Found a good "North American History 2000 AD-Present" link? Let Us Know!

2000 AD
January 1 - Y2K passes without serious, widespread computer failures, despite fears to the contrary.

January 3–10 - Israel and Syria hold inconclusive peace talks.

January 4 - Alan Greenspan is nominated for a fourth term as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman.

January 5–8 - The 2000 al-Qaeda Summit of several high-level al-Qaeda members (including 2 9/11 American Airlines hijackers) is held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

January 10 - America Online announces an agreement to be bought by Time Warner for $162 billion (the largest-ever corporate merger).

January 11 - The armed wing of the Islamic Salvation Front concludes its negotiations with the government for an amnesty and disbands in Algeria.

January 12 - 9/11 hijackers Mohammed Atta and Ziad Jahrah read their wills in the Martyrdom Video.

January 14 - A United Nations tribunal sentences 5 Bosnian Croats to up to 25 years in prison for the 1993 killing of over 100 Bosnian Muslims in a Bosnian village.

 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 11,722.98 (at the peak of the Dot-com bubble).

February 11 - A blast from an improvised explosive device in front of a Barclay's Bank, across from the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, wounds dozens but kills none. There are several reports of the blast, but curiously, no resolution or follow-ups.

February 13 - The final original Peanuts comic strip is published, following the death of its creator, Charles Schulz.

February 17 - Microsoft releases Windows 2000.

March 7 - George W. Bush and Al Gore emerge victorious in the Republican and Democratic caucuses and primaries of the United States presidential election.

March 10 - The NASDAQ Composite Index reaches an all-time high of 5,048.

March 12 - Pope John Paul II apologizes for the wrongdoings by members of the Roman Catholic Church throughout the ages.

March 18 - ROC presidential election, 2000: Chen Shui-bian is elected President of the Republic of China (Taiwan); the Democratic Progressive Party ends Kuomintang rule for the first time.

March 20 - Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown), a former Black Panther, is captured after a gun battle in Atlanta, Georgia that leaves a sheriff's deputy dead.

March 21 - Pope John Paul II begins the first official visit by a Roman Catholic pontiff to Israel.

March 26 - Vladimir Putin is elected President of Russia.

April 1 - Japanese prime minister Keizo Obuchi suffers a stroke, falls into a coma, and dies. On April 5, Yoshiro Mori replaces Keizo Obuchi as prime minister of Japan.

April 22 - In a predawn raid, federal agents seize 6-year old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami, Florida and fly him to his Cuban father in Washington, DC, ending one of the most publicized custody battles in U.S. history.

April 25 - The State of Vermont passes HB847, legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples.

May 11 - The billionth living person in India is born.

May 25 - Israel withdraws IDF forces from southern Lebanon after 22 years.

June 26 - A preliminary draft of genomes, as part of the Human Genome Project, is finished.

July 2 - Vicente Fox is elected President of Mexico, as candidate of the rightist PAN (National Action Party), ending 71 years of PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) rule.

July 11–25 - Israel's prime minister Ehud Barak and PLO head Yasser Arafat meet at Camp David, but fail to reach an agreement.

July 21–23 - G-8 Nations hold their 26th Annual Summit; issues include AIDS, the 'digital divide', and halving world poverty by 2015.

July 30 - Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez is reelected with 59% of the vote.

July 31 – August 3 - The Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania nominates George W. Bush for U.S. President and Dick Cheney for Vice President.

August 8 - The Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.

August 14–17 - The Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles nominates U.S. Vice President Al Gore for President and Senator Joe Lieberman for Vice President.

September 6 - The last wholly Swedish-owned arms manufacturer, Bofors, is sold to American arms manufacturer United Defense.

September 6–8 - World leaders attend the Millennium Summit at UN Headquarters.

October 11 - 250 million gallons of coal sludge spill in Martin County, Kentucky (considered a greater environmental disaster than the Exxon Valdez oil spill).

October 12 - In Aden, Yemen, the USS Cole is badly damaged by two Al-Qaeda suicide bombers, who place a small boat laden with explosives alongside the United States Navy destroyer, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39.

October 23 - Madeleine Albright holds talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il.

November - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq rejects new U.N. Security Council weapons inspections proposals.

November 7 - United States presidential election, 2000: Republican candidate Texas Governor George W. Bush defeats Democratic Vice President Al Gore in the closest election in history, but the final outcome is not known for over a month because of disputed votes in Florida.

 - Hillary Rodham Clinton is elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first First Lady of the United States to win public office.

November 14 - Netscape Navigator 6.0 is launched, following 2 years of open source development, creating a stable Mozilla web browser upon which it is based.

November 16 - Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting U.S. President to visit Vietnam.

December 1 - Vicente Fox takes office as President of Mexico.

December 13 - Bush v. Gore: The U.S. Supreme Court stops the Florida presidential recount, effectively giving the state, and the Presidency, to George W. Bush.

December 24 - Christmas Eve 2000 Indonesia bombings: 18 people are killed in multiple Islamist bomb attacks on churches across Indonesia.

December 28 - U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years.

2001 AD
January 1 - A black monolith measuring approximately 9 feet tall appears in Seattle, Washington's Magnuson Park, placed by an anonymous artist in reference to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

January 11 - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approves the merger of America Online and Time Warner to form AOL Time Warner.

January 16 - US President Bill Clinton awards former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service during the Spanish-American War; 11 of Roosevelt's descendants accept on his behalf.

January 20 - George W. Bush succeeds Bill Clinton, becoming the 43rd President of the United States.

George W. Bush's 2001 Inaugural address

February 9 - The submarine USS Greeneville accidentally strikes and sinks the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime-Maru near Hawaii.

February 12 - The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.

February 16 - Iraq disarmament crisis: British and U.S. forces carry out bombing raids, attempting to disable Iraq's air defense network.

 - US and UK war planes bomb a Baghdad suburb, killing 3.

February 18 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years.

February 19 - An Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

February 28 - The Nisqually Earthquake strikes Seattle, Washington.

April 1 - U.S.-China Spy Plane Incident: A Chinese fighter jet bumps into a U.S. EP-3E surveillance aircraft, which is forced to make an emergency landing in Hainan, China. The U.S. crew is detained for 10 days and the F-8 Chinese pilot, Wang Wei, goes missing and is presumed dead.

April 7 - Timothy Thomas, a 19-year-old African-American, is shot by a police officer in Cincinnati, sparking riots in downtown Cincinnati from April 10 to April 12.

