- January 12
- Steven Contursi and Donald Kagin purchase the unique (US) 1787 Brasher gold doubloon with "EB" punch on breast for US$2,990,000, third highest price ever paid for a rare coin at public auction. [421.125] [548.79] [747.38] [769.78] [1083.22]
- Deep Impact is launched from Cape Canaveral by a Delta 2 rocket. [26]
- January 13
- Armed militants enter Israel from Gaza and open fire near the border, killing six people and wounding five others. Hamas and Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claim joint responsibility for the attack. [26]
- January 14
- The Huygens probe lands on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. [26]
- January 15
- ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron and other surface elements on the moon. [5]
- January
- Heritage Auction Galleries sells a 1907 Saint-Gaudens, Ultra High Relief double eagle for nearly $3 million. [548.79]
- January 16
- Adriana Iliescu gives birth at age 66, the oldest woman in the world to do so. [26]
- Armed militants kill one person and wound eight people in the Gush Katif settlement, Gaza Strip. [26]
- January 20
- George W. Bush is inaugurated in Washington, D.C. for his second term as the 43rd President of the United States. [26] [443.52]
- Ireland completes conversion to the metric system. [26]
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- January 21
- In Belmopan, Belize, unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots. [26]
- Disk jockey Dave Plotkin sets a record for the world's longest continuous broadcast by a single jock, staying on the air for 110 hours. Plotkin broadcast from Rollins College's WPRK-FM in Winter Park, Florida, USA. [457]
- January 23
- Viktor Yuschenko is sworn in as president of Ukraine. [255.65]
- January 25
- A stampede at the Mandher Devi temple in Mandhradevi during a religious pilgrimage in India kills at least 215, mostly women and small children. [26]
- January 26
- Two trains derail, killing 11 and injuring 200, in Glendale, California near Los Angeles. [26]
- January 30
- The first free Parliamentary elections in Iraq since 1958 take place. [26]
- A Royal Air Force C-130 Hercules transport plane crashes in Iraq, killing ten British servicemen. [26]
- February 5
- Death of Gnassingbe Eyadema, President of Togo (born 1937). [26]
- February 8
- Danish parliamentary election: The center-right coalition led by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and his Liberal Party wins another term. [26]
- February 9
- An ETA car bomb injures 31 people at a conference centre in Madrid, Spain. [26]
- February 10
- North Korea announces that it possesses nuclear weapons as a protection against the hostility it feels from the United States. [26]
- Saudi Arabia holds its first ever municipal elections, in which only male citizens are allowed to vote. [26]
- February 12
- Fire devastates the Windsor Building, a 32-story office block, in Madrid, Spain. [26]
- February 14
- A massive suicide bomb blast in central Beirut kills the former Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafik Hariri and at least 15 other people. At least 135 other people are also hurt. [26]
- Around 59 people are killed and 200 injured in a fire at a mosque in Tehran, Iran. [26]
- February 15
- Internet website YouTube is launched. [5]
- February 16
- The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect, without the support of the United States and Australia. [26]
- February 19
- Suicide bombers kill more than 30 people in Iraq as Shia Muslims mark Ashura, their holiest day. [26]
- February 20
- Spain holds a referendum on the Constitution for Europe, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout. [26]
- Early legislative elections in Portugal result in a landslide victory for José Sócrates and the Socialist Party. [26]
- February 22
- More than 500 people are killed and over 1,000 injured after entire villages are flattened in an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale in the Zarand region of Kerman province in southern Iran. [26]
- February 23
- A controversial French law on colonialism, requiring teachers to paint it in a positive light, is passed by the national legislature. [26]
- February 25
- Terrorists kill five and wound 50 in Tel Aviv, Israel; Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for the attack. [26]
- February 26
- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak asks Parliament to amend the constitution to allow multi-candidate presidential elections before September 2005. [26]
- March 1
- The Supreme Court of the United States rules the death penalty unconstitutional for juveniles who committed their crimes before age 18. [26]
- March 3
- The freighter M/V Karen Danielsen crashes into the Great Belt Bridge of Denmark. All traffic across the bridge is closed, effectively separating Denmark in two. [26]
- Millionaire Steve Fossett breaks a world record by completing the first non-stop, non-refueled, solo flight around the world in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. [26]
- March 4
- The car of released Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena is fired on by U.S. soldiers in Iraq, causing the death of one passenger and injuring two more. [26]
- The United Nations warns that about 90 million Africans could be infected with HIV in the future, without further action against the spread of the disease. [26]
- March 8
- The Pakistan Army opens fire on insurgents in Baluchistan, in the first armed uprising since General Rahimuddin Khan's stabilization of the province in 1978. [26]
- March 10
- Tung Chee Hwa, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, resigns. [26]
