2004

2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2004th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 4th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 5th year of the 2000s decade.

2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations,^[1] and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).^[2]

The December 26th Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami killed an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.