2004 EVENTS
February 1 - A
hajj stampede in
Mina ,
Saudi Arabia , kills 251 pilgrims.
February 1 - The
New England Patriots win Super Bowl XXXVIII, as Adam
Vinatieri kicks the game-winning field goal with 4
seconds left.
February 1 - The infamous
Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy occurs
when
Justin Timberlake rips off a part of
Janet Jackson 's outfit revealing her breast.
February 2 - An 11-story apartment building
collapses in
Konya ,
Turkey , killing more than 90 residents.
February 3 - The
CIA admits that there was no imminent threat from
weapons of mass destruction before the
2003 invasion of Iraq .
February 3 -
Jóannes Eidesgaard becomes Prime Minister of the
Faroe Islands .
February 6 - A
suicide bomber kills 41 people on a
metro car in
Moscow .
February 7 - Several leaders of
Abnaa el-Balad are arrested in
Israel .
February 10 - At least 50 people are killed in a
car bomb attack on a police recruitment centre south
of
Baghdad .
February 10 - The
French National Assembly votes to pass a
law banning religious items and clothing from
schools.
February 12 -
Same sex marriage in the United States :
San Francisco, California begins issuing marriage
licenses to same-sex couples as an act of
civil disobedience .
February 13 - Scientists in
South Korea announce the
cloning of 30 human embryos.
February 14 - Riots break out between
New South Wales Police and
Aboriginal residents of
Redfern , a suburb of
Sydney ,
Australia .
February 14 - The roof of the
Transvaal water park in
Moscow collapses, killing 25 and injuring more than
100.
February 18 - A train carrying a convoy of
petrol ,
fertiliser , and
sulfur derails and explodes in
Iran , killing 320 people.
February 20 - Conservatives win a majority in the
Iranian parliament election .
February 24 - A 6.5
Richter scale earthquake in Northern
Morocco hits in the
Rif mountains near the city of
Al Hoceima , killing 400. Ait Kamara is destroyed;
517 are killed.
February 26 - The
United States lifts a 23-year travel ban against
Libya .
February 26 -Macedonian
President
Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near
Mostar ,
Bosnia and Herzegovina .
February 28 - Over 1 million
Taiwanese participating in the
228 Hand-in-Hand Rally form a 500-kilometre
(300-mile) long human chain to commemorate the
228 Incident in
1947 .
February 29 -
2004 Haiti rebellion :
Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as president of
Haiti . The chief justice of the Haitian Supreme
Court,
Boniface Alexandre , is sworn in as interim
president.
February 29 - The film
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
directed by
Peter Jackson , wins
Academy Awards in every category it was nominated
for, with 11 wins in total, including
Best Picture and
Best Director .
March 2 -
John Kerry effectively clinches the
2004 U.S. Democratic Party presidential nomination
by winning 9 out of 10 "Super
Tuesday " primaries and caucuses.
March 2 -
NASA announces that the
Mars rover
MER-B (Opportunity) has confirmed that its landing
area was once drenched in water.
March 10 - Five British men are released from
detention at
Camp Delta ,
Guantanamo Bay . After they land at
RAF Brize Norton , 4 of them are immediately arrested
for questioning.
March 11 -
Simultaneous explosions on rush hour trains in
Madrid kill 190 people.
March 12 - Following the March 11 terrorist attacks
in Madrid, millions of protesters take to the streets of
Spanish cities against terrorism.
March 14 - Two suicide bombers kill 11 Israeli
civilians in
Ashdod, Israel .
March 14 -
Spanish legislative election, 2004 : The incumbent
government led by
José María Aznar is defeated by the Socialist
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero .
March 14 -
Russian presidential election, 2004 :
Vladimir Putin easily wins a second term.
March 15 - The new
Spanish Government announces that it will withdraw
Spain's 1,300 troops in
Iraq .
March 17 - A
pogrom -like
organized violence breaks out over 2 days in
Kosovo . Nineteen people are killed, 139 Serbian
homes burned, schools and businesses vandalized, and
over 30 Orthodox monasteries and churches burned and
destroyed.
March 19 - The
UN
launches a
political corruption investigation due to the
scandal over its
Iraqi
Oil for Food program .
March 20 - President
Chen Shui-bian wins the
Taiwanese presidential election by 0.2% of the vote.
