1905

1905 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 1905th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 905th year of the 2nd millennium, the 5th year of the 20th century, and the 6th year of the 1900s decade. As of the start of 1905, the Gregorian calendar was 13 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War began, more than 100,000 died in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos lead to a revolution against the Tsar (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony is subtitled The Year 1905 to commemorate this). Canada and the U.S. expanded west, with the Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces and the founding of Las Vegas. 1905 is also the annus mirabilis of Albert Einstein, who published papers which laid the foundations for quantum physics, introduced the special theory of relativity, explained Brownian motion, and established mass–energy equivalence.

Events

"Baby New Year", a cartoon by John T. McCutcheon depicting the new year 1905 chasing the old 1904 into the history books.

January

The Bloody Sunday massacre of Russian demonstrators, at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg.

• January 1 – The Trans-Siberian Railway officially opens, after its completion on July 21, 1904.
• January 2 – Russo-Japanese War: The Russian Army surrenders at Port Arthur, in Qing Dynasty China.
• January 5 – The play The Scarlet Pimpernel opens at the New Theatre in London, and begins a run of 122 performances and numerous revivals.
• January 22 (January 9 O.S.) – The Bloody Sunday massacre of peaceful Russian demonstrators, led by Russian Orthodox priest Father Gapon, at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, helps trigger the abortive Revolution of 1905.
• January 26
  • (January 13 O.S.) Russian Revolution of 1905: The Imperial Russian Army opens fire on demonstrators in Riga, Governorate of Livonia, killing 73 and injuring 200 people.
  • The Cullinan Diamond is found near Pretoria, South Africa, at the Premier Mine.

February

• February 12 – In Christchurch, New Zealand, the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament is opened.
• February 16 – At Haulbowline Base in Ireland, two explosions on board HM Submarine A5, due to gasoline fumes after refueling, kill six of eleven crew members.
• February 17 – At Fremantle, Australia, the RMS Orizaba is wrecked, but all 160 passengers and the mail are saved.
• February 20 – Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Mukden begins in Manchuria.
• February 23 – Rotary International is founded, in Chicago, Illinois.

March

March 3: Nicholas II creates the Duma.

Theodore Roosevelt as Full Terms 26th President of the United States

• March 1 – Australian Conservative leader Richard Butler takes office, as Premier of South Australia.
• March 3 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia agrees to create an elected assembly (the Duma).
• March 4 – Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in for a full term, as President of the United States.
• March 5 – Russo-Japanese War: Russian troops begin to retreat from Mukden, after losing 100,000 troops in 3 days.
• March 10
  • Russo-Japanese War: The Japanese capture of Mukden (now Shenyang) completes the rout of Russian armies in Manchuria.
  • Cassie Chadwick is sentenced for 14 years in Cleveland, Ohio for fraud.
  • Chelsea F.C. is founded in London.
• March 13 – Mata Hari introduces her exotic dance act in Paris.
• March 17 – Albert Einstein publishes his paper "On a heuristic viewpoint concerning the production and transformation of light", in which he explains the photoelectric effect, using the notion of light quanta.
• March 20 – Grover Shoe Factory disaster: A boiler explosion, building collapse and fire in Brockton, Massachusetts kills 58.
• March 23 – Theriso revolt: About 1,500 men, led by Eleftherios Venizelos, meet at the village of Theriso, Crete, to challenge the island's authoritarian government, and press for its unification with Greece.
• March 31 – Wilhelm II, German Emperor asserts German equality with France in Morocco, triggering the Tangier or First Moroccan Crisis.

April

• April – Albert Einstein works on the special theory of relativity, as well as the theory of Brownian motion.
• April 1 – The Penny Post is established, between the United Kingdom and Australia.^[1]
• April 2 – The Simplon Tunnel is officially opened, through the Alps.
• April 3 – Boca Junior, a well known football club of Argentina, is founded in Buenos Aires.
• April 4 – In India, the 1905 Kangra earthquake hits the Kangra Valley, kills 20,000, and destroys most buildings in Kangra, McLeod Ganj and Dharamshala.
• April 6 – Lochner v. New York: The Supreme Court of the United States invalidates New York's 8-hour-day law.
• April 14 – Erik Gustaf Boström resigns as the Prime Minister of Sweden, over the issue of the Swedish-Norwegian Union; his Minister without Portfolio, Johan Ramstedt, becomes the new Prime Minister of Sweden.

