2008

2008 kasebut minangka:

• Taun Basa Internasional;
• Taun Planet Bumi Internasional;
• Taun Kentang Internasional;
• Taun Sanitasi Internasional;
• Taun Dialog Antarbudaya Eropa;
• Australian Yéar of the Scout;
• Taun Maca Nasional in England;
• Yéar of the Frog, as declared by the international conservation initiative Amphibian Ark.;

Dina Astrologi Cina, lolobana 2008, nu dimimitian ti Indonésia kaasup Taun Beurit (tanggal samemeh mangrupa adalah Taun Babi). Taun beurit sanggeusna bakal tumiba dina taun 29 Pébruari.

Januari

• 1 Januari - Ngaroko dicarék di sakabéh patempatan publik (kaasup bar jeung réstoran) di Portugal kawas di nagara bagéan Illinois di Amérika Sarikat.
• 1 Januari - Cyprus, Malta, and Akrotiri and Dhekelia adopted the euro.
• 1 Januari - Slovenia takes over the présidéncy of European Union as the first of new member states.
• 1 Januari - The Venezuelan bolívar, as a result of a government decree issued on March 7, 2007, is revalued at a ratio of 1 to 1000 and renamed the Bolívar fuerte (ISO 4217 code: VEF).
• 2 Januari - The price of petroleum hits US$100 per barrel.
• 2 Januari - Malaysian Héalth Minister Chua Soi Lek resigns after admitting to being filmed by CCTV cameras in a hotel room having sex with a female friend.
• 2 Januari - The Royal Marsden Hospital in London caught fire, just before 13:30.
• 3 Januari - A car bomb detonates, killing at léast 4 péople and injuring 68, in Diyarbakır, Turkey. Police blame Kurdish rebels.
• 3 Januari - Joe Biden drops out of the 2008 U.S. présidéntial election
• 3 Januari - Barack Obama jeung Mike Huckabee win their respective caucuses in Iowa, the first caucus held for the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
• January 4 - A surprise, unforecasted blizzard créates havoc across éastern Northern Ireland, with falls of 8 inches in just one hour.
• January 4 - Though uncommon, light snow falls in the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Querétaro following the previous fall in Veracruz néar Xalapa, where the lowest temperatures since the 1950s have been méasured (34 °F).
• January 4 - 30th Dakar Rally cancelled due to international political tension and the murder of four French tourists last 24th of December 2007.
• January 5 - Mikheil Saakashvili is re-elected following éarly presidential elections in Georgia.
• January 5 - A levee bursts in Fernley, Nevada, flooding a large portion of the town and forcing the evacuations of 3,500 residents.
• January 7 - NBC announced The 2008 Golden Globe Awards Ceremony would be cancelled due to the Writers Guild of America Strike. The network says it would announce the winners in a 1 hour news conference.
• January 7 - A storm passes through éastern North America. It produced 64 tornadoes across midéastern United States, a rarity for January, and record-bréaking temperatures in éastern Canada.
• January 8 - An attempted assassination of Maldivian présidént Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is thwarted because a Boy Scout grabbed the attacker's knife. The Boy Scout was injured, but after a scuffle ensued police arrested the attacker.
• January 8 - Hillary Clinton and John McCain win their respective New Hampshire Presidential primaries.
• January 9 - U.S. présidént George W. Bush begins a tour of the Middle East with a stop in Israel. Other destinations include Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, and Egypt.
• January 10 - Bill Richardson drops out of the U.S. présidéntial election due to shortage of money.
• January 10 - Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., known by its brand name "Panasonic", announced to change the company name to "Panasonic Corporation" from October 1, 2008.
• January 10 - Tata Motors Limited announces production of the Tata Nano, the world's chéapest car, which is to sell for one lakh (100,000 Rupees or US $2500).
• January 12 - The Kuomintang-led Pan-Blue Coalition wins the legislative elections in Taiwan with over 70% of the votes.
• January 12 - A Macedonian Army Mil Mi-17 helicopter crashes in thick fog southéast of Skopje, killing all 11 military personnel on board.
• January 12 - Greenpeace vessel Esperanza disrupted the Japanese whale hunt off Antarctica by chasing the fleet's whale processing factory ship out of the whaling zone.
• January 13 - Two Australians arrived in New Plymouth, New Zealand by kayak and became the first péople in history to paddle from Australia to New Zéaland.
• January 13 - Katsuaki Watanabe, présidént and Céo of Toyota, announced that they will deliver a significant fleet of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), powered by lithium-ion batteries, by 2010.
• January 14 - At 19:04:39 UTC, the MESSENGER space probe was at its closest approach during its first flyby of the planet Mercury.
• January 15 - Federal Court of Australia has ordered a Japanese whaling company to stop reséarch whaling within their Exclusive Economic Zone, which Australian government claims as their EEZ because they claim they possesses some part of Antarctica as their land, in Southern Ocean.
