Norberto Bobbio

Norberto Bobbio (October 18, 1909 – January 9, 2004) was an Italian philosopher of law and political sciences and an historian of political thought. He also wrote regularly for the Turin-based daily La Stampa. Bobbio was a liberal socialist in the tradition of Piero Gobetti, Carlo Rosselli, Guido Calogero, and Aldo Capitini. He was also strongly influenced by Hans Kelsen and Vilfredo Pareto.

Life and views

Bobbio was born into what his Guardian obituary described as "...a relatively wealthy, middle-class Turin family" whose sympathies Bobbio would later characterize as "'philo-fascist', regarding fascism as a necessary evil against the supposedly greater danger of Bolshevism".
In high school he met Vittorio Foa, Leone Ginzburg and Cesare Pavese. At the university he became a friend of Alessandro Galante Garrone. In 1942, under the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini and during World War II, Bobbio joined the then-illegal radical liberal party Partito d'Azione ("Party of Action") and was briefly imprisoned 1943 and 1944. He ran unsuccessfully in the 1946 constituent assembly elections. With the party's failure in a post-war Italy dominated by the Christian Democrats, Bobbio left electoral politics and focused back in academia. A strong advocate of the rule of law, the separation of powers, and the limitation of powers, he was a socialist, but opposed to what he perceived as the anti-democratic elements in most Marxism. He was a strong partisan of the "Historic Compromise" between the Italian Communist Party and the Christian Democrats, and a fierce critic of Silvio Berlusconi. He died in Turin, the same city in which he was born and lived most of his life.

Academic career and honors

Bobbio studied Philosophy of Law with Gioele Solari; he later taught this curriculum in Camerino, Siena, Padua, and ultimately back in Turin as Solari's successor in 1948; from 1972 to 1984, he had a chair in the newly created faculty of political science in Turin. He was a National Associate of the Lincean Academy and longtime director (together with Nicola Abbagnano) of the Rivista di Filosofia (magazine for Philosophy). He became a Corresponding Associate of the British Academy in 1966; in 1979 he was nominated as Senator-for-life by Italian President Sandro Pertini. He received diplomas honoris causa from the Universities of Paris, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Bologna, and Chambéry.

Major Works

- L'indirizzo fenomenologico nella filosofia sociale e giuridica (Phenomenological Turn in Social and Legal Philosophy, Torino, 1934
- Scienza e tecnica del diritto (The Science and Technical Aspects of Law), Torino, 1934
- L'analogia nella logica del diritto (The Use of Analogy in Legal Logic), Torino, 1938
- La consuetudine come fatto normativo (Custom as a Normative Fact), Padova, 1942
- La filosofia del decadentismo (The Philosophy of Decadence), Torino, 1945
- Teoria della scienza giuridica (Theory of Legal Science), Torino, 1950
- Politica e cultura (Politics and Culture), Torino, 1955
- Studi sulla teoria generale del diritto (Essays in the General Theory of Law), Torino, 1955
- Teoria della norma giuridica (A Theory of Judicial Norms), Torino, 1958
- Teoria dell'ordinamento giuridico (A Theory of Legal Order), Torino, 1960
- Il positivismo giuridico (Legal Positivism), Torino, 1961
- Locke e il diritto naturale (Locke and Natural Law), Torino, 1963
- Italia civile (Civil Italy), Torino, 1964
- Giusnaturalismo e positivismo giuridico (Natural Law and Legal Postivism, Milano, 1965
- Da Hobbes a Marx (From Hobbes to Marx), Napoli, 1965
- Profilo ideologico del Novecento italiano (An Ideological Profile of Nineteenth Century Italy), Torino, 1960, 1990 (new edition)
- Saggi sulla scienza politica in Italia (Tests of Political Science in Italy), Torino, 1969
- Diritto e Stato nel pensiero di E. Kant (Law and State in the Thought of Immanuel Kant, Torino, 1969
- Ideological Profile Of Italy In The Twentieth Century (1969) ¹
- Una filosofia militante: studi su Carlo Cattaneo (A Militant Philosopher: Essays on Carlo Cattaeno), Torino, 1971
- Quale socialismo (Which Socialism), Torino, 1977
- I problemi della guerra e le vie della pace (The Problem of War and the Roads to Peace), Bologna, 1979
- Studi hegeliani (Hegelian Essays), Torino, 1981
- Il futuro della democrazia (The Future of Democracy: A Defence Of The Rules Of The Game), Torino, 1984
- Maestri e compagni (Teachers and Companions), Firenze, 1984
- State, Government And Society (English-language publication 1985)
- Il terzo assente, (The Absent Third) Torino, 1988
- Thomas Hobbes, Torino, 1989
- L'età dei diritti (The Rule of Law), Torino, 1989
- The Age Of Rights (English-language publication 1990)
- A Just War? (1991), a defense of the Gulf War, about which he later changed his mind. ¹
- Destra e sinistra (Right and Left), Roma, 1994
- In Praise Of Meekness (1994) ¹
- De senectute (Of Old Age; the Latin title is an allusion to Cicero's Cato Maior de Senectute, Torino, 1996
- Autobiografia (Autobiography), Roma, Bari, 1999
- Dialogo intorno alla repubblica (Dialogue about the Republic), Bari, 2001 ¹ These works, unmentioned in the translated Italian-language article on Bobbio, are mentioned the Guardian obituary.
External links

