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← 2007 2006 2005 2008 in the United States → 2009 2010 2011
Decades:	1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	History of the United States (1991–2016) Timeline of United States history (1990–2009) List of years in the United States

Events from the year2008 in the United States.

• President:George W. Bush (R-Texas)
• Vice President:Dick Cheney (R-Wyoming)
• Chief Justice:John Roberts (Maryland)^[1]
• Speaker of the House of Representatives:Nancy Pelosi (D-California)
• Senate Majority Leader:Harry Reid (D-Nevada)
• Congress:110th

• January 3
  • Illinois SenatorBarack Obama wins the Iowa Democratic caucus.
  • Joe Biden drops out of the running for the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
• January 5 – A levee bursts inFernley, Nevada, flooding a large portion of the town and forcing the evacuations of 3,500 residents.
• January 7–11 – Atornado outbreak passes through eastern North America, producing at least 75 tornadoes across the mid-eastern United States and record-breaking temperatures in eastern Canada. Four fatalities are reported.
• January 7 –NBC announces the 2008Golden Globe Awards ceremony will be canceled due to theWriters Guild of America strike. The network announces the winners in a 1-hour news conference.Mickey Rourke andTina Fey, among others, are winners.
• January 9 – PresidentGeorge W. Bush begins a tour of theMiddle East with a stop inIsrael. Other destinations includeKuwait,Bahrain, theUnited Arab Emirates,Saudi Arabia, thePalestinian Authority, andEgypt.
• January 10 –Bill Richardson drops out of the U.S. presidential election due to shortage of money.
• January 15 – TheFood and Drug Administration declares that food fromclonedcattle,swine,goats, and theirprogeny is safe to eat.^[2]
• January 18 – PresidentGeorge W. Bush announces aneconomic stimulus package, proposing $800 per individual and $1600 per couple in tax refunds.
• January 21 – Stock markets around the world plunge amid growing fears of a U.S.recession, fueled by the 2007subprime mortgage crisis.^[3]
• January 22 – ActorHeath Ledger, 28, is found dead at his home inNew York City. He would later be awarded a posthumousAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work inThe Dark Knight, released in July 2008.
• January 25 – InLas Vegas, theMonte Carlo Resort and Casino catches fire.
• January 27
  • The2008 NHL All-Star Game occurs inAtlanta.
  • World Wrestling Entertainment holds itsRoyal Rumble pay-per-view event fromMadison Square Garden inNew York City, New York.
• January 28 – PresidentGeorge W. Bush delivers his finalState of the Union address.^[4]
• January 30 – U.S. presidential candidatesRudy Giuliani andJohn Edwards drop out of the race.

• February 1 – TheFood and Drug Administration issues a Public Health Advisory onChantix, an anti-smoking medication, due to a possible "association between Chantix and serious neuropsychiatric symptoms."^[5]
• February 2
  • Themilitary accidentally kills nine civilians in a raid inIraq.^[6]
  • An unidentified gunman enters aTinley Park, IllinoisLane Bryant store, taking 6 women hostage and latershooting them all, killing 5 of the 6 women. The crime remains unsolved.^[7]
• February 3 – TheNew York Giants defeat the heavily favoredNew England Patriots 17–14 inSuper Bowl XLII, played at theUniversity of Phoenix Stadium inGlendale, Arizona.^[8]
• February 5–6 –Super Tuesday tornado outbreak: A tornado outbreak, the deadliest in 23 years, kills 58 in theSouthern United States.^[9]
• February 5 – U.S. stock market indices plunge more than 3% after aNon-Manufacturing ISM Report on Business shows signs of economic recession in the service sector. TheS&P 500 falls 3.2%, and theDow Jones Industrial Average falls 370 points.^[10]
• February 7
  • STS-122:Space ShuttleAtlantis launches to deliver the European-builtColumbus science laboratory to theInternational Space Station.^[11]
  • TheSenate passes a $170 billion economic stimulus package by a margin of 81–16.
  • Charles Lee "Cookie" Thorntonkills five and wounds two people atcity hall before being shot and killed by police inKirkwood, Missouri.^[12]
  • Mitt Romney suspends his campaign for theRepublican Party nomination forPresident.^[13]
• February 10
  • The50th Annual Grammy Awards take place at theStaples Center inLos Angeles, California. AmericansHerbie Hancock andKanye West, among others, are winners.
  • Maine holds itsDemocratic caucuses in theU.S. presidential election.Barack Obama wins 15 out of the possible 24 delegates.
• February 11
  • Amarine is arrested on suspicion of raping a fourteen-year-old Japanese girl inOkinawa,Japan.Japanese Prime MinisterYasuo Fukuda calls this "grave case...unforgivable".^[14]AmbassadorTom Schieffer later offers a personal apology.^[15]
  • A formerBoeing engineer andDefense Department analyst are arrested and charged withespionage for allegedly passing information to theChinese government.^[16]
• February 12 – The2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike ends effectively at 6:51pmPST (02:51UTC, February 13) as members vote to stop picket lines in response to a tentative deal reached by the WGA and theAMPTP three days earlier.^[17]
• February 14
  • Steven Kazmierczakopens fire, killing five and wounding 18 before fatally shooting himself atNorthern Illinois University inDeKalb, Illinois.^[18]
  • Lawrence "Larry" King, a 15-year-old 8th grade student atE.O. Green Junior High School, is shot to death by 14-year-old student Brandon McInerney, for beinggay.
• February 17
  • TheDepartment of Agriculture recalls 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a California slaughterhouse.^[19]
  • World Wrestling Entertainment holds itsNo Way Out pay-per-view event from theThomas & Mack Center inParadise, Nevada.
• February 20 – TheUnited States Navy destroys an Americanspy satellite,USA 193, with a missile, prompting international speculation that it is testing its capability to destroy the satellites of other countries.^[20]
• February 24 – The80th Academy Awards, hosted byJon Stewart, take place at theKodak Theatre inHollywood,^[21] with theCoen brothers'No Country for Old Men winning four awards out of eight nominations, includingBest Picture andBest Director. The film is tied in nominations withPaul Thomas Anderson'sThere Will Be Blood.^[22] The telecast garners 31.7 million viewers, making it the least-watched broadcast since 1974.

