* 1865 – Max Nettlau, German anarchist and historian ( d. 1944 )

In 1865, the German physicist Rudolf Clausius, in his Mechanical Theory of Heat, suggested that the principles of thermochemistry, e. g. the heat evolved in combustion reactions, could be applied to the principles of thermodynamics.

German History and Global Enterprise: BASF: The History of a Company ( 2004 ) covers 1865 to 2000

* 1813 – Otto Ludwig, German writer and critic ( d. 1865 )

* 1865 – Erich von Drygalski, German geographer, geophysicist, and polar scientist ( d. 1949 )

* 1821 – Heinrich Barth, German explorer ( d. 1865 )

The population of the German Confederation ( excluding Austria ) grew 60 % from 1815 to 1865, from 21, 000, 000 to 34, 000, 000.

* 1865 – Philipp Scheidemann, German politician, 10th Chancellor of Germany ( d. 1939 )

* 1949 – Erich von Drygalski, German geographer, geophysicist, and polar scientist ( b. 1865 )

A German Requiem was partially inspired by his mother's death in 1865 ( at which time he composed a funeral march that was to become the basis of Part Two, Denn alles Fleisch ), but it also incorporates material from a symphony which he started in 1854 but abandoned following Schumann's suicide attempt.

* 1791 – Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer ( d. 1865 )

It was started by German immigrants in 1853 and the present church building was completed in 1865.

St. Boniface Church, Chicago was established by German immigrants in 1865, with the current building dating from 1903.

In 1865, English archaeologist Frank Calvert excavated trial trenches in a field he had bought from a local farmer at Hisarlık, and in 1868, Heinrich Schliemann, wealthy German businessman and archaeologist, also began excavating in the area after a chance meeting with Calvert in Çanakkale.

* December 20 – Erich Ludendorff, German general ( b. 1865 )

* February 1 – Ernst Troeltsch, German theologian ( b. 1865 ).

* February 11 – Otto Ludwig, German writer ( d. 1865 )

By 1865, the German physicist Rudolf Clausius had shown that this equivalence principle needed amendment.

Erich Dagobert von Drygalski ( February 9, 1865 – January 10, 1949 ) was a German geographer, geophysicist and polar scientist, born in Königsberg, Province of Prussia.

It was initially adopted by the German states in 1865, ( from which point onwards till the middle of WWI approximately 5 % of every bayonet style was issued with a sawback version ) Great Britain in 1869, Belgium in 1868 and Switzerland in 1878, ( who introduced their last model in 1914 ).

In 1865 a trading captain acting on behalf of the German firm of J. C. Godeffroy und Sohn obtained a 25-year lease to the eastern islet of Niuoku of Nukulaelae Atoll.

* Ernst Gaupp ( 1865 – 1916 ), German anatomist

German sculptor August Kiss ( 1802 – 1865 ) was born in Paprotzan, Prussia, which is now situated within modern day Tychy.

On 23 July 1865, he became known to the German geographer August Petermann at a meeting of the " Geographic Society " in Frankfurt.

* 1793 – Charles Lock Eastlake, English painter ( d. 1865 )

* 1865 – Charles Spencelayh, English painter ( d. 1958 )

* March 7 – Akseli Gallén-Kallela, Finnish painter ( b. 1865 )

* May 19 – Kristjan Raud, Estonian painter and drawer ( b. 1865 )

* July 12 – Robert Henri, American painter ( b. 1865 )

* Constant Troyon ( 1810 – 1865 ), painter

* Philip Eustace Stretton ( 1865 – 1919 ), British painter

* Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle ( 1778 – 1865 ), Franco-English Victorian painter

Suzanne Valadon ( 23 September 1865 – 7 April 1938 ) was a French painter born Marie-Clémentine Valadon at Bessines-sur-Gartempe, Haute-Vienne, France.

Pekka Halonen ( 23 September 1865 – 1 December 1933 ) was a painter of Finnish landscapes and people.

Interior with Portraits, 1865, Smithsonian Museum of American ArtThe first true genre painter in the United States was German immigrant John Lewis Krimmel, who learning from Wilkie and Hogarth, produced gently humorous scenes of life in Philadelphia from 1812 – 21.

* François Joseph Heim ( 1787 – 1865 ), painter

* January 19-Valentin Serov, Russian painter ( b. 1865 )

* December 8-Tony Robert-Fleury, painter ( born 1865 )

* December 29 – Félix Vallotton, painter and graphic artist ( b. 1865 )

* Suzanne Valadon, ( 1865 – 1938 ) painter

The Raphael Cartoons are seven large cartoons for tapestries, belonging to the British Royal Collection but since 1865 on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, designed by the High Renaissance painter Raphael in 1515 – 16 and showing scenes from the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles.

* January 23-James Wilson Morrice, painter ( b. 1865 )

* Warren B. Davis ( 1865 – 1928 ), American painter and illustrator

Pelotas is the birthplace and home of many nationally famous people, like the regional writer João Simões Lopes Neto ( 1865 – 1916 ), author of Cancioneiro Guasca ( 1910 ), Contos Gauchescos ( 1912 ) and Lendas do Sul ( 1913 ); Hipólito José da Costa, the founder of the printing press in Brazil ; the painter Leopoldo Gotuzzo, whose works have surpassed the borders of Pelotas, winning awards and expositions even in Europe ; and Antônio Caringi ( 1905 – 1981 ), an internationally-recognized sculptor.

Henry John Boddington ( 1811 – 11 April 1865 ) was an English landscape painter.

Constant Troyon ( August 28, 1810-February 21, 1865 ), French painter, was born in Sèvres, near Paris, where his father was connected with the famous manufactory of porcelain.

James Wilson Morrice ( August 10, 1865 Montreal – January 23, 1924 Tunis ) was a significant Canadian landscape painter.

Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (; January 19, 1865 – December 5, 1911 ) was a Russian painter, and one of the premier portrait artists of his era.