- Jan 23 Eugène Marin Labiche, French playwright (The Italian Straw Hat), dies at 72
- Jan 29 Edward Lear, poet/author, dies at 75
- Jan 30 Asa Gray, American botanist (Flora of North America), dies at 77
- Jan 31 John Bosco, Italian priest, youth worker, educator, founder of the Salesian Society, dies at 72
- Feb 5 Anton Mauve, Dutch realist painter and cousin of Vincent Van Gogh, dies at 49
- Feb 8 Robert H. Anderson, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army, dies at 52
- Feb 11 William Kelly, American inventor (pneumatic process of steelmaking), dies at 76
- Feb 13 Jean Baptiste Lamy, 1st Archbishop of Santa Fe (1853-85), dies at 73
- Mar 4 Amos Bronson Alcott, US theory/poet (Table Talk), dies at 88
Louisa May Alcott
Mar 6 Louisa May Alcott, American author (Little Women), dies of a stroke at 55
Louisa May Alcott
- Mar 9 William I, King of Prussia (1861-71) 1st German Emperor (1871-88), dies at 90
- Mar 12 Henry Bergh, Founder of American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), dies at 76
- Mar 16 Hippolyte Carnot, French statesman, dies at 86
- Mar 24 Vsevolod Garshin, Russian author (b. 1855)
- Mar 26 Barghash bin Said, second Sultan of Zanzibar (b. 1837)
- Apr 6 Thomas Green Clemson, American politician and founder of Clemson University, dies at 80
Matthew Arnold
Apr 15 Matthew Arnold, English poet, dies at 65
Matthew Arnold
- Apr 16 Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist and chemist, dies at 42
- Apr 18 Roscoe Conkling, American politician (U.S. Senator from New York 1867-81), dies at 58
- May 17 Giacomo Zanella, Italian poet (b. 1820)
- Jun 12 Carel Vosmaer, art historian/poet/editor (Neth Spectator), dies at 62
- Jun 15 Emperor Friedrich III of Germany (b. 1831)
- Jul 4 Theodor Storm, German judge and author (Immensee, Der Schimmelreiter), dies at 70
- Jul 19 Yamaoka Tesshū, Japanese swordsman and master of kendo, dies at 52
- Jul 20 Henri Braekeleer, Flemish painter, dies at 48
- Jul 21 Matthias J Scheeben, German theologist (Natur und Gnade), dies at 53
- Jul 23 Williams Carter Wickham, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 67
- Aug 9 Charles Cros, French inventor and poet (Le Hareng Saur), dies at 45
Charles Crocker
Aug 14 Charles Crocker, American business tycoon & railroad executive (Central Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific Railroad), dies at 65
Charles Crocker
- Aug 15 Carter L. Stevenson, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 70
John Pemberton
Aug 16 John Pemberton, American pharmacist (inventor of Coca-Cola), dies of stomach cancer at 55
John Pemberton
- Aug 17 James Jameson, Scottish heir to Jameson Whisky and explorer who paid for a 10 yr old girl to be eaten in the Congo, dies of a fever at 32
- Aug 19 Spencer F Baird, US biologist (Wood's Hole Station), dies at 65
- Aug 21 Simon Vissering, Dutch minister of Finance (1879-81), dies at 70
- Aug 24 Rudolph J E Clausius, German physicist (thermodynamics), dies
Mary Ann Nichols
Aug 31 Mary Ann Nichols, a 42-year-old prostitute found stabbed to death in London, 1st of at least five murders by Jack the Ripper
Mary Ann Nichols
- Sep 8 Annie Chapman, English victim of the notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper, murdered at about 48
- Sep 9 Jan van Swieten, Dutch governor of West-Sumatra, dies at 71
- Sep 11 Domingo F Sarmiento, President of Argentina (1868-74), dies at 77
- Sep 30 Catherine Eddowes, English woman murdered by Jack the Ripper at 45
- Sep 30 Elizabeth Stride "Long Liz", English woman murdered by Jack the Ripper at 45
- Oct 8 Jules J baron d'Anethan, Belgian Minister of Justice, dies at 85
- Oct 16 John Wentworth, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1815)
- Oct 19 Amaat Vyncke, Flemish missionary/founder (Flemish Wind), dies at 38
- Nov 1 Nikolai Przhevalsky, Russian explorer (b. 1838)
- Nov 10 George Bingham, British 3rd Lord Lucan (Charge of the Light Brigade), dies at 88
- Nov 20 Nathaniel Currier, American lithographer (Currier & Ives), dies at 75
- Dec 2 Namık Kemal, Turkish writer and journalist (Vatan), dies at 47
- Dec 3 Carl Zeiss, German scientific instrument and lens maker (Carl Zeiss AG), dies at 72
- Dec 31 Samson Raphael Hirsch, German Orthodox rabbi and intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism, dies at 80