2004

Centuries: 20th century - 21st century - 22nd century

Decades: 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s - 2000s - 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s 2050s

Years: 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 - 2004 - 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2004 news by month: January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December

This is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar)

See also:

International Year of Technology
International Year of Rice
International Year of Education by Sports

Elections are to be held in 73 countries in 2004.

Table of contents

1 Events

1.1 Predicted and scheduled Events

2 Births
3 Deaths

Events

January 1 - Joseph Deiss becomes President of the Confederation in Switzerland
January 1 - Ireland takes over the Presidency of the European Council from Italy
January 2 - Several British Airways flights from London Heathrow Airport to Washington D.C and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia are cancelled due to security fears.
January 3 - Flash Airlines Flight FSH604 crashes into the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, killing all 148 aboard.
January 3 - NASA's MER-A (Spirit) lands on Mars.
January 3 - Tony Blair makes an unannounced trip to Basra, Iraq to give a speech to British troops.
January 4 - Dr. Mikhail Saakashvili won Presidential Elections in the Republic of Georgia.
January 5 - Britney Spears's marriage to childhood sweetheart Jason Allen Alexander is annuled by a Las Vegas court following a surprise 55-hour marriage.
January 6 - An inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales opens in London held by Michael Burgess, the coroner of The Queen's Household.
January 8 - Queen Elizabeth II officially names the Queen Mary 2 cruise liner.
January 13 - A Uzbekistan Airways plane crashes in Uzbekistan's capital of Tashkent, killing 37.
January 15- The South Korean Foreign Minister, Yoon Young-kwan resigns following his support for American policy towards North Korea.
January 20- India signs a $1.5 billion deal with Russia to buy the 45,000 tonne aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov along with 28 MiG-29k fighters.
January 22- The European Union bans the import of poultry from Thailand, as bird flu spreads throughout South East Asia
January 27- A House of Commons vote on University tution top-up fees is narrowly won by the British Government. It is however the worst voting result for Tony Blair since he came to power in 1997.
January 28- The findings of the Hutton Inquiry are published in London. The British Government is found not to have falsified information in the "sexed up dossier". The report criticises the BBC's role in the death of David Kelly, a weapons expert on Iraq.
January 28- At a hearing of the Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, it is revealled that the 9/11 terrorists used maize spray in overpowering the flight crew of American Airlines Flight 11

Predicted and scheduled Events

January 29 - A week-long session of Parliament of India to begin
January 31 - The 5th Asian women's field hockey championship starts in New Delhi.
February 13 - Michael Jackson's pretrial hearing, on charges of child molestation.
March 13 - The Kyushu Shinkansen high-speed rail line in Japan opens for service.
March 20 - Presidential election on Taiwan. Likely to be a match between incumbent President Chen Shui-bian and KMT Chairman Lien Chan.
April - 2004 Canadian election expected to be held.
April 19 - A partial solar eclipse is visible from Southern Africa
May 1 - An enlargement of the European Union takes place, expected to include admission of further 10 member-states: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta and Cyprus.
May 12 and May 15 - Eurovision Song Contest 2004.
May 18 - European Festival of Youth Choirs (EJCF) in Basel expected to start.
June 4 - The movie version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is scheduled to be released.
June 8 - The first solar transit of the planet Venus since 1882; the next one will occur in 2012.
June 10 - Elections take place in the United Kingdom for the European parliament, the Greater London Assembly, Mayor of London, and English local councils.
June 12 - The EURO 2004 European football (soccer) championships start in Portugal.
June 23 - The Green Party of the United States national convention convenes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
July - The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft arrives at Saturn.
July 1 - The Netherlands takes over the Presidency of the European Council from Ireland.
July 7 - The last patent on the LZW compression algorithm, in Canada, expires.
July 26 - The United States Democratic Party national convention convenes in Boston, Massachusetts.
August 13 - The 2004 Summer Olympics starts in Athens.
August 30 - The United States Republican Party national convention convenes in New York City.
September 29 - The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within 4 lunar distances of Earth.
[October-date to be announced] - The New World Hockey Association begins play in 11 cities.
October 1 - The University of Manchester and UMIST merge to form the largest conventional university in the United Kingdom.
October 14 - A partial solar eclipse is visible from North-East Asia and parts of the Northern Pacific.
November 2 - U.S. presidential election. Presidential candidates will be nominated during the party conventions held from May through September.

Births

Deaths

January 13 - Doctor Harold Shipman, the United Kingdom's most profilic serial killer (by suicide)
January 13 - Arne N�ss jr, Norwegian mountaineer and businessman
January 25 - Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete
January 27 - Jack Paar, television show host