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2004

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2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
v t e

2004 by topic
Arts, history, and science
Archaeology Architecture Art Literature Poetry Music Science
Countries

Lists of leaders
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Birth and death categories
Births Deaths
Establishments and disestablishments categories
Establishments Disestablishments
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Works
v t e

2004 in othercalendars
Gregorian calendar	2004 MMIV
Ab urbe condita	2757
Armenian calendar	1453 ԹՎ ՌՆԾԳ
Assyrian calendar	6754
Bahá'í calendar	160–161
Balinese saka calendar	1925–1926
Bengali calendar	1411
Berber calendar	2954
British Regnal year	52 Eliz. 2 – 53 Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar	2548
Burmese calendar	1366
Byzantine calendar	7512–7513
Chinese calendar	癸未年(Water Goat) 4700 or 4640 — to — 甲申年(Wood Monkey) 4701 or 4641
Coptic calendar	1720–1721
Discordian calendar	3170
Ethiopian calendar	1996–1997
Hebrew calendar	5764–5765
Hindu calendars
-Vikram Samvat	2060–2061
-Shaka Samvat	1925–1926
-Kali Yuga	5104–5105
Holocene calendar	12004
Igbo calendar	1004–1005
Iranian calendar	1382–1383
Islamic calendar	1424–1425
Japanese calendar	Heisei 16 (平成１６年)
Javanese calendar	1936–1937
Juche calendar	93
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4337
Minguo calendar	ROC 93 民國93年
Nanakshahi calendar	536
Thai solar calendar	2547
Tibetan calendar	ཆུ་མོ་ལུག་ལོ་ (female Water-Sheep) 2130 or 1749 or 977 — to — ཤིང་ཕོ་སྤྲེ་ལོ་ (male Wood-Monkey) 2131 or 1750 or 978
Unix time	1072915200 – 1104537599

Wikimedia Commons has media related to2004.

2004 (MMIV) was aleap year starting on Thursday in theGregorian calendar.

Events

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January

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January 1 -Deiss becomesPresident of the Confederation inSwitzerland.
January 2 - SeveralBritish Airways flights fromLondon Heathrow Airport toWashington D.C. andRiyadh,Saudi Arabia are cancelled due to security fears.
January 3 -Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into theRed Sea off the coast ofEgypt. All 148 aboard are killed.
January 3 -NASA'sMER-A (Spirit) lands onMars.
January 3 -Tony Blair goes toBasra,Iraq and talks to theBritish soldiers there. Very few people are told before he comes.
January 4 - Dr.Mikhail Saakashvili wins presidential elections in theRepublic of Georgia.
January 4 - ANASA rover lands onMars and starts sending back photos of Mars.
January 5 -Britney Spears's marriage to childhood sweetheartJason Allen Alexander is annulled (declared invalid) by aLas Vegas court after a surprise 55-hour marriage.
January 5 -China confirms that a sick man in southern China has theSARS virus.
January 6 - An official look into the death ofDiana, Princess of Wales begins inLondon. It is held byMichael Burgess, thecoroner ofThe Queen's household.
January 12 - More than 100,000 people come together inTel Aviv againstPrime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from parts ofGaza and theWest Bank.
January 13 - AnUzbekistan Airways plane crashes inUzbekistan's capital ofTashkent. 37 are killed.
January 14 - The shock siteGoatse.cx is placed on registry lock for violating theAUP.
January 15 - TheSouth Korean Foreign Minister,Yoon Young-kwan resigns after he says he supportsAmerican policy towardsNorth Korea.
January 20 -India signs a $1.5 billion deal withRussia to buy the 45,000 tonneaircraft carrierAdmiral Gorshkov along with 28MiG-29k fighter planes.
January 22 - TheEuropean Union bans theimport ofpoultry fromThailand, asbird flu spreads throughoutSoutheast Asia.
January 24 -NASA'sMER-B (Opportunity) lands onMars.
January 28 - The findings of theHutton Inquiry are published inLondon. TheBritish Government is found not to have falsified information in the "sexed up dossier". The report criticises theBBC's role in the death ofDavid Kelly, a weapons expert onIraq.
January 28 - At a hearing of theCommission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, it is revealed that theSeptember 11, 2001 terrorists usedmace (a brand oftear gas) orpepper spray to overpower the flight crew ofAmerican Airlines Flight 11.
January 31 -Mystery Science Theatre 3000 ends its run on theSci-Fi Channel.

February

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February 1 - AHajj stampede inMina, Saudi Arabia kills 251pilgrims.
February 2 - Anapartment building falls apart inKonya,Turkey, killing 92.
February 3 - TheCIA admits that there was no immediate threat fromweapons of mass destruction before the2003 invasion of Iraq.
February 4 -Facebook is launched.
February 6 - Asuicide bomber kills 41 people on asubway train inMoscow.
February 7 - His Royal HighnessCharles, Prince of Wales begins a tour of theMiddle East, visiting troops inIraq, theIranian earthquake zone atBam andSaudi Arabia.
February 10 - At least 50 people are killed in acar bomb attack at a center for hiring police officers south ofBaghdad.
February 10 - TheFrench National Assembly votes to pass a lawbanning religious items and clothing from schools.
February 11 - Up to 47 people are killed in acar bomb attack on an army recruiting center inBaghdad.
February 12 -Same sex marriage in the United States: TheCity and County of San Francisco begins giving outmarriage licenses to homosexual couples as an act ofcivil disobedience.
February 13 - Scientists inSouth Korea announce thecloning of 30 humanembryos.
February 17 -90482 Orcus is discovered (found)
February 18 - A train carrying gas, fertiliser and sulphurderails and explodes inIran, killing 320 people.
February 20 -Iranian parliament election is held. Manyreformist candidates are not allowed to run, resulting in a win byconservatives.
February 22 - Asuicide bomber kills eight bus passengers inJerusalem.
February 22 -Rebels captureHaiti's second-largest city,Cap-Haïtien.
February 24 - Anearthquake inMorocco kills 571 people.
February 26 - Former Britishcabinet minister,Clare Short reveals thatBritish Intelligence bugged the phone calls ofUnited Nations officials, includingKofi Annan.
February 26 - TheUnited States lifts a ban on travel toLibya, ending travel restrictions that had lasted for 23 years.
February 29 -2004 Haiti Rebellion:Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns aspresident of Haiti. The chief justice of the Haitian Supreme Court,Boniface Alexandre, is sworn in as interim (short-term) president. Aristide later says he was made to resign, and that he was taken from the country byAmerican soldiers.

