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Template:Events by month (2004)

2004 (MMIV) was a leap year that started on a Thursday. In the Gregorian calendar, the year 2004 was the 2004th year in the Anno Domini or Common Era, the 4th year in the 3rd millennium and of the 21st century, and the 5th in the 2000s decade.

The year 2004 was designated the:

International Year of Rice (by the United Nations)
International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO)
2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization)

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Events

January

January 1 – Pervez Musharraf wins a vote of confidence from an electoral college consisting of Parliament and the provincial assemblies, confirming him as President of Pakistan and de facto dictator until 2007.
January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, killing all 148 aboard.
January 4
- Mikhail Saakashvili wins the presidential elections in Georgia.
- NASA's MER-A (Spirit) lands on Mars at 04:35 UTC.
January 8 – Queen Elizabeth II christens the RMS Queen Mary 2 cruise liner, the largest passenger ship afloat. The ship sets sail on her maiden voyage four days later.
January 13 – Serial killer Harold Shipman is found hanged in his cell at Wakefield Prison, four years after being convicted of murdering 15 patients in Cheshire, England.
January 24 – NASA's MER-B (Opportunity) lands on Mars at 05:05 UTC.
January 26 – A whale explodes in Tainan City, Taiwan, while being transported through the town to a university for a necropsy.^[1]
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.

February

February 1
- A hajj stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills 251 pilgrims.
- The New England Patriots win Super Bowl XXXVIII.
February 2 – An 11-story apartment building collapses in Konya, Turkey, killing more than 90 residents.
February 3
- The CIA admits that there was no imminent threat from weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
- Jóannes Eidesgaard becomes prime minister of the Faroe Islands.
February 6 – A suicide bomber kills 41 people on a metro car in Moscow.
February 7 – Several leaders of Abnaa el-Balad are arrested in Israel.
February 10
- At least 50 people are killed in a car bomb attack on a police recruitment centre south of Baghdad.
- The French National Assembly votes to pass a law banning religious items and clothing from schools.
February 12 – San Francisco, California begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in an act of civil disobedience.
February 13
- Athens gets hit by a major blizzard which blankets the entire city for days, causing widespread havoc.
- Scientists in South Korea announce the cloning of 30 human embryos.
February 14
- Riots break out between New South Wales Police and Aboriginal residents of Redfern, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia.
- The roof of the Transvaal water park in Moscow collapses, killing 25 and injuring more than 100.
February 17–February 20 – A nor'easter blizzard devastates Atlantic Canada, dumping more than 37.4 in. (95 cm.) on some areas.
February 18 – A train carrying a convoy of petrol, fertiliser, and sulphur derails and explodes in Iran, killing 320 people.
February 20 – Conservatives win a majority in the Iranian parliament election.
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.
February 26
- The United States lifts a 23-year travel ban against Libya.
- Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
February 27 – 2004 SuperFerry 14 bombing: The Abu Sayyaf guerrilla group is blamed for the deadliest terrorist attack at sea in world history, which kills 116 in the Philippines.
February 28 – Over 1 million Taiwanese participating in the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally form a 500-kilometre (310 mi) long human chain to commemorate the 228 Incident in 1947.
February 29 – 2004 Haiti rebellion: Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as president of Haiti. The chief justice of the Haitian Supreme Court, Boniface Alexandre, is sworn in as interim president.