- [http://www.erasmo.it/gobetti/ The Works of Norberto Bobbio], a multilingual site
References

- This article began as a translation of the corresponding article in the Italian-language Wikipedia, retrieved January 31, 2005. Additional information from:
- Bellamy, Richard, [http://education.guardian.co.uk/obituary/story/0,12212,1122036,00.html "Norberto Bobbio"], obituary in The Guardian, January 13, 2004
- Johnson, Alan [http://www.workersliberty.org/node/view/1613 "Norberto Bobbio, 1909-2004"], obituary from Workers' Liberty as retrieved on Jan 23, 2005 Bobbio Bobbio Bobbio Category:Socialists Bobbio Bobbio Bobbio

October 18
October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in Leap years). There are 74 days remaining.
Events

- 1009 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the "mad" Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church's foundations down to bedrock.
- 1016 - The Danes defeat the Saxons in the Battle of Ashingdon.
- 1210 - Pope Innocent III excommunicates German leader Otto IV
- 1561 - Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima -- Takeda Shingen defeats Uesugi Kenshin in the climax of their ongoing conflicts
- 1685 - Louis XIV of France revokes the Edict of Nantes, which has protected French Protestants
- 1748 - Signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession.
- 1767 - Mason-Dixon line, survey separating Maryland from Pennsylvania is completed
- 1851 - Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.
- 1860 - The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty.
- 1867 - United States takes possession of Alaska, from Russia, celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day ($7.2 million paid).
- 1898 - United States takes possession of Puerto Rico.
- 1908 - Belgium annexes the Congo Free State.
- 1912 - The First Balkan War begins.
- 1922 - The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded by a consortium, to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service.
- 1925 - The Grand Ole Opry opens.
- 1944 - Adolf Hitler orders the establishment of a German national militia.
- 1944 - Soviet Union invades Czechoslovakia
- 1945 - The USSR's nuclear program receives plans for the USA's plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory
- 1945 - A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, staged a coup d'etát against then president Isaías Medina Angarita, who was definitely overthrown by the end of the day.
- 1954 - Texas Instruments announces the first Transistor radio
- 1964 - The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair closes for its first season after a six-month run.
- 1968 - A police raid on John Lennon and Yoko Ono's flat finds 168 grains of marijuana. They later plead guilty and are fined £150.
- 1968 - The U.S. Olympic Committee suspends two black athletes for giving a "black power" salute during a victory ceremony at the Mexico City games.
- 1968 - Bob Beamon sets a world record of 8.90m in the long jump at the Mexico City games. This becomes the longest unbroken track and field record in history, standing for 23 years, and is later named by Sports Illustrated magazine as one of the five greatest sporting moments of the 20th century.
- 1969 - Jefferson Airplane member Paul Kantner is charged with possession of marijuana on Hawaii.
- 1974 - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre opens in theaters.
- 1977 - German Autumn: a set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns-Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is executed and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide. The (West) German government states that it would never again negotiate with terrorists.
- 1977 - Reggie Jackson hits three consecutive home runs.
- 1985 - Nintendo releases the Nintendo Entertainment System in the United States.
- 1988 - Green Day plays their first ever concert.
- 1989 - East German leader Erich Honecker resigns.
- 1993 - Andreas Papandreou begins his second term as Prime Minister of Greece.
- 2003 - Bolivian Gas War: President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, is forced to resign and leave Bolivia.
- 2005 - The Nameless Novel aka Book The Twelfth of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is released to the public.
Births