The day before, he and Vice President
Annette Lu were 'shot'.
Lien Chan refuses to concede and demands a recount.
A controversial 'peace
referendum ' opposed by the
People's Republic of China is invalidated.
March 21 -
Malaysian general election, 2004 : The incumbent
Barisan Nasional party wins 198 out of 219 seats in
the
Malaysian
Parliament .
March 21 -
Salvadoran presidential election, 2004 :
Antonio Saca is elected
President of
El Salvador (inaugurated
June 1 ).
March 22 -
Palestinians protest in the streets after an
Israeli
helicopter gunship fires a missile at the entourage
of
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in
Gaza City , killing him and 7 others.
March 22 -
Child pornography charges against
Paul Reubens (Peewee
Herman ) are dropped, after he pleads guilty to a
separate "misdemeanor obscenity" charge.
March 25 - British Prime Minister
Tony Blair visits
Libyan leader Colonel
Muammar al-Qaddafi , in return for the dismantling of
Libya's
WMD programme in
December 2003 - the first time a major western
leader has visited the nation in several decades.
March 28 - In
France , the government of
Prime Minister
Jean-Pierre Raffarin suffers a stunning and
unprecedented defeat in regional
elections .
March 28 - The first ever
South Atlantic
hurricane makes landfall in South Brazil on the
state of Santa Catarina - the hurricane is dubbed
Hurricane Catarina .
March 29 - The
Republic of Ireland bans smoking in all enclosed
work places, including restaurants, pubs and bars.
March 29 - The largest expansion of
NATO to date takes place, allowing
Bulgaria ,
Estonia ,
Latvia ,
Lithuania ,
Romania ,
Slovakia and
Slovenia into the organization.
March 31 - Four American
private military contractors working for
Blackwater USA are killed, and their bodies
mutilated, after being ambushed in
Fallujah ,
Iraq .
April 1 - The
Faroese Prime Minister's Office announces that from
then on the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's
Office will use a new version of the Faroese Coat of
Arms. The colours were inspired from the Merkið (flag)
and yellow/gold was added. The new
Coat of Arms depicts a Ram on a blue shield ready to
defend. It can be used by the Government Ministries and
by
Faroese embassies, but some still use older versions
of the
Coat of Arms .
Rich Fields, announcer of The Price Is Right
April 4 -
Rich Fields becomes the new permanent announcer on
CBS 's
The Price Is Right .
April 5 -
Queen Elizabeth II begins a
state visit to
France to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the
Entente Cordiale .
April 8 -
Darfur conflict : The
Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the
Sudanese government and 2 rebel groups.
April 9 - Nick and Mary Yankovic, the parents of
"Weird Al" Yankovic , die of carbon monoxide
poisoning in their
Fallbrook ,
California home.
April 16 -
India defeats
Pakistan in their first
cricket tour in 14 years.
April 17 -
Israeli helicopters fire missiles at a convoy of
vehicles in the
Gaza Strip , killing the Gaza leader of
Hamas ,
Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi .
April 20 - In Iraq, 12 mortars are fired on
Abu Ghraib Prison by insurgents; 22 detainees are
killed and 92 wounded.
[1]
April 21 -
Mordechai Vanunu , who revealed an Israeli nuclear
weapons programme in the 1980s, is released from
prison in
Israel after serving 18 years for
treason .
April 22 - Two trains carrying explosives and fuel
collide in
Ryongchon ,
North Korea , killing 161 people, injuring 1,300 and
destroying thousands of homes.
April 22 - The last
coal mine in
France closes, ending nearly 300 years of coal
mining.
April 24 -
Referenda on a
United Nations plan , which proposes to re-unite the
island of
Cyprus , take place in both the
Republic of Cyprus controlled and the
Turkish controlled parts. Although the
Turkish Cypriots vote in favour, the
Greek Cypriots reject the proposal.
April 28 -
Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse in
Iraq is revealed on the television show
60 Minutes II .
April 29 - The last
Oldsmobile rolls off of the assembly line.
May 1 - The largest expansion to date of the
European Union takes place, extending the Union by
10 member-states:
Poland ,
Lithuania ,
Latvia ,
Estonia , the
Czech Republic ,
Slovakia ,
Slovenia ,
Hungary ,
Malta and
Cyprus .
