2004

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Years : 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Centuries: 20th century · 21st century · 22th century
Decades: 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s
Years: 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

2004 is a year in the 21st century. It is a leap year.

Contents

[edit] The most important events

  • January 1 - Deiss becomes President of the Confederation in Switzerland.
  • January 2 - Several British Airways flights from London Heathrow Airport to Washington D.C. and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia are cancelled due to security fears.
  • January 3 - Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt. All 148 aboard are killed.
  • January 3 - NASA's MER-A (Spirit) lands on Mars.
  • January 3 - Blair goes to Basra, Iraq and talks to the British soldiers there. Very few people are told before he comes.
  • January 4 - Dr. Mikhail Saakashvili wins Presidential Elections in the Republic of Georgia.
  • January 5 - Britney Spears's marriage to childhood sweetheart Jason Allen Alexander is annulled (declared invalid) by a Las Vegas court following a surprise 55-hour marriage.
  • January 6 - An official look into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales begins in London. It is held by Michael Burgess, the coroner of The Queen's Household.
  • January 13 - An Uzbekistan Airways plane crashes in Uzbekistan's capital of Tashkent. 37 are killed
  • January 14 - The shock site Goatse.cx is placed on registry lock for violating the AUP
  • January 15 - The South Korean Foreign Minister, Yoon Young-kwan resigns after he says he supports American policy towards North Korea.
  • January 20 - India signs a $1.5 billion deal with Russia to buy the 45,000 tonne aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov along with 28 MiG-29k fighter planes.
  • January 22 - The European Union bans the import of poultry from Thailand, as bird flu spreads throughout Southeast Asia
  • January 24 - NASA's MER-B (Opportunity) lands on Mars.
  • January 28 - The findings of the Hutton Inquiry are published in London. The British Government is found not to have falsified information in the "sexed up dossier". The report criticises the BBC's role in the death of David Kelly, a weapons expert on Iraq.
  • January 28 - At a hearing of the Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, it is revealed that the September 11, 2001 terrorists used mace (a brand of tear gas) or pepper spray to overpower the flight crew of American Airlines Flight 11.
  • January 31 - Mystery Science Theatre 3000 ends its run on the Sci-Fi Channel.
  • February 1 A hajj stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia kills 251 pilgrims.
  • February 2 - An apartment building falls apart in Konya, Turkey, killing 92.
  • February 3 - The CIA admits that there was no immediate threat from weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
  • February 6 - A suicide bomber kills 41 people on a subway train in Moscow.
  • February 7 - His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales begins a tour of the Middle East, visiting troops in Iraq, the Iranian earthquake zone at Bam and Saudi Arabia.
  • February 10 - At least 50 people are killed in a car bomb attack at a center for hiring police officers south of Baghdad.
  • February 10 - The French National Assembly votes to pass a law banning religious items and clothing from schools.
  • February 11 - Up to 47 people are killed in a car bomb attack on an army recruiting center in Baghdad.
  • February 12 - Same sex marriage in the United States: The City and County of San Francisco begins giving out marriage licenses to homosexual couples as an act of civil disobedience.
  • February 13 - Scientists in South Korea announce the cloning of 30 human embryos.
  • February 18 - A train carrying a convoy of gas, fertiliser and sulphur derails and explodes in Iran, killing 320 people.
  • February 20 - Iranian parliament election is held. Many reformist candidates are not allowed to run, resulting in a win by conservatives.
  • February 22 - A suicide bomber kills eight bus passengers in Jerusalem.
  • February 22 - Rebels capture Haiti's second-largest city, Cap-Haïtien.
  • February 24 - An earthquake in Morocco kills 571 people.
  • February 26 - Former British cabinet minister, Clare Short reveals that British Intelligence bugged the phone calls of United Nations officials, including Kofi Annan.
  • February 26 - The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya, ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years.
  • February 29 - 2004 Haiti Rebellion: Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as president of Haiti. The chief justice of the Haitian Supreme Court, Boniface Alexandre, is sworn in as interim (short-term) president. Aristide later says he was made to resign, and that he was taken from the country by U.S. soldiers.
  • March 2 - John Kerry effectively clinches the U.S. Democratic Party presidential nomination, 2004 by winning 9 out of 10 "Super Tuesday" primaries and caucuses.
  • March 4 - bomb blasts in Iraq threaten to de-stabilise the country.
  • March 5 - CBS broadcasts tape recordings of Diana, Princess of Wales as she describes suicide attempts while pregnant with Prince William of Wales.
  • March 10 - Five British men released from detention at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay land at RAF Brize Norton. Four are immediately arrested by the Metropolitan Police and taken to Paddington Green high security police station in Central London for questioning.
  • March 11 - Simultaneous explosions on rush hour trains in Madrid kill 190 people.
  • March 12 - Following the terrorist attacks in Madrid on March 11, millions of protesters take to the streets of Spanish cities against terrorism.
