2008

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Centuries:	20th century - 21st century - 22nd century
Decades:	1970s  1980s  1990s  - 2000s -  2010s  2020s  2030s
Years:	2005 2006 2007 - 2008 - 2009 2010 2011

2008 by topic:

News by month

Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec

Arts

Architecture - Art - Literature (Poetry) - Music (Country, Metal, UK) - Film - Television - Home video

Politics

Elections - Int'l leaders - Politics - State leaders - Sovereign states

Science and technology

Archaeology - Aviation - Birding/Ornithology - Meteorology - Rail transport - Science - Spaceflight

Sports

Sport - Australian Football League - Baseball - Football (soccer) - Ice Hockey - Motorsport - Tennis National Rugby League

By place

Argentina - Australia - Canada - France - India - Iran - Iraq - Ireland - Japan - Luxembourg - Malaysia - Mexico - New Zealand - Singapore - South Africa - United Kingdom - Zimbabwe

Other topics

Deaths - Awards - Games - Law - Religious leaders - Video gaming

Birth and death categories

Births - Deaths

Establishments and disestablishments categories

Establishments - Disestablishments

Works and introductions categories

Works - Introductions v • d • e

2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday in the Anno Domini (or common) era, in accordance to the Gregorian calendar.

2008 has been designated as:

• International Year of Planet Earth;^[1]
• European Year of Intercultural Dialogue;^[2]
• Australian Year of the Scout;^[3]
• International Year of the Potato;^[4]
• International Year of Sanitation.^[5]

In Chinese astrology, most of 2008, starting with February 7 will overlap with the Year of the Rat (Dates before February 7 are Year of the Pig). The next Year of the Rat will be in 2020.

Contents 1 Events 1.1 January 2 Predicted and scheduled events 2.1 January 2.2 February 2.3 March 2.4 April 2.5 May 2.6 June 2.7 July 2.8 August 2.9 September 2.10 October 2.11 November 2.12 December 2.13 Unknown dates 2.14 Ongoing Events 3 Births 4 Deaths 4.1 January 5 Major religious holidays 6 2008 in fiction 6.1 Books 6.2 Computer and video games 6.3 Film 6.4 Television 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Events

[edit] January

• January 1 - Cyprus, Malta and Akrotiri and Dhekelia adopted the euro.^[6][7]
• January 1 - Slovenia takes over the presidency of European Union as the first of new member states.^[8]
• January 1 - The Venezuelan bolívar, as a result of a government decree issued on March 7, 2007, is revalued at a ratio of 1 to 1000 and renamed the Bolívar fuerte (ISO 4217 code: VEF).
• January 1 - The Minneapolis Public Library and Hennepin County Library in Minnesota merge; the new system assumes the Hennepin County Library name.
• January 2 - Malaysian Health Minister Chua Soi Lek resigns after admitting to being filmed by CCTV cameras in a hotel room having sex with a female friend.
• January 3 - A car bomb detonates, killing at least 4 people and injuring 68, in Diyarbakır, Turkey. Police blame Kurdish rebels.
• January 3 - Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee win their respective caucuses in Iowa, the first caucus held for the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
• January 4 - A surprise, unforecasted blizzard creates havoc across eastern Northern Ireland, with falls of 8 inches in just 1 hour.
• January 4 - Though uncommon, light snow falls in the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Querétaro following the previous fall in Veracruz near Xalapa, where the lowest temperatures since the 1950s have been measured (34°F).
• January 5 - Early presidential elections are held in Georgia.

[edit] Predicted and scheduled events

Image:Gnome globe current event.svg

This article or section contains information about scheduled or expected future events. It may contain tentative information; the content may change as the event approaches and more information becomes available.

[edit] January

• January - The iPhone by Apple Inc. will be released in Canada.
• January - Building for the new Liverpool Arena should be completed.^[9]
• January 7 - Ohio State plays Louisiana State in the Bowl Championship Series National Championship game.
• January 8 - New Hampshire Presidential primary.
• January 14 - January 27 - 2008 Australian Open Tennis Championships at Melbourne Park.
• January 21 - Scheduled opening ceremony of the 2008 African Cup of Nations to be held in Ghana.
• January 25 - Scheduled opening day of Techfest to be held at IIT Bombay in India.
• January 26 - Bishop Wim Eijk is to be installed as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht.
• January 28 - The Andean Community and Mercosur will fully integrate into the Union of South American Nations following the Unasur/Unasul summit in Cartagena, Colombia.
• January 30 - Scientists give a 1 in 28 chance that asteroid 2007 WD5 will hit the planet Mars on this date.^[10]

[edit] February

• February - Chief of the Defence Staff (Canada) General Rick Hillier's term is set to end.
• February 3 - Super Bowl XLII to be held at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.^[11]
• February 7 - A partial Solar eclipse over eastern Australia, Antarctica and New Zealand.
• February 7 - Lunar New Year in Asia and Asian communities.
• February 10 - The 50th Annual Grammy Awards will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
• February 11 - Inaugural events for the two-year celebration of the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln in Hodgenville, Kentucky.
• February 14 - The Space Shuttle Endeavour is to lift off on mission STS-123 to add the first section of the Japanese module to the International Space Station.
• February 17 - The 50th annual Daytona 500 to be held at Daytona Beach, Florida.
• February 18 - General election to be held in Pakistan, delayed from January 8 due to riots in the wake of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
• February 21 - Total lunar eclipse - North and South America, Europe, Africa and Western Asia.^[12]
• February 24 - The 80th Academy Awards will take place at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California.^[13]
• February 27 - The Santo Domingo Metro is expected to be completed and ready for test-runs by the Dominican Republic Government.