April 21 - The small Kansas town of Hoisington is hit by a F-4 tornado destroying 1/3 of the city and killing 1.

April 28 - Soyuz TM-32 lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the first space tourist, American Dennis Tito.

May 6 - Space tourist Dennis Tito returns to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-31. (Soyuz TM-32 is left docked at the International Space Station as a new lifeboat.)

May 22 - A large trans-Neptunian object (28978 Ixion) is found during the Deep Ecliptic Survey.

June 5–9 - Tropical Storm Allison produces 36 inches (900 mm) of rain in Houston, Texas, killing 22, damaging the Texas Medical Center, and causing more than 5 billion American dollars of damage overall.

June 5 - U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords leaves the Republican party, an act which changes control of the United States Senate from the Republican party to the Democratic party.

June 7 - The Bush tax cuts are signed into law by U.S. president George W. Bush.

June 11 - In Terre Haute, Indiana, Timothy McVeigh is executed for the Oklahoma City Bombing.

June 19 - An American missile hits a soccer field in northern Iraq (Tel Afr County), killing 23 and wounding 11.

July 16 - The FBI arrests Dmitry Sklyarov at a convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, for violating a provision of the DMCA.

July 18 - In Baltimore, Maryland, a 60-car train derailment occurs in a tunnel, sparking a fire that lasts days and virtually shuts down downtown Baltimore.

August 1 - Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has a 2½ ton monument of the Ten Commandments installed in the Rotunda of the Judiciary Building. He is later sued to have it removed, and eventually removed from office.

August 2 - Robert Mueller is confirmed as the new FBI director.

August 9 - U.S. President George W. Bush announces his support for federal funding of limited research on embryonic stem cells.

August 25 - A Cessna 402 aircraft carrying 9 people, including R&B singer Aaliyah, crashes in the Bahamas, killing all aboard.

September 1 - The libertarian Free State Project is founded at Yale University.

September 11 - Almost 3,000 are killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City, The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania after American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 crash into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City, American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93 crashes into a grassland in Pennsylvania.

September 15 - The Queen Isabella Causeway in Texas collapses after being hit by a tugboat, killing 8.

September 17 - The New York Stock Exchange reopens following the attacks in New York.

September 18 - The 2001 anthrax attacks commence as letters containing anthrax spores are mailed from Princeton, New Jersey to ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, the New York Post, and the National Enquirer. 5 are killed and 17 others fall ill.

October 4 - Federal officials announce the first anthrax attack in the U.S.

October 5 - Tom Ridge resigns as Governor of Pennsylvania to become the first director of the newly created United States Office of Homeland Security.

October 7 - War in Afghanistan (2001–present): The United States invades Afghanistan, with participation from other nations.

October 9 - The 2001 anthrax attacks continue as contaminated letters are mailed from Princeton, New Jersey, to U.S. Senators Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

October 15 - NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon Io.

October 19 - SIEV-X sinks en route to Christmas Island.

October 23 - Principal Financial Group files its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

October 26 - U.S. President George W. Bush signs the USA PATRIOT Act into law.

November 12 - In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587, headed to the Dominican Republic, crashes in Queens, New York minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 on board.

 - 2001 Attack on Afghanistan: Taliban forces abandon Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, ahead of advancing Afghan Northern Alliance troops, who take the city on November 14.

November 13 - Doha Round: The World Trade Organization ends a 4-day ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar.

 - Symbionese Liberation Army member Kathleen Soliah (Sara Jane Olsen) withdraws her previous guilty plea.

 - In the first such act since World War II, U.S. President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against any foreigners suspected of having connections to terrorist acts or planned acts against the United States.

December 3 - Officials announce that one of the Taliban prisoners captured after the prison uprising at Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan is John Walker Lindh, an American citizen.

December 11 - The United States government indicts Zacarias Moussaoui for involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

 - Law enforcement raid members of DrinkOrDie in Operation Buccaneer.

December 13 - U.S. President George W. Bush announces the United States' withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

2002 AD
January 1 - The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially enters into force.

 - Euro notes and coins are issued in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Finland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands.

January 5 - Charles Bishop, a 15-year-old student pilot, crashes a light aircraft into a Tampa, Florida building, evoking fear of a copycat 9/11 terrorist attack.

January 8 - The No Child Left Behind Act is signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush.

January 16 - U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announces that American Taliban member John Walker Lindh will be tried in the United States.

 - The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and freezes the assets of Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban.

January 18 - A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying anhydrous ammonia derails outside of Minot, North Dakota, killing 1.

January 23 - Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Pakistan, accused of being a CIA agent by his captors.

January 24 - Suspected terrorist John Walker Lindh's hearing begins.Confirmation needed

February 1 - Kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is murdered in Karachi, Pakistan.

February 8–24 - The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

February 12 - The U.S. Secretary of Energy makes the decision that Yucca Mountain is suitable to be the United States' nuclear repository.

February 19 - NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.

February 28 - The ex-currencies of all euro-using nations cease to be legal tender in the European Union.

March 1 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: In eastern Afghanistan, Operation Anaconda begins.

 - The Envisat environmental satellite successfully reaches an orbit 800 km above the Earth using an Ariane 5 on its 11th launch, carrying the heaviest payload to date at 8,500 kg.

 - STS-109: Space Shuttle Columbia flies the Hubble Space Telescope service mission, its last before STS-107.

March 19 - US Attack on Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda ends (started on March 1) after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, with 11 allied troop fatalities.

March 21 - In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and 3 others are charged with the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

May 10 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for selling American secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.

May 12 - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a 5-day visit with Fidel Castro, becoming the first U.S. President, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.

May 21 - The US State Department releases a report naming 7 state sponsors of terrorism: Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria.

May 22 - 16th Street Baptist Church bombing: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of 4 girls.

May 26 - The Mars Odyssey finds signs of large water ice deposits on the planet Mars.

 - A barge collides with the Interstate 40 bridge across the Arkansas River in eastern Oklahoma, killing 14.

May 30 - The final piece of debris from The World Trade Center is removed from Ground Zero.

June 4 - The planetoid Quaoar is discovered orbiting the Sun in the Kuiper belt.

June 6 - Eastern Mediterranean Event: An object with an estimated diameter of 10 meters collides with Earth, over the Mediterranean Sea, and detonates in mid-air.

June 11 - Antonio Meucci is recognized as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.

June 14 - In Karachi, Pakistan, a car bomb in front of the U.S. Consulate kills 12 Pakistanis and injures 50.

