2008
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2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.
2008 has been designated as:
- International Year of Languages;[1]
- International Year of Planet Earth;[2]
- International Year of the Potato;[3]
- International Year of Sanitation;[4]
- European Year of Intercultural Dialogue;[5]
In Chinese astrology, Year of the Rat began on February 7, succeeding Year of the Pig.
Events
January
- January 1 - Cyprus, Malta, and Akrotiri and Dhekelia adopt the euro.[6][7]
- January 1 - The Venezuelan bolívar, as a result of a government decree issued on March 7, 2007, is revalued at a ratio of 1 to 1000 and renamed the Bolívar fuerte (ISO 4217 code: VEF).
- January 2 - The price of petroleum hits US$100 per barrel for the first time.
- January 3 - A car bomb detonates, killing at least 4 and injuring 68, in Diyarbakır, Turkey. Police blame Kurdish rebels.
- January 8 - An attempted assassination of Maldivian president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is thwarted after a Boy Scout grabbed the attacker's knife. The Boy Scout was injured, but after a scuffle ensued police arrested the attacker.
- January 12 - A Macedonian Army Mil Mi-17 helicopter crashes in thick fog southeast of Skopje, killing all 11 military personnel on board.[8]
- January 14 - At 19:04:39 UTC, the MESSENGER space probe is at its closest approach during its first flyby of the planet Mercury.[9]
- January 15 - Federal Court of Australia orders a Japanese whaling company to stop research whaling within their Exclusive Economic Zone.
- January 21 - Stock markets around the world plunge amid growing fears of a U.S. recession, fueled by the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.
- January 22 - Russia stages the largest naval exercise since the fall of the Soviet Union in the Bay of Biscay. The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, along with 11 support vessels and 47 long-range bomber aircraft, practised strike tactics off the coast of France and Spain, and test-launched nuclear-capable missiles on foreign waters.
- January 23 - Polish Air Force CASA C-295 crashes during approach to the 12th Air Base near Mirosławiec. All 20 personnel on board die.
- January 23 - Thousands of Palestinians cross into Egypt, as the border wall with Gaza in Rafah is blown up by militants.
- January 24 - A peace deal ends the Kivu conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- January 24 - Iraqi Parliament adopts a new national flag, removing three stars associated with the Baath Party; a permanent design is expected within the next year.
- January 25 - China's worst snowstorm since 1954 kills 133, delays traffic, and causes massive power outages in central and southern parts of the country.[10]
- January 29 - Iran's judiciary sentences to prison 54 Bahá'í religion followers for charity work.[11][12]
February
- February 2 - Rebels attack the capital of Chad, N'Djamena.
- February 4 - Iran opens its first space center and launches a rocket to space.[13]
- February 4 - A Palestinian suicide bomber kills one and wounds thirteen in a Dimona, Israel shopping center.[14]
- February 5 - U.S. stock market indices plunge more than 3% after a report showed signs of economic recession in the service-sector. The S&P 500 fell 3.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 370 points.
- February 5–6 - A tornado outbreak, the deadliest in 23 years, kills 58 in the Southern United States.
- February 7 - Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on mission STS-122 to deliver the European-built Columbus science laboratory to the International Space Station.
- February 10 - The 2008 Namdaemun fire severely damages Namdaemun, the first National Treasure of South Korea.
- February 11 - President of East Timor José Ramos-Horta is seriously wounded in an attack on his home by rebel soldiers. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado is killed by Ramos-Horta's security guards during the attack.[15]
- February 12 - PDVSA, a state oil company in Venezuela, suspends sales of crude oil to Exxon Mobil, in response to a legal challenge by them.[16]
- February 12 - Bridgestone, under investigation for an alleged price-fixing cartel, uncovers improper payments of at least 150 million Japanese Yen to foreign governments and withdraws from the marine hose business.[17]
- February 13 - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia delivers a formal apology to the Stolen Generations.[18]
- February 14 - Steven Kazmierczak shoots dead five students and injures another 18 at Northern Illinois University before killing himself.
