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2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January

• January 1 - Slovenia takes over the presidency of European Union as the first of new member states.^[1]
• US$
  100 per barrel for the first time.
• Kurdish rebels
  .
• Boy Scout
  grabbed the attacker's knife. The Boy Scout was injured, but after a scuffle ensued police arrested the attacker.
• Taiwan
  with over 70% of the votes.

• space probe is at its closest approach during its first flyby of the planet Mercury.^[2]
• Exclusive Economic Zone
  .
• 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis
  .
• January 22 - Russia stages the largest naval exercise since the fall of the Soviet Union in the Bay of Biscay, amid deteriorating relations with the West. The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, along with 11 support vessels and 47 long-range bomber aircraft, practised strike tactics off the coast of France and Spain, and test-launched nuclear-capable missiles on foreign waters.
• militants
  .
• January 24 - A peace deal ends the Kivu conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Work and Pensions Secretary after the Electoral Commission refers the failure to report donations to the Metropolitan Police
  .

• January 24 - Iraqi Parliament adopts a new national flag, removing three stars associated with the Baath Party; a permanent design is expected within the next year.
• Senate
  .
• January 25 - China's worst snowstorm since 1954 kills 133, delays traffic, and causes massive power outages in central and southern parts of the country.^[3]
• charity work.^[4][5]

• February 2 - Rebels attack the capital of Chad, N'Djamena.^[6]
• February 4 - Iran opens its first space center and launches a rocket to space.^[7]

• February 5-February 6 - A tornado outbreak, the deadliest in 23 years, kills 58 in the Southern United States.
• February 7 - Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on mission STS-122 to deliver the European-built Columbus science laboratory to the International Space Station.
• February 11 - President of East Timor José Ramos-Horta is seriously wounded in an attack on his home by rebel soldiers. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado is killed by Ramos-Horta's security guards during the attack.^[8]
• February 13 - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia delivers a formal apology to the Stolen Generations.^[9]
• February 13 - Prime Minister of Malaysia Abdullah Ahmad Badawi dissolves the Malaysian parliament.^[10]

• suicide bombing by a Taliban member kills up to 80 in Kandahar, Afghanistan^[11]
• China, Spain, Romania, and other nations. However Albania, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, U.K., and U.S. express support after an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.^[12]
• General election is held in Pakistan, delayed from January 8 due to riots in the wake of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Opposition parties, including Bhutto's, take more than half of the seats, while President Pervez Musharraf's party suffers a huge defeat.^[13]
• February 19 - Fidel Castro announces his resignation as President of Cuba, to be effective on February 24.
• February 19 - Crude oil closes above $100 USD per barrel for the first time ever, settling at $100.01.
• Pacific ocean.^[14]
• Western Asia
  .
• partial international recognition
  of it.

• February 22 – The Australian Parliament descends into chaos with opposition frontbenchers ejected, question time suspended and speakers unable to control the house. A cardboard cut-out of the Prime Minister is brought into the parliament by opposition members angry about sitting time on a Friday.^[15]
• February 24 - Raúl Castro is unanimously elected as President of Cuba by the National Assembly.
• February 25 - Lee Myung-bak starts his five-year term as the 17th President of South Korea.
• Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra is arrested on corruption charges upon returning to Thailand after months of exile.^[16]

• March 1 - Singapore Flyer, the world's tallest ferris wheel, opens to the public.
• March 1 - In Gaza Strip at least 52 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers are killed in the most intense Israeli air strikes since 2005.
• 2008 Russian presidential election: Dmitry Medvedev is elected President of Russia with about 70% of the vote. He is scheduled to succeed Vladimir Putin in May.^[17]
• FARC guerrillas inside Ecuador's national territory in which senior commander Raúl Reyes
  was killed.
• Iran's Nuclear Program.^[18][19]
• Sea Shepherd conservation group injures four Japanese whalers near Antarctica by throwing bottles of butyric acid at their vessel.^[20]
• March 6 - No one is injured when a small bomb explodes at an unoccupied U.S. military recruiting station in Times Square, New York City.
• are killed and nine wounded when a Palestinian attacker opens fire at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem
  .
• US Military installations.^[21]
• 1969 elections that the Barisan Nasional coalition fails to win a two-thirds supermajority in the Dewan Rakyat
  .