March

[change |change source]

March 1 -Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie blasted ongoingIsraeli extrajudicialexecutions ofPalestinian activists, which claimed two more lives on Sunday, and blamed Israel for the weekend of violence, whilst accusing his Israeli counterpart’s government of trying "to kill any possibility for (achieving a) mutualcease-fire".^[1]
March 1 -Jean-Bertrand Aristide claims that his resignation asPresident of Haiti was forced and that he was kidnapped by American forces and forced to leave the country against his will.United States Vice President Dick Cheney rejects the accusation.^[2]^[3]
March 1 -President of Russia Vladimir Putin namesMikhail Fradkov as his newprime minister.^[4]
March 1 - Several hundredUnited States,French andCanadian troops are sent toHaiti.^[5]
March 2 - ThePalestinian Authority's prisoners' affairs ministry states in its monthly statistical report that the number of Palestinian prisoners has risen to around 7,500. Of those 336 are children, 75 are female, and 943 are in need of medical treatment. Of the 166 prisoners who died, 41% died as a result of medical negligence, while 18% died as a result oftorture.^[6]
March 2 -Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics reports 1,850 new housing units in the Jewish settlements Israel built in theWest Bank andGaza Strip in 2003, up by 35 percent from the previous year.^[7]
March 2 -John Kerry wins theSuper Tuesday primaries inCalifornia,Connecticut,Georgia,Maryland,Massachusetts,New York,Ohio, andRhode Island, and thecaucus inMinnesota, effectively winning the nomination.Howard Dean wins in his home state ofVermont even though he is no longer actively campaigning.John Edwards is reported to be withdrawing from the race three hours before polls close in California and just as the caucuses begin in Minnesota.^[8]
March 2 -Jason West, mayor ofNew Paltz, New York is charged with 19 criminal counts of performing marriages without a license. If convicted, he faces up to a $500 fine and a year in jail on each count.^[9]
March 2 -Exploration of Mars:NASA announces thatMars roverOpportunity landed in an area where "liquid water once drenched the surface".^[10]
March 2 -Bernard Ebbers, ex-CEO ofWorldcom, isindicted on three counts ofconspiracy for his alleged role in that company's $11 billionaccounting scandal in2002. Worldcom'sCFO Scott Sullivan pleads guilty and is expected to cooperate with prosecutors against Ebbers.^[11]
March 2 - Multiple explosions hitShiite shrines inBaghdad andKarbala on theShia festival ofAshura. Over 180 people are reported killed. A three-day long period of nationalmourning is announced.^[12]
March 2 -Iraq gets aBill of Rights, including guarantees offreedom of religion andpress, in the form of theLaw of Administering the Iraqi State for the Transitional Period.^[13]
March 2 - The U.S. declares its 2,000-man force to have leadership over all foreign military forces inHaiti.President Bush chose not to wait for theUN Security Council but, instead, to intervene immediately to "restore order" in thewestern hemisphere's poorest country.^[14]
March 2 - TheEuropean Union imposes additional 5%tariffs on a wide range of goods imported from theUnited States, such ashoney,paper, andnuclear reactors. The tariffs were sanctioned by theWorld Trade Organization in2002 aspunitive measures after a ruling declaring that United Statestax law unfairly favors U.S.-based companies.^[15]
March 2 - TheEuropean Space Agency'sRosetta space probe is successfully launched aboard anAriane 5 rocket on a mission to investigate thecomet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.^[16]
March 3 - At theWalt Disney Company'sAnnual General Meeting, about 43% of Walt Disneystockholders, including several prominentpension funds, vote to oppose the re-election ofchairman andCEO Michael Eisner. Theboard of directors replaces him as chairman withGeorge J. Mitchell.^[17]^[18]
March 3 -Researchers atHarvard University announce that they will give scientists free access to 17 humanembryonic stem cell lines created without U.S. federal funding. This move is expected to help stem cell research in the face of federal funding restrictions announced in2001 by theBush administration.^[19]
March 3 - A new government ofSerbia, headed byVojislav Kostunica, is approved byparliament.^[20]
March 3 -March 3 -Israeli aircraft destroy a car in theGaza strip withmissile fire, killing three people acknowledged by Palestinian officials as members of themilitant group Hamas.^[21]
March 3 -March 3 - A group ofIsraelis join a court challenge against theIsraeli West Bank barrier out of concern it could turn their good Palestinian neighbors into deadly enemies.^[22]
March 3 - New claims ofbubble fusion are made, claiming that the results of previous experiments have been replicated under more stringent experimental conditions.^[23]^[24]
March 4 - Bomb blasts inIraq threaten to de-stabilise the country.
March 4 - Theguilty verdict forMoroccan al-Qaeda suspectMounir el Motassadeq's involvement in theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks is overturned by theGerman appeals court, which orders a retrial.^[25]
March 4 - ThreeAmerican Muslims accused of usingpaintball games to train for ajihad holy war are found guilty ofconspiracy charges.^[26]
March 4 -Chinese authorities releaseWang Youcai, a day afterRabiya Kadeer's release^[27]
March 4 -Israeli tanks around 15 armoured vehicles escorted by severalbulldozers enter the town ofRafah in the southernGaza Strip, exchanging gunfire with resistance and later demolishing a four-storey building, claiming "anti-terrorist operations".^[source?]
March 4 - ThePrime Minister of Malaysia dissolves thenational parliament and all state assemblies exceptSarawak's, paving the way for thegeneral election to be held within 60 days as dictated by theconstitution.^[28]
March 5 -CBS broadcasts tape recordings ofDiana, Princess of Wales as she describessuicide attempts while pregnant withPrince William, Duke of Cambridge.
March 5 - TheNational People's Congress convenes inBeijing.Premier Wen Jiabao makes his first state address, saying that "solving the problems ofagriculture, villages and farmers is one of the most crucial parts of our entire work".^[29]
March 5 - Last minute disagreement delays signing ofIraq's interimconstitution.^[30]^[31]
March 5 - TheRussian polar station will be evacuated. Russia launches rescue operation to evacuate 12 of itsscientists stranded on aresearch station which partially sank near theNorth Pole.^[32]^[33]
