2005 - Definition and Overview

2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. It has been designated:

• The World Year Of Physics 2005
• The International Year of Microcredit
• The International Year for Sport and Physical Education

Events

January

• Worldwide aid effort continues to develop in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.
• January 1:
  • The Freedom of Information Act 2000 comes into force in the United Kingdom.
  • Turkey introduces a new currency, the New Turkish Lira, valued at 1,000,000 times the old lira.
  • In Germany, stage IV of the Hartz concept brings together unemployment benefits and social security benefits, despite protests.
• January 2–6: A major storm system sweeps across the United States, and winter weather such as snow, ice storms and avalanches kill at least 16.
• January 3:
  • Violence in Iraq, assassination of the Governor of Baghdad, Ali al-Haidri.
  • Mars Exploration Rover-A Spirit marks its first year roaming Mars Gusev crater.
• January 6: In Graniteville, South Carolina, a train carrying a cargo of chlorine gas collides with a parked train, releasing a toxic cloud which kills 9 and injures 200. The town of 5,400 is evacuated.
• January 7: A train crash near Bologna, Italy kills 18 people.
• January 8: The United States Navy submarine USS San Francisco runs aground near Guam, killing one sailor and injuring several others.
• January 9:
  • The same storm which pounded the US earlier in the month slams into England and Scandinavia. At least 13 are dead among hurricane force winds and the worst flooding in northwest England in 40 years.
  • Mahmoud Abbas is elected to succeed Yasser Arafat as Palestinian Authority president in the Palestinian general election.
• January 10: Record rainfall causes a mudslide in La Conchita, California, killing 10.
• January 13: Photos of Prince Harry of Wales dressed as a Nazi at a fancy dress party cause worldwide condemnation.
• January 14: The Huygens probe lands on Titan, largest satellite of planet Saturn.
• January 15: Deem Bristow, Voice of Doctor Eggman from the popular Sonic the Hedgehog series, colapses at a singles' dance and dies shortly after.
• January 16: Adriana Iliescu gives birth at age 66 and becomes the oldest woman in the world to do so.
• January 17: New Zealand's controversial Foreshore and Seabed legislation comes into force. Some indigenous Maori citizens consider it a day of mourning and will stage a march ("hikoi") in Christchurch. (NewstalkZB)
• January 18: Mark Latham resigns as leader of the Australian Labor Party and as a Member of the Australian House of Representatives.
• January 20:
  • U.S. Presidential inauguration day for the second term of George W. Bush.
  • Speed limits in the Republic of Ireland switch from mph to km/h. All speed limit signs are replaced, as well as old road signs with non-metric distances (from before the 1970s).
• January 20–23: Paralyzing snowstorms afflict the United States. The Midwest region receives 12-20 inches (30 to 50 cm) while New England is hammered with up to 36 inches (90 cm) of snow. At least 20 casualties are reported to be related to this storm, one of the worst snowstorms to hit the US in the past century.
• January 21: In Belize's capital city Belmopan, the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots.
• January 23: Viktor Yushchenko is sworn in as the third President of Ukraine in Kiev, Ukraine.
• January 25:
  • A stampede during a religious pilgrimage in India kills at least 215, mostly women and small children.
  • Red Imported Fire Ants are found in Guangdong, China and Hong Kong.
• January 26:
  • A train crash involving three trains kills 11 and injures 200 in Glendale, California near Los Angeles early in the morning peak hours.
  • A helicopter crash in eastern Iraq kills 31 United States soldiers.
  • Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's nominee for U.S. Secretary of State, is confirmed by a vote of 85-13 in the U.S. Senate and is sworn in later in the day.
• January 28: The Procter & Gamble Co. acquires Gillette Co. in a deal valued at $57 billion US, creating the world's largest consumer-products company.
• January 30:
  • The first Parliamentary elections in Iraq since the overthrow of the Ba'ath Party government led by Saddam Hussein take place.
  • A Royal Air Force Hercules transport plane crashes in Iraq, killing 10 British servicemen. Iraqi insurgents release a video claiming to have shot the aircraft down using a missile.

February

• Epidemic meningitis outbreak in China
• February 1: Tadao Chino, the Japan-born president of the Asian Development Bank, leaves office.
• February 6 : Super Bowl XXXIX takes place in Jacksonville Florida. The New England Patriots defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21.

Scheduled and expected events

February

• February 8: Parliamentary elections in Denmark.
• February 9:
  • Chinese New Year - the year of the Rooster begins.
  • Ash Wednesday
• February 12–27: The Gates, a land art project by Christo and Jeanne Claude in Central Park, New York.
• February 14: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children expected to be released.
• February 15: The American cable network G4techTV will undergo a series of changes, including a name change back to G4, and a focus change back to the original gaming orientation.
• February 16: The Kyoto Protocol expected to be brought into effect.
• February 17:
  • Chubu International Airport in Nagoya opens. All of Nagoya Airport's domestic and international flights will move to the new airport.
  • Several airlines will have to pay heavy compensation to passengers for flight delays and cancellations under a European regulation coming into force from this date.
• February 20:
  • The 2005 Daytona 500
  • Legislative elections in Portugal and consultative Referendum of the European Constitution in Spain.
• February 23:
  • Rotary International, the world's first service club celebrates the 100th anniversary of the formation of the first Rotary club in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
  • Nintendo DS is released in Australia.
• February 26–March 5: Special Olympics World Winter Games scheduled for Nagano, Japan.