• General election in Malta
  .
• Medical and higher education fees referendum in Hungary
  .
• Congress of Deputies
  .
• March 9 - First European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle, a cargo spacecraft for the International Space Station, launches from Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana.
• Demonstrations by Tibetan separatists turn violent as rioters target government and Han Chinese
  -owned buildings.
• London Heathrow Airport. It will be available for public use from March 27
  .
• Legislative election in Iran
  .
• Gerdec
  's population with food, blood etc.
• March 15 - Second set of international protests against the Church of Scientology as part of Project Chanology.
• March 17 - In Adelaide, South Australia, a 15-day heatwave, a once-in-3,000-years occurrence, comes to an end.^[22]
• exploding star halfway across the visible universe becomes the farthest known object ever visible to the naked eye.^[23]
• March 20 - A permanent coalition government agreement is reached in Belgium, ending a nine-month stalemate, as Yves Leterme is sworn in as Prime Minister.
• March 20 - The United States enacts economic sanctions against Iran.^{[citation needed]}
• Republic of China presidential election is held in Taiwan. The Kuomintang (KMT) nominee Ma Ying-jeou
  won
• first-ever general elections.^[24]

• Yousaf Raza Gillani becomes the 27th Prime Minister of Pakistan
  .
• March 25 - A 160-square-mile (414 km²) chunk of Antarctica's Wilkins Ice Shelf disintegrates, leaving the entire Connecticut-sized shelf at risk.
• March 25 - African Union and Comoros forces invade the rebel-held island of Anjouan.
• parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe.^[25]
• March 29 - An oil depot in Dagestan, Russia explodes.^[26]
• March 29 - Earth Hour (8 - 9 PM local time) in locations worldwide.
• Isabella Nardoni is thrown out of the window of her father's apartment, triggering extensive media coverage throughout the country.^[27]
• plane crashed into a row of houses in Farnborough, London, England, killing two pilots and three passengers.^[28]
• March 30 - Smoking is banned in all public places (including bars and restaurants) on the Isle of Man.
• Milan, Italy is selected to host Expo 2015
  .
• Rising food and fuel prices trigger riots and unrest in the Third World
  .

• April 2 - The 20th NATO summit begins in Bucharest, Romania.
• April 3 - Jules Verne ATV docks to the International Space Station.
• Intensified Dialogue
  with NATO.
• Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
  .
• Presidential election in Montenegro
  .
• UK.^[33]
• elections under the new law will be held in December 2008 and the new chamber will first convene in January 2009.^[35][36][37]
• Parliamentary elections in South Korea
  .

• Assembly elections in Nepal: Maoists
  win a plurality of seats in the Assembly in the first election in Nepal in nine years.
• Senate
  .
• April 13 - Trevor Immelman wins the 2008 Masters Tournament.
• crashes into a residential area of Goma, DR Congo
  .
• The Catholic University of America, the United Nations General Assembly, and the site of the fallen World Trade Center. Benedict XVI also celebrated Mass at Nationals Park and Yankee Stadium
  .
• April 18 - A magnitude 5.2 earthquake occurs outside of West Salem, Illinois. It is one of the strongest earthquakes in the midwestern states in 40 years.
• presidential election
  .
• bionic eyes
  , implanting them into two blind patients.
• pesticides is passed, making it the only place in North America to pass pesticide restriction laws of this degree. Pesticide
  use is permitted only on golf courses and selected other places.
• national strike
  in more than 20 years over issues of pay.
• April 27 - The Taliban attempts to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a military parade in Kabul.^[38]
• April 28 - India sets a world record by sending 10 satellites into orbit in a single launch.^[39]
• 71 die in a train crash in Shandong, China.^[40]
• Fritzl incest case is widely publicized after a 42-year-old Austrian woman tells local authorities that she has been imprisoned and abused by her father, Josef Fritzl, since 1984
  .

• Local elections
  , for 137 English councils and all Welsh councils, take place in the United Kingdom.
• London Assembly take place with Boris Johnson becoming the second Mayor of London
  .
• May 1 - Entry into force of the London Agreement, aimed at reducing the translation costs associated with European patents.
• May 2 - A volcanic eruption forces the evacuation of more than 4,000 people from the Chilean town of Chaitén.
• Republic of Macedonia
  .
• Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004
  .
• May 7 - Violence breaks out in Beirut, Lebanon and spreads to nearby areas over the next few days.
• May 7 - Brian Cowen is elected the 11th Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland, succeeding Bertie Ahern, after a vote in the Dáil Éireann.
• May 7 - Dmitry Medvedev is sworn in as the President of Russia.
• May 8 - Vladimir Putin is confirmed as the 10th Prime Minister of Russia after a vote in the State Duma.
• May 8 - Silvio Berlusconi is sworn in as the 81st Prime Minister of Italy.
• May 10 - Myanmar holds a constitutional referendum.
• parliamentary elections in Serbia
  .
• May 12 - Over 69,000 are killed in central China by an earthquake measuring 7.9M_w. The epicenter is 90 kilometers (55 miles) west-northwest of Chengdu.
• May 13 - A series of bomb blasts kills at least 63 and injures 216 in Jaipur, India.
• 2008 UEFA Cup Final
  .
• Baha'i Faith leaders are arrested in Iran.^[41]
• May 15 - An oil pipeline explodes in Ijegun, Nigeria, killing 100.
• May 15 - California becomes the second U.S. state after Massachusetts in 2004 to legalize same-sex marriage after the state's Supreme Court rules a previous ban unconstitutional.^[42]
• Presidential election in the Dominican Republic
  .
• Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union Summit is held in Lima, Peru
  .
• Parliamentary elections are held in Kuwait
  .
• Ice Hockey World Championship 2008 in Canada. Canada wins silver, and Finland wins bronze.^[43]
• 2008 UEFA Champions League Final at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow
  .
• Legislative elections are held in Georgia
  .
• May 22 - Council of the Presidents of Ukraine and Azerbaijan is formed.
• May 23 - The Union of South American Nations, a supranational union, is created by a union between the Andean Community and Mercosur.
• May 23 - The International Court of Justice awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute between the two countries.
• May 24 - Russia wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia.^[44]
• elected President of Lebanon by the Parliament
  . The election had been postponed 19 times due to a parliamentary stalemate.
• May 25 - NASA's Phoenix spacecraft lands on Mars.
• May 25 - The 2008 French Open, one of four major tennis "grand slam" tournaments, begins.
• Head of State
  .
• May 31 - STS-124, Space Shuttle Discovery is launched at 5:02 EDT.

