THE YEAR OF 2004
Died : JAN 13 Harold Shipman, doctor, UK's most prolific serial killer (250+).
Died : 17 Olivia Goldsmith, best-selling novelist (First Wives Club)(54).
Died : 21 Bob Keeshan, TV Captain Kangaroo. (76)
Died : 24 Helmut Newton, photographer for Playboy, Elle and Vogue. (83)
Died : 28 Lord Scanlon, union leader. (90)
Died : 29 Janet Frame, NZ author.
1 Irish PM Bertie Ahern sent Pope a greeting as new EU president.
1 Norwegian Kurt Nilsen won the clash of the world's Pop Idols.
2 Chicago was America's murder capital with 599 killings in 2003.
2 NASA Stardust probe met Comet Wild-2 where it collected stardust.
3 Britney Spears married Jason Alexander in Las Vegas "by mistake".
3 Triple-X, Viagra and diet pills dominated spam e-mails in 2003.
4 Mikhail Saakashvili was elected President of Georgia.
JAN 4 NASA Spirit Rover landed safely on Mars and sent back pictures.
4 New York's bank robbery rate up 64% to 408 in 2003.
5 Google no 1 $ 2 2003 searches - Britney Spears and Harry Potter.
5 UK's first black chief constable, Mike Fuller, of Kent Police.
5 US customs began photographing and fingerprinting all arrivals.
6 Guangdong in China killed 10k civet cats linked to SARS outbreak.
6 Lady Diana and Dodi Al Fayed inquest opened 6 yrs after death
7 111 mil SMS messages were sent in UK on New Years Day.
7 Tom Cruise was in London for British premiere of The Last Samurai
8 China fired 45k police for not having the proper qualifications.
8 The Queen Mary 2 was launched by Queen Elizabeth II in Southampton.(cost £550 million)
9 The average Briton now has debts of £4,426.
9 Travelling rail post offices completed their last ever journeys.
JAN 10 All directors of Parma football club resigned re Parmalat fraud.
10 Le Figaro printed 114-page Tintin issue on his 75th birthday.
10 Voodoo Day in Benin, Africa (the cradle of voodoo).
11 Guangdong, China began eliminating rats to prevent SARS outbreak.
11 New internet restrictions in Cuba effectively block all citizens.
12 A record 4400 kissing couples gathered in Santiago for 10 seconds
12 The Queen Mary 2 began it's first crossing to America.
13 Adecco Ltd disclosed "material weaknesses in internal controls".
13 Iraqs' Comical Ali made a comeback - on Abu Dhabi TV as an expert.
13 UKs most prolific serial killer Dr Harold Shipman hanged hiself in prison.
14 The UK's first zero-emission buses went into service in London.
14 US Chrysler recalled 2.7 million cars over gearbox safety.
14 US Pres Bush announced plans for a permanent moonbase by 2010 and
JAN manned missions to Mars by 2020 "forward into the universe".
15 Announcement by Kodak stopped film camera sales in the US and EU.
15 Australia's railway from Adelaide to Darwin was opened. It is
3000 km long and cost A$1.2 bn. The crossing takes 2 days across
a desert that reaches 50 degrees.
16 London had 11.6m overseas visitors in 2003 (Europe's top city).
16 QM2's first voyage was greeted by 3 bomb warnings (nothing found)
17 A poll by Horlicks found traffic warden was UKs most hated job.
17 Granada and Carlton shareholders approved a £4.5bn merger.
18 Dr Panos Zavos announced world's first cloned human being implant
18 Suicide car bomb exploded at US HQ in Baghdad, 18 died.
19 Harrison Ford set a record divorce settlement - about £50 million
19 World's 2nd biggest city, Sao Paulo (18mil), was 450 years old.
JAN 20 One in 10 jobsearchers found a new job via the internet.
20 UK's only toll road had it's first traffic jam (the M6 was empty)
21 McDonald's heiress Joan Kroc left $1.5 bil to the Salvation Army.
21 UK farmers were warned that wild boar were again roaming.
22 Art Garfunkel was arrested for marijuana possession in NY.
22 French Deputy PM resigned in bribes for public contracts scandal.
23 Steve Gough ended a walk from Land's End to John o'Groats - naked
23 Volkswagen Golf was What Car? car of the year for 2004 (4th time)
24 Britain overtook India to enter the top 10 spam sending countries
24 Euro Mars Express established that water exists at Mars' poles.
24 Red Rountree aged 92 given 12 yrs jail for robbing Abilene bank.
25 NASA's Opportunity rover landed safely on Mars.
25 The Chinese Year of the Monkey began.
JAN 26 Kylie Minogue doll went on sale - complete with Cheekies knickers
26 Peter Jackson was Best Director (Lord of Rings) at Golden Globes.
26 UK sitcom The Office won 2 Golden Globes.
27 Latest computer virus to go worldwide - mydoom.
27 Only UK (Winsford) salt mine was on overtime due to a big freeze.
28 BBC chairman Gavyn Davies resigned following Lord Hutton's report
28 Cannabis moved from a class B to a class C drug - no more arrests
28 Lord Huttons inquiry into BBC reporting of Iraq published.
29 About 2 mil Muslims gathered in Mecca for start of annual Hajj.
29 Finnegan's Fish Bar in Bridgend, Wales named Best Chip Shop 2004.
30 British Toy Association named Beyblades as best selling toy 2003.
30 He who wrote ctrl-alt-del code, Dave Bradley, retired from IBM.
30 Uk's first cannabis cafe (Purple Haze) opened in Edinburgh.
JAN 31 BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan resigned over Hutton report.
31 Justine Henin-Hardenne won her first Australian Open Tennis title
Died : FEB 9 Norman Thelwell, Punch illustrator and cartoonist. (80)
Died : 15 Marco Pantani, former Tour de France champion.(suicide)(34)
Died : 24 Les Gray, lead singer of Mud. (57)
1 A mock stoning at the Hajj in Mecca caused death of 250 pilgrims.
1 First passenger train left Adelaide for Darwin on 3 day journey.
1 Serial streaker Mark Roberts did his thing at the Superbowl, TX.
1 Swiss Roger Federer won the Australian Open Tennis Tournement.
2 Bird flu in SE Asia had killed 12 humans and 46 million chickens.
2 Pres Bush ordered inquiry into Iraq intelligence that led to war
3 First passenger train to travel length of Australia arrived in Darwin.
3 The Uk followed the big freeze with the big flood. it rained.
4 Arab pilgrims trekked home, closing the annual hajj near Mecca.
4 Drew Barymore Joined the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
FEB 5 20 Chinese immigrants drowned while cockling in Morecombe Bay
5 Mr Forbes sold his Faberge eggs to Viktor Vekselberg for $100 mil
6 Bank of England raised interest rate to 4% .
6 Chechen suicide bomb in the Moscow metro killed 50.
7 Ex BBC Dir Gen was paid £500k for the "facts" on his resignation.
7 Janet Jackson's Superbowl boob became net's biggest ever search.
8 Beyonce Knowles won 5 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
8 Five men were arrested at Heathrow stealing £2 mil in cash.
9 Peter Jackson named best director by Directors Guild of America.
9 Prince Charles flew into Iran for the first royal visit in 20 yrs
10 Frence made Moslem head scarf and crucifix in schools illegal.
10 The UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was started.
10 Tony Blair met Lybyan foreign minister at No 10 (all is forgiven)
FEB 11 The US dollar hit an 11-year low against the pound - $1.87.
11 UK Volvo recalled 10k cars worth £200m due to a steering fault.
12 Kalina the Killer Whale had a 350lb baby at Seaworld Orlando.
12 Low-fare Ted Airlines was born out of United Airlines.
13 BA cancelled Heathrow to Washington flights for security reasons
13 VH1 voted Madonna's Justify My Love top tune for Valentines Day.
14 Gretna Green registry team of 8 conducted 97 weddings.
14 London's Raymond's Revue Bar G - strings were packed away for
the last time after the company went into administration.
15 Indian billionaire Subratra Roy paid £34mil for 2 sons marriage.
15 Lord of the Rings Picked up 5 awards at the Baftas in London.
16 Civil Service strike by 90k including jobcentre staff.
16 Israel Telecom Bezeq started an e-mails to God service.
FEB 17 Glam rock The Darkness won 3 Brit awards incl Best British Album.