May

May 15: Las Vegas is founded with auction of 110 acres (0.45 km²)

• May 11 – Albert Einstein submits his doctoral dissertation "On the Motion of Small Particles...", in which he explains Brownian motion. In the course of the year, Einstein publishes four papers, formulates the theory of special relativity, and explains the photoelectric effect by quantization. 1905 is regarded as his "miracle year".
• May 15 – Las Vegas is founded when 110 acres (0.45 km²), in what later becomes downtown, are auctioned off.
• May 17 – Kappa Delta Rho is founded in Room 14 of Old Painter Hall, at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.
• May 27–28 – Russo-Japanese War – Battle of Tsushima: The Japanese fleet under Admiral Heihachiro Togo destroys the Russian fleet under Admiral Zinovi Petrovich Rozhdestvenski, in a 2-day battle.

May 11: Einstein submits his dissertation.

June

• June 7 – The Norwegian Parliament declares the union with Sweden dissolved, and Norway achieves full independence.
• June 9 – The Charlton Athletic F.C. is founded in London, England.
• June 15 – Princess Margaret of Connaught marries Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Skåne (Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden).
• June 27 – (June 14 in the Julian calendar): Mutiny breaks out on the Russian ironclad Potemkin.
• June 29 – The Automobile Association is founded in the United Kingdom.
• June 30 – Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", where he reveals his theory of special relativity.

July

• July 22 – Taft–Katsura Secret Agreement: The United States and Japan meet to discuss their respective positions, regarding Korea and the Philippines.
• July 23 – Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the second time.

August

• August – Mexican-American prospector Pablo Valencia gets lost in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, with no water.
• August 2 – Businessman and right-wing politician Christian Lundeberg becomes Prime Minister of Sweden.
• August 12
  • Leopold II of Belgium opens the Antwerpen-Central railway station.
  • The first running takes place of the Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb, the world's oldest motorsport event to have been staged continuously on its original course.
• Aug 20 – Sun Yat-sen, Chinese revolutionary, forms the first chapter of T'ung Meng Hui, a union of all secret societies determined to bringing down the Manchus.
• August 2 – The Ancient Order of Druids initiate neo-Druidic rituals at Stonehenge, in England.

September

• September 1 – The Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan are established, from the southwestern part of the Northwest Territories.
• September 5 – Russo-Japanese War – Treaty of Portsmouth: In New Hampshire, a treaty mediated by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt is signed by Japan and Russia. Russia cedes the island of Sakhalin, and port and rail rights in Manchuria, to Japan.
• September 8 – The 7.2 M_w Calabria earthquake shakes Southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between 557 and 2,500 people.
• September 10 – Crystal Palace F.C. is founded in London.
• September 27 – Albert Einstein submits his paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", in which he develops an argument for the famous equation E = mc².

October

October 2: HMS Dreadnought

• October – Fauvist artists, led by Henri Matisse and André Derain, first exhibit their works, at the Salon d'Automne in Paris.
• October 2 – HMS Dreadnought is laid down in the United Kingdom, revolutionizing battleship design and triggering a naval arms race.
• October 5 – The Wright brothers' third aeroplane (Wright Flyer III) stays in the air for 39 minutes with Wilbur piloting, the first aeroplane flight lasting over half an hour.
• October 16 – The Partition of Bengal is made by Lord Curzon, to separate the region of Bengal by Muslim and Hindu territories, until its reunification in 1911.
• October 20 – Galatasaray S.K. sports and Association football club is founded in Istanbul.
• October 26 – Sweden agrees to the repeal of the union with Norway.
• October 29
  • (October 16 Old Style) Russian Revolution of 1905: The Imperial Russian Army opens fire on a meeting at a street market in Tallinn, Governorate of Estonia, killing 94 and injuring over 200 people.
  • (October 16 Old Style) The Circum-Baikal Railway is brought into permanent operation, completing through rail communication on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
• October 30
  • (October 17 Old Style) – October Manifesto: Tsar Nicholas II of Russia is forced to announce the granting of his country's first constitution (the Russian Constitution of 1906), conceding a national assembly (State Duma) with limited powers.
  • Turkish professional sports society club, Galatasaray founded in Istanbul.