June 15 - Near Earth Asteroid 2002 MN misses the planet by 75,000 miles (120,000 km), about 1/3 the distance to the moon.

June 18 - Arizona experiences its worst forest fire, burning 462,606 acres (1,872 km²) near the Mogollon Rim.

June 29 - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney serves as Acting President while President George W. Bush undergoes a colonoscopy.

July 15 - In Washington, D.C., "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh pleads guilty to aiding the enemy and possession of explosives during the commission of a felony; Lindh agrees to serve 10 years in prison for each charge.

July 21 - Telecommunications giant WorldCom files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (the largest such filing in United States history).

August 12 - In Arlington, Virginia, US Airways declares bankruptcy.

September 12 - U.S. President George W. Bush addresses the U.N., and challenges its members to confront the "grave and gathering danger" of Iraq, or stand aside as the United States and likeminded nations act.

October 2 - The Congress of the United States passes a joint resolution, which authorizes the President to use the United States Armed Forces as he deems necessary and appropriate, against Iraq.

October 7 - The discovery of Quaoar is announced.

October 9 - The Dot-com bubble bear market reaches bottom, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average slips below 7,200.

October 25 - U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, his family, and his staff are killed in a plane accident at Eveleth, Minnesota.

November 2 - The Godless Americans March on Washington brings together 2,000 atheists, freethinkers, and humanists in a mile-long parade down the National Mall.

November 5 - The U.S. Republican Party maintains control of the House of Representatives and gains control of the United States Senate.

November 6 - The U.S. Federal Reserve System drops its primary discount rate by 50 basis points to 0.75%, putting the real interest rate solidly below the inflation rate.

November 7 - Iran bans the advertising of United States products.

November 8 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves UN Security Council Resolution 1441, forcing Saddam Hussein to disarm or face "serious consequences".

November 13 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq agrees to the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1441.

November 18 - Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.

November 21 - At the NATO Summit in Prague, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia are invited to join the organization.

November 25 - U.S. President George W. Bush signs the Homeland Security Act into law, establishing the Department of Homeland Security, in the largest U.S. government reorganization since the creation of the Department of Defense in 1947.

December 7 - As required by the recently passed U.N. resolution, Iraq files a 12,000 page weapons declaration with the U.N. Security Council.

December 9 - United Airlines, the second largest airline in the world, files for bankruptcy.

2003 AD
January 3 - The 108th United States Congress is sworn in, including incoming freshmen Senators Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Sununu (R-NH), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Norm Coleman (R-MN), and Mark Pryor (D-AR).

January 5 - Police arrest seven suspects in connection with Wood Green ricin plot.

January 8 - US Airways Express Flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 people aboard.

January 15 - Eldred v. Ashcroft: The Supreme Court of the United States allows the extension of copyright terms in the U.S.

January 16 - STS-107: Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on what turns out to be its last flight.

January 23 - The last signal is received from NASA's Pioneer 10 spacecraft, some 7.5 billion miles from Earth.

January 24 - The new United States Department of Homeland Security begins operation.

January 30 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The leaders of the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain release a statement (The Letter of the Eight) demonstrating support for the United States' plans to invade Iraq.

February 1 - At the conclusion of the STS-107 mission, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry over Texas, killing all 7 astronauts onboard.

February 5 - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the UN Security Council on Iraq.

February 7 - An unsuccessful attempt is made to contact Pioneer 10.

February 15 - Global protests against Iraq war: More than 10 million people protest in over 600 cities worldwide, the largest to take place before a war occurs.

February 26 - An American businessman is admitted to the Vietnam France Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam with the first identified case of SARS. WHO doctor Carlo Urbani reports the unusual, highly contagious disease to WHO. Both the businessman and doctor later die of the disease.

March 1 - The Turkish parliament vetoes U.S. troop access to airbases in Turkey in order to attack Iraq from the north. The Bush administration starts working on Plan B, namely attacking Iraq from the south, through the Persian Gulf.

 - The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the United States Customs Service, and the United States Secret Service move to the United States Department of Homeland Security.

 - War on Terrorism: Pakistani authorities capture Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, along with money man Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi.

March 5 - Lockyer v. Andrade, Ewing v. California: In 2 separate opinions, the Supreme Court of the United States, by 5-4 margins, upholds California's "three strikes and you're out" law.

March 11 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi fighters threaten 2 U.S. U-2 surveillance planes, on missions for U.N. weapons inspectors, forcing them to abort their mission and return to base.

March 12 - Iraq disarmament crisis: British prime minister Tony Blair proposes an amendment to the possible 18th U.N. resolution, which would call for Iraq to meet certain benchmarks to prove that it was disarming. The amendment is immediately rejected by France, who promises to veto any new resolution.

March 16 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The leaders of the United States, Britain, Portugal, and Spain meet at a summit in the Azores Islands. U.S. President Bush calls March 17 the "moment of truth", meaning that the "coalition of the willing" will make its final effort to extract a resolution from the U.N. Security Council, giving Iraq an ultimatum to disarm immediately or be disarmed by force.

March 17 - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. President George W. Bush gives an ultimatum: Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his sons must either leave Iraq, or face military action at a time of the U.S.'s choosing.

March 18 - FBI agents raid the corporate headquarters of HealthSouth Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama, on suspicion of massive corporate fraud led by the company's top executives.

March 19 - The first American bombs drop on Baghdad after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons do not comply with U.S. President George W. Bush's 48-hour mandate demanding their exit from Iraq.

March 20 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: Land troops from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invade Iraq.

March 22 - The United States and the United Kingdom begin their shock and awe campaign, with a massive air strike on military targets in Baghdad.

March 23 - Hasan Akbar, a Muslim soldier with the 101st Airborne, kills 2 fellow soldiers in a grenade attack at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait.

April 3 - U.S. forces seize control of Saddam International Airport, changing the airport's name to Baghdad International Airport.

April 9 - U.S. forces seize control of Baghdad, ending the regime of Saddam Hussein.

April 14 - The Human Genome Project is completed, with 99% of the human genome sequenced to 99.99% accuracy.

April 21 - Retired U.S. Army General Jay Garner becomes Interim Civil Administrator of Iraq.

April 29 - The United States announces the withdrawal of troops stationed in Saudi Arabia, and the redeployment of some at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

May 1 - U. S. president George W. Bush lands on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, where he gives a speech announcing the end of major combat in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. A banner behind him declares "Mission Accomplished."