• March 4 – SenatorJohn McCain secures theRepublican Party presidential nomination after winningprimary elections in Texas, Vermont, Ohio, and Rhode Island.
• March 6 – During the early hours of the morning, a small bomb explodes at an unoccupied military recruiting station inTimes Square,New York City. No one is injured.
• March 12 –New York GovernorEliot Spitzer announces his resignation (effectiveMarch 17) days after being linked to ahigh-priced prostitution ring. Lieutenant GovernorDavid Paterson succeeds the governorship of New York.
• March 13 – The colorized$5 bill is released, with nearly all of the features of the earlier colorized currency (the color-shifting numeral was not added).
• March 15 – Aconstructioncrane falls on a residential building inManhattan, killing four people and injuring at least 17.^[23]
• March 18 – TheFederal Reserve System cuts thefederal funds rate by 75 basis points to 2.25%.^[24]
• March 24 – Relatives of victims of theVirginia Tech massacre report that the government ofVirginia will offer victims compensation of$100,000 to forestall lawsuits.
• March 26 – FormerFirst LadyNancy Reagan endorsesJohn McCain for the presidency.^[25]
• March 30 –World Wrestling Entertainment holdsWrestleMania XXIV at theFlorida Citrus Bowl inOrlando, Florida, drawing a crowd of 74,635.

• April 7 – TheKansas Jayhawks beat theMemphis Tigers 75–68 in overtime to win theNCAA Men's Basketball Championship.
• April 11 – TheNewseum opens inWashington, D.C.
• April 15–20 –Pope Benedict XVI visits the United States. Among his destinations are theWhite House,The Catholic University of America, theUnited Nations General Assembly, and the site of the fallenWorld Trade Center. Benedict XVI also celebratesMass atNationals Park andYankee Stadium.
• April 18 – The 5.4 M_w Illinois earthquake strikes southeasternIllinois with a maximumMercalli intensity of VII (Very strong), causing several injuries and limited damage.
• April 20 –Danica Patrick becomes the first woman to win a top-level sanctioned open wheel car racing event.
• April 22 – SenatorHillary Clinton wins thePennsylvania Democratic primary.
• April 27 –World Wrestling Entertainment holds itsBacklash pay-per-view event from the1st Mariner Arena inBaltimore,Maryland.
• April 28 –General Motors announces that it will cut production ofpickup trucks andsport utility vehicles in three plants inMichigan and one inOshawa,Ontario and negotiatelayoffs with theUnited Auto Workers andCanadian Auto Workers.

• May 1–2 – Atornado outbreak in the Southern and Central United States kills seven.
• May 2 –Iron Man, directed byJon Favreau, is released byMarvel Studios as the first film of theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the first film of its "Phase One" slate.
• May 6 – SenatorBarack Obama wins theNorth Carolina Democratic primary. SenatorHillary Clinton narrowly wins theIndiana Democratic primary.
• May 7–15 – Severaltornadoes cause substantial damage in the Midwestern United States and kill 28 people.
• May 12 – A leaked video ofFox News Channel anchorBill O'Reilly from the early 1990s goes viral on YouTube. In the video, O'Reilly is seen shouting "We'll do it live!"
• May 14 – NASA announces the discovery ofSupernova remnant G1.9+0.3.
• May 15
  • California becomes the second state afterMassachusetts in 2004 to legalizesame-sex marriage after the state's Supreme Courtrules a previous ban unconstitutional.
  • TheDepartment of the Interior lists thepolar bear as athreatened species under theEndangered Species Act, citing themelting of Arctic sea ice as the primary threat to the polar bear.
• May 18 –World Wrestling Entertainment holds itsJudgment Day pay-per-view event from theQwest Center inOmaha, Nebraska.
• May 20
  • SenatorHillary Clinton wins theKentucky Democratic primary while SenatorBarack Obama wins theOregon Democratic primary.
  • SenatorTed Kennedy announces that he has amalignant glioma, a type of cancerousbrain tumor.
• May 22–31 – Aseries of tornado outbreaks affecting the Central Plains of the United States is one of the largest continuous tornado outbreaks on record. A total 239 tornadoes are confirmed, and there are 13 fatalities.
• May 24 – After over thirteen years,Kids' WB,The CW's children's programming block, ceases airing and becomesThe CW4Kids when the network sells the air time toGrupo Clarin (through its subsidiary4Kids Entertainment).^[26]
• May 25 –NASA'sPhoenix spacecraft becomes the first to land in the northern polar region ofMars.^[27]

