January 8, 2004

Levi Strauss & Co. shuts its last U.S. jeans sewing plant in San Antonio, Texas, ending all U.S. manufacturing as it shifts to a contract production model. The closure ends a "Made in the U.S.A." tradition dating back to the 1870s. [1]
The Queen Mary 2 is christened by Queen Elizabeth II.[2]
An RTÉ Prime Time investigation accuses the Garda Síochána, the Republic of Ireland's police force, of violent abuse of people arrested. Irish Minister of State Dick Roche accuses Gardaí of "torture" of one student beaten up in a Dublin police station, while a former judge accuses police of committing perjury in his courts. The Gardaí deny all allegations. [3]

The United States withdraws a group of 400 weapons inspectors from Iraq after finding nothing of substance. 1400 inspectors remain. [4] [5]
Occupation of Iraq: Nine United States soldiers are reported killed after a Black Hawk helicopter makes an emergency landing near the central Iraqi town of Falluja. [6]
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace publishes a report accusing the United States of "systematically misrepresenting" the threat posed by "Iraq's weapons of mass destruction". [7] [8] [9]
The New Jersey legislature passes a bill creating a domestic partnership status for same-sex couples, with many of the same legal rights as marriage. It becomes the fifth U.S. state to offer such a status to same-sex couples. [10]