Queen Elizabeth
II christens the RMS Queen Mary 2 cruise liner, currently the
largest ocean liner in the world
The CIA admits that there was no imminent
threat from weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 invasion of
Iraq.
Suicide Bombers Detonate car bombs in Basra,
Iraq, killing at least 74
Simultaneous explosions on rush hour trains
in Madrid kill 190 people. Five suspects blow themselves up
CBS uncovers systematic torture of Iraq Prisoners
at the Abu Ghraib Prison
Spain withdraws Spanish troops from Iraq.
US transfers sovereignty and control of Iraq
back to the Iraq people
The 60th anniversary of D-Day is remembered
by world leaders
A World Aids Report tells of 5 million
new cases in 2004 and 3 million people died
Lance Armstrong of Austin, Texas wins
an unprecedented 6th consecutive Tour de France cycling title
Hurricane Charley kills 27 people in
Florida after killing four in Cuba and one in Jamaica.
Fox Hunting is outlawed in the UK
The Statue of Liberty is reopened to
the public
Following ethnic cleansing by government backed
militia in Darfur, Sudan one million people flee their homes
Siege at a school in Beslan, Northern Ossetia.
At least 335 people (among which at least 32 of the approximately 40
hostage-takers) have been killed and at least 700 people have been injured.
Hurricane Jeanne killed over 3,000,
most in Haiti.
After increases in Fuel Prices the Major
Oil Companies make the highest profits in History Exxon Mobile ---
$242,365 Billion, Royal Dutch Shell $235,598 Billion, British Petroleum
$232,571 Billion,
The EU undergoes it's largest expansion
so far by accepting 10 new states into the EU Poland, Czech Republic,
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Malta, and
Cyprus
Ex-soldier John Muhammad is found guilty of
one of a series of sniper shootings that terrorized Washington, D.C.
Martha Stewart is convicted of a felony
Taipei 101 currently ( 2007 ) the tallest
skyscraper in the world completed
The Summer Olympics are held in Athens
Greece
First Same Sex Marriage Performed in Massachusetts
Spain elects a New Socialist Government
Four US Contractors Ambushed and Murdered
with Photos released to news agencies worldwide
The strongest earthquake in 40 years
originates from the Indian Ocean close to Indonesia, measuring
9.3 on the Richter Scale. Creating tsunami waves that sweep across
much of the coastlines of Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, the Maldives,
Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. At least 290,000 people are
confirmed to have died from South Asia to as far as South Africa.
Popular Culture 2004
Janet Jackson's
breast is briefly exposed by Justin Timberlake during the Super Bowl
halftime show
The highly controversial Fahrenheit
9/11 film opens in US Movie Theaters
Popular Films
Shrek 2
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Spider-Man 2
The Incredibles
The Passion of the Christ
The Day After Tomorrow
Meet the Fockers
Troy
Shark Tale
Ocean's Twelve
Million Dollar Baby
Ray
The Aviator
Sideways
Popular Musicians
Blink-182
Green Day
Usher
The Libertines
Snow Patrol
Tears For Fears
Jet
Alicia Keys
Band Aid 20
Britney Spears
Ciara
Embrace
3 Doors Down
Ayaka Hirahara
R.E.M.
Anastacia
The Delays
The Darkness
Scissor Sisters
Avril Lavigne
Beyonce
Mick Jagger
Bryan Adams
Robbie Williams
Brian McFadden
Velvet Revolver
Duran Duran
Franz Ferdinand
Technology 2004
SpaceShipOne
becomes the first privately-funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.
And New funding for the successor SpaceShipTwo comes from British tycoon
Richard Branson, who is to fund for his new company Virgin Galactic
through a 21 million US$ deal
The Cassini probe passes within 1,200km of
Titan and sends detailed pictures of Saturn's Rings.
The Computer Worm My Doom is considered to
be the fastest worm ever to infect the Internet
The European Space Agency probe, Smart 1 passes
from orbit of the Earth into orbit of the Moon
Software giants Oracle Corporation and PeopleSoft
merge
The US Army cancels its The Boeing/Sikorsky
RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program after sinking US$8 billion into it
The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest
skyscraper in the world, standing at a height of 508 meters or 1,676
feet.
The National World War II Memorial opens to
the public in Washington D.C.
Remains of a previously unknown species
of human is discovered in Indonesia. Named Homo floresiensis
NASA succeeds in a second attempt to
fly its X-43A experimental airplane from the Hyper-X project, attaining
speeds in excess of Mach 7