17 Trouble in an Aboriginal ghetto in Sydney left 40 police injured.
18 Number in jail in England and Wales hit a record high of 75000.
18 Walt Disney bought The Muppets from Jim Henson - price unknown.
19 Levi 501's in America were $45, in the UK they were £60.
19 Roy Hudd received the OBE from the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
20 RBScotland made biggest ever profit by UK bank £6.16bn in 2003.
20 US govt advised its citizens to leave Haiti due to rebellion.
21 Charlotte Church got legal control of her £16m on 18th birthday
21 Mardi Gras carnival started in Brasil.
22 MI5 increased it's spy quota by 50% to 3000 due to terrorism.
22 President Bush's English Springer Spaniel (called Spot) died.
23 Channel 4 calculated Cliff Richard as biggest seller of all time.
FEB 23 Chloe Bennion, aged 6, became youngest Mensa member (IQ of 138).
24 Prison population of Scotland hit a record 6523, incl 297 women.
24 Scott Vowles of W Midlands was first to be fined under The
Environment Protection Act 1990. Spitting gum on the street- £100
25 An earthquake devastated Al Hoceima, Morocco.
25 Pres. Putin of Russia dismissed his entire cabinet on live TV.
26 Lord of the Rings 50th anniversary stamps were issued.
26 The first UK "citizenship ceremony" was held for new immigrants.
They sang the National Anthem and pledged to respect UK
democratic values. Prince of Wales attended.
27 Bill Gates was named richest man in the world (10th year) $46 bil
27 Charles Darwin's ship The Beagle found beneath the Essex marshes.
28 Millions linked hands across Taiwan, protest at China's aggression
FEB 28 Tanja Poutiainen won World Cup slalom race in Finland.
29 Marriage on the decline but 50% still tie the knot at some time.
29 The Lord of the Rings (3) won 11 Oscars, incl best film.
Died : MAR 2 Jerome Lawrence, prolific playwright (Mame). (88)
Died : 6 Jorginho Guinle, Brasil's last playboy. (88)
Died : 18 Mercedes McCambridge, voice of the possessed girl in The Exorcist
Died : 21 Princess Juliana, "bicycling monarch" ex Queen of the Netherlands
Died : 22 Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Hamas terrorist leader (Israeli attack).
Died : 28 Ludmilla Tcherina, ballet dancer. (appeared in The Red Shoes)(79)
Died : 29 Peter Ustinov, actor. (82)
Died : 30 Alistair Cooke, sent letters from America. (95)
1 HSBC announced £7.7 bil profit. (biggest ever by a UK company).
1 US sent hundreds of US Marines to Haiti after Pres Aristide fled.
2 Siberian Tiger (last of 400 worldwide) had 6 cubs at Chinese zoo.
2 Suicide bombers in Iraq killed 150 at Ashura festivals.
3 America chose John Kerry (Dem Pres candidate) on "Super Tuesday".
MAR 3 Arbroath Smokie awarded Protected Geographic Indication (PGI)
by the EU. (it can only be produced within 5 miles of Arbroath).
4 Law banning Islamic head scarves in French state schools passed.
4 The 101st Crufts Dog Show began, with 24000 dogs, at the NEC.
5 After 2869 shows Alistair Cooke sent his last Letter from America
5 Payphones pensioned off by mobiles were selling at $135 in the US
6 A $30 mil diamond necklace was snatched from The Ginza in Tokyo.
6 US survey found the 36-24-36 woman is really an average 38-32-41.
7 Michael Schummaker won the Australian F1 GP in a Ferrari.
7 Roman Abramovich UK's richest person according to Mail on Sunday.
8 Britney Spears went to no1 in the UK, after 4 years, with Toxic.
8 Crufts Best in Show was a whippet called Deedee (beat 22k others)
9 Boniface Alexandre was sworn in as interim president in Haiti.
MAR 9 UK govt gave approval to GM maize crop trials.
10 Four Britons returned home from Guantanamo Bay prison after 2 yrs
11 Four bombs hit Madrid's railway system, 200 dead 1300 injured.
11 People with endowment mortgages found they were £40 billion short
12 London Premiere of Starsky and Hutch.
12 Millions on the streets in Spain after bomb attacks in Madrid.
13 Three day National Hunt Festival started at Cheltenham.
13 UK Champagne drinking reached record level, 34.5 mil bottles / yr
14 Five Moroccans were arrested for the Madrid Station bombings
14 Spanish Socialist Party had surprise victory in General election.
14 Vladimir Putin was re-elected president of Russia.
15 First £80 fines issued for car tax evasion - a total of 97000.
15 One million wills available at DocumentsOnline,incl Shakespeare's
MAR 16 George Harrison posthumously made the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
16 John Kerry took Dem nomination by winning the Illinois primary.
17 Chancellor Gordon Brown delivered his eighth Budget statement.
17 First edition 1938 Beano comic sold for a record £12,100.
18 First pan-African parliament sworn in in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
18 Plague of locusts in E Australia devastated area twice size of UK
19 Burial shroud of Eva Peron was sold at auction for 130,000 euro.
19 Courtney Love arrested for tossing microphone stand into audience
20 Demonstrations took place worldwide against the Iraq war.
20 Health scare made Coca cola recall 500k bottles of healthy water.
21 Michael Schumacher won the Malaysian F1 GP
21 Two Iraq war protesters climbed Big Ben clock tower.
22 Moscow held it's first piglet derby since 1898.
MAR 22 Sarcophagus of Ramses VI (3000 yrs old) went on display in Egypt
23 Abdullah Ahmad Badawi elected president of Malaysia.
23 Rachel Hunter became the new £1 million face of Ultimo lingerie.
24 Libya hosted it's first US govt visit for 30 years.
24 Prince Charles and Tony Blair were at Madrid train bomb memorial.
24 UK Amec won a £600 mil contract to rebuild Iraq water supply.
25 PM Tony Blair was in Libya talking with leader Colonel Gaddafi.
25 The world's sexiest woman was Britney Spears as voted in a poll by
FHM magazine. Singer Rachel Stevens was the sexiest Briton at #2
26 Tony Blair shook hands with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
26 UK record tuna landed - 1241lbs, Billingsgate sold half for £1600
27 Average sick days taken in UK was 7.5 days per year.
27 Gretna Green celebrated 250 years as Scotland's marriage capital.
MAR 28 Cambridge bt Oxford in the 150th Boat Race by 6 lengths.
28 NASA bt the speed record for planes - Mach 7 in a scramjet test.
29 Ireland first European country to ban smoking in pubs and at work
29 US petrol prices up 3 cents to a record-high av $1.80 per gallon.
30 New Zealand culture victory as Maori Television (MT) went on air.
30 Slovakia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania
and Slovenia - ex-Soviet nations were welcomed into NATO.
31 David Beckham was voted UK's best-dressed man (ever) by GQ mag.
31 Sale of Governator beer was stopped in California after a complaint from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Died : APR 8 Robert Sangster, leading racehorse owner. (67)
Died : 11 Fred Olivi, copilot that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki (82)
Died : 14 Caron Keating, former Blue Peter presenter (41).
Died : 26 Estee Lauder, international cosmetics company queen.
Died : 27 Hubert Selby Jr, author of Last Exit To Brooklyn. (75)
1 Charlize Theron UK premiere of Monster - Leicester Square, London
1 Second class stamp increased by 1p to 21p today.
2 Former Channel 4 boss Michael Grade became the new BBC chairman.
2 Google launched Gmail - 1 gig of e-mails. (Yahoo gave 6 megs)
3 Slovakians voted for new president ex PM Vladimir Meciar.
3 Winner of the Grand National at Aintree was Amberleigh House.
4 3 terrorists blew themselves up when police raided a Madrid flat.
4 First (new track) Bahrein F1 GP won by M Schumacher in a Ferrari.
APR 5 Bookmaker William Hill joined the FTSE 100 Index.
