2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).

Culture

Media

2004 was a year marked by many popular and highly grossing film releases such as Shrek 2, Spider Man 2, The Incredibles, The Passion of the Christ and Howl's Moving Castle. 2004 was also the year where Toho Studios would release Godzilla-film)'s 50th anniversary movie, Godzilla-film): Final Wars, the last Godzilla movie until Legendary Entertainment's Godzilla in 2014, and the last Japanese Godzilla movie until Shin Godzilla in 2016. Many shows would debut and end in 2004, with Friends airing its final episode on May 6, 2004 after nearly a decade on air, and Lost airing its first episode on September 22 of the same year. Tsuburaya Productions would air the highly controversial Ultraman Nexus, the 17th entry of the Ultra Series on October 2, 2004. Though the series was poorly received when it first began its broadcast, it is now seen as one of the best entries of the Ultra Series. The gaming industry would see the release of many FPS and sequel games in 2004, with some of the most famous being Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Halo 2, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and Half Life 2. These titles are considered some of the greatest video games of all time. The Nintendo DS also released this year, which grew to become the best-selling handheld console of all time.

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Date unknown

Births and deaths

Nobel Prizes