2008 in Europe

The following is a list of events of the year 2008 in Europe.

Events

Albania

Andorra

Azerbaijan

Belarus

Belgium

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Croatia

Czech Republic

Cyprus

Denmark

Estonia

European Union

• President of the European Commission: José Manuel Barroso
• President of the Parliament: Hans-Gert Pöttering
• President of the European Council:
• Janez JanÅ¡a (January–June)
• Nicolas Sarkozy (July–December)
• Presidency of the Council of the EU:
• Slovenia (January–July)
• France (July–December)

Finland

France

Germany

Georgia

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Moldova

Monaco

Montenegro

Netherlands

North Macedonia

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Russia

San Marino

Serbia

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

Ukraine

United Kingdom

Vatican City

Events

• January 1: Cyprus and Malta becomes a eurozone member, adopting the euro for the first time.
• May 21: The first all-English European Cup final saw Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties after a 1–1 draw in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.
• August 7–16: Russo-Georgian War
• August 28: The Russian group Voina staged the Fuck for the heir Puppy Bear! performance at the Timiryazev State Biological Museum in Moscow to protest at the election of Dmitry Medvedev in the 2008 Russian presidential election.
• December 6: A police officer assassinated 15-year-old student Alexis Grigoropoulos. Large riots took place the following days in Greece.

Deaths

January

• January 2
• George MacDonald Fraser, British author
• Günter Schubert, German actor
• January 3
• Jimmy Stewart, British racing driver
• Werner Dollinger, German politician
• January 7 – Detlef Kraus, German pianist
• January 9 – John Harvey-Jones, British businessman
• January 19 – Morris Maddocks, British bishop
• January 30 – Jeremy Beadle, British television presenter, writer and producer

February

• 28 February – Mike Smith, British singer

March

• 8 March – Carol Barnes, British newsreader
• 18 March – Anthony Minghella, British film director
• 19 March
• Arthur C. Clarke, British science fiction author and inventor
• Paul Scofield, British actor
• 20 March – Brian Wilde, British actor
• 23 March – Neil Aspinall, British record producer and business executive
• 28 March – Michael Podro, British art historian

April

• 1 April – Jim Finney, British football referee
• 7 April – Mark Speight, British television presenter
• 25 April – Humphrey Lyttelton, British jazz musician and broadcaster

May

• 16 May – David Mitton, British producer and director
• 24 May – Rob Knox, British actor
• 28 May – Beryl Cook, British artist

July

• 2 July – Elizabeth Spriggs, British actress
• 3 July – Clive Hornby, British actor
• 4 July – Charles Wheeler, British journalist
• 14 July – Hugh Lloyd, British actor

August

• 11 August – Bill Cotton, British producer
• 29 August – Geoffrey Perkins, British comedy producer, writer and performer
• 31 August – Ken Campbell, British actor and raconteur

September

• 15 September – Richard Wright, British musician
• 24 September - Ruslan Yamadayev, Russian politician

November

• 3 November – Brooks Mileson, British businessman,
• 4 November – Syd Lucas, British World War I veteran
• 12 November – Mitch Mitchell, British drummer
• 16 November – Reg Varney, British actor

December

• 8 December – Oliver Postgate, British animator, puppeteer and writer
• 14 December – Kathy Staff, British actress
• 24 December – Harold Pinter, British playwright

See also

• 2008 in the European Union

References