2008

January

 * – and  adopt the.
 * – At 19:04:39, the unmanned  is at its closest approach during its first flyby of the planet.
 * – Stock markets around the world plunge amid growing fears of a U.S., fueled by the 2007.


 * – A peace deal is signed in, , ending the.

February

 * – opens its first space center and launches a  into space.
 * –  delivers a formal apology to the.
 * – formally  from, with a mixed response from the international community.

March

 * March–April – trigger riots and unrest in the.
 * – and , following a Colombian raid against  guerrillas inside Ecuadorian territory, in which senior commander  is killed.
 * – The first, a cargo spacecraft for the , launches from  in.
 * – holds its  following the adoption of a new  which changed the country from an  to a multiparty democracy.
 * – and  forces  the rebel-held island of, returning the island to Comorian control.

April

 * – Surgeons at London's perform the first successful operations using, implanting them into two blind patients.

May

 * – The volcano in  enters a new eruptive phase for the first time since around 1640.
 * – passes through, killing more than 138,000 people.
 * – An earthquake measuring 7.9 on the, killing an estimated 87,000 people.
 * The, an intergovernmental organization between states in , is founded.
 * The awards  to  and  to, ending a 29-year  between the two countries.
 * – 's unmanned spacecraft becomes the first to land on the northern polar region of.
 * – The votes overwhelmingly in favor of abolishing the country's, turning the country into a republic.
 * – The is adopted in Dublin.
 * – The is adopted in Dublin.

June

 * – – and  jointly host the  football tournament, which is won by.
 * The is launched.
 * Canadian Prime Minister formally apologizes, on behalf of the Canadian government, to the country's  for the.
 * – opens in, Spain, lasting to September 14, with the topic "Water and sustainable development".
 * – opens in, Spain, lasting to September 14, with the topic "Water and sustainable development".

July

 * – and 14 other hostages are  from  rebels by n security forces.
 * –, the first president of the , is arrested in , , on allegations of war crimes, following a 12-year-long.

August

 * – Eleven mountaineers from international expeditions die on, the second-highest mountain on Earth in the in the history of K2 mountaineering.
 * – President of  is deposed in a.
 * – invades the breakaway state of,  with  as the latter intervenes in support of the separatists in both South Ossetia and.
 * – crashes at, killing 154 people on board.
 * – – The take place in Beijing, China.

September

 * – The  is circulated for the first time in the, the  , located at , near , under the Franco-Swiss border.
 * – makes landfall in.
 * – A destroys the  in, , killing at least 54 and injuring 266.
 * –  becomes the world's first privately developed  to successfully.
 * – Following the bankruptcies of and, The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, hitherto the largest single-day point loss in its history.

October

 * – :  signs the revised  into law, creating a  to purchase failing bank s.
 * – The music streaming service is launched in Sweden.
 * – The (LHC) is officially  at.
 * – The successfully launches the  spacecraft on a  mission.

November

 * – publishes ": A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System".
 * – U.S. Senator  is  the 44th, becoming the first  President of the United States.
 * – Claudia Castillo of Spain becomes the first person to have a successful  using a.
 * – – Members of carry out four days of coordinated bombing and shooting  across, killing 164 people.

December

 * – Human remains found in 1991 are identified as, using.
 * – The of, a British , holds its  under a new constitutional arrangement, becoming the last European territory to abolish.
 * – The  finds  and two other senior Rwandan army officers guilty of,  and s and sentences them to  for their role in the.
 * – A deposes the government of  shortly after the death of longtime.
 * – Israel the  in response to rockets being fired into Israeli territory by  and due to weapons being smuggled into the area.
 * – An extra (23:59:60) is added to end the year. The last time this occurred was in.