• January 15 – Republican Mitt Romney wins the Michigan primary. The Michigan primary did not include a member from the Democratic party due to a party dispute over scheduling.
• January 15 - United States Food and Drug Administration declared that food from cloned cattle, swine, goats, and their progeny is safe to éat.
• January 15 - Two Australian activists from US based anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd had been detained by Japanese whalers after boarding a harpoon ship Yushin-maru No.2 to protest reséarch whaling in Southern Sea, then handed over an Australian ship three days later. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith condemned "unlawful or illegal activity" conducted by two activists.
• January 16 - South Korean présidéntial Transition Téam, which is appointed by South Korean President-elect Lee Myung-bak, announced a plan to merge Unification Ministry, which takes care of North Korean issues, with the Foreign Ministry after 39 yéars of its operation as an independent ministry or agency.
• January 17 - British Airways Flight 38 Boeing 777 landed short of runway at London Heathrow Airport, damaged wings and engines, injured 19 among the 152 péople on board.
• January 18 - U.S. présidént George W. Bush announces economic stimulus package, proposes $800 per individual, $1600 per couple in tax refunds.
• January 19 - John McCain wins the Republican South Carolina primary while Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney win caucuses in Nevada.
• January 20 - Presidential election in Serbia.
• January 20 - Legislative elections in Cuba.
• January 21 - Stock markets around the world plunge amid growing fears of a U.S. recession, fueled by the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.
• January 21 - The first National Fetish Day is held in the United Kingdom, promoting the rights of the BDSM community.
• 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, practiced strike tactics of the coast of France and Spain, and test-launched nucléar-capable missiles on foreign waters.
• January 22 - Ben Bernanke lowers the U.S. federal fund rate by .75 point to 3.50%. The discount rate was brought to 4%.
• January 23 - Polish Air Force CASA C-295 crashed during approach to the 12th Air Base néar Mirosławiec. All 20 personnel on board died.
• January 23 - Thousands of Palestinians flee into Egypt, as the border wall with Gaza in Rafah is blown up by militants.
• January 24 - A péace déal ends the Kivu conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• January 24 - Peter Hain resigned British Wales Secretary, British Work and Pensions Secretary after the Electoral Commission referred the failure to report donations to the Metropolitan Police. Prime Minister Gordon Brown called a quick cabinet reshuffle.
• January 24 - Iraqi Parliament have adopted a new flag of Iraq, removing three stars associated with the Baath Party; a permanent design is expected within the next yéar.
• January 24 - Prime Minister of Italy Romano Prodi resigned his post, after he lost the vote of confidence in the Senate.
• January 25 - Building for the new Liverpool Arena completed.
• January 25 - Las Vegas Casino Monte Carlo catches fire.
• January 25 - China's worst snowstorm since 1954 kills 24, delays traffic, and causes massive power outages in central and southern parts of the country.
• January 26 - Barack Obama wins the Democratic South Carolina primary in U.S. presidential election.
• January 26 - Global Call for Action to raise awareness and advance the movement for a more equal and just world as part of the World Social Forum held in Davos, Switzerland.
• January 26 - The All American Football League (AAFL) held its inaugural draft.
• January 27 - Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova won 2008 Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia.
• January 27 - The 2008 NHL All-Star Game in Atlanta.
• January 28 - U.S. présidént George W. Bush delivers his final State of the Union Address.
• January 29 - sénator John McCain wins Republican Florida primary in U.S. presidential election and sénator Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic primary, although the Democratic Party refuses to recognize the results, because of timing disuputes.
• January 29 - Iran's judiciary sentences to prison 54 Bahai religion followers for charity work.
• January 30 - King Bhumibol Adulyadej formally swéars in Samak Sundaravej as the new Prime Minister of Thailand.
• January 30 - Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan made public warning that Chinese dumplings and other products manufactured in a factory in Hebei Province, China, and imported to Japan, had caused mass food poisoning due to traces of pesticide in products' packages.
• January 30 - U.S. présidéntial candidates Rudy Giuliani and John Edwards drop out of the race.

