When The Merry Widow premieres in 1905:

• The Bloody Sunday massacre of Russian demonstrators, at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, helps trigger the abortive Russian Revolution of 1905.
• The Cullinan Diamond is found near Pretoria, South Africa at the Premier Mine.
• Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Mukden begins in Manchuria.
• U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt begins a full term.
• German Emperor William II asserts German equality with France in Morocco, triggering the Tangier or First Moroccan Crisis.
• Albert Einstein works on the special theory of relativity as well as the theory of Brownian motion.
• In India, the 1905 Kangra earthquake hits the Kangra valley, kills 20,000, and destroys most buildings in Kangra, Mcleodganj and Dharamshala.
• Lochner v. New York: The Supreme Court of the United States invalidates New York's 8-hour-day law.
• Mata Hari debuts in Paris.
• Las Vegas, Nevada is founded when 110 acres, in what later becomes downtown, are auctioned off.
• HMS Dreadnought is laid down, revolutionizing battleship design and triggering a naval arms race.
• The Wright Brothers' third aeroplane (Wright Flyer III) stays in the air for 39 minutes with Wilbur piloting. This is the first aeroplane flight lasting over 1/2 an hour.
• Wolves become extinct in Japan.
• The Fauvism movement is founded, led by Henri Matisse and André Derain.
• The word "lime" is first used to describe a color.