2004 in the United States
Encyclopedia
Events from the year 2004 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Incumbents

  • President
    President of the United States
    The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

    : George W. Bush
    George W. Bush
    George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

     (Republican
    Republican Party (United States)
    The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

    )
  • Vice President
    Vice President of the United States
    The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

    : Dick Cheney
    Dick Cheney
    Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....

     (Republican
    Republican Party (United States)
    The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

    )
  • Chief Justice
    Chief Justice of the United States
    The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...

    : William Rehnquist
    William Rehnquist
    William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American lawyer, jurist, and political figure who served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States and later as the 16th Chief Justice of the United States...

  • Speaker of the House of Representatives
    Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
    The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...

    : Dennis Hastert
    Dennis Hastert
    John Dennis "Denny" Hastert was the 59th Speaker of the House serving from 1999 to 2007. He represented as a Republican for twenty years, 1987 to 2007.He is the longest-serving Republican Speaker in history...

      (R
    Republican Party (United States)
    The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

    -Illinois)
  • Senate Majority Leader: Bill Frist
    Bill Frist
    William Harrison "Bill" Frist, Sr. is an American physician, businessman, and politician. He began his career as an heir and major stockholder to the for-profit hospital chain of Hospital Corporation of America. Frist later served two terms as a Republican United States Senator representing...

     (R
    Republican Party (United States)
    The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

    -Tennessee)
  • Congress
    United States Congress
    The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

    : 108th
    108th United States Congress
    The One Hundred Eighth United States Congress was the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 2003 to January 3, 2005, during the third and fourth years of George W. Bush's...


January

  • January 4 – NASA
    NASA
    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

    's MER-A (Spirit) lands on Mars
    Mars
    Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...

     at 04:35 UTC.
  • January 19 – U.S. Senator John Kerry
    John Kerry
    John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

     (D-MA) wins the Iowa
    Iowa
    Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

     Democratic caucus. Vermont
    Vermont
    Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

     Governor Howard Dean
    Howard Dean
    Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...

    's concession speech ends with a lively but controversial scream.
  • January 24 – NASA
    NASA
    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

    's MER-B (Opportunity) lands on Mars
    Mars
    Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...

     at 05:05 UTC.
  • January 28 – At a hearing of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, it is revealed that the September 11, 2001, terrorists used Mace
    Mace (spray)
    Chemical Mace is a tear gas in the form of an aerosol spray which propels a lachrymatory agent mixed with a volatile solvent. It is sometimes used as a self-defense device...

     (a brand of tear gas) or pepper spray
    Pepper spray
    Pepper spray, also known as OC spray , OC gas, and capsicum spray, is a lachrymatory agent that is used in riot control, crowd control and personal self-defense, including defense against dogs and bears...

     in overpowering the flight crew of American Airlines Flight 11
    American Airlines Flight 11
    American Airlines Flight 11 was American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight from Logan International Airport, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport, in Los Angeles, California...

    .

February

  • February 1 – The New England Patriots
    New England Patriots
    The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...

     win Super Bowl XXXVIII
    Super Bowl XXXVIII
    Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game played on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 2003 regular season....

    .
  • February 3 – The CIA admits that there was no imminent threat from weapons of mass destruction
    Weapons of mass destruction
    A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...

     before the 2003 invasion of Iraq
    2003 invasion of Iraq
    The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...

    .
  • February 12 – Same sex marriage in the United States: The City and County of San Francisco
    San Francisco, California
    San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

     begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as an act of civil disobedience
    Civil disobedience
    Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...

    .
  • February 26 – The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya
    Libya
    Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

    , ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years.
  • February 29 – The 76th Academy Awards
    76th Academy Awards
    The 76th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films of 2003 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 29, 2004 . The show was produced by Joe Roth and was hosted for the eighth time by comedian Billy Crystal.The...

    , hosted by Billy Crystal
    Billy Crystal
    William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...

    , are held at the Kodak Theatre
    Kodak Theatre
    The Kodak Theatre is a live theatre in the Hollywood and Highland shopping mall and entertainment complex on Hollywood Boulevard and North Highland Avenue in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles...

     in Hollywood, California, with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
    The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
    The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...

    directed by Peter Jackson
    Peter Jackson
    Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...

    , winning a record-tying 11 Oscars, including Best Picture
    Academy Award for Best Picture
    The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...

     and Best Director
    Academy Award for Directing
    The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...

    .