June

• Universal Studios in Universal City, California
  .
• Republic of Macedonia
  .
• Referendum on the process of naturalization fails by a wide margin in Switzerland
  , leaving in place a system in which applicants are approved by elected bodies rather than popular votes.
• June 1 - In the European Union, regulations on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals start to come into force.
• explodes outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan
  , killing at least five.
• African-American to do so in a major U.S. politicial party.^[45]
• final game.^[46]
• June 7 - Ana Ivanovic wins her first Grand Slam title at the French Open by defeating Dinara Safina.
• June 7 - Big Brown, previously undefeated, fails to become the first winner of the Triple Crown since 1978, finishing last at the 2008 Belmont Stakes.
• stabs 7 to death, and wounds 11 more
  , before being arrested.
• Peloponese in Greece
  , killing two, injuring at least 220, and leaving more than 3,000 homeless.
• June 8 - A gas pipe explosion causes a collapse in the Karl Marx mine in Yenakiieve, Ukraine, killing 1 and temporarily trapping dozens.
• June 8 - Rafael Nadal wins his fourth straight French Open grand slam by defeating Roger Federer for the third straight year.
• Khartoum, Sudan
  , killing 44.
• Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope
  is launched.
• Canadian residential school system
  .
• June 12 - Ireland votes to reject the Treaty of Lisbon, in the only referendum to be held by a European Union member state on the treaty.
• June 14 - Expo 2008 begins in Zaragoza, Spain.
• June 14 - A 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, kills several and injures more than 300.
• June 21 - The first veneration ever held outside Vatican City is held in Beirut, Lebanon.
• Typhoon Fengshen hits the Philippines and capsizes the ferry MV Princess of the Stars
  , leaving hundreds dead or missing.
• presidential election
  .
• Alta Verapaz
  .
• June 28 - A 17-year-old boy is decapitated after being struck by a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia.^[47]
• Roman Catholic Church in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
  . It will last until July 29, 2009.
• Legislative elections are held in Mongolia
  .
• UEFA Euro 2008 Final in Vienna, Austria
  .

• July 1 - Smoking is banned in all public places (including bars and restaurants) in the Netherlands.^[48] The US state of Iowa also goes smoke-free (excluding casinos).
• July 1 - In the U.S. state of California, a law forbidding drivers from using hand-held cellular phones goes into effect.
• FARC by Colombian
  security forces.
• Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  .
• July 4 - A homemade bomb explodes in Minsk, Belarus, injuring at least 50. The government blames hooligans.^{[citation needed]}
• U.S. beef imports to resume.^{[citation needed}
  ]

• Tōyako, Hokkaidō in Japan
  .
• July 8–July 20 - World Gliding Championships will be held in Rieti, Italy.^[49]
• July 10-15 - The Camp for Climate Action will be held in Newcastle, Australia, involving the largest campaign of civil disobedience in Australian history. Up to 1000 people are expected to block a train line to protest the expansion of the world's biggest coal export port.^[50]
• Sydney, Australia. Pope Benedict XVI will appear at the event.^[51]
• July 30–August 5 - The XXII World Congress of Philosophy will take place in Seoul, South Korea.
• Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates will step down from daily duties.^[52]

• Beijing south railway station, the largest passenger station in Asia, will reopen following a reconstruction project.^[53]
• August 1 - Total solar eclipse visible from northern Canada (Nunavut), northern part of Russia, western Mongolia, and China; and seen as partial elsewhere in eastern North America, Europe, and Asia.
• August 2–August 16 - World Gliding Championships will be held in Lüsse, Germany.^[54]
• Denver, Colorado.^[55]
• Geneva, Switzerland) is to begin operation; it will be the world’s largest particle physics laboratory.^[56]
• August 8–August 24 - The 2008 Summer Olympics will take place in Beijing, China.
• August 11 - Computerized 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.^[57]
• the Netherlands.^[58]
• U.S. presidential election
  .

