2008 Timeline

A chronological record of notable events in the year 2008.

| Date | Event | Category | Summary | |——|——-|———-|———| | Jan 20 | Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign | History & Politics | Hillary Clinton’s bid to become the first female US president wins major primaries before she concedes the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama on June 7; she is later named Secretary of State. | | Feb 1 | Britney Spears placed under conservatorship | People | A Los Angeles court places pop star Britney Spears under a conservatorship controlling her personal and financial affairs; it runs 13 years, later fueling the #FreeBritney movement and conservatorship-law reform. | | Feb 3 | Super Bowl XLII — Giants defeat undefeated Patriots | History & Politics | The New York Giants upset the undefeated New England Patriots 17–14, denying them a 19–0 perfect season; David Tyree’s “Helmet Catch” and Eli Manning’s late touchdown drive make it one of the greatest upsets in sports history. | | Feb 10 | Amy Winehouse sweeps the Grammys | People | At the 50th Grammy Awards, Amy Winehouse wins five awards for Back to Black — including Record and Song of the Year for “Rehab” and Best New Artist — becoming the first British artist to win five Grammys in a single night. | | Feb 12 | Writers Guild of America strike ends | Arts & Culture | WGA members vote 92.5% to ratify a settlement ending the 100-day strike, winning jurisdiction over streaming and digital content and revenue-based residual formulas for the digital-entertainment era. | | Feb 17 | Kosovo declares independence | History & Politics | Kosovo’s assembly proclaims independence from Serbia, the last state to emerge from Yugoslavia’s breakup; recognition by the US and Western powers divided the international community. | | Mar 12 | Hulu launches to the public | Science & Technology | NBC Universal and Fox publicly launch Hulu, a free ad-supported streaming service for full-length television and film, helping shift viewing from broadcast schedules to on-demand internet distribution. | | Mar 16 | Bear Stearns collapse | Society & Economics | A liquidity run drives the 85-year-old investment bank to the brink of failure within days; JPMorgan Chase agrees to acquire it in a Federal Reserve–brokered rescue, the financial crisis’s first federal intervention. | | Apr 29 | Grand Theft Auto IV released | Science & Technology | Rockstar’s open-world crime epic launches for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, grossing over $500 million in its first week and validating the blockbuster budget model of AAA game development. | | Apr 29 | Madonna releases Hard Candy | Arts & Culture | Madonna’s Timbaland-produced eleventh studio album, her last for Warner Bros., debuts at number one in 37 countries and precedes the record-grossing Sticky & Sweet Tour. | | May 2 | Iron Man released | Arts & Culture | Jon Favreau’s superhero film opens, launching the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its interconnected-franchise model; it earns $585 million worldwide and popularizes the post-credits scene as a franchise device. | | 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. | | May 12 | 2008 Sichuan earthquake | Society & Economics | The magnitude-8.0 Wenchuan earthquake strikes Sichuan, China, killing about 69,000 people; the collapse of thousands of “tofu-dreg” schools sparked a national accountability controversy. | | May 15 | California same-sex marriage legalization | History & Politics | The California Supreme Court rules 4–3 in In re Marriage Cases that barring same-sex couples from marriage violates the state constitution, making California the second US state to allow same-sex marriage until Proposition 8 reverses it in November. | | May 22 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull released | Arts & Culture | Steven Spielberg’s fourth Indiana Jones film opens after a 19-year hiatus, reuniting Harrison Ford with the role; it grosses $790 million worldwide as the year’s second-highest earner. | | May 25 | Phoenix Mars Lander touches down | Science & Technology | NASA’s Phoenix spacecraft lands in the Martian arctic, the first probe to reach a polar region of Mars; on July 31 it confirms water ice beneath the surface and detects perchlorate in the soil. | | May 28 | Nepal abolishes its monarchy | History & Politics | Nepal’s newly elected Constituent Assembly votes 560–4 to abolish the 240-year-old Shah monarchy and declare a federal democratic republic, ending the world’s last constitutional Hindu kingdom. | | Jun 10 | Lil Wayne releases Tha Carter III | Arts & Culture | Lil Wayne releases Tha Carter III, which sells over a million copies in its first week and becomes the best-selling US album of 2008, cementing hip-hop’s commercial dominance. | | Jun 12 | Coldplay releases Viva la Vida | Arts & Culture | Coldplay releases their fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, produced with Brian Eno; it becomes the best-selling album worldwide in 2008 and wins Best Rock Album at the 2009 Grammy Awards. | | Jun 12 | Metal Gear Solid 4 released | Science & Technology | Hideo Kojima’s PlayStation 3-exclusive stealth epic launches, concluding the Metal Gear Solid saga and serving as a landmark technical showcase of the console’s cinematic capabilities. | | Jun 15 | Subprime mortgage implosion | Society & Economics | By mid-2008, the loose lending and securitization of subprime mortgages between 2003 and 2006 have produced the toxic mortgage-backed securities whose collapse drives the global financial crisis. | | Jun 16 | Tiger Woods wins the US Open on a torn ACL | People | Tiger Woods beats Rocco Mediate in a 19-hole playoff at Torrey Pines while playing on a torn ACL and a fractured tibia, claiming his 14th major championship before season-ending knee surgery. | | Jun 27 | WALL-E released | Arts & Culture | Pixar’s animated science-fiction film, directed by Andrew Stanton, opens to acclaim