2005

Natalee Holloway, disappeared in May 2005

2005 was the 134th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

• January 6: Tapestry went on the air.
• February 22: Magic City Flickr Group was founded.
• March 12: The Steven C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site was dedicated.
• March 27: 10,000 attended a special Easter service hosted by Gardendale First Baptist Church at the BJCC.
• May 30: Natalee Holloway went missing in Aruba.
• June 17-19: 2005 City Stages.
• June 28: Richard Scrushy was acquitted of 36 counts of fraud and conspiracy.
• July: The Universist Movement was chartered as a religious non-profit corporation in Alabama.
• July 16: Brandee Skinner's BMW plunged into the Cahaba River, killing her two children.
• September 28: Forever Wild's acquisition of the 48-acre Turkey Creek-Thomas Tract expanded the Turkey Creek Nature Preserve.
• October 13-15: 2005 NOMA convention at the Sheraton Birmingham.
• October 26: Don Siegelman was indicted on charges of racketeering, bribery, and extortion; Richard Scrushy was indicted on charges of bribery and mail fraud.

Business

logo for ServisFirst Bank

• January: MedTown Pharmacy opened on 20th Street North.
• March: The Birmingham Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta lost 70 jobs.
• May: ServisFirst Bank was founded.
• June: WBHJ-FM moved its transmitter to Red Mountain from a site near Vance.
• August 15: Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa opened.
• September 23: The Birmingham Post-Herald published its last edition.
• October: SouthPoint Bank opened.
• October 24: SouthTrust Bank merged with Wachovia.
• Ed and Mary Gurney opened Playhouse Costume on 3rd Avenue North.
• Big Sky Bread Company opened a 10,000 square-foot bakery and warehouse at the Cahaba Valley Business Park.
• World Auto Sales was incorporated.

Sports

• March: The first North Alabama Whitewater Festival was held at King's Bend on Locust Fork.
• October 29: Alabama A&M beat Alabama State 31-28 in the Magic City Classic
• November 19: Auburn beat Alabama 28-18 in the 2005 Iron Bowl
• December: The Tragic City Rollers were formed

Works

• Princeton BMC Healing Garden
• Boxcars on 1st, Vol. I, compilation album by Skybucket Records
• Killing Christian, film by Wastebasket Productions
• Chords of Relief, compilation album for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts

Books

• Birmingham's Theater and Retail District, book by Tim Hollis
• To You Through Me: The Beginning of a Link of a Journey of 400 Years, book by Joe Minter

Buildings

• January 4: Homewood Middle School
• May: Alys Stephens Center Phase III
• May 26: Mount Lebanon Baptist Church was destroyed by fire.
• October 9: The Ensley Library reopened after renovations.
• Colonial Promenade Alabaster
• The Radisson Hotel of Birmingham closed for renovations.
• Ground was broken for the Birmingham Social Security Administration Center.
• Southside Townhouses

Individuals

• Abdurrahim El-Keib left the faculty of the University of Alabama.
• Ray Melick began writing sports columns for the Birmingham News.
• Vijay Misra was named director of the UAB Heart and Vascular Center cardiac catheterization laboratory.
• Doris Powell was elected chair of the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority.

Awards

• Oscar Adams, Jr to the Alabama Lawyers Hall of Fame
• Miller Gorrie, Auburn Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award
• William Blount, Thomas Corts, James Head, Charles Linn, Frank P. Samford, Sr, and Frank P. Samford, Jr were inducted into the Birmingham Business Hall of Fame

Deaths

J. B. Stoner, died April 23, 2005

• January 18: Kevin McGowin, author
• February 5: Elton B. Stephens, businessman and philanthropist
• February 24: George Gaunt, architect
• March 1: Houston Brice, Jr, businessman
• March 28: Tom Bevill, former U. S. Representative
• March 29: Howell Heflin, former Alabama Supreme Court justice and U. S. Senator
• April 23: J. B. Stoner, founder of the National States Rights Party
• June 2: Maynard, Birmingham Zoo lion
• June 10: Joseph Raya, Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop
• June 24: Lyman Bostock, Sr, first baseman for Birmingham Black Barons
• July 9: Daryl Harms, entreprenuer
• July 16: Ashlyn and Bryson Skinner, children of Brandee Skinner, died when her car plunged into the Cahaba River.
• August 2: Sloan Bashinsky, Sr, Golden Flake CEO
• August 2: Loulie Jean Norman, singer
• August 9: C. Pat Reynolds, restauranteur and former mayor of Vestavia Hills
• August 19: Tom Egan, BBS sysop
• September 3: John Claypool, Episcopal rector
• October 12: Baker Knight, songwriter
• October 13: Vivian Malone, the first black graduate of the University of Alabama
• December 5: Ocie Burton, pastor of Mt Hebron Missionary Baptist Church
• December 18: Linda Manning, country singer and radio host
• December 23: Harold Ruttenberg, founder of Just For Feet and Amalgamated Concepts

See also List of Birmingham homicides in 2005

See Also

• 2005 City Stages
• 2005 Birmingham Barons (82-57, 2nd in Western Division)
• 2005 Birmingham Steeldogs (2-14)
• 2005 UAB Blazers (5-6)

2000s

<< 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 >>

Births - Deaths - Establishments - Events - Works