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  2004 -   (21 years)
	
		
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			 Date | 
			 Event(s) | 
		 
	
| 1  | 2004  | - 29 Mar 2004: Ireland becomes first country in the world to ban smoking in public places
 
- 29 Mar 2004: Alistair Cooke dies at the age of 95 – until four weeks previously, and since
1946, he had broadcast his regular 'Letter from America' on BBC radio
 
- 1 May 2004: Enlargement of the European Union to include 25 members by the entry of 10
new states: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary,
Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus
 
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| 2  | 2005  | - 16 Feb 2005: Kyoto Protocol on climate change came into force
 
- 18 Feb 2005: Ban on hunting with dogs came into force in England & Wales (had already
been a similar law for about two years in Scotland)
 
- 6 Jul 2005: London chosen as venue for the 2012 Olympic Games
 
- 7 Jul 2005: Suicide bombers attack London for the first time
 
- 28 Jul 2005: IRA declare an end to their 'armed struggle'
 
- 12 Sep 2005: England regain the 'Ashes' after a gripping Test series (but are whitewashed 5-0
in the return series in Australia 2007)
 
- 9 Dec 2005: Last Routemaster bus runs on regular service in London
 
- 11 Dec 2005: Explosions at the Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead
 
- 21 Dec 2005: Same-sex civil partnerships begin
– famously, on this day, between Elton John and David Furnish
 
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| 3  | 2006  | - 1 Mar 2006: Welsh Assembly Building opened by the Queen
 
- 26 Mar 2006: Prohibition of smoking in enclosed public places in Scotland
 
- 21 Apr 2006: 80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II
 
- 21 Aug 2006: UK postage rates start to be measured by size as well as by weight
 
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| 4  | 2007  | - 1 Jan 2007: Further enlargement of the European Union to include Bulgaria and Romania
 
- 19 Feb 2007: Extension of Congestion Charge zone for London, westwards
 
- 8 May 2007: A Northern Ireland Executive formed under the leadership of Ian Paisley (DUP)
and Martin McGuinness (Sinn Fein)
 
- 1 Jul 2007: Prohibition of smoking in enclosed public places in England (thus completing
cover of the entire UK)
 
- 14 Nov 2007: First rail service direct from St Pancras to France (replacing that from Waterloo)
 
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