2004 was a leap year, and it was the International Year of Rice, a commemoration of the fight against slavery and its abolition. The theme for World Health Day was road safety. Shrek 2 was the most grossing film of the year, with Shrek 2 topping the box office. Usher’s Confessions was the year’s best-selling album.
Marcia Kadish, 56, wedded Tanya McCloskey, 52, in the first legal same-sex marriage in Cambridge Hall, Massachusetts, on May 17. Over 77 same-sex couples were married on that day, while hundreds more same-sex couples requested marriage certificates. Because May 17 was a holiday, many of the scheduled protests did not take place. The Massachusetts Supreme Court declared on November 18, 2003, that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.
On September 13, Oprah Winfrey, the famed American TV personality, presented each member of her audience with a brand-new Pontiac G-6 vehicle worth $28,500. She handed given 276 automobiles in total. The audience cried, screamed, fainted, and were in delirium as Oprah jumped up and down and said, “Everybody gets a car!” It was one of the greatest and biggest promotional stunts in television history as her audience cried, screamed, fainted, and were in delirium as Oprah jumped up and down and said, “Everybody gets a car!” Pontiac had donated the automobiles to Oprah and paid for each one out of their advertising budget, as well as the state’s sales tax.
On Boxing Day 2004, a tsunami struck the East African coast and Southeast Asia from the Indian Ocean. A 9.3 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, triggered a tsunami that wreaked havoc on the whole Indian Ocean coastline, killing a total of 230,000 people. According to estimates, the wave had twice the energy of all WWII bombs combined.
Wangari Maathai of Kenya was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her contributions to sustainable development, peace, and democracy. Yasser Arafat, the revolutionary Palestinian leader, died on November 11th. In 1994, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres.
Continue reading to discover more about the events of 2004.
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(January 04, 2004) |
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(September 21, 2004) |
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