2004

Events in 2004 63

• 1907 – 2004 Fay Wray (1907-2004) Died 8 August 2004, aged 96 Wray was an actress best remembered for her role as Ann Darrow in the original 1933 film "King Kong." She worked in Hollywood across seven decades, spanning silent film through television.
• 1911 – 2004 Ronald Reagan 40th President — ended the Cold War Ronald Reagan (Feb 6, 1911 – Jun 5, 2004) was the 40th President 1981-1989. Former Hollywood actor, he rebuilt US military strength, cut taxes, and is credited with helping end the Cold War through pressure on the Soviet Union.
• 1911 – 2004 Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004) Died 14 August 2004, aged 93 Milosz was a Polish poet, essayist, and diplomat who defected to the West during the Cold War. He won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature for a body of work grappling with totalitarianism and exile.
• 1912 – 2004 Julia Child (1912-2004) Died 13 August 2004, aged 91 Child was an American chef and author who introduced French cuisine to a mass US television audience through her show "The French Chef." Her book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" remains a landmark culinary text.
• 1916 – 2004 Mercedes McCambridge (1916-2004) American actress, a radio star who won an Oscar in her film debut and voiced the demon in The Exorcist.
• 1916 – 2004 Francis Crick (1916-2004) Died 28 July 2004, aged 88 Crick co-discovered the double-helix structure of DNA with James Watson in 1953, a breakthrough that earned them the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He later worked on the theoretical basis of consciousness.
• 1919 – 2004 Howard Keel (1919-2004) American actor and baritone, star of MGM musicals and later of Dallas.
• 1921 – 2004 Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) Died 28 March 2004, aged 82 Ustinov was a British actor, writer, and raconteur who won two Academy Awards, for "Spartacus" and "Topkapi." He was also known for his wit as a talk-show guest and his long service as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.
• 1921 – 2004 Rodney Dangerfield (1921-2004) Died 5 October 2004, aged 82 Dangerfield was an American comedian famed for his self-deprecating catchphrase "I don't get no respect." He starred in films including "Caddyshack" and "Back to School" after decades as a stand-up performer.
• 1923 – 2004 Ann Miller (1923-2004) American dancer and actress, famous for her machine-gun tap dancing in MGM musicals.
• 1924 – 2004 Marlon Brando (1924-2004) Died 1 July 2004, aged 80 Brando was widely regarded as one of the greatest film actors of all time, known for his roles in "A Streetcar Named Desire," "On the Waterfront," and "The Godfather." His naturalistic Method acting style reshaped American cinema.
• 1927 – 2004 Janet Leigh (1927-2004) American actress best remembered for the shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho, and mother of Jamie Lee Curtis.
• 1929 – 2004 Yasser Arafat (1929-2004) Died 11 November 2004, aged 75 Arafat led the Palestine Liberation Organization for decades and co-founded Fatah, becoming the central figure of the Palestinian national movement. He shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for the Oslo Accords and died in a French military hospital under disputed circumstances.
• 1930 – 2004 Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) Died 9 October 2004, aged 74 Derrida was a French philosopher who founded deconstruction, a method of critical analysis that profoundly influenced literary theory and continental philosophy. His work included "Of Grammatology" and "Writing and Difference."
• 1930 – 2004 Ray Charles (1930-2004) Died 10 June 2004, aged 73 Ray Charles was a pioneering American musician who fused gospel, blues, and jazz to help create soul music. Hits like "Georgia on My Mind" and "Hit the Road Jack" made him one of the most influential performers of the 20th century.
• 1933 – 2004 Susan Sontag (1933-2004) Died 28 December 2004, aged 71 Sontag was an American writer and public intellectual known for essays such as "Notes on Camp" and "Regarding the Pain of Others." She was also a prominent political activist and novelist.
• 1939 – 2004 John Peel (1939-2004) Died 25 October 2004, aged 65 Peel was a British radio broadcaster renowned for championing new and underground music on BBC Radio 1 across four decades. His influential sessions helped launch the careers of countless artists.
