Killer NIC and 2008: Difference between pages
(Difference between pages)
Content deleted Content added
m Reverted edits by 71.41.210.146 to last version by Bholstege (HG) |
|||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{year nav|2008}} |
|||
The [[Bigfoot Networks]] '''Killer NIC''' ([[Network Interface Card]]) is designed to circumvent the [[Microsoft Windows]] [[Internet Protocol Suite|TCP/IP stack]], and handle processing on the card via a dedicated [[Network Processing Unit]]. Most standard [[Network card|NIC's]] are host based, and make use of the primary [[Central processing unit|CPU]]. It is claimed that the Killer NIC is capable of reducing network [[Latency (engineering)|latency]] and [[lag]]. The card was first introduced in [[2006]]. |
|||
{{C21YearInTopic}} |
|||
'''2008''' ('''[[Roman numerals|MMVIII]]''') is the current year, in accordance with the [[Gregorian calendar]], a [[leap year]] that [[Leap year starting on Tuesday|started on Tuesday]] of the [[Common Era]] (or [[Anno Domini]]). |
|||
2008 has been designated as: |
|||
== Hardware and Models == |
|||
* [[International Year of Planet Earth]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yearofplanetearth.org/index.html|title=International Year of Planet Earth}}</ref> |
|||
The Killer NIC comes in 2 models; the '''K1''' and the '''M1'''. Both models contain a [[Freescale]] [[PowerQUICC#PowerQUICC_II_Pro|PowerQUICC]] processor, 64 MB [[RAM]], a single Gigabit [[Ethernet]] port, as well as a single [[USB]] 2.0 port, intended for use with specialized programs running on the cards [[Embedded system|embedded]] [[Linux]] operating system. |
|||
* [[International Year of Languages]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/ga10592.doc.htm|title=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}}</ref> |
|||
* [[International Year of the Potato]].<ref>[http://www.potato2008.org/ International Year of the Potato 2008].</ref> |
|||
* [[International Year of Sanitation]].<ref>[http://esa.un.org/iys/ International Year of Sanitation].</ref> |
|||
* [[International observance#2000s|International Year]] of the [[Frog]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zoo.org.au/Events/YOTF|title=2008 - International Year of the Frog - Zoos Victoria}}</ref> |
|||
* [[European Year of Intercultural Dialogue]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.interculturaldialogue2008.eu/|title=European Year of Intercultural Dialogue website}}</ref> |
|||
==Events== |
|||
The primary difference between the models is that the M1 has a stylized metallic [[heat sink]], and a processor running at 400 [[MHz]], while the K1 lacks a heat sink, and runs at only 333 MHz. Currently performance differences between the cards are limited, although it is believed that future programs designed for the cards will be capable of utilizing the increased processing power of the M1. |
|||
<!-- DO NOT ADD VIDEO GAME RELEASES TO ANY MONTH IN THIS SECTION. Instead, they go at [[2008 in video gaming]]. --> |
|||
<!-- ONCE AGAIN: NO VIDEO GAME RELEASES IN THIS ARTICLE --> |
|||
===January=== |
|||
{{Month3|1|1|year=2008}} |
|||
[[Image:MESSENGER Assembly.jpg|thumb|[[MESSENGER]] assembly at [[Spacehab#Astrotech|Astrotech]].]] |
|||
* [[January 1]] - [[Cyprus]], [[Malta]], and [[Akrotiri and Dhekelia]] adopt the [[euro]].<ref>[http://www.euractiv.com/en/euro/cyprus-malta-set-join-eurozone-2008/article-163836 Cyprus and Malta set to join eurozone in 2008], EurActiv</ref><ref>[http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1198764121.53/ Akrotiri and Dhekelia adopt the euro], EUbusiness ([[ISO 4217]] code: VEF).</ref> A suicide bombing occurs in [[Zayouna]], [[Baghdad]] killing over 25 people during a funeral over the deaths from preceding attack. <ref> {{cite web|author=Partlow, Joshua and Sabah, Zaid|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/01/AR2008010100827.html|title=Suicide Blast at Baghdad Funeral of Bomb Victim Kills Dozens|date=[[January 2]] [[2008]]|publisher=[[The Washington Post]]|accessdate=October 9|accessyear=2008}}</ref> |
|||
* [[January 2]] - The [[price of petroleum]] hits [[United States dollar|$]]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 [[Kurdistan Workers Party|Kurdish rebels]]. |
|||
* [[January 8]] - An attempted assassination of [[Maldives|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 [[Republic of Macedonia|Macedonian]] Army [[Mil Mi-17]] helicopter [[2008 Macedonian Armed Forces Mil Mi-17 crash|crashes]] in thick fog southeast of [[Skopje]], killing all 11 military personnel on board.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://micnews.com.mk/node/12061|title=micnews.com.mk/node/12061<!--INSERT TITLE-->}}</ref> |
|||
*[[January 14]] - At 19:04:39 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]], the [[MESSENGER]] [[space probe]] is at its closest approach during its first flyby of the planet [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/mer_flyby1.html |title=Mercury Flyby 1 |accessdate = 2008-01-12 | |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory]]}}</ref> |
|||
* [[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 [[January 2008 stock market volatility|plunge amid growing fears]] of a U.S. [[recession]], fueled by the 2007 [[subprime mortgage 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. |
|||
<!-- Heath Ledger is already listed under *DEATHS* for this date, do not double list him here under *EVENTS* --> |
|||
* [[January 23]] - [[Polish Air Force]] [[EADS 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 [[Breach of the Gaza-Egypt border (2008)|militants]]. |
|||
* [[January 24]] - A peace deal ends the [[Kivu conflict]] in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]. |
|||
* [[January 24]] - [[Council of Representatives of Iraq|Iraqi Parliament]] adopts a new [[flag of Iraq|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aYjkVz76Icsk&refer=home|title=Bloomberg.com: Worldwide<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> |
|||
* [[January 29]] - [[Iran]]'s judiciary sentences to prison 54 [[Bahá'í Faith|Bahá'í]] religion followers for [[charitable trust|charity work]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080129/wl_afp/iranjusticereligionbahai_080129141019 |title=Iran sentences Bahai religious followers for 'anti-regime propaganda' |publisher=AFP |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080202055728/http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080129/wl_afp/iranjusticereligionbahai_080129141019 |archivedate=2008-02-02}}</ref><ref>[http://www.aljazeera.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=84239 Iran sentences Bahais for 'anti-regime propaganda'], Aljazeera</ref> |
|||
===February=== |
|||
== Flexible Network Architecture == |
|||
{{Month3|0|4|1|year=2008}} |
|||
The Flexible Network Architecture is a framework used to create and run Flexible Network Applications. These applications run on the embedded Linux Operating System, and are accessed through a driver interface within the host computers OS. Aside from that, they use a very little of the computers resources, instead handling processing on the cards CPU. Bigfoot Networks has released a [[Software Development Kit]] that allows third party developers to create their own applications. Bigfoot also publishes some of their own applications; these include a [[firewall]], [[.torrent|torrent]] client, [[FTP]] application, and [[Telnet]] service that allows access to the Killer NIC's OS. |
|||
[[Image:Raúl Castro.JPG|thumb|150px|[[Raúl Castro]]]] |
|||
* [[February 2]] - Rebels [[Battle of N'Djamena (2008)|attack]] the capital of [[Chad]], [[N'Djamena]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/world/africa/03chad.html|title=Gun Battles in Chad’s Capital as Rebel Forces Storm In}}</ref> |
|||
* [[February 4]] - [[Iran]] opens its first space center and launches a [[rocket]] to space.<ref>"Iran Opens Space Center, Launches Rocket", Associated Press</ref> |
|||
* [[February 4]] - A [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] [[suicide attack|suicide bomber]] kills one and wounds thirteen in a [[Dimona]], Israel shopping center.<ref>"Dimona bombing: Suicide attack in Israel first in a year", Associated Press</ref> |
|||
* [[February 5]] - U.S. stock market indices plunge more than 3% after a [[Non-Manufacturing ISM Report on Business|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]]–[[February 6|6]] - [[2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak|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 Treasures of South Korea|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.<ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/attack-on-ramoshorta/2008/02/11/1202578640733.html Gunmen attack Timor leader Ramos-Horta], ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'', [[February 11]], [[2008]].</ref> |
|||
* [[February 12]] - [[Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.|PDVSA]], a state oil company in [[Venezuela]], suspends sales of [[petroleum|crude oil]] to [[ExxonMobil]], in response to a legal challenge by them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNews/idUSSP10958920080213|title=Update 9-Oil rises as Venezuela cuts off Exxon Mobil | Reuters<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> |
|||
* [[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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aGoTPCIp_S0c&refer=japan|title=Bloomberg.com: Japan<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> |
|||
* [[February 13]] - Prime Minister [[Kevin Rudd]] of [[Australia]] delivers a formal apology to the [[Stolen Generations]].<ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/rudd-says-sorry/2008/02/13/1202760342960.html "Rudd says sorry"], Dylan Welch, ''Sydney Morning Herald'', February 13, 2008</ref> |
|||
* [[February 17]] - A [[suicide attack|suicide bombing]] by a [[Taliban]] member kills up to 80 in [[Kandahar]], [[Afghanistan]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iKEIeybKvU7Vo42SLz_ZF4WjZsQg|title=AFP: Scores dead in one of Afghanistan's deadliest attacks<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> |
|||
* [[February 17]] - [[Kosovo]] formally [[2008 Kosovo declaration of independence|declares independence]] from [[Serbia]], with support from some countries but opposition from others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=anGy1wIN83Sg&refer=home|title=Bloomberg.com: Worldwide<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> |
|||
* [[February 18]] - The [[Her Majesty's Government|British government]] introduces emergency legislation temporarily to [[nationalization|nationalize]] [[Northern Rock]], the fifth largest [[mortgage bank]] in the UK, due to the bank's financial crisis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSL1832258520080218|title=Brown fights backlash over Northern Rock | Reuters<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> |
|||
* [[February 18]] - [[Pakistani general election, 2008|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 of Pakistan|President]] [[Pervez Musharraf]]'s party suffers a huge defeat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7254124.stm|title=BBC News | World | South Asia | Musharraf rules out resignation<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> |
|||
* [[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 (CG-70)|USS Lake Erie]] in the [[Pacific Ocean]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gXfTZB0a8NU_H4vSMdlS6YxBeTow|title=AFP: Satellite strike shows US missile defense works: Gates<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> |