5 The Flying Scotsman bought by National Railway Museum for £2.2mil
6 First BA Concorde was displayed in the UK at Manchester Airport.
6 Nasa's Spirit rover completed 90th day on Mars, all jobs done.
7 Bob Dylan's first ever TV ad was broadcast, for Victoria's Secret
7 The Beatles name registration US Patent Office form sold for £42k
8 Maundy Thursday for the Queen subjects at Liverpool's cathedral.
8 Yahoo's best quarter in its history, profits doubled to £411m.
9 Easter weekend began, with a record 2.1 million going abroad.
9 Management Today mag voted Estate Agents most overpaid workers.
10 LA premiere of Kill Bill volume 2 with Uma Thurman.
10 The Great Bustard was returned to UK after 200 yrs from Russia.
11 World record house price was paid by Lakshmi Mittal, bought from
APR Bernie Ecclestone (F1),in Kensington's billionaires row for £70m.
12 Phil Mickelson won the US Masters Golf and $1.17 mil.
13 Picket lines at Jobcentres as 100k Civil Servants went on strike.
13 Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto was voted UK's favourite piece
of classical music, 4th successive year in annual Classic FM poll
14 A Concorde nosecone (flew for 14 yrs) sold for £115k at auction.
14 Canada's biggest seal cull for 50yrs started, 300k to be killed.
15 Amazon Indians attacked illegal diamond prospectors killing 25.
15 George Best and wife Alex were divorced.
16 Average cost of a NY Manhattan apartment reached $1 million.
16 QE2 gave way to the Queen Mary 2's first trans atlantic crossing.
17 Giorgio Armani opened a store on Shanghai's famed riverfront Bund
17 Prince William played water polo for Sottish Unis Internationals.
APR 17 Shanghai auction sold mobile phone number 135 8585 8585 for £600k.
In Chinese it sounds like "let me be rich,be rich,be rich,be rich"
18 Field of 33k runners started London's 24th Marathon - in the rain
18 Sunday Times Rich List put Roman Abramovich at no1 with £7.5 bn.
19 California porn industry shut down for 60 days due to HIV scare.
19 The Office took Best Sitcom for the 3rd year at the BAFTAS.
20 Last Concorde arrived at National Museum of Flight, East Lothian.
20 The world's biggest democracy, India, started elections. Using
electronic voting machines over 4 days, final count is May 13th.
675 million vote for 543 MPs for a 5 year period.
21 US lifted economic sanctions on Libya.
21 Visiting the outback town of Colac PM John Howard was given a
traditional curse by an Aboriginal woman dressed in animal skins.
APR 22 Newcastle Brown Ale will in future be brewed in Dunston.
22 USA Today editor Karen Jurgensen resigned after journalist
Jack Kelley admitted plagiarism in the US biggest selling paper.
23 North Korea state of emergency after two fuel trains collided.
23 Ramona Jordan, aged 114 of Puerto Rico, was confirmed as the
world's oldest living woman by the Guinness Book Of Records
24 Los Angeles City Council banned smoking on the beaches.
24 World's oldest genetically modified mouse, Yoda, died 4yrs 12days
25 M Schumacher won the Imola F1 GP in a Ferrari.
25 Pat Gibson became 4th winner of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
26 Brianna Stubbs, 12, became the youngest person to row the Channel
26 First trial of a UK biometric ID card with 10k people.
26 QE2 left NY with Queen Mary 2 on it's last trans-Atlantic voyage.
APR 27 Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi made his first visit to EU HQ.
27 Polly Vacher (UK) completed her 2nd solo flight around the world
27 South Africa celebrated its first decade of democracy.
28 Around 69 million text messages were sent every day in the UK.
28 Last Oldsmobile left Lansing Mich. - an Alero, went to a museum.
29 First passenger tilting train ran between Oxford and Banbury.
29 Pres Bush gave evidence to the commission investigating 9/11.
30 Mr Men bought by Chorion Group, who already had Noddy, for £28m.
30 UK astronaut Michael Foale returned after 6 months in the ISS.
Died : MAY 4 The 11th Duke of Devonshire, one of the UK's richest people.(84)
Died : 5 Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, reggae producer.
Died : 10 Olive Osmond, mother of The Osmonds. (79)
Died : 19 Tony Randall, comic actor. (Felix Unger in the Odd Couple) (84)
Died : 28 Sir Donald Hamish Cameron, 26th chief of Clan Cameron. (93)
Died : 28 Umberto Agnelli, Fiat chairman.
1 Bicycle bells became compulsory again - after 21 years.
1 Big Ben's 1/4 hr chimes snapped and were out of action for a week
1 The EU increased it's population by 75 milliom to 450 mil with
the addition of 10 new countries. Czech Republic (10.2m),
Estonia (1.4m), Hungary (10.6m), Latvia (2.4m), Lithuania (3.5m),
Poland (38.6m), Slovakia (5.4m), Slovenia (1.9m), Cyprus (.3m)
and Malta (.4m).
MAY 2 Striking Simpsons actors signed a new 4 year deal - d'oh.
2 Victoria's Secret Buddha Bikini banned in Thailand as insultimg.
3 Ronnie O'Sullivan won the World Snooker Championship.
3 Serial streaker Mark Roberts struck again at World Snooker.
4 Job ad appeared for the head of new police squad SOCA - at £150k.
4 The sasser virus spread thru the net.
4 Total lunar eclipse turned the moon blood-red over Britain.
5 Alice Cooper awarded an honorary doctorate by Grand Canyon Uni AZ
5 Bill Gates was fined $800k for investment irregularities.
6 Beatles first contract with Brian Epstein auctioned for £123k.
6 Gar‡on … la pipe, by Picasso, sold for $93 mil at Sotheby's in NY
7 Assembly of the European 555 passenger A380 super-airliner began.
7 Estimated 50m US TV viewers watched the final episode of Friends.
MAY 8 Chen Jianmin, 51, beat David Blaine's glass box record by 5 days.
8 German student aged 18 was arrested for starting the sasser virus
9 Eastenders claimed 7 British Soap Awards.
9 Michael Schumacher won the Spanish F1 GP in a Ferrari.
10 George the Blue Peter tortoise was buried - he was 83 yeas old.
10 Last day of voting in the biggest democracy on earth - India.
11 Jonny Hurst was appointed England's first football Chant Laureate
11 Monsanto shelved world first GM wheat due to consumer resistance.
12 US Ken Taves given 11 yrs prison for world record $37m web scam.
12 Video of the beheading of US businessman Nick Berg shown on Net.
13 The 57th Cannes Film Festival opened in France.
13 World's biggest democracy, India, began counting 380 mil votes.
14 Canadian born Pamela Anderson became a US citizen.
MAY 14 Italian-born Roman Catholic Sonia Gandhi was elected India's PM,
later refused the position (19th May) in favour of Manmohan Singh
15 Daily Mirror sacked editor Piers Morgan over faked Iraq photos.
15 Ruslana (Ukraine) won Eurovision Song Contest with Wild Dances.
16 Arsenal became first team in 115 yrs to go entire season unbeaten
16 Playtex Charity Moonwalk had 15k entries in Hyde park at midnight
17 Michael Grade arrived on his first day as new chairman of the BBC
17 T Rex bones (nicknamed Barnum) auctioned in LA for $93k.
18 GoFast rocket became first amateur craft in space(Nevada takeoff)
18 Manly Beach became Australia's first no-smoking beach.
19 Manmohan Singh was named India's New prime minister.
19 PM Tony Blair was pelted with purple flour in House of Commons.
19 Stolen 320 yr old $3mil Stradivari cello found in LA trash bin.
MAY 20 Collection of Arthur Conan Doyle papers sold for nearly £1 mil.
20 Petrol in the US went over $2 per gal for the first time.
21 Napster relaunched as a legal site in Europe with 500k tracks.
21 Pemba Dorje Sherpa climbed Everest in a record 8 hrs 10 mins.
22 Horst Koehler, former head of IMF elected Germany's new president
22 India's new prime minister, Manmohan Singh (a Sikh), was sworn in
23 Aston Martin DB9 was first seen at the Motor show in Birmingham.
23 Jarno Trulli won his first ever F1 GP in Monaco in a Renault.
24 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban premiered in New York
24 Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 won Cannes Film Festival top priz
25 Billionaire Roman Abramovich bought a Boeing 767 for £60 mil.
25 The Chelsea Flower Show opened on it's bi-centenary.
26 Madonna's 50 date Re-Invention world tour started in LA.
MAY 26 Pakistan was re-admitted to the Commonwealth after 5 years away.
