- January 8
- Queen Elizabeth II christens the Cunard Line's RMS Queen Mary 2 cruise liner, the largest ocean liner in the world (151,400 gross tons, 3090 passengers). [5] [25] [67.31] [89.33]
- January 13
- In England, serial killer Harold Shipman is found hanged in his cell at Wakefield Prison, four years after being convicted of murdering 15 patients in Cheshire. Shipman was blamed for the deaths of a further 200 patients at an inquest 18 months ago and some reports claimed that he may have murdered as many as 400 or 500 people. [25]
- January 16
- The Estonian government decides to join the European exchange rate mechanism on May 1. [605.204]
- January 20
- Cargo vessel Rocknes capsizes off Bergen, Norway, spilling several thousand litres of oil and bunker fuel along the coastline. [522]
- January 24
- At 05:05 UTC, NASA's MER-B (Opportunity) rover lands on Mars. [5] [25]
- January 26
- A whale explodes in Tainan City, Taiwan. [25]
- January 28
- The findings of the Hutton Inquiry are published in London. The British Government is found not to have falsified information in the "sexed up dossier". The report criticizes the BBC's role in the death of David Kelly, a weapons expert on Iraq. [25]
- February 1
- A hajj stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills 251 pilgrims. [25]
- February 2
- An eleven-story apartment building collapses in Konya, Turkey, killing more than 90 residents. [25]
- February 3
- The US Central Intelligence Agency admits that there was no imminent threat from weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. [25]
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- Jóannes Eidesgaard becomes Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands. [25]
- February 6
- A suicide bomber kills 41 people on a metro car in Moscow. [25]
- February 7
- Several leaders of Abnaa el-Balad are arrested in Israel. [25]
- February 10
- At least 50 people are killed in a car bomb attack on a police recruitment centre south of Baghdad. [25]
- The French National Assembly votes to pass a law banning religious items and clothing from schools. [25]
- February 11
- Comcast in the USA launches a US$54 billion hostile takeover bid for the Walt Disney Company. The bid is withdrawn on April 28. [6]
- February 13
- Athens, Greece, is hit by a major blizzard which blankets the entire city for days, causing widespread havoc. [25]
- Scientists in South Korea announce the cloning of 30 human embryos. [25]
- The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics discovers the universe's largest known diamond, white dwarf star BPM 37093. [5]
- February 14
- Riots break out between New South Wales Police and Aboriginal residents of Redfern, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. [25]
- The roof of the Transvaal water park in Moscow collapses, killing 25 and injuring more than 100. [25]
- February 17
- (to February 20) A nor'easter blizzard devastates Atlantic Canada, dumping more than 95 centimetres on some areas. [25]
- February 18
- A train carrying a convoy of petrol, fertiliser, and sulfur derails and explodes in Iran, killing 320 people. [25]
- February 20
- Conservatives win a majority in the Iranian parliament election. [25]
- February 24
- A 6.5 Richter scale earthquake in Northern Morocco hits in the Rif mountains near the city of Al Hoceima, killing 400. Ait Kamara is destroyed; 517 are killed. [25]
- February 26
- The United States lifts a 23-year travel ban against Libya. [25]
- Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash while landing in poor weather near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. [25] [105]
- February 28
- Over one million Taiwanese participating in the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally form a 500-kilometre (300-mile) long human chain to commemorate the 228 Incident in 1947. [25]
- February 29
- Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as president of Haiti. The chief justice of the Haitian Supreme Court, Boniface Alexandre, is sworn in as interim president. [25]
- The film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King directed by Peter Jackson, wins Academy Awards in every category it was nominated for, with 11 wins in total, including Best Picture and Best Director. [25]
- March 2
- NASA announces that the Mars rover MER-B (Opportunity) has confirmed that its landing area was once drenched in water. [25]
- March 4
- A mixture of synthetic ammonia and nitrogen from the Sichuan General Chemical Factory leaks into the Tuo river in Sichuan province, Chinam shutting down water for drinking and bathing for nearly one million people. [522]
- March 10
- Five British men are released from detention at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay. After they land at RAF Brize Norton, four of them are immediately arrested for questioning. [25]
- March 11
- In Madrid, Spain, ten simultaneous explosions on commuter trains and in rail stations kill 190 people. [25] [46.557] [111.46]
- March 12
- Following the March 11 terrorist attacks in Madrid, millions of protesters take to the streets of Spanish cities against terrorism. [25]
- March 14
- Two suicide bombers kill eleven Israeli civilians in Ashdod, Israel. [25]
