The debate continues unabated – e. g. S. Georg 2004, A. Vovin 2005, S. Georg 2005 ( anti-Altaic ); S. Starostin 2005, V. Blažek 2006, M. Robbeets 2007, A. Dybo and G. Starostin 2008 ( pro-Altaic ).

* 2008 – 2008 Egyptian general strike starts led by Egyptian workers later to be adopted by April 6 Youth Movement and Egyptian activities.

* 1931 – Ivan Dixon, American actor and director ( d. 2008 )

* 1934 – Guy Peellaert, Belgian artist and photographer ( d. 2008 )

* 1948 – Jeremy Beadle, English television host ( d. 2008 )

* 2008 – Two skeletal remains found near Ekaterinburg, Russia are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia and one of his sisters.

* 1914 – Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian singer-songwriter, actor, and painter ( d. 2008 )

* 1923 – Francis Tucker, South African race car driver ( d. 2008 )

* 1932 – Cor Brom, Dutch footballer and manager ( d. 2008 )

* 1970 – Karl Unterkircher, Italian mountaineer ( d. 2008 )

* 2008 – A military junta led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz stages a coup d ' état in Mauritania, overthrowing president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.

* 2008 – Competition in the 2008 Summer Olympics in China proceeded with the women's association football tournament.

* 1955 – Gregory Bryant-Bey, American convicted murderer ( d. 2008 )

* 1965 – Mark Speight, English television host ( d. 2008 )

* 1935 – Beverlee McKinsey, American actress ( d. 2008 )

* 1976 – Mark Priestley, Australian actor ( d. 2008 )

* 2005 – Caylee Anthony, American murder victim ( d. 2008 )

Bilateral trade with Russia stood at more than $ 700 million for the first nine months of 2010 – on track to rebound to $ 1 billion mark first reached in 2008 prior to the global economic crisis.

Over half of the tax revenues in the January – August 2008 time period were generated from value-added taxes ( VAT ).

* 2008 – South Ossetian War: Russian units occupy the Georgian city of Gori.

* 1931 – Eddie Fuller, South African cricketer ( d. 2008 )

* 2008 – Jake Warren, Canadian diplomat ( b. 1921 )

* 1936 – Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer ( d. 2008 )

* ATA Airlines, an American airline operating from 1973 to 2008

Following this suggestion, an instrument was custom-built for the ATA to search for bright radio transients, and observations were carried out between February and April 2008.

As of 2008 The H140 can be upgraded using a ZIF to ATA conversion cable to take a larger capacity 1. 8 inch non ata hard disk drive.

In recent years, The Alaska Air Group, has expanded heavily upon routes centering upon Hawaii and other none-airline hub secondary mainland cities and airports with the demise of Aloha Airlines and ATA Airlines in 2008.

TACV Cabo Verde Airlines opened a route from London Stansted in October 2008 though it was rumoured that flights were being cancelled due to minimum take up though with effect from May 2008, TACV now fly direct from London Gatwick every Thursday to Sal and Praia.

Air Greenland and Continental Airlines formerly ran direct flights from the US East Coast from 2007 to 2008, but these were discontinued.

* 2008 – Delta Air Lines merges with Northwest Airlines, creating the world's largest airline and reducing the number of US legacy carriers to 5.

** During a severe thunderstorm over Washington, a man calling himself D. B. Cooper parachutes from the Northwest Orient Airlines plane he hijacked, with US $ 200, 000 in ransom money, and is never seen again ( as of March 2008, this case remains the only unsolved skyjacking in history ).

The city is home to Memphis International Airport, the world's second busiest cargo airport ( following Hong Kong ), which serves as the primary hub for FedEx Express shipping and was a secondary hub for Delta Air Lines after it merged with Northwest Airlines in 2008.

North American Airlines discontinued all scheduled operations in May 2008.

Announced on February 19, 2008, North American Airlines planned on discontinuing all scheduled service in May 2008 in favor of concentrating on charter operations.

Since discontinuing all scheduled service in May 2008, North American Airlines continues to operate today as solely a charter airline.

Barack Obama leased a North American Airlines plane for use during his successful 2008 United States Presidential Election campaign.

Most recently, United Express / SkyWest Airlines flew between PMD and San Francisco from June 7, 2007, to December 6, 2008.

A Nippon Cargo Airlines Boeing 747-400F lands at Milan Malpensa Airport ( 2008 )

In 2008 Croatia Airlines posted a net profit of 38 million Croatian kuna and transported 1, 870 000 passengers ( 2008 ).

Royal Brunei Airlines then suspended services to Darwin on 26 January 2008, after serving the route for 24 years.

On 2 June 2008, Royal Brunei Airlines increased services to Auckland from Bandar Seri Begawan by offering a new three-weekly direct service.

In October 2008, Turkish Airlines launched nonstop service to Baghdad from Istanbul Atatürk International Airport with three weekly flights, thus becoming the first airline to resume service from Europe to the Iraqi capital since UN sanctions were imposed after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

On 17 June 2008, the Civil Aviation Administration of China announced that the 18 return flights available to Chinese airlines will be apportioned such that Air China and Hainan Airlines will fly to Taiwan from Beijing with four return flights and two return flights respectively ; China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines will fly from Shanghai to Taiwan with four return flights and two return flights respectively ; China Southern Airlines fly depart for Taiwan from Guangzhou for four return flights per week, and Xiamen Airlines will connect Xiamen with Taiwan with two weekly return flights.