2008

Centuries:	20th century · 21st century · 22nd century
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s
Years:	2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

2008 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	2008 MMVIII
Ab urbe condita	2761
Armenian calendar	1457 ԹՎ ՌՆԾԷ
Assyrian calendar	6758
Baháʼí calendar	164–165
Balinese saka calendar	1929–1930
Bengali calendar	1415
Berber calendar	2958
British Regnal year	56 Eliz. 2 – 57 Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar	2552
Burmese calendar	1370
Byzantine calendar	7516–7517
Chinese calendar	丁亥年 (Fire Pig) 4705 or 4498     — to — 戊子年 (Earth Rat) 4706 or 4499
Coptic calendar	1724–1725
Discordian calendar	3174
Ethiopian calendar	2000–2001
Hebrew calendar	5768–5769
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2064–2065
- Shaka Samvat	1929–1930
- Kali Yuga	5108–5109
Holocene calendar	12008
Igbo calendar	1008–1009
Iranian calendar	1386–1387
Islamic calendar	1428–1430
Japanese calendar	Heisei 20 (平成２０年)
Javanese calendar	1940–1941
Juche calendar	97
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4341
Minguo calendar	ROC 97 民國97年
Nanakshahi calendar	540
Thai solar calendar	2551
Tibetan calendar	阴火猪年 (female Fire-Pig) 2134 or 1753 or 981     — to — 阳土鼠年 (male Earth-Rat) 2135 or 1754 or 982
Unix time	1199145600 – 1230767999

2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. It has been designated the International Year of Planet Earth.[1]

Predicted events

• Is the year of the Rat (zodiac) in Chinese Astrology and is the year of Aries in Western Astrology.
• AIESEC Canada will celebrate its 50th Anniversary.
• Karlsruhe, Germany is set to host the European Juggling Convention EJC 2008.
• FIFA will announce the host country of the 2014 FIFA World Cup
• The FIA will introduce new regulations for the Formula 1 in order to reduce the costs and improve racing.
• Aston Martin's Rapide will be produced late 2007 (2008 production year). As of now it is a concept car.
• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's third runway is expected to open.
• Honda will introduce first commercially available Hydrogen Vehicle
• Building for the new Liverpool Arena should be completed.

January-April

• Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia and Malta set to adopt the Euro. Slovenia will start the presidency of European Union as the first of new member states.
• Russia will be composed of 84 federal subjects instead of 85 as Ust-Orda Buryatia is merged into Irkutsk per a 2006 referendum.
• January 15 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its first of three flybys of Mercury at 200 km altitude, to decrease velocity enough to a 2011 orbit insertion.
• January 20 - Scheduled parliamentary elections in the Faroe Islands
• January 20 - Scheduled opening ceremony of the 2008 African Cup of Nations to be held in Ghana.
• February 1 - Sweden plans to cease analog television broadcasts
• February 3 - Super Bowl XLII to be held in Glendale, Arizona.
• February 7 - Annular solar eclipse
• February 21 - Total lunar eclipse - North and South America
• February - The 2008 NBA All-Star game is to be played in New Orleans, the first year the New Orleans Hornets are expected to return full time to New Orleans.
• March - 2008 presidential election to be held in Taiwan.
• March - Spain general election, 2008: Spain holds elections for the General Courts
• March 23 - Easter Sunday. Easter has not fallen this early since 1913.
• April 5-April 7 - NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four to be held at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
• April 17 - NASA is scheduled to launch Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-125, the fifth and final mission to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope. It will also be the final Space Shuttle mission that does not involve Space Station construction, barring any STS-300-series rescue missions.
• April - Some Rastas believe that Haile Selassie will be resurrected due to the belief that he will rise after 33.3 years, the approximate age of Jesus when he died.

May-August

• May (unknown date) - UEFA Champions League Final to be held in Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow.
• May 11 - Mother's Day
• May 12 - Cassini Spacecraft is set to orbit within 100 km of Enceladus, its closest encounter of the sixth largest moon of Saturn.
• May 15 - Semi final of the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest will take place
• May 16 - Presidential election slated in the Dominican Republic.
• May 17 - Final of the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest will take place
• May 20 - President Chen Shui-bien scheduled to step down after eight years as President of Taiwan, officially referred to as the Republic of China.
• May 25 - The Colón Theatre is set to re-open on its 100 years anniversary after 2 years of extensive repairments.
• June 8 - NASA's Pluto probe New Horizons will cross the orbit of Saturn, after 2½ years journey. The Voyagers spent 3 to 4 years to get to Saturn.
• June 14 - Expo 2008 scheduled to begin in Zaragoza, Spain.
• June 28 - Scheduled remodeling of White House
• June - UEFA Euro 2008 Championship tournament. Joint hosts Switzerland and Austria.
• July 15-July 20 - World Youth Day 2008 in Homebush, Sydney, Australia
• July 31 - Bill Gates is stepping down from daily duties at the Microsoft Corporation after over 3 decades.
• August 1 - Total solar eclipse: northern Canada, Siberia, Mongolia, northern China
• August 2-August 10 - The 31st European Juggling Convention (EJC) will be held in Karlsruhe, Germany
• August 2-August 9 - The National Eisteddfod of Wales will be held in Cardiff, South Wales
• August 8 - 2008 Summer Olympics scheduled to begin in Beijing, China
• August 15 - One decade on from the 1998 Omagh Bombing in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
• August - World Congress on Philosophy in Seoul, the capital of South Korea