March

March 2 – NASA announces that the Mars rover MER-B (Opportunity) has confirmed that its landing area was once drenched in water.
March 10 – Five British men are released from detention at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay. After they land at RAF Brize Norton, 4 of them are immediately arrested for questioning.
March 11 – Terrorists execute simultaneous attacks, with bombs in 4 rush-hour trains in Madrid, killing 191 people.
March 12 – Following the terrorist attacks in Madrid the previous day, millions of protesters against terrorism take to the streets of Spanish cities.
March 14
- Two suicide bombers kill 11 Israeli civilians in Ashdod, Israel.
- Spanish legislative election, 2004: The incumbent government led by José María Aznar is defeated by the Socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
- Russian presidential election, 2004: Vladimir Putin easily wins a second term.
March 15 – The new Spanish Government announces that it will withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops in Iraq.
March 17 – A pogrom-like organized violence breaks out over 2 days in Kosovo; 19 people are killed, 8000 Serbian homes burned, schools and businesses vandalized, and over 300 Orthodox monasteries and churches burned and destroyed.
March 19 – The United Nations launches a political corruption investigation due to the scandal over its Iraqi Oil for Food program.
March 20 – President Chen Shui-bian wins the Taiwanese presidential election by 0.2% of the vote. The day before, he and Vice President Annette Lu were shot. Lien Chan refuses to concede and demands a recount. A controversial peace referendum opposed by the People's Republic of China is invalidated.
March 21 – Salvadoran presidential election, 2004: Antonio Saca is elected President of El Salvador.
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 7 others.
March 25 – British prime minister Tony Blair visits Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, in return for the dismantling of Libya's Weapons of mass destruction programme in December 2003 (the first time a major western leader had visited the nation in several decades).
March 28
- In France, the government of prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin suffers a stunning and unprecedented defeat in regional elections.
- The first ever reported South Atlantic hurricane makes landfall in South Brazil in the state of Santa Catarina – the hurricane is dubbed Hurricane Catarina.
March 29
- The Republic of Ireland bans smoking in all enclosed work places, including restaurants, pubs and bars.
- The largest expansion of NATO to date takes place, allowing Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia into the organization.
March 31 – Four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA are killed, and their bodies mutilated, after being ambushed in Fallujah, Iraq.

April

April 5 – Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom begins a state visit to France to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale.
April 8 – Darfur conflict: The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and 2 rebel groups.
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.
April 20 – In Iraq, 12 mortars are fired on Abu Ghraib Prison by insurgents; 22 detainees are killed and 92 wounded. [1]
April 21 – Mordechai Vanunu, who revealed an Israeli nuclear weapons program in the 1980s, is released from prison in Israel after serving 18 years for treason.
April 22
- Ryongchon disaster: Two trains carrying explosives and fuel collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing 161 people, injuring 1,300 and destroying thousands of homes.
- The last coal mine in France closes, ending nearly 300 years of coal mining.
April 24 – Referendums on the Annan Plan for Cyprus, which proposes to re-unite the island, take place in both the Greek-controlled and the Turkish-controlled parts. Although the Turkish Cypriots vote in favour, the Greek Cypriots reject the proposal.
April 28 – Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse in Iraq is revealed on the television show 60 Minutes II.
April 29 – The last Oldsmobile rolls off of the assembly line.

May

May 1 – The largest expansion to date of the European Union takes place, extending the Union by 10 member-states: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta and Cyprus.
May 8 – Would-be "Saudi Princess" "Antoinette Millard" surfaces in New York City, claiming that muggers had stolen jewels worth of $262,000 from her (she later proves to be an impostor).
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.
May 10 – Philippine general election, 2004: Incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is elected for a 6-year term.
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.
May 14 – Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, marries Australian Mary Donaldson in Copenhagen.
May 15 – South Africa is awarded the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
May 16 – A coup d'état in Chad against President Idriss Déby fails.
May 17
- Ezzedine Salim, holder of the rotating leadership of the Iraq Interim Governing Council, is killed in a bomb blast in Baghdad.
- Massachusetts legalizes same-sex marriage, in compliance with a ruling from the state's Supreme Judicial Court (Goodridge v. Department of Public Health).
May 19 – Jeremy Sivits pleads guilty in a court-martial in connection with alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
May 22 – Dr. Manmohan Singh assumes office as the 17th and first Sikh Prime Minister of the Republic Of India.
May 23
- A section of the ceiling in Terminal 2E at Paris's Charles de Gaulle International Airport collapses, claiming at least 6 lives.
- Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi visits North Korea, to secure the release of the families of the 9 abducted Japanese citizens returned earlier.
May 24 – North Korea bans mobile phones (see Communications in North Korea).
May 26
- Terry Nichols is convicted by an Oklahoma state court on murder charges stemming from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
- F.C. Porto wins the European Champion Clubs Cup, defeating A.S. Monaco 3–0.
May 29 – The National World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington, DC.
May 30 – Thousands of people in Hong Kong take to the streets to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

