Table of Contents
2008 Timeline
A chronological record of notable events in the year 2008.
| Date | Event | Category | Summary | |——|——-|———-|———| | May 2–3 | Cyclone Nargis strikes Myanmar | Society & Economics | Category-4 cyclone makes landfall in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta, killing an estimated 138,000 people; the military junta’s refusal of international aid drew worldwide condemnation. | | Jul 18 | The Dark Knight released | Arts & Culture | Christopher Nolan’s Batman sequel opens, earning over $1 billion worldwide; Heath Ledger’s Joker performance wins a posthumous Academy Award. | | Aug 8 | Russia-Georgia war begins | History & Politics | Russia launches military intervention in Georgia in response to Georgian operations in South Ossetia, resulting in a five-day war that reshaped post-Soviet geopolitics. | | Aug 8–24 | Beijing Summer Olympics | History & Politics | China hosts the Summer Olympic Games, featuring record-breaking performances by Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, marking China’s emergence as a global sporting and economic power. | | Aug 16 | Usain Bolt sets 100m world record | People | Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt runs 100 metres in 9.69 seconds at the Beijing Olympics, setting a world record and beginning his dominance of the sport. | | Sep 10 | Large Hadron Collider first beam | Science & Technology | CERN’s Large Hadron Collider circulates its first proton beam, inaugurating the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator and opening a new era in high-energy physics. | | Sep 15 | Lehman Brothers collapse | Society & Economics | Investment bank Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy — the largest in US history — with $639 billion in assets, triggering global financial panic. | | Sep 28 | SpaceX Falcon 1 reaches orbit | Science & Technology | SpaceX’s Falcon 1 becomes the first privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to reach Earth orbit, validating commercial spaceflight and securing a NASA cargo contract. | | Oct 3 | TARP bailout signed | Society & Economics | President George W. Bush signs the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, authorizing the Treasury to purchase toxic assets and stabilize the collapsing financial system. | | Nov 4 | Barack Obama elected US president | History & Politics | Democrat Barack Obama defeats John McCain with 365 electoral votes, becoming the first African American elected to the US presidency. | | Nov 21 | Twilight film released | Arts & Culture | Summit Entertainment’s adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s novel opens, grossing over $392 million worldwide and launching one of the decade’s most commercially significant film franchises. | | Nov 26–29 | Mumbai terrorist attacks | History & Politics | Coordinated Lashkar-e-Taiba attacks strike hotels, a railway station, and other sites in Mumbai, killing 166 people and straining India-Pakistan relations. | | Dec 11 | Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme exposed | Society & Economics | Investment manager Bernard Madoff is arrested after confessing to a decades-long Ponzi scheme estimated at $64.8 billion — the largest securities fraud in US history at the time. |