- Oct 2 Patrick Geddes, Scottish biologist and town planner who coined the term conurbation, born in Ballater, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (d. 1932)
- Oct 3 William Crawford Gorgas, American physician and 22nd Surgeon-General of the U.S. Army (help cure yellow fever), born in Toulminville, Alabama (d. 1920)
- Oct 7 Christiaan R de Wet, South African rebel leader, politician and general in the Boer War, born in Smithfield, Orange Free State (d. 1922)
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Oct 16 Irish playwright and novelist (Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray), born in Dublin, Ireland
- Oct 18 Billy Murdoch, Australian cricket batsman (18 Tests Australia, 1 England; 2 x 100s; NSW, Sussex CCC, London CCC), born in Bendigo, Australia (d. 1911)
- Oct 18 Charles Scribner II, American magazine and book publisher, born in New York City (d. 1930)
- Oct 18 Salomon August Andrée, Swedish engineer, balloonist and polar explorer, born in Gränna, Sweden (d. 1897)
- Oct 20 Alphonse Allais, French humorist and author (Pass the Bile), born in Honfluer, France (d. 1905)
Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891)
Oct 20 French poet and adventurer (The Drunken Boat, Illuminations), born in Charleville, France
- Oct 24 Hendrik Willem Bakhuis Roozeboom, Dutch chemist (Heterogenen Gleichgewichte), born in Alkmaar, Netherlands (d. 1907)
- Oct 26 August Kiehl, Dutch actor (Op hoop van zegen, De kribbebijter), born in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands (d. 1938)
- Oct 26 C. W. Post, American manufacturer of breakfast cereals, born in Springfield, Illinois (d. 1914)
- Oct 27 Sir William Alexander Smith, Scottish founder of the Boys' Brigade, born in Pennyland House, Thurso, Scotland (d. 1914)
- Oct 31 Adolf Erman, German Egyptologist (Grammar of Ancient Egypt), born in Berlin (d. 1937)