Topusaret
Deceased
In response to requests, I have extracted some major world events during the 30 day period before, and the period during (five days) the first ever poll and each of the last eight completed polls. This is going to be a long post, but it seems a worthy task. For the second through the thirteenth polls, which were conducted every 15 days, I have only included what occurred (if anything significant) since the previous poll ended (approximately 10 days or so) and the period of the poll (again, five days).
Poll #1, June 16, 2004--average score, 1.83:
May 17, 2004, Massachusetts legalizes same-sex marriage.
May 23, 2004, A section of the ceiling in Terminal 2E at Charles de Gaulle International Airport collapses, claiming at least 6 lives.
May 26, 2004, Terry Nichols is convicted of murder charges for his part in the Oklahoma City bombing.
June 3, 2004, All outgoing flights from the UK are temporarily grounded following an air traffic control computer failure.
June 3, 2004, George Tenet, CIA Director tenders his resignation
June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States, dies at his home in Bel-Air, California, at the age of 93.
June 8, 2004, the 30th G-8 Summit takes place over the next two days on Sea Island, in Georgia (USA).
June 16, 2004, "9/11 Commission" issues an initial report of its findings.
June 21, 2004, “Spaceship One” becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve space flight.
Poll #2, July 1, 2004--average score, 1.65:
June 28, 2004, Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains collide in a rural area outside of San Antonio, Texas. Forty cars are derailed, including one chlorine car. Three people die, another 50 people are hospitalized because of exposure to the gas.
June 28, 2004, The U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq transfers sovereignty to an Iraqi Interim Government.
June 28, 2004, Canadian election: The Liberal Party, led by Paul Martin, is reduced to a minority government, after holding a majority since November 1993.
July 1, 2004, Vatican gains full membership rights in the United Nations except voting.
July 4, 2004, Groundbreaking for the Freedom Tower begins at Ground Zero in New York City.
Poll #3, July 15--average score, 1.91:
No significant world events occurred during the period July 6, 2004 and July 20, 2004.
Poll #4, August 1--average score, 1.85:
July 26-July 29, 2004, The Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts nominates John Kerry for U.S. President and John Edwards for Vice President.
August 1, 2004, A supermarket fire in Asunción, Paraguay, kills about 400 and leaves over 100 missing.
August 1, 2004, A bomb attack occurs in front of Prague's Casino Royal.
August 3, 2004, The Statue of Liberty reopens after security improvements.
Poll #5, August 15--average score, 1.65:
August 6, 2004, A United Nations report blaming the government of Sudan for crimes against humanity in Darfur is released.
August 9, 2004, At the Mihama Nuclear Power Plant, a pipe leaking hot water and steam kills 5 and injures 6 others. It is the 2nd worst nuclear disaster of Japan.
August 13-August 29, 2004, The 2004 Summer Olympics are held in Athens.
August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley kills 27 people in Florida after killing 4 in Cuba and 1 in Jamaica. Charley made 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.
Poll #6, September 1--average score, 1.89:
August 22, 2004, Armed robbers steal Edvard Munch's The Scream, Madonna, and other paintings from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.
August 24, 2004, Two airliners in Russia, carrying a total of 89 passengers, crash within minutes of each other after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, leaving no survivors. Authorities suspect suicide attacks by rebels from Chechnya to be the cause of the crashes.
August 29, 2004, 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, 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are renominated at the Republican National Convention in New York City.
August 31, 2004, Two suicide attacks on buses in Beer Sheva, Israel, kill at least 16 people and injure at least 60. Hamas claims responsibility for the attacks.
August 31, 2004, A woman commits a suicide attack near a subway station in northern Moscow, Russia, killing at least 10 people and injuring at least 50. Authorities hold Chechen rebels responsible.
September 1, 2004, Chechen terrorists take between 1,000 and 1,500 people hostage, mostly children, in a school in the Beslan school hostage crisis. The hostage-takers demand the release of Chechen terrorists imprisoned in neighboring Ingushetia and the independence of Chechnya from Russia.
