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.

Predicted and scheduled Events

January 19 - U.S. Presidential caucuses will be held in Iowa, in the first major contest leading up to the U.S. presidential election in November.
January 24 - NASA's MER-B (Opportunity) is expected to land on Mars
January 28 - The report of the Hutton Inquiry is due to be published.
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