- February 17 - A suicide bombing by a Taliban member kills up to 80 in Kandahar, Afghanistan[19]
- February 17 - Kosovo formally declares independence from Serbia, with support from some countries but opposition from others.[20]
- February 18 - The British government introduces emergency legislation temporarily to nationalize Northern Rock, the fifth largest mortgage bank in the UK, due to the bank's financial crisis.[21]
- February 18 - General election is held in Pakistan, delayed from January 8 due to riots in the wake of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Opposition parties, including Bhutto's, take more than half of the seats, while President Pervez Musharraf's party suffers a huge defeat.[22]
- February 19 - Fidel Castro announces his resignation as President of Cuba, effective on February 24.
- February 20 - United States Navy destroys a spy satellite containing toxic fuel by shooting it down with a missile launched from USS Lake Erie in the Pacific ocean.[23]
- February 20 - Total lunar eclipse - North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Western Asia.
- February 22 - No survivors are found after a rescue helicopter discovers the wreckage of Santa Barbara Flight 518 just northeast of Mérida, Venezuela. The commercial plane had 46 people on board, including crew.
- February 24 - Raúl Castro is unanimously elected as President of Cuba by the National Assembly.
March
- March 1 - In Gaza Strip at least 52 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers are killed in the most intense Israeli air strikes since 2005.
- March 2 - 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis: Venezuela and Ecuador move troops to the Colombian border following a Colombian raid against FARC guerrillas inside Ecuador's national territory in which senior commander Raúl Reyes was killed.
- March 6 - Eight Israeli civilians are killed and nine wounded when a Palestinian attacker opens fire at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem.
- March 9 - First European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle, a cargo spacecraft for the International Space Station, launches from Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana.
- March 14 - Demonstrations by Tibetan separatists turn violent as rioters target government and Han Chinese-owned buildings.
- March 15 - In Albania a huge explosion of a gun factory in Gerdec kills more than 30 people. Over the following week, Albania, Kosovo and some surrounding countries supply and support Gerdec's population with food, blood etc.
- March 19 - An exploding star halfway across the visible universe becomes the farthest known object ever visible to the naked eye.[24]
- March 24 - Bhutan holds its first-ever general elections.[25]
- March 25 - A 160-square-mile (414 km2) chunk of Antarctica's Wilkins Ice Shelf disintegrates, leaving the entire shelf at risk.
- March 25 - African Union and Comoros forces invade the rebel-held island of Anjouan.
- March 29 - Presidential and parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe.[26]
- March 30 - A plane crashed into a row of houses in Farnborough, London, England, killing two pilots and three passengers.[27]
- March–April - Rising food and fuel prices trigger riots and unrest in the Third World.
April
- April 8 - Sark dismantled its feudal system to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights. The Privy Council approved the Sark law reforms,[28] and the first elections under the new law will be held in December 2008 and the new chamber will first convene in January 2009.[29][30][31]
- April 15 - A Hewa Bora Airways DC-9 commercial airplane crashes into a residential area of Goma, DR Congo.
- April 22 - Surgeons at London's Moorfields Eye Hospital perform the first operations using bionic eyes, implanting them into two blind patients.
- April 27 - The Taliban attempts to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a military parade in Kabul.[32]
- April 28 - India sets a world record by sending 10 satellites into orbit in a single launch.[33]
- April 28 - 71 die in a train crash in Shandong, China.[34]
May
- May 3 - Over 133,000 in Burma/Myanmar are killed by Cyclone Nargis, the deadliest natural disaster since the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004.
- May 10 - Burma/Myanmar holds a constitutional referendum.
- May 12 - Over 69,000 are killed in central China by an earthquake measuring 8.0Mw. The epicenter is 90 kilometers (55 miles) west-northwest of Chengdu.
- May 13 - A series of bomb blasts kills at least 63 and injures 216 in Jaipur, India.
- May 15 - An oil pipeline explodes in Ijegun, Nigeria, killing 100.
- May 15 - California Supreme Court overthrows ban on same-sex marriage.
- May 23 - The Union of South American Nations, a supranational union, is created by a union between the Andean Community and Mercosur.
