Year 2004 Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

What Happened During the Year 2004?

What are some fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 2004? What were the top news stories in the U.S. and around the world, and what major events took place in the business and financial sectors? How much did a gallon of gas cost, and what happened in science, technology, sports, and in the entertainment industry?

Back in 2004, what were the biggest food and fashion trends, and what were the most popular baby names and Christmas gifts? Likewise, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, and how much did a first-class stamp or a gallon of milk cost? What about famous birthdays and deaths that year, and what were the best-selling books?

From world leaders to pioneers to innovators, who were the most influential people in 2004? What was the median household income, the average life expectancy, and how much did a new house or car cost? Finally, what was 2004 best known for, and was it a good or bad year overall? Let's find out.

Here is a summary of the top news stories and history events that happened in 2004:

1. In the 2004 presidential race, incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic nominee John Kerry—a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts.
2. President Bush and Vice President Cheney both testified before the 9/11 Commission, and businesswoman Martha Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison.
3. Ronald Reagan—the 40th U.S. president—passed away.
4. The last Oldsmobile came off the assembly line at the Lansing Car Assembly plant in Michigan, thus ending the “106-year-old automotive brand.”
5. 90377 Sedna, “a mysterious planet-like body in the distant reaches of the solar system,” was discovered by NASA-funded researchers. 90377 Senda was believed to be two-thirds the size of Pluto.
6. The European Green Party was established, and Shrek—the famous sheep from New Zealand—was finally shown live on television.
7. Michael and Madison were favorite baby names, and suede boots and red eyeliner were fashion trends.
8. Scrabble was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame.
9. In the year 2004, singer Britney Spears wed childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander. The marriage lasted for 55 hours.
10. Estée Lauder—the American cosmetics entrepreneur—passed away.
11. Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook from a Harvard dorm room, and Google introduced the free email service Gmail.
12. The total number of Internet users in the world was 913,327,771, which was 14.2% of the total global population.
13. The most popular web browser was Internet Explorer. During the fourth quarter of the year 2004, IE had a market share of 90.98%, followed by Mozilla/Firefox (5.10%), Safari (0.77%), Opera (0.68%), and Netscape Navigator (0.18%).
14. Google was the most popular search engine with a market share of 35%, followed by Yahoo! (32%), MSN (16%), AOL (9%), Excite (4%), AskJeeves (2%), and others (2%).
15. The average life expectancy in the United States was 77.34 years, up from 76.99 years the year before.
16. Around 33 million people watched the final episode of the sitcom Frasier.
17. Shrek 2 was the most popular film, The Da Vinci Code was the most popular fiction book, and American Idol (Fox) was the top TV show.
18. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won an Oscar for Best Picture, Sean Penn (Mystic River) won an Academy Award for Best Actor, and Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City) won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
19. Here are some sports facts from 2004: The New England Patriots were the Super Bowl champs, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series, and Tampa Bay Lightning clinched the Stanley Cup.
20. A 20-ounce loaf of bread cost $2.09, a dozen eggs were $1.49, and five pounds of white potatoes cost $1.99.

Here are the five most popular TV shows from 2004-05:

1. American Idol (Fox)
2. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS)
3. Desperate Housewives (ABC)
4. Survivor: Palau (CBS)
5. Survivor: Vanuatu (CBS)

Here are ten cool food and beverage trends for the year:

1. Bacon
2. Brown butter pasta
3. Comfort foods (for example, chicken pot pies, meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, and pizza)
4. Cupcakes and mini-cupcakes
5. Fruit smoothies (for example, mango yogurt smoothies)
6. Giant hunks of meat (influenced by the Atkins diet)
7. Hi-C (for example, Blazin' Blueberry, Boppin’ Strawberry, Strawberry Kiwi Kraze, Orange Lavaburst, and Wild Cherry)
8. Olive oil
9. Planters Cheez Balls
10. Sushi

This article teaches you fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 2004. Find out about popular TV shows and movies, best-selling books, food and fashion trends, sports facts, pop music artists and songs, famous birthdays, economic and tech news, as well as unusual news events to get the right mix of questions and answers for your 2000s-themed trivia quiz.