|||
* [[February 20]] - Total [[lunar eclipse]] - [[North America|North]] and [[South America]], [[Europe]], [[Africa]], and [[Southwest Asia|Western Asia]]. |
|||
* [[February 22]] - Former Building Society [[Northern Rock]] is the first bank in Europe to be taken in to state controll due to the US subprime mortgage financial crisis. |
|||
* [[February 22]] - No survivors are found after a rescue helicopter discovers the wreckage of [[Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518]] just northeast of [[Mérida, Mérida|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 of People's Power|National Assembly]]. |
|||
{{-}} |
|||
=== March === |
|||
Programs that download files often use the [[USB]] port to transfer data to external storage. |
|||
{{Month3|3|5|year=2008}} |
|||
== References == |
|||
[[Image:Crew in ATV with Jules Verne manuscript.jpg|thumb|right|[[European Space Agency|European]] [[Jules Verne ATV]] docked the to [[International Space Station]].]] |
|||
*[http://www.killernic.com KillerNIC.com – Corporate Site] |
|||
* March–April - [[2007–2008 world food price crisis|Rising food and fuel prices]] trigger riots and unrest in the [[Third World]]. |
|||
*[http://www.killernic.com/technology/fna.aspx KillerNIC.com – Description of FNA] |
|||
* [[March 1]] - In [[Gaza Strip]] at least 52 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers are killed in the most intense Israeli air strikes since 2005. |
|||
*[http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2865 AnandTech: BigFoot Networks Killer NIC: Killer Marketing or Killer Product?] |
|||
* [[March 2]] - [[2008 Andean diplomatic crisis]]: [[Venezuela]] and [[Ecuador]] move troops to the [[Colombia]]n border following a Colombian raid against [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia|FARC]] guerrillas inside Ecuador's national territory in which senior commander [[Raúl Reyes]] was killed. |
|||
* [[March 6]] - Eight [[Israel]]i civilians [[Mercaz HaRav massacre|are killed and nine wounded]] when a [[Palestinian National Authority|Palestinian]] attacker opens fire at a [[Judaism|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]] - [[2008 Tibetan unrest|Demonstrations]] by [[Tibet]]an separatists turn violent as rioters target government and [[Han Chinese]]-owned buildings. |
|||
* [[March 15]] - In [[Albania]] a huge explosion of a gun factory in [[Gërdec]] kills more than 30 people. Over the following week, [[Albania]], [[Kosovo]], and some surrounding countries supply and support [[Gërdec]]'s population with food, blood, etc. |
|||
* [[March 19]] - An [[Gamma ray burst|exploding star]] halfway across the visible [[universe]] becomes the farthest known object ever visible to the naked eye.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/03/21/exploding.star.ap/index.html|title=Star explodes halfway across universe - CNN.com<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> |
|||
* [[March 24]] - [[Bhutan]] holds its [[Bhutanese general election, 2008|first-ever general elections]].<ref>[http://www.france24.com/en/20080324-bhutan-votes-status-quo-jigmi-thinley-election-parliament&navi=MONDE "Bhutan votes for status quo"], [[France 24]], March 24, 2008</ref> |
|||
* [[March 25]] - A 414 square kilometer (160 mi.<sup>2</sup>) chunk of [[Antarctica|Antarctica's]] [[Wilkins Sound|Wilkins Ice Shelf]] disintegrates, leaving the entire shelf at risk. |
|||
* [[March 25]] - [[African Union]] and [[Comoros]] forces [[2008 invasion of Anjouan|invade]] the rebel-held island of [[Anjouan]]. |
|||
* [[March 29]] - [[Zimbabwean presidential election, 2008|Presidential]] and [[Zimbabwean parliamentary election, 2008|parliamentary elections]] in [[Zimbabwe]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200801250793.html|title=Election Date Finally Fixed As March 29, 2008}}</ref> |
|||
===April=== |
|||
{{Month3|4|1|year=2008}} |
|||
* [[April 8]] - [[Sark]] dismantles its [[feudalism|feudal system]] to comply with the [[European Convention on Human Rights]]. The [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Council]] approved the Sark law reforms,<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/guernsey/7339172.stm Sark democracy plans are approved], ''[[BBC News Online]]'', [[9 April]] [[2008]]</ref> and the first [[election]]s under the new law will be held in December 2008 and the new chamber will first convene in January 2009.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1704703,00.html A Revolution Not Televised], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time.com]]'', [[January 17]], [[2008]]</ref><ref>[http://podcast.timesonline.co.uk/serve.php/1503/thebugle13.mp3 After 443 years, Sark gets democracy], ''[[The Bugle]]'', Episode 13, January 2008. The Bugle is a satirical podcast of the [[Times Online|''Times'' Online]].</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/guernsey/7258214.stm Sark agrees switch to democracy], ''[[BBC News Online]]'', [[22 February]] [[2008]]</ref> |
|||
* [[April 15]] - A [[Hewa Bora Airways]] [[McDonnell Douglas DC-9|DC-9]] commercial airplane [[2008 Hewa Bora Airways crash|crashes]] into a residential area of [[Goma]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|DR Congo]]. |
|||
* [[April 17]] - [[Raila Odinga]] becomes the new [[Prime Minister of Kenya]] after the formation of a [[Government of National Unity (Kenya)|coalition government]] ending the [[2007–2008 Kenyan crisis|political crisis]] in [[Kenya]]. |
|||
* [[April 22]] - Surgeons at London's [[Moorfields Eye Hospital]] perform the first operations using [[Visual prosthesis|bionic eyes]], implanting them into two blind patients. |
|||
* [[April 27]] - The [[Taliban]] attempts to assassinate [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] President [[Hamid Karzai]] in a military parade in [[Kabul]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7369540.stm Karzai unhurt after parade attack], BBC News</ref> |
|||
* [[April 28]] - [[India]] sets a world record by sending 10 [[satellite]]s into orbit in a single launch.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/PSLV-C9_places_10_satellites_into_orbit/articleshow/2989685.cms|title=India setting world record by sending 10 satellites into orbit}}</ref> |
|||
* [[April 28]] - [[2008 China Railways train T195 accident|71 die in a train crash]] in [[Shandong]], [[China]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7370375.stm 'Dozens die' in China train crash], BBC News</ref> |
|||
===May=== |
|||
{{Month3|5|3|year=2008}} |
|||
[[Image:PIA10705.jpg|thumb|right|[[Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter]] image of the [[Phoenix (spacecraft)|Phoenix]] (lower left corner) in the line of sight to the 10-km-wide [[Heimdal (Martian crater)|Heimdal Crater]] (the craft is actually 20 km in front of it).]] |
|||
* [[May 3]] - Over 133,000 in [[Burma]]/Myanmar are killed by [[Cyclone Nargis]], the deadliest [[natural disaster]] since the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake|Boxing Day Tsunami]] in [[2004]]. |
|||
* [[May 10]] - [[Burma]]/Myanmar holds a [[Burmese constitutional referendum, 2008|constitutional referendum]]. |
|||
* [[May 12]] - Over 69,000 are killed in central [[China]] by [[2008 Sichuan earthquake|an earthquake]] measuring 8.0[[Moment magnitude scale|M<sub>w</sub>]]. 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 14]] - NASA announces the discovery of [[Supernova remnant G1.9+0.3]] |
|||
* [[May 15]] - An oil pipeline explodes in Ijegun, [[Nigeria]], killing 100. |
|||
* [[May 23]] - The [[Union of South American Nations]], a [[supranational union]], is created by a union between the [[Andean Community of Nations|Andean Community]] and [[Mercosur]]. |
|||
* [[May 23]] - The [[International Court of Justice]] awards [[Middle Rocks, Johor|Middle Rocks]] to [[Malaysia]] and [[Pedra Branca, Singapore|Pedra Branca]] to [[Singapore]], ending a 29-year [[Pedra Branca dispute|territorial dispute]] between the two countries. |
|||
* [[May 25]] - The [[NASA|NASA's]] [[Phoenix (spacecraft)|Phoenix spacecraft]] becomes the first spacecraft to land on the northern polar-region of [[Mars]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/|title=Phoenix Mars Mission}}</ref> |
|||
* [[May 28]] - The [[Nepal|Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal]] is established after the [[Nepalese Constituent Assembly|Assembly]] votes overwhemingly in favor of abolishing the country's [[Nepalese monarchy|240-year-old monarchy]]. [[Girija Prasad Koirala]] becomes temporary [[Head of state]]. |
|||
===June=== |
|||
{{compu-hardware-stub}} |
|||
{{Month3|6|6|year=2008}} |
|||
{{Category:Power Architecture}} |
|||
* [[June 2]] - A car bomb [[2008 Danish embassy bombing|explodes]] outside the [[Denmark|Danish]] embassy in [[Islamabad]], [[Pakistan]], killing at least five. |
|||
* [[June 8]] - In the [[Akihabara]] area of [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]], a 25-year-old man [[Akihabara massacre|stabs 7 to death and wounds 10]], before being arrested. |
|||
* [[June 10]] - Fire engulfs [[Sudan Airways Flight 109]] after landing in [[Khartoum]], killing 44. |
|||
* [[June 11]] - The [[Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope]] is launched. |
|||
* [[June 11]] - [[Canada|Canadian]] Prime Minister [[Stephen Harper]] apologizes to Canada's [[First Nations]] for the [[Canadian residential school system]]. |
|||
* [[June 11]] - Kimberly Louise Yap's 12<sup>th</sup> Birthday. |
|||
* [[June 12]] - [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] votes to reject the [[Treaty of Lisbon]], in the only [[Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland Bill, 2008|referendum]] to be held by a [[European Union]] member state on the treaty. |
|||
* [[June 14]] - A [[2008 Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku earthquake|6.9 magnitude earthquake]] in [[Iwate Prefecture]], [[Japan]], kills 12 and injures more than 400. |
|||
* [[June 14]] – [[September 14]] - [[Expo 2008]] was held in [[Zaragoza]] in [[Spain]], with the topic of ''"Water and sustainable development"''. |
|||
* [[June 22]] - [[Typhoon Fengshen (2008)|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 reelected with 85.5% of the vote in the [[Zimbabwean presidential election, 2008#Second round voting and aftermath|second round]] of the controversial [[Zimbabwe]]an [[Zimbabwean presidential election, 2008|presidential election]]. |
|||
* [[June 27]] - After three decades as the Chairman of [[Microsoft|Microsoft Corporation]], [[Bill Gates]] steps down from daily duties to concentrate on [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation|philanthropy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/business/2008/0627/microsoft.html|title=Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft today}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/digitallife/main.jhtml?xml=/connected/2008/06/27/dlgates127.xml|title=Bill Gates steps down as Microsoft head to concentrate on philanthropy}}</ref> |
|||
===July=== |
|||
{{Month3|7|1|year=2008}} |
|||
[[Image:34th G8 summit member 20080708.jpg|thumb|right|[[34th G8 summit]] heads of delegations in [[Tōyako, Hokkaidō|Tōyako]], [[Japan]].]] |
|||
* [[July 2]] - [[Íngrid Betancourt]] and 14 other hostages are [[Operation Jaque|rescued]] from [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia|FARC]] by [[Colombia]]n security forces. |