November

• November 4 – The application of the infamous February Manifesto, removing the veto of the Diet of the autonomous Grand Principality of Finland over matters considered by the Emperor to concern Russian imperial interests, is interrupted by the new November Manifesto. The Senate of Finland is ordered to put forward a proposal for parliamentary reform, based on unicameralism, and universal and equal suffrage.
• November 7 – Lawyer and liberal politician Karl Staaff becomes Prime Minister of Sweden, after a Riksdag election based mainly on voting rights reform.
• November 9 – The Province of Alberta, Canada, holds its first general election.
• November 12 – Norway holds a referendum, resulting in popular approval of the Storting's decision to authorise the government to make the offer of the throne of the newly-independent country.
• November 17 – The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 ("Eulsa Treaty") effectively makes Korea a protectorate of Japan.
• 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 is independence for all of Ireland.
• November–December – Russian Revolution of 1905: In the Baltic governorates, workers and peasants burn and loot hundreds of Baltic German manors. The Imperial Russian Army thereafter executes and deports thousands of looters.

December

• December 7–18 Moscow Uprising: A Bolshevik-led revolt is suppressed by the army.
• December 9 – The 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State is passed, enacting laïcité.
• December 11 – In support of the Moscow Uprising, the Council of Workers' Deputies of Kiev stages a mass uprising, establishing the Shuliavka Republic in the city, December 12–16.
• December 15 – The Pushkin House is established in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to preserve the cultural heritage of Alexander Pushkin.
• December 30
  • A bomb kills Frank Steunenberg, ex-governor of Idaho; the case leads to a trial against leaders of the Western Federation of Miners.
  • Franz Lehár's operetta The Merry Widow is first performed, at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna.

Date unknown

• Non-aboriginal women are given the vote, and admitted to the practice of law in Queensland.
• Workers' compensation is introduced in Queensland.
• The title Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is officially recognized by Edward VII.
• Pathé Frères colors black and white films by machine.
• Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer are banned from the Brooklyn Public Library, for setting a "bad example."
• Alfred Einhorn introduces novocaine.
• Wolves become extinct in Japan.
• Civil service examinations are abolished in Qing Dynasty China.
• Germany insists on an international conference on the Moroccan question.
• Max Weber publishes Die Protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus.

Births

January

Tex Ritter

Takeo Fukuda

Saeb Salam

Christian Dior

Maria von Trapp

• January 1 – Malek Bennabi, Algerian philosopher (d. 1973)
• January 2
  • Michael Tippett, English composer (d. 1998)
  • Anna May Wong, American actress (d. 1961)
  • Prince Takamatsu, younger brother of Japanese Emperor Hirohito (d. 1987)
• January 4 – Sterling Holloway, American actor (d. 1992)
• January 8 – Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer (d. 1988)
• January 12
  • Tex Ritter, American actor, singer (d. 1974)
  • James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist (d. 1997)
• January 13 – Kay Francis, American actress (d. 1968)
• January 14 – Takeo Fukuda, 67th Prime Minister of Japan (1976-1978) (d. 1995)
• January 15 – Torin Thatcher, English actor, Lieutenant colonel of the Royal Artillery (d. 1981)
• January 17
  • Saeb Salam, 4-Time Prime Minister of Lebanon (d. 2000)
  • Guillermo Stábile, Argentine football player, manager (d. 1966)
• January 18 – Joseph Bonanno (Joe Bananas), American gangster (d. 2002)
• January 19 – Stanley Hawes, British-born Australian film producer, director and administrator (d. 1991)
• January 21 – Christian Dior, French couturier (d. 1957)
• January 24 – J. Howard Marshall, American billionaire (d. 1995)
• January 26
  • Charles Lane, American actor (d. 2007)
  • Maria von Trapp, Austrian singer (d. 1987)
• January 27 – Howard McNear, American actor (d. 1969)
• January 29 – Barnett Newman, American painter (d. 1970)
• January 31 – John O'Hara, American writer (d. 1970)

February

Emilio Segrè

Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan

Harold Arlen

• February 1 – Emilio Segrè, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
• February 2 – Ayn Rand, American author, philosopher (The Fountainhead) (d. 1982)
• February 4
  • Hylda Baker, English actress (d. 1986)
  • Archduke Franz Josef of Austria, Prince of Tuscany (d. 1975)
• February 7
  • Paul Nizan, French author (d. 1940)
  • Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist, academic and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
• February 10
  • Walter A. Brown, American basketball, ice hockey pioneer (d. 1964)
  • Rachel Thomas, Welsh actress (d. 1995)
  • Chick Webb, American drummer, bandleader (d. 1939)
• February 13 – Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistani stateswoman, First Lady of Pakistan (d. 1990)
• February 15 – Harold Arlen, American popular music composer (d. 1986)
• February 18 – Queenie Leonard, British character actress, singer (d. 2002)
• February 23 – Derrick Henry Lehmer, American mathematician (d. 1991)
• February 26 – Arthur Brough, English actor (d. 1978)
• February 27 – Franchot Tone, American actor (d. 1968)

