2004 - What happened in 2004 ?

January 2004

Friday 02:

Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that it will return to Earth two years later.

Friday 16:

Goatse.cx is shut down by the Christmas Island Registry

Wednesday 21:

NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceased communication with mission control. The problem was with Flash Memory management and fixed remotely from Earth on Feb 6th.

Wednesday 28:

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

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.

Friday 06:

In Russia, a suicide-attack in a Moscow metro kills 40 commuters, and injures a hundred and twenty-nine. The blast is blamed on Chechen separatist groups.

Friday 13:

Travis Metcalfe from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics discovers the universe's largest known diamond, white dwarf star BPM 37093.

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.

Saturday 21:

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

March 2004

Tuesday 09:

A terrorist attack on a restaurant in Istanbul kills one and injures 5.

Wednesday 10:

Six Flags sells 8 of its theme parks to private investors.

Friday 19:

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

Thursday 25:

Air Holland files for bankruptcy in response to unproven allegations of marijuana abuse by their pilots.

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.

Sunday 04:

Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army stage an uprising in several towns and cities in Iraq after the Coalition's closure of Sadr's al-Hawza newspaper. Among the dozen or so coalition casualties in this was Casey Sheehan.

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 22:

Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.

Friday 30:

The last edition of NPR's Morning Edition with Bob Edwards as host airs.

May 2004

Saturday 01:

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

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.

Friday 21:

Stanislav Petrov is awarded the World Citizen Award for averting a potential World War III in 1983

Tuesday 25:

2004 - The theatrical version of ' is released on DVD.

Saturday 29:

World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington, DC

June 2004

Tuesday 08:

First Transit of Venus in this millennium.

Sunday 13:

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

Monday 14:

The Workers Party of Bangladesh is split, as Khandaker Ali Abbas leaves to form a new party.

Thursday 24:

Habib Dodo, the general secretary of the Communist Youth of Côte d'Ivoire is assassinated by pro-government forces.

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

Thursday 01:

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

Wednesday 07:

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

Thursday 15:

The BBC airs the documentary The Secret Agent, exposing racism by members of the British National Party.

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.

Friday 23:

11 years after its destruction, Stari most (the Old Bridge) in Mostar is reopened.

August 2004

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.

Wednesday 18:

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

Friday 20:

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

Sunday 22:

The Scream, the painting by Edvard Munch, is stolen at gunpoint from a museum in Oslo, Norway.

September 2004

Tuesday 07:

The Serbian government backs a decision by Minister of Education and Sport Ljiljana ?oli? to require the teaching of both creationism and evolution in schools.

Tuesday 14:

Canada wins the 2004 World cup of Hockey.

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

Thursday 23:

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

Wednesday 29:

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

October 2004

Friday 01:

Baseball: Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki makes his 258th hit of the season, breaking George Sisler's 84-year-old single-season record.

Saturday 09:

The tri-annual federal election is held in Australia and Liberal Party of Australia leader, John Howard, wins a fourth term as Prime Minister in a landslide victory over opponent, Mark Latham of the Australian Labor Party.

Tuesday 19:

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

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.

Saturday 30:

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

November 2004

Saturday 06:

Official Guided by Voices Day in Dallas, Texas.

Wednesday 10:

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

Friday 12:

Resignation of Colin Powell as Secretary of State.

Monday 15:

New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey leaves office, three months after resigning due to a gay extra-marital affair. State Senator Richard Codey takes over as interim governor.

Thursday 18:

Russia officially ratifies the Kyoto Protocol.

December 2004

Tuesday 07:

John Kufuor is re-elected as president of Ghana.

Friday 10:

Anil Kumble became India's highest wicket taker surpassing Kapil Dev's haul of 435 wickets.

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.

Sunday 26:

A massive earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter magnitude scale creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, The Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean. The death toll is currently estimated at more than 300,000. Officials say the true toll may never be known, due to rapid burials. Indonesia was worst affected with as many as 219,000 people killed.