March 5 -Tony Blair defends thewar in Iraq, stating that "global threat we face inBritain and round theworld is real and existential and it is the task ofleadership to expose it and fight it, whatever the political cost."^[34]
March 5 -Police hold aHaifa man, Eliran Golan, and his 54-year-old father in custody on suspicion of involvement in making and plantingbombs over the last three years. Haifa Magistrate court extends for five days the remand of Yivgeny Grossman. Grossman denies any connection.^[35]
March 5 -Martha Stewart is found guilty by ajury on charges ofconspiracy,obstruction of justice, and two counts of making false statements regarding allegedinsider trading in December 2001. She faces up to 20 years in prison, though it is considered unlikely that she would be sentenced to that maximum. Sentencing is set forJune 17.^[36]
March 5 -Nunavut general election, 2004: the newlegislature returnsPaul Okalik to office asPremier of Nunavut, the largestterritory ofCanada.^[37]
March 5 - KeyTokyo stock indexes Nikkei 225 andTopix hit 21-month highs.
March 5 - The trial of formerPrime Minister of Finland Anneli Jäätteenmäki ends. She has been accused of leaking secret foreign ministry documents referring to her predecessorPaavo Lipponen's meetings withGeorge W. Bush.^[38]
March 6 - Tens of thousandsdemonstrate inCaracas,Venezuela, against what they see as the government'sfraud committed by theConsejo Nacional Electoral related to the realization of a presidentialreferendum in mid-2004.
March 6 - TheUnited States puts forth aUN Security Council resolution seeking to freeze the assets ofCharles Taylor, the exiled formerPresident of Liberia. The U.S. also announces that it is pledging $35 million to help rebuild Liberia'sarmed forces and that it supports the cancellation of Liberia's internationaldebt, providing that economic reforms are implemented.^[39]
March 6 -Palestinians are killed and wounded in attack on the main crossing point between theGaza Strip andIsrael.Hamas,Islamic Jihad, and theal-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claim responsibility.^[40]
March 6 - Up to 80,000 people march through theTurkish capitalAnkara against plans to reform the country'scivil service. The marchers fear that the reforms could lead to the civil service becoming politicised or losing its secular status.^[41]
March 6 - The scientists of theRussian polarresearch station near theNorth Pole are evacuated from their shifting and crackingice floe by two Russian helicopters via Norway'sSpitzbergen island.^[42]
March 7 - TheNew York City medical examiner reveals that abody pulled from theEast River is that of actor/writerSpalding Gray, who had been missing since January.^[43]
March 7 -Greek legislative election, 2004:New Democracy, led byCostas Karamanlis, wins over thePanhellenic Socialist Movement, led byGeorge Papandreou.^[44]
March 7 - An explosion rocks aMoscow apartment block. Initial reports frompolice suggest that the explosion was caused by abomb, in spite of increased security before thepresidential election onMarch 14. Later reports state that the explosion was due to agas leak.^[45]
March 7 - TheWhite House reports that all ofLibya's remainingnuclear weapons-related equipment has been sent to theUnited States.^[46]
March 7 -Palestinian sources say that 14 people died after anIsraeli raid into the refugee camps of al-Bureij and Nusseirat. Israeli sources say it was a "pinpoint" operation against the "terrorist infrastructure".^[47]
March 7 - The 2004Formula One championship gets under way with theAustralian Grand Prix inMelbourne.Michael Schumacher wins.^[48]
March 7 - InSweden some 15,500 skiers compete in the 80th installment ofVasaloppet, the oldest and longestcross-country ski race in the world.Norwegian Anders Aukland wins.^[49]
March 7 - InAustria there are elections in the states ofSalzburg andCarinthia. In Salzburg, theSPÖ earns a majority for the first time. In Carinthia, the election is an unexpected success forJörg Haider FPÖ.
March 7 - It is announced thatPeter Maxwell Davies is to be the United Kingdom's nextMaster of the Queen's Music.^[50]
March 7 - The headquarters of the United States-led coalition inBaghdad come under rocket attack fromIraqi guerillas, the day before the newIraqi temporary constitution is due to be signed.^[51]
March 8 - Dr.Jiang Yanyong, who exposed theSARS coverup in thePeople's Republic of China, sends a letter to theNational People's Congress calling the forceful suppression of theTiananmen Square protests of 1989 a "mistake."^[52]
March 8 -Iraq's governing council unanimously approves the country's newconstitution.^[53]
March 8 - OnInternational Women's Day,Afghan PresidentHamid Karzai encourages men to allow their female relatives tovote in the upcoming election, but also suggests that they control those votes.^[54]
March 9 -March 9, 2004 attack of Istanbul restaurant inTurkey by twoIslamic suicide bombers killing one, injuring five.^[55]
March 9 - Newhubble Space Telescope images show deepest view of the universe yet.^[56]
March 9 -John Allen Muhammad is sentenced to death by aVirginia judge because he was part of theBeltway sniper attacks.^[57]
March 9 - Agenetically modified crop,Bayer's Chardon LLmaize, is approved for growing inEngland for animal feed from 2005 until October 2006. TheScottish Executive also approves the move, but asks Scottish farmers to hold off. MPs and farmers protest in anger as the science is questioned. TheWelsh National Assembly's Environment Minister announces he is still opposed to approving the crop.^[58]^[59]^[60]^[61]
March 9 -Pakistan announces a successful first flight test of itsHatf VI / Shaheen II long-rangenuclear-capableballistic missile. The missile has a range of 2,000 km 1,250 mi and can carry a payload of 1,000 kg 2,200 lb.^[62]^[63]
March 9 - Five of the nine Britons held by American authorities atGuantanamo Bay under suspicion of having links to terrorist organisations are returned to Britain. They are to be questioned by British anti-terrorism police on arrival.^[64]
March 9 - TheFBI arrestsWilliam Cottrell, aCaltech student and alleged member of theEarth Liberation Front, in connection with last summer's spate ofarson attacks at a car dealerships which destroyed or damaged over one hundred vehicles, including manyHummer H2 luxurySUVs.^[65]
March 10 - Five British men released from detention atCamp Delta,Guantanamo Bay land atRAF Brize Norton. Four are immediately arrested by theMetropolitan Police and taken toPaddington Green high security police station in CentralLondon for questioning.
March 10 -Lee Boyd Malvo is sentenced to life in prison without parole by aVirginia judge for his role in theBeltway Sniper Attacks.^[66]
