The Year 2004 in Review: Fun Facts, Trivia, and Historic Highlights

This quick read is a collection of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 2004. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, sports facts, computer history, entertainment trivia, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. In 2004, George W. Bush was the 43rd president of the United States, and Dick Cheney was the nation’s 46th vice president.
2. The U.S. unemployment rate was 5.50%, the nation’s inflation rate was 2.66%, and the average retail price for a gallon of gas was $1.74.
3. 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.
4. On January 8, Cunard's RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest transatlantic ocean liner ever built, was christened.
5. In February, Google announced that it had indexed 4.28 billion web pages and 880 million images.
6. On February 4, Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes launched Facebook in a Harvard University dorm room.
7. On February 29, at the 76th Academy Awards, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won an Oscar for Best Picture, and Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) won an Oscar for Best Director. Sean Penn (Mystic River) won an Oscar for Best Actor, and Charlize Theron (Monster) won an Oscar for Best Actress.
8. On March 29, Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in all workplaces.
9. On April 1, Google launched the free email service “Gmail,” which many first believed was an April Fools’ Day joke. Today, Gmail has over 1.5 billion active users worldwide.
10. 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.
11. On April 29, the last Oldsmobile came off the assembly line at the Lansing Car Assembly plant in Michigan, thus ending an automotive brand that spanned 106 years. 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.
12. On May 13, 33 million people watched the final episode of the sitcom Frasier (NBC).
13. On May 29, the World War II Memorial was dedicated in Washington, DC.
14. On June 5, Ronald Reagan, the 40th U.S. president, passed away. On June 11, Reagan's funeral was held at the Washington National Cathedral.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. On September 19, 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.
18. On October 13, Russel Simmons and Jeremy Stoppelman launched Yelp, a web service that provides reviews for local businesses like restaurants, dentists, and hair stylists. The company is based in San Francisco.
19. On November 2, George W. Bush was re-elected as the U.S. president by defeating John Kerry, the Democratic candidate.
20. On December 25, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake created a tsunami that caused devastation along the coasts of numerous Southeast Asian countries, including India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
21. Google was the most popular search engine in 2004 with a market share of 35%, followed by Yahoo! (32%), MSN (16%), AOL (9%), Excite (4%), AskJeeves (2%), and others (2%).
22. 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%).
23. The most searched-for words on the web were horoscopes, lyrics, hairstyles, foreclosures, salaries, jobs, tattoos, and IRS.
24. American Idol (Fox) was the most popular TV show, Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code was a best-selling fiction book, and Spider-Man 2 was a top-grossing film.
25. Here are some sports facts from the year 2004: The New England Patriots were the Super Bowl champs, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series, and the Tampa Bay Lightning clinched the Stanley Cup. In addition, the cost of a 30-second Super Bowl ad was $2.4 million.
26. Apples (McIntosh): $1.49 a pound
27. Bacon (Oscar Mayer): $5.39 for a one-pound package
28. Beef (ground, 90% lean): $3.49 a pound
29. Bread (white): $2.09 for a 20-ounce loaf
30. Butter (Land O’Lakes): $4.99 per pound
31. Chicken (Perdue, whole legs): $3.99 per pound
32. Cookies (Nabisco Oreos): $2.99 for a one-pound package
33. Crackers (Nabisco Ritz): $3.19 for a 12-ounce package
34. Eggs: $1.49 a dozen
35. Ham (Armour Premium, canned): $14.99 for a five-pound can
36. Milk: $3.23 a gallon
37. Onions (Vidalia): 79 cents a pound
38. Peanut butter (Foodtown brand): $1.49 for an 18-ounce jar
39. Potatoes (white): $1.99 for a five-pound bag
40. Spaghetti (Ronzoni): 99 cents for a one-pound package

References:

1. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-history-2001.html
2. https://www.mclib.info/Research/Local-History-Genealogy/Historic-Prices/Historic-Prices-2000s/Historic-Prices-2004
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_in_the_United_States
4. https://www.infoplease.com/year/2004
5. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/2003
6. https://www.computerhope.com/history/2004.htm
7. https://www.onthisday.com/date/2004
8. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publishing-and-marketing/article/2110-bestselling-books-of-the-year-1996-2007.html
9. https://www.the-numbers.com/market/2004/top-grossing-movies
10. https://flixpatrol.com/most-watched/2024/tv-shows-2004/

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor