2004

2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).<ref>United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Template:Webarchive (2003). INTERNATIONAL YEAR TO COMMEMORATE THE STRUGGLE AGAINST SLAVERY AND ITS ABOLITION Template:Webarchive</ref>

Events

January

• January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, killing all 148 aboard, making it one of the deadliest aviation accidents in Egyptian history at the time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• January 4 – NASA's MER-A (Spirit) spacecraft lands on the surface of Mars.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• January 6 – Construction on the tallest human-made structure to date, the Burj Khalifa begins in Dubai UAE.
• January 8 – The RMS Queen Mary 2, at the time the largest ocean liner ever built, is christened by its namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• January 25 – NASA's MER-B (Opportunity) spacecraft lands on the surface of Mars.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• January 26 – The MyDoom virus is first identified.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

February

• February 4
  • The DARPA LifeLog project by United States Department of Defense was canceled by the Pentagon, citing criticism concerning the privacy implications of the system. <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Mark Zuckerberg launches "TheFacebook", later renamed to Facebook, a social networking website for Harvard University students.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• February 13 – First EuroMillions transnational lottery drawn, in Paris.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• February 26 – Macedonian president Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• February 29 – Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide is overthrown in a coup d'état.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

March

• March 2 – A series of bombings occur in Karbala, Iraq, killing over 140 Shia Muslims commemorating the Day of Ashura.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• March 7 – The 2004 Greek legislative election is held to elect all 300 members of the Hellenic Parliament and the New Democracy party, led by Kostas Karamanlis, won 165 out of 300 seats, ending over 11 years of rule by the PASOK party.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• March 11 – Al-Qaeda bombings on Cercanías trains in Madrid, Spain, kill at least 192 people.<ref name="El Mundo">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>ZoomNews (in spanish). The 192nd victim died in 2014, after a decade in coma in a hospital of Madrid. She was the last hospitalized injured person.</ref>
• March 14 – The PSOE wins the election in Spain; José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is elected Prime Minister of Spain, replacing José María Aznar.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• March 19 – The Konginkangas bus disaster kills 23 and injures 14 people in Äänekoski, Finland.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• March 28 – Hurricane Catarina, the first ever recorded South Atlantic hurricane, makes landfall in Santa Catarina, Brazil.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• March 29 – Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia are admitted to NATO, the largest expansion of the organization.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

April

• April 4 – The First Battle of Fallujah starts.
• April 8 – The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups, in order to put a pause on the War in Darfur.
• April 17 – Israeli helicopters fire missiles at a convoy of vehicles in the Gaza Strip, killing Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• April 24 – Referendums on the Annan Plan for Cyprus, which proposes to reunite the island, take place in both the Greek-controlled and the Turkish-controlled parts. Although the Turkish Cypriots vote in favour, the Greek Cypriots reject the proposal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

May

• May 1
  • The European Union expands by 10 new member states: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
  • The First Battle of Fallujah ends.

• May 9 – A stadium bombing in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia kills ten people, including regional governor Akhmad Kadyrov.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• May 10 – 2004 Philippine presidential election: Incumbent president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo won a full six-year term as Philippine President.
• May 12–15 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2004 takes place in Istanbul, Turkey, and is won by Ukrainian entrant Ruslana with the song "Wild Dances".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

June

• June 1 – A United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti begins, the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
• June 4 – Marvin Heemeyer takes his modified and armoured Komatsu D355A bulldozer (killdozer) on a rampage through the town of Granby, Colorado, causing approximately 7 million dollars worth of damage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• June 8 – 2004 transit of Venus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• June 12–July 4 – Portugal hosts the UEFA Euro 2004 football tournament, which is won by Greece.
• June 21 – In Mojave, California, United States, SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
• June 28 – The U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), transfers sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• June 30 – Preliminary hearings begin in Iraq in the trial of president Saddam Hussein, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

July

• July 1 – The unpiloted Cassini–Huygens spacecraft arrives at Saturn.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• July 3 – A subway system in Bangkok opens.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• July 11 – The Russian Federation stops recognizing Soviet Union passports as legal identification.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

August

• August 1 – A fire in the "Ycua Bolaños-Botánico" supermarket in Asunción, Paraguay kills around 400 people.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• August 3 – NASA's unpiloted MESSENGER spacecraft is launched, with its primary mission being the study of Mercury.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• August 12 – Lee Hsien Loong is sworn in as the third Prime Minister of Singapore.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• August 13–29 – The 2004 Summer Olympics are held in Athens, Greece.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• August 18 – Broadband internet connections surpass dial-up for the first time in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• August 22 – Armed robbers steal Edvard Munch's The Scream, Madonna, and other paintings from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• August 24 – After departing Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow, Volga-AviaExpress Flight 1303, a Tupolev Tu-134, explodes over Russia's Tula Oblast and crashes, killing all 43 people on board; minutes later, Siberia Airlines Flight 1047, a Tupolev Tu-154 departing the same airport, explodes over Rostov Oblast and crashes, killing all 46 on board. The Government of Russia declares the explosions to have been caused by female Chechen suicide bombers.