March 11 - TheSpirit rover takes firstpicture ofEarth ever made from the surface of anotherplanet.^[67]
March 11 -March 11, 2004 Madrid attacks: 10 bombs onMadrid commuter trains kill at least 180 people and hurt more than 1400, the most people ever hurt in any bombing inEurope the1988 Lockerbie bombing killed more but wounded fewer.^[68]^[69]^[70]
March 11 - FourBritish prisoners who had been arrested on their return fromGuantanamo Bay are released without charge. A fifth was not arrested on arrival. A further four remain in theCuban camp. British newspapersvie for the rights to their stories, with offers in the range of £300,000. These five people are expected to sue the United States and UK governments.^[71]^[72]^[73]
March 11 -Same-sex marriage in the United States: TheCalifornia Supreme Court issues an rule orderingSan Francisco officials to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The court said it would hear oral arguments regarding the controversy in May or June. The state says it did not register any of the thousands of recentgay marriages.^[74]
March 11 -UN inspectors findweapons-gradeuranium inIran. Iran objects to UN andUnited States policy, considering it "unrealistic."^[75]^[76]^[77]
March 11 - AMaryland woman and formerDemocratic congressional aide,Susan Lindauer, is arrested on charges of conspiracy against theUnited States, acting as anIraqi spy before and during last year'sinvasion.^[78]^[79]
March 11 - AnAustralian Senate report onpoverty is immediately dismissed byPrime Minister John Howard. The report shows between 2 and 3.5 millionAustralians, or up to 19 per cent of the population, are living in poverty.^[80]^[81]^[82]
March 12 - AUtah woman is charged withmurder when her child isstillborn because she did not want to have aCaesarean section.^[83]^[84]^[85]
March 12 - Millions of people pack rainy streets acrossSpain in protest against the recentMadrid bombings.^[86]
March 12 - The parliament ofSouth Korea votes toimpeach President Roh Moo-hyun, saying he "breached election rules" by calling for support for theUri party.Prime Minister Goh Kun will run the country until the Constitutional Court rules on the issue. Roh's supporters dismiss the move as a power play to influence the upcoming April elections. Thousands protest in support of Roh.^[87]^[88]^[89]
March 12 -Guantanamo Bay: Recently releasedBritish Camp X-Ray inmateJamal al-Harith is interviewed by theDaily Mirror, alleging physical assaults and psychological torture.^[90]^[91]
March 13- His Royal HighnessThe Duke of Gloucester and the Spanish Ambassador to theUnited Kingdom attend the Changing of the Guard ceremony atBuckingham Palace where the Spanish national anthem is played to honour the victims of the Madrid train bombings. The death toll in the bombings rises to 200; investigators continue search for perpetrators, with suspicions againstETA complemented by the apprehension of five foreign citizens connected to terror attacks inMorocco.^[92]^[93]
March 13 - Fifteen teams that qualified for theDARPA Grand Challenge start on a 150–200 mile robotic race toLas Vegas, Nevada, for a$1 million prize. All of the teams break down within seven miles of the start line; none collect the prize.^[94]^[95]
March 13 - Nine people, including eightchildren, are found dead inFresno, California. One of their family members is arrested for the deaths. The police speculate that the deaths may have been part of a ritual.^[96]^[97]
March 14 - TheSpanish parliamentary elections of 2004 take place. The incumbent government led byJose Maria Aznar is defeated by the SocialistJosé Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.^[98]^[99]^[100]^[101]
March 14 - Twosuicide bombers kill 10 people inAshdod,Israel.^[102]^[103]
March 14 -Madrid bombings:Spanish police receives avideotape where a man identifying himself as anal-Qaeda spokesman says the organisation claims responsibility for the attack, according to an announcement from the country's interior minister. The authenticity of the video has not been verified. The al-Qaeda claim overshadows voting in thegeneral election.^[104]^[105]^[106]
March 14 -Occupation of Iraq: SixUnited States soldiers are killed over the weekend in three separateinsurgent roadside bomb attacks, two inBaghdad and one inTikrit. This occurs amidst the largest U.S. troop rotation sinceWorld War II.
March 14 - The people of Russia have apresidential election. Current presidentVladimir Putin wins by a lot of votes. The election is widely criticised by external observers who said Russian state television was very biased towards Putin during the campaign.^[107]^[108]
March 14 -Pope John Paul II becomes the third-longest reigning pope in history, the other two beingSaint Peter andPope Pius IX.^[109]
March 14 - SeveralKurds storm theSyrian embassy inBrussels protesting about violence and deaths in north-east Syria over the weekend.^[110]
March 14 -Presidential elections in Russia are held.Vladimir Putin easily wins a second term.
March 15 - FourU.S.Baptist missionaries working on awater purification project are killed in a drive-by shooting in the northernIraqi city ofMosul.^[111]
March 15 - The city ofAliso Viejo, California, nearly bansfoam cups when they learn they are produced from a substance known asDihydrogen monoxide (water), a substance that could "threaten human health and safety."^[112]
March 15 -Pavlo Lazarenko, former prime minister ofUkraine, stands trial in a U.S. federal court inSan Francisco formoney laundering.^[113]
March 15 -Same-sex marriage in the United States: Commissioners ofMultnomah County, Oregon dismiss state attorney generalHardy Myers' non-binding opinion thatsame-sex marriages are illegal and vow to continue issuingmarriage licenses tosame-sex couples.^[114]
March 15 - Newlyelected Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announces his government's opposition to the invasion and continued occupation of Iraq and his intention to withdraw Spanish troops fromIraq by June 30, unless they are part of aU.N. force.^[115]
March 15 - Astronomers announce the discovery ofSedna, aPluto-like planetoid which is the most distant individual object known to orbit theSun.^[116]^[117]^[118]
March 15 - ExiledSyrian Kurds storm the Syrian consulate inGeneva and other Kurds protest in Turkey and Germany at weekend violence in northeast Syria.^[119]
March 16 -Spanish police identify sixMoroccans suspected to have carried out the March 11 Madrid attacks. Five of the suspects are still at large but one is in custody.^[120]^[121]
March 16 - Anexplosion at an apartment building inArkhangelsk,Russia, kills 32.^[122]
March 16 - TheFederal Reserve votes to keep interest rates the same, primarily since there are not many new jobs in the United States.^[123]