- May 23 - The International Court of Justice awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute between the two countries.
- May 25 - NASA's Phoenix spacecraft lands on Mars.
- May 28 - The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal is established after the Assembly votes overwhemingly in favor of abolishing the country's 240-year-old monarchy. Girija Prasad Koirala becomes temporary Head of State.
June
- June 2 - A car bomb explodes outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at least five.
- June 8 - In the Akihabara area of Tokyo, Japan, a 25-year-old man stabs 7 to death, and wounds 10, before being arrested.
- June 10 - Fire engulfs Sudan Airways Flight 109 after landing in Khartoum, Sudan, killing 44.
- June 11 - The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope is launched.
- June 11 - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologizes to Canada's First Nations for the Canadian residential school system.
- June 12 - Ireland votes to reject the Treaty of Lisbon, in the only referendum to be held by a European Union member state on the treaty.
- June 14 - A 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, kills 12 and injures more than 400.
- June 21 - The first veneration ever held outside Vatican City is held in Beirut, Lebanon.
- June 22 - Typhoon Fengshen hits the Philippines and capsizes the ferry MV Princess of the Stars, leaving hundreds dead or missing.
- June 27 - President Robert Mugabe is re-elected with 85.5% of the vote in the second round of the controversial Zimbabwean presidential election.
July
- July 2 - Íngrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages are rescued from FARC by Colombian security forces.
- July 7 - A suicide-bomber drives an explosives-laden automobile into the front gates of the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing 58 and injuring over 150.
- July 7 – July 9 - 34th G8 summit held in Tōyako, Hokkaidō in Japan.
- July 10 - Former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boškoski is acquitted of all charges by a UN Tribunal accusing him of war crimes.
- July 15–20 - World Youth Day takes place in Sydney, Australia. Pope Benedict XVI appears at the event.[35]
- July 21 - Radovan Karadžić, the first president of the Republika Srpska, is arrested in Belgrade, Serbia on allegations of war crimes, following a 12-year long manhunt.[36]
- July 22 - The United Progressive Alliance led government in India survives a crucial no-confidence vote based on disagreements between Indian National Congress and Left Front over the Indo-US nuclear deal.
- July 23 - Ram Baran Yadav is sworn in as Nepal's first President.[37]
- July 25 - A series of seven bomb blasts rock Bangalore, India killing 2 and injuring 20 and on the next day, a series of bomb blasts in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, kills 45 and injures over 160 people.
- July 27 - At least 17 are killed and over 154 wounded in two blasts in Istanbul.
- July 28 - At least 48 are dead and over 287 injured after bombs explode in Baghdad and Kirkuk, Iraq.[38][39]
- July 30 – August 5 - The XXII World Congress of Philosophy takes place in Seoul, South Korea.[citation needed]
- July 31 - After three decades as the Chairman of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates steps down from daily duties.[citation needed]
August
- August 1 - King George Tupou V of Tonga is crowned as the new king of Tonga, an event that had been delayed for over two years following the 2006 Nuku'alofa riots.[40]
- August 4 - Two members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which has threatened to attack the Beijing Olympics, kill 16 and injure another 16 officers at a police station in Kashgar, Xinjiang, China, in what is likely Xinjiang's deadliest terrorist attack.[41][42]
- August 6 - President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi of Mauritania is deposed in a military coup d'état.
- August 7 - The 2008 South Ossetian War begins as Georgia launches a major offensive inside the separatist region of South Ossetia after days of border skirmishes between the two sides.
- August 8–24 - The 2008 Summer Olympics take place in Beijing, China.
- August 15 - Pushpa Kamal Dahal (known as Prachanda) is sworn in as the first Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal after the Nepalese monarchy was abolished in May.[43]
- August 17 - Michael Phelps passes Mark Spitz in Olympic Gold Medals for one Olympic Games with 8 gold medals.
Predicted and scheduled events
September
- September 3 - Cyprus peace talks will take place in Nicosia, between the Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and the leader of the TRNC Mehmet Ali Talat.