• June 1
  • Alarge fire engulfs parts ofUniversal Studios inUniversal City, California, destroying a vault with themaster tapes of as many as half a million songs.
  • The landmarkBroadway musicalRent ends its run after 12 years and more than 4,300 shows.
  • World Wrestling Entertainment holds itsOne Night Stand pay-per-view event from theSan Diego Sports Arena inSan Diego,California.
• June 3 – SenatorBarack Obama secures theDemocratic Party presidential nomination, becoming the firstAfrican American presumptive presidential nominee of a major political party.
• June 4
  • Travis Alexander is stabbed multiple times then shot in the forehead by his former girlfriend,Jodi Arias, inMesa, Arizona. The murder and subsequent trial receive widespread media attention.^[28]
  • TheDetroit Red Wings win their 11thStanley Cup, defeating thePittsburgh Penguins in the2008 Stanley Cup Finals in six games.
• June 7 –Big Brown, previously undefeated, fails to become the first winner of theTriple Crown since 1978, finishing last at the2008 Belmont Stakes.
• June 11 – FourBoy Scouts are killed and 48 others are injured when a tornado strikesLittle Sioux Scout Ranch inLittle Sioux, Iowa. Many acts of bravery occurred during and after the storm, and many awards for heroism were awarded.
• June 13 –The Incredible Hulk, directed byLouis Leterrier, is released as the second film in theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
• June 17 – TheBoston Celtics win their 17th NBA championship, defeating theLos Angeles Lakers in the2008 NBA Finals in six games.
• June 18 –Tiger Woods announces he will undergoACL surgery and will not play golf again until 2009.
• June 25 – GunmanWesley Higdon opens fire in a plastics factory inKentucky, murdering five before committing suicide.
• June 26 – TheSupreme Court decidesDistrict of Columbia v. Heller, holding that theDistrict of Columbia'sban on handguns, among other statutory provisions, is unconstitutional.
• June 27
  • After three decades as the Chairman ofMicrosoft Corporation,Bill Gates steps down from daily duties to concentrate on theBill & Melinda Gates Foundation.^[29]
  • Pixar Animation Studios' ninth feature film,WALL-E, is released in theaters.
• June 29 –World Wrestling Entertainment holds itsNight of Champions pay-per-view event from theAmerican Airlines Center inDallas,Texas.

• July 8 –Saner Wonggoun is found guilty of the voluntary manslaughter of his wife, Sopha Wonggoun, in 1994. After the killing, Saner Wonggoun had fled from custody to Thailand and resisted extradition for nearly 14 years.^[30]
• July 10 – The2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game takes place atYankee Stadium.^[31] The homeAmerican League wins 4–3 in 15 innings, giving home field advantage in the2008 World Series to the AL champion, which eventually came to be theTampa Bay Rays.
• July 18 –The Dark Knight, directed byChristopher Nolan, is released and becomes the highest-grossing film of the year, with a worldwide gross of $997,000,000.
• July 20 –World Wrestling Entertainment holds itsThe Great American Bash pay-per-view event from theNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum inUniondale, New York.
• July 25 – TheAvenue of the Saintsexpressway project, linkingSt. Louis, Missouri andSt. Paul, Minnesota, is finally completed with a ribbon-cutting ceremony nearWayland, Missouri.^[32]
• July 29 – The 5.5 M_w Chino Hills earthquake strikes theGreater Los Angeles Area with a maximumMercalli intensity of VI (Strong), causing eight injuries and limited damage.