March 17 -Unrest in Kosovo: After twoAlbanian children are found drowned in theIbar river inKosovo and Metohia, with a third still missing, riots erupt in the town ofKosovska Mitrovica and later spread to the entire province. MitrovicaSerbs are blamed by Albanian media for forcing the children into the river, but this is later denied byUnited Nations officials. At least 22 people are killed by the end of the day with hundreds injured in clashes between Serbs and Albanians;enclaves of Kosovo Serbs elsewhere in the province experience attacks by Kosovo Albanians as well as offices of UN officials which were abandoned. In reaction to the violence in Kosovo, demonstrators inSerbia march inBelgrade and set ablazemosques in Belgrade andNish.^[124]^[125]^[126]^[127]^[128]^[129]^[130]^[131]
March 17 -Occupation of Iraq: Acar bomb flattens the Mount Lebanon Hotel in centralBaghdad, killing at least 17 people and hurting 45 more people.^[132]^[133]^[134]
March 17 -Utah bansexecution by firing squad.^[135]
March 18 -Howard Dean announces plans to formDemocracy for America, a political organization intended to help progressive candidates holding similar views.^[136]
March 18 -Unrest in Kosovo: TheNorth Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) announces that it will reinforce itsKosovo peacekeeping force, following ethnic fighting there that has killed at least 31 people over the past two days. MoreSerbian Orthodox Churches have been set on fire byAlbanians and violence has continued in and aroundKosovo Serb enclaves.Russia andSerbia-Montenegro call for an urgent meeting of theUN Security Council.United Nations officials attempt to restore order in the province and blame the unrest on nationalist extremists on both sides. More demonstrations have taken place acrossSerbia, so far without the violence seen the previous day.^[137]^[138]^[139]
March 18 -Near-Earth asteroid 2004 FH is making the closest approach of an asteroid ever recorded. At 22:08 UTC it will pass 43,000 km above Earth's surface.^[140]
March 18 - Cleanup work atLove Canal has been completed, federal officials said. TheEPA says it should be taken off theSuperfund list.
March 18 - TheUnited States House of Representatives all agree to double the reward forOsama bin Laden's capture to US$50 million.^[141]
March 19 -ICANN announces that aToronto, Canada organization, theInternational Foundation for Online Responsibility (IFFOR), has applied to sponsor the .xxxtop-level domain. IFFOR claims that a special domain would help stopchildren from seeingpornography. However, in February theInternet Engineering Task Force releasedRFC 3675, ".sex Considered Dangerous", detailing technical and administrative concerns with such proposals.^[142]^[143]^[144]
March 19 - The U.S. military drops all charges of alleged mishandling ofclassified information againstMuslim Army chaplain Yousef Yee atGuantanamo Bay.^[145]
March 19 -Same-sex marriage in Canada: TheQuebec Court of Appeal upholds aQuebec superior court ruling thatsame-sex marriages are valid underCanada'sCharter of Rights and Freedoms.^[146] It joinsOntario andBritish Columbia in permitting same-sex marriage. The couple which brought the suit is scheduled to be wed onApril 10, after a required 20-day waiting period.
March 19 -Äänekoski bus disaster: At least 24 young people are killed and 15 hurt, several of them seriously, in a collision on an icy road between a coach and alorry carrying rolls of paper on Highway 4 nearÄänekoski inCentral Finland. The accident happened at around 2 a.m. local time (UTC +2).^[147]^[148]
March 19 - The newspaperUSA Today admits that a former reporter,Jack Kelley, invented or distorted important parts of at least eight major stories. He was, for example, a finalist for thePulitzer Prize in 2001 on the basis of an eyewitness account of asuicide bombing that, could not have happened as he described it.^[149]
March 20 -ROC presidential election:Chen Shui-bian is declared the winner overLien Chan by fewer than 30,000 votes of nearly 13,000,000 cast (0.25%). Lien calls the result unfair and demands it be voided. Acontroversial referendum is invalidated by low turnout.^[150]^[151]
March 20 - FormerQueen Juliana of the Netherlands dies aged 94.^[152]^[153]
March 20 - On the first anniversary of the2003 invasion of Iraq, millions join protests in cities across the world to demonstrate against the war and the continuedoccupation. InLondon twoGreenpeace protesters evade newly tightenedsecurity and scalethe Houses of Parliament's Clock Tower to unfurl a banner calling for the truth to be told by theUK government.^[154]^[155]^[156]^[157]^[158]
March 20 -Stephen Harper iselected as leader of theConservative Party of Canada, winning 56% of the possible points on the first ballot.^[159]^[160]^[161]
March 20 - AMethodist church jury inBothell, Washington acquits alesbian minister of violation of church rules.^[162]
March 21 -Malaysian general election: Secular ruling coalitionBarisan Nasional wins a two-thirds majority and wrests back the state ofTerengganu from Islamist partyPAS. A recount is pending for the closely contested state ofKelantan.^[163]
March 21 - Measurements taken atMauna Loa Observatory showcarbon dioxide readings of 379 parts per million, up by 3 ppm in one year; average increase for the past decade has been 1.8 ppm. The reason for this accelerated buildup in agreenhouse gas requires further analysis.^[164]
March 21 -Al-Qaeda claims to have purchased "smart briefcase bombs" withnuclear capabilities on theblack market.^[165]
March 21 -Salvadoran presidential election: Voting takes place to elect a new president ofEl Salvador.^[166]
March 21 -ROC presidential election: Taiwan's High Court has ordered all ballot boxes to be sealed, in order to preserve evidence. However, a recount of votes was not ordered. Various protests are held throughout the island.^[167]
March 22 -Palestinians protest in the streets after anIsraeli helicopter gunship fires a missile at the entourage ofSheikh Ahmed Yassin inGaza City, killing Yassin and 7 others.
March 22 -ROC presidential election, 2004:Chen Shui-bian'sDemocratic Progressive Party submits a bill to theLegislative Yuan to allow an immediate recount, perLien Chan's demand, but the majorityPan-Blue Coalition says it is not necessary, because the President could issue an executive order instead.^[168]^[169]
March 22 -Salvadoran presidential election:Tony Saca of theNationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) declares victory over a formerCommunist Party guerrilla leader, with 60% of the votes.^[170]^[171]^[172]