May 3 - The Old Man of the Mountain, a rock formation in New Hampshire, crumbles after heavy rain.

May 4–10 - A major severe weather outbreak spawns more tornadoes than any week in U.S. history; 393 tornadoes are reported in 19 states.

May 23 - Dewey, the first deer cloned by scientists at Texas A&M University, is born.

June 22 - The largest hailstone ever recorded falls in Aurora, Nebraska.

June 23 - Grutter v. Bollinger: The Supreme Court of the United States upholds affirmative action in university admissions.

June 26 - Lawrence v. Texas: The U.S. Supreme Court declares sodomy laws unconstitutional.

July 14 - CIA leak scandal: Washington Post columnist Robert Novak publishes the name of Valerie Plame, blowing her cover as a CIA operative.

July 22 - Uday and Qusay Hussein, sons of Saddam Hussein, are killed by the U.S. military in Iraq, after being tipped off by an informant.

July 23 - Operation Warrior Sweep is the first major military deployment of the Afghan National Army.

August 14 - A widespread power outage affects the northeastern United States and South-Central Canada.

August 25 - The Spitzer Space Telescope is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

September 3 - The Hubble Space Telescope starts Hubble Ultra Deep Field.

October 7 - 2003 California recall: Voters recall Governor Gray Davis from office and elect actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to succeed him.

October 15 - China launches Shenzhou 5, their first manned space mission.

November 9 - A lunar eclipse is seen in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Central Asia.

November 12 - Occupation of Iraq: In Nasiriya, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 Iraq war, are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base.

November 18 - U.S. President George W. Bush makes a state visit to London in the midst of massive protests.

 - The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, rules anti-same-sex marriage laws unconstitutional in Massachusetts.

December 12 - Paul Martin becomes the 21st Prime Minister of Canada.

December 13 - Saddam Hussein, former President of Iraq, is captured in Tikrit by the U.S. 4th Infantry Division.

December 24 - A BSE (mad cow disease) outbreak in Washington State is announced. Several countries including Brazil, Australia and Taiwan ban the import of beef from the United States.

 - At the request of the U.S. Embassy in Paris, the French Government orders Air France to cancel several flights between France and the U.S. in response to terrorist concerns.

December 25 - Beagle 2 is scheduled to land on Mars, but nothing is heard from the lander.

2004 AD
January 4 - NASA's MER-A (Spirit) lands on Mars at 04:35 UTC.

January 19 - U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) wins the Iowa Democratic caucus. Vermont Governor Howard Dean's concession speech ends with a lively but controversial scream.

January 24 - NASA's MER-B (Opportunity) lands on Mars at 05:05 UTC.

February 26 - The United States lifts a 23-year travel ban against Libya.

March 2 - John Kerry effectively clinches the 2004 U.S. Democratic Party presidential nomination by winning 9 out of 10 "Super Tuesday" primaries and caucuses.

 - NASA announces that the Mars rover MER-B (Opportunity) has confirmed that its landing area was once drenched in water.

March 11 - Simultaneous terrorist attacks, with bombs in 4 rush-hour trains in Madrid, kill 190.

March 12 - Following the terrorist attacks in Madrid the previous day, millions of protesters against terrorism take to the streets of Spanish cities.

March 14 - Spanish legislative election, 2004: The incumbent government led by José María Aznar is defeated by the Socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

 - Russian presidential election, 2004: Vladimir Putin easily wins a second term.

March 15 - The new Spanish Government announces that it will withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops in Iraq.

March 19 - The United Nations launches a political corruption investigation due to the scandal over its Iraqi Oil for Food program.

April 20 - In Iraq, 12 mortars are fired on Abu Ghraib Prison by insurgents; 22 detainees are killed and 92 wounded.

April 28 - Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse in Iraq is revealed on the television show 60 Minutes II.

April 29 - The last Oldsmobile rolls off of the assembly line.

May 17 - Massachusetts legalizes same-sex marriage, in compliance with a ruling from the state's Supreme Judicial Court (Goodridge v. Department of Public Health).

May 19 - Jeremy Sivits pleads guilty in a court-martial in connection with alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.

May 26 - Terry Nichols is convicted by an Oklahoma state court on murder charges stemming from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

May 29 - The National World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington, DC.

June 3 - Central Intelligence Agency director George Tenet tenders his resignation, citing "personal reasons". John E. McLaughlin, CIA Deputy Director, becomes the acting Director until a permanent Director is chosen and confirmed by Congress.

June 4 - Marvin Heemeyer destroys many local buildings with a home-made tank in Granby, Colorado.

June 5 - Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, dies at his home in Bel-Air, California at the age of 93. A 6-day state funeral follows after his death.

June 8 - The first transit of Venus since 1882 occurs; the next one will occur in 2012.

 - The 30th G8 summit takes place over the next 2 days on Sea Island, in Georgia, USA.

June 11 - Terry Nichols is spared the death penalty by an Oklahoma state court on murder charges stemming from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The decision comes on the third anniversary of the execution of his co-defendant, Timothy McVeigh, in Terre Haute, Indiana.

June 16 - The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (or "9/11 Commission") issues an initial report of its findings.

June 21 - In Mojave, California, SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately-funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.

June 28 - Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains collide in a rural area outside of San Antonio, Texas; 40 cars are derailed, including one chlorine car. Three people die, another 50 people are hospitalized because of exposure to the gas.

 - The U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq transfers sovereignty to an Iraqi Interim Government.

 - Canadian federal election, 2004: The Liberal Party, led by Paul Martin, is reduced to a minority government, after holding a majority since November 1993.

June 30 - Preliminary hearings begin in Iraq in the trial of former president Saddam Hussein, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

July 1 - The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft arrives at Saturn.

July 4 - Groundbreaking for the Freedom Tower begins at Ground Zero in New York City.

July 26–29 - The Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts nominates John Kerry for U.S. President and John Edwards for Vice President.

August 3 - The Statue of Liberty reopens after security improvements.

 - NASA's MESSENGER is launched (it will be captured into Mercury's orbit on March 18, 2011).

August 12 - New Jersey Governor James McGreevey announces that he is "a gay American" and will resign effective November 15, 2004.

August 13 - Hurricane Charley kills 27 people in Florida, after killing 4 in Cuba and 1 in Jamaica. Charley makes landfall near Cayo Costa, FL as a Category 4 hurricane. Charley is the most intense hurricane to strike the United States since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.s.

