- Jan 2 Mendele Moykher Sforim [Sholem Abramovich], Lithuanian-Jewish writer (Dos Vinshfingeril (The Wishing Ring)), born in Kapyl, Minsk Governorate. Russian Empire (d. 1917)
- Jan 2 Queen Emma of Hawaii, Consort of King Kamehameha IV (d. 1885)
- Jan 3 Sakamoto Ryōma, Japanese samurai and anti shogunate revolutionary, born in Kōchi, Shikoku, Japan (d. 1867)
- Jan 8 Fanny Jackson Coppin, African-American educator andmissionary, born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1913)
- Jan 8 Lawrence Alma Tadema, Dutch-British painter, husband of Laura Epps, born in Dronryp, the Netherlands (d. 1912)
- Jan 10 Charles Ingalls, father of American author Laura Ingalls Wilder, born in Cuba, New York (d. 1902)
- Jan 14 Henri Fantin-Latour, French painter, born in Grenoble, France (d. 1904)
- Jan 14 Hugh Judson Kilpatrick, American Major General (Union Army), born in Wantage Township, New Jersey (d. 1881)
- Jan 16 King Francis II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1894)
- Jan 17 Jose White Lafitte, Cuban-French violinist and composer, born in Matanzas, Cuba (d. 1918)
- Jan 27 Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian writer (word masochism derived from his name), born in Lemberg, the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austrian Empire (d. 1895)
- Jan 29 Benjamin Franklin Potts, American lawyer, politician, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Fox Township, Ohio (d. 1887)
- Jan 29 James Meech Warner, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Middlebury, Vermont (d. 1897)
- Jan 31 Henryk Szulc, Polish composer, born in Poland (d. 1903)
- Feb 1 Emil Hartmann, Danish organist and composer (Towards The Light), born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1898)
- Feb 16 Benjamin Edward Woolf, British-American violinist, composer (The Mighty Dollar), playwright, and journalist, born in London, England (d. 1901)
- Feb 17 Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish poet (d. 1870)
- Feb 18 Ramakrishna [Gadadhar Chatterji], Indian mystic and yogi (preached unity of religions), born in Kamarpukur, British India (d. 1886)
- Feb 21 (Clement) Léo Delibes, French romantic composer (Coppélia; Sylvia; Le roi l'a dit; Lakmé), born in Saint-Germain-du-Val, France (d. 1891)
- Feb 22 Eduard Wachmann, Romanian composer, conductor and university professor, born in Bucharest, Wallachia (d. 1908)
- Feb 24 Winslow Homer, American painter (Gulfstream), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1910)
- Feb 29 Dickey Pearce, American baseball shortstop (pioneer shortstop position; introduced bunt) and manager (NY Mutuals, St. Louis Brown Stockings), born in Brooklyn, NY (d. 1908)
- Mar 2 Henry Billings Brown, American jurist (U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1891-1906), born in Lee, Massachusetts (d. 1913)
- Mar 5 Charles Goodnight, American cattle rancher (d. 1929)
- Mar 8 Matthew Calbraith Butler, American Major General (Confederate Army) and politician, born in Greenville, South Carolina (d. 1909)
- Mar 15 Henrique Alves de Mesquita, Brazilian composer, conductor and educator, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (d. 1906)
- Mar 16 Andrew Smith Hallidie, American inventor of the cable car, born in London (d. 1900)
- Mar 20 Edward Poynter, British painter, President of the Royal Academy, born in Paris, France (d. 1919)
- Mar 20 Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American military officer and politician (US Representative from New York 1881-83), born in Delhi, New York (d. 1886)
- Mar 21 Jesús de Monasterio, Spanish violinist, conductor, composer, and pedagogue (Madrid Conservatory, 1857-1903), born in Potes, Cantabria, Spain (d. 1903)
- Mar 28 Frederick Pabst, German-American brewer (Pabst Brewing Company), born in Mönchpfiffel-Nikolausrieth, Germany (d. 1904)
- Mar 30 Karl Freiherr von Stumm-Halberg, German industrialist and politician (richest person in German Empire), born in Saarbrücken, Prussia (d. 1901)
- Apr 4 (Charles) Jerome Hopkins, American composer, pianist, critic, and musical education advocate, born in Burlington, Vermont (d. 1898)
- Apr 24 Jeltje de Bosch Kemper, Dutch feminist, born in Amsterdam (d. 1916)
- Apr 26 Erminnie Adelle Platt, American anthropologist (first woman to specialize in ethnographic field work), born in Marcellus shale, New York (d. 1886)
- May 8 Bryan Morel Thomas, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Milledgeville, Georgia (d. 1905)
- May 14 James Patrick Major, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1877)
- May 17 Sir Norman Lockyer, English physicist, co-founder of helium gas, founder and editor of "Nature" magazine, born in Rugby, Warwickshire (d. 1920)
- May 17 Virginie Loveling, Flemish writer (Sophie) and poet, born in Nevele, East Flanders, Belgium (d. 1923)
- May 17 Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian World Chess Champion (1866-94), born in Prague, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (d. 1900)
- May 18 Sydir Vorobkevych, Ukrainian composer, poet, newspaper editor, and Orthodox priest, born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine (d. 1903)
- May 24 Joseph Rowntree, British social reformer, born in York, England (d. 1925)
- May 27 Edwin Gray Lee, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Shepherdstown, Virginia (d. 1870)
- May 27 Jay Gould, American railroad developer and speculator, born in Roxbury, New York (d. 1892)
