1863 CE

Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the third year of the American Civil War, making the abolition of slavery in the Confederate States of America an official war goal. The signing proclaims the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's four million slaves and immediately frees 50,000 of them, with the rest freed as the Union Army advances. This event marks the start of America's Reconstruction Era. Master Lucius Tar Paint Company (Teerfarbenfabrik Meister Lucius), predecessor of Hoechst as a worldwide chemical manufacturing brand, is founded in a suburb of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Shortly after his government loses a vote of no-confidence, former premier Alfred Domett moves a resolution in Parliament that the Capital of New Zealand be moved closer to Cook Strait. This leads to the movement of the Capital to Wellington in 1865.

In the 1860s, the 19th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 1 – Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the third year of the American Civil War, making the abolition of slavery in the Confederate States of America an official war goal. The signing proclaims the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's four million slaves and immediately frees 50,000 of them, with the rest freed as the Union Army advances. This event marks the start of America's Reconstruction Era.source
  • January 1 – President Lincoln issues the second executive order of the Emancipation Proclamation, specifying ten Confederate states in which slaves were to be freed.United Statessource
  • February 24 – Arizona is organized as a United States territory.source
  • March 3 – Idaho Territory is organized by the U.S. Congress.source
  • March 18 – Joseph Allison becomes acting State President of the Orange Free State until 17 June during the absence of M.W. Pretorius.South Africasource
  • March 30 – Prince Wilhelm George of Denmark is elected at the age of 17 by the Hellenic Parliament as George, King of the Hellenes; he will reign in Greece for 50 years. He arrives in Athens on October 30 to take the throne.source
  • April 14 – The Treaty of Huế is signed between Vietnam and the French Empire.source
  • 28 April – Brewarrina, New South Wales proclaimed a township.Australiasource
  • May 8 – The Granadine Confederation becomes the United States of Colombia, under President Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera.source
  • June 20 – West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state.source
  • July 1 – Slavery is abolished in the Dutch colonies of Suriname (independent from 1975) and Curaçao and Dependencies.source
  • July 30 – American Indian Wars: Representatives of the United States and tribal leaders including Chief Pocatello (of the Shoshone) sign the Box Elder Treaty.source
  • August 1 – At the suggestion of Senator J. V. Snellman and the order of Emperor Alexander II, full rights are promised to the Finnish language by a language regulation in the Grand Duchy of Finland.source
  • August 16 – After Spain's annexation of the Dominican Republic, rebels raise the Dominican flag in Santiago to begin the Dominican Restoration War.source
  • 19 September – Convention modifying the 1852 postal convention between Belgium and the Office of the Prince of Tour and Taxis signed in Brussels.Belgiumsource
  • October 26–29 – The Resolutions of the Geneva International Conference are signed by sixteen countries meeting in Geneva agreeing to form the International Red Cross.source
  • October 26–29 – The Grand Duchy of Baden, Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom of Hanover, Grand Duchy of Hesse, Kingdom of Prussia and Kingdom of Saxony are among the signatories to the Resolutions of the Geneva International Conference leading to formation of the International Red Cross and the German Red Cross.Germanysource
  • November: Shortly after his government loses a vote of no-confidence, former premier Alfred Domett moves a resolution in Parliament that the Capital of New Zealand be moved closer to Cook Strait. This leads to the movement of the Capital to Wellington in 1865.New Zealandsource
  • December 7 — New Brunswick and Nova Scotia: the Chesapeake Affair.Canadasource
  • December 29 - Second Japanese Embassy to Europe (1863)Japansource
  • Douglas becomes the capital of the Isle of Man, after its parliament (Tynwald) moves its chambers from Castletown.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 8 – American Civil War: The Second Battle of Springfield takes place near Springfield, Missouri. Fighting for the Union, General Egbert B. Brown leads the Missouri militia to victory over Confederate General John S. Marmaduke and the 18th Arkansas Infantry.source
  • January 10–12 – 1st Battle of AcapulcoMexicosource
  • January 15 – French intervention in Mexico: French forces bombard Veracruz.source
