- Dec 2 Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau, French politician (29th Prime Minister of France), born in Nantes, France (d. 1904)
- Dec 6 Henryk Jarecki, Polish composer, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1918)
- Dec 19 Ambrose Swasey, American mechanical engineer and inventor of telescopes, born in Exeter, England (d. 1937) [1]
- Dec 22 Andreas Hallén, Swedish composer, born in Gothenburg, Sweden (d. 1925)
- Dec 31 Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, Dutch socialist politician (1st Socialist MP in parliament), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1919)
- Dec 31 Richard Kleinmichel, German pianist, composer (Manon), and arranger (Wagner operas for piano), born in Posen, Prussian Grand Duchy of Posen (now Poznań, Poland) (d. 1901)
Greatest Generation
Silent Generation
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Generation X
Millennial
Generation Z