March

  • March 2 – NASA
    NASA
    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

     announces that the Mars
    Mars
    Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...

     rover MER-B (Opportunity) has confirmed that its landing area was once drenched in water.
  • March 2 – John Kerry
    John Kerry
    John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

     effectively clinches the 2004 Democratic Party presidential nomination by winning nine out of 10 "Super Tuesday
    Super Tuesday
    In the United States, Super Tuesday, in general, refers to the Tuesday in February or March of a presidential election year when the greatest number of states hold primary elections to select delegates to national conventions at which each party's presidential candidates are officially nominated...

    " primaries and caucuses.
  • March 31 – Four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA
    Blackwater USA
    Xe Services LLC, better known by its former names, Blackwater USA and Blackwater Worldwide, is a private military company founded in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark.. Xe is currently the largest of the U.S. State Department's three private security contractors...

     are killed, and their bodies mutilated, after being ambushed in Fallujah
    Fallujah
    Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries....

    , Iraq
    Iraq
    Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

    .

April

  • April 28 – Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse is revealed on the television show 60 Minutes II
    60 Minutes II
    60 Minutes II was a weekly primetime news magazine television program that was intended to replicate the "signature style, journalistic quality and integrity" of the original 60 Minutes series.It aired on CBS on Wednesdays, then later moved to Fridays at 8 p.m...

    .
  • April 29 – The last Oldsmobile
    Oldsmobile
    Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...

     rolls off of the assembly line.

May

  • May 4 – A WNBC
    WNBC
    WNBC, virtual channel 4 , is the flagship station of the NBC television network, located in New York City. WNBC's studios are co-located with NBC corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan...

     helicopter crashes in the Flatbush
    Flatbush, Brooklyn
    Flatbush is a community of the Borough of Brooklyn, a part of New York City, consisting of several neighborhoods.The name Flatbush is an Anglicization of the Dutch language Vlacke bos ....

     section of Brooklyn, New York. This event is covered by rival station WABC-TV
    WABC-TV
    WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...

    .
  • May 6 – The final episode of the bob saggett show

airs on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

, drawing an estimated 52 million viewers in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. Advertisers pay $2 million for 30 second ads.
  • May 8 – Would-be "Saudi Princess" "Antoinette Millard
    Antoinette Millard
    Antoinette Millard was a name United States impostor Lisa Walker used when she pretended to be a Saudi princess. She was born Lisa Antoinette Millard, her married name was Walker....

    " surfaces in New York City
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

    , claiming that muggers had stolen jewels worth of $262,000 from her (she later proves to be an impostor
    Impostor
    An impostor or imposter is a person who pretends to be somebody else, often to try to gain financial or social advantages through social engineering, but just as often for purposes of espionage or law enforcement....

    ).
  • May 12 – An American civilian contractor in Iraq, Nick Berg
    Nick Berg
    Nicholas Evan "Nick" Berg was an American businessman who went to Iraq after the US invasion of Iraq. He was abducted and later beheaded according to a video released in May 2004 by Islamist militants...

    , is shown being decapitated by a group allegedly linked to al-Qaeda
    Al-Qaeda
    Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...

     on an Internet-distributed video. They state it is retaliation for the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.
  • May 17 – Massachusetts
    Massachusetts
    The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

     legalizes same-sex marriage
    Same-sex marriage in the United States
    The federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage in the United States, but such marriages are recognized by some individual states. The lack of federal recognition was codified in 1996 by the Defense of Marriage Act, before Massachusetts became the first state to grant marriage licenses...

     in compliance with a ruling from the state's Supreme Court
    Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
    The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The SJC has the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the Western Hemisphere.-History:...

     ruling in the case of Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
    Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
    Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health, 798 N.E.2d 941 , was a landmark state appellate court case dealing with same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. The November 18, 2003, decision was the first by a U.S...

    .
  • May 26 – Terry Nichols
    Terry Nichols
    Terry Lynn Nichols is a convicted bomber's accomplice. Prior to his incarceration, he held a variety of short-term jobs, working as a farmer, grain elevator manager, real estate salesman, ranch hand, and house husband. He met his future co-conspirator, Timothy McVeigh, during a brief stint in the...

     is convicted by an Oklahoma
    Oklahoma
    Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

     state court on murder charges stemming from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing
    Oklahoma City bombing
    The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...

    .
  • May 29 – Dedication of the National World War II Memorial
    National World War II Memorial
    The U.S. National World War II Memorial is a National Memorial dedicated to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II...

     takes place in Washington, DC.