• U.S. presidential election
  .
• Broadway musical Rent will end its run after 12 years and more than 4,300 shows.^[59]
• Chandrayaan
  (Lunar Craft) will be launched.
• Slovenian parliamentary election
• September 27 - The Australian Football League Grand Final will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

October

• October 6 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its second flyby of Mercury (will be captured into Mercury's orbit on March 18 2011).
• October 8 - Space Shuttle Atlantis will begin mission STS-125, the final maintenance mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.^[60]
• October 30 - November 16 - The inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup will be held in New Zealand.^[61]

November

• state Governorships
  .
• November 5 - First round of the AFC Champions League final to be held.
• STS 126, Space Shuttle Endeavour will be launched and it will deliver equipment and supplies to the International Space Station
  .
• RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her last voyage from Southampton to Dubai
  .
• general election
  on or before this date.
• November 20 - December 7 - 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup to be held in Chile.^[62]
• November 22 - APEC Peru 2008 Summit in Lima.
• November 22 - Second round of the AFC Champions League final to be held.
• November 23 - 96th Grey Cup to be held at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.
• Orbiter
  (LRO) and LCROSS impactor, to the moon.
• November 25 - Greenland holds election for increased autonomy from Denmark.
• Legislative election in Romania
  .

• December 4 - STS-119, Space Shuttle Discovery will bring the Integrated Truss Segment to the International Space Station.
• December 6 - 14 - The 2008 Men's World Floorball Championships will take place in the Czech Republic.
• Electoral College meets in 51 locations officially to elect the 44th President of the United States
  .
• December - Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Ghana.
• December 24 - The new I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis is scheduled to be completed after the bridge collapsed in August of 2007.

Unknown dates

• The United Nations is to review drug policies around the world.^[63][64]
• The "Simón Bolívar" Satellite, a result of an agreement between Venezuela and China, will be launched this year.^[65]

Ongoing events

• Ongoing conflicts
• 6th Round of the Belgian State Reform

Deaths

January

• January 1 - Salvatore Bonanno, American mobster (b. 1932)
• January 1 - Peter Caffrey, Irish actor (b. 1949)
• January 1 - Erich Kästner, last German veteran of World War I (b. 1900)
• January 1 - Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, Sri Lankan Tamil politician (b. 1960)
• January 2 - George MacDonald Fraser, British author (b. 1925)
• January 2 - Galyani Vadhana, Thai princess (b. 1923)
• January 3 - Aleksandr Abdulov, Russian actor (b. 1953)
• 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)
• Fr. John O'Brien, Irish priest and musician (b. 1931
  )
• 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 - John Harvey-Jones, English businessman (b. 1924)
• January 10 - Christopher Bowman, American figure skater (b. 1967)
• January 10 - Andrés Henestrosa, Mexican writer and politician (b. 1906)
• January 10 - Maila Nurmi, Finnish-American actress and television personality (b. 1921)
• Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist (b. 1919
  )
• January 11 - Carl Karcher, American businessman (b. 1917)
• January 12 - Adriano González León, Venezuelan poet and writer (b. 1931)
• January 13 - Johnny Podres, American baseball player (b. 1932)
• January 15 - Brad Renfro, American actor (b. 1982)
• January 15 - Jason MacIntyre, Scottish racing cyclist (b. 1973)
• January 16 - Nikola Kljusev, Macedonian prime minister (b. 1927)
• January 17 - Bobby Fischer, American-Icelandic chess grandmaster (b. 1943)
• January 17 - Ernie Holmes, American football player (b. 1948)
• January 17 - Allan Melvin, American actor (b. 1922)
• January 18 - Georgia Frontiere, American businesswoman (b. 1927)
• January 18 - Lois Nettleton, American actress (b. 1927)
• January 19 - Don Wittman, Canadian sportscaster (b. 1936)
• January 19 - Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (b. 1937)
• January 19 - Frances Lewine, American journalist (b. 1921)
• January 19 - Morris Maddocks, English Anglican priest (b.1928)
• January 19 - John Stewart, American Singer-Songwriter (b. 1939)
• January 20 - Louis de Cazenave, French veteran of World War I (b. 1897)
• January 22 - Heath Ledger, Australian actor (b. 1979)
• January 22 - Roberto Gari, American actor (b. unknown)
• January 22 - Miles Lerman, Polish-American activist (b. 1920)
• Andrzej Andrzejewski, Polish brigadier general (b. 1961
  )
• January 24 - Randy Salerno, American news anchor (b. 1963)
• January 27 - Anna Loginova, Russian bodyguard and model (b. 1978)
• January 27 - Gordon B. Hinckley, American Mormon leader (b. 1910)
• January 27 - Suharto, 2nd President of Indonesia (b. 1921)
• January 28 - Christodoulos, Archbishop of Athens (b. 1939)
• January 29 - Margaret Truman, American writer (b. 1924)
• January 30 - Jeremy Beadle, English television presenter (b. 1948)

