2004 in the United States

Incumbents

Federal government

• President: George W. Bush
• Vice President: Dick Cheney
• Chief Justice: William Rehnquist
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Dennis Hastert
• Senate Majority Leader: Bill Frist
• Congress: 108th

  State governments

Governors

Lieutenant governors

Events

January

• January 4 – NASA's MER-A lands on Mars at 04:35 UTC.
• January 11
• * The Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round of the 2003–04 NFL playoffs at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known as "4th and 26".
• * Drake & Josh premieres on Nickelodeon.
• January 19
• * U.S. Senator John Kerry wins the Iowa Democratic caucus. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean's concession speech ends with a lively but controversial scream.
• * British children's television series Boohbah begins its first ever television premiere in the U.S. on PBS KIDS.
• January 20 – State of the Union Address.
• January 24 – NASA's MER-B lands on Mars at 05:05 UTC.
• January 25 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its Royal Rumble pay-per-view event from the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• January 28 – At a hearing of the 9/11 Commission, it is revealed that, in the September 11 attacks, terrorists used Mace, a brand of tear gas or pepper spray, in overpowering the flight crew of American Airlines Flight 11.

  February

• February 1 – The New England Patriots win Super Bowl XXXVIII by defeating the Carolina Panthers 32–29 at Reliant Stadium in Houston. The halftime show becomes one of the most controversial events in television history, as Janet Jackson's breast is exposed to an audience of 143.6 million viewers.
• February 3 – The CIA admits that there was no imminent threat from weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
• February 4 – Mark Zuckerberg launches "TheFacebook", later renamed to Facebook, a social networking website for Harvard University students.
• February 9 – Disappearance of Maura Murray: A 21-year-old nursing student disappears this evening after a car crash on Route 112 near Woodsville, New Hampshire, in Haverhill. Her whereabouts remain unknown.
• February 12 – Same sex marriage in the United States: The City and County of San Francisco begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as an act of civil disobedience.
• February 14 – Jetix is introduced on Toon Disney and ABC Family, making it the first trade-name to be introduced as an anime-based block.
• February 15 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its No Way Out pay-per-view event from the Cow Palace in Daly City, California.
• February 26 – The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya, ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years.
• February 29 – The 76th Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, are held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California, with Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King winning a record-tying 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. The film also breaks the record tied by 1958's Gigi and 1987's The Last Emperor for the largest sweep for a single film in Oscar history. The telecast garners nearly 43.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched broadcast since 2000.

  March

• March 2
• * NASA announces that the Mars rover MER-B has confirmed that its landing area was once drenched in water.
• * John Kerry effectively clinches the 2004 Democratic Party presidential nomination by winning nine out of 10 "Super Tuesday" primaries and caucuses.
• March 12 – Marcus Wesson is arrested in Fresno, California, after killing nine family members. Wesson had built a cult around his family and had molested and "married" several of his daughters. He was sentenced to death in 2005.
• March 14 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds WrestleMania XX at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
• March 31 – Four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA are killed and their bodies mutilated after being ambushed in Fallujah, Iraq.

  April

• April 2 – Walt Disney Pictures' 45th feature film, Home on the Range, is released to mixed reviews and middling box office numbers. It is the studio's last traditionally-animated film until 2009's The Princess and the Frog.
• April 22 – Pat Tillman, a former NFL player who enlisted in the US Army, is killed by friendly fire in eastern Afghanistan. The U.S. military does not reveal this to the public until weeks later, after initially saying he was killed by enemy combatants.
• April 28 – Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse is revealed on the television show 60 Minutes II.
• April 29 – The last Oldsmobile rolls off of the assembly line.

