The following events occurred in May 1905:
May 1, 1905 (Monday) As uprisings in Poland continued, Imperial Russian Army soldiers fired into crowds of protesters in Warsaw and in Lodz.
May 2, 1905 (Tuesday) The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) was founded by act of the state legislature, in response to the violence of the coal strike of 1902. In Notodden in Norway, the first mass production of synthetic potassium nitrate, using the Birkeland–Eyde process, was carried out.
May 3, 1905 (Wednesday) Aleksandr Kuprin's novel The Duel was first published. Born: Werner Fenchel, German mathematician known for his convex analysis and nonlinear optimization theory which would later serve as the foundation for nonlinear programming; in Berlin (d. 1988)
May 4, 1905 (Thursday)
The first world championship of professional wrestling took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, as Estonian-born strong man George Hackenschmidt defeated U.S. champion Tom Jenkins. New York's Belmont Park for horse racing was opened at the Long Island town of Elmont, initially to host the Belmont Stakes
May 5, 1905 (Friday) Korea University was founded in Seoul as Bosung College. The city of Kelowna, British Columbia, was incorporated. Born: Floyd Gottfredson, American cartoonist, primarily known for the Mickey Mouse comic strip; in Kaysville, Utah (d. 1986)
May 6, 1905 (Saturday) The Klamath National Forest was founded in California near the town of Yreka and now covers of protected lands in the California and part of Oregon.
May 7, 1905 (Sunday) The Japanese and Korean Exclusion League was launched in San Francisco in California by Americans of European descent, P. H. McCarthy of the San Francisco Building Trades Council labor union, and Andrew Furuseth of the International Seamen's Union to lobby for further immigration to the U.S. from Asia.
May 8, 1905 (Monday) The first immigrants to Mexico from Korea arrived on a British cargo ship and landed at the port of Salina Cruz after departing Incheon on April 4. The group, under contract to a plantation, boarded trains to the town of Progreso in the state of Yucatán, but most were not able to save enough money to go home. The case of United States v. Ju Toy was decided by the United States Supreme Court, determining that the decision of immigration authorities to deny a person entry into the U.S. was not subject to judicial review and that denial of entry was not a violation of due process.
May 9, 1905 (Tuesday)
Upon the death of U.S. social activist Ann Reeves Jarvis In West Virginia, her daughter Anna Jarvis resolved to campaign across the United States for a proposed "Mother's Day", lobbying successfully to get the state of West Virginia to recognize the second Sunday in May as the day for remembrance of mothers both living and dead. Miss Jarvis's campaign would be the inspiration for multiple celebratory days for family members during the year, and provide a new outlet for business for florists and sellers of greeting cards. Born: Lilí Álvarez, Spanish tennis player who appeared in the finals at Wimbledon in 1926, 1927, and 1928 and won the French Open mixed doubles in 1929; in Rome to Spanish parents (d. 1998)
May 10, 1905 (Wednesday) In the U.S., A tornado destroyed the town of Snyder, Oklahoma and killed 97 people, making it the seventh deadliest storm in U.S. history up to that time. The Kentucky Derby was held, with only three horses. Agile, ridden by Jack Martin, won, while Ram's Horn placed and Layson showed. Died: Bernhard Samuelson, 84, British politician and engineer