February

• February 1 - Beto Carrero, Brazilian businessman (b. 1937)
• February 1 - Shell Kepler, American actress (b. 1958)
• February 2 - Earl Butz, American government official (b. 1909)
• February 2 - Barry Morse, Canadian actor (b. 1918)
• February 3 - Sheldon Brown, American bicycle mechanic (b. 1944)
• February 4 - Harry Richard Landis, American World War I veteran (b. 1899)
• February 5 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1917)
• February 6 - John McWethy, American print and television journalist (b. 1947)
• February 7 - Tamara Desni, German-born English actress (b. 1913)
• Hoang Minh Chinh, Vietnamese politician and dissident (b. 1922
  )
• February 7 - Guy Severin, Russian academician and engineer (b. 1926)
• February 8 - Chua Ek Kay, Singaporean painter (b. 1947)
• February 8 - Ah Meng, Singaporean orangutan and tourism icon (b. 1960)
• Phyllis Whitney, American mystery writer (b. 1903
  )
• February 9 - Jazeh Tabatabai, Iranian artist and writer (b. 1931)
• February 9 - Trichen Jurme Kunzang Wangyal, Tibetan spiritual leader (b. 1930)
• February 10 - Ron Leavitt, American television producer (b. 1947)
• February 10 - Roy Scheider, American actor (b. 1932)
• February 11 - Alfredo Reinado, East Timorese rebel (b. 1967)
• February 11 - Tom Lantos, American politician (b. 1928)
• February 12 - Oscar Brodney, American screenwriter (b. 1907)
• Imad Mugniyah, Lebanese militant (b. 1962
  )
• February 12 - Badri Patarkatsishvili, Georgian businessman and politician (b. 1955)
• February 13 - Kon Ichikawa, Japanese film director (b. 1915)
• February 13 - Henri Salvador, French singer (b. 1917)
• February 13 - Roger Voisin, French-American classical musician (b. 1918)
• February 15 - Amnon Netzer, Iranian-Israeli historian (b. 1934)
• February 15 - Steve Fossett, American adventurer^[66] (b. 1944)
• February 15 - Ashley Callie, South African Actress (b. 1976)
• February 18 - Alain Robbe-Grillet, French writer (b. 1922)
• February 18 - Mihaela Mitrache, Romanian actress (b. 1955)
• February 19 - Natalia Bessmertnova, Russian ballerina (b. 1941)
• February 19 - Lydia Shum, Hong Kong comedian and actress (b. 1945)
• February 21 - Ben Chapman, American actor (b. 1928)
• February 23 - Janez Drnovšek, 2nd President and 2nd Prime Minister of Slovenia (b. 1950)
• February 23 - Denis Lazure, Canadian politician (b. 1925)
• February 24 - Larry Norman, American musician (b. 1947)
• February 26 - Buddy Miles, American musician (b. 1947)
• February 26 - Dan Shomron, Israeli military leader (b. 1937)
• William F. Buckley, Jr., American author and conservative commentator (b. 1925
  )
• February 27 - Myron Cope, American sportscaster (b. 1929)
• February 27 - Sujatha, Tamil writer (b. 1935)
• February 27 - Boyd Coddington, American car-builder (b. 1944)
• February 28 - Joseph M. Juran, American engineer and philanthropist (b. 1904)
• Philip Rabinowitz, South African sprinter (b. 1904
  )
• February 28 - Mike Smith, English singer (b. 1943)