May 4 - A
WNBC
helicopter crashes in the
Flatbush section of
Brooklyn, New York . This event is covered by rival
station
WABC-TV .
May 6 - The final episode of
Friends airs on
NBC , drawing an estimated 52 million viewers in
North America .
May 8 - Would-be "Saudi Princess" "Antoinette
Millard " surfaces in
New York City claiming that muggers had stolen
jewels worth of $262,000 from her (she later proves to
be an
impostor ).
May 9 -
Chechen president
Akhmad Kadyrov is killed by a landmine placed under
a VIP stage during a
World War II memorial parade in
Grozny .
May 9 -
Canada wins the
World Ice Hockey Championship in
Prague .
May 10 -
Philippine general election, 2004 : Incumbent
president
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is re-elected.
May 12 - An American civilian contractor in Iraq,
Nick Berg , is shown being decapitated by a group
allegedly linked to
al-Qaida on a web-distributed video.
May 13 - In India, the
Congress Party wins a surprise victory in the
elections to the
Lok Sabha .
May 14 -
Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark , marries
Australian
Mary Donaldson in
Copenhagen .
June 1 - Twelve-year-old Satomi Mitarai, a
Japanese schoolgirl attending Okubo Elementary
School in
Sasebo, Japan is murdered. Her killer, an
11-year-old classmate identified by Japanese authorities
as "Girl A", becomes the basis for the
Nevada-tan
Internet phenomenon .
June 3 - All outgoing flights from the
UK are temporarily grounded following an
air traffic control computer failure.
(BBC)
June 3 -
Central Intelligence Agency director
George Tenet tenders his resignation, citing
"personal reasons".
John E. McLaughlin ,
CIA Deputy Director , becomes the acting Director
until a permanent Director is chosen and confirmed by
Congress.
June 4 -
Marvin Heemeyer destroys many local buildings with a
home-made tank in
Granby, Colorado .
June 5 - Former
United States President
Ronald Reagan dies at age 93 in
Bel-Air ,
California .
June 6 - The 60th anniversary of
D-Day is remembered by world leaders.
June 6 - The film
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is
released into theatres.
June 7 -
Tampa Bay Lightning defeats
Calgary Flames in 2004
Stanley Cup Finals .
June 8 - The first
transit of Venus since
1882 occurs; the next one will occur in
2012 .
June 8 - The
G8
Summit takes place over the next 2 days on
Sea Island , in
Georgia ,
USA .
June 8 - The pickled heart of
Louis XVII of France is buried in the royal crypt at
Saint-Denis.
June 11 -
Terry Nichols is spared the death penalty by an
Oklahoma state court on murder charges stemming from the
1995
Oklahoma City bombing . The decision comes on the
third anniversary of the execution of his co-defendant,
Timothy McVeigh , in
Terre Haute ,
Indiana .
June 11 - After the first presidential state funeral
since
1994 , President
Ronald Wilson Reagan is laid to rest at
Simi Valley, California , at the site of the
Reagan Presidential Library .
June 12 - A 1.3
kg chondrite type
meteorite strikes a house in
Ellerslie, New Zealand , causing serious damage but
no injuries.
Imprisoned Saddam Hussein
June 15 - The
Detroit Pistons upset the heavily favored
Los Angeles Lakers to win the
2004 NBA Finals , 4 games to 1.
June 16 - The
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United
States (or "9/11 Commission") issues an initial
report of its findings.
June 21 - In
Mojave ,
California ,
SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately-funded
spaceplane to achieve
spaceflight .
June 28 -
Union Pacific and
Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains collide in a
rural area outside of
San Antonio ,
Texas . Forty cars are derailed, including one
chlorine car. Three people die, another 50 people
are hospitalized because of exposure to the gas.
June 28 - The U.S.-led
coalition occupying Iraq transfers
sovereignty to an
Iraqi Interim Government .
June 28 -
Canadian election : The
Liberal Party , led by
Paul Martin , is reduced to a minority government,
after holding a majority since November
1993 .
June 30 - Preliminary hearings begin in
Iraq in the trial of former president
Saddam Hussein , for
war crimes and crimes against humanity.