- September 10 - The proton beam will be for the first time circulated in the 27 km ring of the Large Hadron Collider (located at CERN, on the Franco-Swiss border). It is the largest particle physics laboratory on Earth.[44][45][46][47][48][49][50]
- September 19 - ISRO's Chandrayaan (Lunar Craft) will be launched.
- September 21 - Slovenian parliamentary election.
- September 28 - Austrian legislative election
October
- October 6 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its second flyby of Mercury (will be captured into Mercury's orbit on March 18 2011).
- October 8 - Space Shuttle Atlantis will begin mission STS-125, the final maintenance mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.[51]
- October 30 – November 16 - The inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup will be held in New Zealand.[52]
November
- November 4 - Election of the 44th President of the United States and the 47th Vice President. There will also be elections for many other US public offices, including the entire House of Representatives, a third of the Senate, and several state Governorships.
- November 10 - STS 126, Space Shuttle Endeavour will be launched and it will deliver equipment and supplies to the International Space Station.
- November 11 - RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her last voyage from Southampton to Dubai.
- November 15 - New Zealand will hold a general election on or before this date.
- November 20 - December 7 - 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup to be held in Chile.[53]
- November 22 - APEC Peru 2008 Summit in Lima.
- November 23 - 96th Grey Cup to be held at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.
- November 25 - Greenland holds election for increased autonomy from Denmark.
- November 28 - Legislative election in Romania.
December
- December - Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Ghana.
- December 4 - STS-119, Space Shuttle Discovery will bring the Integrated Truss Structure to the International Space Station.
- December 6–14 - The 2008 Men's World Floorball Championships will take place in the Czech Republic.
- December 15 - The Electoral College meets in 51 locations officially to elect the 44th President of the United States.
- December 24 - The new I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis is scheduled to be completed after the bridge collapsed in August of 2007.
Unknown dates
- The United Nations is to review drug policies around the world.[54][55]
- The "Simón Bolívar" Satellite, a result of an agreement between Venezuela and China, will be launched this year.[56]
Ongoing events
Deaths
January
- January 3 - Yo-Sam Choi, Korean boxer (b. 1972)
- January 10 - Maila Nurmi, Finnish-American actress and television personality (b. 1921)
- January 11 - Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist (b. 1919)
- January 15 - Brad Renfro, American actor (b. 1982)
- January 16 - Nikola Kljusev, Macedonian Prime Minister (b. 1927)
- January 17 - Bobby Fischer, American-Icelandic chess grandmaster (b. 1943)
- January 19 - Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (b. 1937)
- January 22 - Heath Ledger, Australian actor (b. 1979)
- January 22 - Claude Piron, Swiss linguist and psychologist (b. 1931)
- January 26 - George Habash, Palestinian politician (b. 1926)
- January 27 - Gordon B. Hinckley, American Mormon leader (b. 1910)
- January 27 - Suharto, 2nd President of Indonesia (b. 1921)
- January 28 - Christodoulos, Archbishop of Athens (b. 1939)
February
- February 2 - Joshua Lederberg, American molecular biologist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
- February 5 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1917)
- February 7 - Andrew Bertie, British Grand Master of the Order of Malta (b. 1929)
- February 10 - Roy Scheider, American actor (b. 1932)
- February 11 - Alfredo Reinado, East Timorese rebel (b. 1967)
- February 11 - Tom Lantos, American politician (b. 1928)
- February 12 - Imad Mugniyah, Lebanese militant (b. 1962)
- February 12 - Badri Patarkatsishvili, Georgian businessman and politician (b. 1955)
- February 13 - Henri Salvador, French singer (b. 1917)
- February 15 - Steve Fossett, American adventurer[57] (b. 1944)