- Spanish legislative election: The incumbent government led by José María Aznar is defeated by the Socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. [25] [111.46]
- Russian presidential election: Vladimir Putin easily wins a second term. [25]
- March 15
- The new Spanish Government announces that it will withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops in Iraq. [25]
- March 17
- Pogrom-like organized violence breaks out over two days in Kosovo. Nineteen people are killed, 139 Serbian homes burned, schools and businesses vandalized, and over 30 Orthodox monasteries and churches burned and destroyed. [25]
- March 19
- The United Nations launches a political corruption investigation due to the scandal over its Iraqi Oil for Food program. [25]
- March 20
- President Chen Shui-bian wins the Taiwanese presidential election by 0.2 percent of the vote. [25]
- March 21
- The incumbent Barisan Nasional party wins 198 out of 219 seats in the Parliament of Malaysia. [25]
- Antonio Saca is elected President of El Salvador. [25]
- March 22
- Palestinians protest in the streets after an Israeli helicopter gunship fires a missile at the entourage of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Gaza City, killing him and seven others. [25]
- March 24
- The European Competition Commission labels Microsoft an abusive monopolist. The Commission says Microsoft must offer European computer makers two versions of Windows, with and without Windows Media Player, must share technical information on server software with rivals, and must pay a US$613 million fine. [4]
- March 25
- British Prime Minister Tony Blair visits Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, in return for the dismantling of Libya's weapons of mass destruction programme in December 2003 - the first time a major western leader has visited the nation in several decades. [25]
- March 27
- HMS Scylla, a decommissioned Leander frigate, is sunk as an artificial reef off Cornwall, the first of its kind in Europe. [5]
- March 28
- In France, the government of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin suffers a stunning and unprecedented defeat in regional elections. [25]
- The first ever South Atlantic hurricane makes landfall in South Brazil on the state of Santa Catarina - the hurricane is dubbed Hurricane Catarina. [25]
- March 29
- The Republic of Ireland bans smoking in all enclosed work places, including restaurants, pubs and bars. [25]
- The largest expansion of North Atlantic Treaty Organization to date takes place, allowing Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia into the organization. [25]
- March 31
- Four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA are killed, and their bodies mutilated, after being ambushed in Fallujah, Iraq. [25]
- April 1
- The Faroese Prime Minister's Office announces that from then on the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's Office will use a new version of the Faroese Coat of Arms. The colours were inspired from the Merkið (flag) and yellow/gold was added. The new Coat of Arms depicts a Ram on a blue shield ready to defend. It can be used by the Government Ministries and by Faroese embassies, but some still use older versions of the Coat of Arms. [25]
- April 2
- Microsoft and Sun Microsystems settle long-standing hostilities in signing a ten-year technology sharing agreement. Microsoft pays Sun close to $2 billion to settle past issues and for royalty payments. [4]
- April 5
- Queen Elizabeth II begins a state visit to France to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale. [25]
- April 8
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes AT&T Corporation, Eastman Kodak Company and International Paper Company from its index, replacing them with American International Group Incorporated, Pfizer Incorporated, and Verizon Communications Incorporated. [227] [228]
- The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups. [25]
- April 17
- Israeli helicopters fire missiles at a convoy of vehicles in the Gaza Strip, killing the Gaza leader of Hamas, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi. [25]
- April 20
- In Iraq, 12 mortars are fired on Abu Ghraib Prison by insurgents; 22 detainees are killed and 92 wounded. [25]
- April 21
- Mordechai Vanunu, who revealed an Israeli nuclear weapons programme in the 1980s, is released from prison in Israel after serving 18 years for treason. [25]
- April 22
- Two trains carrying explosives and fuel collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing 161 people, injuring 1,300 and destroying thousands of homes. [25]
- The last coal mine in France closes, ending nearly 300 years of coal mining. [25]
- April 24
- Referendums on the Annan Plan for Cyprus, which proposes to re-unite the island of Cyprus, take place in both the Republic of Cyprus controlled and the Turkish controlled parts. Although the Turkish Cypriots vote in favour, the Greek Cypriots reject the proposal. [25]
- April 26
- Heinz Fischer is elected the new president of Austria. [37]
- April 28
- Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse in Iraq is revealed on the US television show 60 Minutes II. [25]
- April 29
- The last Oldsmobile car rolls off of the assembly line in the USA, ending 107 years of production. [5] [25]
