2008 (MMVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2008th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 8th year of the 3rd millennium, the 8th year of the 21st century, and the 9th year of the 2000s decade.
2008 was designated as:
Tibetan monks arrested after the March, 14 unrest
Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar
2008 Sichuan earthquake
XXIX Summer Olympics in Beijing, China
South Ossetia war
November terrorist attacks in Mumbai
Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the subprime mortgage crisis