2004

[2] 2004 was a year marked by many popular and highly grossing film releases such as Shrek 2, Spider Man 2, The Incredibles, The Passion of the Christ and Howl's Moving Castle.

Tsuburaya Productions would air the highly controversial Ultraman Nexus, the 17th entry of the Ultra Series on October 2, 2004.

The gaming industry would see the release of many FPS and sequel games in 2004, with some of the most famous being Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[57] Halo 2,[58] Metroid Prime 2: Echoes,[59] Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door,[60] and Half Life 2.

[61] These titles are considered some of the greatest video games of all time.

[62][63][64][65] The Nintendo DS also released this year, which grew to become the best-selling handheld console of all time.

Clockwise from top-left: Facebook , originally called TheFacebook , is launched by Mark Zuckerberg ; the 2004 transit of Venus , the first such occurrence since 1882 ; NASA lands the Opportunity and Spirit rovers on Mars ; the 2004 Summer Olympics are held in Athens ; Al-Qaeda bombs multiple trains in Madrid , killing 193 people; the European Union adds 10 new member-states; 333 people are killed in the Beslan school siege , carried out by Chechen terrorists; a massive 9.1-9.3 megathrust earthquake off the coast of Sumatra and the resultant tsunami kill over 227,000 people—one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history.