Lucinda Albers

The weather is getting colder, classes are slowly coming to a close, and finals are quickly approaching. It all signals one thing: the end of the year. The Juice has compiled a list of events throughout the past year.

National

January

January 12 – Deep Impact is launched from Kennedy Space Center by a Delta 2 rocket.

January 20 – George W. Bush is inaugurated in Washington, D..C. for his second term as 43rd president of the United States.

February

February 25 – The serial killer Dennis Rader is apprehended by Wichita Police and the FBI.

March

March 1 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules the death penalty unconstitutional for juveniles who committed their crimes under age 18.

March 21 – 10 killed in the Red Lake High School massacre in Minnesota, the worst school shooting since the Columbine High School massacre.

March 23 – The United States’ 11th Circuit Court of Appeals’ 2-1 decision refuses to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube.

May

May 10 – A live hand grenade lands about 100 feet (30 meters) from United States President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia. The bomb malfunctions and does not detonate.

May 30 – Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old from Mountain Brook, Ala., vanished while on a 5-day trip with 124 classmates celebrating their high school graduation in Aruba.

May 31 – W. Mark Felt is confirmed to be Deep Throat.

July

July 14 – A compromise budget is reached in Minnesota, ending a 14-day government shutdown.

July 19 – President Bush nominates Appeals Court Judge John G. Roberts, Jr. to the United States Supreme Court, following the retirement of Sandra Day O’Connor.

August

August 18 – BTK killer Dennis Rader is sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences.

August 29 – At least 1,300 are killed, and severe damage is caused along the U.S. Gulf Coast, as Hurricane Katrina strikes the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coastal areas. Within hours, levees give way and New Orleans is flooded.

September

September 1 – Oil prices rise sharply following economic effects of Hurricane Katrina.

September 3 – William Rehnquist, chief justice of the United States, dies (born 1924).

September 29 – John G. Roberts, Jr. is confirmed and sworn in as chief justice of the United States.

October

October 15 – Riot in Toledo, Ohio, during a Neo-Nazi rally surrounding racial issues; 114 arrested

October 24 – Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks dies at the age of 92.

October 31 – President George W. Bush nominates Third Circuit judge Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court.

November

November 1 – The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall arrive in the United States for a state visit, their first overseas tour since their marriage.

Sports

February

February 6 – The New England Patriots defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21 to win their third Super Bowl in four years.

February 16 – The National Hockey League cancels its 2004-2005 season. The league became the first North American professional league to cancel a season due to a labor dispute.

March

March 3 – Millionaire Steve Fossett breaks a world record by completing the first non-stop, non-refueled, solo flight around the world in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer.

June

June 23 – The San Antonio Spurs win the NBA World Championship title.

July

July 6 – The International Olympic Committee awards the 2012 Summer Olympics to London

July 24 – Lance Armstrong wins a record seventh straight Tours de France before his scheduled retirement.

October

October 26 – The Chicago White Sox defeat the Houston Astros 1-0 to win the 2005 World Series in a four game sweep. This is the White Sox’s first World Series title since 1917.

Entertainment

January

January 23 – Johnny Carson, American television host, dies (born 1925).

April

April 1 – News anchor Peter Jennings hosts his final World News Tonight telecast.

May

May 13 – The final episode of the TV series Star Trek: Enterprise is broadcast in the United States.

May 19 – Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith released, effectively completing the Star Wars movie saga begun by George Lucas in 1977 and shattering the opening day box-office record with $50,013,859.

June

June 13 – Singer Michael Jackson acquitted of all charges of harming children.

July

July 2 – Live 8, a series of 10 simultaneous concerts, takes place throughout the world, raising interest in the Make Poverty History campaign.

July 16 – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book of the saga by the British writer J. K. Rowling, is released.

August

August 22 – Nintendogs is released by Nintendo for their DS handheld, and sells 250,000 copies in the first week.

November

November 22 – Microsoft releases the Xbox 360 gaming console in North America.

November 22 – Ted Koppel steps down as host of Nightline after 25 years with the program.

December

December 4 – Currently, two theaters in western New York, one in central New York, one in Albany and five in metro New York City offer captioned or narrated movies and Zurich Cinemas. Deals are in the works to make it easier for visually and hearing impaired people to watch movies.

World

January

January 16 – Adriana Iliescu gives birth at 66, the oldest woman in the world to do so.

January 30 – The first free parliamentary elections in Iraq since 1958 take place.

February

February 10 – North Korea announces that it possesses nuclear weapons as a protection against the hostility it feels from the United States.

March

March 14 – The People’s Republic of China ratifies an anti-secession law aimed at preventing Taiwan from declaring independence.

March 26 – The Taiwanese government called on 1 million Taiwanese to demonstrate in Taipei in opposition to the Anti-Secession Law of mainland China. Around 200,000 to 300,000 attended the walk.

April

April 2 – Pope John Paul II dies, causing widespread grief in the world.

April 9 – The marriage of The Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles takes place.

April 19 – Joseph Ratzinger elected Pope Benedict XVI on the second day of the papal conclave.

May

May 11 – Serial killer Michael Ross became first person executed in New England in 45 years.

June

June 5 – Switzerland votes to join the Schengen area and to allow same-sex partnerships.

June 30 – Spain joins Belgium and the Netherlands in permitting same-sex marriage.

July

July 7 – Four explosions rock the transport network in London, three on the London Underground and one on a bus. More than 50 deaths were reported, and more than 200 injured.

July 20 – Canada’s Civil Marriage Act, legalizing same-sex marriage, receives Royal Assent.

July 21 – A terrorist attack on London, similar to the July 7 attacks, includes 4 attempted bomb attacks on 3 Underground trains and a London bus. The bombs failed to explode properly, and only one injury was reported.

July 22 – A Brazilian electrician, Jean Charles de Menezes, is shot dead at a London Underground station by police who mistake him for a suicide bomber.

August

August 24 – Hong Kong High Court Judge Michael Hartmann rules sodomy laws were unconstitutional.

September

September 14 – September 16 – Largest UN World Summit in history held in New York City.

October

October 18 – The UN tightens the rules for its staff, following several claims of financial impropriety and sexual abuse.

October 19 – The Trials of Saddam Hussein begin.

October 27 – Two teenagers accidentally electrocute themselves in Seine-Saint-Denis, Paris, France, leading to widespread rioting.

November

November 13 – Andrew Stimpson, a 25-year old British man, is reported as the first person proven to have been ‘cured’ of HIV.

November 24 – The Licensing Act 2003 comes into force in England and Wales, introducing flexibility in the hours during which alcoholic beverages may be sold.

November 30 – Surgeons in France carry out the first human face transplant.

December

December 1 – South Africa becomes the fifth country in the world where same-sex marriages are recognized.