- 1127 - Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (d. 1192)
- 1405 - Pope Pius II (d. 1464)
- 1517 - Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (d. 1570)
- 1547 - Justus Lipsius, Flemish humanist (d. 1606)
- 1569 - Giambattista Marini, Italian poet (d. 1625)
- 1595 - Edward Winslow, Plymouth Colony founder (d. 1655)
- 1634 - Luca Giordano, Italian artist (d. 1705)
- 1653 - Abraham van Riebeeck, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1713)
- 1662 - Matthew Henry, English non-conformist minister (d. 1714)
- 1668 - John George IV, Elector of Saxony (d. 1694)
- 1679 - Ann Putnam, Jr., American accuser in the Salem Witch Trials (d. 1716)
- 1701 - Charles le Beau, French historian (d. 1778)
- 1706 - Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (d. 1785)
- 1741 - Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, French general and author (d. 1803)
- 1777 - Heinrich von Kleist, German writer (d. 1811)
- 1785 - Thomas Love Peacock, English satirist (d. 1866)
- 1854 - Billy Murdoch, Australian Cricketer (d. 1911)
- 1859 - Henri Bergson, French philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (d. 1941)
- 1873 - Ivanoe Bonomi, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1951)
- 1893 - Georges Ohsawa, Japanese founder of Macrobiotics (d. 1966)
- 1898 - Lotte Lenya, Austrian singer and actress (d. 1981)
- 1898 - Shin'ichi Suzuki, Japanese violinist (d. 1998)
- 1902 - Miriam Hopkins, American actress (d. 1972)
- 1903 - Lina Radke, German athlete (d. 1983)
- 1906 - James Brooks, American painter (d. 1992)
- 1909 - Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher and legal theorist (d. 2004)
- 1911 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian guru
- 1913 - Robert Gilruth, American aviation and space pioneer (d. 2000)
- 1918 - Bobby Troup, American musician (d. 1999)
- 1919 - Anita O'Day, American singer
- 1919 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau, fifteenth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2000)
- 1920 - Melina Mercouri, Greek actress and political activist (d. 1994)
- 1921 - Jesse Helms, U.S. Senator from North Carolina
- 1926 - Chuck Berry, American musician
- 1926 - Klaus Kinski, German actor (d. 1991)
- 1927 - George C. Scott, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1928 - Keith Jackson, American football commentator
- 1928 - Hugh Allan "Buddy" MacMaster, Canadian musician
- 1929 - Violeta Chamorro, President of Nicaragua
- 1931 - Chris Albertson, American jazz historian
- 1934 - Inger Stevens, Swedish actress (d. 1970)
- 1934 - Chuck Swindoll, American evangelist
- 1935 - Peter Boyle, American actor
- 1939 - Mike Ditka, American football player, coach, and commentator
- 1939 - Lee Harvey Oswald, American assassin of John F. Kennedy (d. 1963)
- 1946 - Howard Shore, Canadian film composer
- 1947 - Joe Morton, American actor
- 1947 - Laura Nyro, American singer and songwriter (d. 1997)
- 1948 - Ntozake Shange, American author
- 1949 - George Hendrick, baseball player
- 1950 - Om Puri, Indian actor
- 1950 - Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright
- 1951 - Terry McMillan, American author
- 1956 - Martina Navratilova, Czech-born tennis player
- 1960 - Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian actor
- 1961 - Wynton Marsalis, American musician
- 1970 - Jose Padilla, American gang member and suspected terrorist
- 1974 - Robbie Savage, Welsh footballer
- 1976 - Azlea Antistia, American actress
- 1976 - David Wong, pianist
- 1977 - Ryan Nelsen, New Zealander footballer
Deaths

- 707 - Pope John VII
- 1035 - Sancho III of Navarre
- 1101 - Hugh of Vermandois, son of Henry I of France (b. 1053)
- 1141 - Margrave Leopold IV of Austria
- 1417 - Pope Gregory XII
- 1503 - Pope Pius III (b. 1439)
- 1545 - John Taverner, English composer
- 1558 - Maria of Austria, queen of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (b. 1505)
- 1564 - Johannes Acronius Frisius, German physician and mathematician (b. 1520)
- 1570 - Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (b. 1517)
- 1604 - Igram van Achelen, Dutch statesman (b. 1528)
- 1646 - Isaac Jogues, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1607)
- 1667 - Fasilidos, Emperor of Ethiopia
- 1678 - Jacob Jordaens, Flemish painter (b. 1593)
- 1739 - Antônio José da Silva, Brazilian-born dramatist (b. 1705)
- 1744 - Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, English friend of Anne of England (b. 1660)
- 1770 - John Manners, Marquess of Granby, British soldier (b. 1721)
- 1775 - Christian August Crusius, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1715)
- 1817 - Etienne-Nicolas Méhul, French composer (b. 1763)
- 1886 - Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician (b. 1796)
- 1871 - Charles Babbage, English mathematician and inventor (b. 1791)
- 1893 - Charles Gounod, French composer (b. 1818)
- 1911 - Alfred Binet, French psychologist (b. 1857)
- 1921 - King Ludwig III of Bavaria (b. 1845)
- 1931 - Thomas Edison, American inventor (b. 1847)
- 1959 - Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian athlete
- 1975 - Al Lettieri, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1982 - Bess Truman, First Lady of the United States (b. 1885)
- 1983 - Willie Jones, baseball player (b. 1925)
- 2000 - Julie London, American singer and actress (b. 1926)
- 2000 - Gwen Verdon, American dancer and actress (b. 1925)
- 2001 - Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete and musician (b. 1922)
- 2002 - Nikolai Rukavishnikov, cosmonaut (b. 1932)
- 2002 - Roman Tam, Hong Kong singer (b. 1950)
- 2003 - Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Spanish writer (b. 1939)
- 2003 - Preston Smith, Governor of Texas (b. 1912)
- 2004 - Veerappan, Indian bandit and smuggler (b. 1945)
- 2005 - John Hollis, British actor (b. 1931)
Holidays and observances

- R.C. Church, Anglican communion, et alii - Feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist
- Also see October 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- USA : Alaska: Alaska Day
External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/18 BBC: On This Day] ---- October 17 - October 19 - September 18 - November 18 - more historical anniversaries ko:10월 18일 ms:18 Oktober ja:10月18日 simple:October 18 th:18 ตุลาคม

1909

1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar).