- February 18 - Alain Robbe-Grillet, French writer and filmmaker (b. 1922)
- February 19 - Natalia Bessmertnova, Russian ballerina (b. 1941)
- February 19 - Yegor Letov, Russian singer (b. 1964)
- February 19 - Lydia Shum, Hong Kong comedian and actress (b. 1945)
- February 23 - Janez Drnovšek, 2nd President and 2nd Prime Minister of Slovenia (b. 1950)
- February 23 - Paul Frère, Belgian racing driver (b. 1917)
- February 27 - William F. Buckley, Jr., American author and conservative commentator (b. 1925)
- February 27 - Ivan Rebroff, German singer (b. 1931)
March
- March 1 - Raúl Reyes, Colombian guerrilla (b. 1948)
- March 2 - Jeff Healey, Canadian musician (b. 1966)
- March 3 - Giuseppe Di Stefano, Italian operatic tenor (b. 1921)
- March 3 - Norman Smith, English singer and record producer (b. 1923)
- March 4 - Gary Gygax, American writer and game designer (b. 1938)
- March 6 - Peter Poreku Dery, Ghanaian cardinal (b. 1918)
- March 5 - Joseph Weizenbaum, German-American author and computer scientist (b. 1923)
- March 12 - Lazare Ponticelli, last French veteran of World War I (b. 1897)
- March 14 - Chiara Lubich, Italian Catholic activist (b. 1920)
- March 18 - Anthony Minghella, English film director and screenwriter (b. 1954)
- March 19 - Arthur C. Clarke, English author, inventor, and futurist (b. 1917)
- March 19 - Hugo Claus, Flemish writer, painter and film director (b. 1929)
- March 19 - Paul Scofield, English actor (b. 1922)
- March 22 - Adolfo Suárez Rivera, Mexican cardinal (b. 1927)
- March 24 - Neil Aspinall, British record producer and business executive (b. 1942)
- March 24 - Richard Widmark, American actor (b. 1914)
- March 26 - Manuel Marulanda, Colombian guerrilla (b. 1930)
- March 27 - Jean-Marie Balestre, French sports executive (b. 1921)
- March 30 - Dith Pran, Cambodian-American photojournalist (b. 1942)
- March 31 - Jules Dassin, American film director (b. 1911)
April
- April 3 - Hrvoje Ćustić, Croatian footballer (b. 1983)
- April 5 - Charlton Heston, American actor (b. 1923)
- April 10 - Ernesto Corripio y Ahumada, Mexican cardinal (b. 1919)
- April 12 - Patrick Hillery, 6th President of Ireland (b. 1923)
- April 13 - John Archibald Wheeler, American theoretical physicist (b. 1911)
- April 14 - Ollie Johnston, American animator (b. 1912)
- April 15 - Benoît Lamy, Belgian motion picture writer-director (b. 1945)
- April 16 - Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (b. 1917)
- April 17 - Aimé Césaire, French Martinican poet and politician (b. 1913)
- April 29 - Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist (b. 1906)
May
- May 1 - Anthony Mamo, 1st President of Malta (b. 1909)
- May 2 - Philipp von Boeselager, German military officer (b. 1917)
- May 3 - Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, 74th Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1926)
- May 8 - François Sterchele, Belgian footballer (b. 1982)
- May 10 - Leyla Gencer, Turkish soprano (b. 1928)
- May 12 - Robert Rauschenberg, American pop artist (b. 1925)
- May 12 - Irena Sendler, Polish humanitarian (b. 1910)
- May 13 - Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1930)
- May 13 - Bernardin Gantin, Beninese cardinal (b. 1922)
- May 15 - Willis Lamb, American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
- May 23 - Cornell Capa, Hungarian-American photographer (b. 1918)
- May 26 - Sydney Pollack, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1934)
- May 28 - Sven Davidson, Swedish tennis player (b. 1928)
June
- June 1 - Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer (b. 1936)
- June 1 - Tommy Lapid, Israeli television presenter, journalist and politician (b. 1931)
- June 2 - Bo Diddley, American musician (b. 1928)
- June 3 - Mel Ferrer, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1917)
- June 4 - Agata Mróz-Olszewska, Polish volleyball player (b. 1982)
- June 7 - Dino Risi, Italian director (b. 1916)
- June 8 - Šaban Bajramović, Serbian musician (b. 1936)
- June 9 - Algis Budrys, Lithuanian-American science fiction writer (b. 1931)
- June 9 - Karen Asrian, Armenian chess grandmaster (b. 1980)
- June 10 - Chinghiz Aitmatov, Kyrgyzstani writer (b. 1928)