- May 28 Alexander Mitscherlich, German chemist and son of Eilhard Mitscherlich, born in Berlin (d. 1918)
- Jun 9 Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, 1st qualified woman physician in Britain, first woman mayor (Aldeburgh), born in London (d. 1917)
- Jun 10 Yamaoka Tesshū, Japanese swordsman and master of kendo, born in Tokyo (d. 1888)
- Jun 14 Thomas Wilberforce Egan, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in New York City (d. 1887)
- Jul 2 Henry Eugene Davies, American writer, public official, lawyer, and Major General (Union Army), born in New York City (d. 1894)
- Jul 8 Joseph Chamberlain, British statesman (Secretary of State for the Colonies), born in Camberwell, England (d. 1914)
- Jul 9 Camille de Renesse, Belgian nobleman and entrepreneur, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1904)
- Jul 11 Antônio Carlos Gomes, Brazilian opera composer, first from outside of Europe with successful career in Italy, born in Campinas, São Paulo, Empire of Brazil (d. 1896)
- Jul 20 Thomas Allbutt, English physiologist (Diseases of the Heart), born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire (d. 1925)
- Jul 24 Jan Bloch, Polish military theorist and peace activist, born in Radom, Poland (d. 1902)
- Aug 7 Evander M. Law, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Darlington, South Carolina (d. 1920)
- Aug 10 José Teodor Vilar, Spanish organist and composer (La Rambla de les Flors), born in Barcelona, Spain (d. 1905)
- Aug 11 Cato M. Guldberg, Norwegian mathematician and chemist (law of mass action), born in Christiania, Norway (d. 1902)
- Aug 11 Warren Brown, American politician (d. 1919)
- Aug 14 Walter Besant, English writer and philanthropist (Rebel Queen), born in Portsmouth, Hampshire (d. 1901)
- Aug 16 John Farmer, English composer, born in Nottingham (d. 1901)
- Aug 22 Archibald M Willard, American artist (Spirit of '76), born in Bedford, Ohio (d. 1918)
- Aug 23 Marie Henriette of Austria, Queen of the Belgians, born in Buda Castle, Budapest, Hungary (d. 1902)
- Aug 25 Bret Harte, American author (Outcasts of Poker Flat), born in Albany, New York (d. 1902)
- Sep 5 Justiniano Borgoño, President of Peru (1894), born in Trujillo, Peru (d. 1921)
- Sep 7 August Toepler, German physicist, born in Brühl bei Bonn, Germany (d. 1912)
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836-1908)
Sep 7 British Prime Minister (Liberal: 1905-08), born in Glasgow, Scotland
- Sep 10 Joseph Wheeler, American Major General (Confederacy/Cavalry/Army of Tennessee), born in Augusta, Georgia (d. 1906)
- Sep 10 Karl Merz, German-American composer (Brainard's Musical World), born in Bernsheim, Germany (d. 1890)
- Sep 11 Fitz Hugh Ludlow, American author (The Hasheesh Eater), born in New York City (d. 1870)
- Sep 13 John McCausland, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1927)
- Sep 14 Abraham Pieter Cornelis van Karnebeek, Dutch Foreign Minister (Liberal, 1918-27), born in Amsterdam (d. 1925)
- Sep 28 Thomas Crapper, English plumber, bathroom fittings seller who contributed to sanitary engineering, baptized in Thorne, Yorkshire (d. 1910) [1]
- Oct 4 Juliette Adam, French author (Salon/Nouvelle Revue) and feminist, born in Verberie, Oise, France (d. 1936)
- Oct 5 George Washington Gordon, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Pulaski, Tennessee (d. 1911)
- Oct 15 James Tissot, French artist, born in Nantes, France (d. 1902)
- Oct 15 Thomas Lafayette Rosser, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Campbell County, Virginia (d. 1910)
- Oct 22 Mungo Park, Scottish golfer (British Open 1874), born in Inveresk, East Lothian (d. 1904)
- Oct 29 James Ritty, American saloon owner and inventor (mechanical cash register), born in Dayton, Ohio (d. 1918) [1]
- Nov 4 Henry J. Lutcher, American businessman and sawmill partner, born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania (d. 1912)
- Nov 6 Francis Ellingwood Abbot, American theologian (Scientific Theism), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1903)
- Nov 8 Milton Bradley, American business magnate and game manufacturer (The Game of Life), born in Vienna, Maine (d. 1911)
- Nov 11 Thomas Bailey Aldrich, American editor and writer (The Story of a Bad Boy), born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (d. 1907)
- Nov 15 Pierce M. B. Young, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Spartanburg, South Carolina (d. 1896)
- Nov 16 David Kalākaua, King of the Hawaiian Islands (1874-91), born in Honolulu, Kingdom of Hawaii (d. 1891)
W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911)
Nov 18 English dramatist, poet librettist remembered for his comic operas with Arthur Sullivan (The Pirates of Penzance; H.M.S. Pinafore; The Mikdao), born in London
- Nov 20 John Thomas Croxton, American attorney, diplomat, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Paris, Kentucky, (d. 1874)
- Nov 30 Lord Frederick Cavendish, English politician who was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland in May 1882 and murdered only hours after his arrival in Dublin, born in Compton Place, Eastbourne, Sussex (d. 1882)
- Dec 13 Franz von Lenbach, German painter, born in Schrobenhausen, Bavaria (d. 1904)
- Dec 15 Edmond Picard, French-Belgian lawyer and writer (La forge Roussel), born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1924)
- Dec 19 Maria Sanford, American pioneering educator and professor, born in Saybrook, Connecticut (d. 1920)
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