June

  • June 1 – The 2004 Atlantic hurricane season
    2004 Atlantic hurricane season
    The 2004 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 2004, and lasted until November 30, 2004. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin...

     begins.
  • June 3 – Central Intelligence Agency
    Central Intelligence Agency
    The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

     director George Tenet
    George Tenet
    George John Tenet was the Director of Central Intelligence for the United States Central Intelligence Agency, and is Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University....

     tenders his resignation, citing "personal reasons". John E. McLaughlin
    John E. McLaughlin
    John Edward McLaughlin is the former Deputy Director of Central Intelligence and former Acting Director of Central Intelligence. McLaughlin is an accomplished magician and lectured on magic at the 2006 International Brotherhood of Magicians Annual Convention in Miami, Florida...

    , CIA Deputy Director
    Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
    The Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency is a senior United States government official in the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency...

    , becomes the acting Director until a permanent Director is chosen and confirmed by Congress.
  • June 4 – Marvin Heemeyer
    Marvin Heemeyer
    Marvin John Heemeyer was a welder and an automobile muffler repair shop owner. Outraged over the outcome of a zoning dispute, he armored a Komatsu D355A bulldozer with layers of steel and concrete and used it on June 4, 2004, to demolish the town hall, a former judge's home, and other buildings in...

     destroys many local buildings with a home-made tank in Granby, Colorado
    Granby, Colorado
    The Town of Granby is a Statutory Town that is the most populous town in Grand County, Colorado, United States. Granby is situated along U.S. Highway 40 in Middle Park about west of Denver, Colorado, southwest of Rocky Mountain National Park...

    .
  • June 5 – Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

    , the 40th President of the United States
    President of the United States
    The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

    , dies at his home
    Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan
    On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, died after having suffered from Alzheimer's disease for nearly a decade. His seven-day state funeral followed, spanning June 5–11...

     in Bel-Air
    Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California
    Bel Air is an affluent residential community in the hills of the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California. Together with Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills it forms the Platinum Triangle of Los Angeles neighborhoods....

    , California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

     at the age of 93. A six-day state funeral
    State funeral
    A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...

     follows after his death.
  • June 8 – The G8
    G8
    The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...

     Summit takes place over the next 2 days on Sea Island
    Sea Island
    Sea Island may refer to:*Sea Island , an island in Richmond, British Columbia that contains the Vancouver International Airport*Sea Island, Georgia, an isolated resort island in Glynn County, Georgia...

    , in Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)
    Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

    , United States.
  • June 11 – The national funeral service for former U.S. president
    President of the United States
    The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

     Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

     is held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
    Washington, D.C.
    Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

  • June 11 – Terry Nichols is spared the death penalty by an Oklahoma state court on murder charges stemming from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing
    Oklahoma City bombing
    The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...

    , exactly three years after his co-defendant, Timothy McVeigh
    Timothy McVeigh
    Timothy James McVeigh was a United States Army veteran and security guard who detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995...

    , was executed for his role in the bombing.
  • 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
    Mojave, California
    Mojave is a census-designated place in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located east of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 2762 feet...

    , SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane
    Spaceplane
    A spaceplane is a vehicle that operates as an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere, as well as a spacecraft when it is in space. It combines features of an aircraft and a spacecraft, which can be thought of as an aircraft that can endure and maneuver in the vacuum of space or likewise a spacecraft that...

     to achieve spaceflight
    Human spaceflight
    Human spaceflight is spaceflight with humans on the spacecraft. When a spacecraft is manned, it can be piloted directly, as opposed to machine or robotic space probes and remotely-controlled satellites....

    .
  • June 28 – The U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq transfers sovereignty
    Sovereignty
    Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...

     to an interim Iraqi government.
  • June 28 – Union Pacific
    Union Pacific Railroad
    The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....

     and Burlington Northern Santa Fe
    BNSF Railway
    The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...

     trains collide in a rural area outside of San Antonio, Texas
    Texas
    Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

    ; 40 cars are derailed, including one chlorine
    Chlorine
    Chlorine is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is the second lightest halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17. The element forms diatomic molecules under standard conditions, called dichlorine...

     car. Three people die, another 50 people are hospitalized because of exposure to the gas.

July

  • July 4 – Groundbreaking of Freedom Tower
    Freedom Tower
    One World Trade Center , more simply known as 1 WTC and formerly known as the Freedom Tower, is the lead building of the new World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan in New York City...

     in New York City
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

    .
  • July 25 – Lance Armstrong
    Lance Armstrong
    Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...

     wins an unprecedented 6th consecutive Tour de France
    Tour de France
    The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

     cycling title.
  • July 26–29 – The Democratic National Convention
    Democratic National Convention
    The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...

     in Boston, Massachusetts nominates John Kerry
    John Kerry
    John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

     for U.S. President and John Edwards
    John Edwards
    Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...

     for Vice President. Future President Barack Obama
    Barack Obama
    Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

     delivers the keynote address.
  • July 31 – "The Last Dispatch" concert is played as a reunion concert with the band Dispatch
    Dispatch (band)
    Dispatch is an American indie/roots band. The band consists of Brad Corrigan , Pete Francis Heimbold , and Chad Urmston ....

     on the Hatch Shell in Boston
    Boston
    Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

    ; 110,000 people attend, making it the single largest gathering in independent music
    Music
    Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

     industry history.