|||
* [[July 7]] - A suicide-bomber [[2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul|drives an explosives-laden automobile]] into the front gates of the [[India]]n embassy in [[Kabul]], [[Afghanistan]], killing 58 and injuring over 150. |
|||
* [[July 7]]–[[July 9|9]] - [[34th G8 summit]] held in [[Tōyako, Hokkaidō]] in [[Japan]]. |
|||
* [[July 10]] - Former [[Republic of Macedonia|Macedonian]] Interior Minister [[Ljube Boškoski]] is acquitted of all charges by a [[United Nations|UN]] Tribunal accusing him of war crimes. |
|||
* [[July 15]]–[[July 20|20]] - [[World Youth Day 2008|World Youth Day]] takes place in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]]. [[Pope Benedict XVI]] appears at the event.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/world-youth-day/thanks-pope/2008/07/21/1216492301809.html|title=Sydney Morning Herald: 'Thanks: Pope'}}</ref> |
|||
* [[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 (law enforcement)|manhunt]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7518543.stm|title=BBC News: Serbia captures fugitive Karadzic}}</ref> |
|||
* [[July 22]] - The [[United Progressive Alliance]] led government in India survives a crucial [[motion of no confidence|no-confidence vote]] based on disagreements between [[Indian National Congress]] and [[Left Front]] over the [[Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement|Indo-US nuclear deal]]. |
|||
* [[July 23]] - [[Ram Baran Yadav]] is sworn in as [[Nepal]]'s [[President of Nepal|first President]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2008/jul/jul21/news14.php|title=Nepalnews.com}}</ref> |
|||
* [[July 25]] - A series of [[2008 Bangalore serial blasts|seven bomb blasts]] rock [[Bangalore]], [[India]] killing 2 and injuring 20 and on the next day, a [[2008 Ahmedabad bombings|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 [[2008 Istanbul bombings|two blasts]] in [[Istanbul]]. |
|||
* [[July 28]] - At least 48 are dead and over 287 injured after bombs explode in [[Baghdad]] and [[Kirkuk]], [[Iraq]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/26_killed_in_bomb_attacks_in_Baghdad/articleshow/3296178.cms|title=26 killed in bombing attacks in Baghdad|date=[[July 28]], [[2008]]|publisher=Times of India|accessdate=2008-07-28}}</ref><ref name="yahooiraq">{{cite news |
|||
|title= Suicide attacks kill 57 in Baghdad, Kirkuk |
|||
|first= Selcan |
|||
|last= Hacaoglu |
|||
|date= 28-07-2008 |
|||
|publisher= AP}}</ref> |
|||
* [[July 30]] – [[August 5]] - The [[World Congress of Philosophy#22nd World Congress|XXII World Congress of Philosophy]] is held in [[Seoul]], [[South Korea]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wcp2008.or.kr/congress/congress.asp|title=The XXII World Congress of Philosophy 2008}}</ref> |
|||
===August=== |
|||
{{Month3|8|4|year=2008}} |
|||
[[Image:Hanna 2008-09-01 over Bahamas.jpg|thumb|right|[[Hurricane Hanna]]]] |
|||
* [[August 1]] - [[George Tupou V|King George Tupou V]] is crowned as the new king of [[Tonga]], an event that had been delayed for over two years following the [[2006 Nuku'alofa riots]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/07/31/tonga.king.ap/index.html|title=Tonga crowns new king}}</ref> |
|||
* [[August 3]] - A [[2008 Naina Devi temple stampede|stampede]] at a [[Hindu]] temple at [[Naina Devi]] in [[Bilaspur]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[India]] kills 162 and injures 400. |
|||
* [[August 4]] - Two members of the [[East Turkestan Islamic Movement]], which had threatened to attack the [[2008 Summer Olympics|Beijing Olympics]], [[2008 Kashgar attack|kill 16 and injure another 16 officers]] at a police station in [[Kashgar]], [[Xinjiang]], [[People's Republic of China|China]].<ref>{{cite news |
|||
|title= Police station raided in west China's Xinjiang, terrorist plot suspected |
|||
|first= |
|||
|last= |
|||
|url= http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/04/content_8940461.htm |
|||
|date= 08-04-2008 |
|||
|accessdate= 2008-08-04 |
|||
|publisher= Xinhua}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |
|||
|title= Chinese border assault kills 16 |
|||
|first= |
|||
|last= |
|||
|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7540138.stm |
|||
|date= 08-04-2008 |
|||
|accessdate= 2008-08-04 |
|||
|publisher= BBC}}</ref> |
|||
* [[August 6]] - President [[Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi]] of [[Mauritania]] is deposed in a [[2008 Mauritanian coup d'état|military coup d'état]]. |
|||
* [[August 7]] - The [[2008 South Ossetia war]] begins as [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and [[Russia]] launch a major offensive inside the separatist region of [[South Ossetia]] after days of border skirmishes between the two sides. |
|||
* [[August 8]]–[[August 24|24]] - The [[2008 Summer Olympics]] take place in [[Beijing]], [[China]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/beijing_2008_its_a_wrap.html|title=Beijing 2008 - It's a wrap}}</ref> |
|||
* [[August 15]] - Pushpa Kamal Dahal (known as [[Prachanda]]) is sworn in as the first [[List of Prime Ministers of Nepal|Prime Minister]] of the [[Nepal|Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal]] after the [[Nepalese monarchy]] was abolished in [[#May|May]].<ref>{{cite news |
|||
|title= Former communist becomes Nepal PM |
|||
|first= |
|||
|last= |
|||
|url= http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/08/15/nepal.prime.minister/index.html |
|||
|date= 08-15-2008 |
|||
|accessdate= 2008-08-15 |
|||
|publisher= CNN}}</ref> |
|||
* [[August 17]] - [[Michael Phelps]] surpasses [[Mark Spitz]] in Olympic Gold Medals won at a single [[Olympic Games|Olympics]], with 8 gold medals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/phelpshistory|title=ESPN - Michael Phelps' history run at 2008 Olympics - Olympics}}</ref> |
|||
* [[August 18]] - [[Pervez Musharraf]] resigns from the post of [[President of Pakistan]] under impeachment pressure from the coalition government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7567451.stm|title=Pakistan's Musharraf steps down}}</ref> |
|||
* [[August 19]] - The [[Taliban insurgency|Taliban insurgents]] kill 10 and injure 21 [[French Army|French soldiers]] in an [[Uzbin valley ambush|ambush]] in [[Afghanistan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSSP16416020080819|title=Taliban kill 10 French troops in Afghanistan}}</ref> |
|||
* [[August 19]] - A [[Suicide attack|suicide bomber]] rams a car into an [[Algeria]]n military academy and the resulting explosion kills 43 and injures 45.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSLJ41334620080819|title=Bomb kills 43 at Algerian military academy}}</ref> |
|||
* [[August 20]] - [[Spanair Flight 5022]], from [[Madrid]] to [[Gran Canaria]], skids off the runway and crashes at [[Madrid Barajas International Airport|Barajas Airport]] with 172 on board. 153 of them are killed and only 18 survive.<ref>{{cite news |
|||
|title= DNA tests for those killed in Madrid crash |
|||
|first= |
|||
|last= |
|||
|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7575970.stm |
|||
|date= 08-20-2008 |
|||
|accessdate= 2008-08-20 |
|||
|publisher= BBC}}</ref> |
|||
* [[August 21]] - At least 60 die following [[2008 Wah bombing|twin suicide bombings]] outside the [[Pakistan Ordnance Factories]] in [[Wah]], [[Pakistan]]. |
|||
* [[August 22]] - [[Piracy|Pirates]] hijack [[Germany|German]], [[Iran]]ian, and [[Japan]]ese cargo ships off the coast of [[Somalia]], seven of such attacks since [[June 20]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.micportal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=859:official-says-pirates-have-seized-a-german-ship-off-somalia-the-third-in-a-day&catid=25:security-measures&Itemid=38|title=Official says pirates have seized a German ship off Somalia, the third in a day}}</ref> |
|||
* [[August 24]] - An aircraft crashes in [[Guatemala]], killing 10, including 4 [[United States|Americans]] on a [[Humanitarianism|humanitarian mission]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN2445832520080825|title=Ten killed in Guatemala small plane crash}}</ref> |
|||
* [[August 24]] - [[Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895]] crashes upon [[takeoff]] near [[Manas International Airport]] in [[Bishkek]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], killing 68.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7580107.stm|title=Plane crashes in Kyrgyz capital}}</ref> |
|||
* [[August 26]] - [[Russia]] [[International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia|unilaterally recognizes]] the independence of [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] breakaway republics [[Abkhazia]] and [[South Ossetia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2008/08/26/1543_type82912_205752.shtml|title=Statement by President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev|publisher=Russia's President web site|date=2008-08-26|accessdate=2008-08-26}}</ref> |
|||
* [[August 26]] – [[September 1]] - [[Hurricane Gustav]] makes landfall on [[Louisiana]] as [[Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale#Category 2|Category 2]] and kills 7 in the [[United States]], after making landfall on western [[Cuba]] as [[Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale#Category 4|Category 4]], and killing 66 in [[Haiti]], 8 in the [[Dominican Republic]], and 11 in [[Jamaica]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/09/01/gustav/|title=Gustav evacuees urged to stay away}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2008/h2008_gustav.html|title=Hurricane Season 2008: Tropical Storm Gustav (Central Caribbean)}}</ref> |
|||
* [[August 28]] – [[September 7]] - [[Hurricane Hanna (2008)|Hurricane Hanna]] causes 7 deaths in the [[United States]], and 529 in [[Haiti]] mostly due to [[flood]]s and [[Mudflow|mudslides]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/09/04/hurricanes.hanna.ike/|title=Hanna closes in on U.S. as Ike becomes major hurricane}}</ref> |
|||
===September=== |
|||
{{Month3|9|0|year=2008}} |
|||
[[Image:YE Plus1 descends into cavern.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Compact Muon Solenoid|CMS experiment]] of the [[Large Hadron Collider]].]] |
|||
* [[September 1]]–[[September 14|14]] - [[Hurricane Ike]] makes landfall on [[Texas]] as [[Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale#Category 2|Category 2]] and kills 27 in the [[United States]], after killing 4 in [[Cuba]], 1 in the [[Dominican Republic]], and 75 in [[Haiti]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/09/15/hurricane.ike/|title=Galveston 'unhealthy and unsafe,' city manager says}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7603319.stm|title=Hurricane Ike barrels over Cuba}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 2]] - [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] [[Yasuo Fukuda]] of [[Japan]] resigns less than a year after taking office following [[Shinzo Abe|Shinzo Abe's]] resignation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4653861.ece|title=Japanese PM, Yasuo Fukuda, in shock resignation after just one year in job}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 2]] - [[List of Prime Ministers of Thailand|Prime Minister]] [[Samak Sundaravej]] of [[Thailand]] declares a [[state of emergency]] in [[Bangkok]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/01/thailand.protests/|title=Thailand's prime minister declares state of emergency}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 3]] - [[Prime Minister of Pakistan|Prime Minister]] [[Yousaf Raza Gillani]] of [[Pakistan]] survives an assassination attempt near [[Islamabad]] while on his way to meet the [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|British Leader of the Opposition]] [[David Cameron]]. |