September 2, 2004, The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 1559, calling for the removal of all foreign troops from Lebanon. This measure is largely aimed at Syrian troops.
September 3, 2004, Russian forces end the siege at a school in Beslan, Northern Ossetia. At least 335 people (among which are 32 of the approximately 40 hostage-takers) are killed and at least 700 people injured.
September 3, 2004, 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.
Poll #7, September 15--average score, 1.94:
September 7, 2004, 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, 2004, 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 9, 2004, A bomb blast outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, kills 11 and injures up to 100 people.
September 9, 2004, Typhoon Songda hits western Japan, killing 45 and injuring another 1,352.
September 13, 2004, The U.S. Assault Weapons Ban expires.
September 16, 2004, 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 17, 2004, Hurricane Jeanne causes mudslides in Haiti, killing 3006.
September 17, 2004, Mexico and Japan finish 2-year-long negotiations and sign a Free Trade Agreement in Mexico City.
Poll #8, October 1--average score, 1.76:
September 23, 2004, Mount St. Helens becomes active again.
September 23, 2004, 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 will kill 92 people.
September 25, 2004, Hurricane Jeanne makes landfall near Port Saint Lucie, Florida, near location Hurricane Frances hit two weeks earlier. Jeanne kills over 3,030, mostly in Haiti.
October 4, 2004, Two car bombs kill at least 16 people and injure dozens more in Baghdad.
October 5, 2004, A fire breaks out on the Canadian submarine HMCS Chicoutimi, leaving it stranded without power in the North Atlantic ocean, off the north coast of Ireland; 1 crewmember is killed.
Poll #9, October 15--average score, 1.94:
October 8, 2004, Kenneth Bigley, the British hostage held by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an Iraqi insurgent, is killed after a failed escape attempt.
October 8, 2004, Suicide bombers detonate 2 bombs at the Red Sea resort of Taba, Egypt, killing 34 people, mainly Israeli tourists and Egyptian workers.
October 9, 2004, Incumbent Prime Minister of Australia John Howard leads the Liberal-National coalition to victory over the Labor Party led by Mark Latham in federal elections.
October 9, 2004, Direct elections for president are held for the first time in Afghanistan. Interim president Hamid Karzai is eventually declared the winner.
Poll #10, November 1--average score, 2.14:
October 20, 2004, Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 crashes in Missouri, killing 13 people and injuring 2.
October 21, 2004, Typhoon Tokage hit western Japan. 98 killed, 552 injured.
October 23, 2004, A Magnitude 6.7 earthquake and aftershocks of similar scale occur in the Tokamachi area. A huge landslide occurs on the outskirts of Nagaoka. According to Japanese officials, 68 people are killed, 4,085 are injured, and 103,000 are rendered homeless.
October 24, 2004, The bodies of 49 Iraqi soldiers are discovered after being ambushed by insurgents.
October 29, 2004, A 2004 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.
October 29, 2004, European heads of state sign in Rome the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution.
November 2, 2004, United States presidential election, 2004: U.S. President George W. Bush defeats Senator John Kerry. Republicans make gains in the House and Senate.
November 2, 2004, Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh is assassinated in Amsterdam, Netherlands by Mohammed Bouyeri.
Poll #11, November 15--average score, 1.66:
November 7, 2008, 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, 2004, After 6 days of intense battles, the Iraqi town of Fallujah is fully occupied by U.S. forces.
November 14, 2004, 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 17-November 21, 2004, The APEC Summit is held in Santiago, Chile.
Poll #12, December 1--average score, 1.58:
November 21, 2004, In the final round of presidential election in Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych is declared the winner. International election observers express severe criticism, and large crowds gather in a protest rally in Kiev. Twelve days later, the Supreme Court annuls the result, and a new poll is scheduled.
November 26, 2008, A group of Iraqi political leaders, primarily from Sunni and Kurdish parties, advocate a 6-month delay in popular elections scheduled for January 2005.