March

William Cagney

Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg

Albert Speer

Pote Sarasin

• March 1 – Doris Hare, English actress (d. 2000)
• March 2 – Geoffrey Grigson, British poet, writer and critic (d. 1985)
• March 3 – Marie Glory, French silent-screen actress (d. 2009)
• March 6
  • Bob Wills, American singer (d. 1975)
  • William Cagney, American actor (d. 1988)
• March 9 – Gerard Helders, Dutch politician (d. 2013)
• March 10 – Richard Haydn, English comic actor (d. 1985)
• March 12 – Takashi Shimura, Japanese actor (d. 1982)
• March 15
  • Bertha Hill, American blues, vaudeville singer and dancer (d. 1950)
  • Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, German lawyer, Nazi opponent (d. 1944)
• March 16 – Elisabeth Flickenschildt, German actress (d. 1977)
• March 18
  • Thomas Townsend Brown, American inventor (d. 1985)
  • Robert Donat, English actor (d. 1958)
  • Benny Friedman, American football player (d. 1982)
• March 19
  • Albert Speer, German Nazi official, architect (d. 1981)
  • Joe Rollino, American strongman, weightlifter and boxer (d. 2010)
• March 20
  • Jean Galia, French rugby footballer (d. 1949)
  • Vera Panova, Soviet-Russian writer (d. 1973)
• March 23
  • Lale Andersen, German singer (d. 1972)
  • John Randall, English physicist, biophysicist (d. 1984)
• March 24 – Pura Santillan-Castrence, Filipino writer, diplomat (d. 2007)
• March 25 – Pote Sarasin, Thai diplomat and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 2000)
• March 27 – Elsie MacGill, Canadian aeronautical engineer (d. 1980)
• March 28 – Marlin Perkins, American zoologist, television host (Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom) (d. 1986)
• March 30
  • Mikio Oda, Japanese athlete (d. 1998)
  • Albert Pierrepoint, British executioner (d. 1992)

April

Paul Hasluck

Serge Lifar

George H. Hitchings

Paul Hasluck

Pat Brown

Raúl Leoni

• April 1
  • Gaston Eyskens, Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1988)
  • Paul Hasluck, Australian statesman, 17th Governor-General of Australia (d. 1993)
• April 15 – Serge Lifar, Soviet dancer and choreographer (d. 1986)
• April 18 – George H. Hitchings, American physician, pharmacologist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
• April 19 – John Thach, American naval aviator, admiral (d. 1981)
• April 20 – Inés Rodena, Cuban radio, television writer (d. 1985)
• April 21 – Pat Brown, American lawyer, politician and 32nd Governor of California (d. 1996)
• April 25 – George Nepia, New Zealand Maori rugby player (d. 1986)
• April 26 – Raúl Leoni, President of Venezuela (d. 1972)
• April 30 – Sergey Nikolsky, Russian mathematician (d. 2012)

May

Joseph Cotten

Henry Fonda

• May 3 – Werner Fenchel, German mathematician (d. 1988)
• May 5 – Floyd Gottfredson, American cartoonist, primarily known for the "Mickey Mouse" comic strip (d. 1986)
• May 7 – Bumble Bee Slim, American Piedmont blues singer, guitarist (d. 1968)
• May 8 – Red Nichols, American jazz musician (d. 1965)
• May 11 – Kansas Joe McCoy, American Delta blues musician, songwriter (d. 1950)
• May 13 – Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indian lawyer, politician and 5th President of India (d. 1977)
• May 14
  • Herb Morrison, American radio reporter, best known for covering the 1937 Hindenburg dirigible crash (d. 1989)
  • Fred Sherman, American actor (d. 1969)
• May 15 – Joseph Cotten, American actor (d. 1994)
• May 16 – Henry Fonda, American actor, best known for his role in The Grapes of Wrath (d. 1982)
• May 17 – Roy Nelson, American cartoonist (d. 1956)
• May 20 – Gerrit Achterberg, Dutch poet (d. 1962)
• May 24 – Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian novelist, short story writer and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
• May 27
  • Signe Johansson-Engdahl, Swedish Olympic diver (d. 2010)
  • Lilo Milchsack (b. Lisalotte Duden), German promoter of Anglo-German relations (d. 1992)
• May 28 – Sada Abe, Japanese actress (d. 1970)
• May 29 – Sebastian Shaw, English actor (d. 1994)