^[173]

March 22 -Israel assassinatesSheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual head ofHamas, in theGaza Strip. It then seals off both theWest Bank and theGaza Strip.^[174]^[175]Kofi Annan, and the British, French, and German governments, amongst others, condemn the killing.^[176]^[177]
March 22 - The former chief counter-terrorism aide toUnited States President Bush,Richard A. Clarke, claims that Bush diverted attention towardsIraq, ignoring the main threat ofAl-Qaeda. Clarke was the administration's senior counter-terrorism official when9/11 took place.^[178]^[179]^[180]^[181]
March 22 -Mijailo Mijailovic is sentenced tolife imprisonment for the equivalent ofFirst-degree murder, found guilty of assassination ofSweden's Foreign MinisterAnna Lindh,September 10,2003.
March 22 -Same-sex marriage in the U.S.:Benton County, Oregon commissioners, after receiving a letter from state attorney generalHardy Myers, reverse their earlier vote to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples this Wednesday. But, stating they will observe the principal of equal treatment under the law, the commissioners decide that the county will stop issuingany marriage licenses until theOregon Supreme Court has ruled on the constitutionality of the law.^[182]^[183]
March 23 -Unrest in Kosovo: anUNMIK police patrol is attacked on the roadPristina-Podujevo. AUN police officer fromGhana is killed, a local police officer later dies of his wounds, and theirtranslator is also wounded but in stable condition.^[184]
March 23 -United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld andSecretary of State Colin Powell defend their pre-September 11th actions, saying that even ifOsama Bin Laden had been killed, the attacks on theWorld Trade Center andThe Pentagon would have still happened. Former Secretary of StateMadeleine Albright and former Secretary of DefenseWilliam Cohen also testify before theNational Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.^[185]
March 23 -Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi is chosen to leadHamas in theGaza Strip, and the movement's exiledpolitburo chiefKhaled Meshaal is chosen as its overall leader.^[186]^[187]
March 24 - TheWorld Trade Organization makes a preliminary ruling thatUnited States laws prohibitingInternet gambling violateinternational trade agreements, in response to a complaint byAntigua and Barbuda. TheBush administration vows to appeal, while some members of theUnited States Congress say they would rather allow atrade war or withdraw from future WTO talks than undo laws against online gambling.^[188]^[189]
March 24 -Danish artistMarco Evaristti paints aniceberg inGreenland red, using 780 gallons of paint.^[190]
March 24 -Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow: TheUnited States Supreme Court hears oral arguments over theconstitutionality of the "under God" clause of thePledge of Allegiance.^[191]
March 24 - TheBritish explorer David Hempleman-Adams sets analtitude record for aflight in awicker basket balloon.^[192]
March 24 - The leader ofHamas states that the group has no plans to attackUnited States targets, retreating from earlier threats by its armed wing. However,Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is announced as a new target, instead.^[193]
March 24 - Sharon states thatIsrael has a "natural right" to pursue those who would destroy it.^[194]
March 24 -Hussam Abdo, a 14-year-oldPalestinian suicide bomber fails to detonate his bomb-vest at anIsraeli checkpoint outsideNablus. The child was paid $23 and promised sex in heaven as his reward. An armed wing ofFatah takes responsibility for sending the boy.^[195]
March 25 - The 2004Abel Prize inmathematics is announced to be awarded toMichael F. Atiyah andIsadore M. Singer for theirindex theorem.^[196]
March 25 - Theterrorist groupAZF suspends its bombing campaign inFrance but continues to demand money from thegovernment. News agencies report that the government placed notices inLibération newspaper to contact the terrorists.^[197]
March 25 - Novelist and movie makerAlain Robbe-Grillet is elected to theAcadémie française.^[198]
March 25 - Fiveplanets (Mercury,Venus,Mars,Jupiter, andSaturn) array across the evening sky in a night show that will not happen again for another three decades.^[199]
March 25 - A prototype of a mechanized five-ton disaster-rescue robot, theT-52 Enryu, is unveiled in Japan.^[200]
March 26 -United Nations electoral expert andsecurity support arrive inBaghdad.^[201]
March 26 - The firstSouth Atlantic hurricane ever recorded forms 275 miles off the coast ofBrazil.^[202]
March 26 -ROC presidential election, 2004: The controversial victory ofChen Shui-bian is confirmed by the state electoral commission, with a margin of only 29,518 votes – 0.2% of the total – separating the candidates.Pan-Blue protestors storm and hurl eggs at the Central Electoral Commission building.^[203]
March 26 -Israeli-Palestinian conflict: TheUnited States vetoes aUnited Nations Security Council resolution (sponsored byAlgeria andLibya) condemning the killing byIsrael ofSheikh Ahmed Yassin along with six otherPalestinians outside amosque inGaza City and calling for the end ofexecutions. The veto is publicly motivated by the resolution making no mention ofsuicide bombings committed byHamas and attributed to Yassin. 11 votes are recorded in favour, with three (United Kingdom,Germany, andRomania) abstaining and one (theUnited States) against.^[204]^[205]
March 27 -John F. Kerry joins other Democrats calling forNational Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to testify before the September 11 commission and states theWhite House should learn fromPresident Franklin Delano Roosevelt's openness during an inquiry afterPearl Harbor.^[206]
March 27 -ROC presidential election, 2004: 500,000Pan-Blue protesters take to the streets inTaipei to demand a recount.^[207]
March 27 -NASA succeeds in a second attempt to fly itsX-43A experimental airplane from theHyper-X project, attaining speeds in excess ofMach 7, the fastest ever air-breathingHypersonic flight.^[208]
March 27 - A powerfulcyclone hits thecoast of southernBrazil. Brazilian and United Statesmeteorologists disagree over whetherCyclone Catarina is aHurricane, the first ever recorded in theSouth Atlantic.^[209]
March 28 -Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, leader ofHamas, states thatGod has declared war on theUnited States.^[210]^[211]^[212]^[213]
March 28 - TheUniversity of Cambridge wins a controversial victory in the 150thBoat Race by 6 lengths, with a total time of 18:47 minutes.^[214]
March 28 - TheArab League summit is postponed. The meeting was put off indefinitely because people disagreed about ways to change things in the region, includingdemocratization.^[215]^[216]
March 28 -Israeli State AttorneyEdna Arbel recommends thatPrime Minister Ariel Sharon be indicted for taking bribes.^[217]
March 28 - TheFrench regional elections result in massive losses for the governing conservative parties and victories for socialist-green alliances in at least 20 of 22 regions, leading to Raffarin's resignation onMarch 30.^[218]^[219]^[220]
March 28 - Acoup attempt in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo fails.^[221]
March 29 -Dominica switchesdiplomatic recognition from theRepublic of China to thePeople's Republic of China.^[222]
March 29 - Anexplosion occurs close to the mainbazaar inTashkent,Uzbekistan, killing two and injuring around twenty. Also in the capital, three police officers are shot dead. In the city ofBukhara, another explosion at a suspectedterrorist bomb factory kills ten people.(Reuters)Archived 2005-04-08 at theWayback Machine(BBC)
March 29 - TheRepublic of Ireland becomes the first country to bansmoking in all enclosed workplaces (including bars and restaurants). People who break this law risk a largefine.^[223]
March 29 - TheNorth Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) welcomes seven new members:Bulgaria,Estonia,Latvia,Lithuania,Romania,Slovakia, andSlovenia.
March 29 -Beauty company Dove is to use "real women" inadvertising after asurvey finds two-thirds ofUK women feeldepressed about theirfigures and have lowbody confidence as a result ofbeauty advertising.^[224]
March 29 -Scientists discovermethane in theMartian atmosphere and believe it could mean there islife on the Red Planet.^[225]
March 30 -New Jersey physicistGreg Olsen pays$20 million to conductenvironmental research for eight days aboard theInternational Space Station.^[226]
March 30 -Police inUzbekistan raid aHideout south of the capital,Tashkent. Fighting has caused 23 deaths in the area.^[227]
March 30 - ThePhilippines police stop a bigbomb attack after arresting four members of theMuslim extremistAbu Sayyaf group.^[228]
March 30 - TheWhite House allowsCondoleezza Rice, the president'snational security advisor,testify underoath about theSeptember 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.^[229]
March 30 - Eight men are arrested after a series of raids in theUK under theTerrorism Act 2000. Half a ton ofammonium nitrate fertilizer was found during the raids.^[230]
March 31 - NineAmericans are killed during thewar inIraq.
March 31 - TheInternational Court of Justice rules that theUSA was wrong to sentence 51Mexicans todeath formurder and says their trials must bereviewed.
March 31 - ACanadian court rules that theCanadian Recording Industry Association did not prove thatdownloading music from theInternet breaks the rules ofcopyright.^[231]