  • March 13- His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester and the Spanish Ambassador to the United Kingdom attend the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace where the Spanish national anthem is played to honour the victims of the Madrid train bombings.
  • March 14 - Two suicide bombers kill eleven Israeli civilians in Ashdod, Israel.
  • March 14 - The Spanish parliamentary elections of 2004 take place. The incumbent government led by Jose Maria Aznar is defeated by the Socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
  • March 14 - Presidential elections in Russia are held. Vladimir Putin easily wins a second term.
  • March 15 - A trio of astronomers announce they have discovered a large trans-Neptunian object, unofficially named Sedna, the largest object found in the solar system since Pluto was discovered in 1930.
  • March 15 - The new Spanish government announces that it will withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops in Iraq.
  • March 20 - President Chen Shui-bian wins the Taiwanese presidential election by less than 0.25% of the votes. The day before, he and Vice President Annette Lu were shot. Lien Chan refuses to concede and demands a recount.
  • March 20 - Thousands protest at the 1-year anniversary of the start of the War in Iraq.
  • March 22 - Palestinians protest in the streets after an Israeli helicopter gunship fires a missile at the entourage of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Gaza City, killing Yassin and 7 others.
  • March 28 - In France, the government of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin suffers a stunning and unprecedented defeat in the regional elections, leading to Raffarin's resignation on March 30.
  • March 29 - The Republic of Ireland bans smoking in restaurants, pubs and bars.
  • March 31 - Four American contractors are killed and their bodies mutilated after being ambushed in Northern Iraq.
  • April 2 - A bomb found on the Madrid to Seville train line is defused by Spanish police.
  • April 3 - A bomb explosion in a Madrid flat kills five suspected terrorists responsible for the Madrid train bombings on March 11, and a Spanish policeman.
  • April 5 - Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II begins a state visit to France to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale
  • April 8 - Three Japanese citizens are taken hostage in Iraq.
  • April 16 - India defeats Pakistan in their historic first cricket tour in 14 years.
  • April 17 - Israeli helicopters fire missiles at a convoy of vechiles in the Gaza Strip, killing the leader of Hamas, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi
  • April 20 - Tony Blair announces that the UK will hold a referendum on the European constitution.
  • April 21 - Mordechai Vanunu is released from prison in Israel after an 18 year term for treason.
  • April 21 - The American TV network, CBS broadcasts pictures of Diana, Princess of Wales as she lay dying moments after the fatal car crash that killed her.
  • April 22 - Two trains carrying explosives and fuel collide in the North Korean town of Ryongchon, killing 161 people, injuring 1,300 and destroying thousands of homes.
  • April 22 - The last coal mine in France closes, ending nearly 300 years of coal mining.
  • April 24 - The christening of Lady Louise Windsor takes place at Windsor Castle.
  • April 25 - Greek Cypriots reject a United Nations plan to unite the island of Cyprus in a referendum.
  • May 1 - An enlargement of the European Union takes place, expanding the Union by 10 member-states: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta, and Cyprus.
  • May 2 - After 3 weeks of captivity, American contractor Thomas Hamill escapes from his captors in Iraq with just a gunshot wound to the arm and makes it to US Military personnel.
  • May 5 - Parliament grounds in New Zealand host 15,000 people protesting about the proposed law that would change the ownership of foreshore and seabed.
  • May 6 - The president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, announces that Adzharian leader Aslan Abashidze has left the country, ending a political crisis there.
  • May 6 - The final episode of Friends airs on NBC. Advertisers pay $2 million for 30 second ads.
  • May 9 - Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov is killed by landmine placed under a VIP stage during a World War II memorial victory parade in Grozny, Chechnya.
  • May 10 - Canadian Sponsorship Scandal - The RCMP arrest Chuck Guite and Jean Brault in connection with the scandal.
  • May 10 - Final phase of elections to the Lok Sabha in India
  • May 10 - National election takes place in the Philippines for the presidency and almost all other elective positions.
  • May 11 - Explosion destroys a plastics factory in Glasgow, UK, killing nine people and injuring over a hundred.
  • May 12 - An American civilian contractor in Iraq, Nick Berg, is shown being decapitated by a group with links to al-Qaida on a web-distributed video. They state it is retaliation for the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.
  • May 12 - Semi final takes place in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 in Turkey.
  • May 13 - In India, the Congress Party wins a shock victory in the elections to the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament).
  • May 13 - The season finale for Frasier is aired.
  • May 14 - The editor of the Daily Mirror newspaper in the UK, Piers Morgan, is sacked after the British army proves photographs in the newspaper, allegedly showing British soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees, to be fake.
  • May 15 - FIFA announces that South Africa will host the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament, making it the first African nation to do so.
  • December 26 - A strong earthquake from the Indian Ocean kills at least 140,000 people.