- June 11 - Ove Andersson, Swedish rally driver (b. 1939)
- June 11 - Võ Văn Kiệt, Vietnamese prime minister (b. 1922)
- June 13 - Tim Russert, American journalist (b. 1950)
- June 15 - Stan Winston, American special effects and make up artist (b. 1946)
- June 17 - Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (b. 1922)
- June 18 - Jean Delannoy, French film director (b. 1908)
- June 22 - George Carlin, American author, actor, and comedian (b. 1937)
- June 23 - Arthur Chung, President of Guyana (b. 1918)
- June 24 - Leonid Hurwicz, American economist, mathematician, and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- June 28 - Ruslana Korshunova, Kazakhstani model (b. 1987)
- June 29 - Don S. Davis, American actor (b. 1942)
July
- July 4 - Jesse Helms, American politician (b. 1921)
- July 4 - Evelyn Keyes, American actress (b. 1916)
- July 5 - René Harris, President of Nauru (b. 1947)
- July 11 - Michael E. DeBakey, American surgeon and inventor (b. 1908)
- July 12 - Tony Snow, American political commentator (b. 1955)
- July 13 - Bronisław Geremek, Polish social historian and politician (b. 1932)
- July 15 - György Kolonics, Hungarian canoeist (b. 1972)
- July 22 - Estelle Getty, American actress (b. 1923)
- July 23 - Kurt Furgler, Swiss politician (b. 1924)
- July 25 - Randy Pausch, American author and computer scientist (b. 1960)
- July 27 - Youssef Chahine, Egyptian film director (b. 1926)
August
- August 1 - Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Indian politician (b. 1916)
- August 3 - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
- August 9 - Bernie Mac, American actor and comedian (b. 1957)
- August 9 - Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet (b. 1941)
- August 10 - Isaac Hayes, American musician (b. 1942)
- August 11 - Fred Sinowatz, Austrian politician (b. 1929)
- August 15 - Jerry Wexler, American music producer (b. 1917)
Major religious holidays
- January 7 - Christmas in Eastern Christianity
- January 10 - Islamic New Year by Lunar calendar
- February 5 - Carnival (Shrove Tuesday)
- February 6 - Ash Wednesday, observance of Lent begins
- February 7 - Chinese New Year (also Lunar New Year / Spring Festival)
- March 1 - Saint David's Day, national holiday of Wales
- March 15 - St. Patrick's Day, celebrated in Ireland, the United States, and most of the English-speaking world. (Held on March 15 instead of the usual 17th to avoid the second day in Holy Week.)[58] This March 17th will be the last one to fall within Holy Week until 2160.[59]
- March 20 - March Equinox, also known as Ostara
- March 20 - Purim
- March 21 - Nowruz (Iranian new year holiday)
- March 21 - Good Friday
- March 22 - Holi
- March 23 - Easter Sunday, the earliest Easter has fallen since 1913
- April 13 - Baisakhi
- April 20 - Passover, Palm Sunday in Eastern Christianity
- April 23 - St. George's Day
- April 27 - Pascha (or Easter) in Eastern Christianity
- May 1 - Ascension of Jesus in Western Christianity
- May 1 - Beltane, a Cross-quarter day
- May 19 or May 20 - Vesak (the birthday of the Buddha) in Buddhism
- June 5 - Ascension of Jesus in Eastern Christianity
- June 9 - Shavuot
- June 15 - Pentecost in Eastern Christianity
- June 20 - June Solstice, also known as Midsummer or Litha
- June 22 - All Saints' Day in Eastern Christianity
- July 5 - Saints Cyril and Methodius day in Eastern Christianity
- August 1 - Lammas, a Cross-quarter day
- August 15 - Assumption of Mary
- August 16 - Raksha Bandhan
- September 1 - New Liturgical Year in Eastern Christianity
- September 22 - September Equinox, also known as Mabon
- September 30 - Rosh Hashana
- October 2 - Eid al-Fitr
- October 9 - Yom Kippur
- October 28 - Diwali
- November 1 - Samhain, a Cross-quarter day and Neopagan new year
- November 30 - St. Andrew's Day, Scottish national day
- December 8 - Immaculate Conception
- December 8 - Eid ul-Adha
- December 21 - Hanukkah begins at sundown
- December 21 - December Solstice, also known as Yule
- December 25 - Christmas in Western Christianity
2008 in fiction
Books
- Isaac Asimov's 1955 short story Franchise takes place in 2008, the premise being that the U.S. president will be selected by a computer program looking for the "most representative citizen".