Events

January – March

- January 16 - Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.
- January 28 - United States troops leave Cuba after being there since the Spanish-American War.
- February 12 - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.
- February 23 - The Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire.
- February 24 - The Hudson Motor Car Company is founded.
- March 4 - End of term for Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States. He is succeeded by William Howard Taft.
- March 18 - Einar Dessau uses a short-wave radio transmitter becoming the first to broadcast as a ham radio operator.
- March 23 - Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
- March 31 - Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia-Herzegovina.

April – June

- April 6 - Robert Peary allegedly reaches the North Pole.
- April 27 - Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II is overthrown and succeeded by his brother, Muhammad V. He leaves the country the next day.
- May - Choosing a vocation by Frank Parsons (died 1908) is published.
- June 1 - The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition opens in Seattle.
- June 2 - Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
- June 9 – Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22-year-old housewife and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, became the first woman to drive across the United States. With three female companions, none of whom could drive a car, for fifty-nine days she drove a Maxwell automobile the 3,800 miles from Manhattan, New York to San Francisco, California.
- June 15 - Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lords and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.
- June 22 - Construction begins on the Cape Cod Canal, which would separate Cape Cod from mainland Massachusetts, United States.

July – September

- July 13 - Gold discovered near Cochrane, Ontario.
- July 16 - A revolution forces Mohammad Ali Shah, Persian Shah of the Qajar dynasty to abdicate in favor of his son Ahmad Shah Qajar. He proceeds in leaving Persia for Imperial Russia, reportedly seeking the assistance of Nicholas II of Russia in regaining the throne.
- July 25 - Louis Bleriot is the first man to fly across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air craft.
- August 8 - Launching of The Rosicrucian Fellowship at Seattle (Washington). Later, in October 28 1911, its international headquarters, till today, were physically launched at Mount Ecclesia, Oceanside (California, United States) and the Healing Temple "The Ecclesia" was lauched in December 25 1920.
- September 9 - Comet Halley first recorded on a photographic plate.
- September 10-21 – Hurricane sweeps over Louisiana and Mississippi - 350 dead
- September 25 – Auroras seen in Singapore.

October – December

- October 2 - The first rugby football match played in Twickenham
- November 11 - US Navy founds a navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
- November 13 - Ballinger-Pinchot scandal begins: Collier's magazine accuses US Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger of questionable dealings in Alaskan coal fields.
- November 18 - Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of dictator José Santos Zelaya.
- November - First edition of Max Heindel's magnum opus The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception.
- December 4 - The University of Bristol was founded and received its Royal Charter.
- December 17 - Léopold II of Belgium dies and is succeeded by his nephew Albert I of Belgium

Month/date unknown

- William Dickson Boyce, a United States businessman visiting London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is introduced to members of the Scouting movement. The following year Boyce becomes founder of the Boy Scouts of America.
- Karl Landsteiner develops system of blood groups.
- Leon's, a Canadian furniture chain is first opened.
- Britain introduces Minimum Wage Laws.
- Old age pensions in Britain
- The laboratory of Paul Ehrlich creates the Salvarsan treatment for syphilis
- Mohorovičić discontinuity discovered
- Centennial anniversary of Miami University (Ohio)
- American Issue Publishing House of Anti-Saloon League incorporated.

Births

January

- January 1 - Barry Goldwater, American politician (d. 1998)
- January 3 - Victor Borge, Danish entertainer (d. 2000)
- January 5 - Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician (d. 1994)
- January 8 - Willy Millowitsch, German actor (d. 1999)
- January 13 - Marinus van der Lubbe, Dutch communist accused of setting fire to the Reichstag (d. 1934)
- January 15 - Jean Bugatti, German-born automobile designer (d. 1939)
- January 15 - Gene Krupa, American drummer (d. 1973)
- January 16 - Clement Greenberg, American art critic (d. 1994)
- January 19 - Hans Hotter, German bass-baritone (d. 2003)
- January 22 - Ann Sothern, American actress (d. 2001)
- January 22 - U Thant, Burmese United Nations Secretary General (d. 1974)
- January 24 - Martin Lings, British Islamic scholar (d. 2005)

February

- February 3 - Simone Weil, French philosopher (d. 1943)
- February 9 - Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-born actress and singer (d. 1955)
- February 9 - Dean Rusk, United States Secretary of State (d. 1994)
- February 11 - Max Baer, American boxer and actor (d. 1959)
- February 11 - Joseph Mankiewicz, American filmmaker (d. 1993)
- February 15 - Guillermo Gorostiza Paredes, Spanish footballer (d. 1966)
- February 15 - Miep Gies, Dutch friend and biographer of Anne Frank
- February 18 - Wallace Stegner, American writer (d. 1993)
- February 24 - August Derleth, American writer (d. 1971)
- February 26 - King Talal of Jordan (d.1972)