[edit] Births

  • January 21 - Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

[edit] Deaths

[edit] New books

  • Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror - Richard A. Clarke
  • Al Capone Does My Shirts - Gennifer Choldenko
  • Author, Author - David Lodge
  • The Big Why - Michael Winter
  • The Body of Jonah Boyd - David Leavitt
  • Conspiracy Files - David Southwell
  • Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
  • The Confession - Olen Steinhauer
  • The Confusion - Neal Stephenson (Vol. II of the Baroque Cycle)
  • The Dark Tower - Stephen King
  • The Dust Diaries - Owen Sheers
  • Eastern Standard Tribe - Cory Doctorow
  • Edenborn - Nick Sagan
  • Eleanor Rigby - Douglas Coupland
  • Eragon - Christopher Paolini
  • Escaping the Giant Wave - Peg Kehret
  • Free Culture - Lawrence Lessig
  • Gregor the Overlander - Suzanne Collins
  • The Grim Grotto - Lemony Snicket
  • The Hanging of Angelique - Afua Cooper
  • Heir Apparent - Vivian Vande Velde
  • How to Ruin Your Financial Life - Ben Stein
  • In the Place of Last Things - Michael Helm
  • The Inner Circle - T. C. Boyle
  • The Line of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst
  • My Name Is Legion - A. N. Wilson
  • Origins of the Crash - Roger Lowenstein
  • Past Mortem - Ben Elton
  • The Pentagon's New Map - Thomas P.M. Barnett
  • A Planet for the President - Alistair Beaton
  • The Plot Against America - Philip Roth
  • The Rocklopedia Fakebandica - T. Mike Childs
  • Runaway - Alice Munro
  • Sahara Special - Esmé Raji Codell
  • The Sex Lives of Cannibals - J. Maarten Troost
  • Skinny Dip - Carl Hiaasen
  • Song of Susannah - Stephen King
  • Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories - Chuck Palahniuk
  • The System of the World - Neal Stephenson (Vol. III of the Baroque Cycle)
  • Ten Men - Alexandra Gray
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell - David Michaels
  • When My Name Was Keoke - Linda Sue Park
  • A Year in the Merde - Stephen Clarke

[edit] Films Released

  • Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
  • The Manchurian Candidate
  • Mean Girls
  • Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
  • Suspect Zero
  • The Stepford Wives
  • Team America: World Police
  • Twisted