  • January 22 – The January Uprising breaks out in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. The aim of the national movement is to liberate the Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth from Russian occupation.source
  • January 29 – American Indian Wars – Bear River Massacre: The United States Army, led by General Patrick Edward Connor, massacres Chief Bear Hunter and forces of the Shoshone, in the Idaho Territory.source
  • March 25 – U.S. Army Private Jacob Parrott, a soldier in "Andrews' Raiders", becomes the first person to receive the Medal of Honor, presented by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to six of the Raiders. Parrott is followed that day by six others.source
  • May 1–4 – American Civil War: Battle of Chancellorsville – General Robert E. Lee defeats Union forces with 13,000 Confederate casualties, among them Stonewall Jackson (fatally wounded by friendly fire), and 17,500 Union casualties.source
  • May 14 – American Civil War: Battle of Jackson, Mississippi – Union General Ulysses S. Grant defeats Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, opening the way for the siege of Vicksburg.source
  • May 28 – American Civil War: The 54th Massachusetts, the first African-American regiment, leaves Boston to fight for the Union.source
  • June 7 – French intervention in Mexico: French forces enter Mexico City.source
  • June 14 – Second Battle of Winchester – A Union garrison is defeated by the Army of Northern Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley town of Winchester, Virginia.source
  • June 17 – The Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg campaign ends inconclusively.source
  • July 1–3 – Battle of Gettysburg – Union forces under George G. Meade turn back a Confederate invasion by Robert E. Lee in the largest battle of the war (28,000 Confederate casualties, 23,000 Union).source
  • July 4 – Siege of Vicksburg – Ulysses S. Grant and the Union army capture the Confederate city Vicksburg, Mississippi, after the town surrenders following a 47-day siege.source
  • July 9 – American Civil War: The Siege of Port Hudson ends, and the Union controls the entire Mississippi River for the first time.source
  • July 13 – New York City draft riots: In New York City, opponents of conscription to the American Civil War begin 3 days of violent rioting, which will be regarded as the worst in the history of the United States with around 120 killed.source
  • July 17 – The New Zealand Wars against the Māori people resume, as British forces in New Zealand led by Duncan Cameron begin their Invasion of the Waikato.source
  • July: The beginning of the Invasion of Waikato under Duncan Alexander Cameron.New Zealandsource
  • August 8 – American Civil War: Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (Davis refuses the request upon receipt).source
  • August 15–17 – Bombardment of Kagoshima: The British Royal Navy bombards the town of Kagoshima in Japan in retribution, after the Namamugi Incident of 1862.source
  • August 15–17 - Bombardment of KagoshimaJapansource
  • August 21 – American Civil War: Battle of Lawrence – Lawrence, Kansas is attacked by William Quantrill's raiders, who kill an estimated 200 men and boys. The raid becomes infamous in the North as one of the most vicious atrocities of the Civil War.United Statessource
  • Battle of Lawrence: Lawrence, Kansas, is attacked by William Quantrill's raiders, who kill an estimated 200 men and boys. The raid becomes notorious in the North as one of the most vicious atrocities of the Civil War.source
  • September 19–20 – Battle of Chickamauga – Confederate forces turn back a Union invasion of Georgia.source
  • October 29 – American Civil War: Battle of Wauhatchie – Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant, having fought through the night, ward off a Confederate attack led by General James Longstreet. Union forces thus open a supply line into Chattanooga, Tennessee.source
  • November 18 – King Christian IX of Denmark signs the November Constitution, which declares Schleswig to be part of Denmark, regarded by the German Confederation as a violation of the London Protocol of 1852, leading to the German–Danish war of 1864.source
  • November 18 – King Christian IX of Denmark signs the November Constitution, declaring Schleswig to be part of Denmark, regarded by the German Confederation as a violation of the London Protocol of 1852, leading to the Second Schleswig War of 1864.Germanysource
  • November 19 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address, at the military cemetery dedication ceremony in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.source
  • November 25 – Battle of Missionary Ridge – At Missionary Ridge in Tennessee, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant break the siege of Chattanooga, by routing Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg.source
  • Over 2,400 volunteers are recruited to fight in the New Zealand Wars.Australiasource
  • Militia Pay Act for all males 18–60.Canadasource
  • Taiping Commander Shi Dakai surrenders to the QingChinasource

