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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;
• European Year of Intercultural Dialogue;
• Australian Year of the Scout;
• International Year of the Potato;
• International Year of Sanitation.
• Year of the Frog, as declared by the international conservation initiative Amphibian Ark.

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.

Events

January

• January 1 - Cyprus, Malta, and Akrotiri and Dhekelia adopted the euro.
• January 1 - Slovenia takes over the presidency of European Union as the first of new member states.
• 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 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 - Mikheil Saakashvili is re-elected following early presidential elections in Georgia.
• January 5 - A levee bursts in Fernley, Nevada, flooding a large portion of the town and forcing the evacuations of 3,500 residents.
• January 7 - NBC announced The 2008 Golden Globe Awards Ceremony would be cancelled due to the Writers Guild of America Strike. The network says it would announce the winners in a 1 hour news conference.
• January 7-January 10 - A storm passes through eastern North America. It produced 64 tornadoes across mideastern United States, a rarity for January, and record-breaking temperatures in eastern Canada.
• January 7 - Wei Wenhua was murdered when he attempted to photograph a conflict in China. He was beaten inside his car for five minutes and declared dead at a local hospital soon after.
• January 8 - An attempted assassination of Maldivian president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is thwarted because a Boy Scout grabbed the attacker's knife. The Boy Scout was injured, but after a scuffle ensued police arrested the attacker.
• January 8 - Hillary Clinton and John McCain win their respective New Hampshire Presidential primaries.
• January 9 - U.S. President George W. Bush begins a tour of the Middle East with a stop in Israel. Other destinations include Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
• January 12 - The Kuomintang-led Pan-Blue Coalition wins the legislative elections in Taiwan with over 70% of the votes.

Predicted and scheduled events

Template:Future

January

• January 14 - January 27 - 2008 Australian Open Tennis Championships at Melbourne Park.
• January 14 - At 19:04:39 UTC, the MESSENGER space probe will be at closest approach during its first flyby of the planet Mercury.
• January 15 - Michigan primary in U.S. presidential election.
• January 19 - South Carolina Republican primary and Nevada primary in U.S. presidential election.
• January 20 - Serbian presidential elections.
• 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 25 - Building for the new Liverpool Arena should be completed.
• January 26 - Bishop Wim Eijk is to be installed as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht.
• January 26 - South Carolina Democratic primary in U.S. presidential election.
• 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 29 - Florida primary in U.S. presidential election.
• January 30 - Scientists give a 1 in 10000 chance that asteroid 2007 WD5 will hit the planet Mars on this date.

February

• February - Chief of the Defence Staff (Canada) General Rick Hillier's term is set to end.
• February 1 - Maine Republican primary in U.S. presidential election.
• February 3 - Super Bowl XLII to be held at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
• February 5 - Super Duper Tuesday, massive multi-state primary in U.S. presidential election, with primaries in 24 states.
• February 7 - A partial Solar eclipse over eastern Australia, Antarctica and New Zealand.
• February 7 - Lunar New Year in Asia and Asian communities.
• February 7 - General election called for Belize's 31 House seats; a referendum to be held simultaneously to determine whether the upper house should be elected.
• February 9 - For U.S. presidential election: Louisiana primary, Kansas Republican caucus, Washington (state) caucus
• February 10 - The 50th Annual Grammy Awards will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
• February 10 - Maine Democratic primary in U.S. presidential election.
• February 11 - Inaugural events for the two-year celebration of the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln in Hodgenville, Kentucky.
• February 12 - For U.S. presidential election: DC, Maryland, Virginia primaries
• 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 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will start with the 50th annual Daytona 500 in 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 19 - For U.S. presidential election: Washington (state) non-binding primary, Wisconsin primary, Hawaii Democratic Party caucus.
• February 21 - Total lunar eclipse - North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Western Asia.
• February 24 - The 80th Academy Awards will take place at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California.
• February 27 - The Santo Domingo Metro is expected to be completed and ready for test-runs by the Dominican Republic Government.

March

• March 2 - 2008 Russian presidential election.
• March 4 - Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont primaries in U.S. presidential election.
• March 9 and March 16 - Municipal election in France. (announcement in French)
• March 9 - Wyoming Democratic primary in U.S. presidential election.
• March 9 - Tentative date for the Spanish general election.
• March 9 - Tentative date for the Andalusian autonomic election.
• March 11 - Mississippi primary in U.S. presidential 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.
• March 29 - The 2008 Major League Soccer season starts.

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.
• April 20 - Elections in Paraguay.
• April 22 - Pennsylvania primary in U.S. presidential election.

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 1 - Elections for the London Mayor and London Assembly to take place.
• May 6 - Indiana and North Carolina primaries in U.S. presidential election.
• May 13 - Nebraska and West Virginia primaries in U.S. presidential election.
• 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 16 - Launch of the The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope Space Telescope, or GLAST.
• May 20 - Kentucky and Oregon primaries in U.S. presidential election.
• 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.
• 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.
• May 27 - Idaho Republican primary in U.S. presidential election.

June

• June 3 - New Mexico Republican primary and Montana, and South Dakota primaries in U.S. presidential election.
• June 7-June 29 - UEFA Euro 2008 Championship tournament. Joint hosts Switzerland and Austria.
• June 9-June 15 - the United States Golf Open 2008 is scheduled at Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course).
• June 14 - Expo 2008 scheduled to begin in Zaragoza, Spain.

July

• July 15-July 20 - World Youth Day will take place in Sydney, Australia, the largest youth gathering in the Southern Hemisphere with the visit of Pope Benedict XVI.
• July 31 - After three decades as the Chairman of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates will step down from daily duties.