Poll #13, December 15, 2004--average score, 1.59:
December 6, 2004, Terrorists attack the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing several people.
December 11, 2004, Tests show that Ukrainian opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned with a large dose of dioxin.
December 15, 2004, Albanian terrorists take a bus and its passengers hostage in Athens, Greece and demand 1 million Euros in ransom money.
Poll #14, September 1, 2005--average score, 2.42:
August 1, 2005, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia dies, succeeded by his half-brother Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
August 2, 2005, The Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is signed into law in the United States.
August 17, 2005, Bangladesh is hit by 459 nearly simultaneous small bomb explosions.
August 23, 2005, Israel's unilateral disengagement from 25 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank ends.
August 29, 2005, 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, 2005, Oil prices rise sharply following the economic effects of Hurricane Katrina.
Poll #15, July 14, 2006--average score, 2.12:
June 23, 2006, In Miami, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrests seven men, accusing them of planning to bomb the Sears Tower and other attacks in Miami.
June 28, 2006, Israel launches Operation Summer Rains, an offensive against militants in Gaza.
July 5, 2006, 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.
July 11, 2006, A series of coordinated bomb attacks strikes several commuter trains in Mumbai, India during the evening rush hour.
July 12, 2006, 2006 Lebanon War: Israeli troops invade Lebanon in response to Hezbollah kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing 3. Hezbollah declares open war against Israel 2 days later.
Poll #16, October 9, 2006--average score, 1.92:
September 10, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI gives a lecture in Germany; he quotes a criticism of the Islamic faith, sparking mass protest.
September 13, 2006, The Dawson College Shooting occurs in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, leaving one student dead and 19 others injured.
September 15, 2006, Spinach contaminated with E. coli kills one and poisons over 100 others in 20 states of the United States.
September 16, 2006, Five churches are attacked in Palestinian areas following the Pope's comments on Islam.
September 19, 2006, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand declares a state of emergency in Bangkok as members of the Royal Thai Army stage a coup d'état. The army announces the removal of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from power.
September 27, 2006, An armed suspect holds six female students as hostages in Platte Canyon High School located in Bailey, Colorado. One hostage is killed as the gunman kills himself.
October 2, 2006, Charles Carl Roberts IV, a 32-yr-old milk-truck driver, kills five girls at an Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania before shooting himself.
October 4, 2006, The Dow Industrial Average closes above 11,800 for the first time rising 123.27 points, or 1.05%, finishing at 11,850.61.
October 6, 2006, Hazardous waste plant near Apex, North Carolina explodes releasing chlorine gas, resulting in the evacuation of thousands and the hospitalization of over 100 residents.
October 9, 2006, North Korea claims to have conducted its first-ever nuclear test.
October 11, 2006, New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle is killed, along with his flight instructor, when his plane crashes into a building in New York City's Upper East Side.
October 13, 2006, South Korean Ban Ki-moon is elected as the new Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Poll #17, April 2, 2007--average score, 1.98:
March 3, 2007, Total lunar eclipse.
March 8, 2007, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admits that Israel had planned an attack on Lebanon in the event of kidnapped soldiers on the border, months before Hezbollah carried out its kidnapping.
March 17, 2007, Chlorine bombs injure hundreds in Baghdad, Iraq.
March 22, 2007, NATO troops launch two assaults in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, killing 38.
March 23, 2007, Naval forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guard seize Royal Navy personnel in disputed Iran-Iraq waters.
April 2, 2007, The Solomon Islands is shaken by a magnitude 8.1 earthquake, and hit by a subsequent tsunami.
April 3, 2007, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko dissolves the Ukrainian Parliament following defections that increased the majority of his opponents. It has been nicknamed the "Second Orange Revolution".
April 4, 2007, Iran announced it will release the British sailors and marines that they captured on March 23. The captives arrive back in the UK the next day.
