2008

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

2008 has been designated as:

Events

January

January 1 - Cyprus, Malta, and Akrotiri and Dhekelia adopt the euro. A suicide bombing occurs in Zayouna, Baghdad killing over 25 people during a funeral over the deaths from preceding attack.
January 2 - The price of petroleum hits $100 per barrel for the first time.
January 3 - A car bomb detonates, killing at least 4 and injuring 68, in Diyarbakır, Turkey. Police blame Kurdish rebels.
January 8 - An attempted assassination of Maldivian president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is thwarted after a Boy Scout grabbed the attacker's knife. The Boy Scout was injured, but after a scuffle ensued police arrested the attacker.
January 12 - A Macedonian Army Mil Mi-17 helicopter crashes in thick fog southeast of Skopje, killing all 11 military personnel on board.
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 15 - Federal Court of Australia orders a Japanese whaling company to stop research whaling within their Exclusive Economic Zone.
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, practised strike tactics off the coast of France and Spain, and test-launched nuclear-capable missiles on foreign waters.

January 23 - Polish Air Force EADS CASA C-295 crashes during approach to the 12th Air Base near Mirosławiec. All 20 personnel on board die.
January 23 - Thousands of Palestinians cross into Egypt, as the border wall with Gaza in Rafah is blown up by militants.
January 24 - A peace deal ends the Kivu conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
January 24 - Iraqi Parliament adopts a new national flag, removing three stars associated with the Baath Party; a permanent design is expected within the next year.
January 25 - China's worst snowstorm since 1954 kills 133, delays traffic, and causes massive power outages in central and southern parts of the country.
January 29 - Iran's judiciary sentences to prison 54 Bahá'í religion followers for charity work.

February

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 deadliest in 23 years, kills 58 in the Southern United States.
February 7 - Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on mission STS-122 to deliver the European-built Columbus science laboratory to the International Space Station.
February 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 leader 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 least 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 seats, while President Pervez Musharraf's party suffers a huge defeat.
February 19 - Fidel Castro announces his resignation as President 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 northeast of Mérida, Venezuela. The commercial plane had 46 people 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 least 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 people. 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, leaving 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 area 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 - Surgeons 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 President 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 deadliest natural disaster since the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004.
May 10 - Burma/Myanmar holds a constitutional referendum.
May 12 - Over 69,000 are killed in central China by an earthquake measuring 8.0M_w. The epicenter is 90 kilometers (55 miles) west-northwest of Chengdu.
May 13 - A series of bomb blasts kills at least 63 and injures 216 in Jaipur, India.
May 14 - NASA announces the discovery of Supernova remnant G1.9+0.3
May 15 - An oil pipeline explodes in Ijegun, Nigeria, killing 100.
May 23 - The Union of South American Nations, a supranational union, is created by a union between the Andean Community and Mercosur.
May 23 - The International Court of Justice awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute between the two countries.
May 25 - 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 least five.
June 8 - In the Akihabara area of Tokyo, Japan, a 25-year-old man stabs 7 to death and wounds 10, before being arrested.
June 10 - Fire engulfs Sudan Airways Flight 109 after landing in Khartoum, killing 44.
June 11 - The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope is launched.
June 11 - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologizes to Canada's First Nations for the Canadian residential school system.
June 12 - Ireland votes to reject the Treaty of Lisbon, in the only referendum to be held by a European Union member state on the treaty.
June 14 - A 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, kills 12 and injures more than 400.
June 14 – September 14 - Expo 2008 was held in Zaragoza in Spain, with the topic of "Water and sustainable development".
June 22 - Typhoon Fengshen hits the Philippines and capsizes the ferry MV Princess of the Stars, leaving hundreds dead or missing.
June 27 - President Robert Mugabe is reelected with 85.5% of the vote in the second round of the controversial Zimbabwean presidential election.
June 27 - After three decades as the Chairman of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates steps down from daily duties to concentrate on philanthropy.