• August 8–24 – TheUnited States competes at theSummer Olympics inBeijing,China and wins 36 gold, 39 silver, and 37 bronze medals.Michael Phelps wins his eighth gold medal, breaking the record set byMark Spitz, and sets the record for the most golds in a single Olympics.
• August 8 – Former Senator and 2004 Democratic vice-presidential nomineeJohn Edwards admits to anadulterous affair with former campaign workerRielle Hunter after months of tabloid speculation, but he denies being the father of her baby. Edwards would later admit to being the baby's father.
• August 15 – The U.S. government condemns the Russian invasion of theCaucasian country ofGeorgia.
• August 17 –World Wrestling Entertainment holds itsSummerSlam pay-per-view event from theConseco Fieldhouse inIndianapolis,Indiana.
• August 19 –Lady Gaga releases her debut albumThe Fame.
• August 24 – An aircraft crashes inGuatemala, killing 10, including four Americans on ahumanitarian mission.^[33]
• August 25–28 –Barack Obama andJoe Biden are declared the Democratic presidential and vice-presidential nominees at the2008 Democratic National Convention inDenver, Colorado.
• August 26–September 1 –Hurricane Gustav makes landfall inLouisiana as aCategory 2 and kills seven in the United States.^[34]
• August 28–September 7 –Hurricane Hanna kills seven in the United States, mostly due tofloods andmudslides.^[35]
• August 29 – Republican presidential candidateJohn McCain chooses Alaska GovernorSarah Palin as his running mate.

• September 1–14 –Hurricane Ike makes landfall inTexas as aCategory 2 and kills 27 in the United States.^[36]
• September 1–4 –John McCain andSarah Palin are declared the Republican presidential and vice-presidential nominees at the2008 Republican National Convention inSaint Paul, Minnesota.
• September 1 –Sarah Palin announces that her 17-year-old daughterBristol is pregnant.
• September 7
  • The federal governmenttakes control of the two largest mortgage financing companies in the country,Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac.^[37]
  • World Wrestling Entertainment holds itsUnforgiven pay-per-view event from theQuicken Loans Arena inCleveland, Ohio.
• September 8 –The Rachel Maddow Show premieres onMSNBC.
• September 12 – AMetrolink train collides head-on with a freight train inLos Angeles, California, killing 25 and injuring 130.^[38]
• September 15 – Wall Street investment bankLehman Brothers files forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection.^[39]
• September 21 – The60th Primetime Emmy Awards are presented.^[40]John Adams,30 Rock,Mad Men,The Amazing Race, andThe Daily Show with John Stewart, among others, are winners.^[40] The telecast becomes the lowest-rated and least-viewed ceremony in its televised history.^[41]
• September 26 –John McCain andBarack Obama engage in the firstpresidential debate, held at theUniversity of Mississippi and moderated byJim Lehrer.
• September 28 –SpaceXFalcon 1 becomes the world's first privately developedspace launch vehicle to successfullymake orbit.^[42]
• September 29 – TheDow Jones Industrial Average falls 777 points due to the financial panic.

• October 2 –Gwen Ifill hosts the vice presidential debate betweenJoe Biden andSarah Palin atWashington University.
• October 3 –2008 financial crisis:PresidentGeorge W. Bush signs the revisedEmergency Economic Stabilization Act into law, creating a700 billion dollar Treasury fund to purchase failing bank assets.^[43]
• October 5 –World Wrestling Entertainment holds itsNo Mercy pay-per-view event from theRose Garden inPortland, Oregon.
• October 6 –NASA'sMESSENGER spacecraft makes its second of three flybys ofMercury, decreasing the velocity fororbital insertion on March 18, 2011.^[44]
• October 7 –Tom Brokaw hosts the second presidential debate atBelmont University.
• October 10
  • Connecticut legalizessame-sex marriage after the state's Supreme Courtrules a previous ban unconstitutional.
  • TheAlaska Legislative Council votes to release an investigative report that found thatSarah Palin had abused her power as governor in relation to theJuly 2008 dismissal of Alaskan Public Safety CommissionerWalt Monegan.
• October 15 – Presidential candidatesJohn McCain andBarack Obama meet in their third and final televised debate atHofstra University.
• October 20 – TheHTC Dream, the first device to use theAndroid operating system, is released in the United States as the T-Mobile G1.
• October 22 – More than 300 state, local, and federal law enforcement officers simultaneously execute warrants inOperation Devil Horns, in one of the biggest operations byHomeland Security Investigations.
• October 26 –World Wrestling Entertainment holds itsCyber Sunday pay-per-view event from theUS Airways Center inPhoenix, Arizona.
• October 29
  • Delta Air Lines merges withNorthwest Airlines, forming the world's largest commercial carrier.^[45]
  • ThePhiladelphia Phillies win their second championship, defeating theTampa Bay Rays in the2008 World Series in five games.

