2004

2004

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).

Population

The world population on January 1, 2004, was estimated to be 6.462 billion people and increased to 6.545 billion people by January 1, 2005. An estimated 136.6 million births and 53.2 million deaths took place in 2004. The average global life expectancy was 67.7 years, an increase of 0.3 years from 2003. The estimated number of global refugees decreased from 9.59 million to 9.24 million by the end of the year. Afghanistan was the largest source of refugees, with approximately 2.1 million people.

Conflicts

There were 32 armed conflicts in 2004 that resulted in at least 25 fatalities, all of which involved violent non-state actors. Seven of these resulted in at least 1,000 fatalities: the Colombian conflict, the Iraqi insurgency, the Kashmir insurgency, the Nepalese Civil War, the Second Chechen War in Russia, the Second Sudanese Civil War, the Sudanese War in Darfur, and the Lord's Resistance Army insurgency in Uganda.

The Iraqi insurgency emerged in Iraq in 2004 and carried out attacks against the US-backed caretaker government. It was initially confined to the Sunni Triangle, but it expanded to other areas throughout the year with two suicide bombings in Iraqi Kurdistan on February 1 and a conflict with the Shia Mahdi Army in April. Conflicts with al-Qaeda continued in 2004, primarily in Pakistan along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. An Islamic militant uprising also took place in northern Nigeria. Although the Second Congo War had ended, insurgencies continued within the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Ituri and in Kivu. Globally, two major rebel groups acted for the first time in 2004: the National Revolutionary Front for the Liberation and Reconstruction of Haiti successfully brought about the resignation of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, while the Islamic Jihad Union was defeated in its attempt to overthrow the government of Uzbekistan.

The War in Darfur escalated significantly in Sudan with debate over whether its mass killings constituted a genocide. The Burundian Civil War was complicated as factionalism divided the CNDD-FDD and tentative peace agreements with the government were opposed by the National Forces of Liberation. The Nepalese Civil War escalated as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) abducted over one thousand people to train as fighters and the Nepalese government established civilian militias. The frozen conflict between Georgia and the breakaway state of South Ossetia escalated in July and August until a ceasefire was signed on August 18. The Second Chechen War continued in 2004 with a bombing that killed Russian-backed Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov.

Two major peace agreements were made in 2004: one between Senegal and the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance, and one between Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. A ceasefire was established in Uganda after the Ugandan military made significant gains over the Lord's Resistance Army. A 2003 ceasefire held in the Kashmir conflict, bringing about the conflict's first full year without military action in roughly a decade, although an insurgency continued in the region. Disarmament of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia began in November during the Colombian conflict, but fighting with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia continued and the Colombian government launched its Plan Patriota mobilization program.

Culture

The highest-grossing film globally in 2004 was Shrek 2, followed by Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Spider-Man 2. The highest-grossing non-English film was The Passion of the Christ, the fifth highest-grossing film of the year. Critically acclaimed films from 2004 include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Kill Bill: Volume 2, and Million Dollar Baby

Music sales in 2004 amounted to about 2.75 billion physical units, stalling the decline of units in previous years. CD albums made up 86% of sales, but DVD and digital music continued an upward trajectory. The best-selling album globally in 2004 was Confessions by Usher, followed by Feels like Home by Norah Jones and Encore by Eminem. The best-selling non-English album was the Japanese album Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 1 by Hikaru Utada, the 19th best-selling of the year.

Critically acclaimed video games from 2004 include Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Half-Life 2, and Halo 2.

Economy

The economy in 2004 grew steadily without significant interruptions. The gross world product increased by 4% in 2004, an increase from the 2.8% growth in 2003, with the highest growth taking place in the developing world. International trade increased by over 10%. The global economy had recovered from the early 2000s recession by 2004, so governments in the developed world tightened monetary policy and central banks raised their interest rates. The United States dollar depreciated as the American trade deficit increased, while surpluses in Japan and the European Union led to appreciation for the Japanese yen and the euro. Growing demand for oil led oil prices to increase by over 50%, which was followed by a smaller decrease in price; the global economy accommodated the price increase without significant inflation or price shock.