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 appears at the event.
July 21 - Radovan Karadžić, the first president of the Republika Srpska, is arrested in Belgrade, Serbia on allegations of war crimes, following a 12-year 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 people.
July 27 - At least 17 are killed and over 154 wounded in two blasts in Istanbul.
July 28 - At least 48 are dead 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 years 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 threatened to attack the Beijing Olympics, kill 16 and injure another 16 officers at a police station in Kashgar, Xinjiang, China.
August 6 - President 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 impeachment 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 least 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 near Manas International Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, killing 68.
August 26 - Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of Georgian breakaway 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 deaths 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 year 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 near Islamabad while on his way to meet the British Leader of the Opposition David Cameron.
September 3 - Cyprus peace talks between the Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and the TRNC leader Mehmet Ali Talat are held in Nicosia, aimed at reunifying the 34-year-divided island.
September 6 - Asif Ali Zardari is elected as the President of Pakistan by the Electoral College of Pakistan.
September 6 - At least eight boulders peel of a cliff near Cairo, Egypt, killing at least 18 and burying an estimated 500 people.
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 appearing 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 collider. It is located at CERN, near 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 near 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 leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara sign a power-sharing deal, 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 least 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 - Global financial crisis: The 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 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 - The NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its second of three flybys of Mercury, decreasing the velocity for orbital insertion on March 18, 2011.
October 6 - Global financial crisis: The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls below 10,000 points for the first time since October 29, 2004.
October 6 - An earthquake measuring 6.6 magnitude hits Kyrgyzstan, killing at least 65 people.
October 7 - 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 9 - 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 9 - 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 May 21, 2003.

Predicted and scheduled events

October

October 21 - The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be officially inaugurated. The LHC 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 ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft will be launched to the Moon.

November

November 4 - Election of the 44th President of the United States and the 47th Vice President.
November 6 - King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan will be crowned, having ascended to the throne in 2006.
November 11 - The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 will depart on her last voyage from Southampton, UK to Dubai, UAE. She will become a floating hotel at Palm Jumeirah.
November 14 - On STS-126, the Space Shuttle Endeavour will use the MPLM Leonardo to deliver experiment and storage racks to the International Space Station.
November 22 - APEC Peru 2008 Summit in Lima.
November 25 - Greenland will hold referendum for increased autonomy from Denmark.

December

December 15 - The Electoral college meets in 51 locations officially to elect the 44th President of the United States.

Unknown dates

The United Nations is to review drug policies around the world.

Ongoing events

Deaths

January

January 3 - Yo-Sam Choi, Korean boxer (b. 1972)
January 10 - Maila Nurmi, Finnish-American actress and television personality (b. 1921)
January 11 - Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist (b. 1919)
January 15 - Brad Renfro, American actor (b. 1982)
January 16 - Nikola Kljusev, Macedonian Prime Minister (b. 1927)
January 17 - Bobby Fischer, American-Icelandic chess grandmaster (b. 1943)
January 19 - Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (b. 1937)
January 22 - Heath Ledger, Australian actor (b. 1979)
January 22 - Claude Piron, Swiss linguist and psychologist (b. 1931)
January 26 - George Habash, Palestinian politician (b. 1926)
January 27 - Gordon B. Hinckley, American Mormon leader (b. 1910)
January 27 - Suharto, 2nd President of Indonesia (b. 1921)
January 28 - Christodoulos, Archbishop of Athens (b. 1939)

February

February 2 - Joshua Lederberg, American molecular biologist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
February 5 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1917)
February 7 - Andrew Bertie, British Grand Master of the Order of Malta (b. 1929)
February 9 - Baba Amte, Indian social activist (b. 1914)
February 10 - Roy Scheider, American actor (b. 1932)
February 11 - Alfredo Reinado, East Timorese rebel (b. 1967)
February 11 - Tom Lantos, American politician (b. 1928)

February 12 - Imad Mughniyah, Lebanese militant (b. 1962)
February 12 - Badri Patarkatsishvili, Georgian businessman and politician (b. 1955)
February 13 - Kon Ichikawa, Japanese film director (b. 1915)
February 13 - Henri Salvador, French singer (b. 1917)
February 15 - Steve Fossett, American adventurer (b. 1944)
February 18 - Alain Robbe-Grillet, French writer and filmmaker (b. 1922)
February 19 - Natalia Bessmertnova, Russian ballerina (b. 1941)
February 19 - Yegor Letov, Russian singer (b. 1964)
February 19 - Lydia Shum, Hong Kong comedian and actress (b. 1945)
February 23 - Janez Drnovšek, 2nd President and 2nd Prime Minister of Slovenia (b. 1950)
February 23 - Paul Frère, Belgian racing driver (b. 1917)
February 27 - William F. Buckley, Jr., American author and conservative commentator (b. 1925)
February 27 - Ivan Rebroff, German singer (b. 1931)