  May

• May – Emergence of cicada Brood X begins in the eastern United States.
• May 4 – A WNBC helicopter crashes in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. This event is covered by rival station WABC-TV.
• May 6 – The final episode of Friends airs on NBC, drawing an estimated 66 million viewers in North America. Advertisers pay $2 million for 30 second ads.
• May 8 – Would-be "Saudi Princess" Antoinette Millard surfaces in New York City, claiming that muggers had stolen jewels worth of $262,000 from her.
• May 12 – An American civilian contractor in Iraq, Nick Berg, is shown being decapitated by a group allegedly linked to al-Qaeda on an Internet-distributed video. They state it is retaliation for the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.
• May 13 – The final episode of Frasier airs on NBC. The episode was viewed by 33.7 million people, being the 11th most-watched series finale and the 7th most watched from NBC.
• May 14 – Lynn Turner is convicted of the 1995 murder of her husband Glenn Turner by poisoning him with anti-freeze. She is also accused of the murder of her second husband, Randy Thompson.
• May 16 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its Judgment Day pay-per-view event from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
• May 17 – Massachusetts legalizes same-sex marriage in compliance with a ruling from the state's Supreme Court ruling in the case of Goodridge v. Department of Public Health.
• May 26
• * Fantasia Barrino wins season 3 of American Idol.
• * Terry Nichols is convicted by an Oklahoma state court on murder charges stemming from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
• May 29 – Dedication of the National World War II Memorial takes place in Washington, D.C.

  June

• June 3 – Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet tenders his resignation, citing "personal reasons". John E. McLaughlin, CIA Deputy Director, becomes the acting director until a permanent director is chosen and confirmed by Congress.
• June 4 – Marvin Heemeyer destroys many local buildings and vehicles with a modified bulldozer in Granby, Colorado. He takes away his life after the rampage.
• June 5 – Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, dies at his home in Bel-Air, California, at the age of 93. A six-day state funeral follows after his death.
• June 8–9 – The G8 Summit takes place on Sea Island, in Georgia, United States.
• June 11
• * The national funeral service for Ronald Reagan is held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
• * Terry Nichols is spared the death penalty by an Oklahoma state court on murder charges stemming from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, exactly three years after his co-defendant, Timothy McVeigh, was executed for his role in the bombing.
• June 13 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its Bad Blood pay-per-view event from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
• June 15 – The Detroit Pistons defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals in five games to win their third NBA championship.
• June 16 – The 9/11 Commission issues an initial report of its findings.
• June 21 – In Mojave, California, SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.
• June 27 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its The Great American Bash pay-per-view event from the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.
• June 28
• * The U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq transfers sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government.
• * Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains collide in a rural area outside of San Antonio, Texas; 40 cars are derailed, including one chlorine car. Three people die, another 50 people are hospitalized because of exposure to the gas.
• June 30 – Spider-Man 2 is released in theaters.

  July

• July 4 – A symbolic cornerstone is laid for the re-construction of One World Trade Center in New York City.
• July 11 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its Vengeance pay-per-view event from the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
• July 25 – Lance Armstrong wins a record 6th consecutive Tour de France cycling title.
• July 26–29 – The Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, nominates John Kerry for U.S. president and John Edwards for vice president. Future President Barack Obama delivers the keynote address.
• July 31 – "The Last Dispatch" concert is played as a reunion concert with the band Dispatch on the Hatch Shell in Boston; 110,000 people attend, making it the single largest gathering in independent music industry history.

  August

• August 3
• * The Statue of Liberty reopens after security improvements.
• * NASA's MESSENGER is launched.
• August 12 – New Jersey Governor James McGreevey announces that he is "a gay American" and will resign effective November 15, 2004.
• August 13 – Hurricane Charley kills 27 people in Florida, after killing four in Cuba and one in Jamaica. Charley makes landfall near Cayo Costa, Florida as a Category 4 hurricane. Charley is the most intense hurricane to strike the United States since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
• August 13–29 – The United States compete at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, and win 36 gold, 39 silver, and 27 bronze medals.
• August 19 – Google becomes a publicly traded company via initial public offering.
• August 29 – Around 200,000 protesters demonstrate in New York City against President George W. Bush and his government, ahead of the Republican National Convention.
• August 30–September 2 – U.S. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are re-nominated at the Republican National Convention in New York City.
• August – Shadowville Productions business is founded in Brooklyn, New York.