January
*Primaries in the US Presidential election begin. President-elect Barack Obama races to an early lead in Iowa. Later in the month, Democrat candidate John Edwards, and Republican candidate Rudolph Giuliani drop out of the race, after failing to win a selection in any state so far.
*Bush Proposes $145 Billion Stimulus Package. (Jan. 24): The Bush administration and the House hash out a $146 billion stimulus package that gives rebates of $300-$600 for individuals earning up to $75,000 and to couples with incomes up to $150,000. Families will be eligible for up to $300 in rebates for each child. Responding to a crisis in the housing market and rising oil prices, president says a combination of tax cuts for individuals and businesses will "provide a shot in the arm" to the economy. His plan, which is vague, is intended to stimulate spending.
*Markets Plunge Around the World. Responding to fears that the U.S. is headed for an imminent recession, stock markets fall drastically in Frankfurt, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Paris, London, and other major cities in Europe and Asia.
*Federal Reserve Slashes Interest Rates.In response to the plunge in markets around the world, the Federal Reserve bank cuts interest rates by .75%, the largest single-day reduction in the bank's history.
*Federal Reserve Slashes Interest Rates.In response to the plunge in markets around the world, the Federal Reserve bank cuts interest rates by .75%, the largest single-day reduction in the bank's history.
February
*John McCain emerges as the big Republican winner from Super Tuesday primaries, while the battle for the Democratic nomination remains too close to call. Republican Mitt Romney officially drops out of the race.
*Castro resigns as President of Cuba, ending a five-decade reign. The former dictator's health had been in question since 2006, when he underwent surgery on his intestine. Castro was succeeded by his brother, Raul.
*New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning evades three tackles and fires a 32-yard pass to wide receiver David Tyree for the winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLII against the New England Patriots. The last-minute touchdown seals a 17-14 win for the Giants and prevents the Patriots from becoming the first NFL side to go 19-0 for the season.
March
*John McCain secures the Republican nomination, after winning enough primaries to knock out opponent Mike Huckabee.
*Tibetan monks engage in a protest against Chinese rule of the country to commemorate the failed uprising of 1959. China acts swiftly to suppress the demonstrations, with Tibetans saying Chinese authorities have acted heavy-handedly. International attention turns to Tibet, just months before the Beijing Olympics.
*Several Are Killed in Crane Collapse. Seven people die and dozens are wounded when a construction crane collapses in Manhattan and destroys a town house and damages other buildings.
April
*Austrian man Josef Fritzl admits to imprisoning and raping his daughter Elisabeth in an underground cellar for 24-years. The 73-year old had fathered 7 children by Elisabeth, one of whom died. Fritzl faces charges of rape, incest, kidnap, slavery and false imprisonment, as well as one count of murder over the death of his infant son.
*Olympic Torch Relay Draws Protests. Dozens of human rights protesters are arrested in London after they clash with police who line the route of the Olympic torch relay. The torch is extinguished several times during the Paris leg of the relay.
*Woman Wins Indy Race. Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300, becoming the first woman to win an IndyCar race.
May
*Cyclone Nargis rips through the Irrawaddy Delta and Rangoon in Burma, killing up to146,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands more homeless. Burma's military junta is heavily criticized for its handling of the disaster, after restricting the access of international aid organizations.
*An earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale hits China's Sichuan province, killing nearly 72,000 people. Many of those killed were students, housed in shoddily-build school structures. The quake was the 19th most deadly of all time, with major aftershocks continuing for days.
June
*Barack Obama secures the Democratic Party's nomination, after a long and bitter battle with former First Lady Hillary Clinton. Clinton initially refuses to concede defeat, but eventually endorses Obama for President.
*Tiger Woods, battling crippling pain in his left knee, defeats fellow American Rocco Mediate in the first sudden-death hole of a US Open play-off. He takes the remainder of the year off after undergoing reconstructive surgery.
*California Begins Performing Same-Sex Marriages. A month after the state supreme court struck down laws prohibiting gay marriage, couples flood into city halls all over the state to get married. California is the second state, behind Massachusetts, to legalize same-sex marriage. However, the future of gay marriage is in doubt; a referendum set for November seeks to define marriage as a union between “a man and a woman.”
*Hundreds Are Killed by Typhoon in the Philippines. More than 800 people die when a ferry is struck by Typhoon Fengshen. About 500 other people die during the storm.