June

Jean-Paul Sartre

• June 1 – Robert Newton, English stage, film actor (d. 1956)
• June 3
  • Tupua Tamasese Meaʻole, Samoan politician (d. 1963)
  • Martin Gottfried Weiss, Nazi commandant (d. 1946)
• June 5 – John Abbott, English actor (d. 1996)
• June 7 – James J. Braddock, Irish-American wrestler (d. 1974)
• June 11 – Paul Wormser, French fencer (d. 1944)
• June 12– Ray Barbuti, American athlete (d. 1975)
• June 13 – Franco Riccardi, Italian fencer (d. 1968)
• June 14 – Arthur Davis, American animator (d. 2000)
• June 19 – Mildred Natwick, American stage, film actress (d. 1994)
• June 21
  • Tino Bianchi, Italian actor (d. 1996)
  • Zeng Xueming, Chinese midwife who married Hồ Chí Minh (d. 1991)
  • Jacques Goddet, French sports journalist (d. 2000)
  • Jean-Paul Sartre, French existentialist (d. 1980)
• June 23
  • Jack Pickersgill, Canadian civil servant and politician (d. 1997)
  • Isaac Schapera, English anthropologist (d. 2003)
  • Jesús Bal y Gay, Spanish composer, music critic, and musicologist (d. 1993)
  • Mary Livingstone, American radio comedian (d. 1983)
• June 24 – Fred Alderman, American sprint runner (d. 1998)
• June 25
  • Leon deValinger, Jr., American archivist, historian (d. 2000)
  • Arthur Maria Rabenalt, Austrian film director (d. 1993)
  • Jun'ichi Yoda, Japanese poet (d. 1997)
• June 26 – Jack Longland, British educator, mountain climber, and broadcaster (d. 1993)
• June 27
  • Kwan Tak-hing, Hong Kong actor (d. 1996)
  • Tarzan Woltzen, American professional basketball player (d. 1995)
  • Lady Rachel Pepys, Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (d. 1992)
• June 28 – Ashley Montagu, British-American anthropologist (d. 1999)
• June 29
  • Elma Gumbs, English supercentenarian (d. 2012)
  • Oswald Denison, New Zealand rower (d. 1990)
• June 30
  • John Van Ryn, American tennis champion (d. 1999)
  • John Harmon, American actor (d. 1985)
  • Nestor Paiva, American actor (d. 1966)

July

Clara Bow

Dag Hammarskjöld

• July 2 – Clara Anderson, American supercentenarian
• July 3 – Johnny Gibson, American runner, Olympic athlete (d. 2006)
• July 4
  • Robert Hankey, 2nd Baron Hankey, British diplomat, public servant (d. 1996)
  • Irving Johnson, American sail training pioneer (d. 1991)
  • Lionel Trilling, American literary critic, short story writer, essayist, and teacher (d. 1975)
  • Marie-Thérèse Paquin, Canadian pianist (d. 1997)
• July 5 – Jock Cameron, South African cricketer (d. 1935)
• July 6 – Alelia Murphy, American supercentenarian
• July 7 – Charlo, Argentine singer, musician, pianist, actor and composer (d. 1990)
• July 8
  • Kathleen Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn (d. 1990)
  • Leonid Amalrik, Russian animator (d. 1997)
• July 10 – Thomas Gomez, American actor (d. 1971)
• July 11
  • Kikutaro Baba, Japanese malacologist (d. 2000)
  • David Louis Lidman, American actor (d. 1982)
• July 12
  • Edward Bernds, American director (d. 2000)
  • Prince John of the United Kingdom (d. 1919)
• July 13
  • Andreas Sithole, South African supercentenarian
  • Eugenio Pagnini, Italian modern pentathlete (d. 1993)
  • Magda Foy, American child actress (d. 2000)
  • Edvin Laine, Finnish film director (d. 1989)
  • Alfredo M. Santos, Filipino general (d. 1990)
• July 14
  • Elia Concari, Italian supercentenarian (d. 2017)
  • Laurence Chisholm Young, American mathematician (d. 2000)
• July 15
  • Dorothy Fields, American songwriter (d. 1988)
  • Anita Farra, Italian actress (d. 2008)
  • Addie McPhail, American actress (d. 2003)
  • Shirley Povich, American sports columnist (d. 1998)
• July 16
  • Muthiasse Valoi, Mozambican supercentenarian
  • Anonymous person of Kyoto, Japanese supercentenarian
  • Lou Garland, American baseball player (d. 1990)
• July 17
  • Guillermo Hyslop, American businessman (d. 1993)
  • Araken Patusca, Brazilian footballer (d. 1990)
  • William Gargan, American actor (d. 1979)
  • Marjorie Reeves, British historian, educationalist (d. 2003)
• July 19 – Geertje Kuijntjes, Dutch supercentenarian
• July 20 – Joseph Levis, American fencer (d. 2005)
• July 21
  • Diana Trilling, American literary critic, author (d. 1996)
  • David M. Kennedy, American politician, businessman (d. 1996)
• July 22
  • Molly Schmidt, American supercentenarian (d. 2017)
  • Doc Cramer, American baseball player (d. 1990)
• July 23 – Leopold Engleitner, Austrian Holocaust survivor (d. 2013)
• July 25 – Elias Canetti, Bulgarian-born British writer (d. 1994)
• July 26 – Alex Radcliffe, American baseball player (d. 1983)
• July 29
  • Clara Bow, American actress (d. 1965)
  • Dag Hammarskjöld, Swedish diplomat, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 1961)
• July 30 – Pedro Quartucci, Argentine boxer, actor (d. 1983)