March-April

• March 4: Martha Stewart is scheduled to be released from Camp Cupcake.
• March 11: Nintendo DS to be released in Europe.
• March 13: Central African Republic to have its first elections since 1999.
• March 18: The Playstation Portable to be released in Europe and North America.

• March 27: The Western churches (Protestant and Roman Catholic) celebrate Easter.
• April 4: NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four to be held at the Edward Jones Dome in Saint Louis, Missouri.
• April 8: Hybrid solar eclipse (south Pacific ocean).
• April 14: Washington Nationals (formerly the Montreal Expos) play their first game in their new home city, Washington, D.C., at RFK Stadium.

May

• May 1: Family Guy returns after being cancelled for a 4th season.
• May 5:
  • Expected date for UK General Election (though it could take place as late as June 30, 2006) and due date of UK District Council elections, particularly those who have elections for the whole Council every four years.
  • The Walt Disney Company commence the Happiest Homecoming on Earth celebration, celebrating fifty years of Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
• May 14:
  • Start of the seventh annual Gumball 3000 rally.
  • Tentative date for the first space shuttle launch (STS-114) since the Columbia breakup.
• May 21: Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Kiev, Ukraine.
• May 25: UEFA Champions League final to be held at Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadyumu, Istanbul, Turkey.
• May 29
  • Coca Cola 600
  • Indianapolis 500

June

• June 13: First Twenty20 international cricket match, to be held between England and Australia.
• June 17:
  • Iranian Presidential election.
  • Batman Begins's theatrical release in the USA.
• June 18: First Autistic Pride Day.
• June 30:
  • MTV Networks scheduled to launch LGBT-themed LOGO channel in the United States.
  • Rail service scheduled to begin on the MBTA Greenbush Line in Massachusetts.

July

• July 1: Revaluation of the Romanian leu.
• July 4: NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft fires a "copper bullet" into Comet Tempel 1, creating a crater for scientific studies.
• July 6–8: G8 summit in Perthshire, Scotland, UK.
• July 6: Host of the 2012 Summer Olympics to be announced by the IOC in Singapore during its 117th Session.
• July 10–15: 2005 World Conference (http://www.isil.org/conference/) of the International Society for Individual Liberty celebrates Ayn Rand in her home town of St. Petersburg, Russia.
• July 16: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince released worldwide.

August-December

• August: Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority scheduled to complete the Orange Line, a busway in the San Fernando Valley.
• August 1: NASA's MESSENGER probe to Mercury makes an Earth flyby.
• September 12: Hong Kong Disneyland opens.
• September 24: The New Zealand general election must be held on, or before, this date.
• September 25: The new Suvarnabhumi Airport opens in Bangkok, Thailand. All international flights will transfer from Don Muang to Suvarnabhumi.
• October: The second Chinese manned space mission Shenzhou 6 is scheduled to carry two astronauts for five days in orbit.
• October 3: Annular solar eclipse (North Portugal, Spain, east Africa).
• October 8: The second DARPA Grand Challenge is scheduled to be held.
• October 15: A new Asterix comic will be released.
• November 26: The third Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be in Hasselt, Belgium.
• November 27: The 93rd Grey Cup game to be played in Vancouver, Canada.

Unknown dates

• Charlotte Bobcats scheduled to begin play in the Uptown Arena.
• Greenland will hold a referendum on independence.
• The return of Doctor Who to BBC 1 (tentative).
• Sony is scheduled to unveil its PlayStation 3 game console sometime in late April, or before the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May.

Fictional Events

• The events of Transformers: The Movie take place.

Deaths

January

• January 1 - Shirley Chisholm, 80, first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress
• January 4 - Ali al-Haidri, Governor of Baghdad
• January 9 - Koji Hashimoto, 66, Japanese film director
• January 10 - Tommy Fine, 90, Major League Baseball player
• January 15 - Ruth Warrick, 88, American actress
• January 17:
  • Zhao Ziyang, 86, reformist Premier of the People's Republic of China and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
  • Virginia Mayo, 84, American actress
• January 18 - Lamont Bentley, 31, American actor
• January 20 - Per Borten, 92, Norwegian prime minister
• January 23 - Johnny Carson, 79, American television host, The Tonight Show

February

• February 2 - Max Schmeling, 99, German former heavyweight champion
• February 3:
  • Ernst Mayr, 100, evolutionary biologist
  • Zurab Zhvania, 41, Prime Minister of Georgia
  • Corrado Cardinal Bafile, 101, Oldest Cardinal ever
• February 4 - Ossie Davis, 87, African-American actor and civil rights activist
• February 5 - Gnassingbe Eyadema, 67, former President of Togo
• February 6 - Elbert N. Carvel, 94, former governor of Delaware, civil rights advocate
• February 8 - George Herman, 85, CBS journalist