- John Barnes, Mother of Storms (1995) begins with a 2008 UN resolution barring any nation from acquiring nuclear weapons after June 1, 2008, subject to penalty of preemptive strike.
- Gregory Benford's books The Jupiter War and The Threads of Time are set in 2008.
- The Galactic Milieu Series by Julian May features Earth's first contact with an alien race on June 20, 2008.
- In Francis Anderson's 1992 book "Future Undetermined" the UN bans civilians from owning handguns on March 29.
- Ian McDonald's "Chaga Saga" (Evolution's Shore and Kirinya) begins with the March 13, 2008 impact arrival of the plant form Chaga from outer space.
- Alan E. Nourse's 1957 book Rocket to Limbo begins with the March 3, 2008 launch of the starship Argonaut on a centuries-long trip to Alpha Centauri.
- The Mote in God's Eye (1974) by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle postulates that faster-than-light travel is perfected in 2008.
- The Next War, a controversial 1996 novel about the post-Soviet era, co-authored by former U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, looks at a possible 2008 nuclear confrontation between the United States and Russia.
Computer and video games
Set in 2008:
- Ghost Recon (2001): Russia attempts to reunite the Soviet Union and invades several Eastern European countries. The UN intervenes with peacekeeping forces.
- Splinter Cell series: Sam Fisher goes undercover.
- Twisted Metal 3 (1998)
- Shattered Union (2005): U.S. President David Jefferson Adams is elected in a sham election, and becomes the most unpopular president in U.S. history.
- Resident Evil 5 (2009)
- Mega Man (1987)
- Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)[60]
Film
Set in 2008:
- Jason X (Friday the 13th series, 2002): Mass murderer Jason Voorhees is captured for the 2nd time and sentenced to death. Though the US government is unsure how to execute him, an electric chair, a gas chamber, a firing squad, and hanging are all tried - none of which work.
- The Lake House (2006): The ending takes place on Valentine's Day, 2008.
- 5 Centimetres Per Second (2007): The final act takes place in Tokyo during 2008.
- Doomsday (2008): The start of the film is set in 2008, when a virus has infected Scotland.
- Silent Running (1971)
- Southland Tales (2007)
- The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Television
- Dawson's Creek (2003 series finale): The characters meet once again. Dawson, now 25, is the creator of a television series, The Creek, based on his life.[61]
- The 2007 series of Doctor Who: Present time (such as "Smith and Jones") is primarily set in 2008.
- The Future Boy Conan anime story begins in July, 2008, when a war results in five continents sinking into the sea.
- Doraemon: According to the original manga story, a time machine will be invented in 2008.
- Heroes: According to the episode Out of Time, the Shanti virus wipes out about 93% of the world's population, from a break out in March 2008. Peter Petrelli accidentally teleports himself and Caitlin to sometime around June 14, 2008, when any survivors in New York City are forcibly evacuated.
- According to Futurama, in the episode "Space Pilot 3000", Stop 'N Drop suicide booths are the most popular of their kind by 2008.
References
- ^ U.N. General Assembly, Department of Public Information, "General Assembly Proclaims 2008 International Year of Languages, in Effort to Promote Unity in Diversity, Global Understanding" GA/10592
- ^ International Year of Planet Earth
- ^ International Year of the Potato 2008.
- ^ International Year of Sanitation.
- ^ European Year of Intercultural Dialogue website
- ^ Cyprus and Malta set to join eurozone in 2008, EurActiv
- ^ Akrotiri and Dhekelia adopt the euro, EUbusiness (ISO 4217 code: VEF).