August

Myrna Loy

Abeid Karume

• August 2
  • Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer (d. 1963)
  • Ernst Kals, German submarine commander (d. 1979)
  • Myrna Loy, American actress (d. 1993)
  • Franz König, Austrian Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 2004)
• August 4 – Abeid Karume, 1st President of Zanzibar (assassinated) (d. 1972)
• August 8 – André Jolivet, French composer (d. 1974)
• August 9 – Leo Genn, English actor (d. 1978)
• August 11 – Erwin Chargaff, Austrian biochemist (d. 2002)
• August 16 – Marian Rejewski, Polish mathematician, cryptologist (d. 1980)
• August 18 – Amelia Boynton Robinson, African-American civil rights activist, supercentenarian (d. 2015)
• August 20
  • Jean Gebser, German-born author, linguist and poet (d. 1973)
  • Mikio Naruse, Japanese filmmaker (d. 1969)
• August 22 – John Lyng, Norwegian politician, former prime minister (d. 1978)
• August 23 – Constant Lambert, British composer (d. 1951)
• August 24 – Siaka Stevens, former President of Sierra Leone (d. 1988)
• August 25 – Faustina Kowalska, Polish saint, Secretary of Divine Mercy (d. 1938)
• August 29
  • Dhyan Chand, Indian hockey player (d. 1979)
  • Al Taliaferro, Disney comics artist (d. 1969)
• August 31 – Dore Schary, American film writer, director, and producer (d. 1980)

September

Carl David Anderson

Agnes de Mille

Greta Garbo

Max Schmeling

Helen Wills

Félix Houphouët-Boigny

Felix Bloch

• September 1
  • Elvera Sanchez, Puerto Rican dancer (d. 2000)
  • Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum, Cambodian politician (d. 2009)
• September 3 – Carl David Anderson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
• September 5
  • Justiniano Montano, Filipino politician (d. 2005)
  • Walther Müller, German physicist (d. 1979)
• September 12 – Ali Amini, Iranian politician, 67th Prime Minister of Iran (d. 1992)
• September 18
  • Agnes de Mille, American choreographer (d. 1993)
  • Eddie Anderson, African-American actor (d. 1977)
  • Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (d. 1990)
• September 22
  • Haakon Lie, Norwegian politician (d. 2009)
  • Eugen Sänger, Austrian aerospace engineer (d. 1964)
• September 24 – Severo Ochoa, Spanish–American biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
• September 26
  • Emilio Navarro, Puerto Rican baseball player (d. 2011)
  • Juliana Koo, Chinese-American diplomat and supercentenarian (d. 2017)
• September 28 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (d. 2005)
• September 30
  • Savitri Devi, Greek writer, National Socialist philosopher (d. 1982)
  • Nevill Francis Mott, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
  • Michael Powell, British director (d. 1990)