• November 4 –2008 United States presidential election: DemocraticSenatorBarack Obama is elected as the 44thPresident of the United States, andSenatorJoe Biden is elected as the 47thVice President. Obama becomes the first African American president-elect.^[46]
• November 11 –Taylor Swift releases her second studio albumFearless. It later becomes the most-awarded country album of all time.
• November 14 –STS-126:Space ShuttleEndeavour uses theMPLM Leonardo to deliverexperiment and storage racks to theInternational Space Station. There will be only three more launches ofEndeavour after this mission.^[47]
• November 17 –Twilight, based onStephenie Meyer's 2005novel of the same name, starringKristen Stewart andRobert Pattinson, premieres.
• November 21 –Walt Disney Animation Studios' 48th feature film,Bolt, is released. Despite a relatively marginal box-office performance, the film receives the studio's strongest critical reception since 1999'sTarzan and is renowned for playing an important role in instigating what is widely referred to as the Disney Revival, as well as setting the studio in a new creative direction that would lead to other critically acclaimed features such as 2010'sTangled and 2013'sFrozen.
• November 23 –World Wrestling Entertainment holds itsSurvivor Series pay-per-view event from theTD Banknorth Garden inBoston,Massachusetts.

• December – The unemployment rate soars to 7.3%, the highest since December 1932.
• December 1 – TheDow Jones Industrial Average drops 680 points, the fourth-worst drop in its history, after theNational Bureau of Economic Research declared on the same day that the United States economy officially entered a recession in December 2007.
• December 5 – RetiredAmerican football playerO. J. Simpson is sentenced to 33 years in prison in relation to aSeptember 2007 armed robbery. Simpson would be granted parole and released in October 2017.
• December 9 – Illinois GovernorRod Blagojevich is arrested by federal agents onpublic corruption charges. Prosecutors allege Blagojevich attempted to solicit bribes to occupy theU.S. Senate seat vacated byBarack Obama upon his election to the presidency. Blagojevich is impeached and removed from office in 2009 and convicted in 2011.
• December 11
  • Bernie Madoff is arrested and charged withsecurities fraud in relation to what would later be revealed to be thelargest Ponzi scheme in history.
  • Nobel Prize winners are announced. AmericansYoichiro Nambu,Martin Chalfie,Roger Y. Tsien, andPaul Krugman, among others, are recipients.
• December 14 –World Wrestling Entertainment holds itsArmageddon pay-per-view event from theHSBC Arena inBuffalo, New York.
• December 18 – Iraqi journalistMuntadhar al-Zaidithrows both of his shoes at PresidentGeorge W. Bush during an Iraqi press conference.
• December 24–25 – Bruce Pardo, while wearing aSanta suit, kills nine people during a Christmas Eve party and burns down the house during theCovina, California massacre.

• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
• Iraq War (2003–2011)
• Late-2000s recession (2007–2009)

• January 16 –Audrey Lee,Malaysian figure skater
• January 18 –Lee Eun-ho,South Korean professional footballer
• January 20 –Paige Heyn, skateboarder
• February 13 –Isaiah Teng,Malaysian professional footballer
• March 14 –Abby Ryder Fortson, actress
• March 26 –Cooper Sanchez, Mexican professional footballer
• April 17 –Gavin Warren, actor
• May 31 –Kayla Han, swimmer
• June 4 –Hezly Rivera, artistic gymnast
• June 23 –Lilliana Ketchman, dancer, YouTuber, and model
• July 15 –Iain Armitage, actor
• August 1 –Emma Berman, actress and voice actress
• September 18 –Jackson Robert Scott, actor
• October 9 –Bo, pet dog of theObama family (d.2021)
• October 24 –Liamani Segura, singer
• November 12 –Ryan Choi,South Korean professional footballer
• December 22 –Madeleine McGraw, actress

• January 1 –Salvatore Bonanno, leader of organized crime (b.1932)
• January 7
  • Philip Agee, spy and writer, died inCuba (b.1935)
  • Edward "Buddy" LeRoux, businessman and American baseball executive (b.1930)
• January 10
  • Christopher Bowman, figure skater (b.1967)
  • Maila Nurmi, Finnish-born American actress and television personality (b.1922)
• January 11 –Carl Karcher, businessman (b.1917)
• January 13 –Johnny Podres, American baseball player (b.1932)
• January 15 –Brad Renfro, actor (b.1982)
• January 17
  • Bobby Fischer, American-born Icelandic chess grandmaster (b.1943)
  • Ernie Holmes, American football player (b.1948)
  • Allan Melvin, actor (b.1923)
• January 18
  • Georgia Frontiere, American football team owner, entertainer, and philanthropist (b.1927)
  • Lois Nettleton, actress (b.1927)
• January 19
  • Frances Lewine, journalist (b.1921)
  • Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (b.1937)
  • John Stewart, singer and songwriter (b.1939)
• January 22
  • Roberto Gari, actor (b.1920)
  • Miles Lerman, Polish-born American activist and museum administrator (b.1920)
  • Heath Ledger, Australian actor and director, died inNew York City (b.1979)
• January 24 –Randy Salerno, television journalist (b.1963)
• January 26 –Christian Brando, actor and son ofMarlon Brando (b.1958)
• January 27 –Gordon B. Hinckley, minister and executive (b.1910)
• January 28 –Frances Dewey Wormser, actress, entertainer and vaudeville performer (b.1903)
• January 29
  • Raymond Jacobs, marine, member of theRaising the Flag on Iwo Jima (b.1925)
  • Margaret Truman, singer, writer, historian, and daughter ofHarry S. Truman (b.1924)