September-December

• September 11 - Tentative topping-out of Freedom Tower at World Trade Center site exactly seven years to the date of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
• September 17 - Possible date for the General Election in New Zealand
• October 3 - Possible date for the mayor and municipal council elections in Brazilian municipalities.
• October 6 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes the second of three flybys of Mercury.
• November 4 - Presidential election slated in the United States to elect the 44th President of the United States.
• November 4 - Gubernatorial election slated in Puerto Rico to elect the Governor of the island.
• December 26 (approximate) - Opening of the Valley Metro Light Rail System in Phoenix, Arizona.
• December 30 (approximate) - Completion of the Burj Dubai, the world's tallest man-made structure, in Dubai.

Unknown dates

• The U2 Tower, potentially Ireland's tallest building, opens its doors some time in 2008.
• The Indian Space Research Organization plans human spaceflight.
• The United Nations is to review drug policies around the world. [2] [3]
• Both Liverpool (England) and Stavanger (Norway) are European Capital of Culture
• The ECB is expected to issue a new series of euro banknotes, replacing the old series, and should include new security features along with the incorporation of Cyprus on the EU map.
• Tentative year for the completion of the Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and the International Business Center in Seoul, South Korea
• The United Kingdom plans to begin 5-year process to cease analog television broadcasts region-by-region, starting with Border [4].
• Boeing's 787 aircraft will enter service.
• The Rugby League World Cup will be held in Australia.
• Australia plans to cease analogue television broadcasts.
• The Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino will be completed
• The 178-metre high Singapore Flyer is expected to be completed in the first quarter and could become the tallest observation wheel in the world.
• Peru will host the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
• A vaccine to wipe out the virus that causes cervical cancer is expected to be ready this year.
• The Palm, Jumeirah, part of the Palm Islands development, is expected to be completed this year in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
• Singapore Changi Airport's Terminal 3 is due to be completed in this time frame.
• The Space Shuttle Atlantis will be retired by NASA and used to supply replacement parts for the Space Shuttles Discovery and Endeavour.
• The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 will take place in the winning country of the 2007 edition at some point in May.
• The New York Mets will play their final game at Shea Stadium ever at

some point in late September or October.

• The New York Yankees will play their final game at Yankee Stadium ever at some point in late September or October.
• The nation of Belize must hold a general election before the end of this year.
• The Westfield London shopping mall will open.
• The Platinum Edition of Walt Disney's Fantasia will be released

Major religious holidays

• February 1 - Imbolc, a Cross-quarter day (Celebrated on February 2 in some places).
• March 20 - March Equinox, also known as Ostara.
• May 1 - Beltane, a Cross-quarter day.
• June 20 - June Solstice, also known as Midsummer or Litha.
• August 1 - Lammas, a Cross-quarter day.
• September 22 - September Equinox, also known as Mabon.
• November 1 - Samhain, a Cross-quarter day and Neopagan new year.
• December 21 - December Solstice, also known as Yule.

2008 in fiction

Computer and video games

• Ghost Recon (2001): Russia attempts to reunite the Soviet Union and invades several Eastern European countries. The UN intervenes with peacekeeping forces.
• Splinter Cell series: Sam Fisher's daughter Sarah Fisher is killed by a drunk driver.
• Shattered Union US President David Jefferson Adams is elected in a Sham election, and becomes the most unpopular president in U.S history.
• Set in 2008:
  • Mega Man 2 (1989)
  • Twisted Metal 3 (1998)

Films

• Jason X (Friday the 13th series, 2002): Mass murderer Jason Voorhees is cryogenically frozen.
• Set in 2008: Silent Running (1971)

Television

• Oliver the Great Western Engine will return to the Thomas the Tank Engine TV Series
• Dawson's Creek (2003 series finale): The characters meet once again. Dawson is creator of a television series, The Creek, based on his life.
• Futurama (1999 episode "Space Pilot 3000"): Suicide booths are invented.

Media franchises

• .hack: The MMORPG The World reaches two million players.