- Jan 3 Henry Darcy, French hydraulic engineer (Darcy's Law), dies at 54
- Jan 5 Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Czech field marshal, dies at 91
- Jan 7 Willem Broes, vicar/theologist (Textenrol), dies at 91
- Jan 9 Anson Jones, 5th and last President of Texas commits suicide at 59
- Jan 27 Gerrit van der Linde Jz, Dutch "Principal", poet, dies at 49
- Jan 30 Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist (b. 1778)
- Feb 13 Hermann Heinrich Gossen, Prussian economist, dies at 47
- Feb 16 Georg F Creuzer, German philological/historian, dies at 86
- Mar 3 Jozsef Bajza, Hungarian author/poet/critic, dies at 54
Matthew C. Perry
Mar 4 Matthew C. Perry, Commodore of the United States Navy who opened Japan to Western influence and trade, dies of rheumatism at 63
Matthew C. Perry
- Mar 26 John Addison Thomas, American soldier and US Assistant Secretary of State, dies at 47
- Apr 28 Johannes Peter Müller, German physiologist, dies at 56
- May 4 Aimé Bonpland, French explorer and botanist, dies at 84 (date disputed)
- Jun 11 Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, Austrian statesman (b. 1773)
- Jun 12 Cornelis Smit, Dutch ship builder, dies at 74
- Jun 15 Ary Scheffer, Dutch French Romantic painter, etcher and sculptor, dies at 63
- Jun 16 John Snow, English epidemiologist, 'Father of modern epidemiology' studied cholera, dies of a stroke at 45
- Jun 17 Rani Lakshmibai, queen of Jhansi in North India, one of the leading figures of the Indian rebellion of 1857 (b. 1828)
- Jun 18 Lakshmi Bai, Indian Queen of the princely state of Jhansi in North India and leader of the Indian Mutiny (1857-58), dies at 23
- Jul 3 Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov, Russian painter (b. 1806)
- Aug 2 A Emma WT von Waldeck-Pyrmont, queen/regent, dies at 76
- Aug 14 George Combe, phrenologist, dies
- Aug 18 William Austin Burt, American scientist, surveyor and inventor who patented America's first typographer (typewriter) and the equatorial sextant, dies at 66
- Sep 5 Moritz Gottlieb Saphir, Austrian satirical writer and journalist, dies at 63
Dred Scott
Sep 17 Dred Scott, US ex-slave who sought to sue for his freedom, dies of tuberculosis at 62 or 63
Dred Scott
- Oct 10 Karl A Varnhagen von Ense, German author/poet/diplomat, dies at 73
- Oct 12 Ando Hiroshige, Japanese painter, dies at 61
- Nov 8 George Peacock, English mathematician (algebraic theory), dies at 67
- Nov 17 Robert Owen, British father of the cooperative movement (b. 1771)
- Dec 9 Robert Baldwin, Canadian politician (b. 1804)
- Dec 12 Jacques Viger, French Canadian politician, 1st mayor of Montreal (1833-36), dies at 71
- Dec 16 Richard Bright, English physician (Bright's disease/nephritis), dies at 69