1505

January–June

• June 6 - The M8.2–8.8 Lo Mustang earthquake strikes Nepal, causing severe damage in Kathmandu, western Nepal, and some parts of the Indo-Gangetic plain.
• June 19 - Zhengde Emperor ascends the throne of Ming dynasty China.
• June 27 - The future King Henry VIII of England repudiates his engagement to Catherine of Aragon, at his father's command.

  July–December

• July 2 - Martin Luther, aged 22, vows to become a monk in a moment of terror, due to a near lightning strike during a thunderstorm, near the village of Stotternheim.
• July - The Kalmar Bloodbath takes place in Kalmar, Sweden.
• July 17 - Luther enters the monastic life, at an Augustinian cloister in Erfurt.
• July 24 - Travelling to India, a group of Portuguese explorers sack the city-state of Kilwa in East Africa, killing the king for failing to pay tribute.
• November 6 - Vasili III succeeds Ivan III, as Grand Prince of Muscovy.
• December 18 - John IX van Horne, prince-bishop of Liège, Belgium, is executed.

  Date unknown

• A Portuguese fleet attacks Kilwa, and then Mombasa. The Portuguese then attempt to monopolize the trade in the east African ports, but are unable to maintain control.
• Portuguese merchants establish factories on the east coast of Africa.
• Portuguese explorers under Dom Lourenço d'Almeida reach Colombo on Sri Lanka and send envoys to the King of Kotte; they also reach the Comoros.
• Bermuda is discovered by Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez.
• King Alexander of Poland signs the Nihil novi Act, making Poland a Nobles' Democracy.
• Poland prohibits peasants from leaving their lands, establishing serfdom.
• Christ's College, Cambridge, England, is re-founded, receiving its charter from Lady Margaret Beaufort.
• Judah Abravanel becomes personal physician to the viceroy of Naples.
• Battle of Achnashellach in Scotland: The Clan Cameron emerges victorious over several other clans.
• Watch 1505, the earliest known pocket watch, is made at Nuremberg, Germany by Peter Henlein.
• 1505 - Portuguese explorer Gonçalo Álvares is the first to sight what will later be known as Gough Island in the South Atlantic.

  Births

• January 12 - Louis, Count of Stolberg, German nobleman
• January 13 - Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg, Imperial Elector
• February 4 - Mikołaj Rej, Polish poet and prose writer, politician and musician of the Renaissance
• February 5 - Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss historian
• March 16 - Francisco Balbi di Correggio
• March 25 - Elizabeth Grey, Viscountess Lisle, English heiress
• May 20 - Levinus Lemnius, Dutch writer
• September 15 - Mary of Hungary, Dutch ruler
• September 23 - Anne de Laval, Viscountess of Thouars, French noblewoman and nominal pretender to the Kingdom of Naples
• November 3 - Achilles Gasser, German physician and astrologer
• November 23 - Ercole Gonzaga, Spanish Catholic cardinal
• December 18 - Philipp von Hutten, German explorer
• December 21 - Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, English politician
• December 25 - Christine of Saxony, German noble
• date unknown
• * William Cavendish, English courtier
• * Philip Hoby, English politician
• * Guillaume Morel, French classical scholar
• * Margaret Roper, English writer
• * Shahghali, Khan of Qasim
• probable - Christopher Tye, English composer and organist

  Deaths

• February 4 - Jeanne de Valois, French princess, Roman Catholic nun and saint
• February 19 - Matilda of Hesse, German noblewoman
• February 20 - Arvid Trolle, Swedish politician
• March 5 - Philip of Cleves, Bishop of Nevers, Amiens, Autun
• March 29 - Sidonie of Bavaria, eldest daughter of Duke Albrecht IV of Bavaria-Munich
• April 23 - Muhammad Jaunpuri, Indian-born religious leader
• May 28 - Ascanio Sforza, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal
• June 8 - Hongzhi Emperor of China
• June 18 - Osanna of Mantua, Italian Dominican tertiary and blessed
• June 15 - Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Italian politician
• July - Jacob Obrecht, Flemish composer
• October 27 - Emperor Ivan III of Russia
• date unknown
• * Adam of Fulda, German music writer
• * Heinrich Kramer, German churchman and inquisitor