Year by year · 20th century

1905

1905 in world history: 26 events, 13 births, 17 deaths, 4 works, 2 states founded and 2 that came to an end. 793 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 22 January

    Bloody Sunday in St Petersburg sparks revolution

    Imperial troops fired on unarmed workers led by Father Georgy Gapon marching to petition Tsar Nicholas II, killing many. The massacre set off the 1905 Revolution and badly damaged faith in the Tsar.

    Russian EmpireNicholas II

  2. 26 January

    Cullinan diamond, the largest ever found, discovered

    Mine manager Frederick Wells found a 3,106-carat rough diamond at the Premier Mine near Pretoria. Cut into nine major stones, it supplied the largest gems in the British Crown Jewels.

  3. 23 February

    Rotary Club founded in Chicago

    Lawyer Paul Harris and three business acquaintances met to found the first Rotary Club. Rotary International now has some 1.4 million members and led the campaign to eradicate polio.

  4. 17 March

    Einstein completes his paper on light quanta

    Einstein finished a paper proposing that light comes in discrete packets of energy, explaining the photoelectric effect. It helped found quantum theory and earned him the Nobel Prize.

  5. 7 June

    Norway dissolves its union with Sweden

    The Norwegian parliament declared that King Oscar II had ceased to rule as King of Norway. Sweden accepted the separation peacefully after a referendum, and Norway chose a Danish prince as king.

    SwedenNorway

  6. 27 June

    Sailors mutiny aboard the battleship Potemkin

    Crew of the Russian Black Sea Fleet battleship rose against their officers after a dispute over rotten meat. The mutiny became a symbol of the 1905 Revolution, later immortalised by Eisenstein.

    Black Sea

  7. 30 June

    Einstein's paper on special relativity reaches the journal

    Annalen der Physik received 'On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies', which showed that measurements of time and space depend on motion. E = mc² followed in a short sequel that autumn.

  8. 30 August

    Ty Cobb makes his major league debut

    Eighteen-year-old Ty Cobb hit a double in his first game for the Detroit Tigers. His lifetime batting average of .366 remains the highest in major league history.

  9. 26 September

    Einstein's paper on special relativity is published

    Annalen der Physik published Einstein's 'On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies', which showed that measurements of time and space depend on the observer's motion. It transformed physics.

  10. 28 November

    Arthur Griffith launches Sinn Féin's policy

    At a convention in Dublin, Arthur Griffith set out the Sinn Féin policy, meaning 'we ourselves', of Irish self-reliance and a separate Irish parliament. The movement later became central to the struggle for independence.

  11. War

    Russo-Japanese War

    The Russo-Japanese War was a conflict between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over influence in Manchuria and Korea, concluded by the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905.

  12. Battle

    Battle of Tsushima

    The Battle of Tsushima was a naval battle fought in May 1905 in the strait between Korea and Japan, the decisive engagement of the Russo-Japanese War.

  13. Revolution

    Russian Revolution of 1905

    The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a wave of strikes, peasant uprisings, mutinies and political protest across the Russian Empire, sparked by the Bloody Sunday massacre in Saint Petersburg and defeat in the war with Japan.

  14. Treaty · Peace

    Treaty of Portsmouth

    The Treaty of Portsmouth ended the Russo-Japanese War.

  15. Treaty

    Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905

    The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905, known in Korea as the Eulsa Treaty, was signed on 17 November 1905 after the Russo-Japanese War.

  16. Treaty · Peace

    Karlstad Convention

    The Karlstad Convention was the set of agreements negotiated at Karlstad, Sweden, in September 1905 that settled the peaceful dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway.

  17. Revolt

    Theriso revolt

    The Theriso revolt was an uprising in the Cretan State in 1905, led by Eleftherios Venizelos from the village of Theriso near Chania.

  18. Event

    Moravian Compromise

    The Moravian Compromise was a set of laws adopted in 1905 that reorganised the Moravian Diet and its electoral system along national lines.

ProfileState713 states with a known seat in 1905Open the atlas at 1905 →

In the profiles

  • Empire of JapanAdmiral Togo annihilates the Russian fleet at Tsushima, sealing victory over Russia
  • Russian EmpireDefeat at Tsushima and revolution force Nicholas II to issue the October Manifesto
  • Kingdom of NorwayThe union with Sweden is dissolved and Haakon VII becomes king
  • Rattanakosin KingdomThe Slave Abolition Act completes the end of slavery
  • BarotselandItalian arbitration fixes the border with Angola, cutting off western lands
  • ConfucianismThe Qing government abolishes the imperial examinations

Wars and longer events

Born in 1905 13

Died in 1905 17

Works 4

States founded 2

States that came to an end 2

All years → The 20th century →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1905. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1905
MLA
“1905.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1905. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1905.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1905.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1905’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1905 (Accessed: ).