CHRONOLOGY: Major world events in 2008: Part I

Dec 17, 2008, 17:55 GMT

Berlin - Following is a chronology of the major world events that took place in 2008: 

JANUARY

1 - Malta and Cyprus join the euro, bringing the number of countries in the eurozone to 15.

2 - Oil price exceeds 100 dollars for the first time.

3 - Iowa caucus begins long series of US primary elections pitting Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, while John McCain secures Republican nomination by March.

4 - Dakar Rally cancelled for the first time owing to terrorist threats.

9-16 - US President George W Bush visits Israel and Palestinian Territories for the first time.

10 - Nano, the world's cheapest car costing 2,500 dollars unveiled by India's Tata Motors at a car show in Delhi.

12 - Chinese Nationalist Party wins landslide in Taiwan parliamentary elections, embarks on policy of rapprochement with arch-rival China.

20 - Mikheil Saakashvili sworn in for second - and last - term as president of Georgia.

21 - Markets plunge around the world over fears of a world recession.

23 - A Greek prime minister, Costas Karamanlis, visits Turkey for the first time in 50 years.

23 - Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians stream over Egyptian border from the Gaza Strip after fence is bombed to buy supplies choked by an Israeli blockade.

FEBRUARY

2 - French President Nicolas Sarkozy marries singer and former model Carla Bruni in Paris amid major publicity about his private life and dropping approval ratings.

7-20 - US Space Shuttle Atlantic mission with Europe's Columbus laboratory on mission to International Space Station.

13 - Australian government apologizes to aboriginals for decades of discrimination.

17 - At least 100 people killed in Kandahar in bloodiest attack in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban.

17 - Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.

18 - Pakistani opposition wins landslide in parliamentary elections; assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) is largest in parliament.

18 - Germany launches massive crackdown on suspected tax evaders after intelligence agents purchase details of secret bank accounts in Liechtenstein.

21 - Turkey launches largest offensive in years against banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) on Iraqi soil.

22 - Ukraine's Wladimir Klitschko defeats Sultan Ibragimov to take the WBO heavyweight title.

24 - Raul Castro takes over as president of Cuba from his ailing brother Fidel.

25 - Euro climbs above 1.50 dollars for the first time.

27 - European Commission fines Microsoft record 899 million euros for failing to obey anti-trust ruling from 2004.

MARCH

1 - Hurricane Emma claims 15 lives in Europe.

6 - Pope Benedict XVI receives Orthodox leader, Patriarch Bartholomew I, in the Vatican for the first time.

10 - Exiled Tibetans hold protest march in India on 49th anniversary of uprising against Chinese rule. Subsequent protests across China result in many deaths and injuries.

14 - Conservatives consolidate hold on Iranian parliament in elections.

16 - US bank JP Morgan Chase takes over troubled investment bank Bear Stearns.

17 - Paul McCartney-Heather Mills' four-year marriage ends in divorce.

18 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses Israeli parliament, the Knesset.

22 - Ma Ying-jeou of the pro-China Nationalist Party wins Taiwan presidential election.

24 - Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan holds first democratic election.

25 - African Union and central government forces invade Comoros island of Anjouan and retake it from renegade Colonel Mohamed Bacar. The rout is swift with little bloodshed.

26 - Ford sells Jaguar and Land Rover brands to India's Tata for 2.3 billion dollars.

29 - Zimbabweans vote in presidential, parliamentary elections.

APRIL

1 - Finnish Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva forced to resign over 200 text messages to stripper.

2 - British scientist produce embryos from human genes and animal eggs.

3 - US, Czech Republic sign agreement to locate radar station on Czech soil as part of a missile defence shield; the deal prompts public protests in the Czech Republic.

3-12 - Food riots in Haiti lead to downfall of government.

5 - US President George W Bush of the US and outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin hold farewell meeting in Russian resort of Sochi.

7 - Olympic flame held up in Paris for 20 minutes amid anti- China protests.

9 - South Korea's conservative Grand National Party has clear victory in parliamentary elections.

12 - At least 12 people killed in explosion in mosque in southern Iran.

12 - Chinese President Hu Jintao meets Taiwan Vice-President Vincent Siew, the highest-level meeting between the two sides since they split in 1949.

13 - Kenya agrees on a grand coalition government, bringing to an end months of election-related violence that killed around 1,500 people.

14 - Silvio Berlusconi wins Italian general election.

15 - Pope Benedict XVI arrives in US for six-day visit.

20 - Former Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo wins Paraguayan presidential election.

21 - Bank of England provides 50-billion-pound rescue package amid worsening financial crisis.

22 - Euro climbs above 1.60 dollars for the first time.

23 - In the worst fighting in Sri Lanka since the summer of 2006, at least 100 Tamil rebels and 43 soldiers killed.

26      - Police arrest Josef Fritzl in Austria for imprisoning and raping his daughter in a cellar for over 24 years.

MAY

1 - A US airstrike kills the leader of al-Shabaab, a Somali Islamist insurgent group reportedly linked to al-Qaeda.

2-3 - Cyclone Nargis hits Myanmar, leaving about 140,000 dead or missing.

6 - Chinese President Hu Jintao travels to Japan, the first visit by a Chinese leader in a decade.

7 - Dmitry Medvedev is sworn in as Russian president.

8 - Israel celebrates 60th anniversary of founding of state.

11 - Two weeks of xenophobic attacks on African migrants begin in Johannesburg township of Alexandra. Over 62 people are killed and tens of thousands displaced countrywide.

12 - Worst earthquake since 1979 hits China. The magnitude-7.9 quake leaves 87,600 people dead in Sichuan province.

13 - Series of bomb blasts in India's Jaipur leaves 63 dead and more than 200 injured.

14 - Fighting in oil-rich Sudanese region of Abyei raises fears of renewed war between Christian South and Muslim North.

14-18 - US President Bush visits Israel for the 60th anniversary of founding of the state.

15 - US President Bush address Israeli Knesset.

20 - Iceland permits commercial whaling again.

20 - Leader of Basque terrorist group ETA, Francisco Lopez alias 'Thierry,' arrested in Bordeaux.

21 - Israel and Syria resume peace talks after eight-year hiatus.

21 - Manchester United defeats Chelsea to wins Champions League in all-England football final in Moscow.

21 - South African President Thabo Mbeki deploys army to protect Zimbabweans after wave of attacks on foreigners leaves at least 65 dead.

24 - Russian superstar Dima Bilan wins Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade with the song Believe.

25 - General Michel Suleiman elected Lebanese president.

26 - Phoenix probe lands on Mars.

28 - Monarchy abolished in Nepal.

JUNE

5 - Turkish Constitutional Court upholds ban on headscarves in universities, reversing parliament's lifting of the ban.

12 - Ireland halts the ratification of the EU's Lisbon Treaty with a no vote in a referendum.

12 - International community pledges 21.4 billion dollars for Afghanistan's reconstruction at Paris conference.

12 - Taiwan and China resume dialogue after nine-year hiatus.

19 - Israel and radical Islamic Hamas movement ruling Gaza reach fragile, Egyptian-brokered, informal truce.

20 - More than 800 die when ferry sinks in Philippines during Typhoon Fengshen.

23 - French President Sarkozy addresses Israeli Knesset.

26 - US Supreme Court upholds right to bear arms.

27 - Bill Gates retires from Microsoft.

27 - Robert Mugabe wins Zimbabwe's violent run-off presidential election without a contest. The West denounces the vote as a sham. African observers say election lacked legitimacy.

29 - Spain wins Euro 2008 football championship, defeating Germany 1-0.