2004

What Was Happening in 2004

Facebook launches from a Harvard dorm room, a tsunami devastates Asia, and Greece shocks the football world.

Born in

By the Numbers in 2004

World Population

UK Life Expectancy

59.1 years

US Life Expectancy

59.5 years

Gold Price (per oz)

$724.82

Dow Jones Index

11,103

US National Debt

Sovereign Nations

190

How Much Did Things Cost in 2004?

ItemUKUS
Average house price£148,000$185,000
Average salary£22,000$43,000
Pint of milk£0.28$0.39
Loaf of bread£0.60$1.07
Dozen eggs£1.42$1.25
Pint of beer£2.15$3.25
Gallon of petrol/gas£3.65$1.88
Cinema ticket£5.10$6.21

Technology and Inventions in 2004

Facebook launched from Mark Zuckerberg's Harvard dorm room on 4 February — initially restricted to students. Gmail launched by invitation, offering an unheard-of 1GB of storage. Flickr pioneered photo sharing, and podcasting emerged as a new medium.

  • Facebook launched on 4 February at Harvard University
  • Google launched Gmail with 1GB of free storage
  • Flickr pioneered online photo sharing
  • Mozilla Firefox 1.0 released as an alternative to Internet Explorer

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More About 2004

What Was Happening — A journey through the years