March

• March 1 - Raúl Reyes, Colombian guerrilla (b. 1948)
• March 2 - Sofiko Chiaureli, Georgian actress (b. 1937)
• March 2 - Jeff Healey, Canadian musician (b. 1966)
• March 3 - Giuseppe Di Stefano, Italian operatic tenor (b. 1921)
• March 3 - Iván Ríos, Colombian guerrilla (b. 1961)
• March 4 - Gary Gygax, American writer and game designer (b. 1938)
• March 4 - Elena Nathanael, Greek film actress (b. 1941)
• March 5 - Joseph Weizenbaum, German-American author and computer scientist (b. 1923)
• March 6 - Gustaw Holoubek, Polish actor and director (b. 1923)
• March 7 - Isaías Carrasco, Basque politician (b. 1964)
• March 7 - Francis Pym, British politician (b. 1922)
• March 8 - Carol Barnes, English newsreader (b. 1944)
• March 9 - Gus Giordano, Jazz dancer (b. 1923)
• March 12 - Lazare Ponticelli, last French veteran of World War I (b. 1897)
• March 12 - Erwin Geschonneck, German actor (b. 1906)
• March 12 - Howard Metzenbaum, American politician (b. 1917)
• March 14 - Chiara Lubich, Italian Catholic activist (b. 1920)
• March 15 - Mikey Dread, Jamaican singer, producer and broadcaster (b. 1954)
• March 15 - Vytautas Kernagis, Lithuanian singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
• March 15 - Vicki Van Meter, American former child pilot (b. 1982)
• March 16 - Ivan Dixon, American actor and director (b. 1931)
• March 16 - Gary Hart, American wrestler (b. 1942)
• March 18 - Anthony Minghella, English film director and screenwriter (b. 1954)
• March 19 - Arthur C. Clarke, English author, inventor, and futurist (b. 1917)
• March 19 - Hugo Claus, Flemish writer, painter and film director (b.1929)
• March 19 - Raghuvaran, Indian actor (b. 1948)
• March 19 - Paul Scofield, English actor (b. 1922)
• March 20 - Brian Wilde, English actor (b. 1927)
• March 21 - Gabriel París Gordillo, Colombian military governor (b. 1910)
• Cachao López, Cuban-American musician (b. 1918
  )
• March 23 - Al Copeland, American entreprenueur (b. 1944)
• March 24 - Neil Aspinall, British record producer and business executive (b. 1942)
• March 24 - Rafael Azcona, Spanish screenwriter (b. 1926)
• March 24 - Richard Widmark, American actor (b. 1914)
• March 26 - Manuel Marulanda, Colombian guerrilla (b. 1930)
• March 27 - George Pruteanu, Romanian literary critic and politician (b. 1947)
• March 27 - Jean-Marie Balestre, French sports executive (b. 1921)
• March 30 - Dith Pran, Cambodian-American photojournalist (b. 1942)
• March 31 - Nikolai Baibakov, Russian statesman and economist (b. 1911)
• March 31 - Jules Dassin, American film director (b. 1911)

April

• April 1 - Jim Finney, English football referee (b. 1924)
• Sabin Balasa, Romanian painter (b. 1932
  )
• April 2 - Yakup Satar, last Turkish veteran of World War I (b. 1898)
• April 3 - Hrvoje Ćustić, Croatian footballer (b. 1983)
• April 3 - Johnny Byrne, Irish writer (b. 1935)
• April 5 - Charlton Heston, American actor (b. 1923)
• April 8 - John Button, Australian politician (b. 1933)
• April 8 - Stanley Kamel, American actor (b. 1943)
• April 9 - Cedella Booker, Jamaican singer and writer (b. 1926)
• April 10 - Ernesto Corripio y Ahumada, Mexican cardinal (b. 1919)
• April 11 - Merlin German, American soldier and charity founder (b. 1985)
• April 12 - Patrick Hillery, 6th President of Ireland (b. 1923)
• Barbara McDermott, last American survivor of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania (b. 1912
  )
• April 13 - Mark Speight, English television presenter^[67] (b. 1965)
• April 13 - John Archibald Wheeler, American theoretical physicist (b. 1911)
• April 14 - Ollie Johnston, American animator (b. 1912)
• April 14 - Miguel Galván, Mexican actor and comedian (b. 1957)
• April 15 - Benoît Lamy, Belgian motion picture writer-director (b. 1945)
• April 16 - Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (b. 1917)
• April 16 - Joe Feeney, American-born Irish tenor (b. 1931)
• April 17 - Aimé Césaire, French Martinican poet and politician (b. 1913)
• April 17 - Gwyneth Dunwoody, British politician (b. 1930)
• April 17 - Danny Federici, American musician (b. 1950)
• April 19 - Germaine Tillion, French anthropologist, member of French Resistance (b. 1907)
• April 21 - Al Wilson, American singer (b. 1939)
• April 22 - Paul Davis, American musician (b. 1948)
• April 25 - Humphrey Lyttelton, English musician and broadcaster (b. 1921)
• April 27 - Marios Tokas, Cypriot composer (b. 1954)
• April 29 - Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist (b. 1906)