March

March 1 - Raúl Reyes, Colombian guerrilla (b. 1948)
March 2 - Jeff Healey, Canadian musician (b. 1966)
March 3 - Giuseppe Di Stefano, Italian operatic tenor (b. 1921)
March 3 - Norman Smith, English singer and record producer (b. 1923)
March 4 - Gary Gygax, American writer and game designer (b. 1938)
March 6 - Peter Poreku Dery, Ghanaian cardinal (b. 1918)
March 5 - Joseph Weizenbaum, German-American author and computer scientist (b. 1923)
March 12 - Lazare Ponticelli, French veteran of World War I (b. 1897)
March 14 - Chiara Lubich, Italian Catholic activist (b. 1920)
March 18 - Anthony Minghella, English film director and screenwriter (b. 1954)
March 19 - Arthur C. Clarke, English author, inventor, and futurist (b. 1917)
March 19 - Hugo Claus, Flemish writer, painter and film director (b. 1929)

March 19 - Paul Scofield, English actor (b. 1922)
March 22 - Adolfo Suárez Rivera, Mexican cardinal (b. 1927)
March 24 - Neil Aspinall, British record producer and business executive (b. 1942)
March 24 - Richard Widmark, American actor (b. 1914)
March 26 - Manuel Marulanda, Colombian guerrilla (b. 1930)
March 27 - Jean-Marie Balestre, French sports executive (b. 1921)
March 30 - Dith Pran, Cambodian-American photojournalist (b. 1942)
March 31 - Jules Dassin, American film director (b. 1911)

April

April 3 - Hrvoje Ćustić, Croatian footballer (b. 1983)
April 5 - Charlton Heston, American actor (b. 1923)
April 10 - Ernesto Corripio y Ahumada, Mexican cardinal (b. 1919)
April 12 - Patrick Hillery, 6th President of Ireland (b. 1923)
April 13 - John Archibald Wheeler, American theoretical physicist (b. 1911)
April 14 - Ollie Johnston, American animator (b. 1912)
April 15 - Benoît Lamy, Belgian motion picture writer-director (b. 1945)
April 16 - Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (b. 1917)
April 17 - Aimé Césaire, French Martinican poet and politician (b. 1913)
April 29 - Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist and writer (b. 1906)

May

May 1 - Anthony Mamo, 1st President of Malta (b. 1909)
May 2 - Philipp von Boeselager, German military officer (b. 1917)
May 3 - Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, 74th Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1926)
May 8 - François Sterchele, Belgian footballer (b. 1982)
May 10 - Leyla Gencer, Turkish soprano (b. 1928)
May 12 - Robert Rauschenberg, American pop artist (b. 1925)
May 12 - Irena Sendler, Polish humanitarian (b. 1910)
May 13 - Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1930)
May 13 - Bernardin Gantin, Beninese cardinal (b. 1922)
May 15 - Willis Lamb, American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
May 23 - Cornell Capa, Hungarian-American photographer (b. 1918)
May 26 - Sydney Pollack, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1934)
May 28 - Sven Davidson, Swedish tennis player (b. 1928)

June

June 1 - Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer (b. 1936)
June 1 - Tommy Lapid, Israeli television presenter, journalist, and politician (b. 1931)
June 2 - Bo Diddley, American musician (b. 1928)
June 3 - Mel Ferrer, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1917)
June 4 - Agata Mróz-Olszewska, Polish volleyball player (b. 1982)
June 7 - Dino Risi, Italian director (b. 1916)
June 8 - Šaban Bajramović, Serbian musician (b. 1936)
June 9 - Algis Budrys, Lithuanian-American science fiction writer (b. 1931)
June 9 - Karen Asrian, Armenian chess grandmaster (b. 1980)
June 10 - Chinghiz Aitmatov, Kyrgyzstani writer (b. 1928)
June 11 - Ove Andersson, Swedish rally driver (b. 1939)
June 11 - Võ Văn Kiệt, Vietnamese prime minister (b. 1922)
June 13 - Tim Russert, American journalist (b. 1950)
June 15 - Stan Winston, American special effects and make up artist (b. 1946)
June 17 - Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (b. 1922)
June 18 - Jean Delannoy, French film director (b. 1908)
June 22 - George Carlin, American author, actor, and comedian (b. 1937)
June 23 - Arthur Chung, President of Guyana (b. 1918)
June 24 - Leonid Hurwicz, American economist, mathematician, and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
June 28 - Ruslana Korshunova, Kazakhstani model (b. 1987)
June 29 - Don S. Davis, American actor (b. 1942)