August 29 - Around 200,000 protesters demonstrate in New York City against U.S. President George W. Bush and his government, ahead of the 2004 Republican National Convention.

August 30 – September 2 - U.S. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are renominated at the Republican National Convention in New York City.

September 3 - Hurricane Frances makes landfall in Florida. After killing 2 people in the Bahamas, Hurricane Frances kills 10 people in Florida, 2 in Georgia and 1 in South Carolina.

September 2 - Hurricane Ivan forms.

September 7 - Hurricane Ivan passes directly over Grenada, killing 37 people. It passes over other Caribbean islands over the next 2 days, killing 5 people in Venezuela, 4 in the Dominican Republic, 1 in Tobago and 20 in Jamaica.

September 8 - In the "Rathergate" affair, the first Internet posts appear, pointing out that documents claimed by CBS News to be typewritten memos from the early 1970s appear instead to have been produced using modern word processing systems.

September 13 - The U.S. Assault Weapons Ban expires.

September 16 - Hurricane Ivan strikes Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 3 storm, killing 25 in Alabama and Florida, becoming the 3rd costliest hurricane in American history (currently the 4th following the destruction of 2005's Hurricane Katrina).

September 23 - Mount St. Helens becomes active again.

 - Tropical Storm Ivan, having come around and reformed in the Gulf of Mexico, makes its final landfall near Cameron, Louisiana, to little effect. In total, the storm kills 92 people.

September 25 - Hurricane Jeanne makes landfall near Port Saint Lucie, Florida, near the location Hurricane Frances hit 2 weeks earlier. Jeanne kills over 3,030, mostly in Haiti.

September 29 - In Mojave, California, the first Ansari X-Prize flight takes place of SpaceShipOne, which is competing with a number of spacecraft (including Canada's Da Vinci Project, claimed to be its closest rival) and goes on to win the prize on October 4th.

October 9 - Direct elections for president are held for the first time in Afghanistan. Interim president Hamid Karzai is eventually declared the winner.

October 20 - Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 crashes in Missouri, killing 13 people and injuring 2.

October 25 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King receive the Congressional Gold Medal.

October 26 - The Cassini probe passes within 1,200km of Titan.

October 29 - An Osama bin Laden video airs on Arabic TV, in which he threatens terrorist attacks on the United States, and taunts U.S. President George W. Bush over the September 11 Terrorist attacks.

November 2 - United States presidential election, 2004: U.S. President George W. Bush defeats Senator John Kerry. Republicans make gains in the House and Senate.

 - Eleven American states ban gay marriage.

November 7 - U.S. forces launch a major assault on the Iraqi town of Fallujah, in an effort to rid the area of insurgents before the Iraqi elections in January.

November 13 - After 6 days of intense battles, the Iraqi town of Fallujah is fully occupied by U.S. forces.

November 14 - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell submits his resignation. He is replaced by Condoleezza Rice after her confirmation by the United States Congress.

November 16 - NASA's hypersonic Scramjet breaks a record by reaching a velocity of about 7,000 mph in an unmanned experimental flight. It obtains a speed of Mach 9.6, almost 10 times the speed of sound.

December 6 - Terrorists attack the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing several people.

December 8 - The biggest Chinese PC producer Lenovo announces its plan to purchase IBM's global PC business, making it the third largest world PC maker after Dell and Hewlett-Packard.

December 21 - Iraqi insurgents attack a U.S. military base in the city of Mosul, killing 22 people.

December 27 - Astrophysicists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching near Munich measure the strongest burst from a magnetar. At 21:30:26 UT the earth is hit by a huge wave front of gamma and X-rays. It is the strongest flux of high-energetic gamma radiation measured so far.

2005 AD
January 6 - The Graniteville train disaster kills 9 and injures 250 in Graniteville, South Carolina.

January 12 - Deep Impact is launched from Cape Canaveral by a Delta 2 rocket.

January 14 - The Huygens probe lands on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.

January 20 - George W. Bush is inaugurated in Washington, D.C. for his second term as the 43rd President of the United States.

January 26 - Glendale train crash: Two trains derail, killing 11 and injuring 200, in Glendale, California.

February 10 - North Korea announces that it possesses nuclear weapons as a protection against the hostility it feels from the United States.

February 15 - The Internet site YouTube goes online.

February 16 - The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect, without the support of the United States and Australia.

March 1 - Roper v. Simmons: The Supreme Court of the United States rules the death penalty unconstitutional for juveniles who committed their crimes before age 18.

March 23 - The United States' 11th Circuit Court of Appeals refuses 2-1 to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.

April 2 - Pope John Paul II dies; over 4 million people travel to the Vatican to mourn him.

April 19 - Papal conclave, 2005: Pope Benedict XVI (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) succeeds Pope John Paul II, becoming the 265th pope.

May 10 - A hand grenade ostensibly thrown by Vladimir Arutinian lands about 100 feet (30 m) from United States President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but malfunctions and does not detonate.

May 13 - The United States Department of Defense issues a list of bases to be closed as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process (BRAC 2005).

May 16 - George Galloway appears before a United States Senate committee, to answer allegations of making money from the Iraqi Oil-for-Food Program.

May 31 - W. Mark Felt is confirmed to be "Deep Throat."

June 2 - The construction of Northrop Grumman X-47B, the world's first unmanned surveillance attack aircraft that can operate from both land bases and aircraft carriers, begins.

June 17 - A 6.7 aftershock, which followed a 5.3 earthquake the previous day, hits California, making it the 4th earthquake since June 12 in California.

 - Because of "quadruple-witching" options and futures expiration, the New York Stock Exchange sees the heaviest first-hour trading on record. 704 million shares are traded between 9:30-10:30 A.M. (1.92 billion shares for the day).

June 21 - A Volna booster rocket carrying the first light sail spacecraft (a joint Russian-United States project) fails 83 seconds after its launch, destroying the spacecraft.

July 4 - NASA's "Copper bullet" from the Deep Impact spacecraft hits Comet Tempel 1, creating a crater for scientific studies.

 - The Italy-USA Foundation is established in Rome, Italy.

July 10 - Hurricane Dennis strikes near Navarre Beach, Florida as a Category 3 storm, killing 10 after having killed over 50 in the Caribbean.

July 19 - U.S. president George W. Bush nominates Appeals Court Judge John G. Roberts, Jr. to the United States Supreme Court, following the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor.

July 26 - STS-114: The Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on its "Return To Flight" mission. This is the first space shuttle flight in nearly 2 1/2 years since the breakup of Space Shuttle Columbia on its return from mission STS-107.