|||
* [[September 3]] - [[Cyprus]] peace talks between the Cypriot leader [[Dimitris Christofias]] and the [[Northern Cyprus|TRNC]] leader [[Mehmet Ali Talat]] are held in [[Nicosia]], aimed at reunifying the 34-year-divided island.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7308128.stm|title=Cyprus leaders begin peace talks}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2839603.stm|title=Q&A: Cyprus peace process}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 6]] - [[Asif Ali Zardari]] is [[Pakistani presidential election, 2008|elected]] as the [[President of Pakistan]] by the [[Electoral College of Pakistan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/06/pakistan.presidential.election/index.html|title=Bhutto widower Zardari elected Pakistan's new president}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 6]] - At least eight [[boulder]]s peel of a cliff near [[Cairo]], [[Egypt]], killing at least 18 and burying an estimated 500 people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/09/06/egypt.rockslide.ap/|title=Hundreds feared trapped in Egypt rockslide}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 7]] - [[Global financial crisis of September–October 2008|Global financial crisis]]: In one of the largest [[bank]]ing interventions in [[United States]] history, [[Fannie Mae]] and [[Freddie Mac]] are [[Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac|placed into conservatorship]] by the [[Federal Housing Finance Agency]].<ref>{{cite news | first= Henry M., Jr. | last= Paulson | coauthors= (Press release statement) | title= Statement by Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. on Treasury and Federal Housing Finance Agency Action to Protect Financial Markets and Taxpayers | date= 2008-09-07 | publisher= United States Department of the Treasury | url = http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp1129.htm | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2008-09-07 | }} |
|||
</ref> |
|||
* [[September 7]] - On the advice of [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[Stephen Harper]], [[Governor General of Canada|Governor General]] [[Michaëlle Jean]] dissolves the [[39th Canadian Parliament]] and calls [[Canadian federal election, 2008|early elections]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7602864.stm|title=Canadian PM calls snap election}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 9]] - The [[Constitutional Court of Thailand]] orders [[Samak Sundaravej|Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej]] to resign after receiving payment for appearing on a [[cooking show|television cooking show]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hG71oGl1LokvZphtDQZzL44nzc3QD933CQI80|title=Cooking show stint derails Thai prime minister}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 10]] - The [[proton]] [[Particle beam|beam]] is circulated for the first time in the [[Large Hadron Collider]], the world's largest and the [[List of accelerators in particle physics#Colliders|highest-energy collider]]. It is located at [[CERN]], near [[Geneva]], under the Franco-Swiss border.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2008/PR08.08E.html|title=First beam in the LHC - accelerating science}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/09/10/lhc.collider/|title=Large Hadron Collider fired up in 'God particle' hunt}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 12]] - A [[2008 Chatsworth train collision|Metrolink train collides head-on into a freight train]] in [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]], [[California]], killing 25 and injuring 130.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/09/13/train.collision/|title=Human error led to fatal train collision, spokeswoman says}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 14]] - [[Aeroflot Flight 821]] crashes near the city of [[Perm]], [[Russia]], killing all 88 on board.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSLE46300520080914|title=Russian plane crash kills 88, faulty engine blamed}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 15]] - [[Global financial crisis of September–October 2008|Global financial crisis]]: [[Lehman Brothers]] files for [[Bankruptcy|bankruptcy protection]], in the largest [[bankruptcy]] in [[United States]] history.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/15/news/companies/lehman_brothers/|title=The meltdown}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 15]] - Following [[2008 Zimbabwean political negotiations|negotiations]], [[Robert Mugabe|President Robert Mugabe]] and opposition leaders [[Morgan Tsvangirai]] and [[Arthur Mutambara]] sign a power-sharing deal, making Tsvangirai the new [[Prime Minister of Zimbabwe]]. |
|||
* [[September 16]] - [[Global financial crisis of September–October 2008|Global financial crisis]]: The US Government, through the [[Federal Reserve]], lends $85 billion dollars to [[AIG]] in exchange for the right to buy 80% of the company, in another of the largest US interventions in the banking industry. |
|||
* [[September 17]] - The [[International Astronomical Union]] classifies [[Haumea (dwarf planet)|Haumea]] as the fifth [[dwarf planet]] in the [[Solar System]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://iau.org/public_press/news/release/iau0807/|title=News Release - IAU0807: IAU names fifth dwarf planet Haumea}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 19]]–[[September 25|25]] - [[Typhoon Hagupit (2008)|Typhoon Hagupit]] kills 17 in [[People's Republic of China|China]], 8 in the [[Philippines]], 1 in [[Taiwan]], and 41 in [[Vietnam]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-35630720080924|title=Vietnam bars boats from Halong Bay ahead of typhoon}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 20]] - A [[Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing|suicide truck bomb explosion]] destroys the [[Marriott International|Marriott Hotel]] in [[Islamabad]], [[Pakistan]], killing at least 60 and injuring 266.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-pakistan-blast.html|title=At Least 40 Killed in Huge Explosion at Pakistan Hotel}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/20/pakistan.islamabad.marriott.blast/|title=Deadly blast targets Marriott Hotel in Islamabad}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7627135.stm|title=Dozens killed in Pakistan attack}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 21]] - [[Ehud Olmert|Prime Minister Ehud Olmert]] of [[Israel]] resigns.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSLL27650420080921|title=Scandal-hit Olmert formally resigns}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 21]] - [[Thabo Mbeki|President Thabo Mbeki]] of [[South Africa]] resigns after accepting a call by [[African National Congress]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7627957.stm|title=South Africa president steps down}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 24]] - The [[Diet of Japan]] elects [[Taro Aso]] as the new [[Prime Minister of Japan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7632864.stm|title=Taro Aso set to become Japan's PM}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 25]] - [[Kgalema Motlanthe]] is [[South African presidential election, 2008|elected]] by the [[National Assembly of South Africa]] as the [[President of South Africa]], succeeding [[Thabo Mbeki]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sabcnews.com/politics/government/0,2172,177349,00.html|title=Cabinet bids farewell to Mbeki}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 25]] - [[Shenzhou 7]], the [[Shenzhou program|third]] manned [[Chinese space program|Chinese spaceflight]] and the first with three crew members, is successfully launched. [[People's Republic of China|China]] becomes the third country ever to conduct a [[Extra-vehicular activity|spacewalk]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7637818.stm Chinese astronaut walks in space]</ref> |
|||
* [[September 25]] - [[Global financial crisis of September–October 2008|Global financial crisis]]: In the largest bank failure in U.S. history, [[Washington Mutual]] is placed into receivership by the [[Office of Thrift Supervision]]. As [[Receiver (legal)|receiver]], the [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]] sells the bank's accounts and operations to [[JPMorgan Chase]].<ref>[http://nytimes.com/2008/09/26/business/26wamu.html Government Seizes WaMu and Sells Some Assets]</ref> |
|||
* [[September 28]] - [[SpaceX]] [[Falcon 1]] becomes the world's first privately developed [[Launch vehicle|space launch vehicle]] successfully to [[Falcon 1 Flight 4|make orbit]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spacex.com/F1-004.php|title=Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - Falcon 1 Flight 4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7641287.stm|title=Falcon rocket success for SpaceX}}</ref> |
|||
* [[September 29]] - [[Global financial crisis of September–October 2008|Global financial crisis]]: The [[Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008|Emergency Economic Stabilization Act]] is rejected by the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] and, as a result, the [[Dow Jones & Company|Dow Jones]] stock market index records its largest-ever one-day fall of 777.68 points.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/29/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?postversion=2008092918|title=Stocks crushed}}</ref> |
|||
===October=== |
|||
{{Month3|10|2|year=2008}} |
|||
* [[October 3]] - [[Global financial crisis of September–October 2008|Global financial crisis]]: [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[George W. Bush]] signs the revised [[Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008|Emergency Economic Stabilization Act]] into law, creating a [[United States Emergency Economic Stabilization fund|700 billion dollar Treasury fund]] to purchase failing bank [[asset]]s.<ref name = 'Associated Press-Raum-2008-10-03'> Raum, Tom (October 3, 2008) [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hT-MwpK6QSoOPF74bGFqnUl_HVuwD93J6ND00 Bush signs $700 billion bailout bill] ''Associated Press'' (Retrieved October 3, 2008)</ref> |
|||
* [[October 6]] - The [[NASA|NASA's]] [[MESSENGER]] spacecraft makes its second of three flybys of [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]], decreasing the velocity for [[Orbit insertion|orbital insertion]] on [[March 18]], [[2011]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://planetary.org/blog/article/00001670|title=Science Timeline for Monday's MESSENGER flyby of Mercury}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/208300main_Factsheet_Rev11-07.pdf|title=APL's MESSENGER fact sheet|format=PDF}}</ref> |
|||
* [[October 6]] - [[Global financial crisis of September–October 2008|Global financial crisis]]: The [[Dow Jones Industrial Average]] falls below 10,000 points for the first time since [[October 29]], [[2004]].<ref name = 'CNNMoney.com-Dowbelow10,000'> Alexandra Twin, CNNMoney.com senior writer (October 6, 2008) [http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/06/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?postversion=2008100610 Dow falls below 10,000] ''CNNMoney.com'' (Retrieved October 6, 2008)</ref> |
