August 16, 2005 (Tuesday)
- Roger Louis Schutz-Marsauche, better known as Brother Roger, is murdered by a mentally-ill woman during an afternoon prayer service. Brother Roger is best known for founding the Taizé Community in 1940. His death saddened many officials and leaders across Europe, including Pope Benedict XVI. (BBC)(Bloomberg)
- Russian cosmonaut Sergei K. Krikalev set a record for the most days spent in space, clocking almost 748 days over a 20-year career. (AFP via Yahoo! News) (Link dead as of 21:21, 14 January 2007 (UTC)), (Reuters via Yahoo! News) (Link dead as of 21:21, 14 January 2007 (UTC))
- In Richmond, Virginia, thousands of people stampede at the Richmond International Raceway to obtain one of 1000 $50 iBooks being liquidated by the Henrico County school district. Seventeen people suffer minor injuries, with four requiring hospital treatment. Cincinnati Post MSNBC macworld uk Richmond Times-Dispatch
- Lena Baker is pardoned by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles 60 years after her execution (CNN)
- Coretta Scott King, widow of civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King Jr., is admitted to Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta for a possible stroke. (AP)(ABC news)
- Madonna suffers multiple broken bones from a horseback riding accident during her 47th birthday celebration. (MTV)
- ITN news announces it has uncovered classified documents which seem to imply that Jean Charles de Menezes, the man shot dead by British Police on July 22, 2005, was not wearing a heavy coat, did not jump the ticket barrier, was not given a warning, and did not at any time flee from police. (ITN)
- Two Puma helicopters crash near the city of Herat, in western Afghanistan, killing Spanish troops. (BBC)
- West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 from Colombia crashes in a remote region of Venezuela with 160 people on board. (BBC)
- A magnitude-7.2 earthquake strikes northeastern coast of Honshū, Japan at 11.46am (02:46 UTC), injuring at least 40 people, and resulting in a tsunami warning. (BBC) (Guardian) (CNN) (Reuters) (Link dead as of 21:21, 14 January 2007 (UTC))
- World Youth Day 2005 begins in Cologne, Germany. (SD)