August 2 - The Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is signed into law in the United States.

August 9 - Space Shuttle Discovery returns to Edwards Air Force Base at 0814 EDT, completing STS-114, "Return to Flight."

August 12 - The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is launched.

August 29 - At least 1,836 are killed, and severe damage is caused along the U.S. Gulf Coast, as Hurricane Katrina strikes coastal areas from Louisiana to Alabama, and travels up the entire state of Mississippi (flooding coast 31 feet/10 m), affecting most of eastern North America.

September 1 - Oil prices rise sharply following the economic effects of Hurricane Katrina.

September 5 - John G. Roberts is nominated by President George W. Bush for Chief Justice of the United States, replacing William Rehnquist, who had died 2 days previously.

September 14–16 - The largest UN World Summit in history is held in New York City.

September 19 - North Korea agrees to stop building nuclear weapons in exchange for aid and cooperation.

September 24 - Hurricane Rita hits the U.S. Gulf Coast, devastating areas near Beaumont, TX and Lake Charles, LA. The Ninth Ward of New Orleans re-floods since Katrina, and Mississippi and Alabama are also affected.

 - Worldwide protests occur against the Iraq War, with over 150,000 protestors in Washington DC.

September 29 - John G. Roberts, Jr. is confirmed and sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States.

October 3 - U.S. President George W. Bush nominates Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court of the United States.

October 4 - Hurricane Stan hits Mexico and Central America, killing over 1,620 people.

October 5 - Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith is charged with refusing to serve in the Iraq war.

October 7 - UN nuclear agency director Mohamed El Baradei is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

October 15 - The referendum on the new Proposed Iraqi constitution is held.

October 18 - The UN tightens the rules for its staff, following several claims of financial impropriety and sexual abuse.

October 19 - The Trials of Saddam Hussein begin.

October 22 - Tropical Storm Alpha forms, making the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season the most active on record.

October 24 - Hurricane Wilma makes landfall in southwestern Florida as a category 3 hurricane.

October 26 - Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls for Israel to be "wiped off the map" at the "World Without Zionism" conference in Tehran, Iran, and condemns the peace process.

October 26 - The U.S. death toll in Iraq reaches 2,000.

October 27 - Harriet Miers withdraws her name from consideration for the Supreme Court of the United States.

October 28 - Vice presidential adviser Lewis "Scooter" Libby resigns after being charged with obstruction of justice, perjury and making a false statement in the CIA leak investigation.

October 30 - Hurricane Beta hits the coast of Nicaragua. It is the 13th hurricane of 2005, breaking the 1969 record of 12 hurricanes.

October 31 - U.S. President George W. Bush nominates Federal Appeals Court Judge Samuel Alito to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

November 1 - United States Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and his fellow Democrats force a closed session of the Senate over the Lewis Libby indictment.

November 4 - The U.S. and Uruguay governments sign a Bilateral Investment Treaty.

November 6 - Evansville Tornado of November 2005: A tornado hits western Kentucky and southwestern Indiana, killing at least 22.

November 12 - United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan makes his first visit to Iraq since the Iraq War began, and urges Iraqis to embrace a process aiming to reconcile all the country's ethnic and religious groups.

November 20 - The Washington Post rebukes journalist Bob Woodward over his conduct in the CIA leak probe.

November 28 – December 9 - The United Nations Climate Change Conference is held in Montreal, Quebec.

December 12 - Scientists announce that they have created mice with small amounts of human brain cells in an effort to make realistic models of neurological disorders.

December 23 - U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announces the first in an expected series of troop drawdowns following the Iraqi elections.

2006 AD

January 3 - Twelve dead coal miners and one survivor are discovered in the Sago Mine Disaster near Buckhannon, West Virginia, U.S.

January 6 - The record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season officially draws to a close as Tropical Storm Zeta dissipates.

January 7 - Embroiled in multiple scandals, former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay announces he will not seek to reassume his former post.

January 9 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 (11,011.90) for the first time since June 7, 2001.

January 11 - The Augustine Volcano in Alaska erupts twice, marking its first major eruption since 1986.

January 15 - NASA's Stardust mission successfully ends, the first to return dust from a comet.

January 31 - Samuel Alito is sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

February 1 - UAL Corporation, United Airlines' parent company, emerges from bankruptcy after being in that position since December 9, 2002, the longest such filing in history.

March 4 - The final contact attempt with Pioneer 10 receives no response.

March 9 - NASA's Cassini-Huygens spacecraft discovers geysers of a liquid substance shooting from Saturn's moon Enceladus, signaling a possible presence of water.

March 10 - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enters Mars orbit.

March 17 - The United States strikes its 2 remaining Iowa-class battleships from the Naval Vessel Register, ending the age of the battleship.

March 22 - The Federal Reserve stops the publishing of M3 money supply data.

March 25 - A scramjet jet engine, Hyshot III, designed to fly at 7 times the speed of sound, is successfully tested at Woomera, South Australia.

April 11 - President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirms that Iran has successfully produced a few grams of low-grade enriched uranium.

April 20 - Iran announces a deal with Russia, involving a joint uranium enrichment firm on Russian soil; 9 days later Iran announces that it will not move all activity to Russia, thus leading to a de-facto termination of the deal.

April 29 - Massive anti-war demonstrations and a march down Broadway in New York City mark the third year of war in Iraq

May 1 - The Great American Boycott takes place across the United States as marchers protest for (illegal alien) immigration rights.

June 7 - Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and 7 of his aides are killed in a U.S. air raid just north of the town of Baqouba, Iraq.

June 23 - In Miami, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrests 7 men, accusing them of planning to bomb the Sears Tower and other attacks in Miami.

July 4 - STS-121: Space Shuttle Discovery is launched to the International Space Station. It returns safely on July 17. It is the second return to flight mission after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

July 5 - North Korea test fires missiles, timed with the liftoff of Discovery, preceding the fireworks celebrations that night in America. The long range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails shortly after takeoff.

August 10 - London Metropolitan Police make 21 arrests in connection to an apparent terrorist plot that involved aircraft traveling from the United Kingdom to the United States. Liquids and gels are banned from checked and carry-on baggage.

August 24 - The International Astronomical Union defines 'planet' at its 26th General Assembly, demoting Pluto to the status of 'dwarf planet' more than 70 years after its discovery.

August 27 - Comair Flight 5191, carrying 50 people, crashes shortly after take off from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky.

