What happened in 2004

58 events　World 12, Japan 1, North America 10, Europe 12, USSR / Russia 3, Asia 2, Middle East 13, Latin America 2, Africa 3

Highlights of 2004

Jan 4AsiaAn insurgency breaks out in southern Thailand.
Mar 14USSR / RussiaVladimir Putin is reelected president of Russia with 71.2 percent of the vote.
Apr 1North AmericaGoogle launches Gmail.
Oct 29EuropeEuropean heads of state sign in Rome the Treaty and Final Act, establishing the first European Constitution.
Nov 5WorldRussia ratifies the Kyoto Protocol.
Nov 21JapanNintendo releases the Nintendo DS handheld game console in North America.

Mar 2The European Space Agency launches the Rosetta space probe.
Apr 19Russia launches the Soyuz TMA-4 mission.
May 1The European Union expands by 10 new member states: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
Jun 1The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) peacekeeping mission begins in Haiti.
Jun 8A transit of Venus occurs.
Sep 1Chechen rebels take 1,128 hostages, mostly children, at a school in Beslan, Russia. Russian security forces eventually storm the building, resulting in more than 330 people being killed.
Sep 30Israel launches a military offensive in the northern Gaza Strip.
Oct 14Russia launches the Soyuz TMA-5 mission.
Nov 5Russia ratifies the Kyoto Protocol.
Nov 14Typhoon Muifa kills 600 people in the Philippines.
Nov 15The SMART-1 satellite reaches the orbit of the Moon.
Dec 26The 9.1–9.3 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.

Jan 4NASA's Spirit rover lands on the surface of Mars.
Jan 25NASA's Opportunity rover lands on the surface of Mars.
Feb 1Janet Jackson suffers a wardrobe malfunction during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Apr 1Google launches Gmail.
May 23The Seattle Central Library opens in Seattle, Washington.
Jun 21In Mojave, California, United States, SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.
Aug 3NASA's MESSENGER space probe is launched, with its primary mission being the study of Mercury.
Nov 2George W. Bush is reelected president of the United States, defeating his challenger John Kerry.
Nov 9Mozilla releases the Firefox browser.
Nov 20NASA launches the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer telescope.

Jan 8The RMS Queen Mary 2, at the time the largest ocean liner ever built, is christened by its namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
Mar 17Ethnic violence breaks out in Kosovo between Albanians and Serbs.
Apr 18Newly elected prime minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, announces the withdrawal of all 1,300 Spanish troops from Iraq.
Apr 28The Gherkin opens in London.
Aug 12The Rio–Antirrio Bridge opens in Greece.
Aug 13The 2004 Summer Olympics are held in Athens, Greece.
Sep 7The Scottish Parliament Building opens.
Sep 11Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria is killed in a helicopter crash.
Oct 29European heads of state sign in Rome the Treaty and Final Act, establishing the first European Constitution.
Nov 13The European Space Agency probe SMART-1 arrives at the Moon, becoming the first European satellite to fly to the Moon and orbit it.
Nov 22The 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.
Dec 14The world's tallest bridge, the Millau Viaduct over the Tarn in the Massif Central mountains, France, is inaugurated.

Mar 14Vladimir Putin is reelected president of Russia with 71.2 percent of the vote.
May 9A stadium bombing in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia kills ten people, including regional governor Akhmad Kadyrov.
Aug 24Two Russian passenger jets are downed by suicide bombers during the Second Chechen War.

Jan 4An insurgency breaks out in southern Thailand.
Jun 28The US-led coalition occupying Iraq, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), transfers sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government.

Feb 1Two suicide bombings are carried out by al-Qaeda in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Mar 2A series of bombings occur in Karbala, Iraq, killing over 140 Shia Muslims commemorating the Day of Ashura.
Mar 11Al-Qaeda bombings on Cercanías trains in Madrid, Spain, kill at least 192 people.
Mar 22Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin is killed by Israeli missile strikes.
Mar 31Four American security contractors are killed in Fallujah, Iraq, leading to the First Battle of Fallujah.
Apr 4The Siege of Sadr City begins when the Mahdi Army ambushes American soldiers in Sadr City, Iraq.
Apr 17Israeli helicopters fire missiles at a convoy of vehicles in the Gaza Strip, killing Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi.
May 12The Eurovision Song Contest 2004 takes place in Istanbul, Turkey, and is won by Ukrainian entrant Ruslana with the song "Wild Dances".
Aug 5The Battle of Najaf begins in Najaf, Iraq.
Oct 8Suicide bombers detonate two bombs at the Red Sea resort of Taba, Egypt, killing 34 people and injuring 171, mostly Israeli tourists.
Oct 9Afghanistan holds its first presidential election. Hamid Karzai wins with 55.4 percent of the vote.
Nov 7The Second Battle of Fallujah begins in Fallujah, Iraq.
Nov 11Palestinian president Yasser Arafat dies. Mahmoud Abbas is appointed as his successor.

Feb 29Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide is overthrown in a coup d'état.
Sep 16Hurricane Jeanne hits the island of Hispaniola, killing thousands in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Apr 4The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire begins to maintain a ceasefire in the First Ivorian Civil War.
Apr 8The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups to create a ceasefire in the War in Darfur.
Nov 4Conflict resumes in the First Ivorian Civil War as fighting breaks out between rebels and French peacekeepers.