WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO SEPTEMBER 2004
Find out what all happened January to September 2004

The National Assembly of Serbia unanimously adopts new state symbols for Serbia: Bože pravde becomes the new anthem and the coat of arms is adopted for the whole country. (17. August 2004)

Michael Schumacher wins his 5th consecutive Formula One Drivers' championship (and 7th overall) at the 2004 Belgian Grand Prix to beat the 47 year old record held by Juan Manuel Fangio. (29. August 2004)

NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies in the management of its flash memory and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6. (21. January 2004)

Saturn orbit insertion of Cassini–Huygens begins at 01:12 UTC and ends at 02:48 UTC. (1. July 2004)

The Beslan school hostage crisis commences when armed terrorists take children and adults hostage in Beslan in North Ossetia, Russia. (1. September 2004)

Millennium Park, considered Chicago, Illinois's first and most ambitious early 21st-century architectural project, is opened to the public by Mayor Richard M. Daley. (16. July 2004)

Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm, strikes Punta Gorda, Florida, and devastates the surrounding area. (13. August 2004)

Swiss tennis player Roger Federer becomes the No. 1 ranked men's singles player, a position he will hold for a record 237 weeks. (2. February 2004)

The first Venus Transit in modern history takes place, the previous one being in 1882. (8. June 2004)

The United States lifts economic sanctions imposed on Libya 18 years previously, as a reward for its cooperation in eliminating weapons of mass destruction. (24. April 2004)

In New York, capital punishment is declared unconstitutional. (24. June 2004)

Beslan school hostage crisis – day 3: the Beslan hostage crisis ends with the deaths of over 300 people, more than half of which are children. (3. September 2004)

Versions of The Scream and Madonna, two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from a museum in Oslo, Norway. (22. August 2004)

The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announces the discovery of the universe's largest known diamond, white dwarf star BPM 37093. Astronomers named this star "Lucy" after The Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". (13. February 2004)

Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people. (22. April 2004)

The first legal same-sex marriages in the U.S. are performed in the state of Massachusetts. (17. May 2004)

A whale explodes in the town of Tainan, Taiwan. A build-up of gas in the decomposing sperm whale is suspected of causing the explosion. (26. January 2004)

In a vote of confidence, General Pervez Musharraf wins 658 out of 1,170 votes in the Electoral College of Pakistan, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, is "deemed to be elected" to the office of President until October 2007. (1. January 2004)

Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks attempt to bomb the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid. Their attack is thwarted. (2. April 2004)

251 people are trampled to death and 244 injured in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. (1. February 2004)