April 6, 2007, Severe clashes between two rival factions erupted in Parachinar, a tribal area of Pakistan bordering the famous Tora Bora Heights.
Poll #18, October 23, 2007--average score, 1.90:
September 26, 2007, First confirmed deaths resulting from the Myanmar military's crackdown on weeks long anti-government protests. Buddhist monks are arrested and Internet access is cut from the public.
October 2, 2007, The second Inter-Korean Summit begins. South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il meet in Pyongyang.
October 4, 2007, Spanish authorities arrest 22 people associated with the banned Batasuna party which campaigns for Basque independence, but also has ties to the terrorist group ETA.
October 6, 2007, Presidential election occurs in Pakistan.
October 18, 2007, After 8 years in exile, Benazir Bhutto returns to her homeland Pakistan. The same night, suicide attackers blow themselves up near Bhutto's convoy, killing 136, including 20 police officers. Bhutto escapes uninjured.
October 20, 2007, Georgia's governor Sonny Perdue declares state of emergency due to drought conditions.
October 20-November 9, 2007, Wildfires in Southern California result in the evacuation of more than 1,000,000 people and destroying over 1,600 homes and businesses.
October 24, 2007, 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 would later become larger in volume than the Sun, making it the second comet to do so in 2007 after Comet McNaught.
Poll #19, January 26, 2008--average score, 1.97:
December 27, 2007, Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated, and at least 20 others are killed by a bomb blast at an election rally in Rawalpindi.
December 31, 2007, Over 200 people are killed in Kenya due to riots over the results of the presidential election which occurred on December 27.
January 2, 2008, The price of petroleum hits US$100 per barrel for the first time.
January 3, 2008, A car bomb detonates, killing at least 4 and injuring 68, in Diyarbakır, Turkey. Police blame Kurdish rebels.
January 21, 2008, Stock markets around the world plunge amid growing fears of a U.S. recession, fueled by the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.
January 22, 2008, Russia stages the largest naval exercise since the fall of the Soviet Union in the Bay of Biscay, amid deteriorating relations with the West. The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, along with 11 support vessels and 47 long-range bomber aircraft, practiced strike tactics off the coast of France and Spain, and test-launched nuclear-capable missiles on foreign waters.
January 23, 2008, Thousands of Palestinians cross into Egypt, as the border wall with Gaza in Rafah is blown up by militants.
Poll #20, April 24, 2008—average score, 2.03:
April 27, 2008, The Taliban attempts to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a military parade in Kabul.
Poll #21, July 24, 2008—average score, 2.02:
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 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.
August 3 - A stampede at a Hindu temple at Naina Devi in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, India kills 162 and injures 400.
Poll #22, October 17, 2008—average score, 2.17:
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 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 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 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 - 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%, and plunges below 8,600 for the first time since May 21, 2003.
October 13 - Global financial crisis: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rises 936 points, or 11.1%, the biggest one-day point gain in history.
October 14 - The Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, wins a plurality in the federal elections (Canada).
October 15 - Global financial crisis: The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 733 points, or 7.87%, the second largest one-day point loss ever.
Poll #23, February 16, 2009—average score, 2.17:
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 17 - Israel declares a unilateral cease-fire against Hamas militants and puts an end to attacks after 22 days of violence in Gaza.
January 20 - Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th, and first African-American, 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 26 - The Icelandic government and banking system collapse; Prime Minister Geir Haarde immediately resigns.
January 30 - The North Korean government declares all its political and military agreements with South Korea "dead".
February 2 - The Zimbabwean government announces that one trillion Zimbabwean dollars are revalued as one new Zimbabwean dollar.
February 2 - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran has launched its own satellite, "Omid", into orbit on an Iranian-built rocket.
February 7- The deadliest bushfires in Australian history begin; they kill at least 181 people, leave another 7,500 homeless, and come after Melbourne records the highest-ever temperature (46.4° C, 115° F) of any capital city in Australia. Both arson and global warming are suspected causes.