Exploration & Expansion

  • 10 January – steamer Bussorah is lost off Islay with all 33 hands on her maiden voyage.Scotlandsource
  • 17 January – Explorer John McKinlay returns home to Gawler, South Australia after an unsuccessful two-year search for the missing Burke and Wills expedition.Australiasource
  • 1 August – Clipper Marnix van Sinte-Aldegonde the first ship to sail toll-free from Antwerp to the mouth of the Scheldt.Belgiumsource
  • The American clipper ship Anglo Saxon (westbound) is captured and burned by Confederate privateer Florida off the south coast of Ireland.source
  • 4 November – Cape Western – Stellenbosch to Wellington, 27 mi.South Africasource
  • 4–7 November – the Chōshū Five, having left Japan secretly, arrive in England to study at University College London, part of the ending of sakoku.United Kingdomsource
  • David William Nash – The Pharaoh of the ExodusWalessource

Religion & Belief

  • January 4 – Founding date of the New Apostolic Church, a Christian and chiliastic church, in a schism with the Catholic Apostolic Church in Hamburg, Germany.source
  • January 4 – The New Apostolic Church, a Christian premillennial church, is established in Hamburg.Germanysource
  • February 17 – The "Committee of the Five" holds their first meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, which is regarded as the foundation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, following the lead of humanitarian businessman Henry Dunant.source
  • 21 February – James Cockle is appointed the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland.Australiasource
  • 25 February – William Thomson enthroned as Archbishop of York.United Kingdomsource
  • May 21 – The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is formed in Battle Creek, Michigan.source
  • July 30 – Valuev Circular bans the publication of religious, educational and training books in Ukrainian in the Russian Empire.source
  • 13 October – the Provostship of Aberdeen is elevated to Lord Provost.Scotlandsource
  • October 23 – Acting President Willem Cornelis Janse van Rensburg becomes President of the Executive Council of the South African Republic.South Africasource
  • November 15 – King Christian IX of Denmark succeeds his distant cousin Frederick VII, giving rise to the beginning of the Second Schleswig-Holstein crisis.source
  • 15 November – With Christian IX's accent to the Danish throne, the House of Glücksburg succeeded the House of Oldenburg.Denmarksource
  • 18-22 August – First Catholic Congress in Mechelen.Belgiumsource
  • Mesac Thomas becomes the first Bishop of Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia.Walessource

Economy & Finance

  • January 2 – Master Lucius Tar Paint Company (Teerfarbenfabrik Meister Lucius), predecessor of Hoechst as a worldwide chemical manufacturing brand, is founded in a suburb of Frankfurt am Main, Germany.source
  • February 26 – Abraham Lincoln signs the National Banking Act into law.source
  • April 2 – Southern bread riots: In Richmond, Virginia, about 5,000 people, mostly poor women, riot to protest the exorbitant price of bread.United Statessource
  • 27 July – Commercial treaty with the Austrian Empire, bringing relations into line with the free trade agreements already signed with France (1861), the United Kingdom (1862) and the Netherlands (1863).Belgiumsource
  • August 1 – The pharmaceutical brand Bayer is founded by Friedrich Bayer in Germany.source
  • 17 September – royal burgh of Linlithgow enters bankruptcy.Scotlandsource
  • 3 November – Banker wins the Melbourne Cup, in the smallest field in Cup history of six horses.Australiasource
  • December 15 – Gerard Adriaan Heineken, 22, buys the brewery 'De Hooiberg' ("The Haystack") in Amsterdam.source
  • 26 December – Solvay chemical company founded.Belgiumsource
  • Rubber goods company Metzeler is founded in Munich.Germanysource
  • Teerfarbenfabrik Meister, Lucius & Co., predecessor of Hoechst AG, founded at Höchst (Frankfurt) for the manufacture of green dye from coal tar.Germanysource
  • India Stock Certificate Act (British statute)Indiasource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • January 10 – The first section of the London Underground Railway (Paddington to Farringdon Street) opens officially. This is the world’s first ever underground railway.source
  • January 21 – Adam Opel founds Opel in Germany, originally for the manufacture of sewing machines.source
  • February 10 – Alanson Crane of Virginia patents a fire extinguisher.source
  • March 14 – Queen Victoria issues Letters Patent granting Goulburn city status, making it Australia's first inland city.source
  • 14 March – Queen Victoria issues Letters Patent granting Goulburn, New South Wales city status, making it Australia's first inland city.Australiasource
  • April 1 – The Cape Town and Green Point Tramway Company commences with the first horse-drawn trams in Cape Town from the foot of Adderley Street and out along Somerset Road to Green Point.South Africasource
  • April 16 – The first ever submarine to be propelled by mechanized (rather than human) power, Plongeur, of the French Navy, propelled by compressed air, is launched in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime.source
  • July 1 – The Kingston loop line of the London and South Western Railway opens.source
  • July 6 – Queen Victoria issues Letters Patent, annexing to South Australia the part of the colony of New South Wales that will later become the Northern Territory.source
  • August 1 – Friedrich Bayer founds the chemical manufacturing company of Bayer at Barmen for the manufacture of dyestuffs.Germanysource
  • September – The Western Railroad from Fayetteville, North Carolina, to the coal fields of Egypt, North Carolina, is completed.source
  • October 5 – The Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Rail Road starts operations in Brooklyn, New York, making it the oldest right-of-way on the New York City Subway, the largest rapid transit system in the United States, and one of the largest in the world.source
  • October 5 – The Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Rail Road starts operations in Brooklyn, New York; this is now the oldest right-of-way on the New York City Subway, the largest rapid transit system in the United States and one of the largest in the world.United Statessource
  • 22 October – The first tramway in Copenhagen begins operations. The Horse-drawn tram cars run along a single track between Sankt Annæ Plads and Frederiksberg Runddel.Denmarksource
  • December 1 – The first steam-operated passenger railway in New Zealand opens at Christchurch in South Island.source
  • December 15 – Romania opens its first mountain railway (from Anina to Oravița).source
  • Colonial Letters Patent Act (British statute)Indiasource
  • A town board is established in Wellington with three wards (Thorndon, Lambton and Te Aro) but no mayor.New Zealandsource
  • 1863–1864: Rudberg and Gillis Bildt develop a city plan for Stockholm. Albert Lindhagen is appointed head of a commission to examine the plan the following year, only to produce a plan of his own in 1866. The plan, published in 1867, results in no actions.Swedensource