March

- March 1 - David Niven, English actor (d. 1983)
- March 2 - Mel Ott, baseball player (d. 1958)
- March 4 - Harry Helmsley, American real estate entrepreneur (d. 1997)
- March 19 - Louis Hayward, South African-born actor (d. 1985)
- March 22 - Gabrielle Roy, Canadian author (d. 1983)
- March 24 - Clyde Barrow, American outlaw (d. 1934)
- March 27 - Golo Mann, German historian (d. 1994)

April

- April 13 - Stanislaw Marcin Ulam, Polish-born mathematician (d. 1984)
- April 22 - Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- April 30 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004)

May

- May 7 - Edwin H. Land, American camera inventor (d. 1991)
- May 10 - Mother Maybelle Carter, American musician (d. 1978)
- May 15 - James Mason, British actor (d. 1984)
- May 18 - Fred Perry, English tennis player (d. 1995)
- May 30 - Benny Goodman, American musician (d. 1986)

June

- June 6 - Isaiah Berlin, Russian historian of ideas (d. 1997)
- June 7 - Jessica Tandy, English actress (d. 1994)
- June 14 - Burl Ives, American singer (d. 1995)
- June 17 - Elmer Lee Andersen, Governor of Minnesota (d. 2004)
- June 20 - Errol Flynn, Australian actor (d. 1959)
- June 26 - Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch-born celebrity manager (d. 1997)

July

- July 18 - Mohammed Daoud Khan, President of Afghanistan (d. 1978)
- July 28 - Malcolm Lowry, British novelist (d. 1957)
- July 30 - C. Northcote Parkinson, British historian and author (d. 1993)

August

- August 9 - Adam von Trott zu Solz, German lawyer and diplomat (d. 1944)
- August 25 - Ruby Keeler, Canadian singer and actress (d. 1993)
- August 25 - Michael Rennie, English actor (d. 1971)
- August 26 - Jim Davis, American actor (d. 1981)

September

- September 7 - Elia Kazan, Hungarian-born film director (d. 2003)
- September 14 - Peter Scott, British ornithologist and painter (d. 1989)
- September 21 - Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanian politician (d. 1972)
- September 24 - Carl Sigman, American songwriter (d. 2000)
- September 28 - Al Capp, American cartoonist (d. 1979)

October

- October 14 - Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver (d. 1938)
- October 24 - Bill Carr, American athlete (d. 1966)
- October 28 - Francis Bacon, British painter (d. 1992)

November

- November 4 - Skeeter Webb, baseball player (d. 1986)
- November 10 - Paweł Jasienica, Polish historian (d. 1970)
- November 18 - Johnny Mercer, American songwriter (d. 1976)
- November 23 - Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and writer (d. 2000)
- November 24 - Gerhard Gentzen, German mathematician (d. 1945)
- November 27 - James Agee, American writer (d. 1955)

December

- December 14 - Edward Lawrie Tatum, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1975)
- December 20 - Vagn Holmboe, Danish composer (d. 1996)
- December 22 - Alan Carney, American actor (d. 1973)
- December 23 - Barney Ross, American boxer (d. 1967)
- December 23 - Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 2000)
- December 23 - Giulio Racah, Israeli mathematician and physicist (d. 1965)

Deaths

- January 12 - Hermann Minkowski, German mathematician (b. 1864)
- January 14 - Arthur William a Beckett, British journalist (b. 1844)
- April 10 - Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet (b. 1837)
- May 19 - Isaac Albéniz, Spanish composer (b. 1860)
- June 24 - Sarah Orne Jewett, American writer (b. 1849)
- August 27 - Emil Christian Hansen, Danish fermentation physiologist (b. 1842)
- September 4 - Clyde Fitch, American dramatist (b. 1865)
- October 26 - Prince Hirobumi Ito, Japanese governor of Korea (assassinated) (b. 1841)
- December 17 - Léopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)

Date unknown

- Gideon T. Stewart, American educator and politician (b. 1824)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Guglielmo Marconi, Karl Ferdinand Braun for the development of wireless telegraphy (radio)
- Chemistry - Wilhelm Ostwald for his work on catalysis, chemical equilibria, and reaction velocities
- Medicine - Emil Theodor Kocher for his work on the physiology, pathology, and surgery of the thyroid gland
- Literature - Selma Lagerlöf
- Peace - Auguste Marie Francois Beernaert and Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant Category:1909 ko:1909년 ms:1909 ja:1909年 simple:1909 th:พ.ศ. 2452

2004

2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. It was designated the:
- International Year of Rice (by the United Nations)
- International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO)
- 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization)
- Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in 2004 for a description of the state of the world in this year. See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.
Events