*Gates Ends Day-to-Day Work at Microsoft. Bill Gates remains chairman of the software giant, but he will no longer work at the company full time. Instead, he will devote more time to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
July
*Colombian troops rescue Ingrid Betancourt, three American military contractors, and 11 other hostages who were being held by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas. With the help of U.S. intelligence, equipment, and training advice, Colombian military agents, in a carefully planned ruse, trick the rebels into handing over the captives without a shot being fired. Betancourt, a Colombian politician who was kidnapped in 2002 while campaigning for the presidency, was the most prominent of hundreds of hostages held by FARC.
*California Bans Trans Fats in Restaurants. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs a law that prohibits the use of hydrogenated oils in the state's 88,000 restaurants. The law goes into effect in 2010.
August
*After much anticipation, the Beijing Olympics open to great fanfare.
*Despite its best efforts, questions surrounding China's handling of the Games refuse to dissipate, and international journalists and broadcasters become critical of authorities' handling of the media.
*Barack Obama selects Joe Biden as his Vice-Presidential running mate, just days before the Democratic National Convention opens in Denver, Colorado. Republican candidate John McCain chooses little-known Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, stealing some of the limelight away from the Democratic Convention.
*Hurricanes Fay and Gustav cause massive devastation in the Caribbean and southern parts of the United States through August and September. In September, Hurricane Ike makes landfall in Haiti, killing at least 75 people.
*A spectacular opening ceremony in the futuristic Bird's Nest stadium precedes an immaculately organized Beijing Olympics.
*In the pool, Michael Phelps wins an unprecedented eight gold medals, including seven world records, to better the record set by fellow American Mark Spitz 36 years earlier.
*On the track, Bolt breaks the world 100 and 200 metres marks in the greatest exhibition of sprinting witnessed at an Olympics.
*China head the medals table, with 51 golds, ahead of the United States.
September
*Governor Palin, who is widely praised for her opening speech, announces her unwed teenage daughter is pregnant.
*Mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae collapse, just days before investment bank Lehman Brothers follows suit. Global markets plunge as a result of the news.
*Thousands of children in China are affected by milk products tainted by melamine. The scandal spreads beyond mainland China, and several products are pulled from shelves across the globe. By the end of November, authorities revise the number to nearly 300,000 affected by the scandal, 52,000 of whom were hospitalized.
*Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong announces he is coming out of retirement and plans to race in the 2009 Tour.
October
*The US senate approves a $700 billion bailout package to help curb the affects of the global financial crisis. The package allows Treasury to buy a number of troubled assets, as well as invest in some of the US's largest banks.
*John McCain and Barack Obama embark on a series of presidential debates, but are overshadowed by their two deputies, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, whose one and only debate in November receives extraordinarily high ratings.
November
*Barack Obama wins a victory against rival John McCain in the US Presidential election, becoming the first African-American elected to the position. Over the next few weeks Obama announces who will be part of his administration, including one-time rival Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.
*California Votes to Outlaw Same-Sex Marriage. Voters narrowly pass a ballot measure, Proposition 8, that overturns the May 15, 2008, California Supreme Court decision that said same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
*Pirates Hijack Oil Tanker. The Saudi oil tanker, anchored about 480 miles off the coast of Somalia, is loaded with some two million barrels of oil, worth about $100 million. It is the first time pirates have seized an oil tanker.
December
*Journalist Throws Shoes at Bush At a news conference in Baghdad, a reporter for Al Baghdadia, a Cairo-based satellite television network, hurls his shoes at President Bush and calls him a "dog." The shoes narrowly miss Bush's head.
*Blackwater Security Guards Are Charged. Five employees of Blackwater Worldwide are charged with 14 counts of manslaughter and 20 counts of attempted manslaughter. They were involved in the September 2007 shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad's Nisoor Square. The incident strained the relationship between the governments of Iraq and the U.S.
*Organizers of Sept. 11 Attacks Say They Will Plead Guilty. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, suspected of being the mastermind of the attacks, and four co-defendants tell the military judge at Guantanamo Bay that they want to confess to all charges of murder and war crimes. The judge, Col. Stephen Henley, tells prosecutors that they must report back on whether the suspects can be sentenced to death without being found guilty by a military jury.
*Illinois Governor Accused of Selling Obama's Senate Seat. In several phone conversations with advisers that were recorded by the FBI since the Nov. 4, 2008, election, Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, plotted ways to benefit financially from his duty to fill Chicago's senate seat that was vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
**I compiled this list from 4 lists that I found when I 'googled' 2008/events/review.**
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