June

June 1
- Sasebo slashing: Satomi Mitarai, a 12-year-old Japanese schoolgirl attending Okubo Elementary School in Sasebo, Japan, is murdered. Her killer is an 11-year-old classmate identified by Japanese authorities as "Girl A".
- Salvadoran presidential election, 2004: Antonio Saca is inaugurated as the President of El Salvador
June 3
- All outgoing flights from the UK are temporarily grounded following an air traffic control computer failure. BBC NEWS
- Central Intelligence Agency director George Tenet tenders his resignation, citing "personal reasons". John E. McLaughlin, CIA Deputy Director, becomes the acting Director until a permanent Director is chosen and confirmed by Congress.
June 4 – Marvin Heemeyer destroys many local buildings with a home-made tank in Granby, Colorado.
June 8
- The first transit of Venus since 1882 occurs; the next one will occur in 2012.
- The 30th G8 summit takes place over the next 2 days on Sea Island, in Georgia, USA.
- The pickled heart of Louis XVII of France is buried in the royal crypt at Saint-Denis.
June 11 – Terry Nichols is spared the death penalty by an Oklahoma state court on murder charges stemming from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The decision comes on the third anniversary of the execution of his co-defendant, Timothy McVeigh, in Terre Haute, Indiana.
June 12 – A 1.3 kg chondrite type meteorite strikes a house in Ellerslie, New Zealand, causing serious damage but no injuries.
June 16 – The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (or "9/11 Commission") issues an initial report of its findings.
June 21 – In Mojave, California, SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.
June 28–June 29 – The 2004 Istanbul Summit is held.
June 28
- Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains collide in a rural area outside of San Antonio, Texas; 40 cars are derailed, including one chlorine car. Three people die, another 50 people are hospitalized because of exposure to the gas.
- The U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq transfers sovereignty to an Iraqi Interim Government.
- Canadian federal election, 2004: The Liberal Party, led by Paul Martin, is reduced to a minority government, after holding a majority since November 1993.
June 30 – Preliminary hearings begin in Iraq in the trial of former president Saddam Hussein, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

July

July 1
- The Cassini–Huygens spacecraft arrives at Saturn.
- The Vatican gains full membership rights in the United Nations except voting.
July 4 – Groundbreaking for the Freedom Tower begins at Ground Zero in New York City.
July 4 – Greece wins UEFA Euro 2004 at Estádio da Luz in Portugal.
July 22 – The Old Bridge of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina is reconstructed and reopened after being destroyed by Bosnian Croat forces on November 9, 1993.
July 25
- Over 100,000 opponents of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan of 2004 participate in a human chain from Gush Katif, to the Western Wall, Jerusalem (90 kilometers).
- Lance Armstrong of Austin, Texas wins an unprecedented 6th consecutive Tour de France cycling title.

August

August 1
- A supermarket fire in Asunción, Paraguay, kills about 400 and leaves over 100 missing.
- A bomb attack occurs in front of Prague's Casino Royal.
August 2 – Monday demonstrations against social cutbacks began in Germany.
August 3
- The Statue of Liberty reopens after security improvements.
- NASA's MESSENGER is launched (it will be captured into Mercury's orbit on March 18, 2011).
August 6 – A United Nations report blaming the government of Sudan for crimes against humanity in Darfur is released.
August 9 – At the Mihama Nuclear Power Plant, a pipe leaking hot water and steam kills 5 and injures 6 others, in the 2nd worst nuclear disaster in Japan.
August 12
- Singapore's prime minister Goh Chok Tong hands over his position to Lee Hsien Loong.
- New Jersey Governor James McGreevey announces that he is "a gay American" and will resign effective November 15, 2004.
August 13–August 29 – The 2004 Summer Olympics are held in Athens.

