1905

• The title Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is officially recognized by King Edward VII.
• Pathé Frères colors black and white films by machine.
• 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 11 - Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer nos.
• 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 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 370,000.
• May 15 - Las Vegas, Nevada is founded when 110 acres (in what later would become downtown) are auctioned off.
• May 27 - 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 (ends on May 27).
• June 7 - Norway declares the union with Sweden dissolved.
• 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.
• November 18 - Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.
• November 28 - Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Féin in Dublin as a political party whose goal was the independence for all of Ireland.

• Einstein publishes four papers. In particular, he formulates the theory of special relativity and explains the photoelectric effect by quantization.

• 1905 in aviation
• 1905 in film
• 1905 in literature
• 1905 in music
• 1905 in science
• 1905 in sports

• January 2 - Michael Tippett, composer
• January 3 - Anna May Wong, actress (d. 1961)
• January 12 - Tex Ritter, actor, singer (d. 1974)
• January 18 - Joseph Bonanno, gangster (d. 2002)
• January 21 - Christian Dior, couturier (d. 1957)
• January 26 - Bernhard Minetti, actor
• January 26 - Maria von Trapp, singer (d. 1987)
• January 29 - Barnett Newman, painter (d. 1970)
• January 31 - John O'Hara, writer (d. 1970)
• February 2 - Ayn Rand, Author
• February 7 - Paul Nizan, author (d. 1940)
• February 11 - Elizabeth Vuyk, Dutch/Indonesian writer.
• February 14 - Thelma Ritter, actress (d. 1969)
• February 23 - Derrick Henry Lehmer, mathematician (d. 1991)
• February 27 - Franchot Tone, actor (d. 1968)
• March 5 - Günther Lüders, actor and film director (d. 1975)
• March 6 - Bob Wills, country music singer (d. 1975)
• March 15 - Berthold Schenk von Stauffenberg, jurist and Nazi opponent (d. 1944)
• March 16 - Elisabeth Flickenschildt, actress (d. 1977)
• March 18 - Thomas Townsend Brown, scientist (d. 1985)
• March 18 - Robert Donat, actor (d. 1958)
• March 19 - Albert Speer, Nazi official (d. 1981)
• March 23 - Lale Andersen, singer and cabaretist (d. 1972)
• May 8 - Red Nichols, jazz musician (d. 1965)
• May 15 - Joseph Cotten, actor
• May 16 - Henry Fonda, actor (d. 1982)
• May 20 - Gerrit Achterberg, Dutch poet
• August 2 - Karl Amadeus Hartmann, composer (d. 1963)
• August 11 - Erwin Chargaff, biochemist
• August 16 - Marian Rejewski, mathematician, cryptologist (d. 1980)
• August 23 - Constant Lambert, composer (d. 1951)
• August 31 - Dore Schary, stage/motion picture personality (d. 1980)
• September 18 - Greta Garbo, Swedish actress
• September 22 - Eugen Sänger, Austrian aerospace engineer (d. 1964)
• September 30 - Michael Powell, British director
• November 17 - Queen Astrid of Belgium
• December 30 - Jule Styne, composer

• March 24 - Jules Verne, author
• May 9 - Mrs. Jarvis - The model for Mother's Day
• June 22 - Francis Lubbock, Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
• September 18 - George MacDonald

• Physics - Philipp Eduard Anton von Lenard

• Chemistry - Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer
• Medicine - Robert Koch
• Literature - Henryk Sienkiewicz
• Peace - Baroness Bertha Sophie Felicita Von Suttner

• China - Guāngxù Emperor of China, Qing Dynasty (1875-1908)
• Denmark - Christian IX, King of Denmark (1863-1906)
• France - Émile Loubet, President of France (1899-1906)
• Germany - Wilhelm II, German Kaiser (1888-1918)
• Holy See - Pope Pius X, Bishop of Rome (1903-1914)
• Japan - Mutsuhito, Meiji Emperor (1867-1912)
• Norway -
• Oscar II, King of Sweden and Norway (1872-1905)
• Haakon VII, King of Norway (1905-1957)
• Ottoman Empire - Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1876-1909)
• Russia - Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia (1894-1917)
• Spain - Alfonso XIII of Spain, King of Spain (1886-1931)
• United States - Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States (1901-1909)