August

  • August 3 – The Statue of Liberty
    Statue of Liberty
    The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...

     reopens after security improvements.
  • August 3 – NASA
    NASA
    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

    's MESSENGER
    MESSENGER
    The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging space probe is a robotic NASA spacecraft in orbit around the planet Mercury. The spacecraft was launched aboard a Delta II rocket in August 2004 to study the chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field of Mercury...

     is launched (it will be captured into Mercury's orbit on March 18, 2011).
  • August 12 – New Jersey
    New Jersey
    New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

     Governor James McGreevey announces that he is "a gay
    Gay
    Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

     American" and will resign effective November 15, 2004.
  • August 13 – Hurricane Charley
    Hurricane Charley
    Hurricane Charley was the third named storm, the second hurricane, and the second major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. Charley lasted from August 9 to August 15, and at its peak intensity it attained 150 mph winds, making it a strong Category 4 hurricane on the...

     kills 27 people in Florida
    Florida
    Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

    , after killing four in Cuba
    Cuba
    The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

     and one in Jamaica
    Jamaica
    Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

    . Charley makes landfall near Cayo Costa, Florida as a Category 4 hurricane
    Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
    The Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale , or the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale , classifies hurricanes — Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms — into five categories distinguished by the intensities of their sustained winds...

    . Charley is the most intense hurricane to strike the United States since Hurricane Andrew
    Hurricane Andrew
    Hurricane Andrew was the third Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States, after the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and Hurricane Camille in 1969. Andrew was the first named storm and only major hurricane of the otherwise inactive 1992 Atlantic hurricane season...

     in 1992.
  • August 13–August 29 – The United States
    United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics
    The United States was represented at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, by the United States Olympic Committee . The delegation of 613 athletes was the largest the country has ever sent to the Summer Olympics...

     compete at the Summer Olympics
    2004 Summer Olympics
    The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

     in Athens
    Athens
    Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

    , Greece
    Greece
    Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

    , and win 36 gold, 39 silver and 27 bronze medals.
  • August 29 – Around 200,000 protesters demonstrate in New York City
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

     against President George W. Bush
    George W. Bush
    George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

     and his government, ahead of the Republican National Convention
    2004 Republican National Convention
    The 2004 Republican National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States, took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York...

    .
  • August 30 – September 2 – U.S. President George W. Bush
    George W. Bush
    George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

     and Vice President Dick Cheney
    Dick Cheney
    Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....

     are renominated at the Republican National Convention
    Republican National Convention
    The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...

     in New York City
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

    .

September

  • September 3 – Hurricane Frances
    Hurricane Frances
    Hurricane Frances was the sixth named storm, the fourth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. The system crossing the open Atlantic during mid to late August, moving to the north of the Lesser Antilles while strengthening. Its outer bands affected Puerto...

     makes landfall in Florida
    Florida
    Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

    . After killing two people in the Bahamas, Hurricane Frances
    Hurricane Frances
    Hurricane Frances was the sixth named storm, the fourth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. The system crossing the open Atlantic during mid to late August, moving to the north of the Lesser Antilles while strengthening. Its outer bands affected Puerto...

     killed ten people in Florida
    Florida
    Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

    , two in Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)
    Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

     and one in South Carolina
    South Carolina
    South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

    .
  • September 8 – In the "Rathergate"
    Killian documents
    The Killian documents controversy involved six documents critical of President George W. Bush's service in the Air National Guard in 1972–73...

     affair, the first Internet
    Internet
    The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

     posts appear, pointing out that documents claimed by CBS News
    CBS News
    CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...

     to be typewritten memos from the early 1970s appear instead to have been produced using modern word processing
    Word processing
    Word processing is the creation of documents using a word processor. It can also refer to advanced shorthand techniques, sometimes used in specialized contexts with a specially modified typewriter.-External links:...

     systems.
  • September 13 – The U.S. Assault Weapons Ban expires.
  • September 16 – Hurricane Ivan
    Hurricane Ivan
    Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...

     strikes Gulf Shores, Alabama
    Alabama
    Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

    , as a Category 3 storm, killing 25 in Alabama
    Alabama
    Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

     and Florida
    Florida
    Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

    , becoming the third-costliest hurricane in American history at the time.
  • September 23 – Tropical Storm Ivan
    Hurricane Ivan
    Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...

