2005

Millennium:	3rd millennium
Centuries:	20th century; 21st century ; 22nd century;
Decades:	1980s; 1990s; 2000s ; 2010s; 2020s;
Years:	2002; 2003; 2004; 2005 ; 2006; 2007; 2008;

2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2005th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 5th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 6th year of the 2000s decade.

2005 was designated as:

International Year for Sport and Physical Education
International Year of Microcredit

The year 2005 was the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995–2005).

Events

January

January 5 – Eris, a dwarf planet with the greatest density in the Solar System, is discovered by a team led by Michael E. Brown using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.^[1]
January 12 – Deep Impact is launched from Cape Canaveral with the purpose of studying the comet Tempel 1.^[2]
January 14 – The Huygens spacecraft lands on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.^[3]

February

February 10 – North Korea announces that it possesses nuclear weapons as a protection against the hostility it feels from the United States.^[4]
February 14 – Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri is assassinated, along with 21 others, by a suicide bomber in Beirut.^[5]
February 16 – The Kyoto Protocol officially goes into effect.^[6]

March

March 14 – The People's Republic of China ratifies an anti-secession law, aimed at preventing Taiwan from declaring independence.^[7]
March 24 – The President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev is overthrown following mass anti-government demonstrations and flees the country.^[8]
March 28 – The 8.6 Mw Nias–Simeulue earthquake shakes northern Sumatra with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong), leaving 915–1,314 people dead and 340–1,146 injured.

April

April 2 – Pope John Paul II dies; over 4 million people travel to the Vatican to mourn him.^[9]^[10]^[11] Pope Benedict XVI succeeds him on April 19, becoming the 265th pope.^[12]^[13]
April 9 – Charles, Prince of Wales marries Camilla Parker Bowles in a civil ceremony at Windsor's Guildhall. Camilla acquires the title Duchess of Cornwall.^[14]
April 26 – Syria withdraws the last of its military garrison from Lebanon, ending its 29-year military occupation of the country.^[15]
April 27 – The Superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse.^[16]

May

May 13 – Uzbek Interior Ministry and National Security Service troops massacre at least 200 protesters in the city of Andijan.^[17]
May 15 – A passenger ferry capsizes and sinks in strong winds in the Bura Gauranga River in Bangladesh, leaving 200 people missing.^[18]

June

June 21 – A Volna booster rocket carrying the first light sail spacecraft fails 83 seconds after its launch, destroying the spacecraft.^[19]

July

July 2 – Live 8, a set of 10 simultaneous concerts, takes place throughout the world, raising interest in the Make Poverty History campaign.^[20]
July 6 – The European Parliament rejects the Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions in its second reading.^[21]
July 7 – Four coordinated suicide bombings rock central London, killing 52 people and injuring over 700.^[22]
July 23 – A series of bombings hit the resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, killing over 80 people.^[23]
July 28 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army announces an end to the armed campaign it has pursued since 1969, and orders all its units to drop their arms.^[24]

August

August 12 – The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is launched from Cape Canaveral, designed to explore Mars.^[25]
August 16 – West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashes into a mountain in Venezuela, killing 160 passengers.^[26]
August 18 – Peace Mission 2005, the first joint China–Russia military exercise, begins its eight-day training on the Shandong Peninsula.^[27]
August 29 – Hurricane Katrina makes landfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast, causing severe damage and killing over a thousand people and dealing an estimated $108 billion in damage.^[28]
August 31 – A stampede at the Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 953 Shia Muslim pilgrims who were celebrating a religious festival.^[29]

September

September 7 – Egypt holds its first ever multi-party presidential election, which is marred with allegations of fraud.^[30]
September 12 – Israel demolishes multiple settlements and withdraws its army from the Gaza Strip.^[31]
September 19 – North Korea agrees to stop building nuclear weapons in exchange for aid and cooperation.^[32]
September 30 – Controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, sparking outrage and violent riots by Muslims around the world.^[33]

October

October 8 – The 7.6 Mw Kashmir earthquake strikes Azad Kashmir, Pakistan and nearby areas with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing more than 79,000 people and displacing several million more.^[34]
October 12 – The second manned Chinese spacecraft, Shenzhou 6, is launched.^[35]
October 19 – The trial of Saddam Hussein begins.^[36]