- May 1
- The largest expansion to date of the European Union takes place, extending the Union by ten member-states: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta and Cyprus. [25] [347.18]
- The Sasser computer worm is first noticed on the loose, affecting Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The worm crashes and rebots computers, replicating itself to other computers. Millions of computers are quickly affected worldwide. [4]
- May 9
- Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov is killed by a landmine placed under a VIP stage during a World War II memorial parade in Grozny. [25]
- May 10
- Philippine general election: Incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is elected for six-year term. [25]
- May 12
- An American civilian contractor in Iraq, Nick Berg, is shown being decapitated by a group allegedly linked to al-Qaida on a web-distributed video. [25]
- May 13
- In India, the Congress Party wins a surprise victory in the elections to the Lok Sabha. [25]
- May 14
- Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, marries Australian Mary Donaldson in Copenhagen. [25]
- Two US Marines are sentenced to prison for electrocuting an Iraqi prisoner a month earlier. [46.445]
- May 15
- Ruslana wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 for Ukraine with the song "Wild Dances", in Istanbul, Turkey. [25]
- May
- The Chinese government allows citizens to purchase and own gold for investment, lifting restrictions imposed in 1949. [350.12]
- May 16
- A coup d'état in Chad against the President Idriss Déby fails. [25]
- The "We Are the Future" concert takes place in Rome, organized by Quincy Jones in partnership with the Glocal Forum. [25]
- May 17
- Ezzedine Salim, holder of the rotating leadership of the Iraqi Governing Council, is killed in a bomb blast in Baghdad. [25]
- May 19
- Tony Blair is hit with a purple flour bomb in the chamber of the House of Commons during a session of Prime Minister's Questions. [25]
- DreamWorks releases the film Shrek 2 to theaters. (Total world gross ticket sales: $920 million (1st for 2004).) [931]
- Jeremy Sivits pleads guilty in a court-martial in connection with alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. [25]
- May 20
- The Olsen specimen of the US 1913 Liberty Head 5-cent piece (Proof 64 NGC) is sold for $3 million. [560.18] [686.18]
- May 23
- A section of the ceiling in Terminal 2E at Paris's Charles de Gaulle International Airport collapses, claiming at least six lives. [25]
- Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi visits North Korea, to secure the release of the families of the nine abducted Japanese citizens returned earlier. [25]
- May 30
- Thousands of people in Hong Kong take to the streets to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. [25]
- June 3
- All outgoing flights from the United Kingdom are temporarily grounded following an air traffic control computer failure. [25]
- June 6
- At the 58th Annual Tony Awards, Avenue Q upsets front-runner Wicked to win the award for Best Musical. [25]
- June 8
- The first transit of Venus since 1882 occurs; the next one will occur in 2012. [25]
- The 30th G8 summit takes place over the next two days on Sea Island, in Georgia, USA. [25]
- The pickled heart of Louis XVII of France is buried in the royal crypt at Saint-Denis. [25]
- June 12
- A 1.3kg chondrite type meteorite (estimated to be four billion years old) strikes a house in Ellerslie, New Zealand, causing serious damage but no injuries. [5] [25] [521]
- June 18
- European delegates agree on the EU constitution. It is anticipated that an additional two years will be required to finish the text and complete the ratification process. [37]
- June 21
- Aftr taking off from Mohave, California, the White Knight carrier plane launches SpaceShipOne rocket plane, which flies into space (62 miles high) and back. This is the first privately-funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight. [25] [1575.24]
- June 25
- Eric Clapton raises about $7.5 million for a drug addiction center he set up in the Caribbean. Some highlights of the sale:
- the "Blackie" Fender Stratocaster guitar that Clapton played from 1970-1985 sells for $1 million (record price for a guitar),
- a 1964 cherry-red Gibson guitar sells for $847,000 (record price for a Gibson guitar),
- a 1939 Martin accoustic guitar that Clapton played on his "Unplugged" album sells for $800,000 (record price for a Martin guitar).
[457]
- June 28
- Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains collide in a rural area outside of San Antonio, Texas. Forty cars are derailed, including one chlorine car. Three people die, another 50 people are hospitalized because of exposure to the gas. [25]
- The U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq transfers sovereignty to an Iraqi Interim Government. [25]
- Canadian election: The Liberal Party, led by Paul Martin, is reduced to a minority government, after holding a majority since November 1993. [25]
- June 30
- Preliminary hearings begin in Iraq in the trial of former president Saddam Hussein, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. [25]
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