August 13 – Hurricane Charley kills 27 people in Florida, after killing 4 in Cuba and 1 in Jamaica. Charley makes landfall near Cayo Costa, FL as a Category 4 hurricane. Charley is the most intense hurricane to strike the United States since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
August 16 – Severe flooding occurs in the village of Boscastle in Cornwall.
August 18 – In Dublin, Ireland, the Dublin Port Tunnel excavation works are completed and the final tunnel boring machine breakthrough ceremony takes place.
August 20 – Elbegdorj Tsakhia, the peaceful democratic revolutionary leader of Mongolia, becomes Prime Minister of Mongolia for the second time.
August 21 – A series of blasts rocks an opposition party rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing at least 13 people.
August 22 – Armed robbers steal Edvard Munch's The Scream, Madonna, and other paintings from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.
August 24 – Two airliners in Russia, carrying a total of 89 passengers, crash within minutes of each other after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, leaving no survivors. Authorities suspect suicide attacks by rebels from Chechnya to be the cause of the crashes.
August 29 – Around 200,000 protesters demonstrate in New York City against U.S. President George W. Bush and his government, ahead of the 2004 Republican National Convention.
August 30–September 2 – U.S. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are renominated at the Republican National Convention in New York City.
August 31
- Two suicide attacks on buses in Beer Sheva, Israel, kill at least 16 people and injure at least 60. Hamas claims responsibility for the attacks.
- A woman commits a suicide attack near a subway station in northern Moscow, Russia, killing at least 10 people and injuring at least 50. Authorities hold Chechen rebels responsible.

September

September – The Great Laxey Mine Railway of the Isle of Man is re-opened.
September 1 – Chechen terrorists take between 1,000 and 1,500 people hostage, mostly children, in a school in the Beslan school hostage crisis. The hostage-takers demand the release of Chechen rebels imprisoned in neighbouring Ingushetia and the independence of Chechnya from Russia.
September 2
- The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 1559, calling for the removal of all foreign troops from Lebanon. This measure is largely aimed at Syrian troops.
- Hurricane Ivan forms.
September 3
- Russian forces end the siege at a school in Beslan, Northern Ossetia. At least 335 people (among which are 32 of the approximately 40 hostage-takers) are killed and at least 700 people injured.
- Hurricane Frances makes landfall in Florida. After killing 2 people in the Bahamas, Hurricane Frances kills 10 people in Florida, 2 in Georgia, USA and 1 in South Carolina.
September 7 – Hurricane Ivan passes directly over Grenada, killing 37 people. It passes over other Caribbean islands over the next 2 days, killing 5 people in Venezuela, 4 in the Dominican Republic, 1 in Tobago and 20 in Jamaica.
September 8 – In the "Rathergate" affair, the first Internet posts appear, pointing out that documents claimed by CBS News to be typewritten memos from the early 1970s appear instead to have been produced using modern word processing systems.
September 9
- A bomb blast outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, kills 11 and injures up to 100 people.
- Typhoon Songda hits western Japan, killing 45 and injuring another 1,352.
September 13 – The U.S. Assault Weapons Ban expires.
September 15
- Davíð Oddsson, Prime Minister of Iceland, steps down after serving as prime minister since April 30, 1991. Oddson trades posts with his foreign minister Halldór Ásgrímsson, who then becomes Prime Minister.
- Security at the Palace of Westminster is compromised, when the House of Commons is stormed by a small group of protestors during a debate about fox hunting.
- "Girl A", who committed the Sasebo slashing, is sentenced to be institutionalized.
September 16 – Hurricane Ivan strikes Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 3 storm, killing 25 in Alabama and Florida, becoming the 3rd costliest hurricane in American history (currently the 4th following the destruction of 2005's Hurricane Katrina).
September 17
- Hurricane Jeanne causes mudslides in Haiti, killing 3006.
- The 2004 Summer Paralympics commences in Athens, Greece.
- Mexico and Japan finish 2-year-long negotiations and sign a Free Trade Agreement in Mexico City.
September 21 – Construction of the Burj Khalifa begins.
September 22 – The TV series Lost airs its pilot.
September 23
- Mount St. Helens becomes active again.
- Tropical Storm Ivan, having come around and reformed in the Gulf of Mexico, makes its final landfall near Cameron, Louisiana, to little effect. In total, the storm kills 92 people.
September 24 – Major League Baseball announces that the Montreal Expos will move to Washington D.C. in 2005.
September 25
- Port Adelaide Power wins their first premiership against the Brisbane Lions in the AFL Grand Final.
- Hurricane Jeanne makes landfall near Port Saint Lucie, Florida, near the location Hurricane Frances hit 2 weeks earlier. Jeanne kills over 3,030, mostly in Haiti.
September 29 – In Mojave, California, the first Ansari X-Prize flight takes place of SpaceShipOne, which is competing with a number of spacecraft (including Canada's Da Vinci Project, claimed to be its closest rival) and goes on to win the prize on October 4.