Science & Discovery

  • 1 January – The Torrens title system is introduced in New South Wales with the commencement of the Real Property Act 1862.Australiasource
  • January 3 – The Thomas Nast drawing of the modern Santa Claus appears on the cover of Harper's Weekly, although Santa existed previously.United Statessource
  • 6 May – HDMS Rolf Krake is launched at Nyholm in Copenhagen.Denmarksource
  • June 27 – The Chōshū Five leave Japan secretly to study at University College London, which is part of the ending of sakoku.source
  • August 27–29 – Astronomische Gesellschaft in Heidelberg is founded, the world's second oldest astronomical society.Germanysource
  • September 5 — Louis-Victor Sicotte appointed a puisne judge of the Superior Court for Saint-Hyacinthe DistrictCanadasource
  • December 19 – Linoleum is patented in the United Kingdom.source
  • Richard Owen publishes the first description of a fossilised bird, Archaeopteryx.source
  • The Paris Observatory begins to publish weather maps.Francesource
  • Max Schultze advances cell theory with the observation that animal and vegetable protoplasm are identical.Germanysource
  • The Newdigate Prize is awarded to Thomas Llewellyn Thomas.Walessource

Health & Medicine

  • 27 May – Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum at Crowthorne receives its first patients.United Kingdomsource
  • 7 August - Johanna Hedén becomes the first licensed female surgeon by passing her exam as feldsher.Swedensource
  • The first outbreak of phylloxera on the European mainland is observed, in the vineyards of the southern Rhône region of France.source
  • The recipe for the herbal liqueur Bénédictine is devised by Alexandre Le Grand in Fécamp, France.source
  • The recipe for the herbal liqueur Bénédictine is devised by Alexandre Le Grand in Fécamp.Francesource
  • First outbreak of phylloxera on the European mainland observed in the vineyards of the southern Rhône region.Francesource
  • A scarlet fever epidemic causes over 30,000 deaths.United Kingdomsource

