December 24 - Michael Vale, American commercial actor (b. 1922)
December 25 - Derek Bailey, English guitar virtuoso (b. 1930)
December 25 - Birgit Nilsson, Swedish opera singer (b. 1918)
December 26 - Muriel Costa-Greenspon, American mezzo-soprano (b. 1937)
December 26 - Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (b. 1948)
December 29 - Gerda Boyesen, Norwegian-born body psychotherapist (b. 1922)
December 30 - Rona Jaffe, American author (b. 1932)
Events
January 5 - Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the solar system, is discovered by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.
January 6 - Mississippi Civil Rights Workers Murders: Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect for the 1964 murders of three Civil Rights workers.
January 9 - The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, commonly known as the Naivasha Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement rebel group in Naivasha, Kenya.
January 9 - Elections are held to replace Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He is succeeded by Rawhi Fattouh.
January 10 - A mudslide occurs in La Conchita, California, killing 10 people, injuring many more and closing the Highway 101, the main coastal corridor between San Francisco and Los Angeles, for 10 days.
January 12 - Deep Impact (space mission) launches from Cape Canaveral on a Delta 2 rocket.
January 14 - Landing of the Huygens probe on Saturn's moon Titan.
January 15 - An intense solar flare blasts X-rays across the solar system.
January 15 - ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the moon.
January 21 - In Belmopan, Belize, the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots.
January 25 - A stampede at the Mandher Devi temple in Mandhradevi in India kills at least 258.
January 26 - Glendale train crash: Two trains derail killing 11 and injuring 200 in Glendale, California, near Los Angeles.
January 29 - The first direct commercial flights from the mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines carrier landed in Beijing.
February 1 - Nepal King Gyanendra exercises Coup d'état to capture the democracy becoming Chairman of the Councils of ministers.
February 1 - Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act, making Canada the fourth country to sanction same-sex marriage.
February 8 - Israel and Palestinians agree to cease-fire.
February 14 - Lebanon's former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, is assassinated, prompting the country to fall into chaos.
February 14 - Seven people are killed and 151 wounded in a series of bombings by suspected Al-Qaeda-linked militants that hit the Philippines' Makati financial district in Metro Manila, Davao City, and General Santos City.
February 15 - YouTube, the popular Internet site on which videos may be shared and viewed by others, is launched in the United States.
February 16 - The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia.
February 16 - The National Hockey League cancels the entire 2004-2005 regular season and playoffs, becoming the first major sports league in North America to do so over a labor dispute.
February 20 - Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.
February 23 - Slovakia Summit 2005 begins, marking the first occasion when a sitting American President visits Slovakia; George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin are in attendance.
February 23 - Vote of the controversial French law on colonialism, repealed start of 2006.
February 26 - Hosni Mubarak the president of Egypt orders the constitution changed to allow multi-candidate presidential elections before September 2005 by asking Egyptian parliament to amend Article 76 of the constitution.
February 28 - Lebanon's pro-Syrian prime minister, Omar Karami, resigns amid large anti-Syria street demonstrations in Beirut.
February 28 - A suicide bombing at a police recruiting centre in Al Hillah, Iraq kills 127.
March 3 - Mayerthorpe Incident: James Roszko murders four Royal Canadian Mounted Police constables during a drug bust at his property in Rochfort Bridge, Alberta, then commits suicide. It is the deadliest peace-time incident for the RCMP since 1885 and the North-West Rebellion.
March 3 - Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane around the world solo without any stops without refueling
March 4 - The car of released Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena is fired on by US soldiers in Iraq, causing the death of an Italian Secret Service Agent and injuring two passengers.
March 4 - United Nations warns that about 90 million Africans could be infected by the HIV virus in the future without further action against the spread of the disease.
March 5 - The Burkinabé Party for Democracy and Socialism holds its first National Convention.
March 7 - Mass protest outside the National Assembly of Kuwait building for women's voting rights in Kuwait.
March 12 - Tung Chee Hwa, the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong, steps down from his post after his resignation is approved by the Chinese central government.
March 13 - Terry Ratzmann shoots and kills six members of the Living Church of God and the minister at Sheraton Inn in Brookfield, Wisconsin before killing himself.
March 14 - Cedar Revolution, where over one and a million Lebanese went into the streets of Beirut to demonstrate against the Syrian military presence in Lebanon, and against the government, following the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
March 16 - Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control.
March 18 - Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is removed at the request of her husband.