    , having come around and reformed in the Gulf of Mexico
    Gulf of Mexico
    The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

    , makes its final landfall near Cameron, Louisiana
    Cameron, Louisiana
    Cameron is a census-designated place in and the parish seat of Cameron Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,965 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Lake Charles Metropolitan Statistical Area...

    , to little effect. In total, the storm kills 92 people.
  • September 23 – Mount St. Helens
    Mount St. Helens
    Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is south of Seattle, Washington and northeast of Portland, Oregon. Mount St. Helens takes its English name from the British diplomat Lord St Helens, a...

     became active again.
  • September 24 – Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

     announces that the Montreal Expos
    Montreal Expos
    The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...

     will move to Washington D.C. in 2005.
  • September 25 – Hurricane Jeanne
    Hurricane Jeanne
    Hurricane Jeanne was the deadliest hurricane in the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the tenth named storm, the seventh hurricane, and the fifth major hurricane of the season, as well as the third hurricane and fourth named storm of the season to make landfall in Florida...

     makes landfall near Port Saint Lucie, Florida, near the location Hurricane Frances
    Hurricane Frances
    Hurricane Frances was the sixth named storm, the fourth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. The system crossing the open Atlantic during mid to late August, moving to the north of the Lesser Antilles while strengthening. Its outer bands affected Puerto...

     hit two weeks earlier. Jeanne kills over 3,030, mostly in Haiti.
  • September 29 – In Mojave, California
    Mojave, California
    Mojave is a census-designated place in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located east of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 2762 feet...

    , the first Ansari X-Prize flight takes place of SpaceShipOne, which is competing with a number of spacecraft (including Canada's Da Vinci Project
    Da Vinci Project
    The da Vinci Project was a privately funded, volunteer-staffed attempt to launch a reusable manned suborbital spacecraft. It was formed in 1996 specifically to be a contender for the Ansari X PRIZE for the first non-governmental reusable manned spacecraft. The project was based in Toronto,...

    , claimed to be its closest rival) and goes on to win the prize on October 4.
  • September 30 – First debate of the U.S. presidential election, 2004
    United States presidential election, 2004
    The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...

    .

October

  • October 5 – Vice Presidential debate of the U.S. presidential election, 2004
    United States presidential election debates, 2004
    The United States presidential election debates were held in the 2004 presidential elections. Three debates were held between Republican incumbent George W. Bush and Democratic candidate John Kerry, the major candidates, and one debate was held with their vice presidential running mates, incumbent...

     between the candidates, Dick Cheney
    Dick Cheney
    Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....

     and John Edwards
    John Edwards
    Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...

    .
  • October 8 – Second debate of the U.S. presidential election, 2004
    United States presidential election debates, 2004
    The United States presidential election debates were held in the 2004 presidential elections. Three debates were held between Republican incumbent George W. Bush and Democratic candidate John Kerry, the major candidates, and one debate was held with their vice presidential running mates, incumbent...

    .
  • October 13 – Third debate of the U.S. presidential election, 2004
    United States presidential election debates, 2004
    The United States presidential election debates were held in the 2004 presidential elections. Three debates were held between Republican incumbent George W. Bush and Democratic candidate John Kerry, the major candidates, and one debate was held with their vice presidential running mates, incumbent...

    .
  • October 16 – The New York Yankees
    New York Yankees
    The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

     defeat the Boston Red Sox
    Boston Red Sox
    The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

     19–8 in Game 3 of Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

    's American League Championship Series
    American League Championship Series
    In Major League Baseball, the American League Championship Series , played in October, is a round in the postseason that determines the winner of the American League pennant...

    . The game, which pushes the Yankees to a 3–0 series lead, sets a record for longest nine-inning
    Inning
    Inning is a municipality in the district of Erding in Bavaria in Germany....

     baseball game.
  • October 20 – Corporate Airlines Flight 5966
    Corporate Airlines Flight 5966
    Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 was a flight route from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in St. Louis, Missouri, United States to Kirksville Regional Airport in unincorporated Adair County, Missouri, near the city of Kirksville. Corporate Airlines flew the route as part of the...

     crashes in Missouri
    Missouri
    Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

    , killing 13 people, and injuring two.
  • October 25 – Martin Luther King, Jr.
    Martin Luther King, Jr.
    Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...

     and Coretta Scott King
    Coretta Scott King
    Coretta Scott King was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader. The widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King helped lead the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.Mrs...

     receive the Congressional Gold Medal.
  • October 27 – The Boston Red Sox
    Boston Red Sox
    The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

     win the World Series
    2004 World Series
    The 2004 World Series was the Major League Baseball championship series for the 2004 season. It was the 100th World Series and featured the American League champions, the Boston Red Sox, against the National League champions, the St. Louis Cardinals...

     for the first time since 1918
    1918 World Series
    The 1918 World Series featured the Boston Red Sox, who defeated the Chicago Cubs four games to two. The Series victory for the Red Sox was their fifth in five tries, going back to . The Red Sox scored only nine runs in the entire Series; the fewest runs by the winning team in World Series history...