Table of Contents

Here is a sneak preview of what this article is about:

1. Grocery Prices in the Year 2004
2. History Facts and Events From the USA
3. International News Events
4. Sports Facts and Trivia
5. Miscellaneous Fun Facts, Trivia, and Pop Culture Trends
6. Computer and Internet History
7. Most Popular Websites
8. Nobel Prize Winners
9. Most Popular Television Shows From 2004-05
10. Best-Selling Fiction and Nonfiction Books
11. Highest-Grossing Films
12. Horror Movies From the Year 2004
13. Entries into The National Film Registry
14. Biggest Pop Music Artists
15. Number One Music Hits for the Year
16. Favorite Video Games
17. Food and Beverage Trivia
18. Weddings and Divorces
19. Famous People Who Died in 2004
20. Best-Selling Cars in America
21. America’s Largest Corporations
22. Internet Companies Established

1. Grocery Prices in the Year 2004

These 2004 grocery prices have been made available courtesy of the Morris County Public Library in Whippany, NJ, and Statista.com.

1. Apples (McIntosh): $1.49 a pound
2. Bacon (Oscar Mayer): $5.39 per pound
3. Beans (B&M Original Baked Beans): 99 cents for a 16-ounce can
4. Beef (ground, 90% lean): $3.49 a pound
5. Bread (white): $2.09 for a 20-ounce loaf
6. Butter (Land O’Lakes): $4.99 per pound
7. Cereal (Kellogg’s Corn Flakes): $2.99 for a 12-ounce box
8. Cheese (Kraft American Slices): $5.39 a pound
9. Chicken (Perdue, whole legs): $3.99 per pound
10. Chocolate (Russell Stover): $3.99 for a one-pound box
11. Cookies (Nabisco Oreo): $2.99 for a one-pound package
12. Crackers (Nabisco Ritz): $3.19 for a 12-ounce package
13. Eggs: $1.49 a dozen
14. Fish (salmon fillet, fresh): $4.99 a pound
15. Ham (Armour Premium, canned): $14.99 for a five-pound can
16. Hot dogs (Oscar Mayer): $3.69 for a one-pound package
17. Ice cream (Breyers): $4.99 for one-half gallon
18. Lettuce (Iceberg): 49 cents a head
19. Margarine: $2.09 for a one-pound package
20. Milk: $3.23 a gallon
21. Onions (Vidalia): 79 cents a pound
22. Oranges (Navel): Five for $1.99
23. Peanut butter (Foodtown): $1.49 for an 18-ounce jar
24. Potatoes (white): $1.99 for a five-pound bag
25. Soup (Campbell’s Tomato): 79 cents for a 10.75-ounce can
26. Spaghetti (Ronzoni): 99 cents for a one-pound package
27. Tuna (Chicken of the Sea, chunk light): 79 cents for a six-ounce can