February 12 - Continental Airlines Flight 3407, a Colgan Air aircraft, crashes into a home in Clarence Center, a suburb of Buffalo, New York, killing 49 on the plane and one on the ground.
Poll #1, June 16, 2004--average score, 1.83:
May 17, 2004, Massachusetts legalizes same-sex marriage.
May 23, 2004, A section of the ceiling in Terminal 2E at Charles de Gaulle International Airport collapses, claiming at least 6 lives.
May 26, 2004, Terry Nichols is convicted of murder charges for his part in the Oklahoma City bombing.
June 3, 2004, All outgoing flights from the UK are temporarily grounded following an air traffic control computer failure.
June 3, 2004, George Tenet, CIA Director tenders his resignation
June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States, dies at his home in Bel-Air, California, at the age of 93.
June 8, 2004, the 30th G-8 Summit takes place over the next two days on Sea Island, in Georgia (USA).
June 16, 2004, "9/11 Commission" issues an initial report of its findings.
June 21, 2004, “Spaceship One” becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve space flight.
Poll #2, July 1, 2004--average score, 1.65:
June 28, 2004, Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains collide in a rural area outside of San Antonio, Texas. Forty cars are derailed, including one chlorine car. Three people die, another 50 people are hospitalized because of exposure to the gas.
June 28, 2004, The U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq transfers sovereignty to an Iraqi Interim Government.
June 28, 2004, Canadian election: The Liberal Party, led by Paul Martin, is reduced to a minority government, after holding a majority since November 1993.
July 1, 2004, Vatican gains full membership rights in the United Nations except voting.
July 4, 2004, Groundbreaking for the Freedom Tower begins at Ground Zero in New York City.
Poll #3, July 15--average score, 1.91:
No significant world events occurred during the period July 6, 2004 and July 20, 2004.
Poll #4, August 1--average score, 1.85:
July 26-July 29, 2004, The Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts nominates John Kerry for U.S. President and John Edwards for Vice President.
August 1, 2004, A supermarket fire in Asunción, Paraguay, kills about 400 and leaves over 100 missing.
August 1, 2004, A bomb attack occurs in front of Prague's Casino Royal.
August 3, 2004, The Statue of Liberty reopens after security improvements.
Poll #5, August 15--average score, 1.65:
August 6, 2004, A United Nations report blaming the government of Sudan for crimes against humanity in Darfur is released.
August 9, 2004, At the Mihama Nuclear Power Plant, a pipe leaking hot water and steam kills 5 and injures 6 others. It is the 2nd worst nuclear disaster of Japan.
August 13-August 29, 2004, The 2004 Summer Olympics are held in Athens.
August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley kills 27 people in Florida after killing 4 in Cuba and 1 in Jamaica. Charley made 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.
Poll #6, September 1--average score, 1.89:
August 22, 2004, Armed robbers steal Edvard Munch's The Scream, Madonna, and other paintings from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.
August 24, 2004, Two airliners in Russia, carrying a total of 89 passengers, crash within minutes of each other after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, leaving no survivors. Authorities suspect suicide attacks by rebels from Chechnya to be the cause of the crashes.
August 29, 2004, 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, 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are renominated at the Republican National Convention in New York City.
August 31, 2004, Two suicide attacks on buses in Beer Sheva, Israel, kill at least 16 people and injure at least 60. Hamas claims responsibility for the attacks.
August 31, 2004, A woman commits a suicide attack near a subway station in northern Moscow, Russia, killing at least 10 people and injuring at least 50. Authorities hold Chechen rebels responsible.
September 1, 2004, Chechen terrorists take between 1,000 and 1,500 people hostage, mostly children, in a school in the Beslan school hostage crisis. The hostage-takers demand the release of Chechen terrorists imprisoned in neighboring Ingushetia and the independence of Chechnya from Russia.
September 2, 2004, The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 1559, calling for the removal of all foreign troops from Lebanon. This measure is largely aimed at Syrian troops.