November

November 9 – At least 56 people are killed and 100 more are wounded in a series of coordinated suicide bombings in Amman, Jordan.^[37]
November 13 – Andrew Stimpson, a 25-year-old British man, is reported as the first person proven to have been 'cured' of HIV.^[38]
November 22 – Angela Merkel assumes office as the first female Chancellor of Germany.^[39]
November 23 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf wins the Liberian general election, making her the first democratically elected female head of state in Africa.^[40]
November 28 – The United Nations Climate Change conference is held in Montreal.^[41]
November 30 – Surgeons in France carry out the first human face transplant with Isabelle Dinoire becoming the first person to undergo it.^[42]

December

December 12 – Scientists announce that they have created mice with small amounts of human brain cells in an effort to make realistic models of neurological disorders.^[43]
December 18 – Chad descends into civil war after various rebel forces, with support from Sudan, attack the capital, N'Djamena.
December 31 – Another second is added, 23:59:60, to end the year 2005, the first time since 1998.^[44]

Births

April 29 – Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti of Thailand, son of King Maha Vajiralongkorn,Rama X of Thailand and his wife Srirasmi Suwadee
June 26 – Princess Alexia of the Netherlands, daughter of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange
July 25 – Pierce Gagnon, American child actor
October 15 – Prince Christian of Denmark, son of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark and his wife Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
October 31 – Infanta Leonor of Spain, daughter of Felipe, Prince of Asturias and his wife Letizia
November 28 – Sonail Majumdar, Indian professional salsa dancer
December 3 – Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway, grandson of King Harald V of Norway

Deaths

January

January 1
- Shirley Chisholm, American politician (b. 1924)
- Eugene J. Martin, American artist (b. 1938)
January 10 – Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1927)
January 12 – Amrish Puri, Indian actor (b. 1932)
January 15 – Victoria de los Ángeles, Spanish Catalan soprano (b. 1923)
January 17
- Virginia Mayo, American actress (b. 1920)
- Zhao Ziyang, 3rd Premier of China (b. 1919)
January 20 – Per Borten, 14th Prime Minister of Norway (b. 1913)
January 23 – Johnny Carson, American television host (b. 1925)
January 25 – Philip Johnson, American architect (b. 1906)

February

February 2 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (b. 1905)
February 3 – Zurab Zhvania, 4th Prime Minister of Georgia (b. 1963)
February 5 – Gnassingbé Eyadéma, 3rd President of Togo (b. 1935)
February 10 – Arthur Miller, American playwright (b. 1915)
February 13 – Lúcia Santos, Portuguese nun (b. 1907)
February 14 – Rafic Hariri, 57th & 59th Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1944)
February 17
- Narriman Sadek, Queen of Egypt (b. 1934)
- Omar Sívori, Argentinian footballer (b. 1935)
February 20
- Sandra Dee, American actress (b. 1942)
- Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist (b. 1937)
February 22 – Simone Simon, French actress (b. 1910)
February 25 – Peter Benenson, British lawyer and founder of Amnesty International (b. 1921)

March

March 3 – Rinus Michels, Dutch soccer player and coach (b. 1928)
March 6
- Hans Bethe, German-American physicist (b. 1906)
- Teresa Wright, American actress (b. 1918)
March 17 – George F. Kennan, American diplomat and political advisor (b. 1904)
March 19 – John Z. DeLorean, American car maker (b.1925)
March 22
- Clemente Domínguez y Gómez, Spanish spiritual leader (b. 1946)
- Kenzō Tange, Japanese architect (b. 1913)
March 26 – James Callaghan, 70th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1912)

April

April 2 – Pope John Paul II (b. 1920)
April 5 – Saul Bellow, Canadian-American writer (b. 1915)
April 6 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (b. 1923)
April 23 – John Mills, English actor (b. 1908)
April 24 – Ezer Weizman, 7th President of Israel (b. 1924)
April 26 – Maria Schell, Austrian actress (b. 1926)

May

May 2 – Wee Kim Wee, 4th President of Singapore (b. 1915)
May 13 – George Dantzig, American mathematician (b. 1914)
May 25 – Ismail Merchant, Indian film producer (b. 1936)
May 26 – Eddie Albert, American actor (b. 1906)