1905

align="center" colspan=2 | Years:
1902 1903 1904 - 1905 - 1906 1907 1908

align="center" colspan=2 | Decades:
1870s 1880s 1890s - 1900s - 1910s 1920s 1930s

align="center" | Centuries:
19th century - 20th century - 21st century

1905 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar).

Events

January-April

January 22 - Massacre of Russian demonstrators at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, one of the triggers of the abortive Russian Revolution of 1905.
January 26 - The Cullinan Diamond is found near Pretoria, South Africa at the Premier Mine.
February 23 - Foundation of Rotary International
March 1 - Australian Conservative leader Richard Butler takes office as Premier of South Australia
March 3 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia agrees to create an elected assembly (the Duma).
March 5 - Russian troops begin to retreat from Mukden, Manchuria after losing 100,000 troops in 3 days.
March 10 Japanese capture of Mukden (now Shenyang) completes rout of Russian armies in Manchuria.
March 10 ? Cassie Chadwick sentenced for 14 years in Cleveland for fraud
March 17 - Albert Einstein publishes his paper "On a heuristic viewpoint concerning the production and transformation of light" in which he explains the photoelectric effect using the notion of light quanta
March 31 German emperor William II asserts German equality with France in Morocco, triggering Tangier (or First Morocco) Crisis.
April 4 - In India, an earthquake near Kangra, kills 20,000.
April - Albert Einstein works on the special theory of relativity as well as the theory of Brownian motion

May-October

May 11 - Albert Einstein submits his doctoral dissertation "On the Motion of Small Particles..." where he explains the Brownian motion
May 13 - Mata Hari debuts in Paris
May 15 - Las Vegas, Nevada is founded when 110 acres (0.4 km²), in what later would become downtown, are auctioned off.
May 27-28 - Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Tsushima - The Japanese fleet under Admiral Heihachiro Togo destroys Russian fleet under Admiral Zinovi Petrovich Rozhdestvenski in this two day battle
June 7 - The Norwegian Parliament declares the union with Sweden dissolved.
June 14 ? Mutiny in the Russian ironclad Potemkin
June 15 - Princess Margaret of Connaught marries Gustav, Crown Prince of Sweden.
June 30 - Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" where he discovers special relativity
July 6 - Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the second time.
August 13 - Norway holds referendum in favour of dissolving the union with Sweden.
September 1 - The Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta are established from the southwestern part of the Northwest Territories.
September 5 - Russo-Japanese War: Treaty of Portsmouth signed - In New Hampshire a treaty mediated by US President Theodore Roosevelt, is signed by victor Japan and defeated party Russia. In the agreement, Russia cedes the island of Sakhalin and port and rail rights in Manchuria to Japan.
October 3 - HMS Dreadnought is laid down, revolutionizing battleship design and triggering a naval arms race.
October 26 - Sweden agreed to the repeal of the union with Norway.
October 30 - Tsar Nicholas II is forced to grant Russia's first constitution, conceding a national assembly (Duma) with limited powers.
70 Onion Johnnies die when the steamer Hilda sinks off France.

November-December

November 18 - Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.
November 28 - Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Fin in Dublin as a political party whose goal was the independence for all of Ireland.
December 30 - Bomb kills Frank Steunenberg, ex-governor of Idaho. Case leads to a trial against leaders of the Western Federation of Miners

Unknown dates

Einstein publishes four papers. In particular, he formulates the theory of special relativity and explains the photoelectric effect by quantization. 1905 is regarded as his "miracle year".
The Butcharts begin working on their Japanese Garden addition to their Butchart Gardens.
The title Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is officially recognized by King Edward VII.
Path Frres colors black and white films by machine.
Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer banned from Brooklyn Public Library for "bad example"
Druidic rituals begin in Stonehenge
Norway gains independence from Sweden
Albert Einhorn introduces novocaine
The first U-boat