27 Anna Kournikova married Enrique Iglesias.
27 Muslim cleric Abu Hamza arrested in London for extradition to US
28 Barry & Robin Gibb picked up their CBEs from the Prince of Wales.
28 The last episode ever of the sitcom Friends was shown in the UK.
29 Big Brother 5 reality TV show got underway - finishes in August.
29 Iraq Council nominated Iyad Allawi as new PM from June 30.
30 European premiere of Prisoner of Azkaban in Leicester Sq London.
30 Michael Schumacher won the European F1 GP in a Ferrari.
31 Ferrari CE Luca Cordero di Montezemolo became Fiat's new chairman
31 Fiat chairman and chief executive Giuseppe Morchio resigned.
31 UK's favorite toys were : 1 Lego 2 Action Man 3 Barbie
31 World-famous cheese-rolling competition at Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire.
Died : JUN 4 Frances Shand Kydd, mother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
Died : 6 Ronald Reagan, ex Hollywood actor, USA's 40th president. (93)
Died : 11 Ray Charles, bles legend blind at age 7, an orphan at 15, genius for 73 years
Died : 24 Bob Bemer, computer pioneer. (ASCII coding and Y2K warnings)(84)
Died : 29 Anthony Buckeridge, author. (Jennings series)(92).
1 M&S chairman Luc Vandevelde resigned, Stuart Rose became CE.
1 Petrol hit £4 a gallon in parts of UK, al-Qaeda blamed.
2 Miss Australia, Jennifer Hawkins became Miss Universe in Quito.
2 Mitsubishi admitted it hid 26 defects in its vehicles.
3 All UK flights grounded at 6am for 12 hours due to computer crash
3 Olympic Torch left Athens on it's journey around the world.
4 Orthodox Jews in NY told the city's tap water is not kosher.
4 Tiananmen Sq kept free of people on 15th anniversary of massacre.
JUN 5 FHM held it's 100 sexiest Women 2004 Party (Britney Spears No 1).
5 Russias Anastasia Myskina became the first Russian woman to
win a tennis grand slam title - the French at Roland Garros.
6 Christie's Teddy Bear sale, Bob Carolgees Spit the Dog sold £5378
6 WWII D-day landings commemorations ennacted in Normandy.
7 BBC cameraman Simon Cumbers killed by terrorists near Riyadh.
7 Jennifer Ellison won celebrity chef in TVs Hell's Kitchen.
8 Body of Ronald Reagan lay in state at his library in California.
8 The Darkness won prize at the Metal Hammer Awards, best video.
8 Transit of Venus (between Earth and Sun) occurs.
9 First advert to be banned near mosques = for Sloggi G-strings.
9 PM Blair held talks with President Putin after the G8 summit.
10 Allegations of Dirty tricks in UKs first trials of postal voting.
JUN 10 Transfer of power back to Iraq govt on 30th June was agreed by UN
11 30k people headed for Isle of Wight for the annual music festival
11 Labour finished 3rd in local elections - worst in living memory.
12 100k in Phoenix Park Dublin watched The Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
12 Poet Pam Ayres, famous for comic verse, was awarded the MBE.
12 UKs first prime-time female newsreader Angela Rippon given an OBE
13 Britney Spears launched new fragrance - Curious.
13 Jehovahs witness Hank Marvin of The Shadows refused an OBE.
14 Euro elections saw UKIP take 3rd place (16.8%) with 12 seats.
14 Mercers survey of most expensive cities put London top, Tokyo 2nd
14 The 25th annual man v horse marathon was won for the first time
by a man. The race in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales, was won by Huw Lobb
15 Royal Ascot week 300k punters enjoy five days of Pimms and salmon
JUN 15 Yahoo increased size of free e-mail accounts to 100mb from 4mb.
16 Apple's iTunes launched in the UK, Germany and France, 79p/track.
16 Gordon Brown became longest serving Chancellor for 180 years.
17 At Euro 2004 in Portugal an England fan was imprisoned for 2 yrs.
17 Wimbledon Tennis site started up - relying entirely on Linux.
18 Police investigated a drunken row in Big Brother TV show house.
18 WWII nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal knighted (95 yrs old retired).
19 Euro leaders agreed the EUs first constitution.
19 Madonna suceeded in keeping right-to-roamers off her land.
20 Counter-culture mob were at Stonehenge for the solstice.
20 Paul McCartney played his 3,000th gig - in St Petersburg.
21 Start of Wimbledon tennis, 400k are expected over next 2 weeks.
21 The craft SpaceShipOne piloted by Michael Melvill went into space
JUN at 62 miles becoming the first not to be financed by a government
22 Bill Clinton's autobiography went on sale.
22 Most popular word amongst translators "hlimazl" - Yiddish for a
chronically unlucky person.
23 Gunmen killed deputy editor of Mexico's weekly newspaper Zeta.
23 Italian 14 - 18 yr olds will now need a licence for their Vespas.
23 Serial streaker Mark Roberts fined $1000 for his Superbowl streak
24 Bob Dylan got an honorary degree in music from Uni of St Andrews
24 Bush-bashing documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 premiered in Washington
25 Eric Clapton auctioned (charity) his "Blackie" guitar - £527k.
25 Glastonbury Festival started for 150k - Paul McCartney + Oasis.
26 President Bush met EU leaders in Ireland to discuss Iraq.
26 The Olyympic flame was carried thru London on it's way to Athens.
JUN 27 Kate Moss fired as face of Coco Mademoiselle, at 30 she's too old
27 Play continued on Sunday at Wimbledon - only the 3rd time ever.
28 Christina Aguilera opened Harrods summer sale.
28 Fahrenheit 9/11 first documentary to debut as US top weekend film
28 Handover of power in Iraq took place, 3 days early.
29 Actress Emma Spellar, 24, from Norwich, became Miss Great Britain
29 UK premiere of Shrek II in Leicester Sq.
30 Europe and US Cassini probe parked in orbit around Saturn.
30 Portugal's PM Jose Durao Barroso was appointed EU president.
Died : JUL 2 Marlon Brando, original American rebel actor. (80)
Died : 12 Laurance Rockefeller, billionaire venture capitalist.(94)
Died : 18 Charles W Sweeney, pilot who dropped WWII A-bomb on Nagasaki.(84)
Died : 22 Jerry Goldsmith, created music for TV shows (Star Trek).
Died : 22 Sacha Distell, French singer.
Died : 30 Francis Crick, discovered structure DNA at Cambridge Uni in 1953.
1 NZ instigated its own supreme court - no longer relying on UK.
1 The trial of Saddam Hussein started in Iraq.
2 Law in Denmark introduced zero tolerance for cannabis possession.
2 Marlon Brando died - penniless on a state pension.
2 Pocket money for 11 to 14-year-olds averaged about £7.30 a week.
3 Carrying of guns in public became illegal in Brazil.
3 Maria Sarapova became the first Russian to win Wimbledon, at 17.
JUL 4 Greece won the Euro 2004 football championship beating Portugal.
4 M Schumacher won the French F1 GP in a Ferrari.
4 Roger Federer won Wimbledon beating Andy Roddick.
5 Spiderman 2 took record $155 mil in it's first 5 days of release.
5 Takeru Kobayashi (Japan) won NY Hot Dog Eating Comp (4th year).
6 Hyde Park Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, cost £3.6m, opened
6 Naked animal rights demo in Pamplona ahead of the bull run.
7 F1 cars rocked London backing a Grand Prix bid watched by 250k.
7 Tim Henman was made an OBE by the Queen.
8 Canberra was invaded by Kangaroos escaping a local drought.
8 Plastic overtook pounds and pence as the UKs favourite way to pay
9 J. K. Rowling picked up an honorary degree at Edinburgh Uni.
9 Mark Purseglove "world's biggest bootlegger" jailed for 3.5 yrs.
JUL 9 The most famous erotic letter in modern literature by James Joyce
to his lover Nora Barnacle fetched £240,800 at Sotheby's.
10 Around 70,000 people went the extra mile for BBC Sport Relief.
10 Va-va-voom (Thierry Henry) was added to the OED's listings.
11 100k attended Londons Party in the Park raising $1m for charity.
11 M Schumacher won the British F1 GP.
12 Israel continued work on West Bank steel wall contrary to int.Law
12 UK premiere in London's Leicester Square of Spiderman II.
13 All French Connection (FCUK) posters to be vetted for the next
two years after industry watchdog said they could cause offence.