September 3, 2004, Russian forces end the siege at a school in Beslan, Northern Ossetia. At least 335 people (among which are 32 of the approximately 40 hostage-takers) are killed and at least 700 people injured.
September 3, 2004, 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.
Poll #7, September 15--average score, 1.94:
September 7, 2004, 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, 2004, 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 9, 2004, A bomb blast outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, kills 11 and injures up to 100 people.
September 9, 2004, Typhoon Songda hits western Japan, killing 45 and injuring another 1,352.
September 13, 2004, The U.S. Assault Weapons Ban expires.
September 16, 2004, 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 17, 2004, Hurricane Jeanne causes mudslides in Haiti, killing 3006.
September 17, 2004, Mexico and Japan finish 2-year-long negotiations and sign a Free Trade Agreement in Mexico City.
Poll #8, October 1--average score, 1.76:
September 23, 2004, Mount St. Helens becomes active again.
September 23, 2004, 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 will kill 92 people.
September 25, 2004, Hurricane Jeanne makes landfall near Port Saint Lucie, Florida, near location Hurricane Frances hit two weeks earlier. Jeanne kills over 3,030, mostly in Haiti.
October 4, 2004, Two car bombs kill at least 16 people and injure dozens more in Baghdad.
October 5, 2004, A fire breaks out on the Canadian submarine HMCS Chicoutimi, leaving it stranded without power in the North Atlantic ocean, off the north coast of Ireland; 1 crewmember is killed.
Poll #9, October 15--average score, 1.94:
October 8, 2004, Kenneth Bigley, the British hostage held by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an Iraqi insurgent, is killed after a failed escape attempt.
October 8, 2004, Suicide bombers detonate 2 bombs at the Red Sea resort of Taba, Egypt, killing 34 people, mainly Israeli tourists and Egyptian workers.
October 9, 2004, Incumbent Prime Minister of Australia John Howard leads the Liberal-National coalition to victory over the Labor Party led by Mark Latham in federal elections.
October 9, 2004, Direct elections for president are held for the first time in Afghanistan. Interim president Hamid Karzai is eventually declared the winner.
Poll #10, November 1--average score, 2.14:
October 20, 2004, Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 crashes in Missouri, killing 13 people and injuring 2.
October 21, 2004, Typhoon Tokage hit western Japan. 98 killed, 552 injured.
October 23, 2004, A Magnitude 6.7 earthquake and aftershocks of similar scale occur in the Tokamachi area. A huge landslide occurs on the outskirts of Nagaoka. According to Japanese officials, 68 people are killed, 4,085 are injured, and 103,000 are rendered homeless.
October 24, 2004, The bodies of 49 Iraqi soldiers are discovered after being ambushed by insurgents.
October 29, 2004, A 2004 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.
October 29, 2004, European heads of state sign in Rome the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution.
November 2, 2004, United States presidential election, 2004: U.S. President George W. Bush defeats Senator John Kerry. Republicans make gains in the House and Senate.
November 2, 2004, Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh is assassinated in Amsterdam, Netherlands by Mohammed Bouyeri.
Poll #11, November 15--average score, 1.66:
November 7, 2008, 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, 2004, After 6 days of intense battles, the Iraqi town of Fallujah is fully occupied by U.S. forces.
November 14, 2004, 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 17-November 21, 2004, The APEC Summit is held in Santiago, Chile.
Poll #12, December 1--average score, 1.58:
November 21, 2004, In the final round of presidential election in Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych is declared the winner. International election observers express severe criticism, and large crowds gather in a protest rally in Kiev. Twelve days later, the Supreme Court annuls the result, and a new poll is scheduled.
November 26, 2008, A group of Iraqi political leaders, primarily from Sunni and Kurdish parties, advocate a 6-month delay in popular elections scheduled for January 2005.
Poll #13, December 15, 2004--average score, 1.59:
December 6, 2004, Terrorists attack the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing several people.