• February 1 –Shell Kepler, actress (b.1958)
• February 2
  • Earl Butz, 18th United States Secretary of Agriculture (1971-1976) (b.1909)
  • Joshua Lederberg, Nobel molecular biologist and college administrator (b.1925)
• February 4
  • Harry Richard Landis, World War I soldier (b.1899)
  • Sheldon Brown, bicycle mechanic and writer (b.1944)
• February 6 –John McWethy, journalist (b.1947)
• February 8 –Phyllis A. Whitney, Japanese-born American writer (b.1903)
• February 10 –Roy Scheider, American actor and boxer (b.1932)
• February 11 –Tom Lantos, Hungarian-American United States Representative from California (1981-2008) (b.1928)
• February 12
  • Oscar Brodney, screenwriter and lawyer (b.1907)
  • David Groh, actor (b.1939)
• February 13 –Roger Voisin, French-born American musician (b.1918)
• February 15 –Johnny Weaver, wrestler and sportscaster (b.1935)
• February 21 –Ben Chapman, actor (b.1928)
• February 24 –Larry Norman, musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer (b.1947)
• February 26 –Buddy Miles, musician (b.1947)
• February 27
  • William F. Buckley Jr., writer and commentator (b.1925)
  • Boyd Coddington, automobile producer and television host (b.1944)
  • Myron Cope, American football sportscaster (b.1929)
• February 28 –Joseph M. Juran, Romanian-born American management consultant and engineer (b.1904)

• March 4 –Gary Gygax, writer and game designer (b.1938)
• March 5 –Joseph Weizenbaum, German writer and computer scientist, died inLudwigsfelde-Gröben (b.1923)
• March 9 –Gus Giordano, dancer (b.1923)
• March 12 –Howard Metzenbaum, United States Senator from Ohio (1974, 1976-1995) (b.1917)
• March 15 –Vicki Van Meter, aviator (b.1982)
• March 16
  • Ivan Dixon, actor, director, and producer (b.1931)
  • Gary Hart, wrestler and wrestling manager (b.1942)
• March 20 –Abigail Rose Taylor, notable accident victim (b.2001)
• March 22 –Cachao López, Cuban musician, died inCoral Gables, Florida (b.1918)
• March 23 –Al Copeland, entrepreneur, died inMunich,Germany (b.1944)
• March 24
  • Hal Riney, businessman, foundedPublicis & Hal Riney (b. 1932)
  • Richard Widmark, actor (b.1914)
• March 28
  • Herb Rich, American football player (b.1928)
  • Ron Slinker, wrestler (b.1945)
  • Helen Yglesias, writer (b.1915)
• March 30
  • Douglas Kent Hall, American writer and photographer (b. 1938)
  • Sean Levert, American singer (b.1968)
  • Dith Pran, Cambodian-born American photojournalist (b.1942)
• March 31 –Jules Dassin, film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, and husband ofMelina Mercouri, died inAthens, Greece (b.1911)

• April 2 –Ray Poole, American football player and coach (b.1921)
• April 5 –Charlton Heston, actor (b.1923)
• April 8 –Stanley Kamel, actor (b.1943)
• April 11 –Merlin German, soldier and charity founder. (b.1985)
• April 12 –Barbara McDermott, last American survivor of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania (b.1912)
• April 13 –John Archibald Wheeler, physicist (b.1911)
• April 14 –Ollie Johnston, animator (b.1912)
• April 15 –Hazel Court, English actress (b.1926)
• April 16
  • Joe Feeney, tenor (b.1931)
  • Edward Norton Lorenz, mathematician and meteorologist (b.1917)
  • Joseph Solman, painter (b.1909)
• April 17
  • Danny Federici, musician (b.1950)
  • Nicolette Goulet, Canadian-American actress (b.1956)
• April 18 –Joy Page, actress (b.1924)
• April 21 –Al Wilson, singer (b.1939)
• April 22 –Paul Davis, singer, songwriter, and musician (b.1948)