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "Mercury Flyby 1". The MESSENGER website. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
- ^ Bloomberg.com: Worldwide
- ^ Iran sentences Bahai religious followers for 'anti-regime propaganda', Yahoo News
- ^ Iran sentences Bahais for 'anti-regime propaganda', Aljazeera
- ^ Iran Opens Space Center, Launches Rocket, Associated Press
- ^ Dimona bombing: Suicide attack in Israel first in a year, Yahoo News via Associated Press
- ^ Gunmen attack Timor leader Ramos-Horta, The Sydney Morning Herald, February 11, 2008.
- ^ UPDATE 9-Oil rises as Venezuela cuts off Exxon Mobil | Reuters
- ^ Bloomberg.com: Japan
- ^ "Rudd says sorry", Dylan Welch, Sydney Morning Herald, February 13, 2008
- ^ AFP: Scores dead in one of Afghanistan's deadliest attacks
- ^ Bloomberg.com: Worldwide
- ^ Brown fights backlash over Northern Rock | Reuters
- ^ BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Musharraf rules out resignation
- ^ AFP: Satellite strike shows US missile defense works: Gates
- ^ Star explodes halfway across universe - CNN.com
- ^ "Bhutan votes for status quo", France 24, March 24, 2008
- ^ "Election Date Finally Fixed As March 29, 2008".
- ^ "No Survivors After Jet Slams Into Homes". Retrieved 2008-03-30.
- ^ Sark democracy plans are approved, BBC News Online, 9 April 2008
- ^ A Revolution Not Televised, Time.com, January 17, 2008
- ^ After 443 years, Sark gets democracy, The Bugle, Episode 13, January 2008. The Bugle is a satirical podcast of the Times Online.
- ^ Sark agrees switch to democracy, BBC News Online, 22 February 2008
- ^ Karzai unhurt after parade attack, BBC News
- ^ India setting world record by sending 10 satellites into orbit
- ^ 'Dozens die' in China train crash, BBC News
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald: 'Thanks: Pope'
- ^ BBC News: Serbia captures fugitive Karadzic
- ^ Nepalnews.com
- ^ "26 killed in bombing attacks in Baghdad". Times of India. July 28, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Hacaoglu, Selcan (28-07-2008). "Suicide attacks kill 57 in Baghdad, Kirkuk". AP.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Tonga crowns new king
- ^ "Police station raided in west China's Xinjiang, terrorist plot suspected". Xinhua. 08-04-2008. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Chinese border assault kills 16". BBC. 08-04-2008. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Former communist becomes Nepal PM". CNN. 08-15-2008. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ CERN announces start-up date for LHC
- ^ Sept launch for bid to crack secrets of universe
- ^ Cern lab set for beam milestone
- ^ Large Hadron Collider To Start Up September 10
- ^ CERN announces start-up date for LHC
- ^ Large Hadron Collider to Get First Taste of Proton Beam
- ^ Watch Start-Up of Large Hadron Collider Live at Fermilab!
- ^ NASA - STS-125: Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4
- ^ "FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup New Zealand 2008". FIFA. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
- ^ "FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Chile 2008". FIFA. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
- ^ President of the UN General Assembly: Statements
- ^ http://www.drug-policy.org/modules/countdown_2008
- ^ The Year of the Chinese Satellite in Venezuela
- ^ Fossett was declared legally dead on February 15, having been missing since 3 September 2007.
- ^ "St Patrick's 'day' moved to 15th". ireland.com Online. Irish Times Trust. 2007-07-18. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
- ^ Nevans-Pederson, Mary (2008-03-13). "No St. Pat's Day Mass allowed in Holy Week". Dubuque Telegraph Herald. Woodward Communications, Inc. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
- ^ GTA4: What You Really Need to Know from 1UP.com
- ^ "Amazon.com: Dawson's Creek - The Series Finale (Extended Cut) Product Page". Amazon.com.
External links
- 2008 Calendar at Internet Accuracy Project