14 Apple iPod banned at MI5 as a security threat.
14 Singer Chris de Burgh bought a model from Alien film for £30k.
15 Apple Computers profits tripled over last year mostly due to iPod
JUL 15 Control of the rail network was taken back by the UK govt.
16 Annual cost of UK school arson tripled in last 10 yrs to £73 mil.
16 Keira Knightley (Guinnivere) was at London King Arthur premiere.
17 Las Vegas launched $650mil monorail to move gamblers around Strip
17 US lifestyle guru Martha Stewart sentenced to five months in jail
over charges of obstruction in a stock market investigation.
18 Ariane took off with biggest commercial sattelite ever - 6 tons.
18 Tim Berners-Lee, British inventor of the world wide web, received
his knighthood from the Queen, for "global internet development".
19 Thunderbirds were Go at London film premiere, star Ben Kingsley.
19 Will mith was at US premier of the sci-fi film "I, Robot".
20 Fahrenheit 9/11 was record breaking film documentary in the UK.
20 One stray dog was killed every hour in Britain (The Dogs Trust).
JUL 21 Average German adult drank 255 pints of beer - 35 more than UK.
21 Beer shortage in the Caribbean due to brewery workers strike.
22 Number of pirated CDs estimated at 1.1bn discs worldwide a year.
22 US Federal Bureau of Prisons instituted a smoking ban for inmates
23 US 9/11 Commission Report published - leaders lacked imagination
24 A 1930 Bentley Speed Six sports car sold for a world record £2.8m
24 Cost of hiring Red Arrows aerobatic display team - £7500.
25 M schumacher won the German F1 GP - Jenson Button 2nd (BAR).
25 New UK Sandcastle Building Champion Neil Barlow at Great Yarmouth
26 Abbey National taken over by Santander Bank (Spain) value - £8bn
26 First drive-in boulangerie opened in Paris (or anywhere probably)
27 Democratic Convention in Boston introduced candidate John Kerry.
27 The Queen opened the new London Stock Exchange in Paternoster Sq.
JUL with electronic sculpture of 729 white spheres called The Source.
28 McDonald's launched adult Healthy Happy Meal - with Stepometer.
28 Russian Nikolai Smolenski bought UK car manufacturer TVR for £15m
28 The US national median home price rose to $191,800, a new record.
29 100k jobcentre staff began a two-day strike over a pay deal.
29 Chinese shut down 700 pornographic web sites in massive clean up.
30 John Scarlett took over the green ink of MI6 (used since 1909)
30 The Bald Soprano at Huchette, Paris beat The Mousetrap record.
30 UK consumer debt broke through £1 trillion barrier for first time
31 62k pupils were excluded from school during the summer term.
31 Nicolas Cage (40) married 20 yr old former waitress Alice Kim.
Died : AUG 5 Henri Cartier-Bresson, made B & W photos an art form. (95)
Died : 7 Rick James, funk singer. (1981 Super Freak).(56)
Died : 9 Red Adair, oil well firefighter (film Hellfighters).
Died : 10 Bernard Levin, British journalist. (75)
Died : 10 Fay Wray, actress, star of the original King Kong movie. (96)
Died : 11 James Rockefeller, grandson of William Rockefeller.(102)
Died : 15 Czeslaw Milosz, Polands Nobel prize winning Solidarity poet.
Died : 19 Elmer Bernstein, film score composer.
Died : 31 Fred Whipple, US astronomer, correctly described comets. (97)
1 BA became first airline to introduce random drug tests for pilots
1 Lady Davina Windsor married Maori builder and shearer Gary Lewis.
2 Michael Moore film Fahrenheit 9/11 was banned in Kuwait.
2 Thunderbirds Are Go by Busted was number 1 in the singles charts.
AUG 3 Mercury Messenger probe launched successfully on its 6 yr journey
3 Statue of Liberty reopened - closed after 11 Sept 2001 attacks.
4 Halle Berry and Sharon Stone were at the UK premiere of Catwoman.
4 London, NY and Washington were on high terrorist alert.
5 Gibraltar people linked hands around the island - 300 yrs UK rule
5 Will Smith was at the UK premiere of his new film I, Robot.
6 Pair of rovers on Mars stopped after double their expected life.
6 Portuguese transvestite called Nadia won Big Brother 5 TV show.
7 Lords cricket spectator in knife attack for using a mobile phone.
7 Strict (6 mths jail £5k fine) new firework laws came into effect.
8 Iraq govt closed al-Jazeera TV station for 1 month.
8 World's biggest arts festival, the 58th Edinburgh, opened.
9 Japan won football Asian Cup in China, game was followed by riots
AUG 9 UK bank regulators accept first Islamic bank (interest forbidden)
10 London Marquee Club showed worlds largest Jimi Hendrix collection
10 Worlds deepest subterranean drop discovered in Croatia - 1700 ft.
11 First request by UK scientists to clone human embryos granted.
11 Serial rapist Iorworth Hoare (on bail) won £7 mil on lottery.
12 Denmark banned cornflakes as dangerous to health.
12 First mobile phone virus detected - The Mosquito Trojan.
12 It was announced in Brasil that the coffee g-nome had been mapped.
13 Googles' auction of shares started on the web at 9am EST.
13 The XXVIII Olympic Games opened in Athens.
14 Bill Hughes was appointed first head of SOCA (UK FBI).
14 The British Medical Journal reported that the 4th largest killer
was medical accidents - instrumental in the deaths of 72k pa.
AUG It also said that many cases were left unreported.
15 China's Du Li won the first gold medal of the Olympics (10m air rifle final)
15 Madonna kicked off the European leg of her Re-Invention tour in Manchester
16 The Post Office re launched savings stamps.
16 UKs first offshore off-licence opened 12 miles off Hartlepool.
17 NY Uni at Albany was biggest US party school, Brigham Young least
17 Village of Boscastle, Corwall was devastated by freak storms.
18 Doom3 went straight to no 1 in UK Game Chart.
18 Silly String banned in LA for environmental and security reasons.
18 UK charged 8 with planning terrorist attacks on US financial institutions.
19 Google launched 19.6m shares on the NASDAQ at $85.
19 UK A level exam pass rate rose again for the 22nd year to 96%.
20 $1bn was on display at US Numismatic Association's World's Fair in Pittsburgh
AUG 20 Shrek 2 became Britain's most successful animated film.
21 Britain won 4 gold medals - rowing, sailing, cycling and horse riding.
21 Dido headlined at the V Festival at Chelmsford and Staffordshire.
21 The Run Across America Ultra Marathon was won by an Englishman,
Bob Brown. He ran coast to coast for 72 days the equivalent of
130 marathons. He finished in Central Park NY, 60 miles in front.
22 BBC showed the Olympics on 5 interactive channels for first time.
22 Edvard Munch's The Scream and Madonna stolen in armed raid on Oslo museum
23 Cherie Blair named most powerful woman in Britain by Forbes mag.
23 Royal Bank of Scotland survey found Students spend £1bn pa on alcohol
24 Jessica's sister Ashlee Simpson was US No1 album - Autobiography.
24 Wanadoo offered a 1 megabit broadband service for £17.99.
25 The 500k new Mini was produced and was sent to California.
AUG 25 Two Russian passenger jets were blown up by Moslem suicide bombers
26 Department of Work and Pensions sacked 16 for downloading porn.
26 Sir Mark Thatcher was arrested in SA for financing a coup in Guinea
27 Kendrick Girls School was top of the GCSE results, 53% A grades.
27 The Darkness and The White Stripes were at the Reading Festival.
28 House of Bruar, Perthshire was selling hamster fur coats at £1750
28 Olympic medals (3k) cost total of £235k, 13kg of gold cost £104k.
29 Notting Hill carnival's 40th birthday.
29 Will Adamsdale won prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Perrier comedy award
30 Natasha Bedingfield was no 1 single with These Words.
30 Olympic athletes (11099) of 202 countries left Athens for home.
The US gained most gold medals with 35, China was 2nd with 32.
Australia 4th with 17, GB 10th with 9. Watched by 4 billion on TV.
AUG 31 Main Winners at the MTV Video Awards in Miami were OutKast and Jay-Z.
