Engel, German mathematician (group theory), born in Lugau, Saxony, German Federation (d. 1941)