October

October 4 – Two car bombs kill at least 16 people and injure dozens more in Baghdad.
October 5
- A fire breaks out on the Canadian submarine HMCS Chicoutimi, leaving it stranded without power in the North Atlantic ocean, off the north coast of Ireland; 1 crewmember is killed.
- West Sulawesi officially becomes a province in Indonesia after the expansion of South Sulawesi.
October 8 – Suicide bombers detonate 2 bombs at the Red Sea resort of Taba, Egypt, killing 34 people, mainly Israeli tourists and Egyptian workers.
October 9 – Direct elections for president are held for the first time in Afghanistan. Interim president Hamid Karzai is eventually declared the winner.
October 10 – Abdullahi Yusuf is chosen as the new transitional president of Somalia.
October 14 – Prince Norodom Sihamoni is chosen as the new king of Cambodia.
October 16
- The New York Yankees defeat the Boston Red Sox 19–8 in Game 3 of Major League Baseball's American League Championship Series. The game, which pushes the Yankees to a 3 games to 0 series lead, sets a record for longest 9 inning baseball game.
- Arsenal loses for the first time in 49 league games, a national record, going down 2–0 to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
October 17 – A referendum in Belarus approves the lifting of constitutional term limits for the presidency.
October 19
- General Khin Nyunt is replaced by Lieutenant-General Soe Win as Prime Minister of Myanmar.
- A team of explorers reaches the bottom of the world's deepest cave, located in Krubera. The depth reached is 2,080 meters (6,824 feet), setting a world record. (National Geographic)
October 20
- The Ubuntu operating system is first released.
- Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 crashes in Missouri, killing 13 people and injuring 2.
- Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono becomes the first directly elected President of Indonesia.
October 21
- The Ministry of Defence approves the deployment of the Black Watch regiment of the British Army to Baghdad, Iraq, after a request for assistance by the U.S. government.
- Typhoon Tokage kill 98, injured 552 in western Japan.
October 23 – A Magnitude 6.7 earthquake and aftershocks of similar scale occur in the Tokamachi area. A huge landslide occurs on the outskirts of Nagaoka. According to Japanese officials, 68 people are killed, 4,085 are injured, and 103,000 are rendered homeless.
October 24
- Brazil successfully launches its first rocket into space.
- Michael Schumacher wins his 7th Formula One World Drivers Championship (5th consecutive), making him the most successful driver in the history of Formula One.
October 25 – Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King receive the Congressional Gold Medal.

October 26 – The Cassini probe passes within 1,200 km of Titan.
October 27
- The Boston Red Sox win the World Series for the first time since 1918, breaking the Curse of the Bambino.
- Details of the discovery of a new, recent species of fossil hominid, Homo floresiensis, from the island of Flores, Indonesia, are published.
October 29 – European heads of state sign in Rome the Treaty and Final Act, establishing the first European Constitution.
October 30 – A 163-metre-high radio mast in Peterborough, UK collapses at a fire.
October 31 – Leftist candidate Tabaré Vázquez is elected President of Uruguay.

