2008
Encyclopedia : 2 : 20 : 200 : 2008
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2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar.
Contents
Predicted events
- Is the year of the Rat (zodiac) in Chinese Astrology and is the year of Aries in Western Astrology.
- Is the year Liverpool and Stavanger are the European Capital of Culture.
- Beijing, China is set to host the 2008 Summer Olympics.
- Karlsruhe, Germany is set to host the european juggling convention EJC 2008.
- FIFA will announce the host country of the 2014 FIFA World Cup
- The FIA will introduce new regulations for the Formula 1 in order to reduce the costs and improve racing.
- On June 22, 2006, it was confirmed that Futurama would be returning for a run of at least 13 episodes on Comedy Central, to air beginning in 2008.
- Aston Martin's Rapide will be produced late 2007 (2008 production year). As of now it is a concept car.
January-April
- January 1 - Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia and Malta set to adopt the Euro. Slovenia will start the presidency of European Union as the first of new member states.
- January 15 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its first of three flybys of Mercury at 200 km altitude, to decrease velocity enough to a 2011 orbit insertion.
- January 20 - Scheduled parliamentary elections in the Faroe Islands
- January 20 - Scheduled opening ceremony of the 2008 African Cup of Nations to be held in Ghana.
- February 1 - Sweden plans to cease analog television broadcasts
- February 3 - Super Bowl XLII to be held in Glendale, Arizona.
- February 7 - Annular solar eclipse
- February - The 2008 NBA All-Star game is to be played in New Orleans, the first year the New Orleans Hornets are expected to return full time to New Orleans.
- March - 2008 presidential election to be held in Taiwan.
- March 23 - Easter Sunday. Easter has not fallen this early since 1913.
- April 5 to April 7 - NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four to be held at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
- April - Some Rastas believe that Haile Selassie will be resurrected due to the belief that he will rise after 33.3 years, the approximate age of Jesus when he died.
May-August
- May 12 - Cassini Spacecraft is set to orbit within 100 km of Enceladus, its closest encounter of the sixth largest moon of Saturn.
- May 16 - Presidential election slated in the Dominican Republic.
- May 25 - The Colón Theatre is set to re-open on its 100 years anniversary after 2 years of extensive repairments.
- June 8 - NASA's Pluto probe New Horizons will cross the orbit of Saturn, after 2½ years journey. The Voyagers spend 3 to 4 years to get to Saturn.
- June 14 - Expo 2008 scheduled to begin in Zaragoza, Spain.
- June 28 - Schedule remodeling of White House
- June - UEFA Euro 2008 Championship tournament. Joint hosts Switzerland and Austria.
- July 15 to July 20 - World Youth Day 2008 in Homebush, Sydney, Australia
- July 16 - The 20th anniersary of the anime, Akira (film).
- July 31 - Bill Gates is stepping down from daily duties at the Microsoft Corporation after over 3 decades.
- August 1 - Total solar eclipse: northern Canada, Siberia, Mongolia, northern China
- August 2 - August 10 - The 31st european juggling convention (EJC) will be held in Karlsruhe, Germany
- August 2 - August 9 - The National Eisteddfod of Wales will be held in Cardiff, South Wales
- August 8 - 2008 Summer Olympics scheduled to begin in Beijing, China
- August 15 - One decade on from the 1998 Omagh Bombing in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
- August - World Congress on Philosophy in Seoul, the capital of South Korea
September-December
- September 11 - Tentative topping-out of Freedom Tower at World Trade Center site exactly seven years to the date of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
- September 17 - General Election in New Zealand
- October 6 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes the second of three flybys of Mercury.
- October 14 - 100th anniversary of the Chicago Cubs' last World Series victory, presuming that they do not win in either 2006 or 2007.
- November 4 - Presidential election slated in the United States to elect the 44th President of the United States.
- November 4 - Gubernatorial election slated in Puerto Rico to elect the Governor of the island.
- November 26 - If still Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair will surpass Margaret Thatcher's length of time in office.
Unknown dates
- The Indian Space Research Organization plans human spaceflight.
- The United Nations is to review drug policies around the world. [link] [link]
- Both Liverpool (England) and Stavanger (Norway) are European Capital of Culture
- The ECB is expected to issue a new series of euro banknotes, replacing the old series, and should include new security features along with the incorporation of Cyprus on the EU map.
- Tentative year for the completion of the Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and the International Business Center in Seoul, South Korea
- Forecasted year of worldwide production decline in oil given by the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas
- Forecasted year of OPEC oil production exceeding non-OPEC oil production given by "The Peak Of World Oil Production And The Road To The Olduvai Gorge" by Richard C. Duncan
- The United Kingdom plans to begin 5-year process to cease analog television broadcasts region-by-region, starting with Border, Westcountry and HTV Wales.
- Boeing's 787 aircraft will enter service.
- The Rugby League World Cup will be held in Australia.
- Australia plans to cease analogue television broadcasts.
- The Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino will be completed
- The 178-metre high Singapore Flyer is expected to be completed in the first quarter and could become the tallest observation wheel in the world.
- Peru will host the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
- A vaccine to wipe out the virus that causes cervical cancer is expected to be ready this year.
- The Palm, Jumeirah, part of the Palm Islands development, is expected to be completed this year in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
- Singapore Changi Airport's Terminal 3 is due to be completed in this time frame.
- Eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Faith No More, Madonna, Metallica, Pantera, R.E.M., Slayer, The Smiths, Violent Femmes
- A movie for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to be released.
Fiction
- According to Capcom, the year "200X" in which Mega Man 2 takes place is 2008.
- Twisted Metal 3, made in 1998 takes place in this year.
- Sam Fisher (Splinter Cell)'s daughter, Sarah Fisher, dies.
- In the computer game Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Russia attempts to reunite the Soviet Union and invades several Eastern European countries. The UN intervenes with Peace-Keeping Forces.
- In the WB series finale Dawson's Creek, this is the year when the characters meet once again. According to the storyline, John Mayer will be on tour (Since the character Joey Potter declaims the character Audrey Lidell is touring with John Mayer as a back up singer). Also, there will be a series called "The Creek" based on character Dawson Leery's life (Basically is a "Dawson's Creek" inside the show called "The Creek"); it also is established that there will be a McDonald's on Hudsons already (on the show's fictitious Capeside, MA)
- In commemoration of Ian Fleming's 100th birthday this year, Ian Fleming Publications has announced the publication of a new James Bond novel, to be written by a noted author. As of November 2009, no further details of this project have been released. This will be the first novel published featuring the adult version of Bond since 2002.
- The science fiction film Silent Running takes place in 2008.
- The events of the 1992 dystopian science fiction film Split Second, starring Rutger Hauer, take place.
- In the 1999 animated comedy Futurama, suicide booths are said to be invented in this year (Space Pilot 3000).
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