January

- January 1 - Pervez Musharraf gets a vote of confidence from an electoral college consisting of Parliament and the provincial assemblies, confirming him as President of Pakistan until 2007.
- January 3 - Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, killing all 148 aboard.
- January 4 - Mikhail Saakashvili wins the presidential elections in Georgia.
- January 4 -NASA's MER-A (Spirit) lands on Mars.
- January 8 - Queen Elizabeth II christens the RMS Queen Mary 2 cruise liner, currently the largest ocean liner in the world.
- January 13 - An Uzbekistan Airways plane crashes in Uzbekistan's capital of Tashkent, killing 37.
- January 22 - The European Union bans the import of poultry from Thailand, as bird flu spreads throughout Southeast Asia.
- January 24 - NASA's MER-B (Opportunity) lands on Mars.
- January 27 - The British government narrowly wins a House of Commons vote on the proposed introduction of tuition top-up fees in British universities.
- January 28 - The findings of the Hutton Inquiry are published in London. The British Government is found not to have falsified information in the "sexed up dossier". The report criticises the BBC's role in the death of David Kelly, a weapons expert on Iraq.
- January 28 - At a hearing of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, it is revealed that the September 11, 2001, terrorists used Mace (a brand of tear gas) or pepper spray in overpowering the flight crew of American Airlines Flight 11.
February

- February 1 - A hajj stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills 251 pilgrims.
- February 3 - The CIA admits that there was no imminent threat from weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
- February 6 - A suicide bomber kills 41 people on a metro car in Moscow.
- February 7 - Several leaders of Abnaa el-Balad arrested in Israel.
- February 10 - At least 50 people killed in a car bomb attack on a police recruitment centre south of Baghdad.
- February 10 - The French National Assembly votes to pass a law banning religious items and clothing from schools.
- February 12 - Same sex marriage in the United States: The City and County of San Francisco begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as an act of civil disobedience.
- February 13 - Scientists in South Korea announce the cloning of 30 human embryos.
- February 14 - Riots break out between New South Wales Police and Aboriginal residents of Redfern, a suburb of Sydney, Australia.
- February 18 - A train carrying a convoy of petrol, fertiliser, and sulfur derails and explodes in Iran, killing 320 people.
- February 20 - Conservatives win a majority in the Iranian parliament election.
- February 24 - 6.5 Richter scale earthquake in Northern Morocco hits in the Rif mountains near the city of Al Hoceima - over 400 dead. Ait Kamara is destroyed. 517 dead.
- February 25- Ash Wednesday. Also, the religious docudrama, The Passion of the Christ was released.
- February 26 - The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya, ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years.
- February 26 - Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- February 29 - 2004 Haiti rebellion: Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as president of Haiti. The chief justice of the Haitian Supreme Court, Boniface Alexandre, is sworn in as interim president.
- February 29 - The film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King directed by Peter Jackson wins 11 Academy Awards in every category it was nominated.
March

- March 2 - John Kerry effectively clinches the 2004 U.S. Democratic Party presidential nomination by winning nine out of 10 "Super Tuesday" primaries and caucuses.
- March 2 - NASA announces that the Mars rover MER-B (Opportunity), has confirmed that the area of Mars they landed in was once drenched in water.
- March 10 - Five British men released from detention at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay land at RAF Brize Norton. Four are immediately arrested for questioning.
- March 11 - Simultaneous explosions on rush hour trains in Madrid kill 190 people.
- March 12 - Following the terrorist attacks in Madrid on March 11, millions of protesters take to the streets of Spanish cities against terrorism.
- March 14 - Two suicide bombers kill eleven Israeli civilians in Ashdod, Israel.
- March 14 - The Spanish parliamentary elections of 2004 take place. The incumbent government led by José María Aznar is defeated by the Socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
- March 14 - Presidential elections in Russia are held. Vladimir Putin easily wins a second term.
- March 15 - A trio of astronomers announce they have discovered a large trans-Neptunian object, the largest object found in the solar system since Pluto was discovered in 1930. Initially designated 2003 VB₁₂, it was named 90377 Sedna in late September.
- March 15 - The new Spanish government announces that it will withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops in Iraq.
- March 17 - Organized violence breaks out over two days in Kosovo. Nineteen people are killed, 139 Serbian homes are burned, schools and businesses are vandalized, and over 30 orthodox monasteries and churches are burned and destroyed.
- March 19 - The UN launches a corruption investigation due to the scandal over its Iraqi Oil for Food program.
- March 20 - President Chen Shui-bian wins the Taiwanese presidential election by 0.2% of the vote. The day before, he and Vice President Annette Lu were 'shot'. Lien Chan refuses to concede and demands a recount. A controversial 'peace referendum' opposed by the People's Republic of China is invalidated.
- March 21 - The 2004 Malaysian general election takes place. The incumbent Barisan Nasional party wins 198 out of 219 seats in the Malaysian Parliament.
- March 21 - Tony Saca is elected President of El Salvador (inauguration June 1).
- March 22 - Palestinians protest in the streets after an Israeli helicopter gunship fires a missile at the entourage of Ahmed Yassin in Gaza City, killing Yassin and 7 others.
- March 25 - British Prime Minister Tony Blair visits Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, in return for the dismantling of Libya's WMD programme in December 2003 - the first time a major western leader has visited the nation in several decades.
- March 28 - In France, the government of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin suffers a stunning and unprecedented defeat in regional elections. The first ever South Atlantic Hurricane makes landfall in South Brazil on the state of Santa Catarina, the Hurricane is dubbed Hurricane Catarina.
- March 29 - The Republic of Ireland bans smoking in all enclosed work places including: restaurants, pubs and bars.
- March 29 - Largest expansion of NATO to date, allowing Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia into the organization.
- March 31 - Four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed and their bodies mutilated after being ambushed in Fallujah, Iraq.
April