|||
* [[October 6]] - [[2008 Kyrgyzstan earthquake|An earthquake]] measuring 6.6 [[Moment magnitude scale|magnitude]] hits [[Kyrgyzstan]], killing at least 65 people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7653979.stm|title=Deadly earthquake hits Kyrgyzstan|date=Monday, 6 October 2008|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2008-10-08}}</ref> |
|||
* [[October 7]] - [[Global financial crisis of September–October 2008|Global financial crisis]]: [[Russia]] agrees to provide [[Iceland]] with a four-billion-[[euro]] loan.<ref>[http://www.sedlabanki.is/?PageID=287&NewsID=1869 Central Bank of Iceland, ''The Foreign Exchange Reserves of the Central Bank of Iceland bolstered'' (07.10.2008; No. 31/2008)]</ref><ref>[http://www.sedlabanki.is/?PageID=287&NewsID=1874 Central Bank of Iceland, ''Foreign exchange reserves'' (07.10.2008; No. 33/2008)]</ref> |
|||
* [[October 7]] - The [[meteoroid]] [[2008 TC3|2008 TC<sub>3</sub>]] impacts [[Earth]], becoming the first such object to be discovered prior to [[Impact event|impact]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/10/06/incoming-2/|title=Incoming!!!|accessdate=2008-10-08}}</ref> |
|||
* [[October 9]] - [[Global financial crisis of September–October 2008|Global financial crisis]]: Following a major banking and financial crisis in Iceland, the [[Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority]] takes control of three largest banks in the country: [[Kaupthing Bank]],<ref>[http://www.fme.is/?PageID=581&NewsID=340 The Financial Supervisory Authority - Iceland, ''News: Based on New Legislation, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (FME) Proceeds to take Control of Kaupþing to ensure Continued Commercial Bank Operations in Iceland'' (09.10.2008)]</ref><ref>[http://www.kaupthing.com/pages/164?path=K/133944/PR/200810/1258139.xml Kaupthing Bank, ''Press release: Kaupthing Bank turns to the Icelandic FSA'' (2008.10.09)]</ref> [[Landsbanki]],<ref>[http://www.fme.is/?PageID=581&NewsID=331 The Financial Supervisory Authority - Iceland, ''News: Based on New Legislation, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (IFSA) Proceeds to take Control of Landsbanki to ensure Continued Commercial Bank Operations in Iceland'' (07.10.2008)]</ref><ref>[http://www.landsbanki.is/english/aboutlandsbanki/pressreleases/?GroupID=720&NewsID=13284&y=0&p=1 Landsbanki Íslands, ''Press release: Landsbanki's Operations Continued Under Unchanged Management'' (October 07, 2008)]</ref> and [[Glitnir (bank)|Glitnir]].<ref>[http://www.fme.is/?PageID=581&NewsID=337 The Financial Supervisory Authority - Iceland, ''News: Based on New Legislation, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (FME) Proceeds to take Control of Glitnir to ensure Continued Commercial Bank Operations in Iceland'' (08.10.2008)]</ref><ref>[http://www.glitnir.is/english/about-glitnir/news/detail/item15927/Glitnir's_Operations_Continued_–_Larus_Welding_to_continue_as_CEO/ Glitnir Bank, ''News: Glitnir's Operations Continued – Lárus Welding to continue as CEO'' (08.10.2008)]</ref> |
|||
* [[October 9]] - [[Global financial crisis of September–October 2008|Global financial crisis]]: The [[Dow Jones Industrial Average]] falls 679 points, or 7.3 percent, and plunges below 8,600 for the first time since [[May 21]], [[2003]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nytimes.com/2008/10/10/business/10markets.html|title=Stocks Plunge Again; Dow Under 8,600|date=October 9, 2008|publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=2008-10-10}}</ref> |
|||
==Predicted and scheduled events== |
|||
<!--iPhone: PLEASE DO NOT add information regarding the IPHONE release, unless you can demonstrate that this is substantially more significant than the countless international releases of countless products that occur all the time. Do not add any information regarding MobileMe, iPhone 2.0, or anything else iPhone related...--> |
|||
===October=== |
|||
* [[October 21]] - The [[Large Hadron Collider]] (LHC) will be officially [[Inauguration|inaugurated]]. The [[Large Hadron Collider|LHC]] is a collaboration of over 10,000 [[scientist]]s and [[engineer]]s from over 100 countries as well as hundreds of [[University|universities]] and [[Laboratory|laboratories]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2008/PR12.08E.html|title=LHC to be inaugurated on 21 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://lhc-first-beam.web.cern.ch/lhc%2Dfirst%2Dbeam/News/FinalLHCsyncTest.html|title=Final LHC Synchronization Test a Success}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/09/16/sciwriters116.xml|title=Large Hadron Collider: thirteen ways to change the world}}</ref> |
|||
* [[October 22]] - The [[Indian Space Research Organisation|ISRO's]] [[Chandrayaan|Chandrayaan-1]] spacecraft will be launched to the [[Moon]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://planetary.org/explore/topics/space_missions/chandrayaan_1/|title=Chandrayaan-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Chandrayaan-1-launch-on-Oct-22/363173|title=Chandrayaan-1 launch on Oct 22}}</ref> |
|||
===November=== |
|||
* [[November 4]] - [[United States presidential election, 2008|Election]] of the 44th [[President of the United States]] and the 47th [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]]. |
|||
* [[November 6]] - King [[Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck]] of [[Bhutan]] will be crowned, having ascended to the throne in [[2006]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7521429.stm|title=Bhutan king to be crowned at last}}</ref> |
|||
* [[November 11]] - The [[RMS Queen Elizabeth 2]] will depart on her last voyage from [[Southampton]], [[United Kingdom|UK]] to [[Dubai]], [[United Arab Emirates|UAE]]. She will become a floating hotel at [[Palm Jumeirah]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cunard.com/AboutCunard/NewsReleases.asp?Cat=&View=ViewArticle&Mode=News&ContentID=6656&Active=News|title=QE2 To Leave Cunard Fleet And Be Sold To Dubai World To Begin A New Life At The Palm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thecunarders.co.uk/cunardlinehistory.html|title=RMS Britannia (1840) to RMS Queen Victoria (2007) and Beyond}}</ref> |
|||
* [[November 14]] - On [[STS-126]], the [[Space Shuttle Endeavour]] will use the [[Multi-Purpose Logistics Module|MPLM Leonardo]] to deliver [[International Standard Payload Rack|experiment and storage racks]] to the [[International Space Station]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/schedule.html|title=NASA's Shuttle and Rocket Missions}}</ref> |
|||
* [[November 22]] - [[APEC Peru 2008]] Summit in [[Lima]]. |
|||
* [[November 25]] - [[Greenland]] will hold [[Greenlandic self-government referendum, 2008|referendum]] for increased autonomy from [[Denmark]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaba.com/news/2008/01/09/7-73517/greenland-to-vote-on-wider-autonomy-from-denmark-government.html|title=www.haaba.com/news/2008/01/09/7-73517/greenland-to-vote-on-wider-autonomy-from-denmark-government.html}}</ref> |
|||
<!-- DO NOT ADD "HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE" -- FILM RELEASES GO IN [[2008 in film]]. --> |
|||
===December=== |
|||
* [[December 15]] - The [[Electoral college]] meets in 51 locations officially to elect the 44th [[President of the United States]]. |
|||
===Unknown dates=== |
|||
* The [[United Nations]] is to review drug policies around the world.<ref>{{cite web |
|||
| url = http://www.un.org/ga/president/57/pages/speeches/statement030408-Vienna-Narcotics.htm |
|||
| title = Address to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs at its 46th session |
|||
| first = Jan |
|||
| last = Kavan |
|||
| publisher = [[United Nations]] |
|||
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |
|||
| url = http://www.drug-policy.org/modules/countdown_2008 |
|||
| archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070208033646/http://www.drug-policy.org/modules/countdown_2008 |
|||
| archivedate = 2007-02-08 |
|||
| title = Countdown to 2008 : The Deadline for a New Global Drug Policy |
|||
| publisher = [[The Senlis Council]] |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
===Ongoing events=== |
|||
* [[State reform in Belgium|6th Round of the Belgian State Reform]] |
|||
* [[List of ongoing conflicts]] |
|||
==Deaths== |
|||
{{main|Deaths in 2008}} |
|||
<!--Please make sure all dates are linked even where repeated. This is required for date format preferences to work correctly. --> |
|||
<!--Please DO NOT add anybody with less than nine non-English language Wikipedia articles. Any subject that is listed who has less than nine non-English language Wikipedia articles will be deleted. Thanks. --> |
|||
===January=== |
|||
[[Image:Edmundhillarycropped.jpg|thumb|120px|[[Edmund Hillary]]]] |
|||
[[Image:Heath Ledger.jpg|thumb|120px|[[Heath Ledger]]]] |
|||
* [[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]] - [[Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens|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 9]] - [[Baba Amte]], Indian social activist (b. [[1914]]) |
|||
* [[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]]) |
|||
[[Image:Janez Drnovsek.jpg|thumb|120px|[[Janez Drnovšek]]]] |
|||
* [[February 12]] - [[Imad Mughniyah]], Lebanese militant (b. [[1962]]) |
|||
* [[February 12]] - [[Badri Patarkatsishvili]], Georgian businessman and politician (b. [[1955]]) |
|||
* [[February 13]] - [[Kon Ichikawa]], Japanese film director (b. [[1915]]) |
|||
* [[February 13]] - [[Henri Salvador]], French singer (b. [[1917]]) |
|||
* [[February 15]] - [[Steve Fossett]], American adventurer<ref>Fossett was declared legally dead on [[February 15]], having been missing since [[3 September]] [[2007]].</ref> (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=== |
|||
[[Image:Clarke sm.jpg|thumb|120px|[[Arthur C. Clarke]]]] |
|||
* [[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 (record producer)|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]], 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]]) |
|||
[[Image:Dinotirofijo.png|thumb|120px|[[Manuel Marulanda]]]] |
|||
* [[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=== |
|||
[[Image:Charlton Heston Civil Rights March 1963.jpg|thumb|120px|[[Charlton Heston]]]] |
|||
* [[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 and writer (b. [[1906]]) |
|||
===May=== |
|||
[[Image:Irena Sendler, Warsaw, Poland, 2007.jpg|thumb|120px|[[Irena Sendler]]]] |
|||
* [[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=== |
|||
[[Image:Tschingis Ajtmatow.jpg|thumb|120px|[[Chinghiz Aitmatov]]]] |
|||
[[Image:Vo Van Kiet.jpg|thumb|120px|[[Võ Văn Kiệt]]]] |
|||
* [[June 1]] - [[Yves Saint Laurent (designer)|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=== |
|||
[[Image:JesseHelms.jpg|thumb|120px|[[Jesse Helms]]]] |
|||
* [[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]] - [[Johnny Griffin]], American saxophonist (b. [[1928]]) |
|||
* [[July 25]] - [[Randy Pausch]], American author and computer scientist (b. [[1960]]) |
|||
* [[July 27]] - [[Youssef Chahine]], Egyptian film director (b. [[1926]]) |
|||
* [[July 29]] - [[Mate Parlov]], Croatian boxer (b. [[1948]]) |
|||
===August=== |
|||
[[Image:Isaac hayes 1973.jpg|thumb|right|120px|[[Isaac Hayes]]]] |