September

• September 1 – Beslan school siege: Chechen rebels take 1,128 people, mostly children, hostage at a school in Beslan, Russia. The crisis ends when Russian security forces storm the building, resulting in more than 330 people being killed.<ref>31 August 2006: Beslan – Two Years On, UNICEF</ref>
• September 9 – A car bomb of the Jemaah Islamiyah explodes at the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, killing 9 people.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• September 22 – West Sulawesi is established as the 33rd province of Indonesia.

October

• October 8 – Suicide bombers detonate two bombs at the Red Sea resort of Taba, Egypt, killing 34 people and injuring 171, mostly Israeli tourists.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• October 9 – 2004 Australian federal election: John Howard's Liberal/National Coalition government is re-elected with an increased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by Mark Latham.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• October 17 – Parque Central Complex fire: A fire that lasted over 15 hours destroyed almost one third of the East Tower of the Parque Central Urban Complex in Caracas, Venezuela.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• October 19 – A team of explorers reach the bottom of Krubera Cave, the world's deepest cave, with a depth of 2,080 meters (6,824 feet).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• October 20 – Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is sworn in as the 6th President of Indonesia, becoming the first directly elected president in Indonesia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• October 27 – The Boston Red Sox win the World Series for the sixth time after completing a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. It was their first championship since 1918.
• October 29 – European heads of state sign in Rome the Treaty and Final Act, establishing the first European Constitution.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

November

• November 2 – 2004 United States presidential election: George W. Bush is re-elected President of the United States, defeating his Democratic challenger John Kerry.
• November 7 – The Second Battle of Fallujah starts.
• November 13 – The European Space Agency probe SMART-1 arrives at the Moon, becoming the first European satellite to fly to the Moon and orbit it.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• November 16 – NASA's hypersonic Scramjet breaks a record by reaching a velocity of about 7,000 mph (Mach 9.6) in an unpiloted experimental flight.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• November 21 – Nintendo releases the Nintendo DS, the best-selling handheld game console, in North America.
• November 22 – The Orange Revolution begins, following a disputed presidential election in Ukraine where Viktor Yanukovych won against Viktor Yushchenko amid accusations of electoral fraud. A revote results in Yushchenko being declared the winner.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• November 26 – The last known Po'ouli dies in captivity at the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Maui, Hawaii.
• November 30 – A McDonnell Douglas MD-82, operating as Lion Air Flight 538, overran the runway and crashed on a cemetery near Adisumarmo Airport, Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, killing 25 people.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

December

• December 14 – The world's tallest bridge, the Millau Viaduct over the Tarn in the Massif Central mountains, France, is officially opened.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• December 16 – the European Council decided to start accession negotiations for Turkey to become a full member of the European Union.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• December 21 – Iraqi insurgents attack a U.S. military base in the city of Mosul, killing 22 people.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• December 23 – The Second Battle of Fallujah ends.
• December 26 – The 9.1–9.3 Template:M Indian Ocean earthquake shakes northern Sumatra with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). One of the largest observed tsunamis follows, affecting coastal areas of Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Somalia, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, killing 227,000 people.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• December 27 – Astrophysicists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching near Munich measure the strongest burst from a magnetar. At 21:30:26 UT Earth is hit by a huge wave front of gamma and X-rays. It is the strongest flux of high-energetic gamma radiation measured so far.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• December 30 – A fire in the República Cromañón nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 194.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• December 31 – Taipei 101, at the time the tallest skyscraper in the world, standing at a height of Template:Convert, officially opens.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Date unknown

• Metrocable (Medellín) Line K opens, the first modern urban transit cable car.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Culture

Media

Template:Main 2004 was a year marked by many popular and highly grossing film releases such as Shrek 2, Spider Man 2, The Incredibles, The Passion of the Christ and Howl's Moving Castle. 2004 was also the year where Toho Studios would release Godzilla's 50th anniversary movie, Godzilla: Final Wars, the last Godzilla movie until Legendary Entertainment's Godzilla in 2014, and the last Japanese Godzilla movie until Shin Godzilla in 2016.

Many shows would debut and end in 2004, with Friends airing its final episode on May 6, 2004 after nearly a decade on air, and Lost airing its first episode on September 22 of the same year. Tsuburaya Productions would air the highly controversial Ultraman Nexus, the 17th entry of the Ultra Series on October 2, 2004. Though the series was poorly received when it first began its broadcast, it is now seen as one of the best entries of the Ultra Series.

The gaming industry would see the release of many FPS and sequel games in 2004, with some of the most famous being Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Halo 2,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Metroid Prime 2: Echoes,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Half Life 2.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> These titles are considered some of the greatest video games of all time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Nintendo DS also released this year, which grew to become the best-selling handheld console of all time. Template:TOC limit

Nobel Prizes

File:Nobel medal.png

• Chemistry – Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko, Irwin Rose
• Economics – Finn E. Kydland, Edward C. Prescott
• Literature – Elfriede Jelinek
• Peace – Wangarĩ Maathai
• Physics – David J. Gross, Hugh David Politzer, Frank Wilczek
• Physiology or Medicine – Linda B. Buck, Richard Axel