- April 1 - Faroese Prime Minister's Office announces that from then on the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's Office would use a new version of the Faroese Coat of Arms. The colours were inspired from the Merkið (flag) and yellow/gold was added. The new Coat of Arms depicts a Ram on a blue shield ready to defend. It can be used by the Government Ministries and by Faroese embassies, but some still use older versions of the Coat of Arms. Coat of Arms
- April 3 - A bomb explosion in a Madrid flat kills a Spanish policeman and five terrorists suspected of responsibility for the Madrid train bombings on March 11.
- April 4 - Serious fighting breaks out in Najaf, Sadr City, and Basra in Iraq as Shia insurgents supporting Muqtada al-Sadr rise against coalition forces.
- April 5 - Queen Elizabeth II begins a state visit to France to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale.
- April 8 - Darfur conflict: The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups.
- April 8 - Three Japanese citizens are taken hostage in Iraq.
- April 8 - Former Japanese famous economist, professor at Waseda University graduate school Kazuhide Uekusa was arrested on the escalator of JR Shinagawa Station because of trying to peep under high school girl's skirt with his hand mirror.
- April 16 - India defeats Pakistan in their first cricket tour in 14 years.
- April 17 - Israeli helicopters fire missiles at a convoy of vehicles in the Gaza Strip, killing the Gaza leader of Hamas, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi.
- April 20 - In Iraq, 12 mortars were fired on Abu Ghraib Prison by insurgents. Twenty two detainees were killed and 92 wounded. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-04-20-iraq_x.htm]
- April 21 - Mordechai Vanunu, who revealed an Israeli nuclear weapons programme in the 1980s, is released from prison in Israel after an 18 year term for treason.
- April 22 - Two trains carrying explosives and fuel collide in the North Korean town of Ryongchon, killing 161 people, injuring 1,300 and destroying thousands of homes.
- April 22 - The last coal mine in France closes, ending nearly 300 years of coal mining.
- April 25 - Referenda on a United Nations plan, which proposes to re-unite the island of Cyprus, take place in both the Greek and Turkish parts. Although the Turks vote in favour, the Greeks reject the proposal.
- April 28 - Abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq is revealed on the television show 60 Minutes II.
May

- May 1 - the largest expansion to date of the European Union takes place, extending the Union by 10 member-states: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta and Cyprus.
- May 6 - The final episode of Friends airs on NBC, drawing an estimated 52 million viewers in North America.
- May 8 - Would-be "Saudi Princess" "Antoinette Millard" surfaces in New York City and claims that muggers had stolen jewels worth of $262.000 from her (she later proves to be an impostor).
- May 9 - Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov is killed by landmine placed under a VIP stage during a World War II memorial parade in Grozny.
- May 9 - Team of Canada won the World Ice Hockey Championship in Prague.
- May 10 - The 2004 Philippine presidential and legislative elections take place. Incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wins the presidency.
- May 11 - An explosion destroys a plastics factory in Glasgow, UK, killing nine people and injuring over a hundred.
- May 12 - An American civilian contractor in Iraq, Nick Berg, is shown being decapitated by a group allegedly linked to al-Qaida on a web-distributed video.
- May 13 - In India, the Congress Party wins a surprise victory in the elections to the Lok Sabha.
- May 14 - Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, marries Australian Mary Donaldson in Copenhagen.
- May 17 - Ezzedine Salim, holder of the rotating leadership of the Iraqi Governing Council, is killed in a bomb blast in Baghdad.
- May 17 - Massachusetts legalizes same-sex marriage in compliance with a ruling from the state's Supreme Judicial Court (Goodridge v. Department of Public Health).
- May 19 - Tony Blair is hit with a purple flour bomb in the chamber of the House of Commons during a session of Prime Minister's Questions.
- May 19 - Jeremy Sivits pleads guilty in a court-martial in connection with alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
- May 23 - A section of the ceiling in Terminal 2E at Paris's Charles de Gaulle International Airport collapses, claiming at least six lives.
- May 23 - Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi visits North Korea to secure the release of the families of the nine abducted Japanese citizens returned earlier.
- May 26 - Terry Nichols is convicted by an Oklahoma state court on murder charges stemming from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
- May 29 - Dedication of the National World War II Memorial takes place in Washington, DC.
- May 30 - Thousands of people in Hong Kong take to the streets to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
June