April

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April 2 - A bomb found on theMadrid toSeville train line is defused by Spanish police.
April 3 - A bomb explosion in a Madrid flat kills five suspected terrorists responsible for the Madrid train bombings on March 11, and a Spanish policeman.
April 5 - Her Majesty QueenElizabeth II of the United Kingdom begins a state visit toFrance to celebrate the 100th anniversary of theEntente Cordiale
April 8 - ThreeJapanese citizens are takenHostage inIraq.
April 16 -India defeatsPakistan in their historic firstcricket tour in 14 years.
April 17 -Israeli helicopters fire missiles at a convoy of vechiles in theGaza Strip, killing the leader ofHamas,Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi
April 20 -Tony Blair announces that the UK will hold areferendum on theEuropean constitution.
April 21 -Mordechai Vanunu is released fromprison inIsrael after an 18-year term fortreason.
April 21 - TheAmerican TV network,CBS broadcasts pictures ofDiana, Princess of Wales as she lay dying moments after the fatal car crash that killed her.
April 22 - Two trains carrying explosives and fuel collide in theNorth Korean town ofRyongchon, killing 161 people, injuring 1,300 and destroying thousands of homes.
April 22 - The lastcoal mine inFrance closes, ending nearly 300 years of coal mining.
April 24 - The christening ofLady Louise Windsor takes place atWindsor Castle.
April 25 -Greek Cypriots reject aUnited Nations plan to unite the island of Cyprus in areferendum.

