- Jan 1 James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist and folklorist (The Golden Bough), born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1941)
Alice Mary Robertson (1854-1931)
Jan 2 American educator, social worker and 2nd woman in US Congress, born in Tullahassee Mission, Indian Territory
- Jan 6 Sherlock Holmes, British fictional detective (as created by Arthur Conan Doyle) (d. 1891) date of death disputed
- Jan 9 Jennie Jerome, American society beauty and mother of Winston Churchill (d. 1921)
- Jan 10 Heinrich Köselitz [Peter Gast], German composer, born in Annaberg-Buchholz, Kingdom of Saxony (d. 1918)
- Jan 18 Thomas A. Watson, American inventor, assistant to Alexander Graham Bell in inventing the telephone, born in Salem, Massachusetts (d. 1934) [1]
- Jan 22 Luke Short, American Old West gunslinger and saloon owner, born in Polk County, Arkansas (d. 1893)
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
80-89
Over 90