July

July 4 - Jesse Helms, American politician (b. 1921)
July 4 - Evelyn Keyes, American actress (b. 1916)
July 5 - René Harris, President of Nauru (b. 1947)
July 11 - Michael E. DeBakey, American surgeon and inventor (b. 1908)
July 12 - Tony Snow, American political commentator (b. 1955)
July 13 - Bronisław Geremek, Polish social historian and politician (b. 1932)
July 15 - György Kolonics, Hungarian canoeist (b. 1972)
July 22 - Estelle Getty, American actress (b. 1923)
July 23 - Kurt Furgler, Swiss politician (b. 1924)
July 25 - Johnny Griffin, American saxophonist (b. 1928)
July 25 - Randy Pausch, American author and computer scientist (b. 1960)
July 27 - Youssef Chahine, Egyptian film director (b. 1926)
July 29 - Mate Parlov, Croatian boxer (b. 1948)

August

August 1 - Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Indian politician (b. 1916)
August 3 - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
August 9 - Bernie Mac, American actor and comedian (b. 1957)
August 9 - Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet (b. 1941)
August 10 - Isaac Hayes, American musician (b. 1942)
August 11 - Fred Sinowatz, Austrian politician (b. 1929)
August 13 - Henri Cartan, French mathematician (b. 1904)
August 15 - Jerry Wexler, American music producer (b. 1917)
August 16 - Ronnie Drew, Irish singer (b. 1934)
August 16 - Masanobu Fukuoka, Japanese microbiologist (b. 1913)
August 19 - Levy Mwanawasa, President of Zambia (b. 1948)
August 20 - Hua Guofeng, Chinese premier (b. 1921)
August 23 - Thomas Huckle Weller, American virologist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
August 28 - Phil Hill, American race car driver (b. 1927)

September

September 1 - Don LaFontaine, American voice actor (b. 1940)
September 6 - Antonio Innocenti, Italian cardinal (b. 1915)
September 6 - Anita Page, American actress (b. 1910)
September 9 - Nouhak Phoumsavanh, President of Laos (b. 1910)
September 12 - David Foster Wallace, American writer (b. 1962)
September 15 - Richard Wright, English musician (b. 1943)
September 18 - Mauricio Kagel, Argentine composer (b. 1931)
September 26 - Paul Newman, American actor (b. 1925)

October

October 1 - Boris Efimov, Russian political cartoonist (b. 1900)
October 6 - Paavo Haavikko, Finnish poet (b. 1931)
October 8 - George Emil Palade, Romanian Nobel Prize-winning cell biologist (b. 1912)
October 10 - Alexey Prokurorov, Russian cross-country skier (b. 1964)
October 11 - Jörg Haider, Austrian politician (b. 1950)

Nobel Prizes

Chemistry - Martin Chalfie, Osamu Shimomura, Roger Y. Tsien
Economics - to be announced
Literature - Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
Peace - Martti Ahtisaari
Physics - Makoto Kobayashi, Toshihide Maskawa, Yoichiro Nambu
Physiology or Medicine - Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Harald zur Hausen, Luc Montagnier