October

• October 5 – John Hoyt, American actor, editorial board member of The Yale Record (d. 1991)
• October 6 – Helen Wills, American tennis player (d. 1998)
• October 7 – Andy Devine, American character actor (d. 1977)
• October 11 – Fred Trump, American real estate developer, father of Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States (d. 1999)
• October 16 – Jadwiga Szubartowicz, Polish supercentenarian (d. 2017)
• October 18 – Félix Houphouët-Boigny, former President of Côte d'Ivoire (d. 1993)
• October 22 – Sylvia Msoka Chembe, Zambian supercentenarian (d. 2015)
• October 23
  • Felix Bloch, Swiss-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
  • Claude de Cambronne, French aircraft manufacturer (d. 1993)
  • Yen Chia-kan, 2nd President of the Republic of China (d. 1993)
• October 29
  • Berthold Wolpe, German-born British calligrapher, typographer and illustrator (d. 1989)
  • Reg Bunn, English comic book artist (d. 1971)
• October 31 – Harry Frederick Harlow, American psychologist (d. 1981)

November

Queen Astrid of Belgium

Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford

Cliff Arquette

• November 1 – Eric Siday, American bandleader, electronic composer (d. 1976)
• November 2
  • Isabella Smith Andrews, New Zealand writer (d. 1990)
  • Georges Schehadé, Lebanese poet, playwright (d. 1989)
• November 4 – Dragutin Tadijanović, Croatian poet (d. 2007)
• November 5 – Sajjad Zaheer, Indian-born Urdu writer, revolutionary (d. 1973)
• November 7 – William Alwyn, English composer (d. 1985)
• November 9 – Erika Mann, German author, war correspondent (d. 1969)
• November 13 – Frank Levingston, American supercentenarian (d. 2016)
• November 15 – Mantovani, Italian-born conductor, arranger (d. 1980)
• November 17
  • Queen Astrid of Belgium (d. 1935)
  • Mischa Auer, Russian-American actor (d. 1967)
• November 19
  • Eleanor Audley, American actress (d. 1991)
  • Tommy Dorsey, American bandleader (d. 1956)
• November 26 – Bob Johnson, American baseball player (d. 1982)

December

• December 5
  • Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, British peer, politician and reformer (d. 2001)
  • Otto Preminger, Austrian-born American film director (d. 1986)
• December 7
  • Gerard Kuiper, Dutch astronomer (d. 1973)
  • Edelgard Huber von Gersdorff, German supercentenarian (d. 2018)
  • Leonard Goldenson, American television executive (d. 1999)
• December 8 – Frank Faylen, American movie, television actor (d. 1985)
• December 11 – Gilbert Roland, Mexican-born American actor (d. 1994)
• December 17 – Simo Häyhä, Finnish sniper (d. 2002)
• December 19 – Irving Kahn, American financial analyst, investor (d. 2015)
• December 21 – Anthony Powell, British author (d. 2000)
• December 22 – Kenneth Rexroth, American poet (d. 1982)
• December 23 – Paul Caraway, American general, High Commissioner, United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (d. 1985)
• December 24 – Howard Hughes, American millionaire, aviation pioneer and film mogul (d. 1976)
• December 27 – Cliff Arquette (Charley Weaver), American comic (d. 1974)
• December 31 – Jule Styne, English-born composer (d. 1994)

Date unknown

• Gershon Liebman, French rabbi (d. 1997)

Deaths

January

Ernst Abbe

• January 1 – Johannes Ludovicus Paquay, Belgian Roman Catholic priest and blessed (b. 1828)
• January 6 – José María Gabriel y Galán, Spanish poet (b. 1870)
• January 14 – Ernst Abbe, German physicist (b. 1840)
• January 19 – Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher (b. 1817)
• January 20 – Gyula Szapáry, 10th Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1832)
• January 27 – Watson Heston, American cartoonist (b. 1846)

February

Adolph von Menzel

• February 2 – Adolf Bastian, German anthropologist (b. 1826)
• February 4 – Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor (b. 1841)
• February 5 – Andrijica Šimić, Croatian hajduk (b. 1833)
• February 9 – Adolph von Menzel, German painter (b. 1815)
• February 12 – Marcel Schwob, French writer (b. 1867)
• February 15 – Lew Wallace, American writer (Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ) (b. 1827)
• February 17 – Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia (b. 1857)
• February 20 – Jeremiah W. Farnham, American merchant captain (b. c. 1828)