• 1951 – 2004 Gerrie Knetemann De Kneet Beloved Dutch rider and 1978 World Champion; known for his wit and stage wins.
• 1952 – 2004 Christopher Reeve (1952-2004) Died 10 October 2004, aged 52 Reeve rose to fame playing Superman in the 1978 film and its sequels. Paralyzed after a horse-riding accident in 1995, he became a prominent advocate for spinal cord injury research until his death from cardiac arrest.
• 1957 – 2004 Theo van Gogh (1957-2004) Died 2 November 2004, aged 47 Van Gogh was a Dutch filmmaker and provocative public commentator, great-grandnephew of the painter Vincent van Gogh's brother. He was murdered in Amsterdam by an Islamist extremist over his film "Submission," an act that triggered fierce debate over free speech and integration in the Netherlands.
• 1970 – 2004 Marco Pantani Il Pirata The last rider to win the Giro and Tour in the same year (1998); a legendary climber.
• 2004 "The Final Tour" 37 UK concerts The Shadows embarked on "The Final Tour" — a series of 37 concerts across the United Kingdom — intended as a definitive farewell after a 45-year career.
• 2004 – 2006 After Athens -- a year away, then illness After Athens 2004, Thorpe takes a planned sabbatical from competitive swimming -- the first real break in a career that began when he was 14. He is 22 years old, has been the most scrutinised athlete in Australia for seven years, and has accumulated five Olympic golds, 13 World Championship titles and a fatigue -- physical and emotional -- that goes beyond what a training break can address. He attempts to return for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games but falls ill with what is initially diagnosed as bronchitis and turns out to be glandular fever. He withdraws from the Commonwealth Games without competing.
• 2004 Athens 2004 -- the false start and the comeback The road to Athens 2004 contains one of the most dramatic pre-Olympic incidents in Australian swimming history. At the Olympic trials, Thorpe false starts in the 400m freestyle -- falling into the pool off the blocks -- and is disqualified from the event. His place on the team in the 400m is saved only when teammate Craig Stevens generously withdraws from the event to allow Thorpe to take his spot. Thorpe responds at Athens with two gold medals (200m freestyle, a new Olympic record of 1:44.71; 400m freestyle), a silver (4×200m freestyle relay) and a bronze (100m freestyle) -- the only athlete in history to win medals in the 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle at the same Olympics.
• 2004 Athens 200m -- revenge over van den Hoogenband Thorpe's 200m freestyle gold at Athens 2004 -- ahead of American Michael Phelps and Dutch swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband, who had beaten him in the same event at Sydney 2000 -- is widely considered his finest single performance. His Olympic record of 1:44.71 is set in the heats and broken by his own final performance. The race is a statement: at 21, in what will prove to be his last Olympics, he beats Phelps (who wins eight gold medals at Athens overall) in the marquee individual freestyle event. It is the perfect ending to an Olympic career that began when he was 17 in Sydney.
• 2004 – present Bruno Mars The Retro Showman Celebrated for his versatile vocals and homages to funk, soul, and R&B.
• 2004 Final studio album Released alongside The Final Tour Released a final studio album to accompany The Final Tour, drawing a line under their original recording career — though further reunions would follow.
• 2004 – present Kendrick Lamar The Lyricist First non-classical/jazz artist to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
• 2004 Million Dollar Baby Best Picture — 77th Academy Awards Clint Eastwood directs and stars as a veteran trainer who takes on Hilary Swank's determined boxer.
• 2004 Social Media Facebook The invention of massive, algorithm-driven social networking.
• 2004 – 2006 The X Factor -- making the final 12 Bennett enters the UK edition of The X Factor in her mid-teens, making it through to the final 12 before being eliminated. The result is disappointing but the exposure is significant: it brings her to the attention of industry figures associated with the show. A phone call following her elimination leads directly to an audition for a new group being assembled in Los Angeles. The X Factor appearance, in its failure, turns out to be the door she needed.