|||
* [[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 13]] - [[Henri Cartan]], French mathematician (b. [[1904]]) |
|||
* [[August 15]] - [[Jerry Wexler]], American music producer (b. [[1917]]) |
|||
* [[August 16]] - [[Ronnie Drew]], Irish singer (b. [[1934]]) |
|||
* [[August 16]] - [[Masanobu Fukuoka]], Japanese microbiologist (b. [[1913]]) |
|||
* [[August 19]] - [[Levy Mwanawasa]], President of Zambia (b. [[1948]]) |
|||
* [[August 20]] - [[Hua Guofeng]], Chinese premier (b. [[1921]]) |
|||
* [[August 23]] - [[Thomas Huckle Weller]], American virologist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. [[1915]]) |
|||
* [[August 28]] - [[Phil Hill]], American race car driver (b. [[1927]]) |
|||
===September=== |
|||
[[Image:Paul Newman in Carnation, Washington June 2007.JPG|thumb|right|120px|[[Paul Newman]]]] |
|||
* [[September 1]] - [[Don LaFontaine]], American voice actor (b. [[1940]]) |
|||
* [[September 6]] - [[Antonio Innocenti]], Italian cardinal (b. [[1915]]) |
|||
* [[September 6]] - [[Anita Page]], American actress (b. [[1910]]) |
|||
* [[September 9]] - [[Nouhak Phoumsavanh]], President of Laos (b. [[1910]]) |
|||
* [[September 12]] - [[David Foster Wallace]], American writer (b. [[1962]]) |
|||
* [[September 15]] - [[Richard Wright (musician)|Richard Wright]], English musician (b. [[1943]]) |
|||
* [[September 18]] - [[Mauricio Kagel]], Argentine composer (b. [[1931]]) |
|||
* [[September 26]] - [[Paul Newman]], American actor (b. [[1925]]) |
|||
===October=== |
|||
<!--Please DO NOT add anybody with less than nine non-English language Wikipedia articles. Any subject that is listed who has less than nine non-English language Wikipedia articles will be deleted. Thanks.--> |
|||
* [[October 1]] - [[Boris Efimov]], Russian political cartoonist (b. [[1900]]) |
|||
* [[October 6]] - [[Paavo Haavikko]], Finnish poet (b. [[1931]]) |
|||
* [[October 8]] - [[George Emil Palade]], Romanian Nobel Prize-winning cell biologist (b. [[1912]]) |
|||
* [[October 10]] - [[Alexey Prokurorov]], Russian cross-country skier (b. [[1964]]) |
|||
* [[October 11]] - [[Jörg Haider]], Austrian politician (b. [[1950]]) |
|||
==[[Nobel Prize]]s== |
|||
* [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]] - [[Martin Chalfie]], [[Osamu Shimomura]], [[Roger Y. Tsien]] |
|||
* [[Nobel Prize in Economics|Economics]] - to be announced |
|||
* [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Literature]] - [[Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio]] |
|||
* [[Nobel Prize for Peace|Peace]] - [[Martti Ahtisaari]] |
|||
* [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]] - [[Makoto Kobayashi (physicist)|Makoto Kobayashi]], [[Toshihide Maskawa]], [[Yoichiro Nambu]] |
|||
* [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Physiology or Medicine]] - [[Françoise Barré-Sinoussi]], [[Harald zur Hausen]], [[Luc Montagnier]] |
|||
==Major religious holidays== |
|||
{{Year in other calendars}} |
|||
* [[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]] - [[Saint 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]]).<ref>{{cite news|title=St Patrick's 'day' moved to 15th|url=http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0718/breaking85.html|format= |work=ireland.com Online|publisher=[[The Irish Times|Irish Times Trust]]|date=2007-07-18|accessdate=2007-07-21}}</ref> This [[March 17]] will be the last one to fall within Holy Week until 2160.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=194136 |title=No St. Pat's Day Mass allowed in Holy Week |accessdate=2008-03-13 |author=Nevans-Pederson, Mary |date=2008-03-13 |work= Dubuque Telegraph Herald |publisher= Woodward Communications, Inc. }}</ref> |
|||
* [[March 20]] - March [[Equinox]], also known as [[Ostara]] |
|||
* [[March 20]] - [[Purim]] |
|||
* [[March 21]] - [[Nowruz]] ([[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] [[New Year]] [[holiday]]) |
|||
* [[March 21]] - [[Good Friday]] |
|||
* [[March 22]] - [[Holi]] |
|||
* [[March 23]] - [[Easter]] Sunday, the earliest Easter has fallen since [[1913]] |
|||
* [[April 13]] - [[Vaisakhi]] |
|||
* [[April 20]] - [[Passover]], [[Palm Sunday]] in Eastern Christianity |
|||
* [[April 23]] - [[St George's Day|St. George's Day]] |
|||
* [[April 27]] - [[Easter|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 [[Gautama Buddha|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 [[Midsummer|Litha]] |
|||
* [[June 22]] - [[All Saints|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 2]] - Start of [[Ramadan]] |
|||
* [[September 22]] - September [[Equinox]], also known as [[Mabon]] |
|||
* [[September 30]] - [[Rosh Hashanah]] |
|||
* [[October 1]] - [[Eid ul-Fitr]] |
|||
* [[October 9]] - [[Yom Kippur]] |
|||
* [[October 28]] - [[Diwali]] |
|||
* [[November 1]] - [[Samhain]], a [[Cross-quarter day]] and [[Neopaganism|Neopagan]] new year |
|||
* [[November 30]] - [[St. Andrew's Day]], Scottish national day |
|||
* [[December 8]] - [[Immaculate Conception]] |
|||
* [[December 8]] - [[Eid al-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=== |
|||
<!--THIS SECTION IS FOR BOOKS SET IN 2008, NOT BOOKS PUBLISHED IN 2008. --> |
|||
*[[Isaac Asimov]]'s 1955 short story ''[[Franchise (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 (author)|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 war|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 [[handgun]]s on March 29. |
|||
*[[Ian McDonald (author)|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: |
|||
<!--THIS SECTION IS FOR GAMES SET IN 2008, NOT GAMES RELEASED IN 2008 --> |
|||
<!--THE GAME GTA IV IS SET IN THE SAME YEAR AS IT IS RELEASED --> |
|||
* ''[[Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon|Ghost Recon]]'' (2001): Russia attempts to reunite the Soviet Union and invades several Eastern European countries. The UN intervenes with peacekeeping forces. |
|||
* ''[[Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell|Splinter Cell]]'' series: [[Sam Fisher]] goes undercover. |
|||
* ''[[Twisted Metal III]]'' (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 (video game)|Mega Man]]'' (1987) |
|||
* ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV]]'' (2008)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3167196|title=GTA4: What You Really Need to Know from 1UP.com<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> |
|||
===Film=== |
|||
<!-- This is for films that are set in 2008, not films that will be released in 2008. --> |
|||
Set in 2008: |
|||
* ''[[Jason X]]'' ([[Friday the 13th (franchise)|''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 [[execution by firing squad|firing squad]], and [[hanging]] are all tried - none of which work. |
|||
* ''[[The Lake House (film)|The Lake House]]'' (2006): The ending takes place on Valentine's Day, 2008. |
|||
* ''[[5 Centimeters Per Second]]'' (2007): The final act takes place in [[Tokyo]] during 2008. |
|||
* ''[[Doomsday (film)|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 film)|The Manchurian Candidate]]'' (2004) |
|||
*''[[Deterrence (film)|Deterrence]]'' (2000) |
|||
<!-- This is for films that are already set set in 2008, not films that will be released in 2008. --> |
|||
===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.<ref> {{cite news | title = Amazon.com: Dawson's Creek - The Series Finale (Extended Cut) Product Page | publisher = [[Amazon.com]] | url = http://www.amazon.com/Dawsons-Creek-Finale-Extended-Cut/dp/B0000AUHQ9 }} </ref> |
|||
* The [[List of Doctor Who serials#Series 3 (2007)|2007 series]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]'': Present time (such as "[[Smith and Jones (Doctor Who)|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 travel|time machine]] will be invented in 2008. |
|||
* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'': According to the episode [[Out of Time (Heroes)|Out of Time]], the [[List of characters in Heroes#Shanti Suresh|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 the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "[[Space Pilot 3000]]", Stop 'N Drop [[suicide booth]]s are claimed to have been "America's Favorite" since 2008. Whether this is the use of an advertising hyperbole to indicate that they were introduced in 2008, or that they gained a plurality of market share in 2008 is not concluded. |
|||
{{Events by month}} |
|||
==References== |
|||
{{reflist}} |
|||
==External links== |
|||
* [http://www.accuracyproject.org/2008calendar.html 2008 Calendar] at Internet Accuracy Project |
|||
[[Category:2008| ]] |
|||
[[af:2008]] |
|||
[[als:2000er#2008]] |
|||
[[am:2008 እ.ኤ.አ.]] |
|||
[[ang:2008]] |
|||
[[ar:2008]] |
|||
[[an:2008]] |
|||
[[frp:2008]] |
|||
[[ast:2008]] |
|||
[[gn:2008]] |
|||
[[av:2008]] |
|||
[[ay:2008]] |
|||
[[az:2008]] |
|||
[[bn:২০০৮]] |
|||
[[zh-min-nan:2008 nî]] |
|||
[[be:2008]] |
|||
[[be-x-old:2008]] |
|||
[[bh:२००८]] |
|||
[[bs:2008]] |
|||
[[br:2008]] |
|||
[[bg:2008]] |
|||
[[ca:2008]] |
|||
[[cv:2008]] |
|||
[[ceb:2008]] |
|||
[[cs:2008]] |
|||
[[za:2008 bi]] |
|||
[[cy:2008]] |
|||
[[da:2008]] |
|||
[[de:2008]] |
|||
[[et:2008]] |
|||
[[el:2008]] |
|||
[[es:2008]] |
|||
[[eo:2008]] |
|||
[[eu:2008]] |
|||
[[fa:۲۰۰۸ (میلادی)]] |
|||
[[ext:2008]] |
|||
[[fo:2008]] |
|||
[[fr:2008]] |
|||
[[fy:2008]] |
|||
[[fur:2008]] |
|||
[[ga:2008]] |
|||
[[gv:2008]] |
|||
[[gd:2008]] |
|||
[[gl:2008]] |
|||
[[glk:2008]] |
|||
[[gan:2008年]] |
|||
[[zh-classical:二〇〇八年]] |
|||
[[ko:2008년]] |
|||
[[hy:2008]] |
|||
[[hi:२००८]] |
|||
[[hif:2008]] |
|||
[[hr:2008.]] |
|||
[[io:2008]] |
|||
[[ig:2008]] |
|||
[[ilo:2008]] |
|||
[[bpy:মারি ২০০৮]] |
|||
[[id:2008]] |
|||
[[ia:2008]] |
|||
[[os:2008]] |
|||
[[is:2008]] |
|||
[[it:2008]] |
|||
[[he:2008]] |
|||
[[jv:2008]] |
|||
[[kn:೨೦೦೮]] |
|||
[[ka:2008]] |
|||
[[csb:2008]] |
|||
[[kk:2008]] |
|||
[[kw:2008]] |
|||
[[sw:2008]] |
|||
[[ku:2008]] |
|||
[[lo:2008]] |
|||
[[la:2008]] |
|||
[[lv:2008]] |
|||
[[lb:2008]] |
|||
[[lt:2008 m.]] |
|||
[[lij:2008]] |
|||
[[li:2008]] |
|||
[[hu:2008]] |
|||
[[mk:2008]] |
|||
[[ml:2008]] |
|||
[[mi:2008]] |
|||
[[mr:इ.स. २००८]] |
|||
[[mzn:2008]] |
|||
[[ms:2008]] |
|||
[[nah:2008]] |
|||
[[na:2008]] |
|||
[[nl:2008]] |
|||
[[nds-nl:2008]] |
|||
[[new:२००८]] |
|||
[[ja:2008年]] |
|||
[[nap:2008]] |
|||
[[no:2008]] |
|||
[[nn:2008]] |
|||
[[nrm:2008]] |
|||
[[nov:2008]] |
|||
[[oc:2008]] |
|||
[[or:୨୦୦୮]] |
|||
[[uz:2008]] |
|||
[[pa:੨੦੦੮]] |
|||
[[pi:२००८]] |
|||
[[pag:2008]] |
|||
[[pms:2008]] |
|||
[[nds:2008]] |
|||
[[pl:2008]] |
|||
[[pt:2008]] |
|||
[[crh:2008]] |
|||
[[ksh:Joohr 2008]] |
|||
[[ro:2008]] |
|||
[[qu:2008]] |
|||
[[ru:2008 год]] |
|||
[[se:2008]] |
|||
[[sah:2008 сыл]] |
|||
[[sq:2008]] |
|||
[[scn:2008]] |
|||
[[simple:2008]] |
|||
[[sk:2008]] |
|||
[[sl:2008]] |
|||
[[sr:2008]] |
|||
[[sh:2008]] |
|||
[[su:2008]] |
|||
[[fi:2008]] |
|||
[[szl:2008]] |
|||
[[sv:2008]] |
|||
[[tl:2008]] |
|||
[[ta:2008]] |
|||
[[kab:2008]] |
|||
[[tt:2008]] |
|||
[[te:2008]] |
|||
[[th:พ.ศ. 2551]] |
|||
[[vi:2008]] |
|||
[[tg:2008]] |
|||
[[tr:2008]] |
|||
[[tk:2008]] |
|||
[[bug:2008]] |
|||
[[uk:2008]] |
|||
[[ur:2008ء]] |
|||
[[vec:2008]] |
|||
[[vo:2008]] |
|||
[[fiu-vro:2008]] |
|||
[[wa:2008]] |
|||
[[vls:2008]] |
|||
[[wuu:公元2008年]] |
|||
[[yi:2008]] |
|||
[[yo:2008]] |
|||
[[zh-yue:2008年]] |
|||
[[diq:2008]] |
|||
[[bat-smg:2008]] |
|||
[[zh:2008年]] |
Revision as of 09:36, 11 October 2008
Millennium: | 3rd millennium |
---|---|
Centuries: | |
Decades: | |
Years: |
2008 by topic |
---|
2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini).