Major religious holidays

January 7 - Christmas in Eastern Christianity
January 10 - Islamic New Year by Lunar calendar
February 5 - Carnival (Shrove Tuesday)
February 6 - Ash Wednesday, observance of Lent begins
February 7 - Chinese New Year (also Lunar New Year / Spring Festival)
March 1 - Saint David's Day, national holiday of Wales
March 15 - Saint Patrick's Day, celebrated in Ireland, the United States, and most of the English-speaking world. (Held on March 15 instead of the usual 17th to avoid the second day in Holy Week). This March 17 will be the last one to fall within Holy Week until 2160.
March 20 - March Equinox, also known as Ostara
March 20 - Purim
March 21 - Nowruz (Iranian New Year holiday)
March 21 - Good Friday
March 22 - Holi
March 23 - Easter Sunday, the earliest Easter has fallen since 1913
April 13 - Vaisakhi
April 20 - Passover, Palm Sunday in Eastern Christianity
April 23 - St. George's Day
April 27 - Pascha (or Easter) in Eastern Christianity
May 1 - Ascension of Jesus in Western Christianity
May 1 - Beltane, a Cross-quarter day
May 19 or May 20 - Vesak (the birthday of the Buddha) in Buddhism
June 5 - Ascension of Jesus in Eastern Christianity
June 9 - Shavuot
June 15 - Pentecost in Eastern Christianity
June 20 - June Solstice, also known as Midsummer or Litha
June 22 - All Saints' Day in Eastern Christianity
July 5 - Saints Cyril and Methodius day in Eastern Christianity
August 1 - Lammas, a Cross-quarter day
August 15 - Assumption of Mary
August 16 - Raksha Bandhan
September 1 - New Liturgical Year in Eastern Christianity
September 2 - Start of Ramadan
September 22 - September Equinox, also known as Mabon
September 30 - Rosh Hashanah
October 1 - Eid ul-Fitr
October 9 - Yom Kippur
October 28 - Diwali
November 1 - Samhain, a Cross-quarter day and Neopagan new year
November 30 - St. Andrew's Day, Scottish national day
December 8 - Immaculate Conception
December 8 - Eid al-Adha
December 21 - Hanukkah begins at sundown
December 21 - December Solstice, also known as Yule
December 25 - Christmas in Western Christianity

2008 in fiction

Books

Isaac Asimov's 1955 short story Franchise takes place in 2008, the premise being that the U.S. president will be selected by a computer program looking for the "most representative citizen".
John Barnes, Mother of Storms (1995) begins with a 2008 UN resolution barring any nation from acquiring nuclear weapons after June 1, 2008, subject to penalty of preemptive strike.
Gregory Benford's books The Jupiter War and The Threads of Time are set in 2008.
The Galactic Milieu Series by Julian May features Earth's first contact with an alien race on June 20, 2008.
In Francis Anderson's 1992 book "Future Undetermined" the UN bans civilians from owning handguns on March 29.
Ian McDonald's "Chaga Saga" (Evolution's Shore and Kirinya) begins with the March 13, 2008 impact arrival of the plant form Chaga from outer space.
Alan E. Nourse's 1957 book Rocket to Limbo begins with the March 3, 2008 launch of the starship Argonaut on a centuries-long trip to Alpha Centauri.
The Mote in God's Eye (1974) by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle postulates that faster-than-light travel is perfected in 2008.
The Next War, a controversial 1996 novel about the post-Soviet era, co-authored by former U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, looks at a possible 2008 nuclear confrontation between the United States and Russia.

Computer and video games

Set in 2008:

Ghost Recon (2001): Russia attempts to reunite the Soviet Union and invades several Eastern European countries. The UN intervenes with peacekeeping forces.
Splinter Cell series: Sam Fisher goes undercover.
Twisted Metal III (1998)
Shattered Union (2005): U.S. President David Jefferson Adams is elected in a sham election, and becomes the most unpopular president in U.S. history.
Resident Evil 5 (2009)
Mega Man (1987)
Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)

Film

Set in 2008:

Jason X (Friday the 13th series, 2002): Mass murderer Jason Voorhees is captured for the 2nd time and sentenced to death. 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 Centimeters Per Second (2007): The final act takes place in Tokyo during 2008.
Doomsday (2008): The start of the film is set in 2008, when a virus has infected Scotland.
Silent Running (1971)
Southland Tales (2007)
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Deterrence (2000)

Television

Dawson's Creek (2003 series finale): The characters meet once again. Dawson, now 25, is the creator of a television series, The Creek, based on his life.
The 2007 series of Doctor Who: Present time (such as "Smith and Jones") is primarily set in 2008.
The Future Boy Conan anime story begins in July, 2008, when a war results in five continents sinking into the sea.
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 break out in March 2008. Peter Petrelli accidentally teleports himself and Caitlin to sometime around June 14, 2008, when any survivors in New York City are forcibly evacuated.
According to the Futurama episode "Space Pilot 3000", Stop 'N Drop suicide booths are claimed to have been "America's Favorite" since 2008. Whether this is the use of an advertising hyperbole to indicate that they were introduced in 2008, or that they gained a plurality of market share in 2008 is not concluded.