Environment and weather

The year 2004 was the fourth hottest year on record, and it was the first in four years to have above-average precipitation. Major heat waves occurred in Australia, Japan, and Spain, while deadly cold waves occurred in Peru and southern Asia. Heavy winter storms occurred in the Middle East and around the Mediterranean. Ongoing droughts continued in the Horn of Africa and the western United States, while deadly floods occurred in Brazil and on the Mexico–United States border. A magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck Indonesia on December 26; the earthquake and the resulting tsunami killed approximately 230,000 people across the region.

There were 15 named storms in the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season 2004, nine of which were hurricanes. The most intense storms were Hurricane Ivan, Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances, and Hurricane Karl. It was the second deadliest hurricane season of the previous 30 years, as Hurricane Jeanne killed over 3,000 people in Haiti as well as leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless. There were 31 tropical storms in the 2004 Pacific typhoon season, 21 of which were typhoons. The most intense typhoons were Typhoon Dianmu, Typhoon Chaba, and Typhoon Nida, and Typhoon Ma-on. Seven tropical storms made landfall in Japan, and it suffered the most typhoon strikes since 1982 with four typhoons. Typhoon Rananim, the strongest typhoon to strike eastern China in five decades, destroyed 42,400 homes. Typhoon Muifa and Typhoon Nanmadol killed a combined total of 1,375 people in Philippines.

Events

January

• January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, killing all 148 aboard, making it one of the deadliest aviation accidents in Egyptian history at the time.
• January 4 – NASA's MER-A (Spirit) spacecraft lands on the surface of Mars.
• January 6
  • Construction on the tallest human-made structure to date, the Burj Khalifa, begins in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
  • Apple introduces the iPod Mini.
• 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.
• January 13 – Eastman Kodak announces the phasing-out of its reloadable film-based cameras in favor of digital cameras.
• January 14 – George W. Bush directs NASA to begin efforts toward establishing a permanent base on the Moon by the year 2020.
• January 19 – Japanese involvement in the Iraq War: 550 Japanese soldiers arrive in Samawah, in Japan's first military combat role since World War II.
• January 25 – NASA's MER-B (Opportunity) spacecraft lands on the surface of Mars.
• January 26 – The MyDoom virus is first identified.
• January 28 – Lord Hutton releases his report on David Kelly's suspicious death, ruling it a suicide.

February

• February 1 – Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy : Janet Jackson suffers a "wardrobe malfunction" during a live performance with Justin Timberlake.
• February 3 – The Ghan: Australia opens a passenger rail line between Alice Springs and Darwin, after 126 years of planning.
• February 4
  • The DARPA LifeLog project by United States Department of Defense was canceled by the Pentagon, citing criticism concerning the privacy implications of the system.
  • Mark Zuckerberg launches "TheFacebook", later renamed to Facebook, a social networking website for Harvard University students.
  • Sierra Leone Civil War: The United Nations officially concludes the disarming of 72,600 combatants, two years after the end of hostilities.
• February 6 – Moscow Metro Bombing: 41 people are killed when a terrorist suicide bomb detonates at the Avtozavodskaya station.
• February 13 – First EuroMillions transnational lottery drawn, in Paris.
• February 14 – Roof collapse at the Transvaal water park in Moscow kills 28 people, including 8 children. The structural failure is blamed on faulty engineering.
• February 15 – The Redfern riots break out in Sydney after an aboriginal teen is killed in an encounter with the police.
• February 24 – The National Review Board releases its official report on child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy.
• February 26 – Macedonian president Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• February 27 – First Ivorian Civil War: The United Nations approves a peacekeeping mission to Côte d'Ivoire.
• February 29 – Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide is overthrown in a coup d'état.

