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2008 (MMVIII Gregorian calendar , a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini ).
2008 has been designated as:
Events
January
January 1 - Cyprus , Malta , and Akrotiri and Dhekelia adopt the euro .[ 7] [ 8] Zayouna , Baghdad killing over 25 people during a funeral over the deaths from preceding attack. [ 9] January 2 - The price of petroleum hits $ 100 per barrel for the first time.January 3 - A car bomb detonates, killing at least 4 and injuring 68, in Diyarbakır , Turkey . Police blame Kurdish rebels . [ 10] January 8 - An attempted assassination of Maldivian president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is thwarted after a Boy Scout grabbed the attacker's knife. The Boy Scout was injured, but after a scuffle ensued police arrested the attacker. [ 11] January 12 - A Macedonian Army Mil Mi-17 helicopter crashes in thick fog southeast of Skopje , killing all 11 military personnel on board.[ 12] January 14 - At 19:04:39 UTC , the MESSENGER space probe is at its closest approach during its first flyby of the planet Mercury .[ 13] January 15 - Federal Court of Australia orders a Japanese whaling company to stop research whaling within their Exclusive Economic Zone . [ 14] January 21 - Stock markets around the world plunge amid growing fears of a U.S. recession , fueled by the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis . [ 15] January 22 - Russia stages the largest naval exercise since the fall of the Soviet Union in the Bay of Biscay . 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. [ 16] January 23 - Polish Air Force EADS CASA C-295 crashes during approach to the 12th Air Base near Mirosławiec . All 20 personnel on board die. [ 17] January 23 - Thousands of Palestinians cross into Egypt , as the border wall with Gaza in Rafah is blown up by militants . [ 18] January 24 - A peace deal ends the Kivu war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag 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.[ 19] January 29 - Iran 's judiciary sentences to prison 54 Bahá'í religion followers for charity work .[ 20] [ 21]
February
February 2 - Rebels attack the capital of Chad , N'Djamena .[ 22] February 4 - Iran opens its first space center and launches a rocket to space.[ 23] February 4 - A Palestinian suicide bomber kills one and wounds thirteen in a Dimona , Israel shopping center.[ 24] February 5 - U.S. stock market indices plunge more than 3% after a report showed signs of economic recession in the service-sector. The S&P 500 fell 3.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 370 points. [ 25] February 5 –6 - A tornado outbreak , the deadliest in 23 years, kills 58 in the Southern United States . [ 26] February 7 - Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on mission STS-122 to deliver the European-built Columbus science laboratory to the International Space Station . [ 27] February 10 - The 2008 Namdaemun fire severely damages Namdaemun , the first National Treasure of South Korea . [ 28] 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.[ 29] February 12 - PDVSA , a state oil company in Venezuela , suspends sales of crude oil to ExxonMobil , in response to a legal challenge by them.[ 30] February 12 - Bridgestone , under investigation for an alleged price-fixing cartel, uncovers improper payments of at least 150 million Japanese yen to foreign governments and withdraws from the marine hose business.[ 31] February 13 - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia delivers a formal apology to the Stolen Generations .[ 32] February 17 - A suicide bombing by a Taliban member kills up to 80 in Kandahar , Afghanistan [ 33] February 17 - Kosovo formally declares independence from Serbia , with support from some countries but opposition from others.[ 34] February 18 - The British government introduces emergency legislation temporarily to nationalize Northern Rock , the fifth largest mortgage bank in the UK, due to the bank's financial crisis.[ 35] February 18 - A 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.[ 36] February 19 - Fidel Castro announces his resignation as President of Cuba, effective on February 24. [ 37] February 20 - United States Navy destroys a spy satellite containing toxic fuel by shooting it down with a missile launched from USS Lake Erie in the Pacific Ocean .[ 38] February 20 - Total lunar eclipse - North and South America , Europe , Africa , and Western Asia . [ 39] February 22 - Former Building Society Northern Rock is the first bank in Europe to be taken in to state control due to the US subprime mortgage financial crisis. [ 40] February 22 - No survivors are found after a rescue helicopter discovers the wreckage of Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518 just northeast of Mérida , Venezuela . The commercial plane had 46 people on board, including crew. [ 41] February 24 - Raúl Castro is unanimously elected as President of Cuba by the National Assembly . [ 42]
March
April
May
May 3 - Over 133,000 in Burma /Myanmar are killed by Cyclone Nargis , the deadliest natural disaster since the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004 .May 10 - Burma /Myanmar holds a constitutional referendum .May 12 - Over 69,000 are killed in central south-west China by the Chengdu quake , an earthquake measuring 8.0Mw . The epicenter is 90 kilometers (55 miles) west-northwest of the provincial capital Chengdu , Sichuan province .May 13 - A series of bomb blasts kills at least 63 and injures 216 in Jaipur , India .May 14 - NASA announces the discovery of Supernova remnant G1.9+0.3 May 15 - An oil pipeline explodes in Ijegun, Nigeria , killing 100.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 25 - NASA's Phoenix spacecraft becomes the first spacecraft to land on the northern polar-region of Mars .[ 53] May 28 - The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal is established after the Assembly votes overwhelmingly in favor of abolishing the country's 240-year-old monarchy . Girija Prasad Koirala becomes temporary Head of state .
June
June 2 - A car bomb explodes outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad , Pakistan , killing at least five.June 8 - In the Akihabara area of Tokyo , Japan , a 25-year-old man stabs 7 to death and wounds 10 , before being arrested.June 10 - Fire engulfs Sudan Airways Flight 109 after landing in Khartoum , killing 44.June 11 - The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope is launched.June 11 - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologizes to Canada's First Nations for the 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 - A 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Iwate Prefecture , Japan , kills 12 and injures more than 400.June 14 – September 14 - Expo 2008 was held in Zaragoza in Spain , with the topic of "Water and sustainable development" .June 22 - Typhoon Fengshen hits the Philippines and capsizes the ferry MV Princess of the Stars June 27 - President Robert Mugabe is reelected with 85.5% of the vote in the second round of the controversial Zimbabwean presidential election .June 27 - After three decades as the Chairman of Microsoft Corporation , Bill Gates steps down from daily duties to concentrate on philanthropy .[ 54] [ 55]
July