Crime & Justice

  • 3 January – First performance of Charles Hugo's stage adaptation of Les Misèrables, Théâtre Royal des Galeries, BrusselsBelgiumsource
  • January 7 – In the Swiss canton of Ticino, the village of Bedretto is partly destroyed and 29 killed by an avalanche.source
  • April 13 – The Winged Victory of Samothrace, one of the most significant sculptures of classical antiquity, is found in excavations on the Greek island of Samothrace by Charles Champoiseau. Made c. 190 BC, it is later shipped to the Louvre in Paris.source
  • April 20 – The Augustus of Prima Porta, one of the most significant sculptures of classical antiquity, is found in excavations in the Villa of Livia at Prima Porta, near Rome.source
  • May 17 – The opening of Salon des Refusés in Paris draws attention to paintings by avant-garde artists, notably Manet's_ Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe.source
  • July 20-August 14 - First Shimonoseki CampaignJapansource
  • 27 July – South Wales Cricket Club defeat Gentlemen of Kent at Cranbrook.Walessource
  • 10 August – The murder of Knut Grøte in Christiania.Norwaysource
  • 21 August – American clipper Anglo Saxon westbound is captured and burned by Confederate privateer Florida off Old Head of Kinsale.Irelandsource
  • 11 November – Elizabeth Scott is hanged for the murder of her husband, making her the first woman to be executed in Victoria.Australiasource
  • 25 November – the case of Byrne v Boadle introduces the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur into English tort law.United Kingdomsource
  • The Colmar Treasure, a hoard of 14th century Jewish precious metal objects, is discovered in Alsace.source
  • 19th New Brunswick Legislative AssemblyCanadasource

Disasters & Accidents

  • January 11 – In the Swiss canton of Ticino, the roof of the church of Sant'Antonio in Locarno collapses under the weight of snow, killing 47.source
  • February 7 – HMS Orpheus sinks while attempting to enter Manukau Harbour in New Zealand, with the loss of 189 lives.source
  • 7 February – The Sydney-based Royal Navy corvette HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of New Zealand claiming 189 lives.Australiasource
  • 7 February: HMS Orpheus is wrecked at the entrance to Manukau Harbour with the loss of 189 lives.New Zealandsource
  • 7 February – HMS Orpheus sinks attempting to enter Manukau Harbour in New Zealand with the loss of 189 lives.United Kingdomsource
  • March 19 – The SS Georgiana is destroyed on her maiden voyage while attempting to run the blockade into Charleston, South Carolina. The wreck is discovered exactly 102 years later, by E. Lee Spence.source
  • October 15 – The Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley, first tested in July, sinks during another test, killing Horace Lawson Hunley (its inventor) and a crew of seven.source
  • October 15 – American Civil War: The first successful submarine, the CSS Hunley sinks during a test, killing Horace Lawson Hunley (its inventor) and a crew of seven.United Statessource
  • December 8 – The Church of the Company Fire in Santiago, Chile, kills between 2,000 and 3,000 people.source
  • 8 December - Church of the Company FireChilesource

Climate & Environment

  • 23 February: A magnitude 7.5 earthquake strikes Hawke's Bay.New Zealandsource
  • July: Heavy snowfalls followed by warm rains cause sudden and extensive flooding in Central Otago, destroying numerous gold mining camps. It is estimated that at least 100 miners died in the floods and the preceding snowstorm.New Zealandsource