for its near-silent storytelling and environmental themes; it later wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. | | Jun 29 | Spain wins Euro 2008 | History & Politics | Spain beats Germany 1–0 in the Vienna final to win Euro 2008, its first major tournament in 44 years, launching an era of dominance built on tiki-taka. | | Jul 6 | Rafael Nadal wins Wimbledon | People | Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer in a Wimbledon final widely regarded as the greatest tennis match ever; he later takes Beijing Olympic gold and the world No. 1 ranking in August. | | Jul 10 | Apple App Store launches | Science & Technology | Apple opens the App Store with about 500 third-party applications, creating the mobile app economy and turning the smartphone into a general-purpose computing platform. | | Jul 11 | iPhone 3G launches | Science & Technology | Apple releases the iPhone 3G simultaneously in 22 countries with faster 3G connectivity, a $199 starting price, and the day-old App Store, driving the smartphone into the consumer mainstream. | | Jul 14 | Radiohead’s “House of Cards” video | Arts & Culture | Radiohead releases the “House of Cards” music video, filmed without cameras using structured-light and LIDAR laser scanners, and publishes the 3D capture data open-source under a Creative Commons license for anyone to remix. | | 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 | Russo-Georgian War begins | History & Politics | Russia launches a 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 8 | Beijing Olympics opening ceremony | Arts & Culture | Zhang Yimou directs a four-hour spectacle with 15,000 performers before roughly 1.5 billion viewers, projecting China as both an ancient civilization and a modern technological power. | | Aug 15 | Nastia Liukin wins Olympic all-around gold | People | American gymnast Nastia Liukin wins the women’s all-around gold medal with 63.325 points, defeating teammate Shawn Johnson by 0.6 and becoming the third U.S. woman to win the Olympic all-around title. | | 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. | | Aug 17 | Michael Phelps wins eighth gold in Beijing | People | American swimmer Michael Phelps wins his record eighth gold medal of the Beijing Olympics, surpassing Mark Spitz’s 1972 mark and setting seven world records at a single Games. | | Aug 24 | Beijing Olympics closing ceremony | Arts & Culture | Zhang Yimou’s two-hour closing ceremony ends the Games with international performers and the Olympic-flag handover to London 2012, projecting a more cosmopolitan image of China than the opening ceremony. | | Aug 28 | 2008 Democratic National Convention | History & Politics | Barack Obama accepts the Democratic presidential nomination before 84,000 people at Denver’s Invesco Field, becoming the first African American major-party nominee; his acceptance speech drew 38.4 million television viewers. | | Aug 29 | Sarah Palin named McCain’s running mate | History & Politics | John McCain names Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate, the first woman on a Republican presidential ticket; an initial polling surge fades amid questions over her readiness. | | Sep 2 | Google Chrome browser launches | Science & Technology | Google releases the beta of its Chrome web browser, introducing the V8 JavaScript engine and a multi-process architecture built for speed and stability; it later becomes the world’s dominant browser. | | Sep 4 | John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign | History & Politics | John McCain accepts the Republican nomination in St. Paul with running mate Sarah Palin, mounting a challenge to Barack Obama that is overtaken by the September financial crisis. | | Sep 7 | Serena Williams’ dominant 2008 season | People | Serena Williams beats Jelena Janković to win the US Open without dropping a set — her ninth Grand Slam title and a return to World No. 1 — capping a comeback season that also brought Olympic doubles gold with Venus. | | Sep 7 | Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conservatorship | Society & Economics | The Federal Housing Finance Agency places the two mortgage giants into conservatorship, effectively nationalizing firms that owned or guaranteed roughly half of US mortgages — the crisis’s largest federal intervention to that point, a week before Lehman’s collapse. | | Sep 8 | Andy Murray reaches the US Open final | People | Andy Murray beats world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals to become the first British man in a Grand Slam singles final since 1977, losing to Roger Federer; he ends 2008 ranked World No. 4. | | 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 11 | 2008 Chinese milk scandal | Society & Economics | Chinese media link Sanlu Group infant formula to infant kidney stones; melamine adulteration across 22 dairy companies sickens an estimated 300,000 infants and kills at least six, exposing systemic food-safety failures. | | Sep 12 | Metallica releases Death Magnetic | Arts & Culture | Metallica’s Rick Rubin-produced ninth studio album marks a return to thrash metal, tops charts in more than 30 countries, and becomes a defining case in the audio “loudness war.” | | Sep 14 | The Hunger Games published | Arts & Culture | Suzanne Collins publishes The Hunger Games, the first novel in a dystopian young adult trilogy set in the nation of Panem; it becomes a global publishing and film phenomenon and a defining text of the genre. | | Sep 15 | 2008 global financial crisis | Society & Economics | The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy triggers the acute phase of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, freezing global credit markets and prompting unprecedented government bailouts and coordinated central-bank intervention worldwide. | | 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 16 | AIG bailout and bonus controversy | Society & Economics | The Federal Reserve authorizes an $85 billion emergency rescue of