    , breaking the Curse of the Bambino
    Curse of the Bambino
    The Curse of the Bambino was a superstition cited as a reason for the failure of the Boston Red Sox baseball team to win the World Series in the 86-year period from 1918 to 2004...

    .
  • October 29 – A videotape of Osama Bin Laden
    Osama bin Laden
    Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...

     speaking airs on Arabic TV, in which he threatens terrorist attacks on the USA, and taunts the President
    President of the United States
    The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

    , George W. Bush
    George W. Bush
    George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

    , over the September 11 Terrorist attacks.

November

  • November 2 – The United States re-elects George W. Bush
    George W. Bush
    George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

     of the Republican Party
    Republican Party (United States)
    The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

     to a second term as President of the United States
    President of the United States
    The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

    , defeating John Kerry
    John Kerry
    John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

    .
  • November 2 – Eleven American states ban gay marriage.
  • November 7 – Second Battle of Fallujah: U.S. Forces
    United States armed forces
    The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...

     launch a major assault on the Iraq
    Iraq
    Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

    i town of Fallujah
    Fallujah
    Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries....

    , in an effort to rid the area of insurgents before the Iraqi elections in January.
  • November 14 – United States Secretary of State
    United States Secretary of State
    The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...

     Colin Powell
    Colin Powell
    Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...

     submits his resignation. He is replaced by Condoleezza Rice
    Condoleezza Rice
    Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...

     after her confirmation by the United States Congress
    United States Congress
    The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

    .
  • November 16 – NASA
    NASA
    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

    's hypersonic
    Hypersonic
    In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that is highly supersonic. Since the 1970s, the term has generally been assumed to refer to speeds of Mach 5 and above...

     Scramjet
    Scramjet
    A scramjet is a variant of a ramjet airbreathing jet engine in which combustion takes place in supersonic airflow...

    breaks a record by reaching a velocity
    Velocity
    In physics, velocity is speed in a given direction. Speed describes only how fast an object is moving, whereas velocity gives both the speed and direction of the object's motion. To have a constant velocity, an object must have a constant speed and motion in a constant direction. Constant ...

     of about 7,000 mph in an unmanned experimental flight. It obtains a speed
    Speed
    In kinematics, the speed of an object is the magnitude of its velocity ; it is thus a scalar quantity. The average speed of an object in an interval of time is the distance traveled by the object divided by the duration of the interval; the instantaneous speed is the limit of the average speed as...

     of Mach
    Mach number
    Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...

     9.6, almost 10 times the speed of sound
    Speed of sound
    The speed of sound is the distance travelled during a unit of time by a sound wave propagating through an elastic medium. In dry air at , the speed of sound is . This is , or about one kilometer in three seconds or approximately one mile in five seconds....

    .
  • November 19 – The NBA's Indiana Pacers
    Indiana Pacers
    The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...

     and Detroit Pistons
    Detroit Pistons
    The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...

     engage in a brawl that involves fans and players. The incident gets (then) Pacer Ron Artest
    Ron Artest
    Metta World Peace is an American professional basketball player and rapper who is currently with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA. World Peace gained a reputation as one of the league's premier defenders as he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2004...

     suspended for the remainder of the season.

December

  • December 3 – The Colombia
    Colombia
    Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

    n government extradites Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela
    Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela
    Gilberto José Rodríguez Orejuela is a Colombian druglord, formerly one of the leaders of the Cali Cartel, based in the city of Cali.-Cali Cartel:...

    , 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
    Jeddah
    Jeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...

    , Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia
    The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

    , killing several people.
  • December 8 – The biggest Chinese PC
    Personal computer
    A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

     producer Lenovo announces its plan to purchase IBM
    IBM
    International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

    's global PC business, making it the third largest world PC maker after Dell and Hewlett-Packard
    Hewlett-Packard
    Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...

    .
  • December 21 – Iraqi insurgents attack a U.S. military base in the city of Mosul
    Mosul
    Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...