March

• March 2 – A series of bombings occur in Karbala, Iraq, killing over 140 Shia Muslims commemorating the Day of Ashura.
• March 5 – ImClone stock trading case: Martha Stewart is found guilty of financial crimes.
• March 7 – The 2004 Greek legislative election is held to elect all 300 members of the Hellenic Parliament and the New Democracy party, led by Kostas Karamanlis, won 165 out of 300 seats, ending over 11 years of rule by the PASOK party.
• March 11 – Al-Qaeda bombings on Cercanías trains in Madrid, Spain, kill at least 192 people.
• March 14 – The PSOE wins the election in Spain; José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is elected Prime Minister of Spain, replacing José María Aznar.
• March 18 – The Pan-African Congress meets for the first time, in Addis Ababa.
• March 19 – The Konginkangas bus disaster kills 23 and injures 14 people in Äänekoski, Finland.
• March 28 – Hurricane Catarina, the first ever recorded South Atlantic hurricane, makes landfall in Santa Catarina, Brazil.
• March 29 – Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia are admitted to NATO, the largest expansion of the organization.
• March 30 – The Iranian government under President Mohammad Khatami approved a policy stating that children of foreign nationals in Iran without valid documentation are not entitled to education in Iran. Furthermore, foreign students with valid documents are required to pay all or part of the enrollment fees and are not allowed to study in pre-university courses, vocational and technical schools, or evening classes.
• March 31 – Air America, a planned progressive alternative to the popularity of conservative talk radio in the U.S., airs its first broadcast.

April

• April 1 – George W. Bush signs the Unborn Victims of Violence Act into law. The law recognizes a "child in utero" as a legal victim if killed in the commission of a crime.
• April 4 – The First Battle of Fallujah starts.
• April 7 – Rwanda observes a national moment of silence on the 10th anniversary of the start of the Rwandan genocide.
• April 8 – The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups, in order to put a pause on the War in Darfur.
• April 17 – Israeli helicopters fire missiles at a convoy of vehicles in the Gaza Strip, killing Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi.
• April 18 – Newly-elected prime minister of Spain, José Zapatero, announces the withdrawal of all 1,300 Spanish troops from Iraq.
• April 23 – The United States eases economic embargo against Libya, in preparation for the resumption of diplomatic relations in July.
• April 24 – Referendums on the Annan Plan for Cyprus, which proposes to reunite the island, take place in both the Greek-controlled and the Turkish-controlled parts. Although the Turkish Cypriots vote in favour, the Greek Cypriots reject the proposal.
• April 28 – CBS News first breaks the story of Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse.
• April 29 – The World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. opens to the public.

May

• May 1
  • The European Union expands by 10 new member states: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
  • The First Battle of Fallujah ends.
• May 6 – 2004 Adjara crisis: Aslan Abashidze goes into exile in Moscow, leaving Adjara to come under Georgian government control.
• May 7
  • Hamid Karzai is sworn in as the first popularly-elected leader in Afghanistan's history.
  • Vladimir Putin is sworn in for a second term as Russia's president.
  • Chilean President Ricardo Lagos signs a bill legalizing divorce, making Chile the last South American country to do so.
• May 9 – A stadium bombing in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia kills ten people, including regional governor Akhmad Kadyrov.
• May 10 – 2004 Philippine presidential election: Incumbent president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo won a full six-year term as Philippine President.
• 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".
• May 15 - Arsenal F.C. defeat Leicester City F.C. 2 - 1 at Highbury Stadium on the last day of the 2003–04 FA Premier League to end the season unbeaten, the first and, so far, only time a team in the Premier League has done so. The team would go on to be known throughout the world as The Invincibles (English football).
• May 18 – Royal Tongan Airlines ceases operations.
• May 19 – The Muskogee, Oklahoma school district announces it will comply with the Department of Justice's order to permit the wearing of hijab by Muslim students.
• May 22 – Manmohan Singh (a Sikh) is sworn in as India's first non-Hindu prime minister.