2. History Facts and Events From the USA

1. In 2004, George W. Bush was President of the United States, and Dick Cheney was Vice-President. Bush’s presidency began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States. His term of office ended on January 20, 2009, when Barach Obama was inaugurated as the 44th U.S. President.
2. In 2004, the national unemployment rate was 5.50%. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics points out that “Two States that border the Pacific--Alaska and Oregon--recorded the highest jobless rates in 2004, 7.5 and 7.4 percent, respectively. Michigan, at 7.1 percent, was the only other state with a rate above 7.0 percent. Overall, 16 states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rates above the national average of 5.5 percent in 2004.”
3. The rate of inflation was 2.66%. In2013Dollars.com tells us that “Purchasing power decreased by 2.66% in 2004 compared to the previous year, 2003. On average, you would have to spend 2.66% more money in 2004 than in 2003 for the same item. In other words, $1 in 2003 is equivalent in purchasing power to $1.03 in 2004.”
4. In 2004, a 20-ounce loaf of white bread cost $2.09, a dozen eggs were $1.49, one pound of ground beef was $3.49, and five Navel oranges were $1.99. A gallon of milk cost $3.23, butter was $4.99 a pound, five pounds of white potatoes were $1.99, and Vidalia onions cost 79 cents a pound.
5. Here were the sticker prices for three best-selling 2004 cars: a Ford Taurus SE cost $16,533.00, a Toyota Camry was $15,969.00, and a Lincoln Navigator cost $39,995.00.
6. The average price for a gallon of gas was $1.74.
7. The minimum wage was $5.15, the prime rate was 4.25% on July 1, one ounce of gold was $435.60, and the median annual income was $45,817.00.
8. In January 2004, the median cost of a newly-built, single-family home in the United States was $209,500 while the average price was $262,100. Comparatively, in November 2018, the median cost of a newly-built, single-family home in the U.S. was $302,400 while the average price was $362,400.
9. On March 15, 90377 Sedna, “a mysterious planet-like body in the distant reaches of the solar system,” was discovered by NASA-funded researchers. 90377 Senda was believed to be two-thirds the size of Pluto.
10. On April 8, Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. National Security Advisor, testified before the independent National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. CNN.com points out that “The White House initially refused to allow Rice's public testimony but reversed its position after pressure from relatives of 9/11 victims, commission members [sic] and politicians.”
11. On April 29, President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney testified before the 9/11 Commission in a “closed, unrecorded hearing in the Oval Office.”
12. On April 29, the last Oldsmobile came off the assembly line at the Lansing Car Assembly plant in Michigan, thus ending the “106-year-old automotive brand.” History.com tells us that “Factory workers signed the last Oldsmobile, an Alero sedan, before the vehicle was moved to Lansing’s R.E. Olds Transportation Museum, where it went on display. The last 500 Aleros ever manufactured featured ‘Final 500’ emblems and were painted dark metallic cherry red.”
13. On May 13, the final episode of Frasier (NBC) was watched by 33 million people.
14. On May 29, the World War II Memorial was dedicated in Washington, DC.
15. On June 5, Ronald Reagan, the 40th U.S. President, passed away.
16. On June 11, Ronald Reagan's funeral was held at the Washington National Cathedral.
17. On June 24, capital punishment was declared unconstitutional in New York.
18. On July 16, business magnate and television personality Martha Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison for lying to federal investigators about a well-timed stock sale.
19. On August 3, the MESSENGER spacecraft, NASA’s first mission to the planet Mercury in over 30 years, was launched from Cape Canaveral. Nature.com explains that “NASA's only previous Mercury mission was Mariner 10, which photographed less than half of the planet's surface during three flybys in 1974 and 1975. MESSENGER will spend about a year in orbit around Mercury, giving scientists their most detailed ever information about the closest planet to the Sun.”
20. On September 29, the asteroid 4179 Toutatis buzzed at a distance “only four times the distance from the Earth to the Moon.”
21. On November 2, George W. Bush was re-elected as President of the United States by defeating Democrat candidate John Kerry.
22. On November 17, Kmart Corporation announced that it was buying Sears, Roebuck and Co. for $11 billion.

3. International News Events

1. On February 21, the European Green Party, the first pan-European political party, was established in Rome. Since then, 34 Green parties from all over Europe have joined the European Greens.
2. On March 20, Stephen Harper was elected as the leader of the newly created Conservative Party of Canada.
3. On March 29, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined NATO as full members.
4. On March 29, Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in all workplaces.
5. On April 28, Shrek, the famous sheep from New Zealand who avoided being caught and shorn for six years, was finally shown live on television.
6. On May 31, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third film based on the books by J. K. Rowling, was released in UK cinemas.
7. On June 28, Estonia, Lithuania, and Slovenia all joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
8. On August 13, the Summer Olympic Games opened in Athens, Greece. They closed on August 29.
9. On August 27, the martial arts film Hero, which starred Jet Li, opened in U.S. theaters and became the first Chinese-language film to become No. 1 at the American box office.
10. On December 25, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake created a tsunami that caused devastation along the coasts of several Southeast Asian countries. Britannica.com confirms that “On December 26, 2004, at 7:59 AM local time, an undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1 struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Over the next seven hours, a tsunami--a series of immense ocean waves--triggered by the quake reached out across the Indian Ocean, devastating coastal areas as far away as East Africa. Some locations reported that the waves had reached a height of 30 feet (9 metres) or more when they hit the shoreline.”

4. Sports Facts and Trivia

This information has been made available courtesy of Pop-Culture.us. Generally suitable for all age groups, sports questions and answers are a welcome addition to any trivia quiz.

1. World Series Champions: Boston Red Sox
2. Super Bowl Champs: New England Patriots
3. NBA Champions: Detroit Pistons
4. Stanley Cup Champs: Tampa Bay Lightning
5. NCAA Basketball Champions: Connecticut
6. NCAA Football Champs: Southern California
7. U.S. Open Golf: Retief Goosen
8. U.S. Tennis (men/women): Roger Federer/Svetlana Kuznetsova
9. Wimbledon (men/women): Roger Federer/Maria Sharapova
10. Kentucky Derby: Smarty Jones

5. Miscellaneous Fun Facts, Trivia, and Pop Culture Trends

PBS.org explains that pop culture is that loose blend of books, music, fashion and other daily ephemera that contributes to the identity of a society at a particular point in time. In the 2000s, radio, film, television, books, and the internet defined the essence of American pop culture.