[edit] March

• March 2 - 2008 Russian presidential election.^[14]
• March 9 and March 16 - Municipal election in France. (announcement in French)
• March 9 - Tentative date for the Spanish general election.
• March 9 - Tentative date for the Andalusian autonomic election.
• March 14 - Iranian parliamentary election, 2008.
• March 16 - The 2008 Formula 1 World Championship begins in Melbourne, Australia.
• March 22 - Republic of China presidential election to be held in Taiwan.^[15]
• March 28 - The 2008 Major League Soccer season starts.
• March 30 - Nationals Park officially opens up for business when the Washington Nationals host the Atlanta Braves in their first ever baseball game on Sunday Night Baseball in Washington, DC

[edit] April

• April - The 20th NATO summit will be held in Bucharest, Romania. It is expected that Albania, Croatia and the Republic of Macedonia will be invited to join NATO following the summit.
• April 6 - The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 comes into force in the UK.^[16]
• April 20 - Elections in Paraguay.

[edit] May

• May - The Large Hadron Collider (located at CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland) is scheduled to begin operation, it will become the world’s largest particle physics laboratory when it begins operations.
• May 1 - Local elections, for 143 English councils and all Welsh councils, to take place in the United Kingdom.
• May 14 - The UEFA Cup Final to be held at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester.
• May 16 - Dominican Republic presidential elections.
• May 16 - V Summit of the European Union-Latin America and the Caribbean Leaders in Lima, Peru.
• May 21 - The UEFA Champions League Final to be held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
• May 24 - The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 Final will take place in Belgrade, Serbia, following semi-finals on May 20 and 22.^[17]
• May 25 - NASA's Phoenix spacecraft will land on Mars.
• May 25 - The 92nd edition of the Indianapolis 500 will be run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the main race of the IndyCar Series.

[edit] June

• June 7-June 29 - UEFA Euro 2008 Championship tournament. Joint hosts Switzerland and Austria.^[18]
• June 9-June 15 - the United States Golf Open 2008 is scheduled at Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course).^[19]
• June 14 - Expo 2008 scheduled to begin in Zaragoza, Spain.

[edit] July

• July 15-July 20 - World Youth Day will occur in Sydney, Australia, largest youth gathering in the Southern Hemisphere with the visit of Pope Benedict XVI.^[20]
• July 31 - Bill Gates will step down from daily duties at the Microsoft Corporation after over three decades.^[21]

[edit] August

• August 2-August 9 - The National Eisteddfod of Wales will be held in Cardiff, South Wales.^[22]
• August 8-August 24 - The 2008 Summer Olympics will take place in Beijing, China.
• August 11 - Elections to be held in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao: Regional Governor, Regional Vice Governor and Members of the Regional Legislative Assembly following Republic Act No. 9333.
• August 14 - 2008 Formula Zero Championship begins in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.^[23]

[edit] September

• September 27 - The Australian Football League Grand Final will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

[edit] October

• October 30-November 16 - The inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup will be held in New Zealand.^[24]

[edit] November

• November 2 - The 2008 Formula 1 World Championship will end at São Paulo, Brazil.
• November 4 - Presidential election slated in the United States to elect the 44th President of the United States: Congressional Elections for the House of Representatives and one third of the Senators (second class).
• November 4 - Gubernatorial election slated in Puerto Rico to elect the Governor of the island.
• November 15 - New Zealand will hold a general election on or before this date.
• November 20-December 7 - 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup to be held in Chile.^[25]
• November 22 - APEC Peru 2008 Summit in Lima.
• November 28 - Legislative election in Romania.

[edit] December

• December 15 - The Netherlands Antilles will be formally abolished.^[26]
• December 30 - The Burj Dubai expected to be completed. It will be the world's tallest building.

[edit] Unknown dates

• The United Nations is to review drug policies around the world.^[27][28]
• The United Kingdom plans to complete a 5-year process to cease analog television broadcasts region-by-region, starting with Border.^[29] This process has already begun.
• New China Central Television headquarters buildings open.