• May 1
  • Buzzie Bavasi, American baseball executive (b.1914)
  • Elaine Dundy, American writer and actress (b.1921)
  • Jim Hager, American country music singer and television actor (Hee Haw) (b.1947)
  • Deborah Jeane Palfrey, American escort agency proprietor (b.1955)
• May 2 –Beverlee McKinsey, actress (b.1935)
• May 4 –Fredric J. Baur, chemist and inventor (b.1918)
• May 5
  • Irv Robbins, Canadian-born American entrepreneur (b.1917)
  • Jerry Wallace, American country and pop singer (b. 1928)
• May 8 –Eddy Arnold, American singer, songwriter, and musician (b.1918)
• May 9 –Judy Grable, American professional wrestler (b.1935)
• May 11 –Dottie Rambo, singer, songwriter, and musician (b.1934)
• May 12 –Robert Rauschenberg, artist (b.1925)
• May 13 –John Phillip Law, actor (b.1937)
• May 15
  • Alexander Courage, composer (b.1919)
  • Willis Lamb, Nobel physicist (b.1913)
• May 16 –Robert Mondavi, winemaker (b.1913)
• May 18 –Joseph Pevney, film and television director (b.1911)
• May 20 –Hamilton Jordan, 8th White House Chief of Staff (1979-1980) (b.1944)
• May 22 –Robert Asprin, writer (b.1946)
• May 23 –Cornell Capa, Hungarian-American photographer (b. 1918)
• May 24 –Dick Martin, comedian, television director, actor, and producer (b.1922)
• May 25 –J. R. Simplot, American businessman, founded theSimplot Company (b.1909)
• May 26
  • Earle Hagen, composer (b.1919)
  • Sydney Pollack, American actor, director, and producer (b.1934)
• May 28 –Robert Justman, television producer and director (b.1926)
• May 29 –Harvey Korman, American actor and comedian (b.1927)

• June 2
  • Bo Diddley, singer, songwriter and musician (b. 1928)
  • Mel Ferrer, actor, director and producer, spouse ofAudrey Hepburn (b.1917)
• June 6 –Dwight White, American football player (b.1949)
• June 7 –Jim McKay, television sports journalist (b.1921)
• June 9 –Algis Budrys, science fiction writer (b.1931 in Lithuania)
• June 10 –John Rauch, American football player and coach (b.1927)
• June 12 –Charlie Jones, television sportscaster and actor (b.1930)
• June 13 –Tim Russert, television journalist and lawyer (b.1950)
• June 15
  • Johnathan Goddard, American football player (b.1981)
  • Stan Winston, film and television special effects and makeup artist (b.1946)
• June 16 –Caylee Anthony, alleged murder victim (b.2005)
• June 17 –Cyd Charisse, actress and dancer, spouse ofTony Martin (b.1922)
• June 19 –Bennie Swain, basketball player and coach (b.1930)^[48]
• June 21
  • Scott Kalitta, race car driver (b.1962)
  • Kermit Love, puppeteer and costume designer (b.1916)
• June 22
  • George Carlin, writer, actor, comedian and obscenity law central figure (b.1937)
  • Dody Goodman, actress (b.1914)
• June 24 –Leonid Hurwicz, Nobel economist and mathematician (b.1917 in Russia)
• June 26 –Katherine Loker, philanthropist (b.1915)
• June 27
  • Polk Robison, basketball coach (b.1912)
  • Michael Turner, comic book artist (b.1971)
• June 29 –Don S. Davis, actor and soldier, died inGibsons, British Columbia,Canada (b.1942)

• July 1
  • John Pont, American football coach (b.1927)
  • Mark Dean Schwab, murderer (b.1968)
• July 3 –Larry Harmon, clown (b.1925)
• July 4
  • Jesse Helms, United States Senator from North Carolina (1973-2003) (b.1921)
  • Evelyn Keyes, American actress and wife ofJohn Huston andArtie Shaw (b.1916)
  • Terrence Kiel, American football player (b.1980)
• July 6 –Bobby Durham, jazz drummer (b.1937)
• July 11 –Michael E. DeBakey, surgeon and inventor (b.1908)
• July 12
  • Bobby Murcer, baseball player and broadcaster (b.1946)
  • Tony Snow, journalist and 25th White House Press Secretary (2006-2007) (b.1955)
• July 16 –Jo Stafford, American singer (b. 1917)
• July 21 –K-Swift, American disc jockey and MC (b.1978)
• July 22 –Estelle Getty, actress (b.1923)
• July 25
  • Johnny Griffin, American saxophonist (b. 1928)
  • Randy Pausch, writer and computer scientist (b.1960)

• August 9 –Bernie Mac, American actor and comedian (b.1957)
• August 10
  • Fred Crane, American actor and announcer (b.1918)
  • Isaac Hayes, American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor (b.1942)
• August 11 –George Furth, American librettist, playwright, and actor (b.1932)
• August 12 –Patricia W. Malone, American naval officer (b.1924)
• August 13
  • Sandy Allen, American tallest woman in the world (according toGuinness World Records) (b.1955)
  • Jack Weil, American entrepreneur (b.1901)
• August 15
  • James Orthwein, American businessman (b.1924)
  • Leroy Sievers, American journalist (b.1955)
  • Jerry Wexler, American music producer and journalist (b.1917)
• August 16 –Roberta Collins, American actress (b.1944)
• August 17 –Philip Saffman, English-American mathematician (b.1931)
• August 18 –Pervis Jackson, R&B singer (b.1938)
• August 19
  • Julius Carry, American actor (b.1952)
  • LeRoi Moore, American musician (b.1961)
• August 20 –Phil Guy, American blues guitarist (b.1940)
• August 23 –Thomas Huckle Weller, American Nobel virologist (b.1915)
• August 25 –Kevin Duckworth, American basketball player (b.1964)
• August 28 –Phil Hill, American race car driver (b. 1927)
• August 29 –Bela E. Kennedy, American politician (b.1918)
• August 30 –Killer Kowalski, Polish-Canadian wrestler (b.1926)