31 Republican re-elect Bush Convention in NY had 250k protesters outside.
Died : SEP 13 Fred Ebb, songwriter. (New York, New York - Chicago - Cabaret).
Died : 17 Johnny Ramone (Cummings), guitarist in punk band The Ramones.
Died : 20 Eddie Adams, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist.
Died : 21 Brian Clough, OBE, football player and manager.
Died : 25 Francoise Sagan, French novelist.
Died : 30 Izora Rhodes Armstead, singer. (The Weather Girls - Raining Men)
1 G5 iMac was released at Apple Expo exhibition in Paris.
1 Terrorists entered school in Beslan, Russia, and held 1k hostages
2 1k arrests at Republican Conv created "Guantanamo on the Hudson"
2 Law banning Islamic headscarf in French schools came into effect.
3 The seige at the school in Beslan, North Ossetia ended.
Of over 1000 hostages, 700 were children. In total 330 were
killed, half of them children, by 26 terrorists, all of whom died.
SEP 4 Car auction at Goodwood sold a 1929 7ltr Mercedes SSK for £4.18 mil.
4 Hurricane Frances caused the evacuation of 2.5mil in Florida.
5 Best GCSE results changed from St Pauls to Collegiate, both girls schools
5 Outside of Republican Convention in NY turned into one big street theatre
6 Hurricane Frances hit Florida at over 100 mph, over $1bn damage.
6 Muppets Dr Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker were UKs favorite scientists.
6 Steven Spielberg knighted in Legion of Honour by President Chirac
7 The first ever novel was published by SMS txt message. The Chinese book
"Outside the Fortress Besieged" by Qian Fuchang sold for $21k.
It consists of 60 chapters containing only 70 characters.
8 Genesis probe crashed on re-entry. It left in 2001 to collect solar wind.
8 Scots rockers Franz Ferdinand won prestigious Mercury Music Prize
8 US military deaths in the Iraq campaign passed 1,000.
SEP 9 Huge explosion at Australias embassy in Indonesia killed 6.
9 ISP Sawis agreed to stop 148 of world's most prolific spammers.
9 Terrorist Chechen leaders Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev
had a bounty of £5.6 million placed on them by Russia. Dead or alive.
10 Barbie's crown as best selling doll was stolen by rival Bratz.
10 The British Library put 93 digitised original copies of Shakespeare's
plays online. The pamphlet editions are from Shakespeare's lifetime.
11 Port of NY began suing Saudi Arabia for collusion with terrorism.
11 Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) won US Open title bt Elena Dementieva (Rus).
12 First British winner of US Open Junior Title - Andrew Murray.
12 Hurricane Ivan (The Terrible) caused 50ft waves in Jamaica.
12 Roger Federer won the US Open Tennis, his 3rd grand slam this year.
13 For smuggling hashish into Saudi 3 border guards were beheaded.
SEP 13 N Korean explosion at hydro electric project caused nuclear alert
14 Fathers rights protester dressed as Batman broke into Buckingham Palace
14 The 19th season of Oprah Winfrey opened with the entire audience of 278 being given a new Pontiac Sports Sedan - total cost $7mil.
15 A bill banning fox hunting was passed 339 to 155.
15 Sex with the dead became officially illegal in California.
16 Over 2 mil evacuated New Orleans as Hurricane Ivan approached.
16 UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the war in Iraq was illegal.
17 Britney Spears helped Elizabeth Arden launch new perfume 'Curious'.
17 Hurricane Ivan hit Florida, the 3rd in 5 weeks, killing over 100.
18 An 1857 Victoria Cross (of Arthur Thomas Moores') sold for £172k.
18 Ford put Jaguar F1 racing and Cosworth Engines up for sale.
18 The 47th annual Monterey Jazz Festival Weekend of music errupted.
19 London Fashion Week opened.
SEP 19 Miss Alabama Deidre Downs won the Miss America competition.
20 Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, Best Drama was won by The Sopranos.
20 Europe bt USA by 18«-9« in The Ryder Cup. (4th time in 5 years)
20 Pop star Britney Spears married dancer Kevin Federline, on purpose.
21 Creator of the AK-47 rifle launched Kalashnikov vodka in the UK.
21 Illegal rally by 60 UK millionaires in France stopped by police.
21 Loeber Prize for best chat engine was won by Alice for 3rd time.
21 The US trade embargo on Libya was lifted.
22 $280 billion racketeering trial of tobacco industry started in US
22 Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) denied entry into US as security risk.
22 UKs first Islamic compliant bank opened it's doors in the UK.
23 FCC fined CBS $550k for Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction".
23 Porter Goss replaced George Tenet as head of CIA.
SEP 23 The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography published. It profiles
55,000 people who had a major impact on British life. The 60 volumes,
took 12 yrs and £25 mil to complete. The dictionary sells for £7500.
24 Forbes Mag put Bill Gates as richest American, 313 billionaires were listed.
24 Free beer was offered in Prague to blood donors by Czech beer mag
25 A "ring of steel" went up in Brighton at Labour party conference.
25 Charles de Gaulle complained about governing a country with
246 varieties of cheese. Britain has now beaten them with over 700
26 Chinas first F1 race was won by Barichello in a Ferrari. It was the first F1
race at new circuit in Shanghai, China, cost $240 mil with seats for 200k.
27 Floridas 4th hurricane (Jeane) in 6 weeks ripped its way inland.
27 Greek passenger jet was escorted to Stansted by two RAF fighters.
28 Phil Spectre was arrested for the murder of Lana Clarkson.
SEP 28 US govt bought the town of Playas NM for anti-terrorist training.
28 US light crude oil went over $50 p barrel for the first time.
29 British travellers to US started to be fingerprinted and photograhed
29 US issued 140 mil new $50 bills with extra security features.
30 Canadian Embassy in Beijing was invaded by 44 asylum seeking N Koreans
30 Mobile phones with cameras were banned by Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia
30 Over 200 arrested in Australia on child pornography charges.
Died : OCT 3 Richard Avedon, fashion photographer. (81)
Died : 5 Leroy Gordon Cooper, astronaut, did 3.3 mil miles in Gemini 5. (77)
Died : 7 Maurice Williams (Prof), Nobel laureate, DNA pioneer. (87)
Died : 7 Rodney Dangerfield (born Jacob Cohen), comedian. (82).
Died : 10 Jaques Derrida, French founder of the deconstructionist school.
Died : 11 Christopher Reeve, actor, star of Superman films. (52)
Died : 21 Lynda Lee Potter, journalist.
Died : 26 John Peel, BBC DJ, discovered more musical talent than anyone, ever.
Died : 30 Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, aunt of Queen Elizabeth.(102)
1 Jamelia won 3 MOBOs, Best Single, Video and UK Act of the Year.
1 Minimum wage increased to £4.85 (£4.10 for under 21) for 2mil workers.
2 Ireland re-elected President Mary McAleese, 53, unopposed.
2 Top jobs no-one wants according to the Times - 1. Sex-line operator
OCT 2. North Sea ferry cleaner 3.IT manager 4 Petrol Station cashier
3 Following arrest in Australia of 200 paedophiles 4 committed suicide
3 Singer Billy Joel (55) married his fiancee, 23-year-old Kate Lee.
4 Munich Oktoberfest - 5.9 mil people drank 5.5 mil litres of beer.
4 SpaceShipOne won the Ansari $10mil prize as the first private craft to fly 3 people (2 ballast) 100km in space twice in 2 weeks
5 Brisbane Airport closed when vibrating sex toy was mistaken for a bomb
5 Richard Axel and Linda Buck solved the mystery of smell and won
a Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medecine - 10 mil Swedish Kronor
6 Flu vaccine maker Chiron closed down for 3 mths for safety checks
6 Kodak film factory at Annesley closed - digital cameras take over.
7 BBCs longest-serving weatherman Michael Fish retired after 31 yrs.
7 Elin Nordegren (Swedish model) married Tiger Woods (US golfer).
8 Britney Spears manager Larry Rudolph criticised her marriage and got fired
OCT 8 Sit down protest at S Korean Parliament by 3000 prostitutes.
9 John Howard re-elected for 4th term as Australian Prime Minister.
9 New Scottish parliament, Holyrood, opened by the Queen. The building was 3 years late and it's cost increased from £40mil to £431mil.
