2004 History

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What Events Happened in 2004

  • 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


Research for this year is provided by The People History.
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