December 11, 2004, Tests show that Ukrainian opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned with a large dose of dioxin.
December 15, 2004, Albanian terrorists take a bus and its passengers hostage in Athens, Greece and demand 1 million Euros in ransom money.
Poll #14, September 1, 2005--average score, 2.42:
August 1, 2005, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia dies, succeeded by his half-brother Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
August 2, 2005, The Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is signed into law in the United States.
August 17, 2005, Bangladesh is hit by 459 nearly simultaneous small bomb explosions.
August 23, 2005, Israel's unilateral disengagement from 25 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank ends.
August 29, 2005, 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, 2005, Oil prices rise sharply following the economic effects of Hurricane Katrina.
Poll #15, July 14, 2006--average score, 2.12:
June 23, 2006, In Miami, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrests seven men, accusing them of planning to bomb the Sears Tower and other attacks in Miami.
June 28, 2006, Israel launches Operation Summer Rains, an offensive against militants in Gaza.
July 5, 2006, 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.
July 11, 2006, A series of coordinated bomb attacks strikes several commuter trains in Mumbai, India during the evening rush hour.
July 12, 2006, 2006 Lebanon War: Israeli troops invade Lebanon in response to Hezbollah kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing 3. Hezbollah declares open war against Israel 2 days later.
Poll #16, October 9, 2006--average score, 1.92:
September 10, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI gives a lecture in Germany; he quotes a criticism of the Islamic faith, sparking mass protest.
September 13, 2006, The Dawson College Shooting occurs in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, leaving one student dead and 19 others injured.
September 15, 2006, Spinach contaminated with E. coli kills one and poisons over 100 others in 20 states of the United States.
September 16, 2006, Five churches are attacked in Palestinian areas following the Pope's comments on Islam.
September 19, 2006, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand declares a state of emergency in Bangkok as members of the Royal Thai Army stage a coup d'état. The army announces the removal of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from power.
September 27, 2006, An armed suspect holds six female students as hostages in Platte Canyon High School located in Bailey, Colorado. One hostage is killed as the gunman kills himself.
October 2, 2006, Charles Carl Roberts IV, a 32-yr-old milk-truck driver, kills five girls at an Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania before shooting himself.
October 4, 2006, The Dow Industrial Average closes above 11,800 for the first time rising 123.27 points, or 1.05%, finishing at 11,850.61.
October 6, 2006, Hazardous waste plant near Apex, North Carolina explodes releasing chlorine gas, resulting in the evacuation of thousands and the hospitalization of over 100 residents.
October 9, 2006, North Korea claims to have conducted its first-ever nuclear test.
October 11, 2006, New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle is killed, along with his flight instructor, when his plane crashes into a building in New York City's Upper East Side.
October 13, 2006, South Korean Ban Ki-moon is elected as the new Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Poll #17, April 2, 2007--average score, 1.98:
March 3, 2007, Total lunar eclipse.
March 8, 2007, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admits that Israel had planned an attack on Lebanon in the event of kidnapped soldiers on the border, months before Hezbollah carried out its kidnapping.
March 17, 2007, Chlorine bombs injure hundreds in Baghdad, Iraq.
March 22, 2007, NATO troops launch two assaults in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, killing 38.
March 23, 2007, Naval forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guard seize Royal Navy personnel in disputed Iran-Iraq waters.
April 2, 2007, The Solomon Islands is shaken by a magnitude 8.1 earthquake, and hit by a subsequent tsunami.
April 3, 2007, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko dissolves the Ukrainian Parliament following defections that increased the majority of his opponents. It has been nicknamed the "Second Orange Revolution".
April 4, 2007, Iran announced it will release the British sailors and marines that they captured on March 23. The captives arrive back in the UK the next day.
April 6, 2007, Severe clashes between two rival factions erupted in Parachinar, a tribal area of Pakistan bordering the famous Tora Bora Heights.