August 28 - A Greyhound Lines bus from New York City to Montreal, carrying 52 people, crashes at mile 115 on Interstate 87 near Elizabethtown, killing 5 people (including the driver) and seriously injuring others.

September 13 - The solar system's largest dwarf planet, designated until now as 2003 UB313, is officially named "Eris"; its satellite is now known as "Dysnomia".

September 15 - Spinach contaminated with E. coli kills 2 and poisons over 100 others in 20 states of the United States.

October 6 - A hazardous waste plant near Apex, North Carolina explodes, releasing chlorine gas, and resulting in the evacuation of thousands and the hospitalization of over 100 residents.

October 9 - North Korea claims to have conducted its first-ever nuclear test.

October 10 - Google buys YouTube for USD $1.65 billion.

October 13 - South Korean Ban Ki-moon is elected as the new Secretary-General of the United Nations.

October 15 - The UN agrees to sanction North Korea over nuclear testing claims.

 - The establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq is declared.

October 16 - The last American MASH is decommissioned.

October 24 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its first flyby of Venus (it will be captured into Mercury's orbit on March 18, 2011).

November 5 - Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein and 2 of his senior allies are sentenced to death by hanging, after an Iraqi court finds them guilty of crimes against humanity.

November 8 - Margaret Chan is elected as the Director-General of the World Health Organization.

 - A transit of Mercury occurs.

December 1 - Felipe Calderón takes office as President of Mexico.ice votes for Ted Morton have been added up. Ed becomes the Premier-designate of Alberta.

December 3 - Hugo Chávez is re-elected President of Venezuela.

December 7 - Smoking is banned in all Ohio bars, restaurants, workplaces, and other public places.

December 10 - Space Shuttle Mission STS-116: Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center on the first night launch since the 2003 loss of Columbia.

December 13 - U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) suffers a stroke during a radio interview.

December 14 - U.S. Spy Satellite USA 193, also known as NRO Launch 21 (NROL-21 or simply L-21), is launched and malfunctions soon after.

December 15 - Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter successfully flies for the first time.

December 22 - The Space Shuttle Discovery lands at the Kennedy Space Center, concluding a 2-week mission to the International Space Station.

December 30 - Saddam Hussein, former Iraq president, is executed in Baghdad.

2007 AD

January 4 - Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

January 9
War in Somalia: U.S. planes conduct air strikes in Somalia against suspected terrorists.
Apple Inc. announces and introduces the highly speculated iPhone at the 2007 Macworld Conference & Expo.[8]

January 10 - President of the United States George W. Bush announces a plan to station 21,500 additional troops in Iraq.

January 11 - China successfully tests a ground-based ballistic missile capable of destroying satellites in orbit, drawing criticisms from other countries.

January 12
The U.S. Embassy in Athens is attacked with a rocket propelled grenade, which causes minimal damage and no injuries.
Comet McNaught, the brightest comet in over 40 years, makes perihelion.

January 14 - The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement adopts the Red Crystal as a non-religious emblem for use in its overseas operations.

January 17 - The Doomsday Clock is advanced from 7 to 5 minutes to midnight.

January 28 - A battle between insurgents and U.S.-backed Iraqi troops kills 300 suspected resistance members in Najaf, Iraq.

January 30 - Microsoft releases Windows Vista and Office 2007.

February 2 - An unseasonal tornado in central Florida kills at least 20 people.

 - The IPCC publishes its fourth assessment report, having concluded that global climate change is "very likely" to have a predominantly human cause.

February 13 - North Korea agrees to shut down its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon by April 14 as a first step towards complete denuclearization, receiving in return energy aid equivalent to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil.

February 27 - The Chinese Correction: World stock markets plummet after China and Europe release less-than-expected growth reports.

2007 Bagram Air Base bombing: A Taliban suicide attack at Bagram Air Base while Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney is visiting kills 23, but he is not injured.

February 28 - The New Horizons space probe makes a gravitational slingshot against Jupiter, which changes its trajectory towards Pluto.

March 3 - A total lunar eclipse occurs.

March 6 - Mega Millions sets a new world record for the highest lottery jackpot of US $370 million.

April 19 - U.S. and allied air forces conduct massive exercises over South Korea with over 500 planes.

April 25 - U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduces articles to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.

May 4 - A tornado kills 12 in Greensburg, Kansas, destroying about 90% of the town.

May 9 - Subtropical Storm Andrea forms off the coast of Florida, the earliest since Subtropical Storm Ana in 2003.

May 26 - Russia is once again recognized as a full-fledged superpower by the United States.

June 1 - U.S. warships bombard a Somali village where Islamic militants had set up a base.

June 2 - Four people are charged in a terror plot to blow up JFK International Airport in New York.

June 4 - Ten people, including a Californian National Guard officer and former Hmong general, are charged in a plot to overthrow the Laotian Government.

June 5 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its second fly-by of Venus en route to Mercury.

June 8 - The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-117.

July 2 - Venus and Saturn are in conjunction, separation 46 arcsecs.

July 8 - Boeing launches the new Boeing 787.

July 14 - Following a presidential decree, Russia withdraws from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.

July 15 - In Tacoma, Washington, the second span of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge opens to traffic, making it the longest twin suspension bridge in the world.

August 1 - The I-35W Mississippi River Bridge on I-35W over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapses at 6:05 pm CST during the later part of rush hour, killing 13 people.
Scouting celebrates its 100th birthday with worldwide celebrations.

August 4 - The Phoenix spacecraft launches toward the Martian north pole.

August 17 Vladimir Putin issues a statement, revealing that Russia is to resume the flight exercises of its strategic bombers in remote areas. The flights were suspended in 1991 after the Collapse of the Soviet Union.

August 18 - The remnants of Tropical Storm Erin re-strengthen into a tropical storm over Oklahoma, causing widespread flooding and wind damage.

August 21 - Hurricane Dean, a powerful Category 5 storm, slams into a largely evacuated Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.

August 30 - 2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident: A B-52 flies from Minot AFB, ND to Barksdale AFB, LA carrying 6 nuclear warheads.

October 20 – November 9 - Wildfires in Southern California result in the evacuation of more than a million people, and destroy over 1,600 homes and businesses.

October 24 - In the space of a few hours, Comet Holmes develops a coma and flares up to half a million times its former brightness, becoming visible to the naked eye. Its coma later becomes larger in volume than the Sun, making it the second comet to do so in 2007 after Comet McNaught.

October 31 - The World Economic Forum releases The Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008.