• September 1
  • Don LaFontaine, American television show and advertisement announcer (b.1940)
  • Jerry Reed, American singer, songwriter, actor, and guitarist (b. 1937)
• September 2 –Bill Melendez, Mexican-American character animator, film director, voice artist and producer (b.1916)
• September 6 –Anita Page, American actress (b.1910)
• September 9 –Warith Deen Mohammed, American Muslim leader, theologian, philosopher and revivalist (b.1933)
• September 12 –David Foster Wallace, American writer and columnist (b.1962)
• September 14 –Hyman Golden, American businessman (b.1923)
• September 19 –Earl Palmer, American R&B Drummer (b.1924)
• September 26 –Paul Newman, American actor, film director, entrepreneur and philanthropist (b.1925)

• October 1
  • Robert Arthur, American actor (b.1925)
  • Nick Reynolds, American musician (b.1933)
• October 5 –Kim Chan, Chinese-American actor (b.1917)
• October 11 –Neal Hefti, American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger (b.1922)
• October 15 –Edie Adams, American actress, singer, comedian, businesswoman (b. 1927)
• October 17 –Levi Stubbs, American singer and actor (b.1936)
• October 19
  • Mr. Blackwell, American actor, fashion designer and critic (b.1922)
  • Rudy Ray Moore, American actor, musician, and comedian (b.1927)
• October 18 –Dee Dee Warwick, American singer, sister ofDionne Warwick (b.1942)
• October 19 –Richard Blackwell, American journalist and fashion critic (b.1922)
• October 24 –Merl Saunders, American musician, pianist, and keyboardist (b.1934)
• October 25
  • Anne Pressly, American news anchor (b.1982)
  • Estelle Reiner, American actress and singer (b.1914)
• October 26 –Tony Hillerman, American writer (b.1925)
• October 29 –William Wharton, American author (b. 1925)
• October 31 –Studs Terkel, American writer, broadcaster, and historian (b.1912)

• November 1 –Tiffany Sloan, American model (b.1973)
• November 4
  • Michael Crichton, American physician, writer, screenwriter, film and television director and producer (b.1942)
• November 10 –Arthur Shawcross, American serial killer (b.1945)
• November 12
  • Catherine Baker Knoll, American educator and politician, 30thLieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania (b.1930)
  • Mitch Mitchell, British musician, died inPortland, Oregon (b.1947)
• November 13 –Jules Archer, American historian and author (b.1915)
• November 21 –Brenden Foster, notable cancer patient (b.1997)
• November 22 –MC Breed, American rapper (b.1971)

• December 1 –Paul Benedict, American actor (b.1938)
• December 2
  • Kathleen Baskin-Ball, American minister (b.1958)
  • Odetta, American singer, American songwriter, musician, actress, and civil rights activist (b.1930)
• December 4 –Forrest J. Ackerman, American writer, columnist, actor, and science-fiction collector (b.1916)
• December 5
  • Nina Foch, Dutch-born American actress (b. 1924)
  • Beverly Garland, American actress and businesswoman (b.1926)
• December 6 –Sunny von Bülow, socialite and alleged murder victim, wife ofClaus von Bülow (b.1931)
• December 8
  • Robert Prosky, American actor (b.1930)
  • William S. Stevens, American lawyer (b.1948)
• December 11
  • Maddie Blaustein, American actress (b.1960)
  • Bettie Page, American model and actress (b.1923)
• December 12 –Van Johnson, American actor (b. 1916)
• December 14 –Mike Bell, American professional wrestler (b.1971)
• December 15 –John W. Powell, Chinese-American journalist (b.1919)
• December 16 –Sam Bottoms, American actor (b.1955)
• December 17 –Sammy Baugh, American football player and coach (b.1914)
• December 18
  • Majel Barrett, American actress, producer (b. 1932)
  • Mark Felt, American FBI agent also known as "Deep Throat" from the Watergate scandal (b.1913)
• December 19 –James Bevel, American minister and civil rights activist (b.1936)

• December 20 –Robert Mulligan, American film and television director (b.1925)
• December 24 –Harold Pinter, British Nobel writer, screenwriter, director, and actor, died inLondon,United Kingdom (b.1930)
• December 25
  • Eartha Kitt, American actress and singer (b. 1927)^[49]
  • Ann Savage, American actress (b.1921)
• December 29 –Freddie Hubbard, musician (b.1938)
• December 31 –Donald E. Westlake, American writer and screenwriter (b.1933)

• 2008 in American soccer
• 2008 in American television
• List of American films of 2008
• Timeline of United States history (1990–2009)

• Media related to2008 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons

• 2008 in the United States
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