May

• Aden Hashi Farah
  , Somali militant (b. unknown)
• May 1 - Anthony Mamo, 1st President of Malta (b. 1909)
• May 2 - Philipp von Boeselager, German military officer (b. 1917)
• May 2 - Beverlee McKinsey, American actress (b. 1940)
• Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, 74th Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1926
  )
• Fredric J. Baur, American chemist and inventor (b. 1918
  )
• May 5 - Irv Robbins, Canadian-American entrepreneur (b. 1917)
• May 8 - Eddy Arnold, American country music singer (b. 1918)
• May 8 - François Sterchele, Belgian footballer (b. 1982)
• May 9 - Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league coach (b. 1929)
• May 9 - Sinan Sofuoğlu, Turkish motocycle racer (b. 1983)
• May 10 - Leyla Gencer, Turkish soprano (b. 1928)
• May 10 - Nuala O'Faolain, Irish journalist (b. 1940)
• May 10 - Jessica Jacobs, Australian actress (b. 1990)
• May 11 - Dottie Rambo, American singer (b. 1934)
• May 11 - John Rutsey, Canadian drummer (b. 1953)
• May 12 - Irena Sendler, Polish humanitarian (b. 1910)
• Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1930
  )
• May 13 - John Phillip Law, American actor (b. 1937)
• May 15 - Tommy Burns, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1956)
• May 15 - Alexander Courage, American composer (b. 1919)
• May 15 - Willis Lamb, American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
• May 16 - Robert Mondavi, American winemaker (b. 1913)
• May 18 - Joseph Pevney, American director (b. 1911)
• May 19 - Vijay Tendulkar, Indian playwright (b. 1928)
• May 20 - Crispin Beltran, Filipino politician and labor leader (b. 1933)
• May 20 - Hamilton Jordan, American political strategist (b. 1944)
• May 22 - Robert Asprin, American science fiction writer (b. 1946)
• May 23 - David Mitton, British producer, director, model maker, and author (b. 1939)
• May 23 - Roberto Freire, Brazilian psychiatrist (b. 1927)
• Dick Martin, American comedian (b. 1922
  )
• May 24 - Rob Knox, British actor (b. 1989)
• May 25 - Geremi González, Venezuelan baseball player (b. 1975)
• May 26 - Earle Hagen, American composer (b. 1919)
• May 26 - Sydney Pollack, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1934)
• May 27 - Franz Künstler, last Austrian-Hungarian veteran of World War I (b. 1900)
• May 28 - Beryl Cook, English painter (b. 1926)
• Robert Justman, American producer (b. 1926
  )
• May 29 - Luc Bourdon, Canadian hockey player (b. 1987)
• May 29 - Romeo A. Brawner, Filipino election official and justice (b. 1935)
• May 29 - Harvey Korman, American actor (b. 1927)

June

• June 1 - Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer (b. 1936)
• June 1 - Tommy Lapid, Israeli television presenter, journalist and politician (b. 1931)
• June 2 - Bo Diddley, American musician (b. 1928)
• June 2 - Ferenc Fejtő, Hungarian-born French journalist and political scientist (b. 1909)
• June 3 - Mel Ferrer, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1917)
• June 3 - Grigory Romanov, Russian politician (b. 1923)
• June 4 - Agata Mróz-Olszewska, Polish volleyball player (b. 1982)
• June 6 - Dwight White, American football player (b. 1949)
• June 7 - Rudy Fernandez, Filipino actor (b. 1952)
• June 7 - Dino Risi, Italian director (b. 1916)
• June 7 - Jim McKay, American television sports journalist (b. 1921)
• June 7 - Mustafa Khalil, Egyptian prime minister (b. 1920)
• June 8 - Peter Rühmkorf, German writer (b. 1929)
• June 8 - Šaban Bajramović, Serbian musician (b. 1936)
• June 9 - Algis Budrys, American science fiction writer (b. 1931)
• June 9 - Karen Asrian, Armenian chess grandmaster (b. 1980)
• June 10 - Chinghiz Aitmatov, Kyrgyzstani writer (b. 1928)
• June 10 - John Rauch, American football player and coach (b. 1927)
• June 11 - Ove Andersson, Swedish rally driver (b. 1939)
• June 11 - Võ Văn Kiệt, Vietnamese prime minister (b. 1922)
• June 11 - Adam Ledwoń, Polish footballer (b. 1974)
• June 11 - Taras Kermauner, Slovenian playwright, historian, and philosopher (b. 1930)
• June 11 - James Reaney, Canadian playwright (b. 1926)
• June 12 - Charlie Jones, American sportscaster (b. 1930)
• June 12 - Derek Tapscott, Welsh footballer (b. 1932)
• June 13 - Tim Russert, American journalist (b. 1950)
• June 14 - Jamelão, Brazilian singer (b. 1913)
• June 14 - Esbjörn Svensson, Swedish jazz musician (b. 1964)
• June 15 - Johnathan Goddard, American football player (b. 1981)
• June 15 - Ray Getliffe, Canadian hockey player (b. 1914)
• June 15 - Stan Winston, American special effects and make up artist (b. 1946)
• June 17 - Tsutomu Miyazaki, Japanese serial killer (b. 1962)
• June 17 - Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (b. 1922)
• June 18 - Jean Delannoy, French film director (b. 1908)
• June 19 - Tim Carter, English footballer (b. 1967)
• June 21 - Scott Kalitta, American drag racer (b. 1962)
• June 21 - Kermit Love, American costume designer (b. 1916)
• June 22 - George Carlin, American author, actor, and comedian (b. 1937)
• June 22 - Dody Goodman, American actress (b. 1914)
• June 22 - Jane McGrath, British-born Australian activist and philanthropist (b. 1966)
• June 23 - Arthur Chung, President of Guyana (b. 1918)
• June 23 - Ruth Cardoso, former Brazilian First Lady (b. 1930)
• June 24 - Leonid Hurwicz, American economist, mathematician, and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
• June 25 - Alla Kazanskaya, Russian actress (b. 1920)
• June 25 - G. M. Banatwala, Indian politician (b. 1933)
• June 27 - Polk Robison, American basketball coach (b. 1912)
• June 27 - Sam Manekshaw, Indian Army officer (b. 1914)
• June 27 - Michael Turner, American comic book artist (b. 1971)
• June 27 - Francesco Domenico Chiarello, Italian World War I survivor (b. 1898)
• June 27 - Nicolae Linca, Romanian boxer (b. 1929)
• June 28 - Ruslana Korshunova, Kazakhstani model (b. 1987)
• June 29 - Don S. Davis, American actor (b. 1942)

