November 1 – The first issue of Billboard magazine is published in Cincinnati, Ohio by William Donaldson and James Hennegan. Initially, it covers the advertising and bill posting industry, and is at the time known as Billboard Advertising.
April 14 – Zebulon Baird Vance, Confederate military officer in the American Civil War, the 37th and 43rd Governor of North Carolina, U.S. Senator (born 1830)
April 15 – James Harvey, U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1874 to 1877 (born 1833)
October 15 – Macon Bolling Allen, first African American to become a lawyer, argue before a jury, and hold a judicial position in the United States (born 1816).