June

• June 1 – A United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti begins, the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
• June 4 – Marvin Heemeyer takes his modified and armoured Komatsu D355A bulldozer (killdozer) on a rampage through the town of Granby, Colorado, causing approximately 7 million dollars' worth of damage.
• June 8 – 2004 transit of Venus.
• June 12–July 4 – Portugal hosts the UEFA Euro 2004 football tournament, which is won by Greece.
• June 21
  • In Mojave, California, United States, SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.
  • 2002-2006 municipal reorganization of Montreal: Quebec voters pass a referendum to reverse the 2002 Montreal "Mega-City" consolidation.
• June 22 – Repairs are completed on the Frauenkirche in Dresden, heavily damaged in the 1945 firebombing.
• June 26 – Minneapolis inaugurates a light rail service, 56 years after the end of the city's trolley service.
• June 28 – The U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), transfers sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government.
• June 30 – Preliminary hearings begin in Iraq in the trial of president Saddam Hussein, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

July

• July 1
  • The unpiloted Cassini–Huygens spacecraft arrives at Saturn.
  • One-third of the Great Barrier Reef is closed to fishing, creating the world's largest no-fishing zone.
  • Public libraries in the United States are hereafter required to install and maintain Internet content filters.
• July 3
  • The African Union condemns Robert Mugabe for alleged human rights violations in Zimbabwe.
  • A subway system in Bangkok opens.
• July 9 – The Senate Intelligence Committee criticizes the CIA for "flawed" intelligence regarding the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
• July 11 – The Russian Federation stops recognizing Soviet Union passports as legal identification.
• July 12 – Ancestral land conflict in Botswana: Botswana's high court hears the eviction case of the San people.
• July 13 – Montenegro's ruling party urges the dissolving of the Montenegrin national union with Serbia.
• July 24 – The Mexican government files charges against former President of Mexico Luis Echeverría for his role in the 1971 Corpus Christi massacre.
• July 28 – The Italian parliament raises the national retirement age from 57 to 60.

August

• August 1 – A fire in the "Ycua Bolaños-Botánico" supermarket in Asunción, Paraguay kills around 400 people.
• August 3 – NASA's unpiloted MESSENGER spacecraft is launched, with its primary mission being the study of Mercury.
• August 12 – Lee Hsien Loong is sworn in as the third Prime Minister of Singapore.
• August 13 – Hurricane Charley makes landfall at Punta Gorda, Florida, at Category 4 intensity.
• August 13 – Akku Yadav, a notorious gangster and serial rapist, is lynched to death by several women in a courtroom in Nagpur, India, while appearing for a bail hearing.
• August 13–29 – The 2004 Summer Olympics are held in Athens, Greece.
• August 18 – Broadband internet connections surpass dial-up for the first time in the United States.
• August 22 – Armed robbers steal Edvard Munch's The Scream, Madonna, and other paintings from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.
• August 24
  • After departing Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow, Volga-AviaExpress Flight 1303, a Tupolev Tu-134, explodes over Russia's Tula Oblast and crashes, killing all 43 people on board; minutes later, Siberia Airlines Flight 1047, a Tupolev Tu-154 departing the same airport, explodes over Rostov Oblast and crashes, killing all 46 on board. The Government of Russia declares the explosions to have been caused by female Chechen suicide bombers.
  • The United States Department of Defense releases its report on the Abu Ghraib scandal, calling it a "failure of military leadership and discipline."