August

• August 2-August 9 - The National Eisteddfod of Wales will be held in Cardiff, South Wales.
• 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.
• August 25 to August 28 - Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado for U.S. presidential election.

September

• September 1 to September 4 - Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota for U.S. presidential election.
• September 27 - The Australian Football League Grand Final will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

October

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

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.
• November 22 - APEC Peru 2008 Summit in Lima.
• November 25 - Greenland holds election for increased autonomy from Denmark.
• November 28 - Legislative election in Romania.

December

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

Unknown dates

• The United Nations is to review drug policies around the world.
• The United Kingdom plans to complete a 5-year process to cease analog television broadcasts region-by-region, starting with Border. This process has already begun.
• New China Central Television headquarters buildings open.
• Kosovo will probabally declare independence from Serbia in later winter or early spring.

Ongoing Events

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

Deaths

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 3 - Werner Dollinger, German politician (b. 1918)
• January 5 - Raymond Forni, French politician (b. 1941)
• January 5 - Clinton Grybas, Australian sports commentator (b. 1975)
• January 6 – Ken Nelson, American record producer and music executive (b. 1911)
• January 7 - Edward "Buddy" LeRoux, American businessman (b. 1930)
• January 7 - Philip Agee, American spy (b. 1935)
• January 8 - Moshe Levi, Israeli military commander (b. 1936)
• January 9 - Johnny Grant, American radio personality, television producer (b. 1923)
• January 9 - John Harvey-Jones, English businessman (b. 1924)
• January 9 - Fr. John O'Brien, Irish priest (b. 1931)
• January 10 - Christopher Bowman, American figure skater (b. 1967)
• January 10 - Andrés Henestrosa, Mexican writer and politician (b. 1906)
• January 11 - Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer and explorer (b. 1919)
• January 11 - Carl Karcher, American businessman (b. 1917)

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

2008 in fiction

Books

• Isaac Asimov's 1955 short story Franchise takes place in 2008, the premise being that the U.S. president will be selected by a computer program looking for the "most representative citizen".
• John Barnes, Mother of Storms (1995) begins with a 2008 UN resolution barring any nation from acquiring nuclear weapons after June 1, 2008, subject to penalty of preemptive strike.
• Gregory Benford's books The Jupiter War and The Threads of Time are set in 2008.
• The Galactic Milieu Series by Julian May features Earth's first contact with an alien race on June 20, 2008.
• In Francis Anderson's 1992 book "Future Undetermined" the UN bans civilians from owning handguns on March 29.
• Ian McDonald's "Chaga Saga" (Evolution's Shore and Kirinya) begins with the March 13, 2008 impact arrival of the plant form Chaga from outer space.
• Alan E. Nourse's 1957 book Rocket to Limbo begins with the March 3, 2008 launch of the starship Argonaut on a centuries-long trip to Alpha Centauri.
• The Mote in God's Eye (1974) by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle postulates that faster-than-light travel is perfected in 2008.
• The Next War, a controversial 1996 novel about the post-Soviet era, co-authored by former U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, looks at a possible 2008 nuclear confrontation between the United States and Russia.

Computer and video games

Set in 2008:

• Ghost Recon (2001): Russia attempts to reunite the Soviet Union and invades several Eastern European countries. The UN intervenes with peacekeeping forces.
• Splinter Cell series: Sam Fisher goes undercover.
• 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)

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)

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 first episode "Space Pilot 3000"): Stop N' Drop 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.

References

1. International Year of Planet Earth
2. European Year of Intercultural Dialogue website
3. Australian Year of the Scout.
4. International Year of the Potato 2008.
5. International Year of Sanitation.
6. Year of the Frog.
7. Cyprus and Malta set to join eurozone in 2008, EurActiv
8. Akrotiri and Dhekelia adopt the euro, EUbusiness
9. Slovenian EU presidency
10. ^ Cite error: The named reference bandurski was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
11. Ang, Audra (2008-01-09). "Detentions follow Chinese protest". AP via Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
12. Cite error: The named reference ap was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
13. "Mercury Flyby 1". The MESSENGER website. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
14. http://www.marketingservicestalk.com/news/bal/bal100.html
15. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-152
16. http://www.azsuperbowl.com/
17. "Total Lunar Eclipse: February 21 2008". Retrieved 2007-11-05.
18. "80th Annual Academy Awards: General Timeline". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2007-03-22.
19. "Russia's Presidential Election Set for March, 2008". mosnews.com. December 14, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
20. http://en.wikipedia.org/Republic_of_China_presidential_election,_2008
21. "Understanding the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007" (pdf). Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
22. "Reference Group concludes Belgrade visit". Eurovision.TV. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
23. http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/index.html retrieved 22 August 2007
24. http://www.usopen.com/future/ retrieved 14 June 2007
25. http://www.wyd2008.org/index.php/en
26. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/jun06/06-15CorpNewsPR.mspx
27. http://www.eisteddfod.org.uk/english/content.php?nID=27
28. http://www.formulazero.nl/
29. "FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup New Zealand 2008". FIFA. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
30. "FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Chile 2008". FIFA. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
31. Staff reporter (2007-02-13). "Agreement on division of Netherlands Antilles" (HTML). Government.nl. Retrieved 2007-02-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
32. http://www.un.org/ga/president/57/pages/speeches/statement030408-Vienna-Narcotics.htm
33. http://www.drug-policy.org/modules/countdown_2008
34. http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/en/when.html

External links

• 2008 Calendar at Internet Accuracy Project

• Current events
• 2008