- Dec 1 Agathe Backer Grøndahl, Norwegian pianist, composer, and teacher, born in Holmestrand, Norway (d. 1907)
- Dec 2 Deacon White, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher (NL batting champion, RBI leader 1877; Boston Red Stockings), born in Caton, New York (d. 1939)
- Dec 7 Solomon Schechter, Moldavian-American Talmudic scholar and rabbi, born in Focşani, Moldavia (d. 1915)
- Dec 9 George Grossmith, British actor, comedian and writer (The Diary of a Nobody, A Society Clown), born in London, England (d. 1912)
- Dec 16 Augusta Holmes, Irish-French pianist and composer, born in Paris, France (d. 1903)
- Dec 17 Émile Faguet, French writer and critic (d. 1916)
- Dec 30 John Peter Altgeld, German-American politician (Governor of Illinois, 1893-97), known for pardoning of Haymarket anarchists, born in Selters, Duchy of Nassau (now Germany) (d. 1902)
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