[edit] Ongoing Events

• Iraq War
• War in Afghanistan
• Conflict in Darfur
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict

[edit] Births

[edit] Deaths

Main article: Deaths in 2008

2008 in other calendars

Gregorian calendar	2008 MMVIII
Ab urbe condita	2761
Armenian calendar	1457 ԹՎ ՌՆԾԷ
Bahá'í calendar	164 – 165
Berber calendar	2958
Buddhist calendar	2552
Burmese calendar	1370
Chinese calendar	4644/4704-11-23 (丁亥年十一月廿三日) — to — 4645/4705-12-5 (戊子年十二月初五日)
Coptic calendar	1724 – 1725
Ethiopian calendar	2000 – 2001
Hebrew calendar	5768 – 5769
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2063 – 2064
- Shaka Samvat	1930 – 1931
- Kali Yuga	5109 – 5110
Holocene calendar	12008
Iranian calendar	1386 – 1387
Islamic calendar	1428 – 1430
Japanese calendar	Heisei 20 (平成20年)
- Imperial Year	Kōki 2668 (皇紀2668年)
Julian calendar	2053
Korean calendar	4341
Thai solar calendar	2551
v • d • e

[edit] January

• January 1 - Salvatore Bonanno, American mobster (b. 1932)
• January 1 - Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, Sri Lankan Tamil politician (b. 1960)
• January 2 - Julio Martínez, Guatemalan race walker (b. 1973)
• January 2 - Galyani Vadhana, Thai princess (b. 1923)
• January 3 - Aleksandr Abdulov, Russian actor (b. 1953)
• January 3 - Yo-Sam Choi, Korean boxer (b. 1972)
• January 5 - Clinton Grybas, Australian sporting commentator (b. 1975)

[edit] Major religious holidays

• January 7 - Christmas in Eastern Christianity
• February 6 - Ash Wednesday
• March 17 - St. Patrick's Day celebrated in Ireland, the United States and most of the English speaking world.
• March 20 - March Equinox, also known as Ostara
• March 20 - Purim
• March 23 - Easter Sunday, the earliest Easter has fallen since 1913
• March 25 - Holi
• April 20 - Passover
• April 27 - Pascha in Eastern Christianity
• May 1 - Beltane, a Cross-quarter day
• May 20 - Vesak in Buddhism
• June 9 - Shavuot
• June 20 - June Solstice, also known as Midsummer or Litha
• August 1 - Lammas, a Cross-quarter day
• September 22 - September Equinox, also known as Mabon
• September 30 - Rosh Hashana
• October 2 - Eid ul-Fitr
• October 9 - Yom Kippur
• October 28 - Diwali
• November 1 - Samhain, a Cross-quarter day and Neopagan new year
• December 21 - December Solstice, also known as Yule
• December 8 - Eid ul-Adha
• December 21 - Hanukkah begins at sundown
• December 25 - Christmas in Western Christianity

[edit] 2008 in fiction

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.
• Shattered Union: U.S. President David Jefferson Adams is elected in a sham election, and becomes the most unpopular president in U.S. history.
• Twisted Metal 3 (1998)
• Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)

[edit] Film

• Jason X (Friday the 13th series, 2002): Mass murderer Jason Voorhees is captured for the 2nd time and sentenced to death. Though the US government is unsure how to execute him, an electric chair, a gas chamber, a firing squad, and hanging are all tried - none of which work.
• The Lake House (2006): The ending takes place on Valentine's Day, 2008.
• 5 Centimetres Per Second (2007): The final act takes place in Tokyo during 2008.
• Set in 2008:
  • Silent Running (1971)
  • Southland Tales (2007)
  • The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

[edit] Television

• Dawson's Creek (2003 series finale): The characters meet once again. Dawson is creator of a television series, The Creek, based on his life.
• Futurama (1999 episode "Space Pilot 3000"): Suicide booths are invented.
• The 2007 series of Doctor Who Present time (Such as Smith and Jones) is primarily set in 2008.
• The Future Boy Conan anime is set to begin in July 2008 with a devastating war resulting in the five continents sinking deep below the sea.
• The 12th season of South Park is expected to air on 12 March.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• 2008 Calendar at Internet Accuracy Projectaf:2008

als:2000er#2008 am:2008 እ.ኤ.አ. 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 cs:2008 za:2008 bi cy:2008 da:2008 de:2008 et:2008 el:2008 es:2008 eo:2008 eu:2008 fa:۲۰۰۸ (میلادی) fo:2008 fr:2008 fy:2008 fur:2008 ga:2008 gl:2008 glk:2008 zh-classical:二〇〇八年 ko:2008년 hy:2008 hi:2008 hr:2008. io:2008 bpy:মারি ২০০৮ id:2008 ia:2008 os:2008 is:2008 it:2008 he:2008 jv:2008 ka:2008 csb:2008 kk:2008 sw:2008 la:2008 lv:2008 lb:2008 lij:2008 lt:2008 li:2008 hu:2008 mk:2008 mi:2008 mr:इ.स. २००८ mzn:2008 ms:2008 nah:2008 nl:2008 nds-nl:2008 new:२००८ ja:2008年 no:2008 nn:2008 nrm:2008 nov:2008 oc:2008 or:୨୦୦୮ uz:2008 pa:2008 pi:२००८ pl:2008 pt:2008 ksh:Joohr 2008 ro:2008 qu:2008 ru:2008 год se:2008 sq:2008 scn:2008 simple:2008 sk:2008 sl:2008 sr:2008 sh:2008 fi:2008 sv:2008 tl:2008 ta: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 fiu-vro:2008 vls:2008 yi:2008 yo:2008 zh-yue:2008年 bat-smg:2008 zh:2008年