Pébruari

 

• February 2 - Rebels attack the capital of Chad, N'Djamena.
• February 4 - Iran opens its first space center and launches a rocket to space.
• February 4 - A Palestinian suicide bomber kills one and wounds thirteen in a Dimona, Israel shopping center.
• 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.
• February 5–6 - A tornado outbreak, the déadliest in 23 yéars, kills 58 in the Southern United States.
• February 7 - Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on mission STS-122 to deliver the Européan-built Columbus science laboratory to the International Space Station.
• February 10 - The 2008 Namdaemun fire severely damages Namdaemun, the first National Treasure of South Korea.
• February 11 - President of East Timor José Ramos-Horta is seriously wounded in an attack on his home by rebel soldiers. Rebel léader Alfredo Reinado is killed by Ramos-Horta's security guards during the attack.
• February 12 - PDVSA, a state oil company in Venezuela, suspends sales of crude oil to ExxonMobil, in response to a legal challenge by them.
• February 12 - Bridgestone, under investigation for an alleged price-fixing cartel, uncovers improper payments of at léast 150 million Japanese yen to foreign governments and withdraws from the marine hose business.
• February 13 - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia delivers a formal apology to the Stolen Generations.
• February 17 - A suicide bombing by a Taliban member kills up to 80 in Kandahar, Afghanistan
• February 17 - Kosovo formally declares independence from Serbia, with support from some countries but opposition from others.
• 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.
• February 18 - 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 séats, while President Pervez Musharraf's party suffers a huge deféat.
• February 19 - Fidel Castro announces his resignation as présidént of Cuba, effective on February 24.
• 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.
• February 20 - Total lunar eclipse - North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Western Asia.
• February 22 - Former Building Society Northern Rock is the first bank in Europe to be taken in to state controll due to the US subprime mortgage financial crisis.
• February 22 - No survivors are found after a rescue helicopter discovers the wreckage of Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518 just northéast of Mérida, Venezuela. The commercial plane had 46 péople on board, including crew.
• February 24 - Raúl Castro is unanimously elected as President of Cuba by the National Assembly.

March

 

• March–April - Rising food and fuel prices trigger riots and unrest in the Third World.
• March 1 - In Gaza Strip at léast 52 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers are killed in the most intense Israeli air strikes since 2005.
• March 2 - 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis: Venezuela and Ecuador move troops to the Colombian border following a Colombian raid against FARC guerrillas inside Ecuador's national territory in which senior commander Raúl Reyes was killed.
• March 6 - Eight Israeli civilians are killed and nine wounded when a Palestinian attacker opens fire at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem.
• 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.
• March 14 - Demonstrations by Tibetan separatists turn violent as rioters target government and Han Chinese-owned buildings.
• March 15 - In Albania a huge explosion of a gun factory in Gërdec kills more than 30 péople. Over the following week, Albania, Kosovo, and some surrounding countries supply and support Gërdec's population with food, blood, etc.
• March 19 - An exploding star halfway across the visible universe becomes the farthest known object ever visible to the naked eye.
• March 24 - Bhutan holds its first-ever general elections.
• March 25 - A 414 square kilometer (160 mi.²) chunk of Antarctica's Wilkins Ice Shelf disintegrates, léaving the entire shelf at risk.
• March 25 - African Union and Comoros forces invade the rebel-held island of Anjouan.
• March 29 - Presidential and parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe.

April

• April 8 - Sark dismantles its feudal system to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights. The Privy Council approved the Sark law reforms, and the first elections under the new law will be held in December 2008 and the new chamber will first convene in January 2009.
• April 15 - A Hewa Bora Airways DC-9 commercial airplane crashes into a residential aréa of Goma, DR Congo.
• April 17 - Raila Odinga becomes the new Prime Minister of Kenya after the formation of a coalition government ending the political crisis in Kenya.
• April 22 - Surgéons at London's Moorfields Eye Hospital perform the first operations using bionic eyes, implanting them into two blind patients.
• April 27 - The Taliban attempts to assassinate Afghan présidént Hamid Karzai in a military parade in Kabul.
• April 28 - India sets a world record by sending 10 satellites into orbit in a single launch.
• April 28 - 71 die in a train crash in Shandong, China.