August 1 - A supermarket fire in
Asunción ,
Paraguay , kills about 400 and leaves over 100
missing.
August 1 - A bomb attack occurs in front of
Prague 's Casino Royal.
August 2 -
Monday demonstrations against social cutbacks began
in
Germany .
August 3 - The
Statue of Liberty reopens after security
improvements.
August 4 -
Gibraltar celebrates 300 years of British rule.
August 6 - A
United Nations report blaming the government of
Sudan for crimes against humanity in
Darfur is released.
August 9 - Footballer
Lee Hughes , 28, is sentenced to 6 years in prison
and banned from driving for 10 years after being found
guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. Hughes
also has his contract terminated by his employers
West Bromwich Albion .
August 12 -
Singapore 's prime minister
Goh Chok Tong hands over his position to
Lee Hsien Loong .
August 12 -
New Jersey Governor
James McGreevey announces that he is "a
gay American" and will resign effective
November 15, 2004 .
August 13 -August
29 - The
2004 Summer Olympics are held in
Athens, Greece .
August 13 -
Hurricane Charley kills 27 people in
Florida after killing 4 in
Cuba and 1 in
Jamaica . Charley made landfall near Cayo Costa, FL
as a
Category 4 hurricane . Charley is the most intense
hurricane to strike the United States since
Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
August 16 - Severe
flooding occurs in the
village of
Boscastle in
Cornwall .
August 18 - In
Dublin ,
Ireland , the
Dublin Port Tunnel excavation works are completed
and the final
tunnel boring machine breakthrough ceremony takes
place.
August 20 -
Elbegdorj Tsakhia , the peaceful democratic
revolutionary leader of
Mongolia , becomes
Prime Minister of Mongolia for the second time.
August 21 - A series of blasts rocks an opposition
party rally in
Dhaka ,
Bangladesh , killing at least 13 people.
August 22 - Armed robbers steal
Edvard Munch 's
The Scream ,
Madonna , and other paintings from the
Munch Museum in
Oslo ,
Norway .
August 24 - Two airliners in
Russia , carrying a total of 89 passengers, crash
within minutes of each other after flying out of
Domodedovo International Airport , leaving no
survivors. Authorities suspect suicide attacks by rebels
from
Chechnya to be the cause of the crashes.
August 29 - Around 200,000 protesters demonstrate in
New York City against U.S. President
George W. Bush and his government, ahead of the
2004 Republican National Convention .
August 29 -
Michael Schumacher wins a record seventh
world championship title by finishing second in the
Belgian Grand Prix at
Spa-Francorchamps .
August 30 -
September 2 - U.S. President
George W. Bush and Vice President
Dick Cheney are renominated at the
Republican National Convention in
New York City .
August 31 - Two suicide attacks on buses in
Beer Sheva ,
Israel , kill at least 16 people and injure at least
60.
Hamas claims responsibility for the attacks.
August 31 - A woman commits a suicide attack near a
subway station in northern
Moscow ,
Russia , killing at least 10 people and injuring at
least 50. Authorities hold
Chechen rebels responsible.
September - The
Great Laxey Mine Railway of the
Isle of Man is re-opened.
September 1 -
Chechen terrorists take between 1,000 and 1,500
people hostage, mostly children, in a school in the
Beslan school hostage crisis . The hostage-takers
demand the release of Chechen terrorists imprisoned in
neighbouring
Ingushetia and the independence of
Chechnya from
Russia .
September 2 - The
United Nations Security Council adopts
Resolution 1559 , calling for the removal of all
foreign troops from
Lebanon . This measure is largely aimed at
Syrian troops.
September 3 -
Russian forces end the siege at a school in
Beslan ,
Northern Ossetia . At least 335 people (among which
are 32 of the approximately 40 hostage-takers) are
killed and at least 700 people injured.
September 3 -
Hurricane Frances makes landfall in
Florida . After killing 2 people in the
Bahamas ,
Hurricane Frances kills 10 people in
Florida , 2 in
Georgia and 1 in
South Carolina .
September 4 -
Hurricane Ivan forms.
September 7 -
WikiCommons is launched.
September 7 - The
Scottish Parliament meets in the new
Scottish Parliament Building for the first time.
