2004 - What happened in 2004 ?

January 2004

Saturday 03:

Flight 604, a Boeing 737 owned by Flash Airlines, an Egyptian airliner, plunges into the Red Sea, killing all 148 aboard.

Sunday 04:

Spirit, a NASA Mars Rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.

Thursday 08:

Queen Elizabeth names the Queen Mary II cruise liner, the largest passenger ship ever built.

Sunday 25:

Opportunity (MER-B) lands on surface of Mars.

Saturday 31:

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ends its run on the Sci-Fi Channel.

February 2004

Thursday 05:

Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front captured the city of Gonaïves, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion.

Saturday 14:

In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 25 people, and wounding more than 100 others.

Wednesday 18:

Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near Neyshabur in Iran when a run-away freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertiliser catches fire and explodes.

Saturday 21:

The first European political party organization, the European Greens, is established in Rome.

Saturday 28:

Over 1 million Taiwanese participating in the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally form a 500-kilometre (300-mile) long human chain to commemorate the 228 Incident in 1947

March 2004

Tuesday 02:

War in Iraq: A United Nations report from the weapons inspection teams states that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction of any significance after 1994, despite President Bush's objection to the contrary before the invasion.

Thursday 04:

FIFA reveals its list of 100 Greatest Living Footballers (otherwise known as the "FIFA 100")

Friday 19:

Taiwanese president Chen Shui-ban is shot just before the country's presidential election on March 20. See 3-19 Shooting Incident.

Tuesday 23:

Andhra Pradesh Federation of Trade Unions holds its first conference in Hyderabad, India.

Wednesday 31:

Sandton Square in Johannesburg, South Africa, is renamed Nelson Mandela Square.

April 2004

Thursday 01:

The first legal same-sex marriage in the Canadian province of Quebec: Michael Hendricks and René Leboeuf wed in Montreal.

Friday 02:

Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks attempt a thwarted bombing of the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid.

Saturday 03:

Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks are trapped by the police in their apartment and kill themselves with explosives.

Tuesday 20:

2004 - In Iraq, 12 mortars were fired on Abu Ghraib Prision by insurgents. 22 detainees were killed and 92 wounded. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-04-20-iraq_x.htm

Saturday 24:

US lifts economic sanctions imposed on Libya 18 years previously as a reward for its cooperation in eliminating weapons of mass destruction.

May 2004

Saturday 01:

Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union.

Thursday 06:

The last episode of the popular television sitcom Friends airs.

Sunday 09:

Team of Canada won the World Ice Hockey Championship in Prague.

Friday 14:

Insurgents or terrorists in Iraq detonate a 155 mm shell containing several liters of binary precursors for sarin. The shell was designed to mix the chemicals as it spun during flight and the explosion failed to mix them properly. Although it only resulted in a small release of sarin, two U.S. soldiers are treated for exposure after displaying the early symptoms.

Saturday 15:

The largest prime number to be discovered, 2^24036583 − 1, is found by Josh Findley and the GIMPS collaborative effort.

June 2004

Saturday 05:

Smarty Jones loses at the Belmont Stakes to Birdstone and fails to bid the Triple Crown.

Tuesday 08:

First Transit of Venus in this millennium.

Saturday 12:

A 1.3 kg chondrite type meteorite strikes a house in Ellerslie, New Zealand causing serious damage but no injuries.

Sunday 20:

Ken Griffey, Jr. becomes the 20th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.

Monday 28:

Sovereign power is handed to the interim government of Iraq by the Coalition Provisional Authority, ending the U.S.-led rule of that nation.

July 2004

Tuesday 06:

The New York Post erroneously reports that Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry has selected Dick Gephardt as his running mate.

Wednesday 07:

The last patent on the LZW compression algorithm (in Canada) expires.

Sunday 11:

CIA Director George Tenet leaves his position at the CIA

Monday 12:

Pedro Santana Lopes is officially appointed Prime Minister of Portugal.

Friday 16:

A fire at a private school in Kumbakonam, India kills over 80 people.

August 2004

Thursday 12:

Lee Hsien Loong is sworn in as Singapore's 3rd Prime Minister.

Friday 13:

156 Congolese Tutsi refugees massacred at the Gatumba refugee camp, in Burundi.

Saturday 14:

Sales tax holiday in Massachusetts. All sales taxes are suspended on purchases of $2500 or less.

Tuesday 17:

The National Assembly of Serbia unanimously adopts new state symbols for Serbia: Boze Pravde becomes the new anthem and the coat of arms is adopted for the whole country.

Wednesday 18:

In Dublin, Ireland the Dublin Port Tunnel excavation works are completed.

September 2004

Monday 13:

The anime InuYasha finishes its run in Japan with episode 167.

Tuesday 21:

Punk rock band Green Day releases its critically acclaimed album American Idiot.

Thursday 23:

At least 1,070 in Haiti reported killed by floods due to Hurricane Jeanne.

Monday 27:

2004 - Virgin Group announces a joint venture with Mojave Aerospace Ventures to build VSS Enterprise for commercial space flights and a new company called Virgin Galactic.

Wednesday 29:

Baseball: The Montreal Expos play their last game at Olympic Stadium.

October 2004

Sunday 03:

The Montreal Expos play their last major league baseball game before the franchise is moved to Washington, D.C.

Saturday 23:

A powerful earthquake and its aftershocks hit Niigata prefecture, northern Japan, killing 35 people, injuring 2,200, and leaving 85,000 homeless or evacuated.

Wednesday 27:

Matti Nykänen, once a very successful Finnish ski-jumper, is found guilty of attempt of manslaughter and sentenced to a two year and two month jail term for stabbing a family friend.

Friday 29:

In Rome, European heads of state sign the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution.

Saturday 30:

A 163-metre high radio mast in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK collapses in a fire.

November 2004

Monday 01:

The Bank of Japan issues a new series of 1000, 5000, and 10,000 yen notes. Both old and the new series will circulate together.

Tuesday 02:

President George W. Bush wins U.S. Presidential Election over John Kerry.

Sunday 07:

War in Iraq: The interim government of Iraq calls for a 60-day "state of emergency" as U.S. forces storm the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

Wednesday 10:

John Ashcroft and Don Evans resign their posts as U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Secretary of Commerce respectively.

Sunday 21:

2004 - The second round of the Ukrainian presidential election is held, unleashing massive protests and controversy with regards to the election's integrity.

December 2004

Wednesday 08:

2004 - Population of Victoria (Australia) reaches 5 million for the first time.

Sunday 12:

Portuguese football team FC Porto wins the last-held Intercontinental Cup against Colombia's Once Caldas in an 8-7 penalty shoot-out.

Monday 13:

Scott Peterson is sentenced to death for murder of his wife, Laci Peterson, and unborn son, Connor.

Tuesday 14:

The Millau viaduct, the highest bridge in the world, is officially opened.

Saturday 25:

Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which will land on Saturn's moon, Titan on January 14, 2005.