1. In 2004, popular baby names were Michael, Matthew, Joshua, Jacob, Emily, Emma, Madison, and Olivia.
2. The average life expectancy at birth in the United States was 77.34 years, up from 76.99 years the year before.
3. The cost of a Super Bowl ad was $2,300,000.
4. Popular Christmas gifts were Bratz fashion dolls, Dora the Explorer, and the Nintendo DS.
5. Fashion trends in 2004 included hoop earrings, halter necks, suede boots, hip-hugging capri pants, leather wristbands, skinny scarves with polka dots, red eyeliner, two-tone sunglasses, fur ski boots, blazers, and shirts with random letters and numbers on them.
6. Hotties and fashion icons were Christina Aguilera, Pamela Anderson, Jennifer Aniston, Victoria Beckham, Catherine Bell, Halle Berry, Beyonce, Jessica Biel, Kate Bosworth, Brooke Burke, Mariah Carey, Cameron Diaz, Carmen Electra, Jennifer Garner, Eva Green, Teri Hatcher, Paris Hilton, Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Lindsay Lohan, Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker, Portia de Rossi, Shakira, Jessica Simpson, Kim Smith, Britney Spears, Melania Trump, Liv Tyler, and Naomi Watts.
7. Hunks included Jude Law, George Clooney, Usher, Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Heath Ledger, and David Beckham.
8. Ericka Dunlap (Florida) won the Miss America crown.
9. Shandi Finnessey (Missouri) became Miss USA.
10. Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” was George W. Bush.
11. Top-grossing Broadway shows included Wicked, The Lion King, The Producers, Mamma Mia!, Hairspray, 42nd Street, Movin’ Out, Beauty and the Beast, The Boy from Oz, and Phantom of the Opera.
12. At the 76th Academy Awards, which honored the best films of 2003, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won an Oscar for Best Picture, Sean Penn (Mystic River) won an Oscar for Best Actor, Charlize Theron (Monster) won an Oscar for Best Actress, and Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) won an Oscar for Best Director.
13. At the 56th Primetime Emmy Awards, Arrested Development (Fox) won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, and The Sopranos (HBO) won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series. Likewise, Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City) won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
14. At the 46th annual Grammy Awards, the American rock band Evanescence won a Grammy for Best New Artist.
15. G.I. Joe, the Rocking Horse, and Scrabble were all inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame.
16. Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City won 74 games and $2,520,700 on Jeopardy!.
17. Low-carb diets like “Atkins” and “South Beach” were all the rage.
18. On January 8, Cunard's RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest transatlantic ocean liner ever built, was christened. HistoryandHeadlines.com tells us that the Queen Mary 2 “stretches 1132 feet long and has a beam of 135 feet (waterline). Towering 236 feet above the water, the ship draws 33 feet of water and displaces almost 80,000 tonnes (metric tons), with a gross tonnage of 148, 528. Compare these numbers with the RMS Titanic, which was 882 feet 9 inches long and 92 feet 6 inches wide, displacing 52,310 tons, a fraction of the size of this modern leviathan!”
19. Jeff Smith, TV’s Frugal Gourmet, passed away.
20. Al Lapin, who along with his brother Jerry co-founded the International House of Pancakes, also died.
21. Cooking authority Julia Child passed away just two days before her 92nd birthday.
22. Country music star Willie Nelson opened his own restaurant, “The Texas Roadhouse Grill,” in Austin, Texas.
23. In 2004, American scientists Richard Axel and Linda Buck were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine. According to FoodReference.com, they received the award for their work on our sense of smell, and “discovered genes that are responsible for our ability to recognize thousands of complex odors, and remember them throughout life.”
24. The British Parliament voted to ban fox hunting in the UK effective in February 2005.
25. On July 16, business magnate and television personality Martha Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison for lying to federal investigators about a well-timed stock sale.

6. Computer and Internet History

These fun facts and trivia from 2004 have been made available courtesy of ComputerHope.com.

