2004

Events

March 7: Costas Karamanlis is elected Greek Prime Minister over Giorgos Papandreou. Karamanlis' New Democracy Party receives 45.36% of the vote whereas Papandreou's PASOK receives 40.55%. The Communist Party KKE is third with a 5.90% share of the vote.

April 24: Greek Cypriots reject by 75.83% the Annan Plan for Cyprus reunification.

May 3: Nikos Magitsis becomes the first Greek to climb Mt. Everest.
May 23: Panathinaikos put an end to Olympiakos 7-year reign in the Greek league after their 1-0 win over Paniliakos. The green team, which had already conquered the Greek Cup with a 3-1 win over Olympiakos, completed a memorable domestic double.

June 4: The Athens 2004 Olympic Flame started a journey from Ancient Olympia to Athens, during which it visited 26 states and 34 towns on all 5 continents.
June 12: The Greek National Football Team spoil hosts' (Portugal) party at Euro 2004 by beating the host team 2-1.
June 16: Greece draws with Spain 1-1 (Angelos Charisteas) in their second game for Euro 2004.
June 20: Greece qualify for the knockout stages of Euro 2004 despite losing 2-1 to Russia.
June 25: The Greek National Football Team advances to the Euro 2004 semi final game after beating France 1-0.

July 1 - The Greek National Football Team advances to the Euro 2004 final game after beating the Czech Republic 1-0 (silver goal, overtime).
July 4 - The Greek National Football Team beats Portugal at the final game of Euro 2004 and is crowned European Champions.

August 13: The opening Ceremony of the Athens Olympic Games takes place. Weightlifter Pyrros Dimas is the flag bearer for Greece.
August 22: Fani Halkia sets a new Olympic record in the 400m hurdles semi-finals with 52.77.
August 29: The closing ceremonies are held for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens. Anna Vissi, Dionisis Savvopoulos, Marinella and other top Greek singers give memorable performances.