2008

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

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 - 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 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 unknown date - UEFA Champions League Final to be held in Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow.
• 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 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. [1] [2]
• 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 [3].
• 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 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.

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.
• 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

• 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.

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