1. In 2004, the most popular websites included Yahoo!, Time Warner, MSN, Google, eBay, Amazon, Lycos, About.com, Excite, Viacom, Verizon, CNET, The Weather Channel, and Real. Comparatively, in January 2019, the most-visited web destinations were Google, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo!, Amazon, Wikipedia, Twitter, Bing, eBay, MSN, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Ask, and Wordpress.
2. The total number of Internet users in the world was 913,327,771, which was 14.2% of the total global population.
3. The most popular web browser was Internet Explorer. During the fourth quarter of 2004, IE had a market share of 90.98%, followed by Mozilla/Firefox (5.10%), Safari (0.77%), Opera (0.68%), and Netscape Navigator (0.18%).
4. In December 2004, Google was the most popular search engine with a market share of 35%, followed by Yahoo! (32%), MSN (16%), AOL (9%), Excite (4%), AskJeeves (2%), and others (2%).
5. AOL processed an estimated 700 million search queries every month.
6. In 2004, the most searched for words on the web were horoscopes, lyrics, hairstyles, foreclosures, salaries, jobs, tattoos, and IRS.
7. Top Internet searches for people that year included Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Janet Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Usher, Harry Potter, Pamela Anderson, Jessica Simpson, and Orlando Bloom.
8. Popular online searches for sports teams were Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Oakland Raiders.
9. In 2004, the most searched for athletes on the web included Kobe Bryant, Bam Margera, Michael Phelps, Lance Armstrong, Serena Williams, Anna Kournikova, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Jackie Robinson, and Trish Stratus.
10. Top Internet searches for recipes that year were cookie recipes, crockpot recipes, mixed drink recipes, turkey, cakes, meatloaf, cheesecake, salsa, banana bread, and brownies.
11. Popular online searches for gadgets and devices included cellphones, digital cameras, MP3 players, PDA devices, GPS devices, plasma TVs, HD TVs, laptops, printers, DVD recorders, and telescopes.
12. In 2004, the most searched for toys on the web were Neopets, Barbie, My Scene dolls, Care Bears, Bratz fashion dolls, scooters, PlayStation 2, Polly Pockets, Dora the Explorer, and Nintendo Gamecube.
13. Top Internet searches for tattoos that year included tribal, butterfly, fairy, cross, Celtic, star, temporary, dragon, angel, and religious.
14. Popular online searches for fashion labels were Louis Vuitton, Coach, Uggs, Gucci, Dooney & Bourke, Prada, Polo, Baby Phat, Steve Madden, and Juicy Couture.
15. In 2004, the most searched for celebrity moms on the web included Julia Roberts, Shar Jackson, Liv Tyler, J.K. Rowling, Kate Hudson, Solange Knowles, Heidi Klum, Leah Remini, Holly Marie Combs, and Monica Bellucci.
16. Top Internet searches for movies that year were “Harry Potter,” “Passion of the Christ,” “Lord of The Rings,” “Spider-Man 2,” “Star Wars,” “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Troy,” “Finding Nemo,” “Van Helsing,” and “Shrek 2.”
17. Popular online searches for television shows included “American Idol," "Oprah Winfrey," "Survivor," "Days of Our Lives," "Apprentice," "Big Brother," "The Bachelor," "The OC," "The Sopranos," and "Charmed."
18. Computer companies founded in 2004 were Tilera, FireEye, GrubHub, Mindtouch, and Vimeo.
19. In January, Google launched the social networking site Orkut.
20. In January, Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe founded the online networking community MySpace.
21. In February, Google announced that it had indexed 4.28 billion web pages and 880 million images.
22. On February 4, Facebook was launched by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes in a Harvard University dorm room. Matt Ahlgren tells us that Facebook is now “the king/queen of the social media landscape with an audience that is both massive (close to 1.5 billion active daily users) as well as loyal (average time spent on it per user per day is 35 minutes).” About 400 people join Facebook every minute.
23. On April 1, Google launched the free email service “Gmail,” which many initially believed was an April Fools’ Day joke. Today, Gmail has over 1.5 billion active users worldwide.
24. On August 18, Google’s IPO (initial public offering) was priced at $85 a share. They offered 19,605,052 shares, which was about 7% of the company.
25. In September, the term “grayware” was coined. ComputerHope.com explains that “grayware (or greyware) refers to an unwanted software program (small or large) that can cause damage to a computer system. Most adware, malware, and spyware programs can be classified as grayware. In general, grayware is not as destructive as a virus, but rather are more of a nuisance or annoyance.”
26. On October 13, Russel Simmons and Jeremy Stoppelman launched Yelp, a service that provides reviews for local businesses like restaurants, dentists, and hair stylists. According to their website, Yelpers wrote over 177 reviews by the end of 2018.
27. On November 9, Firefox 1.0 was released.
28. In 2004, Google announced that it had over 100 domains.

7. Most Popular Websites

These Internet history facts have been made available courtesy of SocialTalent.com and eBizMBA.com.

In 2004, the most-visited websites included Yahoo!, Time Warner, MSN, Google, eBay, Amazon, Lycos, About.com, Excite, Viacom, Verizon, CNET, The Weather Channel, and Real.