2008 has been designated as:
- International Year of Planet Earth.[1]
- International Year of Languages.[2]
- International Year of the Potato.[3]
- International Year of Sanitation.[4]
- International Year of the Frog.[5]
- European Year of Intercultural Dialogue.[6]
Events
January
- January 1 - Cyprus, Malta, and Akrotiri and Dhekelia adopt the euro.[7][8] A suicide bombing occurs in Zayouna, Baghdad killing over 25 people during a funeral over the deaths from preceding attack. [9]
- January 2 - The price of petroleum hits $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.[10]
- January 14 - At 19:04:39 UTC, the MESSENGER space probe is at its closest approach during its first flyby of the planet Mercury.[11]
- 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 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 EADS 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.[12]
- January 29 - Iran's judiciary sentences to prison 54 Bahá'í religion followers for charity work.[13][14]
February
- February 2 - Rebels attack the capital of Chad, N'Djamena.[15]
- February 4 - Iran opens its first space center and launches a rocket to space.[16]
- February 4 - A Palestinian suicide bomber kills one and wounds thirteen in a Dimona, Israel shopping center.[17]
- 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.[18]
- February 12 - PDVSA, a state oil company in Venezuela, suspends sales of crude oil to ExxonMobil, in response to a legal challenge by them.[19]
- 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.[20]
- February 13 - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia delivers a formal apology to the Stolen Generations.[21]
- February 17 - A suicide bombing by a Taliban member kills up to 80 in Kandahar, Afghanistan[22]
- February 17 - Kosovo formally declares independence from Serbia, with support from some countries but opposition from others.[23]
- 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.[24]
- 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.[25]
- 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.[26]
- February 20 - Total lunar eclipse - North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Western Asia.
- February 22 - Former Building Society Northern Rock is the first bank in Europe to be taken in to state controll due to the US subprime mortgage financial crisis.
- February 22 - No survivors are found after a rescue helicopter discovers the wreckage of Santa Bárbara Airlines 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–April - Rising food and fuel prices trigger riots and unrest in the Third World.
- 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 Gërdec kills more than 30 people. Over the following week, Albania, Kosovo, and some surrounding countries supply and support Gërdec'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.[27]
- March 24 - Bhutan holds its first-ever general elections.[28]
- March 25 - A 414 square kilometer (160 mi.2) 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.[29]
April
- April 8 - Sark dismantles its feudal system to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights. The Privy Council approved the Sark law reforms,[30] and the first elections under the new law will be held in December 2008 and the new chamber will first convene in January 2009.[31][32][33]
- April 15 - A Hewa Bora Airways DC-9 commercial airplane crashes into a residential area of Goma, DR Congo.
- April 17 - Raila Odinga becomes the new Prime Minister of Kenya after the formation of a coalition government ending the political crisis in Kenya.
- 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.[34]
- April 28 - India sets a world record by sending 10 satellites into orbit in a single launch.[35]
- April 28 - 71 die in a train crash in Shandong, China.[36]
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 14 - NASA announces the discovery of Supernova remnant G1.9+0.3
- May 15 - An oil pipeline explodes in Ijegun, Nigeria, killing 100.
- 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 - The NASA's Phoenix spacecraft becomes the first spacecraft to land on the northern polar-region of Mars.[37]
- 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, 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 11 - Kimberly Louise Yap's 12th Birthday.
- 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 14 – September 14 - Expo 2008 was held in Zaragoza in Spain, with the topic of "Water and sustainable development".
- 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 reelected with 85.5% of the vote in the second round of the controversial Zimbabwean presidential election.
- June 27 - After three decades as the Chairman of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates steps down from daily duties to concentrate on philanthropy.[38][39]
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 7–9 - 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.[40]
- 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.[41]
- 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.[42]
- 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.[43][44]
- July 30 – August 5 - The XXII World Congress of Philosophy is held in Seoul, South Korea.[45]
August
- August 1 - King George Tupou V is crowned as the new king of Tonga, an event that had been delayed for over two years following the 2006 Nuku'alofa riots.[46]
- August 3 - A stampede at a Hindu temple at Naina Devi in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, India kills 162 and injures 400.
- August 4 - Two members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which had threatened to attack the Beijing Olympics, kill 16 and injure another 16 officers at a police station in Kashgar, Xinjiang, China.[47][48]
- August 6 - President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi of Mauritania is deposed in a military coup d'état.
- August 7 - The 2008 South Ossetia war begins as Georgia and Russia launch 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.[49]
- 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.[50]
- August 17 - Michael Phelps surpasses Mark Spitz in Olympic Gold Medals won at a single Olympics, with 8 gold medals.[51]
- August 18 - Pervez Musharraf resigns from the post of President of Pakistan under impeachment pressure from the coalition government.[52]
- August 19 - The Taliban insurgents kill 10 and injure 21 French soldiers in an ambush in Afghanistan.[53]
- August 19 - A suicide bomber rams a car into an Algerian military academy and the resulting explosion kills 43 and injures 45.[54]
- August 20 - Spanair Flight 5022, from Madrid to Gran Canaria, skids off the runway and crashes at Barajas Airport with 172 on board. 153 of them are killed and only 18 survive.[55]
- August 21 - At least 60 die following twin suicide bombings outside the Pakistan Ordnance Factories in Wah, Pakistan.
- August 22 - Pirates hijack German, Iranian, and Japanese cargo ships off the coast of Somalia, seven of such attacks since June 20.[56]
- August 24 - An aircraft crashes in Guatemala, killing 10, including 4 Americans on a humanitarian mission.[57]
- August 24 - Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895 crashes upon takeoff near Manas International Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, killing 68.[58]
- August 26 - Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of Georgian breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia.[59]
- August 26 – September 1 - Hurricane Gustav makes landfall on Louisiana as Category 2 and kills 7 in the United States, after making landfall on western Cuba as Category 4, and killing 66 in Haiti, 8 in the Dominican Republic, and 11 in Jamaica.[60][61]
- August 28 – September 7 - Hurricane Hanna causes 7 deaths in the United States, and 529 in Haiti mostly due to floods and mudslides.[62]
September
- September 1–14 - Hurricane Ike makes landfall on Texas as Category 2 and kills 27 in the United States, after killing 4 in Cuba, 1 in the Dominican Republic, and 75 in Haiti.[63][64]
- September 2 - Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of Japan resigns less than a year after taking office following Shinzo Abe's resignation.[65]
- September 2 - Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej of Thailand declares a state of emergency in Bangkok.[66]
- September 3 - Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani of Pakistan survives an assassination attempt near Islamabad while on his way to meet the British Leader of the Opposition David Cameron.
- September 3 - Cyprus peace talks between the Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and the TRNC leader Mehmet Ali Talat are held in Nicosia, aimed at reunifying the 34-year-divided island.[67][68]
- September 6 - Asif Ali Zardari is elected as the President of Pakistan by the Electoral College of Pakistan.[69]
- September 6 - At least eight boulders peel of a cliff near Cairo, Egypt, killing at least 18 and burying an estimated 500 people.[70]
- September 7 - Global financial crisis: In one of the largest banking interventions in United States history, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are placed into conservatorship by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.[71]
- September 7 - On the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Governor General Michaëlle Jean dissolves the 39th Canadian Parliament and calls early elections.[72]
- September 9 - The Constitutional Court of Thailand orders Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to resign after receiving payment for appearing on a television cooking show.[73]
- September 10 - The proton beam is circulated for the first time in the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and the highest-energy collider. It is located at CERN, near Geneva, under the Franco-Swiss border.[74][75]
- September 12 - A Metrolink train collides head-on into a freight train in Los Angeles, California, killing 25 and injuring 130.[76]
- September 14 - Aeroflot Flight 821 crashes near the city of Perm, Russia, killing all 88 on board.[77]
- September 15 - Global financial crisis: Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy protection, in the largest bankruptcy in United States history.[78]
- September 15 - Following negotiations, President Robert Mugabe and opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara sign a power-sharing deal, making Tsvangirai the new Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
- September 16 - Global financial crisis: The US Government, through the Federal Reserve, lends $85 billion dollars to AIG in exchange for the right to buy 80% of the company, in another of the largest US interventions in the banking industry.
- September 17 - The International Astronomical Union classifies Haumea as the fifth dwarf planet in the Solar System.[79]
- September 19–25 - Typhoon Hagupit kills 17 in China, 8 in the Philippines, 1 in Taiwan, and 41 in Vietnam.[80]
- September 20 - A suicide truck bomb explosion destroys the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at least 60 and injuring 266.[81][82][83]
- September 21 - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel resigns.[84]
- September 21 - President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa resigns after accepting a call by African National Congress.[85]
- September 24 - The Diet of Japan elects Taro Aso as the new Prime Minister of Japan.[86]
- September 25 - Kgalema Motlanthe is elected by the National Assembly of South Africa as the President of South Africa, succeeding Thabo Mbeki.[87]
- September 25 - Shenzhou 7, the third manned Chinese spaceflight and the first with three crew members, is successfully launched. China becomes the third country ever to conduct a spacewalk.[88]
- September 25 - Global financial crisis: In the largest bank failure in U.S. history, Washington Mutual is placed into receivership by the Office of Thrift Supervision. As receiver, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation sells the bank's accounts and operations to JPMorgan Chase.[89]
- September 28 - SpaceX Falcon 1 becomes the world's first privately developed space launch vehicle successfully to make orbit.[90][91]
- September 29 - Global financial crisis: The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is rejected by the U.S. House of Representatives and, as a result, the Dow Jones stock market index records its largest-ever one-day fall of 777.68 points.[92]
October
- October 3 - Global financial crisis: U.S. President George W. Bush signs the revised Emergency Economic Stabilization Act into law, creating a 700 billion dollar Treasury fund to purchase failing bank assets.[93]
- October 6 - The NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its second of three flybys of Mercury, decreasing the velocity for orbital insertion on March 18, 2011.[94][95]
- October 6 - Global financial crisis: The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls below 10,000 points for the first time since October 29, 2004.[96]
- October 6 - An earthquake measuring 6.6 magnitude hits Kyrgyzstan, killing at least 65 people.[97]
- October 7 - Global financial crisis: Russia agrees to provide Iceland with a four-billion-euro loan.[98][99]
- October 7 - The meteoroid 2008 TC3 impacts Earth, becoming the first such object to be discovered prior to impact.[100]
- October 9 - Global financial crisis: Following a major banking and financial crisis in Iceland, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority takes control of three largest banks in the country: Kaupthing Bank,[101][102] Landsbanki,[103][104] and Glitnir.[105][106]
- October 9 - Global financial crisis: The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 679 points, or 7.3 percent, and plunges below 8,600 for the first time since May 21, 2003.[107]
Predicted and scheduled events
October
- October 21 - The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be officially inaugurated. The LHC is a collaboration of over 10,000 scientists and engineers from over 100 countries as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories.[108][109][110]
- October 22 - The ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft will be launched to the Moon.[111][112]
November
- November 4 - Election of the 44th President of the United States and the 47th Vice President.