    , killing 22 people.
  • December 23 – Second Battle of Fallujah: US-UK-Iraqi forces defeat the remaining Iraqi insurgents
    Iraqi insurgency
    The Iraqi Resistance is composed of a diverse mix of militias, foreign fighters, all-Iraqi units or mixtures opposing the United States-led multinational force in Iraq and the post-2003 Iraqi government...

     in Fallujah
    Fallujah
    Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries....

    .
  • December 31 – Simón Trinidad
    Simón Trinidad
    Simón Trinidad is the alias of Juvenal Ovidio Ricardo Palmera Pineda, a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia , and reputedly the first high-ranking member of that guerrilla group to be captured...

    , high-profile FARC
    Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
    The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army is a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization based in Colombia which is involved in the ongoing Colombian armed conflict, currently involved in drug dealing and crimes against the civilians..FARC-EP is a peasant army which...

     leader, is extradited to the United States, following the second extradition of a high drug dealer in a month and in 2004.

Ongoing

  • War in Afghanistan
    War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
    The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...

     (2001–present)
  • Iraq War (2003–2010)

Births

  • January 10 - Kaitlyn Maher
    Kaitlyn Maher
    Kaitlyn Ashley Maher is an American child singer and actress born in Michigan, and raised in Ashburn, Virginia. In 2008, she reached the final ten on the third series of television talent show America's Got Talent; the youngest person to do so...

    , singer and actress
  • January 13 - Ethan Munck, actor
  • February 26 - The Hanselman sextuplets
    Hanselman sextuplets
    The Hanselman sextuplets are a set of sextuplets born to Jennifer and Keith Hanselman in Akron, Ohio, United States.-Biography:...

  • July 2 - Caitlin Carmichael
    Caitlin Carmichael
    Caitlin Elizabeth Carmichael is an American child actress.-Biography:Caitlin Carmichael was born in Tifton, Georgia, to parents Tom and Catherine Carmichael. Caitlin's career began when she was 3 years old. Her family took her on a Disney cruise for her birthday, and while attending a show, she...

    , actress
  • August 1 - Neveah Gallegos, murder victim (died 2007
    2007 in the United States
    -Incumbents:* President: George W. Bush * Vice President: Dick Cheney * Chief Justice: John Roberts* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Dennis Hastert , Nancy Pelosi...

    )

Deaths

  • January 23 – Bob Keeshan
    Bob Keeshan
    Robert James "Bob" Keeshan was an American television producer and actor. He is most notable as the title character of the children's television program Captain Kangaroo, which became an icon for millions of people during its 30-year run from 1955 to 1984.Keeshan also played the original...

    , actor, starred as Captain Kangaroo
    Captain Kangaroo
    Captain Kangaroo is a children's television series which aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for nearly 30 years, from October 3, 1955 until December 8, 1984, making it the longest-running children's television program of its day...

     (b. 1927)
  • January 27 – Jack Paar
    Jack Paar
    Jack Harold Paar was an author, American radio and television comedian and talk show host, best known for his stint as host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962...

    , Tonight Show host (b. 1918)
  • April 22 – Pat Tillman
    Pat Tillman
    Corporal Patrick Daniel "Pat" Tillman Jr. was an American football player who left his professional career and enlisted in the United States Army in June 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks. He joined the Army Rangers and served several tours in combat before he died in the...

    , NFL player, Army Ranger
    Army Ranger
    Army Ranger can refer to:* Canadian Rangers, a component of the army of the Canadian Forces* Irish Army Rangers* Pakistan Army Rangers* United States Army Rangers* Vietnamese Rangers, part of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam...

     (b. 1976)
  • April 24 – Estée Lauder
    Estée Lauder (person)
    Estée Lauder was an American businesswoman who was the co-founder, along with her husband Joseph Lauder, of Estée Lauder Companies, a pioneering cosmetics company. Lauder was the only woman on TIME magazine's 1998 list of the 20 most influential business geniuses of the 20th century. She was the...

    , cosmetics products pioneer (b. 1906)
  • May 9 – Alan King
    Alan King (comedian)
    Alan King was an American actor and comedian known for his biting wit and often angry humorous rants. King became well known as a Jewish comedian and satirist. He was also a serious actor who appeared in a number of movies and television shows. King wrote several books, produced films, and...

    , comedian, actor (b. 1927)
  • May 17 – Tony Randall
    Tony Randall
    Tony Randall was a U.S. actor, comic, producer and director.-Early years:Randall was born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Julia and Mogscha Rosenberg, an art and antiques dealer...

    , television actor (The Odd Couple
    The Odd Couple
    The Odd Couple is a 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as other derivative works and spin offs, many featuring one or more of the same actors. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates, one neat and uptight, the other more easygoing and...