March 20 - A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits Fukuoka, Japan, its first major quake in over 100 years. One person is killed, hundreds are injured and evacuated.
March 23 - The United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, refuses to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.
March 23 - A major explosion at the Texas City Refinery kills 15 workers.
March 26 - The Taiwanese government calls on 1 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.
March 28 - The 2005 Sumatran earthquake rocks Indonesia, and at magnitude 8.7 is the second strongest earthquake since 1960.
April 2 - James Stewart Jr. becomes first African American to win a major motor sports event.
April 6 - Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani becomes the Iraqi president; Shiite Arab Ibrahim al-Jaafari is named premier the next day.
April 7 - The Head of government of the Federal District, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, faces an impeachment process at the Mexican Congress.
April 9 - His Royal Highness Charles, Prince of Wales marries Camilla Parker Bowles.
April 14 - The U.S. Oregon Supreme Court nullifies marriage licenses issued to gay couples a year earlier by Multnomah County.
April 19 - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger elected Pope Benedict XVI on the second day of the Papal conclave.
April 24 - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is inaugurated as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church taking the name Pope Benedict XVI.
April 25 - The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937.
April 25 - Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union.
April 25 - 107 die in Amagasaki rail crash in Japan.
April 26 - Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country.
April 27 - The Superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse, France.
April 28 - The Patent Law Treaty goes into effect.
April 29 - Syria completes withdrawal from Lebanon, ending 29 years of occupation.
April 29 - New Zealand's first civil union takes place.
May 5 - The United Kingdom general election takes place, in which Tony Blair's Labour Party is re-elected for a third, consecutive term.
May 8 - The new Canadian War Museum opens, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of V-E Day.
May 10 - A hand grenade which was thrown by Vladimir Arutinian lands about 65 feet (20 metres) from U.S. President George W. Bush while he was giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctions and does not detonate.
May 13 - The Andijan Massacre occurs in Uzbekistan.
May 14 - The former USS America (CV-66), a decommissioned supercarrier of the United States Navy, is deliberately sunk in the Atlantic Ocean after four weeks of live-fire exercises. She is the largest ship ever to be disposed of as a target in a military exercise.
May 16 - Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35-23 National Assembly vote.
May 29 - France resoundingly rejects the European Constitution.
June 1 - The Dutch referendum on the European Constitution results in its rejection.
June 1 - The longest oil/natural gas explosion in the Houston, Texas area occurs in Crosby, Texas. The drill was owned by the Louisiana Oil and Gas Company.
June 6 - The United States Supreme Court upholds a federal law banning marijuana, including medical marijuana, in Gonzales v. Raich.
June 13 - A jury in Santa Maria, California acquits pop singer Michael Jackson of molesting 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo at his Neverland Ranch.
June 27 - AMD files broad antitrust complaints against Intel Corporation in U.S. Federal District Court, alleging abuse of monopoly powers and antitrust violations.
June 28 - Canada becomes the third country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.
June 28 - A final design for Manhattan's Freedom Tower is formally unveiled.
July 3 - The national law legalizing same-sex marriage takes effect in Spain.
July 4 - The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1.
July 7 - A series of four terrorist explosions occur on London's transport system killing 56 people, including four suicide bombers.
July 7 - Influenced by Live 8, the G8 leaders pledge to double 2004 levels of aid to Africa from US$25 to US$50 billion by the year 2010.
July 10 - Hurricane Dennis slams into the Florida Panhandle, causing billions of dollars in damage.
July 20 - Canada becomes the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, after the bill C-38 receives its Royal Assent.
July 21 - Four terrorist bombings, occurring exactly two weeks after the similar July 7 bombings, target London's public transportation system. All four bombs fail to detonate and all four suspected suicide bombers are captured and later convicted and imprisoned for long terms.
July 22 - Jean Charles de Menezes is killed by police as the hunt begins for the London Bombers. See 7 July 2005 London bombings and 21 July 2005 London bombings
July 23 - Three bombs explode in the Naama Bay area of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, killing 88 people.
July 24 - Lance Armstrong wins his seventh consecutive Tour de France.
July 26 - Mumbai, India receives 99.5cm of rain (39.17 inches) within 24 hours, bringing the city to a halt for over 2 days.
July 26 - Samir Geagea, the Lebanese Forces (LF) leader, is released after spending 11 years in a solitary confinement. His release came after the end of the Syrian occupation to Lebanon.