insurer AIG a day after Lehman’s collapse; a later executive-bonus scandal becomes a defining symbol of Wall Street excess. | | Sep 23 | First Android phone announced (HTC Dream) | Science & Technology | HTC and T-Mobile announce the HTC Dream, sold from October 22 as the T-Mobile G1; it is the first commercially available phone running Google’s Android, which became the world’s most widely used mobile operating system. | | Sep 26 | 2008 US presidential debates begin | History & Politics | The first of three Obama–McCain debates is held at the University of Mississippi as the financial crisis dominates the campaign; the series helped Obama consolidate a decisive lead before the November election. | | 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. | | Sep 29 | Sarah Palin’s Katie Couric interview | History & Politics | CBS anchor Katie Couric’s late-September interviews expose gaps in vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s grasp of foreign policy and the economy, becoming a defining, widely parodied moment that damaged the McCain–Palin ticket. | | 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. | | Oct 6 | Iceland’s financial crisis | Society & Economics | Iceland passes emergency legislation as its three largest banks collapse, forcing the first IMF rescue of a Western European nation since 1976 and triggering the Icesave dispute with the UK and Netherlands. | | Oct 6 | 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine | Science & Technology | The Nobel Assembly awards the Physiology or Medicine prize to Harald zur Hausen for discovering that HPV causes cervical cancer and to Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for identifying HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. | | Oct 7 | 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics | Science & Technology | The Royal Swedish Academy awards the Physics prize to Yoichiro Nambu for spontaneous symmetry breaking and to Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa for the origin of broken CP symmetry, which predicted three families of quarks. | | Oct 8 | 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry | Science & Technology | The Royal Swedish Academy awards the Chemistry prize to Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie, and Roger Y. Tsien for the discovery and development of green fluorescent protein (GFP), which transformed biology by making cellular processes visible in living organisms. | | Oct 9 | 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature | Arts & Culture | The Swedish Academy awards the Literature prize to French-Mauritian writer J. M. G. Le Clézio, described as an “explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization.” | | Oct 19 | Colin Powell endorses Barack Obama | History & Politics | Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a senior Republican, endorses Democrat Barack Obama on Meet the Press, calling him a “transformational figure” and questioning Sarah Palin’s readiness — a symbolically potent late-campaign crossover. | | Oct 22 | Chandrayaan-1 launches | Science & Technology | India launches its first lunar mission from Sriharikota; ISRO’s orbiter carries NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper, which in 2009 detects water molecules across the lunar surface. | | Oct 26 | Rhythm games reach their peak | Science & Technology | Guitar Hero World Tour launches alongside Rock Band 2, driving US music-game sales to roughly $1.9 billion at the genre’s commercial and cultural high point before its rapid decline. | | Oct 31 | Bitcoin whitepaper published | Science & Technology | Satoshi Nakamoto posts Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System to a cryptography mailing list, founding cryptocurrency and blockchain technology amid the global financial crisis. | | Nov 2 | Lewis Hamilton wins the 2008 F1 World Championship | People | Lewis Hamilton, 23, takes his first Formula 1 title by a single point at the Brazilian Grand Prix, overtaking Timo Glock on the final lap to become the youngest champion at the time and the first driver of Black heritage to win the crown. | | 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 4 | California Proposition 8 passes | History & Politics | California voters approve Proposition 8 by 52.3%, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage that reverses a May 2008 court ruling and triggers litigation culminating in nationwide marriage equality by 2015. | | Nov 12 | Slumdog Millionaire released | Arts & Culture | Danny Boyle’s British drama opens in limited US release; the story of a Mumbai slum youth on a game show goes on to win eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and marks a global breakthrough for Indian cinema. | | Nov 14 | Quantum of Solace released | Arts & Culture | Marc Forster’s second James Bond film starring Daniel Craig opens in the United States, earning $589.6 million worldwide and deepening the franchise’s post-Casino Royale turn toward psychological, revenge-driven espionage. | | Nov 19 | Netflix expands streaming to Xbox 360 | Science & Technology | Netflix launches its streaming service on the Xbox 360, offering over 10,000 titles on living-room televisions and accelerating the shift from physical media rental to digital delivery. | | Nov 21 | Twilight film released | Arts & Culture | Catherine Hardwicke’s adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s novel opens, achieving the highest opening ever for a female-directed film and launching a multi-billion-dollar young adult franchise. | | 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 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo wins the 2008 Ballon d’Or | People | Cristiano Ronaldo wins his first Ballon d’Or after a 42-goal season and a Premier League–Champions League double with Manchester United, confirming him as the world’s best player amid Real Madrid’s pursuit. | | 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. |