10 American lifestyle guru Martha Stewart started 5 month Jail term.
10 VIRGIN Atlantic became the first airline to put double beds on its' planes. "Mile-high club" prices start at 2k each.
11 House of Commons security (Badge Messengers) were replaced by the police.
11 Yellow Pages' Best Business Name 2004 was Crease Lightening ironing service.
12 European Union lifted an 18-year-old arms embargo on Libya.
12 UK unemployment was 1.39 mil (4.7%), 8 mil were economically innactive.
13 PAYPAL payment system was offline for 6 days after a software upgrade.
13 UN put the great white shark on its endangered species list (ap II)
14 Expedition 10 to the ISS blasted off from Russia.
14 George W Bush and John Kerry had their final presidential debate.
OCT 15 Google introduced its' search program for PC hard drives.
15 Team America released with R rating for "graphic, crude and sexual
humor, violent images and strong language, all involving puppets."
16 Britains' radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri charged with terrorism offences.
16 Lord Lucan murder case was re-opened using DNA profiling to solve
the mystery - he was declared dead by the High Court in 1999.
17 Fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons celebrated it's 30th birthday.
17 Russia and China agreed where their border should be for the
first time in centuries (possibly ever), it is 2700 miles long.
18 Shark Tale beat Team America into 3rd place at the box office.
18 US Esquire readers voted Angelina Jolie "Sexiest Woman Alive".
19 One in 3 births in Russia were outide marriage - twice 10 yrs ago
19 Oxford Uni Press made "chav" buzzword of the year.
OCT 20 Care International stopped work in Iraq after Margaret Hassan was kidnapped.
20 Euro research centre (birthplace of the www) CERN was 50 years old
21 Cubas' President Fidel Castro (78) fell and broke his knee and arm
21 HSBC closed all accounts belonging to the British National Party.
21 New Grand Theft Auto game San Andreas was stolen and released onto the net
22 Microsoft distributed 106 mil copies of 1st security update for XP.
22 Russia ratified the Kyoto Treaty.
23 Google was the fastest growing tech company in the last year.
23 UK car crime bill was up 40% on last year at £1.1 billion.
24 Brazil successfully launched its first rocket into space.
24 F1 World Champion was M Schumacher, champion constructer was Ferrari.
24 Final F1 race of 2004 in Brasil was won by JP Montoya in a Williams.
25 Scotch whiskey exports went over £2 bil, sales to China up 170%.
OCT 25 Steve Christian, Mayor of Pitcairn Island (pop 47), and 5 others
were found guilty of sex offences against underage girls.
26 Britons travelling to the USA will need machine-readable passport.
26 Caroline Sanchez-Bernat became New Yorks Miss Subways.
27 Afghanistan (world's newest democracy) feeds Europes $30bil heroin habit.
27 International Cassini-Huygens space probe was taking snaps of
Saturns moon Titan. Bigger than Mercury or Pluto and has weather.
28 Jane Austens History of England was put on the net by British Library.
28 Paprika was withdrawn from sale in Hungary after toxin was found.
29 Episode of Scooby-Doo made cartoon world record 350th screening.
29 EUs 25 heads of State signed new constitution in Rome. It will need
to be ratified by each country (some by referendum) by june 2006.
30 Al-Jazeera aired a new Osama bin Laden video threatening the US.
OCT 30 Norodom Sihamoni was crowned Cambodia’s first new king for 50 years.
30 The Times broadsheet format died - long live The Times compact format.
31 Irish pubs sold 6% less beer in the first 6 months of smoking ban
31 Quitting Lastminute.com chairman Allan Leighton said "I won't be spending more time with my family because they don't want me to".
Died : NOV 9 Emlyn Hughes (Crazy Horse), ex England football captain.
Died : 11 Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader.
Died : 26 Arthur Hailey, author. (sold 170 m of 11 books incl Hotel, Airport)(84)
1 US polls put Kerry and Bush equal before tomorrows presidential vote.
1 World's ultimate chat-up line was researched and found by Japan,
"This time next year, let's be laughing together".
2 Bear hunters in Maine were tempting bear with pizzas.
2 Campaign spam e-mails sent out numbered over 2 billion.
2 First billion dollar election was won (274-252) by George Bush
in a Republican . Over 120 mil voted (60%), the highest ever.
3 China closed 1600 internet cafes for letting children play violent games
3 Phoebe Philo was designer of the year at the Brit Fashion Awards.
4 Eric Clapton received a CBE from the Princess Royal at Buck House
NOV 4 First felony Spammer conviction Jeremy Jaynes and Jessica DeGroot
5 Icelands' Grimsvotn volcano erupted sending ash 7 miles up.
5 Richest person in China was Larry Rong Zhijan with $1.5 billion.
6 IBM's Blue Gene/L supercomputer broke all speed records at 70 teraflops.
6 Over 150 venues opened for free on The National Lottery 10th birthday.
7 Joe Thomas 0f Delaware became World Champion Pumpkin Hurler.
7 NY Marathon won by Hendrik Ramaala (SA) and Paula Radcliffe (GB).
7 Over 400 vintage cars (pre 1905) ran the 71st London-Brighton Rally.
7 SpaceShipOnes Burt Rutan accepted the Ansari X $10 mil Prize.
8 Cheerleaders were at more risk from injury than footballers, 25k pa were hospitalised.
8 Chris Ollerenshaw (Snipe Inn Manchester) paid £15k for a Vulcan bomber on ebay
9 Annual charity truffle auction (1 sold for $41k) in Turin raised $135k.
9 Renee Zellweger was at UK premiere Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason.
NOV 9 The Manforpeace Award 2004 from the Gorbachev Foundation in Rome
went to Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) for his work in war torn countries.
10 More people now play snooker in China than the rest of the world together
10 Vodafone launched its UK third-generation (3G) services.
11 Australia's jobless rate was at a 25 year low of 5.3%.
11 Cash machine fraud increased by 85% to £61m during the past year.
11 US oil output was at its' lowest since 1950.
12 PM Tony Blair was in the White House talking to Pres George Bush.
12 The 50th edition of Guinness World Records (2005) published.
12 The inaugural awards in the UK Music Hall of Fame were
U2, Madonna, Bob Marley, the Beatles and Elvis Presley
13 Abbey National left the stock market after Santander takeover.
13 Mr Dyson sold £277m of vacuum cleaners (2003) so he took a £17m bonus.
NOV 14 Band Aid 20 single Do They Know It's Xmas recorded at Air Studios
14 John Higgins won the British Open Snooker Championship.
14 www.DocumentsOnline.nationalarchives.gov.uk containing 1st WW
medal records had over 1 million hits in it's first week.
15 Loud a excitable auditions were held for audience of MTV Awards in Rome.
15 Red Bull took over the Jaguar F1 team (for a nominal sum).
15 Television cameras began to record English court proceedings.
16 House prices (UK) were showing fastest fall since 1992.
16 Smart 1 - European ion engine probe - arrived at the Moon.
16 Third and final X-43A scramjet test by NASA over the Pacific -
achieved mach 10 (7000 mph) for 10 secs taking it 850 miles.
17 Abercrombie & Fitch paid $40mil class action discrimination lawsuit.
17 First conviction for Spanish Mar 11 train bombs was a Spaniard aged 16
NOV 18 Beaujolais Nouveau was first tasted this year in Seoul, Korea.
18 Jude Law was voted Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine readers.
18 Lily Tuck's The News From Paraguay won fiction US National Book Award.
18 US stars dominated the 11th annual MTV Europe Music Awards in Rome.
19 Band Aid 20 single was shown on all 5 national TV channels simultaneously
19 The Parliament Act was invoked making fox hunting illegal in 90 days.
20 Children in Need Telethon raised £13.5 mil on the night.
20 NatWest halted internet banking in response to persistent fraud attempts
20 NY Museum of Modern Art re-opened after $425 million expansion.
21 Jimmy Choo (luxury shoes) was bought by Hicks Muse of Typhoo Tea.
21 Oasis singer Liam Gallagher fined £35k for a drunken brawl in Germany
22 Dixons retailer stopped stocking VCRs, concentrating on DVD.
22 Girls Aloud charity single I'll Stand By You was UK no 1.
NOV 23 Camden, NJ was US most-dangerous city. Newton, Massachusetts was safest
23 The Queens' speech in parliament included plans for ID cards.
23 The record for the longest peal of bells was broken in Coventry,
more than 300,000 notes during a 17-hour peal with handbells.
