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Revision as of 03:26, 21 January 2005

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

For more details see Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec

January

• January 2005 - 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 brought together unemployment benefits and social security benefits, despite protests.
• January 2 to January 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 4 - 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 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 HRH Prince Harry of Wales dressed as a Nazi at a fancy dress party cause worldwide condemnation.
• January 14 - The Huygens probe lands on Titan.
• January 16 - Adriana Iliescu gives birth at age 66 and becomes the oldest woman in the world to do so.
• January 18 - Mark Latham (Age 43), 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 (see U.S. presidential election, 2004).
  • Speed limits in the Republic of Ireland switches from mph to km/h. All speed limit signs will be replaced, as well as old road signs with non-metric distances (from before 1970s).

Scheduled and expected events

January

• January 17 - New Zealand's controversial Foreshore and Seabed legislation in force; some indigenous Maori citizens consider it a day of mourning and will stage a march ("hikoi") in Christchurch. (NewstalkZB)
• January 30 - First parliamentary elections in Iraq since the overthrowing of the Ba'ath Party government led by Saddam Hussein
• Unknown date - Central African Republic is supposed to have its first democratic elections in several years

February-March

• February 1 - Tadao Chino, the Japanese who is president of the Asian Development Bank, will leave office.
• February 8 - Parliamentary elections in Denmark.
• February 8 - Mardi Gras
• February 9 - Chinese New Year, year of the Rooster begins.
• February 9 - Ash Wednesday
• February 14 - The release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
• 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 - Kyoto Protocol expected to be brought into effect.
• February 17 - Chubu International Airport in Nagoya opens.
• February 20 - Legislative elections in Portugal.
• 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.
• February 23 - Nintendo DS is released in Australia
• February 26 through March 5 - Special Olympics World Winter Games scheduled for Nagano, Japan.
• March 18 - The Playstation Portable is released in Europe and North America.
• March 27 - The Western churches (Protestant and Roman Catholic) celebrate Easter.
• Unknown date - the return of Doctor Who to BBC 1 (tentative).

April

• April 2 to April 4 - NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four to be held at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri.
• April 3 - WrestleMania 21 to be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
• 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 at RFK Stadium.

May

• May 5:
  • Disneyland begins its 50th Anniversary celebration.
  • 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.
• May 6 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie's theatrical release in UK and the USA.
• May 8 - 60th anniversary of the surrender of Germany in World War II (see VE Day)
• May 14 - Start of the seventh annual Gumball 3000 rally
• May 14 - The FA Premier League 2004/05 season finishes in England
• May 14 ~ Tentative date for the first space shuttle launching (STS-114) since the Columbia breakup
• May 17 - Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will start an eight day tour of Canada, as Queen of Canada, to celebrate the centenary Saskatchewan and Alberta.
• May 19 - Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith scheduled to be released
• May 21 - Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Kiev, Ukraine.
• May 21 - English FA Cup final to be played at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales.
• May 25 - Uefa Champions League final to be held at Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadyumu, Istanbul, Turkey.

June-August

• June 7 - Norway celebrates 100-year anniversary of independence
• June 13 - First Twenty20 international cricket match, to be between England and Australia.
• June 18 - First Autistic Pride Day
• June 17:
  • Iranian Presidential election
  • Batman Begins's theatrical release in the USA.
• 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 1 - Revaluation of the Romanian leu.
• July 4 - NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft fires a "copper bullet" into Comet Temple1, creating a crater for scientific studies.
• July 6-July 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-July 15 - 2005 World 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.
• July 17 - Disneyland celebrates its official 50th anniversary.
• August 1 - NASA's MESSENGER probe to Mercury makes an Earth flyby.
• August 6 - 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima (Japan) at 8:16 a.m.
• Unknown dates:
  • Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority scheduled to complete the Orange Line, a busway in the San Fernando Valley.

September-December

• September 1 - Alberta and Saskatchewan celebrate their centennials.
• September 2 - 60th anniversary of the surrender of Japan in World War II (see VJ Day)
• 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
• 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.
• October 21 - Two hundred years since the Battle of Trafalgar.
• November 5 - 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot.
• November 26 - The third edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be on Hasselt, Belgium.

Unknown dates

• Charlotte Bobcats scheduled to begin play in the Uptown Arena.
• The failed assassin of Pope John Paul II, Mehmet Ali Agca to be released from a prison in Turkey.
• Greenland will hold a referendum on independence.

Deaths

• January 1- Shirley Chisholm, first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress (b. 1924)
• January 1- Robert Matsui, Member of the U.S. Congress from Sacramento, California (b. 1941)
• January 2 - Arnold Denker, American chess player (b. 1914)
• January 3 - Will Eisner, American comics artist (b. 1917)
• January 4 - Ali al-Haidri, Governor of Baghdad
• January 4 - Robert Heilbroner, American economist
• January 7 - Rosemary Kennedy, daughter of American Kennedy political family (b. 1918)
• January 9 - Koji Hashimoto, Japanese film director (b. 1936)
• January 10 - Jan Pieter Cardinal Schotte, Belgian Cardinal
• January 10 - Joséphine-Charlotte, Grandduchess of Luxemburg
• January 10 - James Forman, American civil rights activist (b. 1928)
• January 11 - Thelma White, American actress (b. 1910)
• January 11 - Miriam Hyde, Australian composer (b. 1913)
• January 12 - Amrish Puri, Indian actor (b. 1932)
• January 14 - Rudolph Moshammer, German fashion designer
• January 15 - Victoria de los Angeles, Spanish soprano
• January 15 - Ruth Warrick, American actress (b. 1918)
• January 17 - Zhao Ziyang, reformist Premier of the People's Republic of China and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (b. 1919)
• January 17 - Virginia Mayo, American actress (b. 1920)

See also: Predictions for the forthcoming year

• 2005