- March 11
- In the United Kingdom, the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 is finally given Royal Assent after one of the longest ever sittings by the House of Lords. [26]
- Central African Republic elections: The first round leads to a runoff between top candidates Francois Bozize and Martin Ziguele. [26]
- March 14
- The People's Republic of China ratifies an anti-secession law, aimed at preventing Taiwan from declaring independence. [26]
- Approximately one million people gather for an opposition rally in Beirut, a month after the death of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. It is the largest rally in Lebanon's history. [26]
- March 15
- The European Space Agency's SMART-1 probe enters the Moon's orbit, to begin studying the chemical composition and geophysical processes of the Moon. [524.45]
- March 16
- Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, accused of the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, are found not guilty on all counts. [26]
- March 19
- A suspected suicide bomber in Doha, Qatar kills one person and injures about 12 others. [26]
- A time bomb explodes in a Muslim shrine in Quetta, southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 29 people and wounding 40. [26]
- A blast occurs at the Xishui coal mine in Shuozhou, China, and rocks nearby Kangjiayao coal mine, killing up to 59. [26]
- March 20
- At least 250 people in Japan are injured and at least one killed, when a magnitude 7 earthquake strikes west of Kyushu Island, just 9km (5.5 miles) below the ocean floor. [26]
- March 21
- Ten are killed in the Red Lake High School massacre in Minnesota, the worst school shooting since the Columbine High School massacre. [26]
- March 24
- The Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan reaches its climax with the overthrow of president Askar Akayev. [26]
- Sony releases the PlayStation Portable handheld video game system in North America. It includes a 32 MB Memory Stick Duo card, battery pack, and the film Spider-Man 2 on UMD. Price is US$249.99 in the US. 500,000 units are sold in the first two days. [9]
- March 26
- The Taiwanese government calls on one million Taiwanese to demonstrate in Taipei, in opposition to the Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of China. Around 200,000 to 300,000 attend the walk. [26]
- March 28
- In Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, a magnitude 8.6 earthquake occurs. At least 1,300 people killed, 350 injured and hundreds of buildings destroyed. A 3-metre tsunami damaged the port and airport on Simeulue. [26] [53]
- April 2
- Pope John Paul II dies at his home in the Vatican, following complications from the flu. [5] [26] [129]
- April 6
- The first 13th root calculation of a 200-digit number is computed by Frenchman Alexis Lemaire. [26]
- Rainier III, Prince of Monaco dies (born 1923), succeeded by his son Albert II. [26]
- April 7
- MG Rover, the United Kingdom's sole remaining automotive mass-production facility, goes into receivership after a planned alliance with Chinese manufacturer, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, collapses. [26]
- A suicide bomber blows himself up in Cairo's Khan al Khalili market, killing two foreign tourists and wounding 17 others. A group called "Islamic Pride Brigades" claims responsibility. [26]
- April 8
- A referendum is held in Curaçao on independence versus integration with the Netherlands. [26]
- Two million people pack Vatican City for the funeral of Pope John Paul II, possibly the biggest funeral in history. [129]
- April 9
- Tens of thousands of demonstrators, many of them supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, march through Baghdad denouncing the U.S. occupation of Iraq, two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, and rally in the square where Hussein's statue was toppled in 2003. [26]
- The marriage of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles takes place, at Windsor Guildhall. Camilla assumes the titles Her Royal Highness and The Duchess of Cornwall. [5] [26] [1731.44]
- April 15
- At least 21 people die and around 50 are injured in a devastating fire at a hotel in central Paris, France. [26]
- Shanghai Automotive rules out any possibility of going back on its decision to pull out of a venture with MG Rover. This results in the largest independent British carmaker finishing production with the loss of more than 6,000 jobs at its huge Longbridge plant in Birmingham. [26]
- April 16
- President Lucio Gutierrez of Ecuador declares a state of emergency in the capital city and dissolves the Supreme Court. [26]
- April 17
- Twelve tourists are killed in southern Switzerland when a bus carrying 27 people plunges 656 feet into a ravine. [26]
- April 18
- Five people die in ethnic clashes in Iran's south-west Khuzestan province. [26]
- In New York City, New York, American Numismatic Rarities auctions a Venetian 50-zecchini coin of Doge Alvise Mocenigo IV (1763-78) for US$379,500. [304.31]
- April 19
- Pope Benedict XVI (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) succeeds Pope John Paul II, becoming the 265th pope. [26]
- April 20
- A magnitude 5.8 earthquake hits Fukuoka and Kasuga, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, injuring 56. [26]
- April 21
- A bus crash in Vietnam's Central Highlands kills 30 Vietnamese war veterans. [26]
- A gunfight on the edge of the Saudi city of Mecca kills two militants and two members of the security forces. [26]
- April 23
- Silvio Berlusconi, prime minister of Italy, re-forms the government after its dissolution three days earlier. [26]