24 10 yr old sandwich (with Virgin Mary image) sold on eBay for $28k
24 British TV won 6 of the 7 awards at 32nd International Emmy Awards
24 Over 25% of births in the US were delivered by Caesarean section.
25 Best Farmhouse Cheddar at World Cheese Awards in London - Simon Clapp
25 Franco Zeffirelli became first Italian to get an honorary knighthood
25 The British Council poll of non-English speakers found most liked
words were :- 1.Mother 2.Passion 3.Smile 4.Love 5.Eternity.
26 FAO Schwarz toy shop re-opened in NY, saved by NY investment firm.
26 Night opening of Taj Mahal in full moons recommenced after 20 yrs
NOV 26 The euro jumped to an all time high of $1.3248.
27 Banned Snake charmers in Orissa, India threatened to release 5000 snakes.
27 Record companies sold 237 mil albums last year, worth £1.22 bil
28 A 10-1 victory by Stephen McGuire made him UK Snooker Champion.
28 Demonstrations continued in Ukraine's Independence Square as it's
parliament declared last weeks presidential election invalid.
29 Actress Julia Roberts gave birth to twins, Hazel and Phinnaeus.
29 The Kids' Vote went to Shrek 2 at the Children's Baftas in The London Hilton
30 Ian Robertson became CEO Rolls Royce. (to sell 1000 cars per year)
30 Japans' most famous monster Godzilla got a star on Hollywoods' walk of Fame
Died : DEC 2 Prince Bernhard, father of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. (93)
Died : 3 Dame Alicia Markova, Britain's first prima ballerina. (94)
Died : 24 Narasimha Rao, former Prime Minister of India (83).
Died : 28 Susan Sontag, American author.
Died : 31 Artie Shaw, US swing era bandleader. (94)
1 An RSPB poll named the Robin as Scotlands' favourite bird.
1 China blocked access to the English version of Google News.
2 Concept car from Volvo was launched - designed for and by women.
2 The Band Aid 20 single normal price £1.49 was on sale as download
on iTunes for 79p. Apple agreed to pay the difference as a donation.
3 Bankrupt Courts Furnishers were looted by ex-customers.
3 Lloyd Scott arrived in Sydney after crossing Australia from Perth (2700 mls)
on a penny-farthing bicycle in 50 days raising £60k for charity.
DEC 4 Debrett's Peerage was sold for £1 mil to Devonshire Media.
4 Maria Garcia of Peru became Miss World 2004 in Sanya, China.
4 Ukraine's Supreme Court decided rigged elections should be re-run.
5 ITV viewers voted Thunderbirds by Busted as Record of the Year.
5 Thai govt dropped 100 mil paper birds on Muslim south trying to stop violence
6 Gayathri Kumar (13) of Liverpool became BBCs first Hard Spell Champion.
6 Jenson Button was named International Driver of the Year by Autosport Mag.
6 The Band Aid 20 single Do They Know It's Christmas? entered the charts at No 1.
7 Comic Joe Pasquale won TV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here.
7 Hamid Karzai took the oath to become Afghanistan's first elected president.
8 IBM sold its' PC business to Chinese Lenovo for $1.75 billion.
8 New Chinese "better than Google" search engine Accoona launched.
8 Over 15 Chinese coal miners die per day in private pits.
DEC 9 Hollywoods' highest paid actress was Julia Roberts - $20 mil per film
9 John Young, NASAs longest serving astronaut, retired after 42 years.
10 Birds Custard was repatriated with its' sale by Kraft to Premier Foods UK
10 Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein paid £19 mil for The Badminton Cabinet
c1726 - a piece of furniture so ornate it was called "the marvel of Europe"
11 Average cost of a degree from Oxford (incl living costs) - £26000.
11 Cocaine worth £100 mil found at Spitalfields market in Guyana coconuts.
11 The Eifel Tower now has a skating rink - 200 feet up - 1st level.
12 The winner of the X-Factor TV talent show was Steve Brookstein.
12 Viktor Yushchenko, opposition leader in the rigged Ukraine
elections,was poisoned with dioxin according to doctors in Vienna.
13 Kelly Holmes won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year trophy.
13 Ocean's 12 was No.1 at the US box office opening with $40.9 mil.
DEC 13 Romania's opposition leader Traian Basescu elected as president.
13 The celebrity Nativity scene at Madame Tussauds featuring David &
Victoria Beckham as Jesus & Mary was withdrawn after complaints.
14 Tom Wolfe won UK prize for Bad Sex in Fiction with "I am Charlotte Simmons"
14 Tommy Hilfiger (US Sportswear) bought out Karl Lagerfeld (Paris Fashions)
14 World's highest road bridge opened - The Millau bridge in France.
Its' 7 pillars will carry cars for 2.5km at a max height of 343m.
15 Charlie Chaplins cane from Modern Times sold for £48k at Christies London
15 Teenage girls in the UK became bigger binge drinkers than boys.
16 Home Secretary David Blunkett resigned amid corruption allegations.
16 Nick Peterson (18) was eaten by 2 great white sharks (a protected
species) off a crowded holiday beach near Adelaide, Australia.
17 First 2 Irish priests defrocked by The Pope after child abuse convictions
DEC 17 Two NY companies were fined £100k by Icstis for rogue dialler scam.
18 Lisa Marie Presley sold rights to Elvis for $100 mil to Robert Sillerman
18 Rupert Murdoch bought a flat in Manhatten - at a record $44 mil.
18 Successful Atlas 5 launch puts it equal with Ariane at 74 take-offs.
18 The US wrote off all of Iraqs' $4.1 billion debt.
18 Worldwide online virtual games have an economy of $15 bil per year.
19 Christie's NY sold ex Beatle guitar for £294k.
19 N Ireland Bank manager forced to help in £22mil robbery after family kidnapped
19 Russian Yukos Oil forced into share sale to pay $27 bil in back taxes.
20 Cassini Saturn probe found it's lightning is 1 million times Earth's.
20 No1 movie in the US was Lemony Snicket's - A Series of Unfortunate Events.
21 PM Tony Blair made a surprise visit to war torn Baghdad.
21 The Beckhams Xmas present to son Brooklyn - a £22k replica Hummer.
DEC 22 First launch of Boeing Delta 4 Heavy-Lift rocket.(230ft.,17 mil horse power)
22 Last no 1 before Xmas was Band Aid 20 - Do They Know It's Xmas.
22 Snow cap of Mt Snowden has halved in last 10 years (global warming)
23 Biggest selling 2005 calendar - Kylie Minogue.
23 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince made Amazon No 1 in advance orders
24 PM Tony Blair sent 1900 Xmas cards this year at a cost of £405.
24 President Bush sent 2 million Xmas cards to his closest friends.
24 Time Magazines' Person of the Year was - President George Bush.
25 Palestinian leaders were allowed into Bethlehems' Church after 3 yrs
25 Xmas parties on Bondi beach in Sydney suffered an alcohol ban
after 100 people had to be rescued by lifeguards last year.
26 High deathtoll in areas 3500 miles apart from Thailand to E Africa
after tsunamis hit resorts and coastal villages. They were triggered
DEC by the largest earthquake in 40 years (R9) undersea near Indonesia.
27 Freak weather brought Texas its first white Christmas in 86 years
27 Over 50k immigrant workers rioted in Dongguan, China.
27 Viktor Yushenko elected president after re-run of Ukraine election.
28 Top of the N American Xmas box office was Meet the Fockers.
28 UK House prices fell for the 6th succesive month.
29 Complaints to AOL about spam dropped in 2004 from 11mil/day to 2 mil/day.
29 Number of known internet viruses went over 100k for the first time.
30 Plastic overtook cash as the primary method of making payments.
30 Top net search for 2004 was Janet Jacksons' wardrobe malfunction.
31 British people donated £1 mil/hour to victims of the Asian earthquake.
31 New Year celebrations were preceded by 2 min silence for Asian earthquake
31 Olympic gold medalist Kelly Holmes became a Dame.
DEC 31 UK born astronaut Michael Foale received a CBE.