December 3 - 14 - The United Nations Climate Change Conference is held at Nusa Dua in Bali, Indonesia.

December 7 - Uranus' orbit is positioned such that the sun shines directly above its equator (i.e. an equinox).

December 19 - Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, is announced as Time magazine's 2007 Person of the Year.

 - An explosion and fire at the T2 Laboratories facility in Jacksonville, Florida kills 4 and injures 14.

December 20 - A group of activist Lakota people send a letter to the United States State Department, declaring their secession from the Union as the Republic of Lakotah.

December 23 - Conjunction (astronomy and astrology): A grand celestial alignment takes place.

2008 AD


January 2 - The price of petroleum hits $100 per barrel for the first time.

January 14 - At 19:04:39 UTC, the MESSENGER space probe is at its closest approach during its first flyby of the planet Mercury.

January 21 - Stock markets around the world plunge amid growing fears of a U.S. recession, fueled by the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis.

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, practises strike tactics off the coast of France and Spain, and test-launches nuclear-capable missiles in foreign waters.

February 4 - Iran opens its first space center and launches a rocket into space.

February 5 - U.S. stock market indices plunge more than 3% after a report shows signs of economic recession in the service sector. The S&P 500 fall 3.2%, The Dow Jones Industrial Average 370 points.

February 5–6 - A tornado outbreak, the deadliest in 23 years, kills 58 in the Southern United States.

February 7 - STS-122: Space Shuttle Atlantis launches to deliver the European-built Columbus science laboratory to the International Space Station.

February 18 - The British government introduces emergency legislation to temporarily nationalize Northern Rock, the 5th largest mortgage bank in the UK, due to the bank's financial crisis.

February 19 - Fidel Castro announces his resignation as President of Cuba, effective February 24.

February 20 - The United States Navy destroys a spy satellite containing toxic fuel, by shooting it down with a missile launched from the USS Lake Erie in the Pacific Ocean.

 - A total lunar eclipse crosses North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Southwest Asia.

February 22 - Former building society Northern Rock is the first bank in Europe to be taken into state control, due to the U.S. subprime mortgage financial crisis.

February 24 - Raúl Castro is unanimously elected as President of Cuba by the National Assembly.

March 19 - An exploding star halfway across the visible universe becomes the farthest known object ever visible to the naked eye.

May 14 - NASA announces the discovery of Supernova remnant G1.9+0.3.

May 25 - NASA's Phoenix spacecraft becomes the first to land on the northern polar region of Mars.

June 11 - The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope is launched.

June 27 - After 3 decades as the Chairman of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates steps down from daily duties to concentrate on philanthropy.

August 26 - Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of Georgian breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

 – 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 deaths in the United States, and 529 in Haiti, mostly due to floods and mudslides.

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 12 - A Metrolink train collides head-on into a freight train in Los Angeles, California, killing 25 and injuring 130.

September 15 - Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

September 17 - The International Astronomical Union classifies Haumea as the 5th dwarf planet in the Solar System.

September 25 - Shenzhou 7, the third manned Chinese spaceflight and the first with 3 crew members, is successfully launched. China becomes the third country ever to conduct a spacewalk.

September 28 - SpaceX Falcon 1 becomes the world's first privately developed space launch vehicle to successfully make orbit.

October 3 - Global financial crisis: U.S. President George W. Bush signs the revised Emergency Economic Stabilization Act into law, creating a 700 billion dollar Treasury fund to purchase failing bank assets.

October 6 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its second of 3 flybys of Mercury, decreasing the velocity for orbital insertion on March 18, 2011.

October 7 - Global financial crisis: Russia agrees to provide Iceland with a 4-billion-euro loan.

 - The meteoroid 2008 TC3 impacts Earth above northern Sudan, becoming the first such object to be discovered prior to impact (Mount Lemmon, north of Tucson, Arizona, USA).

October 9 - Global financial crisis: Following a major banking and financial crisis in Iceland, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority takes control of the 3 largest banks in the country: Kaupthing Bank, Landsbanki, and Glitnir.

October 17 - The United Nations General Assembly elects Turkey, Austria, Japan, Uganda, and Mexico to 2-year terms on the Security Council.

October 21 - The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is officially inaugurated. It is a collaboration of over 10,000 scientists and engineers from over 100 countries as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories.

October 22 - The Indian Space Research Organization successfully launches theChandrayaan-1 spacecraft on a lunar exploration mission.

October 29 - Global financial crisis: Hungary's currency and stock markets rise on the news that it will receive an international economic bailout package worth $25 billion from the IMF, European Union, and World Bank.

 - Delta Air Lines merges with Northwest Airlines, forming the world's largest commercial carrier.

November 4 - United States presidential election, 2008: Barack Obama is elected the 44th President of the United States and Joe Biden is elected the 47th Vice President. Barack Obama becomes the first African-American President-elect.

November 14 - STS-126: The Space Shuttle Endeavour uses the MPLM Leonardo to deliver experiment and storage racks to the International Space Station. There will only be 3 more launches of Space Shuttle Endeavour after this mission.

November 20 - The 2008 Prairie meteoroid falls over Canada.

November 22 - Frozen water is found on Mars.

December 1 - A triangular conjunction formed by a new Moon, Venus and Jupiter is a prominent object in the evening sky.

December 12 - The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. The Moon appears to be 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the year's other full moons. The next time these 2 events coincide will be in 2016.

2009 AD

January 12 - The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) becomes mandatory for participating travelers from Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries in advance of travel to the United States.

January 15 - US Airways Flight 1549, en route to Charlotte/Douglas International Airport from New York's LaGuardia Airport, ditches in the Hudson River off Manhattan. All 155 passengers and crew are evacuated and taken to safety. The plane is apparently brought down by a flock of Canada Geese.

January 20 - Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. An estimated 1.8 million people attend the ceremony, surpassing the record of the 1965 inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson.

January 21 - Icelandic Police use tear gas for the first time since 1949 and a number of officers are injured as protests in the capital Reykjavík amid the 2008–2009 Icelandic financial crisis intensify.

January 22 - U.S. President Barack Obama signs an order to close Guantanamo Bay detention camp within one year.

January 23 - The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launches the world's first-ever Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite, "Ibuki", from Tanegashima Space Center.

January 26 - The Icelandic government and banking system collapse; Prime Minister Geir Haarde immediately resigns.

January 28 - The World Economic Forum begins its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland

 - The IMF issues its worst outlook for the world economy in 60 years.

Still working on it. . .