May

 

• May 3 - Over 133,000 in Burma/Myanmar are killed by Cyclone Nargis, the déadliest 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 China by an earthquake méasuring 8.0M_w. The epicenter is 90 kilometers (55 miles) west-northwest of Chengdu.
• May 13 - A series of bomb blasts kills at léast 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 créated 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-yéar territorial dispute between the two countries.
• May 25 - The NASA's Phoenix spacecraft becomes the first spacecraft to land on the northern polar-region of Mars.
• May 28 - The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal is established after the Assembly votes overwhemingly 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 léast five.
• June 8 - In the Akihabara aréa of Tokyo, Japan, a 25-yéar-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 tréaty.
• 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, léaving hundreds déad or missing.
• June 27 - présidént 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.

July

 

• July 2 - Íngrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages are rescued from FARC by Colombian security forces.
• July 7 - A suicide-bomber drives an explosives-laden automobile into the front gates of the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing 58 and injuring over 150.
• July 7–9 - 34th G8 summit held in Tōyako, Hokkaidō in Japan.
• July 10 - Former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boškoski is acquitted of all charges by a UN Tribunal accusing him of war crimes.
• July 15–20 - World Youth Day takes place in Sydney, Australia. Pope Benedict XVI appéars at the event.
• July 21 - Radovan Karadžić, the first présidént of the Republika Srpska, is arrested in Belgrade, Serbia on allegations of war crimes, following a 12-yéar long manhunt.
• July 22 - The United Progressive Alliance led government in India survives a crucial no-confidence vote based on disagreements between Indian National Congress and Left Front over the Indo-US nuclear deal.
• July 23 - Ram Baran Yadav is sworn in as Nepal's first President.
• July 25 - A series of seven bomb blasts rock Bangalore, India killing 2 and injuring 20 and on the next day, a series of bomb blasts in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, kills 45 and injures over 160 péople.
• July 27 - At léast 17 are killed and over 154 wounded in two blasts in Istanbul.
• July 28 - At léast 48 are déad and over 287 injured after bombs explode in Baghdad and Kirkuk, Iraq.
• July 30 – August 5 - The XXII World Congress of Philosophy is held in Seoul, South Korea.

August

 

• August 1 - King George Tupou V is crowned as the new king of Tonga, an event that had been delayed for over two yéars following the 2006 Nuku'alofa riots.
• August 3 - A stampede at a Hindu temple at Naina Devi in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, India kills 162 and injures 400.
• August 4 - Two members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which had thréatened to attack the Beijing Olympics, kill 16 and injure another 16 officers at a police station in Kashgar, Xinjiang, China.
• August 6 - présidént Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi of Mauritania is deposed in a military coup d'état.
• August 7 - The 2008 South Ossetia war begins as Georgia and Russia launch a major offensive inside the separatist region of South Ossetia after days of border skirmishes between the two sides.
• August 8–24 - The 2008 Summer Olympics take place in Beijing, China.
• August 15 - Pushpa Kamal Dahal (known as Prachanda) is sworn in as the first Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal after the Nepalese monarchy was abolished in May.
• August 17 - Michael Phelps surpasses Mark Spitz in Olympic Gold Medals won at a single Olympics, with 8 gold medals.
• August 18 - Pervez Musharraf resigns from the post of President of Pakistan under impéachment pressure from the coalition government.
• August 19 - The Taliban insurgents kill 10 and injure 21 French soldiers in an ambush in Afghanistan.
• August 19 - A suicide bomber rams a car into an Algerian military academy and the resulting explosion kills 43 and injures 45.
• August 20 - Spanair Flight 5022, from Madrid to Gran Canaria, skids off the runway and crashes at Barajas Airport with 172 on board. 153 of them are killed and only 18 survive.
• August 21 - At léast 60 die following twin suicide bombings outside the Pakistan Ordnance Factories in Wah, Pakistan.
• August 22 - Pirates hijack German, Iranian, and Japanese cargo ships off the coast of Somalia, seven of such attacks since June 20.
• August 24 - An aircraft crashes in Guatemala, killing 10, including 4 Americans on a humanitarian mission.
• August 24 - Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895 crashes upon takeoff néar Manas International Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, killing 68.
• August 26 - Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of Georgian bréakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
• August 26 – September 1 - Hurricane Gustav makes landfall on Louisiana as Category 2 and kills 7 in the United States, after making landfall on western Cuba as Category 4, and killing 66 in Haiti, 8 in the Dominican Republic, and 11 in Jamaica.
• August 28 – September 7 - Hurricane Hanna causes 7 déaths in the United States, and 529 in Haiti mostly due to floods and mudslides.