September 7 -
Hurricane Ivan passes directly over
Grenada , killing 37 people. It passes over other
Caribbean islands over the next 2 days, killing 5
people in
Venezuela , 4 in the
Dominican Republic , 1 in
Tobago and 20 in
Jamaica .
September 8 - In the
"Rathergate" affair, the first
Internet posts appear pointing out that documents
claimed by
CBS News to be typewritten memos from the early
1970s appear instead to have been produced using modern
word processing systems.
September 9 - A
bomb blast outside the
Australian embassy in
Jakarta ,
Indonesia , kills 11 and injures up to 100 people.
September 13 - The U.S.
Assault Weapons Ban expires.
September 15 -
Davíð Oddsson ,
Prime Minister of Iceland , steps down after serving
as prime minister since April 30, 1991. Oddson trades
posts with his foreign minister
Halldór Ásgrímsson , who then becomes Prime Minister.
September 15 - Security at the
Palace of Westminster is compromised, when the House
of Commons is stormed by a small group of protestors
during a debate about
fox hunting .
September 15 -
"Girl A" is sentenced to be institutionalized due to
the
murder of classmate Satomi Mitarai.
September 16 -
Hurricane Ivan strikes
Gulf Shores ,
Alabama , as a Category 3 storm, killing 25 in
Alabama and
Florida , becoming the 3rd costliest hurricane in
American history (currently the 4th following the
destruction of 2005's Hurricane Katrina).
September 17 - The
2004 Summer Paralympics commences in
Athens, Greece .
September 17 -
Mexico and
Japan finish 2-year-long negotiations and sign a
Free Trade Agreement in Mexico City.
September 23 -
Mount St. Helens becomes active again.
September 23 -
Tropical Storm Ivan , having come around and reformed
in the
Gulf of Mexico , makes its final landfall near
Cameron, Louisiana , to little effect. In total, the
storm will kill 92 people.
September 25 -
Hurricane Jeanne makes landfall near Hutchinson
Island, FL. In all, Jeanne will kill over 3,000, mostly
in Haiti.
September 29 - In
Mojave, California , the first
Ansari X-Prize flight takes place of
SpaceShipOne , which is competing with a number of
spacecraft (including Canada's
Da Vinci Project , claimed to be its closest rival)
and will go on to win the prize on October 4th.
October 4 - Two
car bombs kill at least 16 people and injure dozens
more in
Baghdad .
October 5 - A fire breaks out on the
Canadian submarine
HMCS Chicoutimi , leaving it stranded without
power in the North Atlantic ocean, off the north coast
of
Ireland ; 1 crewmember is killed.
October 8 -
Kenneth Bigley , the British hostage held by
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi , an
Iraqi insurgent , is killed after a failed escape
attempt.
October 8 - Suicide bombers detonate 2 bombs at the
Red Sea resort of
Taba ,
Egypt , killing 34 people, mainly Israeli tourists
and Egyptian workers.
October 8 -
Martha Stewart begins serving a 5-month sentence for
insider trading at the
Alderson Federal Prison Camp in
West Virginia .
October 9 -
Queen Elizabeth II opens the new
Scottish Parliament Building in a ceremony in
Edinburgh .
October 9 - Incumbent
Prime Minister of Australia
John Howard leads the Liberal-National coalition to
victory over the Labor Party led by
Mark Latham in federal elections.
October 9 - Direct elections for president are held
for the first time in
Afghanistan . Interim president
Hamid Karzai is eventually declared the winner.
October 10 -
Abdullahi Yusuf is chosen as the new transitional
president of
Somalia .
October 14 - Prince
Norodom Sihamoni is chosen as the new king of
Cambodia .
October 16 - The
New York Yankees defeat the
Boston Red Sox 19-8 in Game 3 of
Major League Baseball 's
American League Championship Series . The game, which
pushed the Yankees to a 3 games to 0 series lead, sets a
record for longest 9
inning baseball game.
October 16 -
Arsenal loses for the first time in 49 league games,
a national record, going down 2-0 to
Manchester United at
Old Trafford .
October 17 - A referendum in
Belarus approves the lifting of constitutional term
limits for the presidency.
October 18 - Three men attack Greek journalist
Philippos Syrigos in
Athens and seriously wound him.