Culture & Society

  • January 8 – The Yorkshire County Cricket Club is founded at the Adelphi Hotel, in Sheffield, England.source
  • January 29 – Established composer Giacomo Meyerbeer presents the young Jacques Offenbach to Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, queen consort of Prussia.Germanysource
  • January 31 – Jules Verne's first adventure novel, Five Weeks in a Balloon (Cinq semaines en ballon), is published in Paris.source
  • March 10 – Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII of the United Kingdom) marries Princess Alexandra of Denmark (later Queen Alexandra).source
  • April 21 – Ayyam-i butun: Bahá'u'lláh begins a 12-day stay in the Najibiyyih gardens, Baghdad (later known as the Garden of Ridván) during which he declares his station as He whom God shall make manifest. This date is celebrated in the Baháʼí Faith as the festival of Ridván.source
  • 1 May: The Evening Star, a Dunedin newspaper, publishes its first issue. The paper continued until 1979.New Zealandsource
  • May 23 – Ferdinand Lassalle founds the Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein (General German Workers' Association, ADAV), the first socialist workers party in Germany.source
  • May 31 – The first Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe horse race is held.source
  • 6 June – Frederick VII receives a Greek deputation at Christiansborg.Denmarksource
  • June 12 – The Arts Club is founded by Charles Dickens, Frederic Leighton and others in Hanover Square, London.source
  • June 13 – Samuel Butler's dystopian article "Darwin among the Machines" is published (under the pen name Cellarius) in The Press newspaper in Christchurch, New Zealand; it will be incorporated into his novel Erewhon (1872).source
  • August 3 – Otago Boys' High School is founded in New Zealand.source
  • August 26 – The Swedish-language liberal newspaper Helsingfors Dagblad proposes a blue-and-white cross as the flag of Finland.source
  • September 16 – Robert College of Istanbul–Turkey, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.United Statessource
  • September 30 – Georges Bizet's opera Les pêcheurs de perles debuts, at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris.source
  • October 3 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln proclaims a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November.source
  • November 4 – Hector Berlioz's opera Les Troyens is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris.source
  • December 6 – C.S.A.C. Fides Quadrat Intellectum, the First Reformed student society, is founded at the Theologische Universiteit Kampen (Broederweg), in Kampen, the Netherlands.source
  • Guild of Saint Thomas and Saint Luke for the study and promotion of Christian art foundedBelgiumsource
  • 22nd General Assembly of Nova ScotiaCanadasource
  • Syed Ahmad Khan set up Victoria School at Ghazipur, precursor to Aligarh MovementIndiasource
  • Tolstoy took five years (1863–1869) to complete his epic.Russiasource

Births

  • January 1 – Pierre de Coubertin, French founder of the modern Olympic Games (died 1937)source
  • January 12 – Swami Vivekananda, Indian Hindu religious leader (died 1902)source
  • January 17 – David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1945)source
  • January 17 – Constantin Stanislavski, Russian theatre practitioner, founder of modern realistic acting (died 1938)source
  • February 23 - Katsusaburō Yamagiwa, pathologistJapansource
  • March 12 – Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian writer, war hero and politician (died 1938)source
  • March 27 – Henry Royce, English automobile pioneer (died 1933)source
  • April 29 – William Randolph Hearst, American newspaper publisher (died 1951)source
  • June 16 – Francisco León de la BarraMexicosource
  • July 30 – Henry Ford, American automobile manufacturer, industrialist (died 1947)source
  • August 1 – Gaston Doumergue, President of France during the Third Republic (died 1937)source
  • August 17 – Gene Stratton-Porter, American author, screenwriter and naturalist (died 1924)source
  • August 18 – Khazʽal Ibn Jabir, Sheikh of Mohammerah.Iransource
  • 28 September – Carlos I of Portugal, king (died 1908).Portugalsource
  • October 16 – Austen Chamberlain, English politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (died 1937)source
  • November 30 – Andrés Bonifacio, Filipino revolutionary leader (died 1897)source
  • December 12 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (died 1944)source
  • December 18 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (k. 1914)source

Deaths

  • May 7 – Earl Van Dorn, American Confederate general (murdered) (born 1820)source
  • May 10 – Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, American Confederate general (died of wounds) (born 1824)source
  • 28 May: Richard Davis, missionary, meteorologistNew Zealandsource
  • June 7 – Antonio Valero de Bernabé, Latin American liberator (born 1790)source
  • June 9 – Dost Mohammad Khan, Emir of Kabul, King of Kandahar (born 1793)source
  • July 1 – John F. Reynolds, American general (killed in action) (born 1820)source
  • July 10 – Clement Clarke Moore, American writer and teacher (born 1779)source
  • July 18 – Robert Gould Shaw, American Union Army officer (killed in action) (born 1837)source
  • July 26 – Sam Houston, first President of the Republic of Texas (born 1793)source
  • August 13 – Eugène Delacroix, French painter (born 1798)source
  • September 20 – Jacob Grimm, German folklorist (born 1785)source
  • September 20 – Jacob Grimm, folklorist (born 1785)Germanysource
  • November 13 – Ignacio Comonfort, President of Mexico 1855-1857 (killed in action) (born 1812)source
  • November 13 – Ignacio Comonfort, President of Mexico 1855-1857 (born 1812)Mexicosource
  • November 15 – King Frederick VII of Denmark (born 1808)source
  • December 2 – Jane Pierce, 15th First Lady of the United States (born 1806)source
  • December 24 – William Makepeace Thackeray, British novelist (born 1811)source
  • Shi Dakai, executed in ChengduChinasource