July 27 - STS-114: NASA grounds the Space shuttle, pending an investigation of the external tank's continued foam-shedding problem. During ascent, the external tank of the Space Shuttle Discovery sheds a piece of foam slightly smaller than the piece that caused the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster; this foam does not strike the spacecraft.
July 28 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army call an end to their thirty year long armed campaign in Northern Ireland.
July 28 - A tornado touches down in a residential area in south Birmingham, England, causing £4,000,000 worth of damages and injuring 39 people.
July 29 - Astronomers announce their discovery of Eris.
August 3 - President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya of Mauritania is overthrown in a military coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia.
August 4 - Prime Minister Paul Martin announces that Michaëlle Jean will be Canada's 27th — and first black — Governor General.
August 12 - Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, is fatally shot by an LTTE sniper at his home.
August 12 - An F2 tornado strikes the coal mining town of Wright, Wyoming, destroying nearly 100 homes and killing two people.
August 12 - An F1 tornado strikes Glen Cove, New York, a rare event on Long Island
August 16 - West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashes near Machiques, Venezuela, killing the 160 aboard.
August 17 - The first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of the Israel unilateral disengagement plan, starts.
August 18 - Dennis Rader is sentenced to 175 years in prison for the BTK serial killings.
August 18 - Massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java, affecting almost 100 million people.
August 19 - The first-ever joint military exercise between Russia and China, called Peace Mission 2005 begins.
August 19 - A series of strong storms lashes Southern Ontario spawning several tornadoes as well as creating extreme flash flooding within the city of Toronto and its surrounding communities. In Toronto, it is also dubbed as the Toronto Supercell.
August 23 - TANS Peru Flight 204 crashes near Pucallpa, Peru, killing 41.
August 29 - Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, killing more than 1,836 and causing over $80 billion in damage.
August 31 - A stampede on Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad kills 1,199 people.
September 1 - Seven members and former members of the AFL-CIO form a new trade union organization, the Change to Win Federation.
September 5 - Mandala Airlines Flight 091 crashes into a heavily-populated residential of Sumatra, Indonesia, killing 104 people on board and at least 39 persons on ground.
September 7 - First presidential election was held in Egypt.
September 8 - Two EMERCOM Il-76 aircraft land at a disaster aid staging area at Little Rock Air Force Base; the first time Russia has flown such a mission to North America.
September 11 - The State of Israel completes its unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip.
September 12 - The red-green coalition, led by Jens Stoltenberg, wins the Norwegian parliamentary election, taking 87 of 169 seats in the parliament.
September 12 - Israel completes its withdrawal of all troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip.
September 12 - Hong Kong Disneyland opens in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong.
September 16 - Camorra boss Paolo Di Lauro is arrested in Naples.
September 23 - FBI killing of Filiberto Ojeda on Plan Bonito Hormigueros, Puerto Rico.
September 24 - Hurricane Rita makes landfall in the United States, devastating Beaumont, Texas and portions of southwestern Louisiana.
September 29 - US Senate confirms John Roberts to be the next Chief Justice of the United States.
September 30 - The Parliament of Catalonia passes with 120 plus votes and 15 against, the Project of New Catalan Statute of Autonomy, proclaiming in its article 1, "Catalonia is a nation".
September 30 - The controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
October 2 - Ethan Allen Boating Accident: The Ethan Allen tour boat capsizes on Lake George in Upstate New York, killing twenty people.
October 2 - NFL plays first regular season game outside United States when the Arizona Cardinals defeat the San Francisco 49ers 31-14 in Mexico City, Mexico
October 8 - Martha Stewart begins her prison sentence after being convicted of securities fraud, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy in the ImClone stock trading case.
October 8 - The Kashmir earthquake hits parts of northern South Asia at 03:50 UTC.
October 10 - Negotiations between the CDU/CSU and SPD in Germany had concluded that both parties would form a grand coaltion with Angela Merkel of the CDU as chancellor after both parties lost seats in the 2005 German federal election. She was subsequently elected in the Bundestag as chancellor on November 22 of the same year.
October 12 - The second Chinese human spaceflight Shenzhou 6 launched carrying Fèi Jùnlóng and Niè Hǎishèng for five days in orbit.
October 15 - Iraqi constitution ratification vote.
October 15 - A riot in Toledo, Ohio breaks out during a National Socialist/Neo-Nazi protest; over 100 are arrested.
October 19 - Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity.
October 19 - Hurricane Wilma becomes the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a minimum pressure of 882 mb.