July

• July 1 - John Pont, American football coach (b. 1927)
• July 1 - Mel Galley, English guitarist (b. 1948)
• July 1 - Mark Dean Schwab, American murderer (b. 1968)
• July 2 - Elizabeth Spriggs, British actress (b. 1929)
• July 2 - Natasha Shneider, Russian musician (b. 1956)
• July 3 - Harald Heide-Steen Jr., Norwegian comedian and actor (b. 1939)
• July 3 - Larry Harmon, American entertainer (b. 1925)
• July 3 - Clive Hornby, English actor (b. 1944)
• July 4 - Jesse Helms, American politician (b. 1921)
• July 4 - Charles Wheeler, British journalist and broadcaster (b. 1923)
• July 4 - Terrence Kiel, American football player (b. 1980)
• July 5 - Hasan Doğan, Turkish football administrator (b. 1956)
• July 6 - Nonna Mordyukova, Russian actress (b. 1925)
• Jack C. Collins, Australian footballer (b. 1930
  )
• July 7 - Yitzchok Dovid Groner, Australian rabbi (b. 1924)

Major religious holidays

• January 7 - Christmas in Eastern Christianity
• January 10 - Islamic New Year by Lunar calendar
• February 5 - Carnival (Shrove Tuesday)
• February 6 - Ash Wednesday, observance of Lent begins
• February 7 - Chinese New Year (also Lunar New Year / Spring Festival)
• March 1 - Saint David's Day, national holiday of Wales
• St. Patrick's Day, celebrated in Ireland, the United States, and most of the English-speaking world. (Held on March 15 instead of the usual 17th to avoid the second day in Holy Week.)^[68] This March 17 will be the last one to fall within Holy Week until 2160.^[69]
• Ostara
• March 20 - Purim
• new year holiday
  )
• March 22 - Holi
• March 21 - Good Friday
• March 23 - Easter Sunday, the earliest Easter has fallen since 1913
• Baisakhi
• April 20 - Passover, Palm Sunday in Eastern Christianity
• St. George's Day
• April 27 - Pascha (or Easter) in Eastern Christianity
• May 1 - Ascension of Jesus in Western Christianity
• Cross-quarter day
• Buddha day) in Buddhism
• June 5 - Ascension of Jesus in Eastern Christianity
• June 9 - Shavuot
• June 15 - Pentecost in Eastern Christianity
• June 20 - June Solstice, also known as Midsummer or Litha
• June 22 - All Saints' Day in Eastern Christianity
• Saints Cyril and Methodius
  day in Eastern Christianity
• Cross-quarter day
• August 15 - Assumption of Mary
• September 1 - New Liturgical Year in Eastern Christianity
• September 22 - September Equinox, also known as Mabon
• Rosh Hashana
• October 2 - Eid al-Fitr
• October 9 - Yom Kippur
• October 28 - Diwali
• Neopagan
  new year
• St. Andrew's Day
  , Scottish national day
• December 8 - Immaculate Conception
• Eid ul-Adha
• December 21 - Hanukkah begins at sundown
• December 21 - December Solstice, also known as Yule
• 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.
• Twisted Metal 3
  (1998)
• Shattered Union (2005): U.S. President David Jefferson Adams is elected in a sham election, and becomes the most unpopular president in U.S. history.
• Resident Evil 5 (2009)
• Mega Man
  (1987)
• Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)^[70]

Film

Set in 2008:

• 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.
• Doomsday (2008): The start of the film is set in 2008, when a virus has infected Scotland.
• Children of Men
  (2006): Pandemic influenza sweeps the planet, claiming the protagonist's young son.
• Silent Running (1971)
• Southland Tales (2007)
• The Manchurian Candidate (2004)