2004 - What happened in 2004 ?

January 2004

Sunday 04:

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

Wednesday 14:

The national flag of Georgia, the so-called "five cross flag", was restored to official use after a hiatus of some 500 years.

Wednesday 28:

September Dossier: Lord Hutton publishes his report into the death of UN weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly.

Thursday 29:

A whale explodes in the town of Tainan, Taiwan. A build-up of gas in the decomposing 56-foot long Sperm whale is suspected of causing the explosion.

Saturday 31:

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

February 2004

Sunday 01:

Janet Jackson exposes her breast on American television.

Thursday 12:

Mattel Inc. announces the split of Barbara Millicent Roberts and Ken Carson after 43 years of dating.

Sunday 15:

John Daly the PGA golfer, wins his first PGA TOUR event in 9 years by winning the Buick Invitational golf tournament on the first hole of a playoff in San Diego, California.

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 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

Monday 01:

Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum becomes President of Iraq.

Thursday 04:

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

Thursday 11:

Simultaneous explosions on rush hour trains in Madrid kill 191 people.

Friday 12:

Roh Moo-hyun, President of South Korea is impeached by its national assembly for the first time in the nation's history.

Saturday 27:

HMS Scylla, a decommissioned Leander frigate, is sunk as an artificial reef off Cornwall, the first of its kind in Europe.

April 2004

Thursday 01:

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

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.

Thursday 08:

Darfur conflict: The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups.

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

Thursday 29:

Richard Cheney and George W. Bush testify before the 9/11 Commission in a closed, unrecorded hearing in the Oval Office.

May 2004

Tuesday 11:

The Stockline Plastics factory explosion in Glasgow kills nine people.

Tuesday 18:

Randy Johnson pitches a perfect game for the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. the Atlanta Braves.

Saturday 22:

The U.S. town of Hallam, Nebraska, is wiped out by a powerful F4 tornado that broke a width record at an astounding 2.5 miles wide. It also killed one local resident.

Wednesday 26:

The New York Times publishes an admission of journalistic failings, claiming that its flawed reporting and lack of skeptism towards sources during the buildup to the 2003 war in Iraq helped promote the belief that Iraq possessed large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

Monday 31:

A foul-up during routine software update at the Royal Bank of Canada leads to a three-day misplacement of 10 million account balances.

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.

Friday 11:

Ronald Reagan's funeral held at Washington National Cathedral

Saturday 12:

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

Sunday 13:

A 4 kg meteorite hits the house of Phil and Brenda Archer in Ellerslie, New Zealand, destroying the roof and a couch.

July 2004

Thursday 01:

Saturn Orbit Insertion of Cassini-Huygens begins at 01:12 UT and ends at 02:48 UT.

Saturday 03:

Official opening of Bangkok's subway system.

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.

Wednesday 21:

The United Kingdom government publishes Delivering Security in a Changing World, a paper detailing wide-ranging reform of the country's armed forces.

August 2004

Sunday 01:

A supermarket fire kills 215 people and injures 300 in Asunción, Paraguay.

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.

Friday 20:

Talk show host Regis Philbin breaks the record for Most Hours on Camera, with 15,188.

Tuesday 24:

Two airliners in Russia, carrying a total of 89 passengers, crash within minutes of each other after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, near Moscow, leaving no survivors. Authorities suspect suicide attacks by rebels from the breakaway republic of Chechnya to be the cause of the crashes.

September 2004

Friday 03:

The Beslan school massacre results in the deaths of approximately 344 teachers and children.

Thursday 09:

Friends spin off Joey premieres.

Wednesday 15:

Davíð Oddsson the longest serving Prime Minister of Iceland, steps down after serving in office from 1991, and becomes minister for foreign affairs. At the time he was the longest serving PM in Europe

Tuesday 21:

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

Wednesday 29:

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

October 2004

Monday 04:

SpaceShipOne wins Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight.

Tuesday 19:

Myanmar prime minister Khin Nyunt is ousted and placed under house arrest by the Thai government on charges of corruption.

Thursday 21:

The Boston Red Sox win the American League pennant, defeating the New York Yankees 10-3 in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, capping off a remarkable comeback from three games to none down to win.

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.

November 2004

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.

Monday 08:

War in Iraq: More than 10,000 U.S. troops and a small number of Iraqi army units participate in a siege on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

Thursday 18:

Russia officially ratifies the Kyoto Protocol.

Tuesday 30:

Lion Air Flight 538 crash landed in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, killing 26 passengers out of 146.

December 2004

Thursday 02:

Brian Williams succeeds Tom Brokaw as host of NBC Nightly News.

Tuesday 07:

John Kufuor is re-elected as president of Ghana.

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.