| January 1 | Cyprus replaces it's currency with the Euro |
| January 1 | Malta replaces it's currency with the Euro |
| January 2 | Oil reaches $100 per barrel for the first time |
| February 7 | Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-122, launches to deliver laboratory to the ISS |
| February 13 | Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issues a formal apology to the Aboriginal people of Australia |
| February 17 | Kosovo declares independence from Serbia |
| February 17 | Taliban suicide bombing kills 80 in Kandahar, Afghanistan |
| February 20 | U.S. Navy destroys a U.S. spy satellite with a missile |
| February 24 | Fidel Castro resigns as President of Cuba, his brother Raul Castro is unanimously elected |
| March 24 | Bhutan holds it's first public election |
| March 25 | 160 square mile part of the Antarctic ice shelf disintegrates |
| May 12 | 8.0 Earthquake in southwest China kills more than 69,000 |
| May 25 | NASA's Phoenix spacecraft lands in the polar region on Mars |
| June 12 | Irish voters reject the Treaty of Lisbon |
| June 27 | Bill Gates resigns from Microsoft to focus on his charity work |
| July 2 | Ingrid Betancourt and other hostages are rescued from FARC by Colombia |
| July 21 | Radovan Karadzic arrested on war crimes after a 12 year manhunt |
| August 8 | 2008 Summer Olympics begin in Beijing, China |
| August 17 | Michael Phelps wins 8 Gold Medals in 2008 Olympics |
| August 18 | Pervez Musharraf resigns as President of Pakistan |
| August 24 | 2008 Summer Olympics come to a close in Beijing, China |
| September 15 | Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy |
| September 24 | Taro Aso becomes the new Prime Minister of Japan |
| October 3 | President George W. Bush signs the 700 billion dollar TARP program into law |
| October 9 | Iceland takes control of 3 banks due to the global financial crisis |
| October 29 | Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines merge |
| November 4 | Barack Obama is elected the 44th President of the United States |
| November 4 | Joe Biden is elected the 47th Vice President of the United States |
| November 19 | Claudia Castillo has a successful trachea transplant from stem-cell created organ |
| November 26 | Mumbai terrorist attacks kill over 195 people over four days |
| December 31 | One leap second is added to the end of the year |