October 19 - General
Khin Nyunt is replaced by Lieutenant-General
Soe Win as
Prime Minister of Myanmar .
October 20 -
Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 crashes in
Missouri , killing 13 people and injuring 2.
October 20 -
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono becomes the first
directly-elected
President of Indonesia .
October 20 - The
Boston Red Sox defeat the
New York Yankees 10-3 in Game 7 of the
Major League Baseball 's
American League Championship Series to win the
series 4 games to 3. The
Boston Red Sox become the first team in baseball
history to come back from a 0-3 deficit to win a series.
October 21 - The
Ministry of Defence approves the deployment of the
Black Watch regiment of the
British Army to
Baghdad ,
Iraq after a request for assistance by the U.S.
government.
October 24 - The bodies of 49 Iraqi soldiers are
discovered after being ambushed by insurgents.
October 24 -
Brazil successfully launches its first rocket into
space.
October 25 - Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and
Coretta Scott King receive the
Congressional Gold Medal .
Titan shown in ultraviolet and infrared
wavelengths. Photo captured by the Cassini
spacecraft
October 26 - The
Cassini probe passes within 1,200km of
Titan .
October 27 - The
Boston Red Sox win the
World Series for the first time since
1918 , breaking the
Curse of the Bambino .
October 27 - Details of the discovery of a new,
recent, species of fossil
hominid ,
Homo floresiensis , from the island of
Flores ,
Indonesia , are published.
October 29 - A
2004 Osama bin Laden video airs on Arabic TV, in
which he threatens terrorist attacks on the
United States , and taunts U.S. President
George W. Bush over the
September 11 Terrorist attacks .
October 29 - European heads of state sign in
Rome the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first
European Constitution .
October 30 - A 163-metre-high
radio mast in
Peterborough ,
UK collapses at a fire.
October 31 -
Leftist candidate
Tabaré Vázquez is elected President of
Uruguay .
Ken Jennings on
Jeopardy! in 2004. He holds the record
for the most wins on Jeopardy.
November 1 - A 16-year-old
Palestinian
Muslim blows himself up in an outdoor market in
Tel Aviv , killing 3
Israelis .
November 2 -
U.S. presidential election, 2004 : U.S. President
George W. Bush defeats Senator
John Kerry .
Republicans make gains in the
House and
Senate .
November 2 - Dutch film maker
Theo van Gogh is assassinated in
Amsterdam ,
Netherlands by
Mohammed Bouyeri .
November 6 - The
Ufton Nervet rail crash in
Berkshire ,
England kills 7 people.
November 6 - In
Côte d'Ivoire , National Army bombings kill 9 people,
including French UN soldiers. French UN forces retaliate
by destroying the
National Army's air force .
November 7 -
U.S. forces launch a major assault on the
Iraqi town of
Fallujah , in an effort to rid the area of insurgents
before the Iraqi elections in January.
November 9 - The Irish
High Court rules that Katherine Zappone and Ann
Louise Gilligan can sue the Revenue Commissioner to have
their
Vancouver, British Columbia
Same-sex marriage recognized for tax purposes.
November 9 - Meeting of the
Scottish Socialist Party executive leads to the
resignation of
Tommy Sheridan as convenor. Contradictory accounts
of what Sheridan said at the meeting become hotly
disputed in the
Sheridan v News International trial.
November 11 -
Yasser Arafat , leader of the
Palestinian Authority , dies in a Paris hospital.
November 12 - In
Redwood City ,
California , a jury finds
Scott Peterson guilty of the murder of his wife
Laci, and unborn son Connor.
November 13 - After 6 days of intense battles, the
Iraqi town of
Fallujah is fully occupied by U.S. forces.
November 14 - U.S.
Secretary of State
Colin Powell submits his resignation. He is replaced
by
Condoleezza Rice after her confirmation by the
United States Congress .
November 16 - The
European Space Agency probe,
Smart 1 , passes from
Earth orbit into the orbit of the
Moon .
November 16 - A train crash near
Bundaberg in
Queensland ,
Australia , injures 150 people.
November 16 - The
People's Republic of China agrees to invest $20
billion dollars in
Argentina , a deal signed days before the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to be held
in
Santiago ,
Chile .