November

November 2
- Eleven American states ban gay marriage.
- Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh is assassinated in Amsterdam, Netherlands by Mohammed Bouyeri.
November 6
- The Ufton Nervet rail crash in Berkshire, England kills 7 people.
- In Côte d'Ivoire, National Army bombings kill 9 people, including French UN soldiers. French UN forces retaliate by destroying the National Army's air force.
November 7 – U.S. forces launch a major assault on the Iraqi town of Fallujah, in an effort to rid the area of insurgents before the Iraqi elections in January.
November 8 – The Irish High Court rules that Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan can sue the Revenue Commissioner to have their Vancouver, British Columbia Same-sex marriage recognized for tax purposes.
November 13 – After six days of intense battles, the Iraqi town of Fallujah is fully occupied by U.S. forces.
November 14 – United States Secretary of State Colin Powell submits his resignation. He is replaced by Condoleezza Rice after her confirmation by the United States Congress.
November 16
- The European Space Agency probe, Smart 1, passes from Earth orbit into the orbit of the Moon.
- A train crash near Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia, injures 150 people.
- The People's Republic of China agrees to invest $20 billion dollars in Argentina, a deal signed days before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to be held in Santiago, Chile.
- NASA's hypersonic Scramjet breaks a record by reaching a velocity of about 7,000 mph in an unmanned experimental flight. It obtains a speed of Mach 9.6, almost 10 times the speed of sound.
November 17–November 21 – The APEC Summit is held in Santiago, Chile.
November 19 – The NBA's Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons engage in a brawl that involves fans and players. The incident gets (then) Pacer Ron Artest suspended for the remainder of the season.
November 21 – Ukrainian presidential election, 2004: Viktor Yanukovych is declared the winner in the final round. International election observers express severe criticism, and large crowds gather in a protest rally in Kiev; 12 days later, the Supreme Court annuls the result, and a new poll is scheduled.
November 25 – The Indian political party Congress Jananayaka Peravai merges into the Indian National Congress.
November 26 – A group of Iraqi political leaders, primarily from Sunni and Kurdish parties, advocate a 6-month delay in popular elections scheduled for January 2005.
November 28
- An coal mine explosion in China kills over 150.
- Ricardo Lagos, President of Chile, promises economic compensation to 28,000 torture victims of Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship.
- A male Po'o-uli dies of avian malaria at the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Olinda before it can breed, making the species in all probability extinct.

December

December 3 – The Colombian government extradites Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, one of the most powerful drug dealers in the world, arrested in 1995 and 2003, to the United States.
December 6 – Terrorists attack the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing several people.
December 8 – The biggest Chinese PC producer Lenovo announces its plan to purchase IBM's global PC business, making it the third largest world PC maker after Dell and Hewlett-Packard.
December 10 – New Zealand bans smoking in all public places, including bars.
December 11 – Tests show that Ukrainian opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned with a large dose of dioxin.
December 13 – Software giants Oracle Corporation and PeopleSoft agree to merge in a $10.3 billion deal, creating the second largest maker of business applications software.
December 14 – The world's tallest bridge, the Millau bridge over the River Tarn in the Massif Central mountains, France, is opened by President Jacques Chirac.
December 15 – Albanian terrorists take a bus and its passengers hostage in Athens, Greece and demand 1 million euros in ransom money.
December 16
- The House of Lords rules that the British Government breaches human rights legislation, by detaining without trial foreign nationals suspected of being terrorists.
- IT security company Symantec Corp signs a definitive agreement to merge with Veritas Software Corp, valued at $13.5 billion, in an all-stock transaction.
- The South Korean high-speed rail system, Korea Train Express, opens between Seoul and Busan.
December 21 – Iraqi insurgents attack a U.S. military base in the city of Mosul, killing 22 people.
December 22 – Armed robbers in Northern Ireland steal over £22 million from the headquarters of the Northern Bank. Unionist politicians and the Police Service of Northern Ireland blame the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and stall the peace process.

December 26
- One of the worst natural disasters in recorded history hits Southeast Asia, when the strongest earthquake in 40 years hits the entire Indian Ocean region. The massive 9.3 magnitude earthquake, epicentered just off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, generates enormous tsunami waves that crash into the coastal areas of a number of nations including Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. The official death toll in the affected countries stands at 186,983 while more than 40,000 people are still missing.
- The re-run of the second round of the Ukrainian presidential election takes place. Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko is declared the winner.
December 27 – Astrophysicists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching near Munich measure the strongest burst from a magnetar. At 21:30:26 UT the earth is hit by a huge wave front of gamma and X-rays. It is the strongest flux of high-energetic gamma radiation measured so far.
December 28 – The Ukrainian transport minister, Heorhiy Kirpa, is found shot dead, in a suspected suicide.
December 30 – A fire in a Buenos Aires night club (República Cromagnon) kills 194 people during a rock concert.
December 31
- Taipei 101, at the time tallest skyscraper in the world, standing at a height of 1,670 feet (509 metres ), officially opens.
- Simón Trinidad, high-profile FARC leader, is extradited to the United States, following the second extradition of a high drug dealer in a month and in 2004.
- Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych resigns.

Births

January 21 – Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

Deaths