March

Jules Verne

• March 3 – Antonio Annetto Caruana, Maltese archaeologist, author (b. 1830)
• March 6
  • John Henninger Reagan, American Confederate politician (b. 1818)
  • Makar Yekmalyan, Armenian composer (b. 1856)
• March 15
  • Meyer Guggenheim, Swiss-born patriarch of the Guggenheim Family (b. 1828)
  • Amalie Skram, Norwegian author, feminist (b. 1846)
• March 17 – Juan Nepomuceno Zegrí Moreno, Spanish Roman Catholic priest and blessed (b. 1831)
• March 24 – Jules Verne, French science fiction author (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea) (b. 1828)
• March 25 – Maurice Barrymore, British actor (b. 1849)
• March 28 – Huang Zunxian, Chinese poet, writer (b. 1848)

April

• April 4 – Constantin Meunier, Belgian painter, sculptor (b. 1831)
• April 9 – Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford, British general (b. 1827)
• April 18 – Juan Valera, Spanish writer (b. 1824)
• April 23 – Joseph Jefferson, American actor (b. 1829)

May

Francisco Silvela

• May 13 – Sam S. Shubert, American theater owner (b. 1878)
• May 26 – Alphonse James de Rothschild, French banker, philanthropist (b. 1827)
• May 29 – Francisco Silvela, Spanish politician, former Prime Minister (b. 1843)

June

Blessed Giovanni Battista Scalabrini

Blessed Małgorzata Szewczyk

• June 1
  • Émile Delahaye, French automotive pioneer (b. 1843)
  • Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, Italian Roman Catholic prelate and blessed (b. 1839)
• June 3 – James Hudson Taylor, British missionary (b. 1832)
• June 4 – Jan Mikulicz-Radecki, Polish-Austrian surgeon (b. 1850)
• June 5 – Małgorzata Szewczyk, Polish Roman Catholic religious professed and blessed (b. 1828)
• June 7 – Carl Kellner, German mystic (b. 1851)
• June 13 – Theodoros Diligiannis, 5-time Prime Minister of Greece (assassinated) (b. 1820)
• June 17 – Máximo Gómez, Cuban general (b. 1836)
• June 18
  • Carmine Crocco, Italian brigand (b. 1830)
  • Per Teodor Cleve, Swedish chemist and geologist (b. 1840)
• June 22 – Francis Lubbock, Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
• June 27 – Grigory Vakulinchuk, Russian mutineer (b. 1877)

July

• July 1 – John Hay, American diplomat, private secretary to Abraham Lincoln (b. 1838)
• July 4 – Élisée Reclus, French geographer (b. 1830)
• July 8 – Walter Kittredge, American musician, composer (b. 1834)
• July 11 – Muhammad Abduh, Egyptian philosopher, jurist (b. 1849)

August

• August 1 – John Brown, Canadian politician (b. 1841)
• August 4 – Walther Flemming, German biologist (b. 1843)
• August 14 – Simeon Solomon, British artist (b. 1840)
• August 31 – Francesco Tamagno, Italian opera singer (b. 1850)

September

Rene Goblet

• September 5 – Touch the Clouds, Minneconjou chief (b. c. 1838)
• September 13 – René Goblet, French politician, 52nd Prime Minister of France (b. 1828)
• September 14 – Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, Franco-Italian explorer (b. 1852)
• September 18 – George MacDonald, Scottish author, poet and Christian minister (b. 1824)
• September 19 – Thomas John Barnardo, Irish philanthropist (b. 1845)

October

• October 3 – José-Maria de Heredia, French poet (b. 1842)
• October 6 – Ferdinand von Richthofen, German explorer, geographer (b. 1833)
• October 13 – Sir Henry Irving, English actor (b. 1838)
• October 15 – Mikhail Ivanovich Dragomirov, Russian general (b. 1830)
• October 29 – Étienne Desmarteau, Canadian athlete (b. 1873)

November

• November 2 – Albert von Kölliker, Swiss anatomist (b. 1817)
• November 17 – Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (b. 1817)

December

• December 5 – Henry Eckford, British horticulturist (b. 1823)
• December 9
  • Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb, British scholar, politician (b. 1841)
  • Henry Holmes, British composer, violinist (b. 1839)
• December 12 – Reimond Stijns, Belgian writer (b. 1850)

Date unknown

• Andrzej Jerzy Mniszech, Polish painter (b. 1823)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics – Philipp Eduard Anton von Lenard
• Chemistry – Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer
• Medicine – Robert Koch
• Literature – Henryk Sienkiewicz
• Peace – Bertha von Suttner

References

Further reading

• Gilbert, Martin. A History of the Twentieth Century: Volume 1 1900–1933 (1997); global coverage of politics, diplomacy and warfare; pp 105–22.