Directory

2004 CE

From left to right, top to bottom:; A tsunami, caused by a massive 9.1-9.3 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, kills over 227,000 people, making it one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history.; Facebook, originally called TheFacebook, is launched by Mark Zuckerberg.; NASA lands the Opportunity and Spirit rovers on Mars.; The 2004 Summer Olympics are held in Athens.; Multiple trains were bombed by Al-Qaeda in Madrid, killing 193 people.; The European Union adds 10 new member-states.; The Nintendo DS, the second best-selling handheld game console, is released.; 334 people are killed in the Beslan school siege, carried out by Chechen insurgents.; The 2004 transit of Venus, the first such occurrence since 1882.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 21 – Bartholomew I of Constantinople visits Cuba.source
  • February 24 – The Rotterdam Convention comes into force.source
  • March 14 – Vladimir Putin is reelected president of Russia with 71.2 percent of the vote.source
  • March 29 – Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia are admitted to NATO, the largest expansion of the organization.source
  • May 1 – The European Union expands by 10 new member states: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.source
  • May 7 – Vladimir Putin is sworn in for a second term as Russia's president.source
  • May 13 – The Ralito II Agreement is signed between Colombia and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia.source
  • May 22 – Manmohan Singh, a Sikh, is sworn in as India's first non-Hindu prime minister.source
  • July 4 – The International Court of Justice issues an advisory ruling that the construction of the West Bank barrier violates the Palestinian people's right to self-determination.source
  • September 7 – The Scottish Parliament Building opens.source
  • October 9 – Afghanistan holds its first presidential election. Hamid Karzai wins with 55.4 percent of the vote.source
  • October 29 – European heads of state sign in Rome the Treaty and Final Act, establishing the first European Constitution.source
  • November 2 – George W. Bush is reelected president of the United States, defeating his challenger John Kerry.source
  • November 5 – Russia ratifies the Kyoto Protocol.source
  • December 30 – A peace agreement is reached between Senegal and the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 4 – An insurgency breaks out in southern Thailand.source
  • February 1 – Two suicide bombings are carried out by al-Qaeda in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.source
  • February 29 – Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide is overthrown in a coup d'état.source
  • March 2 – A series of bombings occur in Karbala, Iraq, killing over 140 Shia Muslims commemorating the Day of Ashura.source
  • March 11 – Al-Qaeda bombings on Cercanías trains in Madrid, Spain, kill at least 192 people.source
  • March 17 – Ethnic violence breaks out in Kosovo between Albanians and Serbs.source
  • March 28 – Bombings attributed to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan kill 15 in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. This is the first instance of suicide bombings in the country or the surrounding region of central Asia.source
  • March 30 – The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) abducts over 1,000 people from the Bajura District to fight in the Nepalese Civil War.source
  • March 31 – Four American security contractors are killed in Fallujah, Iraq, leading to the First Battle of Fallujah.source
  • April 4 – The Siege of Sadr City begins when the Mahdi Army ambushes American soldiers in Sadr City, Iraq.source
  • April 4 – The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire begins to maintain a ceasefire in the First Ivorian Civil War.source
  • April 8 – The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups to create a ceasefire in the War in Darfur.source
  • April 18 – Newly elected prime minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, announces the withdrawal of all 1,300 Spanish troops from Iraq.source
  • June 1 – The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) peacekeeping mission begins in Haiti.source
  • June 23 – The International Criminal Court opens an investigation into crimes against humanity during the Second Congo War.source
  • June 28 – The US-led coalition occupying Iraq, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), transfers sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government.source
  • July 24 – The Mexican government files charges against former President of Mexico Luis Echeverría for his role in the 1971 Corpus Christi massacre.source
  • July 29 – The International Criminal Court opens an investigation into the actions of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda.source
  • September 1 – Chechen rebels take 1,128 hostages, mostly children, at a school in Beslan, Russia. Russian security forces eventually storm the building, resulting in more than 330 people being killed.source
  • September 30 – Israel launches a military offensive in the northern Gaza Strip.source
  • November 7 – The Second Battle of Fallujah begins in Fallujah, Iraq.source
  • November 15 – A ceasefire is reached between Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army.source
  • 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.source
  • December 2 – EUFOR takes over peacekeeping duties in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the United Nations.source

Religion & Belief

  • April 30 – Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople breaks Eucharistic communion with Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens.source
  • September 11 – Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria is killed in a helicopter crash.source