May

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May 1 - An enlargement of theEuropean Union takes place, expanding the Union by 10 member-states:Poland,Lithuania,Latvia,Estonia, theCzech Republic,Slovakia,Slovenia,Hungary,Malta, andCyprus.
May 2 - After 3 weeks of captivity, American contractor Thomas Hamill escapes from his captors in Iraq with just a gunshot wound to the arm and makes it toUS Military personnel.
May 5 -Parliament grounds inNew Zealand host 15,000 people protesting about the proposed law that would change the ownership of foreshore and seabed.
May 6 - The president ofGeorgia,Mikhail Saakashvili, announces thatAdzharian leaderAslan Abashidze has left the country, ending a political crisis there.
May 6 - The final episode ofFriends airs onNBC. Advertisers pay $2 million for 30 second ads.
May 9 -Chechen presidentAkhmad Kadyrov is killed by landmine placed under a VIP stage during aWorld War II memorial victory parade inGrozny, Chechnya.
May 10 - Canadian Sponsorship Scandal - The RCMP arrest Chuck Guite and Jean Brault in connection with the scandal.
May 10 - Final phase ofelections to theLok Sabha inIndia
May 10 - National election takes place in thePhilippines for thepresidency and almost all other elective positions.
May 11 - Explosion destroys a plastics factory inGlasgow,UK, killing nine people and injuring over a hundred.
May 11 - Abomb explodes in a crowded market inIraq. It kills three people and wounds at least 23.
May 11 -Chechen PresidentAkhmad Kadyrov is buried in his home village.
May 12 - An American civilian contractor in Iraq,Nick Berg, is shown being decapitated by a group with links toal-Qaida on a web-distributed video. They state it is retaliation for the abuse atAbu Ghraib prison.
May 12 - Semi final takes place in theEurovision Song Contest 2004 inTurkey.
May 13 - In India, theCongress Party wins a shock victory in the elections to theLok Sabha (lower house ofParliament).
May 13 - The season finale forFrasier is aired.
May 14 - The editor of theDaily Mirror newspaper in the UK,Piers Morgan, is sacked after the British army proves photographs in the newspaper, allegedly showing British soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees, to be fake.
May 14 -Danish Crown Prince Frederik has married AustralianMary Konadson inCopenhagen,Denmark.
May 15 -FIFA announces thatSouth Africa will host the2010 World Cup soccer tournament, making it the first African nation to do so.
May 20 - A6.5-magnitude earthquake hitsTaiwan. There is no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

June

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June 5 - FormerU.S. President Ronald Reagan dies ofpneumonia at the age of 93.
June 11 -state funeral of formerU.S. President Ronald Reagan is held.
June 12 - FormerU.S. President Bush celebrates his 80th birthday byskydiving.

July

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July 1 – TheCassini-Huygens spacecraft arrives atSaturn.
July 4 – Groundbreaking for the Freedom Tower begins atGround Zero inNew York City.
July 4 – In football,Greece wins theEuropean Championships, after being rated as an 80-1 rank outsider.

August

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August 13–August 29 – The2004 Summer Olympics are held inAthens,Greece.
August 16 – The village ofBoscastle inCornwall is hit by a flash flood.

September

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September 1 – Many schoolchildren are taken hostage at a school inBeslan, southernRussia. Many of them are massacred onSeptember 3.
September 23 –Mount St. Helens becomes active again.

October

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October 27 – TheBoston Red Sox sweep theSt. Louis Cardinals in four games to win the 2004 World Series. It is the Red Sox first World Series championship since 1918.
October 29 – KingNorodom Sihanouk ofCambodia abdicates in favour of his son,Norodom Sihamoni.

November

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November 2 –George W. Bush is reelected asPresident of the United States.
November 21 – TheOrange Revolution begins inUkraine.

December

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December 26 - A strongearthquake from the Indian Ocean kills at least 140,000 people.
December 26 – In the wake of theOrange Revolution,Viktor Yushchenko is electedPresident ofUkraine.
December 31 – TheTaipei 101 tower is opened inTaipei,Taiwan.

Nobel prize winners

[change |change source]

Chemistry – Aaron Ciechanover
Chemistry – Avram Hershko
Chemistry – Irwin Rose
Economics – Finn E. Kydland
Economics – Edward C. Prescott
Literature – Elfriede Jelinek
Medicine – Richard Axel
Medicine – Linda B. Buck
Peace – Wangari Maathai
Physics – David J. Gross
Physics – H. David Politzer
Physics – Frank Wilczek

Births

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January 21–Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway
January 27–Fancine Diaz, Filipina actress
February 19–Millie Bobby Brown, English actress and producer^[232]
March 12–Zhang Qiongyue, Chineserifle shooter
May 1–Charli D'Amelio, American dancer and social media personality^[233]
June 4–Mackenzie Ziegler, American dancer and social media personality
June 8–Francesca Capaldi, American actress
July 17–Lindokuhle Modi, South African actor
August 31 -Jang Won-young, South Korean singer and television host
October 3–Noah Schnapp, American actor
October 6–Bronny James, American basketball player^[234]
November 13–Elijah Alejo, Filipina actress

Deaths

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April 19 –Volodymyr Kaplychnyi, Ukrainian footballer (b.1944)
April 19 –John Maynard Smith, British theoretical evolutionary biologist and geneticist (b.1920)
April 23 –Pat Tillman, American football player (b.1976)
April 24 –Estée Lauder, American cosmetics entrepreneur (b.1906)