| 2004 |
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- The 2004 Summer Olympics are held in Athens. |
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- Facebook launches. |
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- The first transit of Venus since 1882 occurs; the next is in 2012. |
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- Boxing day earthquake (9.3 on Richter scale) in SE Asia causes major Tsunamis. |
| 2005 |
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- The Prince of Wales marries Camilla Parker Bowles at Windsor's Guildhall. |
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- YouTube launched. |
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- NASA's "Copper bullet" from the Deep Impact spacecraft hits Comet Tempel 1. |
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- Four terror attacks (on Underground and a bus) rock the London transport network |
| 2006 |
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- The 2006 Winter Olympics are held in Turin, Italy. |
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- Human Genome Project publishes the last chromosome sequence |
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- Twitter is launched. |
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- Mercury transits the sun. It is visible from the Americas, Eastern Asia & Australasia |
| 2007 |
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- Madeleine McCann disappears in Praia da Luz, Portugal. |
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- The final J. K. Rowling's book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, isreleased. |
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- Apple Inc announces the first generation iPhone |
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- Live Earth Concerts are held throughout 9 major cities around the world. |
| 2008 |
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- Northern Rock building society is the first European bank to go into state control. |
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- The 2008 Summer Olympics take place in Beijing, China. |
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- The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 is retired from service.. |
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- Barack Obama is the first African-American President of the United States |
| 2009 |
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- The outbreak of H1N1 flu strain "swine flu", is deemed a global pandemic |
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- Michael Jackson dies triggering an outpouring of worldwide grief |
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- A Russian and an American satellite collide over Siberia |
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- Air France Flight 447, from Rio de Janeiro, to Paris, crashes into the Atlantic. |
| 2010 |
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- The 2010 Winter Olympics are held in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada |
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- Volcanic ash from Icelands Mount Eyjafjallajökull disrupts air traffic. |
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- The Deepwater Horizon oil platform explodes in the Gulf of Mexico |
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- 33 Chilean miners rescued from being trapped half a mile underground |
| 2011 |
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- Earthquake and tsunami hits Japan, impacting nuclear power stations |
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- Prince William marries Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey. |
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- Space shuttle Atlantis final mission concluding NASA's shuttle program |
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- Osama bin Laden, the founder & leader of Al-Qaeda, is killed |
| 2012 |
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- The 2012 Summer Olympics are held in London, England |
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- The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II |
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- Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory mission's rover, lands on Mars. |
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- Felix Baumgartner breaks sound barrier during a record 24 mile space dive. |
| 2013 |
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- Benedict XVI resigns as pope, the first to do so since Gregory XII in 1415 |
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- Two bombs explode at the Boston Marathon in Massachusetts, USA. |
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- A powerful meteor explodes over Chelyabinsk, Russia injuring many. |
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- American Edward Snowden discloses US government secrets. |