Economy & Finance

  • September 6 – Fijian golfer Vijay Singh unseats Tiger Woods as the top PGA Tour player.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • 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.source
  • April 1 – Google launches Gmail.source
  • April 28 – The Gherkin opens in London.source
  • May 23 – The Seattle Central Library opens in Seattle, Washington.source
  • July 30 – The Frauenkirche church finishes reconstruction after its destruction in 1945.source
  • August 12 – The Rio–Antirrio Bridge opens in Greece.source
  • August 19 – Google makes its initial public offering.source
  • November 9 – Mozilla releases the Firefox browser.source
  • December 14 – The world's tallest bridge, the Millau Viaduct over the Tarn in the Massif Central mountains, France, is inaugurated.source

Science & Discovery

  • January 4 – NASA's Spirit rover lands on the surface of Mars.source
  • January 25 – NASA's Opportunity rover lands on the surface of Mars.source
  • March 2 – The European Space Agency launches the Rosetta space probe.source
  • March 9 – NASA releases the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field image of early galaxies.source
  • April 13 – A newborn western gorilla is observed for the first time in 50 years in the Léfini Faunal Reserve.source
  • April 19 – Russia launches the Soyuz TMA-4 mission.source
  • May 7 – The discovery of the post-perovskite form of magnesium silicate is reported.source
  • May 17 – The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants enters into force.source
  • June 8 – A transit of Venus occurs.source
  • June 21 – In Mojave, California, United States, SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.source
  • June 29 – The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture enters into force.source
  • July 1 – The Cassini–Huygens orbiter reaches the orbit of Saturn.source
  • July 15 – The use of magnetic resonance imaging to study the spin of a single electron is reported.source
  • August 3 – NASA's MESSENGER space probe is launched, with its primary mission being the study of Mercury.source
  • August 5 – Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport begins operation in Guangzhou, China.source
  • September 8 – The Genesis space probe crash-lands in Utah after a three-year study of the Sun.source
  • October 14 – Russia launches the Soyuz TMA-5 mission.source
  • October 28 – The prehistoric human species Homo floresiensis is described.source
  • 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.source
  • November 15 – The SMART-1 satellite reaches the orbit of the Moon.source
  • November 20 – NASA launches the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer telescope.source

Health & Medicine

  • April 14 – Poland bans the use of chlorofluorocarbons.source
  • September 30 – Painkiller Vioxx is pulled from the market due to a potential doubling of heart attack risk.source
  • November 21 – Nintendo releases the Nintendo DS handheld game console in North America.source

Crime & Justice

  • March 22 – Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin is killed by Israeli missile strikes.source
  • March 31 – The International Court of Justice rules in the Avena case that the United States had violated its obligations to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations when prosecuting Mexican nationals.source
  • April 17 – Israeli helicopters fire missiles at a convoy of vehicles in the Gaza Strip, killing Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi.source
  • April 24 – Ukrainian boxer Vitali Klitschko becomes the WBC world heavyweight champion after defeating his opponent Corrie Sanders.source
  • July 1 – Saddam Hussein appears in court for his charges to be read.source
  • August 31 – Former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milošević stands trial for crimes against humanity.source
  • October 29 – Osama bin Laden releases a video taking credit for the September 11 attacks.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • May 9 – A stadium bombing in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia kills ten people, including regional governor Akhmad Kadyrov.source
  • May 24 – A fire at a Momart warehouse destroys numerous works of art.source
  • August 24 – Two Russian passenger jets are downed by suicide bombers during the Second Chechen War.source
  • September 2 – A fire breaks out at the Duchess Anna Amalia Library.source
  • October 8 – Suicide bombers detonate two bombs at the Red Sea resort of Taba, Egypt, killing 34 people and injuring 171, mostly Israeli tourists.source

Climate & Environment

  • August 7–13 – Typhoon Rananim causes widespread destruction as it strikes China.source
  • September 4 – In the AFL finals, Essendon defeated Melbourne by five points (15.14.104 - 15.9.99) in the elimination final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The victory would prove to be Essendon's most recent finals win, beginning a finals drought that would extend for more than two decades.source
  • November 14–26 – Typhoon Muifa kills 600 people in the Philippines.source
  • November 29–December 3 – Typhoon Nanmadol kills 775 people in the Philippines.source
  • December 26 – The 9.1–9.3 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.source

Culture & Society

  • February 1 – Janet Jackson suffers a wardrobe malfunction during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII.source
  • May 5 – Garçon à la pipe, painted by Pablo Picasso in 1905, is sold for $104.2 million. This was the highest price a work of art had ever been sold for at auction.source
  • 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".source
  • August 13–29 – The 2004 Summer Olympics are held in Athens, Greece.source
  • August 22 – Armed robbers steal Edvard Munch's The Scream, Madonna, and other paintings from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.source
  • November 20 – The Museum of Modern Art reopens in its new location.source

Deaths

  • November 11 – Palestinian president Yasser Arafat dies. Mahmoud Abbas is appointed as his successor.source