    ) (b. 1920)
  • May 29 – Archibald Cox
    Archibald Cox
    Archibald Cox, Jr., was an American lawyer and law professor who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy. He became known as the first special prosecutor for the Watergate scandal. During his career, he was a pioneering expert on labor law and also an authority on...

    , Watergate special prosecutor (b. 1912)
  • June 5 – Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

    , actor, Governor of California
    Governor of California
    The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...

    , 40th President of the United States
    President of the United States
    The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

     (b. 1911)
  • June 10 – Ray Charles
    Ray Charles
    Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...

    , musician (b. 1930)
  • July 1 – Marlon Brando
    Marlon Brando
    Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...

    , actor (b. 1924
    1924 in the United States
    -January–March:* February 7 – Death penalty: The first state execution using gas in the United States takes place in Nevada.* February 12 – Rhapsody in Blue, by George Gershwin, is first performed in New York City at Aeolian Hall....

    )
  • August 6 – Rick James
    Rick James
    James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. , better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. James was a popular performer in the late 1970s and 1980s, scoring four number-one hits on the U.S. R&B charts performing in the genres of funk and R&B...

    , funk singer (b. 1948)
  • August 8 – Fay Wray
    Fay Wray
    Fay Wray was a Canadian-American actress most noted for playing the female lead in King Kong...

    , King Kong
    King Kong (1933 film)
    King Kong is a Pre-Code 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film tells of a gigantic island-dwelling apeman creature called Kong who dies in...

    actress (b. 1907)
  • August 26 – Laura Branigan
    Laura Branigan
    Laura Ann Branigan was an American singer-songwriter and actress of Italian and Irish ancestry. She is best known in the United States for her 1982 Platinum-certified hit "Gloria" and in Europe for the number-one single "Self Control"...

    , pop singer (b. 1957)
  • August 30 – Fred Lawrence Whipple
    Fred Lawrence Whipple
    Fred Lawrence Whipple was an American astronomer, who worked at the Harvard College Observatory for over 70 years...

    , astronomer (b. 1906)
  • October 4 – Gordon Cooper
    Gordon Cooper
    Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. , also known as Gordon Cooper, was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot and NASA astronaut. Cooper was one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first manned space effort by the United States...

    , one of the Mercury Seven
    Mercury Seven
    Mercury Seven was the group of seven Mercury astronauts selected by NASA on April 9, 1959. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1...

     astronauts (b. 1927)
  • October 5 – Rodney Dangerfield
    Rodney Dangerfield
    Rodney Dangerfield , was an American comedian, and actor, known for the catchphrases "I don't get no respect!," "No respect, no respect at all... that's the story of my life" or "I get no respect, I tell ya" and his monologues on that theme...

    , comic, actor (b. 1921)
  • October 10 – Christopher Reeve
    Christopher Reeve
    Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...

    , actor, activist (b. 1952)
  • October 16 – Pierre Salinger
    Pierre Salinger
    Pierre Emil George Salinger was a White House Press Secretary to U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson...

    , White House Press Secretary, newsman (b. 1925)
  • November 7 – Howard Keel
    Howard Keel
    Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...

    , actor, singer (b. 1919)
  • November 13 – Ol' Dirty Bastard
    Ol' Dirty Bastard
    Russell Tyrone Jones was an American rapper and occasional producer, who went by the stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard or simply ODB...

     (Russell Jones), rapper (b. 1968)
  • November 19 - Jesse Koochin
    Jesse Koochin
    Jesse Koochin was a 6-year-old boy from Utah who became the center of a legal battle between his parents, Steve and Gayle Koochin, and Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City....

     (b. 1998
    1998 in the United States
    -Incumbents:* President: Bill Clinton * Vice President: Al Gore * Chief Justice: William Rehnquist* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Newt Gingrich * Senate Majority Leader: Trent Lott * Congress: 105th...

    )
  • November 29 – John Drew Barrymore
    John Drew Barrymore
    John Drew Barrymore was a member of the Barrymore family of actors, which included his father, John Barrymore, and his father's siblings, Lionel and Ethel...

    , actor (b. 1932)
  • December 26 – Reggie White
    Reggie White
    Reginald Howard "Reggie" White was a professional American football player. He played 15 seasons as a defensive end in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers, becoming one of the most decorated players in NFL history...

    , NFL player (b. 1961)
  • December 28 – Jerry Orbach
    Jerry Orbach
    Jerome Bernard "Jerry" Orbach was an American actor and singer. He was well known for his starring role as Detective Lennie Briscoe in the Law & Order television series and as the voice of Lumière in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. As well, Orbach was a noted musical theatre star...

    , actor (b. 1935)

External links

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