• 2004 – present Thorpe versus Phelps -- the great comparison Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps are the two defining swimmers of the early 21st century -- contemporaries whose careers briefly overlap and whose legacies are permanently intertwined. At Athens 2004, Thorpe beats Phelps in the 200m freestyle -- the race both consider the most important of the Games. Phelps goes on to win 23 Olympic gold medals across four Olympics; Thorpe retires at 24 with five. The comparison is not straightforward: Thorpe's career is effectively nine years long to Phelps's sixteen, and Thorpe's records stand for years after his retirement. If Thorpe had continued through Beijing 2008 in the form he showed at Athens, the career comparison would look very different. Thorpe himself is characteristically gracious on the subject.
• 2004 Welch & Bennett receive OBEs For services to music Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett were both appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2004, recognising their decades-long contribution to British music.
• 2004 Spirit and Opportunity rovers land on Mars NASA twin rovers begin exploring the Martian surface The rover Spirit landed in Gusev Crater on January 4, followed by Opportunity in Meridiani Planum on January 25. Both far outlasted their planned 90-day missions, gathering evidence of past water activity on Mars.
• 2004 Federer becomes World No. 1 for first time 2 February 2004 — begins record reign Roger Federer became ATP World Number 1 for the first time on 2 February 2004. He would go on to hold the top ranking for a record 237 consecutive weeks and 310 weeks in total.
• 2004 Facebook founded Mark Zuckerberg launches social network Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook from his Harvard dorm room on February 4, 2004. It grew to over 2.9 billion monthly active users, becoming one of the most valuable companies in history.
• 2004 Ouster of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti President flees amid armed rebellion Facing an armed uprising and mounting international pressure, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigned and left the country. A US-backed interim government took over amid continued unrest.
• 2004 Martha Stewart convicted of obstruction of justice Lifestyle entrepreneur found guilty over stock sale A jury convicted Stewart of lying to investigators about a 2001 stock sale, and she was later sentenced to five months in prison. The case drew heavy media attention due to her celebrity status.
• 2004 Madrid train bombings 191 killed in Spain Al-Qaeda-inspired bombers detonated ten bombs on four commuter trains in Madrid on March 11, 2004, killing 191 people and injuring over 1,800.
• 2004 Vladimir Putin re-elected Russian president Wins a second term with over 70% of the vote Putin secured a second presidential term in an election that international observers criticized as lacking genuine competition. His victory cemented his consolidation of political power in Russia.
• 2004 NATO admits seven new members Alliance expands into the former Eastern Bloc and Baltic states Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia formally joined NATO, the largest single enlargement of the alliance. It extended NATO's reach directly to the borders of Russia for the first time.
• 2004 2004 World Snooker Championship O’Sullivan Title 2 Winner: Ronnie O’Sullivan; Runner-up: Graeme Dott. Score: 18–8.
• 2004 Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal Photographs reveal torture of Iraqi detainees by US soldiers Images broadcast in late April showed US military personnel abusing and humiliating detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The scandal caused international outrage and led to courts-martial of several soldiers involved.
• 2004 EU expands to 25 nations Ten new countries join European Union Ten new countries including Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and the Baltic states joined the European Union on May 1, 2004, in the largest single expansion in EU history.
• 2004 Assassination of Akhmad Kadyrov Chechen president killed in a bombing at a Grozny stadium A bomb hidden beneath a VIP stand detonated during a Victory Day parade in Grozny, killing Chechnya's Moscow-backed president Akhmad Kadyrov. His son Ramzan later rose to power in the republic.
• 2004 Massachusetts legalizes same-sex marriage First US state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples Following a state Supreme Judicial Court ruling, Massachusetts began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on May 17. It was the first US state to do so, preceding a nationwide legal shift by over a decade.