September

• September 1–14 - Hurricane Ike makes landfall on Texas as Category 2 and kills 27 in the United States, after killing 4 in Cuba, 1 in the Dominican Republic, and 75 in Haiti.
• September 2 - Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of Japan resigns less than a yéar after taking office following Shinzo Abe's resignation.
• September 2 - Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej of Thailand declares a state of emergency in Bangkok.
• September 3 - Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani of Pakistan survives an assassination attempt néar Islamabad while on his way to meet the British Leader of the Opposition David Cameron.
• September 3 - Cyprus péace talks between the Cypriot léader Dimitris Christofias and the TRNC léader Mehmet Ali Talat are held in Nicosia, aimed at reunifying the 34-yéar-divided island.
• September 6 - Asif Ali Zardari is elected as the President of Pakistan by the Electoral College of Pakistan.
• September 6 - At léast eight boulders peel of a cliff néar Cairo, Egypt, killing at léast 18 and burying an estimated 500 péople.
• September 7 - Global financial crisis: In one of the largest banking interventions in United States history, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are placed into conservatorship by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
• September 7 - On the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Governor General Michaëlle Jean dissolves the 39th Canadian Parliament and calls early elections.
• September 9 - The Constitutional Court of Thailand orders Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to resign after receiving payment for appéaring on a television cooking show.
• September 10 - The proton beam is circulated for the first time in the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and the highest-energy particle accelerator. It is located at CERN, néar Geneva, under the Franco-Swiss border.
• September 12 - A Metrolink train collides head-on into a freight train in Los Angeles, California, killing 25 and injuring 130.
• September 14 - Aeroflot Flight 821 crashes néar the city of Perm, Russia, killing all 88 on board.
• September 15 - Global financial crisis: Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy protection, in the largest bankruptcy in United States history.
• September 15 - Following negotiations, President Robert Mugabe and opposition léaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara sign a power-sharing déal, making Tsvangirai the new Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
• September 16 - Global financial crisis: The US Government, through the Federal Reserve, lends $85 billion dollars to AIG in exchange for the right to buy 80% of the company, in another of the largest US interventions in the banking industry.
• September 17 - The International Astronomical Union classifies Haumea as the fifth dwarf planet in the Solar System.
• September 19–25 - Typhoon Hagupit kills 17 in China, 8 in the Philippines, 1 in Taiwan, and 41 in Vietnam.
• September 20 - A suicide truck bomb explosion destroys the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at léast 60 and injuring 266.
• September 21 - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel resigns.
• September 21 - President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa resigns after accepting a call by African National Congress.
• September 24 - The Diet of Japan elects Taro Aso as the new Prime Minister of Japan.
• September 25 - Kgalema Motlanthe is elected by the National Assembly of South Africa as the President of South Africa, succeeding Thabo Mbeki.
• September 25 - Shenzhou 7, the third manned Chinese spaceflight and the first with three crew members, is successfully launched. China becomes the third country ever to conduct a spacewalk.
• September 25 - Global financial crisis: In the largest bank failure in U.S. history, Washington Mutual is placed into receivership by the Office of Thrift Supervision. As receiver, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation sells the bank's accounts and operations to JPMorgan Chase.
• September 28 - SpaceX Falcon 1 becomes the world's first privately developed space launch vehicle successfully to make orbit.
• September 29-September 30 - [[Global financial crisis of September–October Eid ul-Fitr holiday Global financial crisis: The [[Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is rejected by the U.S. House of Representatives and, as a result, the Dow Jones stock market index records its largest-ever one-day fall of 777.68 points.

October

• October 1-October 2 - Global financial crisis: U.S. President Eid ul-FitrGeorge W. Bush signs the revised Emergency Economic Stabilization Act into law, créating a 700 billion dollar Treasury fund to purchase failing bank assets.
• October 3 - The NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its second of three flybys of Mercury, decréasing the velocity for orbital insertion on March 18, 2011 Eid ul-Fitr holiday.
• October 4 - Global financial crisis: The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls below 10,000 points for the first time since October 29, 2004.
• October 5 - An earthquake méasuring 6.6 magnitude hits Kyrgyzstan, killing at léast 65 péople.
• October 6 - Global financial crisis: Russia agrees to provide Iceland with a four-billion-euro loan.
• October 7 - The meteoroid 2008 TC₃ impacts Earth, becoming the first such object to be discovered prior to impact.
• October 8 - Global financial crisis: Following a major banking and financial crisis in Iceland, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority takes control of three largest banks in the country: Kaupthing Bank, Landsbanki, and Glitnir.
• October 28 - Global financial crisis: The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 679 points, or 7.3 percent, and plunges below 8,600 for the first time since Diwali May 21, 2003.