- November 6 - King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan will be crowned, having ascended to the throne in 2006.[113]
- November 11 - The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 will depart on her last voyage from Southampton, UK to Dubai, UAE. She will become a floating hotel at Palm Jumeirah.[114][115]
- November 14 - On STS-126, the Space Shuttle Endeavour will use the MPLM Leonardo to deliver experiment and storage racks to the International Space Station.[116]
- November 22 - APEC Peru 2008 Summit in Lima.
- November 25 - Greenland will hold referendum for increased autonomy from Denmark.[117]
December
- December 15 - The Electoral college meets in 51 locations officially to elect the 44th President of the United States.
Unknown dates
- The United Nations is to review drug policies around the world.[118][119]
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 9 - Baba Amte, Indian social activist (b. 1914)
- 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 Mughniyah, Lebanese militant (b. 1962)
- February 12 - Badri Patarkatsishvili, Georgian businessman and politician (b. 1955)
- February 13 - Kon Ichikawa, Japanese film director (b. 1915)
- February 13 - Henri Salvador, French singer (b. 1917)
- February 15 - Steve Fossett, American adventurer[120] (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, 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 and writer (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 - Johnny Griffin, American saxophonist (b. 1928)
- July 25 - Randy Pausch, American author and computer scientist (b. 1960)
- July 27 - Youssef Chahine, Egyptian film director (b. 1926)
- July 29 - Mate Parlov, Croatian boxer (b. 1948)
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 13 - Henri Cartan, French mathematician (b. 1904)
- August 15 - Jerry Wexler, American music producer (b. 1917)
- August 16 - Ronnie Drew, Irish singer (b. 1934)
- August 16 - Masanobu Fukuoka, Japanese microbiologist (b. 1913)
- August 19 - Levy Mwanawasa, President of Zambia (b. 1948)
- August 20 - Hua Guofeng, Chinese premier (b. 1921)
- August 23 - Thomas Huckle Weller, American virologist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
- August 28 - Phil Hill, American race car driver (b. 1927)
September
- September 1 - Don LaFontaine, American voice actor (b. 1940)
- September 6 - Antonio Innocenti, Italian cardinal (b. 1915)
- September 6 - Anita Page, American actress (b. 1910)
- September 9 - Nouhak Phoumsavanh, President of Laos (b. 1910)
- September 12 - David Foster Wallace, American writer (b. 1962)
- September 15 - Richard Wright, English musician (b. 1943)
- September 18 - Mauricio Kagel, Argentine composer (b. 1931)
- September 26 - Paul Newman, American actor (b. 1925)
October
- October 1 - Boris Efimov, Russian political cartoonist (b. 1900)
- October 6 - Paavo Haavikko, Finnish poet (b. 1931)
- October 8 - George Emil Palade, Romanian Nobel Prize-winning cell biologist (b. 1912)
- October 10 - Alexey Prokurorov, Russian cross-country skier (b. 1964)
- October 11 - Jörg Haider, Austrian politician (b. 1950)
Nobel Prizes
- Chemistry - Martin Chalfie, Osamu Shimomura, Roger Y. Tsien
- Economics - to be announced
- Literature - Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
- Peace - Martti Ahtisaari
- Physics - Makoto Kobayashi, Toshihide Maskawa, Yoichiro Nambu
- Physiology or Medicine - Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Harald zur Hausen, Luc Montagnier
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 - Saint 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).[121] This March 17 will be the last one to fall within Holy Week until 2160.[122]
- 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 - Vaisakhi
- 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 2 - Start of Ramadan
- September 22 - September Equinox, also known as Mabon
- September 30 - Rosh Hashanah
- October 1 - Eid ul-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 al-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 III (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)[123]
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 Centimeters 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)
- Deterrence (2000)
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.[124]
- 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 the Futurama episode "Space Pilot 3000", Stop 'N Drop suicide booths are claimed to have been "America's Favorite" since 2008. Whether this is the use of an advertising hyperbole to indicate that they were introduced in 2008, or that they gained a plurality of market share in 2008 is not concluded.
References
- ^ "International Year of Planet Earth".
- ^ "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 the Potato 2008.
- ^ International Year of Sanitation.
- ^ "2008 - International Year of the Frog - Zoos Victoria".
- ^ "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).
- ^ Partlow, Joshua and Sabah, Zaid (January 2 2008). "Suicide Blast at Baghdad Funeral of Bomb Victim Kills Dozens". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 9.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
and|date=
(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=
ignored (|access-date=
suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "micnews.com.mk/node/12061".
- ^ "Mercury Flyby 1". Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
{{cite web}}
: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=
(help) - ^ "Bloomberg.com: Worldwide".
- ^ "Iran sentences Bahai religious followers for 'anti-regime propaganda'". AFP. Archived from the original on 2008-02-02.
- ^ Iran sentences Bahais for 'anti-regime propaganda', Aljazeera
- ^ "Gun Battles in Chad's Capital as Rebel Forces Storm In".
- ^ "Iran Opens Space Center, Launches Rocket", Associated Press
- ^ "Dimona bombing: Suicide attack in Israel first in a year", 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".
{{cite web}}
: Text "Reuters" ignored (help) - ^ "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".
{{cite web}}
: Text "Reuters" ignored (help) - ^ "BBC News".
{{cite web}}
: Text "Musharraf rules out resignation" ignored (help); Text "South Asia" ignored (help); Text "World" ignored (help) - ^ "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".
- ^ 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
- ^ "Phoenix Mars Mission".
- ^ "Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft today".
- ^ "Bill Gates steps down as Microsoft head to concentrate on philanthropy".
- ^ "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) - ^ "The XXII World Congress of Philosophy 2008".
- ^ "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) - ^ "Beijing 2008 - It's a wrap".
- ^ "Former communist becomes Nepal PM". CNN. 08-15-2008. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "ESPN - Michael Phelps' history run at 2008 Olympics - Olympics".
- ^ "Pakistan's Musharraf steps down".
- ^ "Taliban kill 10 French troops in Afghanistan".
- ^ "Bomb kills 43 at Algerian military academy".
- ^ "DNA tests for those killed in Madrid crash". BBC. 08-20-2008. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "Official says pirates have seized a German ship off Somalia, the third in a day".
- ^ "Ten killed in Guatemala small plane crash".
- ^ "Plane crashes in Kyrgyz capital".
- ^ "Statement by President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev". Russia's President web site. 2008-08-26. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
- ^ "Gustav evacuees urged to stay away".
- ^ "Hurricane Season 2008: Tropical Storm Gustav (Central Caribbean)".
- ^ "Hanna closes in on U.S. as Ike becomes major hurricane".
- ^ "Galveston 'unhealthy and unsafe,' city manager says".
- ^ "Hurricane Ike barrels over Cuba".
- ^ "Japanese PM, Yasuo Fukuda, in shock resignation after just one year in job".
- ^ "Thailand's prime minister declares state of emergency".
- ^ "Cyprus leaders begin peace talks".
- ^ "Q&A: Cyprus peace process".
- ^ "Bhutto widower Zardari elected Pakistan's new president".
- ^ "Hundreds feared trapped in Egypt rockslide".
- ^ Paulson, Henry M., Jr. (2008-09-07). "Statement by Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. on Treasury and Federal Housing Finance Agency Action to Protect Financial Markets and Taxpayers". United States Department of the Treasury. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
{{cite news}}
: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=
(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Canadian PM calls snap election".
- ^ "Cooking show stint derails Thai prime minister".
- ^ "First beam in the LHC - accelerating science".
- ^ "Large Hadron Collider fired up in 'God particle' hunt".
- ^ "Human error led to fatal train collision, spokeswoman says".
- ^ "Russian plane crash kills 88, faulty engine blamed".
- ^ "The meltdown".
- ^ "News Release - IAU0807: IAU names fifth dwarf planet Haumea".
- ^ "Vietnam bars boats from Halong Bay ahead of typhoon".
- ^ "At Least 40 Killed in Huge Explosion at Pakistan Hotel".
- ^ "Deadly blast targets Marriott Hotel in Islamabad".
- ^ "Dozens killed in Pakistan attack".
- ^ "Scandal-hit Olmert formally resigns".
- ^ "South Africa president steps down".
- ^ "Taro Aso set to become Japan's PM".
- ^ "Cabinet bids farewell to Mbeki".
- ^ Chinese astronaut walks in space
- ^ Government Seizes WaMu and Sells Some Assets
- ^ "Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - Falcon 1 Flight 4".
- ^ "Falcon rocket success for SpaceX".
- ^ "Stocks crushed".
- ^ Raum, Tom (October 3, 2008) Bush signs $700 billion bailout bill Associated Press (Retrieved October 3, 2008)
- ^ "Science Timeline for Monday's MESSENGER flyby of Mercury".
- ^ "APL's MESSENGER fact sheet" (PDF).
- ^ Alexandra Twin, CNNMoney.com senior writer (October 6, 2008) Dow falls below 10,000 CNNMoney.com (Retrieved October 6, 2008)
- ^ "Deadly earthquake hits Kyrgyzstan". BBC News. Monday, 6 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Central Bank of Iceland, The Foreign Exchange Reserves of the Central Bank of Iceland bolstered (07.10.2008; No. 31/2008)
- ^ Central Bank of Iceland, Foreign exchange reserves (07.10.2008; No. 33/2008)
- ^ "Incoming!!!". Retrieved 2008-10-08.
- ^ The Financial Supervisory Authority - Iceland, News: Based on New Legislation, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (FME) Proceeds to take Control of Kaupþing to ensure Continued Commercial Bank Operations in Iceland (09.10.2008)
- ^ Kaupthing Bank, Press release: Kaupthing Bank turns to the Icelandic FSA (2008.10.09)
- ^ The Financial Supervisory Authority - Iceland, News: Based on New Legislation, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (IFSA) Proceeds to take Control of Landsbanki to ensure Continued Commercial Bank Operations in Iceland (07.10.2008)
- ^ Landsbanki Íslands, Press release: Landsbanki's Operations Continued Under Unchanged Management (October 07, 2008)
- ^ The Financial Supervisory Authority - Iceland, News: Based on New Legislation, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (FME) Proceeds to take Control of Glitnir to ensure Continued Commercial Bank Operations in Iceland (08.10.2008)
- ^ Glitnir Bank, News: Glitnir's Operations Continued – Lárus Welding to continue as CEO (08.10.2008)
- ^ "Stocks Plunge Again; Dow Under 8,600". The New York Times. October 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
- ^ "LHC to be inaugurated on 21 October 2008".
- ^ "Final LHC Synchronization Test a Success".
- ^ "Large Hadron Collider: thirteen ways to change the world".
- ^ "Chandrayaan-1".
- ^ "Chandrayaan-1 launch on Oct 22".
- ^ "Bhutan king to be crowned at last".
- ^ "QE2 To Leave Cunard Fleet And Be Sold To Dubai World To Begin A New Life At The Palm".
- ^ "RMS Britannia (1840) to RMS Queen Victoria (2007) and Beyond".
- ^ "NASA's Shuttle and Rocket Missions".
- ^ "www.haaba.com/news/2008/01/09/7-73517/greenland-to-vote-on-wider-autonomy-from-denmark-government.html".
- ^ Kavan, Jan. "Address to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs at its 46th session". United Nations.
- ^ "Countdown to 2008 : The Deadline for a New Global Drug Policy". The Senlis Council. Archived from the original on 2007-02-08.
- ^ 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