September

• September 1 – Beslan school siege: Chechen rebels take 1,128 people, mostly children, hostage at a school in Beslan, Russia. The crisis ends when Russian security forces storm the building, resulting in more than 330 people being killed.
• September 7 – The United States' death toll in the Iraq War reaches 1,000.
• September 8 – The Genesis space probe crash-lands in Utah after a three-year study of the Sun.
• September 9
  • A car bomb of the Jemaah Islamiyah explodes at the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, killing 9 people.
  • Colin Powell refers to the escalating violence in Darfur as a genocide.
• September 11 – A Boeing Chinook helicopter crashes into the Aegean Sea while en route to the monasteries of Mount Athos, killing all 17 people aboard, including Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria and several other Orthodox Christian bishops.
• September 12 – US Airways files for bankruptcy protection.
• September 13 – The United States' 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban expires without being renewed.
• September 14 – Turkey's governing AKP withdraws a controversial plan to criminalize adultery.
• September 15 – Bakassi conflict: Nigeria fails to transfer disputed territory of Bakassi to Cameroonian administration by the International Court of Justice deadline.
• September 17 – UNAMSIL announces the extending of their peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone until at least June 2005.
• September 21 – The National Museum of the American Indian opens to the public.
• September 22 – West Sulawesi is established as the 33rd province of Indonesia.
• September 30 – Painkiller Vioxx is pulled from the market due to a potential doubling of heart attack risk.

October

• October 8 – Suicide bombers detonate two bombs at the Red Sea resort of Taba, Egypt, killing 34 people and injuring 171, mostly Israeli tourists.
• October 9 – 2004 Australian federal election: John Howard's Liberal/National Coalition government is re-elected with an increased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by Mark Latham.
• October 17 – Parque Central Complex fire: A fire that lasted over 15 hours destroyed almost one third of the East Tower of the Parque Central Urban Complex in Caracas, Venezuela.
• October 19 – A team of explorers reach the bottom of Krubera Cave, the world's deepest cave, with a depth of 2,080 meters (6,824 feet).
• October 20 – Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is sworn in as the 6th President of Indonesia, becoming the first directly elected president in Indonesia.
• October 27 – The Boston Red Sox win the World Series for the sixth time after completing a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. It was their first championship since 1918.
• October 29 – European heads of state sign in Rome the Treaty and Final Act, establishing the first European Constitution.

November

• November 2 – 2004 United States presidential election: George W. Bush is re-elected President of the United States, defeating his Democratic challenger John Kerry.
• November 7 – The Second Battle of Fallujah starts.
• 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.
• November 16 – NASA's hypersonic Scramjet breaks a record by reaching a velocity of about 7,000 mph (Mach 9.6) in an unpiloted experimental flight.
• November 21 – Nintendo releases the Nintendo DS, the best-selling handheld game console, in North America.
• 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.
• November 26 – The last known Po'ouli dies in captivity at the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Maui, Hawaii.
• November 30 – A McDonnell Douglas MD-82, operating as Lion Air Flight 538, overran the runway and crashed on a cemetery near Adisumarmo Airport, Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, killing 25 people.

December

• December 2 – EUFOR takes over peacekeeping duties in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the United Nations.
• December 12 – Vladimir Putin signs a bill bringing gubernatorial elections in Russia to an end; governors will hereafter be appointed rather than directly elected.
• December 13 – New Zealand passes the Civil Union Act, granting civil unions to same-sex couples as of April 2005.
• December 14 – The world's tallest bridge, the Millau Viaduct over the Tarn in the Massif Central mountains, France, is officially opened.
• December 16 – The European Council decides to start accession negotiations for Turkey to become a full member of the European Union.
• December 20 – Hungary withdraws the last of its 300 coalition troops from Iraq.
• December 21 – Iraqi insurgents attack a U.S. military base in the city of Mosul, killing 22 people.
• December 23 – The Second Battle of Fallujah ends.
• December 26 – The 9.1–9.3 Template:M 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.
• December 27 – Astrophysicists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching near Munich measure the strongest burst from a magnetar. At 21:30:26 UT Earth is hit by a huge wave front of gamma and X-rays. It is the strongest flux of high-energetic gamma radiation measured so far.
• December 30 – A fire in the República Cromañón nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 194.
• December 31 – Taipei 101, at the time the tallest skyscraper in the world, standing at a height of , officially opens.

Date unknown

• Metrocable (Medellín) Line K opens, the first modern urban transit cable car.

Nobel Prizes

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