Poll #18, October 23, 2007--average score, 1.90:
September 26, 2007, First confirmed deaths resulting from the Myanmar military's crackdown on weeks long anti-government protests. Buddhist monks are arrested and Internet access is cut from the public.
October 2, 2007, The second Inter-Korean Summit begins. South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il meet in Pyongyang.
October 4, 2007, Spanish authorities arrest 22 people associated with the banned Batasuna party which campaigns for Basque independence, but also has ties to the terrorist group ETA.
October 6, 2007, Presidential election occurs in Pakistan.
October 18, 2007, After 8 years in exile, Benazir Bhutto returns to her homeland Pakistan. The same night, suicide attackers blow themselves up near Bhutto's convoy, killing 136, including 20 police officers. Bhutto escapes uninjured.
October 20, 2007, Georgia's governor Sonny Perdue declares state of emergency due to drought conditions.
October 20-November 9, 2007, Wildfires in Southern California result in the evacuation of more than 1,000,000 people and destroying over 1,600 homes and businesses.
October 24, 2007, 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 would later become larger in volume than the Sun, making it the second comet to do so in 2007 after Comet McNaught.
Poll #19, January 26, 2008--average score, 1.97:
December 27, 2007, Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated, and at least 20 others are killed by a bomb blast at an election rally in Rawalpindi.
December 31, 2007, Over 200 people are killed in Kenya due to riots over the results of the presidential election which occurred on December 27.
January 2, 2008, The price of petroleum hits US$100 per barrel for the first time.
January 3, 2008, A car bomb detonates, killing at least 4 and injuring 68, in Diyarbakır, Turkey. Police blame Kurdish rebels.
January 21, 2008, Stock markets around the world plunge amid growing fears of a U.S. recession, fueled by the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.
January 22, 2008, Russia stages the largest naval exercise since the fall of the Soviet Union in the Bay of Biscay, amid deteriorating relations with the West. The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, along with 11 support vessels and 47 long-range bomber aircraft, practiced strike tactics off the coast of France and Spain, and test-launched nuclear-capable missiles on foreign waters.
January 23, 2008, Thousands of Palestinians cross into Egypt, as the border wall with Gaza in Rafah is blown up by militants.
Poll #20, April 24, 2008—average score, 2.03:
April 27, 2008, The Taliban attempts to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a military parade in Kabul.
Poll #21, July 24, 2008—average score, 2.02:
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 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.
August 3 - A stampede at a Hindu temple at Naina Devi in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, India kills 162 and injures 400.
Poll #22, October 17, 2008—average score, 2.17:
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 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 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 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 - 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%, and plunges below 8,600 for the first time since May 21, 2003.
October 13 - Global financial crisis: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rises 936 points, or 11.1%, the biggest one-day point gain in history.
October 14 - The Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, wins a plurality in the federal elections (Canada).
October 15 - Global financial crisis: The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 733 points, or 7.87%, the second largest one-day point loss ever.
Poll #23, February 16, 2009—average score, 2.17:
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 17 - Israel declares a unilateral cease-fire against Hamas militants and puts an end to attacks after 22 days of violence in Gaza.
January 20 - Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th, and first African-American, 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 26 - The Icelandic government and banking system collapse; Prime Minister Geir Haarde immediately resigns.
January 30 - The North Korean government declares all its political and military agreements with South Korea "dead".
February 2 - The Zimbabwean government announces that one trillion Zimbabwean dollars are revalued as one new Zimbabwean dollar.
February 2 - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran has launched its own satellite, "Omid", into orbit on an Iranian-built rocket.
February 7- The deadliest bushfires in Australian history begin; they kill at least 181 people, leave another 7,500 homeless, and come after Melbourne records the highest-ever temperature (46.4° C, 115° F) of any capital city in Australia. Both arson and global warming are suspected causes.
February 12 - Continental Airlines Flight 3407, a Colgan Air aircraft, crashes into a home in Clarence Center, a suburb of Buffalo, New York, killing 49 on the plane and one on the ground.