• 2004 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban #3 film of 2004 — $796m worldwide Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Harry learns a convicted murderer has escaped from prison — and may be coming for him.
• 2004 Ken Jennings' winning streak on Jeopardy! Contestant wins 74 consecutive games Software engineer Ken Jennings won 74 straight games on the US quiz show Jeopardy!, earning over $2.5 million. His run became a cultural phenomenon and a landmark in television game show history.
• 2004 Shrek 2 #1 film of 2004 — $928m worldwide Directed by Andrew Adamson. Shrek and Fiona travel to Far Far Away to meet her parents and face the scheming Fairy Godmother.
• 2004 SpaceShipOne reaches space First private manned spaceflight SpaceShipOne, designed by Burt Rutan and funded by Paul Allen, became the first privately built aircraft to reach space on June 21, 2004, winning the $10 million Ansari X Prize and opening the era of private spaceflight.
• 2004 Handover of sovereignty to Iraqi interim government US-led Coalition Provisional Authority dissolved The Coalition Provisional Authority formally transferred governing power to the Iraqi Interim Government, two days ahead of schedule. It marked the formal end of the post-invasion occupation administration.
• 2004 Cassini enters orbit around Saturn Spacecraft begins its multi-year study of the ringed planet The Cassini-Huygens probe fired its engine to become the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn. It went on to study the planet, its rings, and its moons for over a decade, including the landing of the Huygens probe on Titan.
• 2004 2004 Summer Olympics XXVIII Olympiad - Athens Return to the birthplace of the Games. Winner: USA.
• 2004 Google IPO Search giant goes public at $85 per share Google went public on August 19, 2004, raising $1.67 billion in its IPO at $85 per share. By 2024 the share price had grown over 5,000%, making it one of the greatest investments in history.
• 2004 Beslan school siege Chechen militants seize a school in North Ossetia Armed militants took over 1,100 hostages, mostly children, at School Number One in Beslan, Russia. The three-day siege ended in chaos and explosions, leaving over 330 people dead, including 186 children. It remains one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Russian history.
• 2004 United States declares genocide in Darfur Secretary of State Colin Powell testifies to Congress Powell told the US Senate that atrocities committed by Janjaweed militias against non-Arab civilians in Darfur, Sudan, constituted genocide. It was the first time a sitting government had used the term for an ongoing conflict.
• 2004 Hamid Karzai elected president of Afghanistan First direct presidential election in the country's history Karzai won Afghanistan's first direct presidential election, held under a new constitution after the fall of the Taliban. The vote was seen as a milestone in the country's post-war reconstruction.
• 2004 Boston Red Sox win the World Series Ends an 86-year championship drought The Red Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals to win their first World Series title since 1918, after rallying from a 0-3 deficit against the New York Yankees in the ALCS. It ended the fabled "Curse of the Bambino."
• 2004 George W. Bush re-elected US president Defeats Democratic challenger John Kerry Incumbent President George W. Bush won a second term, defeating Senator John Kerry in an election dominated by the Iraq War and national security. He won both the popular vote and the Electoral College.
• 2004 Second Battle of Fallujah US-led offensive to retake the insurgent stronghold US and Iraqi government forces launched a major assault to clear insurgents from Fallujah, one of the bloodiest battles of the Iraq War. The fighting devastated much of the city and displaced most of its population.
• 2004 Orange Revolution begins in Ukraine Mass protests over a disputed presidential election Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets in Kyiv to protest a fraudulent runoff election won by Viktor Yanukovych. The Supreme Court ordered a rerun, which reformist candidate Viktor Yushchenko won on December 26.
• 2004 The Incredibles #5 film of 2004 — $631m worldwide Directed by Brad Bird at Pixar. A family of superheroes lives in hiding until they are called back into action.
• 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami 230,000 killed — deadliest natural disaster of 21st century A magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra generated a massive tsunami on December 26, 2004. Waves up to 30 metres high killed approximately 230,000 people across 14 countries.