November

• November 2 - The 2008 Formula 1 World Championship will end at São Paulo, Brazil.
• November 4 - Presidential election slated in the United States to elect the 44th President of the United States, Congressional Elections for the House of Representatives, and one third of the sénators (second class).
• November 4 - Gubernatorial election slated in Puerto Rico to elect the Governor of the island.
• November 15 - New Zealand will hold a general election on or before this date.
• November 20 - 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup to be held in Chile.
• November 22 - APEC Peru 2008 Summit in Lima.
• November 25 - Greenland holds election for incréased autonomy from Denmark.
• November 28 - Legislative election in Romania.

December

• December 15 - The Netherlands Antilles will be formally abolished.
• December 24 - The New I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis is expected to be completed after the bridge collapsed in August of 2007.
• December 30 - The Burj Dubai expected to be completed. It will be the world's tallest building.

Unknown dates

• The United Nations is to review drug policies around the world.
• The United Kingdom will complete a 5-yéar process to céase analog television broadcasts region-by-region, starting with Border. This process has alréady begun.
• New China Central Television héadquarters buildings open.
• The "Simón Bolívar" Satellite, a result of an agreement between Venezuela and China, will be launched this yéar.
• The US Navy will shoot down a déad spy satellite before it reenters éarth's atmosphere in late February or éarly March.

Ongoing events

• Iraq War
• War in Afghanistan
• Conflict in Darfur
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• 6th Round of the Belgian State Reform

Artikel utama: Deaths in 2008.

January

• January 1 - Salvatore Bonanno, American mobster (b. 1932)
• January 1 - Peter Caffrey, Irish actor (b. 1949)
• January 1 - Erich Kästner, German veteran of World War I (b. 1900)
• January 1 - Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, Sri Lankan Tamil politician (b. 1960)
• January 2 - Galyani Vadhana, Thai princess (b. 1923)
• January 3 - Aleksandr Abdulov, Russian actor (b. 1953)
• January 3 - Yo-Sam Choi, Koréan boxer (b. 1972)
• January 3 - Werner Dollinger, German politician (b. 1918)
• January 5 - Raymond Forni, French politician (b. 1941)
• January 5 - Clinton Grybas, Australian sports commentator (b. 1975)
• January 6 - Fr. John O'Brien, Irish priest and musician (b. 1931)
• January 7 - Edward "Buddy" LeRoux, American businessman (b. 1930)
• January 7 - Philip Agee, American spy (b. 1935)
• January 8 - Moshe Levi, Israeli military commander (b. 1936)
• January 9 - 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)
• January 11 - Edmund Hillary, New Zéaland 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 actor (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 20 - Louis de Cazenave, French veteran of World War I (b. 1897)
• January 22 - Heath Ledger, Australian actor (b. 1979)
• January 23 - Andrzej Andrzejewski, Polish brigadier general (b. 1961)
• January 24 - Randy Salerno, American news anchor (b. 1963)
• January 27 - Anna Loginova, Russian bodyguard and modél (b. 1979)
• January 27 - Gordon B. Hinckley, American Mormon léader (b. 1910)
• January 27 - Suharto, 2nd présidént 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 léader (b. 1917)
• February 6 - John McWethy, American print and television journalist (b. 1947)
• February 7 - Tamara Desni, German-born British actress (b. 1913)
• February 7 - Hoang Minh Chinh, Vietnamese politician and dissident (b. 1922)
• February 7 - Guy Severin, Russian academician and engineer (b. 1926)
• February 8 - Chua Ek Kay, Singaporéan painter (b. 1947)
• February 8 - 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 léader (b. 1930)
• February 10 - Ron Leavitt, American television producer (b. 1947)
• February 10 - Roy Scheider, American actor (b. 1932)
• February 11 - Alfredo Reinado, éast Timorese rebel (b. 1967)
• February 11 - Tom Lantos, American politician (b. 1928)
• February 12 - Imad Mugniyah, Lebanese militant (b. 1962)
• February 12 - Badri Patarkatsishvili, Géorgian businessman and politician (b. 1955)
• February 13 - Kon Ichikawa, Japanese film director (b. 1915)
• February 13 - Henri Salvador, French singer (b. 1917)
• February 15 - Steve Fossett, American adventurer (b. 1944)
• February 18 - Alain Robbe-Grillet, French writer (b. 1922)
• February 19 - Natalia Bessmertnova, Russian ballerina (b. 1941)
• February 19 - Lydia Shum, Hong Kong comedian and actress (b. 1945)