November 16 -
NASA 's
hypersonic ScramJet breaks a record by
reaching a
velocity of about 7,000 mph in an unmanned
experimental flight. It obtains a
speed of
Mach 9.6, almost 10 times the
speed of sound .
November 17 -November
21 - The
APEC Summit is held in
Santiago ,
Chile .
November 19 - The NBA's
Indiana Pacers and
Detroit Pistons engage in a
brawl that involves fans and players. The incident
gets (then) Pacer
Ron Artest suspended for the whole season.
November 21 - In the final round of
presidential election in Ukraine ,
Viktor Yanukovych is declared the winner.
International election observers express severe
criticism, and large crowds gather in a protest rally in
Kiev . Twelve days later, the Supreme Court annuls
the result, and a new poll is scheduled.
November 23 -
Alex Ferguson takes charge of his 1,000th game as
manager of
Manchester United .
November 25 - The
Indian
political party
Congress Jananayaka Peravai merges into the
Indian National Congress .
November 26 - A group of Iraqi political leaders,
primarily from
Sunni and
Kurdish parties, advocate a 6-month delay in popular
elections scheduled for January
2005 .
November 28 - An explosion occurs in a coal mine in
China . The death toll was expected to exceed 150.
November 28 -
Ricardo Lagos , President of
Chile , promises economic compensation to 28,000
torture victims of
Augusto Pinochet 's military dictatorship.
November 28 - A male
Po'o-uli dies of avian
malaria at the
Maui Bird Conservation Center in Olinda before it
can breed, making the species in all probability
extinct .
November 30 -
Ken Jennings ' 75-game reign as
Jeopardy! champion ends, as
Nancy Zerg defeats him. His final wins total over
$2.5 million.
December 14 - The world's tallest bridge, the
Millau bridge over the
River Tarn in the
Massif Central mountains,
France , is opened by
President
Jacques Chirac .
December 15 -
Albanian terrorists take a bus and its passengers
hostage in
Athens ,
Greece and demand 1 million
euros in ransom money.
December 16 - The
House of Lords rules that the
British Government breaches
human rights legislation by detaining without trial
foreign nationals suspected of being terrorists.
December 16 - IT security company
Symantec Corp signs a definitive agreement to merge
with
Veritas Software Corp, valued at $13.5 billion, in
an all-stock transaction.
December 21 - Iraqi insurgents attack a U.S.
military base in the city of
Mosul , killing 22 people.
December 22 - Armed robbers in
Northern Ireland steal over £22 million from the
headquarters of the
Northern Bank .
Unionist politicians and the
PSNI blame the
PIRA , and stall the
peace process .
December 25 - An historic and unprecedented snowfall
occurs over portions of southern Texas during the early
morning hours. Daily totals include 1.5" at
Brownsville, Texas , 3.5" at
McAllen, Texas , 4.4" at
Corpus Christi, Texas , and 12.1" at
Victoria, Texas .
December 26 - One of the worst
natural disasters in
recorded history hits southeastern
Asia when
the strongest earthquake in 40 years hits the entire
Indian Ocean region. The massive 9.3 magnitude
earthquake , epicentered just off the west coast of
the
Indonesian island of
Sumatra , generates enormous
tsunami waves that crash into the coastal areas of a
number of nations including
Thailand ,
India ,
Sri Lanka , the
Maldives ,
Malaysia ,
Myanmar ,
Bangladesh ,
Burma and
Indonesia . The official death toll in the affected
countries stands at 186,983 while more than 40,000
people are still missing.
December 26 - The re-run of the second round of the
Ukrainian presidential election takes place.
Opposition candidate
Viktor Yushchenko is declared the victor.
December 28 - The Ukrainian transport minister,
Heorhiy Kyrpa , is found shot dead, in a suspected
suicide.
December 30 - A fire in a
Buenos Aires
night club (República
Cromagnon ) kills 194 people during a rock concert.
December 31 -
Taipei 101 , the current
tallest
skyscraper in the world, standing at a height of 509
metres (1,670
feet ), officially opens.
December 31 -
Simón Trinidad , high-profiled
FARC leader, is extradited to the
United States , following the second extradition of a
high drug dealer in a month and in 2004.
December 31 - Ukrainian Prime Minister
Viktor Yanukovich resigns.
Imprisoned Saddam Hussein