- June 1 - Twelve-year-old Satomi Mitarai, a Japanese schoolgirl attending Okubo Elementary School in Sasebo, Japan is murdered. Her killer, an 11-year-old classmate identified by Japanese authorities as "Girl A", becomes the basis for the Nevada-tan Internet meme.
- June 4 - Marvin Heemeyer destroys many local buildings with a home-made tank in Grancby, Colorado
- June 5 - Former President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, dies at age 93.
- June 6 - The 60th anniversary of D-Day is remembered by world leaders.
- June 7 - Tampa Bay Lightning defeat Calgary Flames in 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.
- June 8 - The first transit of Venus since 1882 occurs; the next one will occur in 2012.
- June 8 - The G8 Summit takes place over the next 2 days on Sea Island, in Georgia, USA.
- June 8 - The pickled heart of Louis XVII of France is buried in the royal crypt at Saint-Denis.
- June 11 - Terry Nichols is spared the death penalty by an Oklahoma state court on murder charges stemming from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The decision came on the third anniversary of the execution of his co-defendant, Timothy James McVeigh, in Terre Haute, Indiana.
- June 11 - After the first presidential state funeral since 1973, President Ronald Wilson Reagan is laid to rest at Simi Valley, California, at the site of the Reagan Presidential Library.
- June 12 - A 1.3 kg chondrite type meteorite struck a house in Ellerslie, New Zealand causing serious damage but no injuries.Ellerslie, New Zealand
- June 15 - The Detroit Pistons upset the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers to win the 2004 NBA Finals, four games to one.
- June 16 - The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (or "9/11 Commission") issues an initial report of its findings.
- June 21 - SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately-funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.
- June 28 - Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains collided in a rural area outside of San Antonio, Texas. Forty cars were derailed, including one chlorine car, and three people died, another 50 people were hospitalized because of exposure to the gas.
- June 28 - The U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq transfers sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government.
- June 28 - Canadian election: The Liberal Party, led by Paul Martin, is reduced to a minority government, after holding a majority since November 1993.
- June 30 - The preliminary hearings begin in Iraq in the trial of former president Saddam Hussein, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
July

- July 1 - The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft arrives at Saturn.
- July 4 - Groundbreaking of Freedom Tower at Ground Zero in New York City.
- July 4 - The Euro 2004 final between Portugal and Greece takes place in Lisbon, Portugal. Greece wins the match 1:0.
- July 22 - The Old Bridge of Mostar in Bosnia-Herzegovina is reconstructed and reopened after being destroyed by Bosnian Croat forces on November 9, 1993.
- July 25 - Over 100,000 opponents to Israel's unilateral disengagement plan of 2004 participate in a human chain from Gush Katif, to the Western Wall, Jerusalem (90 kilometers).
- July 25 - Lance Armstrong of Austin, Texas wins an unprecedented 6th consecutive Tour de France cycling title.
August

- August 1 - Supermarket fire in Asunción, Paraguay, kills about 400 people and leaves over 100 missing.
- August 3 - Statue of Liberty reopens after security improvements.
- August 6 - A United Nations report that blames the government of Sudan for crimes against humanity in Darfur is released.
- August 12 - Singapore's prime minister Goh Chok Tong hands over his position to Lee Hsien Loong.
- August 13 - The 2004 Summer Olympics begin in Athens. They end on August 29.
- August 13 - Hurricane Charley kills 27 people in Florida after killing four in Cuba and one in Jamaica. Charley made landfall near Cayo Costa, FL as a Category 4 hurricane. Charley was the most intense hurricane to strike the United States since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
- August 16 - Severe flooding in the village of Boscastle in Cornwall.
- August 18 - In Dublin, Ireland the Dublin Port Tunnel excavation works were completed and the final tunnel boring machine breakthrough ceremony took place.
- August 21 - A series of blasts rocks a rally of an opposition party in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing at least 13 people.
- August 22 - Armed robbers steal Edvard Munch's The Scream, Madonna and other paintings from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.
- August 24 - 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 - Around 200,000 protesters demonstrate in New York City against President George W. Bush and his government, ahead of the 2004 Republican National Convention.
- August 31 - 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 - 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

- September 1 - Chechen rebels take between 1,000 and 1,500 people hostage, mostly children, in a school in Beslan, Northern Ossetia. The hostage-takers demand the release of Chechen rebels imprisoned in neighbouring Ingushetia and the independence of Chechnya from Russia.
- September 2 - 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 - Russian forces end the siege at a school in Beslan, Northern Ossetia. At least 335 people (among which at least 32 of the approximately 40 hostage-takers) have been killed and at least 700 people have been injured.
- September 3 - Hurricane Frances makes landfall in Florida. After killing two people in the Bahamas, Hurricane Frances killed ten people in Florida, two in Georgia and one in South Carolina.
- September 7 - The Scottish Parliament meets in the new Scottish Parliament Building for the first time.
- September 7 - Hurricane Ivan passes directly over Grenada, killing 37 people. It passes over other Caribbean islands over the next two days, killing 5 people in Venezuela, 4 in the Dominican Republic, 1 in Tobago and 20 in Jamaica.
- September 8 - 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 - A bomb blast outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, kills eleven people and injures up to 100 people.
- September 13 - The