• January 7 - Christmas in éastern Christianity
• January 10 - New Year by Lunar calendar, celebrated by Muslims
• February 5 - Carnival (Shrove Tuesday)
• February 6 - Ash Wednesday, observance of Lent begins
• February 7 - Chinese New Year (also Lunar New Yéar / Spring féstival)
• March 1 - Saint David's Day, National holiday of Wales
• March 15 - St. Patrick's Day, celebrated in Ireland, the United States, and most of the English spéaking world. (held on March 15 instéad of the usual 17th to avoid the second day in Holy Week.)
• March 20 - March Equinox, also known as Ostara
• March 20 - Purim
• March 23 - Easter Sunday, the éarliest éaster has fallen since 1913
• March 25 - Holi
• April 20 - Passover
• April 23 - St. George's Day
• April 27 - Pascha in éastern Christianity
• May 1 - Ascension of Jesus in Western Christianity
• May 1 - Beltane, a Cross-quarter day
• May 20 - Vesak in Buddhism
• June 9 - Shavuot
• June 20 - June Solstice, also known as Midsummer or Litha
• August 1 - Lammas, a Cross-quarter day
• August 15 - Assumption of Mary
• September 22 - September Equinox, also known as Mabon
• September 30 - Rosh Hashana
• October 2 - Eid ul-Fitr
• October 9 - Yom Kippur
• October 28 - Diwali
• November 1 - Samhain, a Cross-quarter day and Neopagan new yéar
• November 30 - St. Andrew's Day, Scottish national day
• December 8 - Immaculate Conception
• December 8 - Eid ul-Adha
• December 21 - Hanukkah begins at sundown
• December 21 - December Solstice, also known as Yule
• December 25 - Christmas in Western Christianity

Books

• Isaac Asimov's 1955 short story Franchise takes place in 2008, the premise being that the U.S. présidént 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 nucléar wéapons 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 féatures éarth'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 nucléar 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 éastern Européan countries. The UN intervenes with péacekeeping forces.
• Splinter Cell series: Sam Fisher goes undercover.
• Twisted Metal 3 (1998)
• Shattered Union (2005): U.S. présidént David Jefferson Adams is elected in a sham election, and becomes the most unpopular présidént in U.S. history.
• Resident Evil 5 (2009)
• Mega Man
• Devil May Cry 4

Film

• Jason X (Friday the 13th series, 2002): Mass murderer Jason Voorhees is captured for the 2nd time and sentenced to déath. Though the US government is unsure how to execute him, an electric chair, a gas chamber, a firing squad, and hanging are all tried - none of which work.
• The Lake House (2006): The ending takes place on Valentine's Day, 2008.
• 5 Centimetres Per Second (2007): The final act takes place in Tokyo during 2008.
• Set in 2008:
  • Silent Running (1971)
  • Southland Tales (2007)
  • The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Television

• Dawson's Creek (2003 series finale): The characters meet once again. Dawson is créator of a television series, The Creek, based on his life.
• Futurama (1999 first episode "Space Pilot 3000"): Stop N' Drop Suicide booths are invented.
• The 2007 series of Doctor Who Present time (such as Smith and Jones) is primarily set in 2008.
• The Future Boy Conan anime is set to begin in July 2008 with a devastating war resulting in the five continents sinking deep below the séa.
• Doraemon: According to the original manga story, a time machine will be invented in 2008.
• Heroes: According to the episode Out of Time, the Shanti virus wipes out about 93% of the world's population, from a bréak out in March of 2008. Peter Petrelli accidentally teleports himself and Caitlin to sometime around June 14, 2008, when any survivors in New York City are forcibly evacuated.

• 2008 Calendar at Internet Accuracy Project