October 22 - Tropical Storm Alpha forms in the Atlantic Basin, making the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record with 22 named storms.
October 27 - Riots begin in Paris after the deaths of two Muslim teenagers.
October 28 - Plame affair: Lewis Libby, Vice-president Dick Cheney's chief of staff, is indicted in the Valerie Plame case. Libby resigns later that day.
October 29 - 29 October 2005 Delhi bombings kill more than 60.
October 30 - The rebuilt Dresden Frauenkirche (destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden during World War II) is reconsecrated after a thirteen-year rebuilding project.
November 1 - First part of the Gomery Report, which discusses allegations of political money manipulation, is released in Canada.
November 6 - The Evansville Tornado of November 2005 kills 25 in Northwestern Kentucky and Southwestern Indiana.
November 6 - The military junta of Myanmar begins moving its government ministries from Yangon to Pyinmana.
November 9 - The Venus Express mission of the European Space Agency is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
November 9 - Suicide bombers attacked three hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing at least 60 people.
November 15 - Boeing formally launches the stretched Boeing 747-8 variant with orders from Cargolux and Nippon Cargo Airlines.
November 17 - Italy's choice of national anthem, Il Canto degli Italiani, becomes official in law for the first time, almost 60 years after it was provisionally chosen following the birth of the republic.
November 22 - Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany.
November 23 - Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, elected president of Liberia, is the first woman to lead an African country.
November 24 - Conservative leader Stephen Harper, the leader of the Official Opposition in the Canadian Parliament, introduces a motion of no confidence, which NDP leader Jack Layton seconds. The motion is passed on November 28 leading to the dissolution of the 38th Canadian Parliament.
November 25 - Polish Minister of National Defence Radek Sikorski opens Warsaw Pact archives to historians. Maps of possible nuclear strikes against Western Europe, as well as the possible nuclear annihilation of 43 Polish cities and 2 million of its citizens by Soviet-controlled forces, are released.
November 27 - The first partial human face transplant is completed in Amiens, France.
November 27 - President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, in power since 1967 and the longest-serving head of state in the world, was re-elected to his third consecutive seven-year term.
November 29 - The new Croatian Communist Party (KPH) is founded in Vukovar.
November 30 - John Sentamu becomes the first black archbishop in the Church of England with his enthronement as the 97th Archbishop of York.
December 2 - Van Tuong Nguyen is executed in Singapore for drug trafficking.
December 3 - XCOR Aerospace makes first manned rocket aircraft delivery of US Mail in Mojave, California.
December 4 - Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the Government to allow universal and equal suffrage.
December 5 - The Lake Tanganyika earthquake causes significant damage, mostly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
December 5 - The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.
December 6 - Several villagers are shot dead during protests in Dongzhou, China.
December 7 - Rigoberto Alpizar, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 924 who allegedly claimed to have a bomb, is shot and killed by a team of U.S. federal air marshals at Miami International Airport.
December 8 - Ante Gotovina, Croatian army general accused of war crimes, is captured in the Playa de las Américas, Tenerife by the Spanish police.
December 11 - The Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead is rocked by explosions, causing a huge oil fire.
December 11 - Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese (and many who were not) in Cronulla Sydney. These are followed up by ethnic attacks on Cronulla.
December 15 - Latvia amends its constitution to eliminate possibility of same-sex couples being entitled to marry.
December 15 - Argentina's president N¨¦stor Kirchner announces the early repayment of its external debt to the IMF.
December 15 - Introduction of the F-22 Raptor into USAF active service.
December 15 - The 2005 Atlantic Power Outage began.
December 17 - Anti-WTO protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong
December 20 - 2005 New York City transit strike: New York City's Transport Workers Union Local 100 goes on strike, shutting down all New York City Subway and Bus services.
December 20 - US District Court Judge John E. Jones III rules against mandating the teaching of "intelligent design" in his ruling of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District.
December 20 - The first same sex civil partnerships in Scotland are celebrated.
December 23 - Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Aktau, Kazakhstan crashes shortly after takeoff killing 23 people.
December 23 - Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18 attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead.
December 26 - Boxing Day shooting on a busy shopping street in Toronto.
December 28 - A U.S. immigration judge orders John Demjanjuk deported to Ukraine for crimes against humanity committed during World War II.
December 30 - Tropical Storm Zeta forms in the open Atlantic Ocean, tying the record for the latest tropical cyclone ever to form in the North Atlantic basin.