- April 25
- A passenger train derails in Amagasaki Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, killing 107 people and injuring another 456. [26]
- April 26
- Facing international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29 year military domination of that country. [26]
- April 27
- The Superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse, France. [26]
- April 28
- The Wynn Las Vegas hotel and casino opens, the world's most expensive casino resort, at a cost of US$2.7 billion. [187.298a, 495]
- April 30
- Attacks on tourists in the Egyptian capital Cairo leave three militants dead and at least ten people injured. [26]
- May 1
- A suicide attack targets a Kurdish funeral in the northern Iraqi town of Talafar, near Mosul, killing at least 25 people and injuring more than 30 others. [26]
- May 2
- A blast at an illegal munitions store in northern Afghanistan kills 28 people and injures at least 13 others. [26]
- May 3
- At least 32 people are killed and nine others injured when three two-story buildings in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore collapse after gas cylinders stored in one of them explode. [26]
- May 4
- In one of the largest insurgent attacks in Iraq, at least 60 people are killed and dozens wounded in a suicide bombing at a Kurdish police recruitment center in Irbil, northern Iraq. [26]
- May 5
- United Kingdom general election: the Labour Party is re-elected with a substantially-reduced majority. [26]
- May 7
- A plane crash in Lockhart River, Australia kills 15 people. [26]
- May 10
- A hand grenade ostensibly thrown by Vladimir Arutinian lands about 100 feet (30 m) from United States President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but malfunctions and does not detonate. [26]
- Joschka Fischer is awarded the Leo Baeck Prize given by the Central Council of Jews in Germany for his efforts toward seeking understanding and reduction of tensions in the Middle East. [37]
- May 12
- An election is held in the Cayman Islands seven months later than originally scheduled due to Hurricane Ivan. It results in a change of government, with the United Democratic Party giving four seats to the then-opposition People's Progressive Movement in the 15 member Legislative Assembly. [26]
- May 13
- Uzbek troops kill up to 700 during protests in eastern Uzbekistan over the trials of 23 accused Islamic extremists. President Islom Karimov defends the act. [26]
- May 15
- A passenger ferry capsizes and sinks in strong winds in the Bura Gauranga River in Bangladesh, leaving over 100 people missing. [26]
- May 16
- George Galloway appears before a U.S. Senate committee, to answer allegations of making money from the Iraqi Oil-for-Food Programme. [26]
- May 17
- Kuwaiti women are granted the right to vote. [26]
- May 21
- Elena Paparizou wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 for Greece in Kiev, Ukraine, with the song "My Number One". [26]
- May 25
- The Acting Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Donald Tsang, resigns for participating in the Chief Executive Election last July. As a result, Henry Tang and Michael Suen become the Acting Chief Executive and Acting Chief Secretary for Administration respectively. [26]
- May 29
- A French referendum on the draft European Union constitution votes 55 percent to reject it. [26] [148.62]
- June 1
- A Dutch referendum on the draft European Union constitution votes 61 percent to 39 to reject it. [26] [148.62]
- June 2
- Construction begins on Northrop Grumman X-47B, the world's first unmanned surveillance attack aircraft that can operate from both land bases and aircraft carriers. [26]
- At the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo, a US $20 gold coin, 1927-D PCGS MS-66 sells for US$1.65 million. [304.28]
- June 5
- Switzerland votes to join the Schengen area and to allow same-sex partnerships. [26]
- June 6
- Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam resigns. [26]
- Apple Computer announces it is abandoning the PowerPC processor in favor of Intel processors for future Macintosh computers. [4]
- June 9
- At Logan Airport, almost 400 people narrowly avoid death when two jet airliners nearly collide on the runway. [26]
- June 15
- Off the coast of Northern California, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurs. [53]
- June
- American Numismatic Rarities auctions a US 1796 Capped Bust, No Stars quarter eagle MS-65 for $1,380,000. [548.79] [781.1]
- June 17
- A 6.7 aftershock, which followed a 5.3 earthquake the previous day, hits California, making it the fourth earthquake since June 12 in California. [26]
- Because of "quadruple-witching" options and futures expiration, the New York Stock Exchange sees the heaviest first-hour trading on record. 704 million shares are traded between 9:30-10:30 A.M. (1.92 billion shares for the day). [26]
- June 19
- Preliminary election results in the Autonomous Community of Galicia, Spain show that Manuel Fraga and the Partido Popular have lost control of the autonomous parliament. [26]
- June 21
- A Volna booster rocket carrying the first light sail spacecraft (a joint Russian-American project) fails 83 seconds after its launch, destroying the spacecraft. [26]
- June 27
- AMD files a broad antitrust complaint against Intel Corporation in U.S. Federal District Court, alleging abuse of monopoly powers and antitrust violations. [5]
- June 30
- Spain joins Belgium and the Netherlands in permitting same-sex marriage. [26]
- The Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is passed by the United States. [26]
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