Chronopin: upcoming release dates, events and other important dates

The DVD-exclusive special Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! - Boxer’s Fist premieres, a Madhouse-animated side story revealing how brash heavyweight Takamura first took up boxing.

The one-off special Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! - Champion Road finds newly crowned featherweight champion Ippo Makunouchi defending his title against Kazuki Sanada, a former junior featherweight champ turned medical student.

Built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, France, the 68,870-ton Crystal Serenity was christened by Julie Andrews on 3 July 2003 and entered commercial service four days later.

Europe had its hottest summer since at least 1540, with night temperatures staying above 30C and eight consecutive days over 40C in Auxerre. The death toll has been estimated at more than 70,000.

Madhouse's Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! - Mashiba vs Kimura premieres, an OVA following boxer Ippo Makunouchi's stablemate Kimura as he finally gets his shot at reigning Junior Lightweight champion Mashiba.

The European Marine Energy Centre completed its Billia Croo wave energy test site off Orkney, becoming the world’s first grid-connected facility for testing wave and tidal energy converters at sea.

Bones' Fullmetal Alchemist begins broadcast, following brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric, alchemists searching for the Philosopher's Stone to restore the bodies they lost attempting to resurrect their mother.

Satoshi Kon's Tokyo Godfathers opens in Japanese theaters, a Christmas Eve dramedy following three homeless Tokyo residents who discover an abandoned baby and set out to find her parents.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay he wrote with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. It is based on 1955's The Return of the King, the third volume of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J.

Seiji Yamamoto opened RyuGin in Roppongi in 2003 and used it to argue that kaiseki could be taken apart and rebuilt with modern technique without ceasing to be kaiseki - a position that made it the Japanese restaurant most often named on international lists. It has since moved to Hibiya, where it holds three Michelin stars.

Studio Pierrot airs Hikaru no Go: Hokuto Hai e no Michi, a one-episode television special following Hikaru Shindo through the preliminary rounds to select Japan's team for the Hokuto Cup junior tournament.

Bones releases the direct-to-video Wolf's Rain OVA, a four-episode epilogue completing the wolves' search for the paradise Rakuen after the TV series' broadcast was cut short.

The direct-to-video Hunter x Hunter: Greed Island Final continues the Greed Island story arc, with Gon Freecss and Killua Zoldyck sharpening their Nen abilities under Biscuit Krueger's guidance as the deadly video-game world's Player Killers close in.

Madhouse's Monster begins airing, a psychological thriller adapting Naoki Urasawa's manga about Dr. Kenzo Tenma's pursuit of Johan Liebert, the child he once saved who becomes a serial killer.

TMS Entertainment broadcasts a Detective Conan TV special previewing that summer's eighth film, in which Professor Agasa's new identity-matching program is turned on the phantom thief Kaitou Kid, only for Kid to hijack the broadcast himself.

The $265M Sands Macao opened as the city's first Las Vegas-style resort, ending Stanley Ho's 42-year gambling monopoly and starting Macau's transformation into the world's densest gaming hub.

Shrek 2 is a 2004 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon from a screenplay by Adamson, Joe Stillman, and the writing team of J. Loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book Shrek! by William Steig, it is a direct sequel to Shrek (2001) and the second installment in the Shrek film series.

Manglobe's Samurai Champloo begins airing, a hip-hop-infused samurai adventure directed by Shinichiro Watanabe that follows wanderers Mugen and Jin escorting waitress Fuu as she searches for a mysterious 'sunflower samurai.'

Ojamajo Doremi Na-i-sho premieres, a 13-episode OVA continuing the Ojamajo Doremi magical-girl franchise with a more mature, romance-tinged coda for the five witch apprentices.

The action-horror TV anime Elfen Lied begins broadcast, following the psychotic, telekinetic Diclonius Lucy after two teenagers take in her amnesiac alter-ego "Nyuu".

Exorcist: The Beginning is a 2004 American supernatural horror film serving as a prequel to The Exorcist (1973), and the fourth installment in The Exorcist film series. Directed by Renny Harlin, the film stars Stellan Skarsgård, Izabella Scorupco and James D'Arcy.

The television anime Bleach begins airing, a Studio Pierrot adaptation of Tite Kubo's manga about high schooler Ichigo Kurosaki, who inherits a Soul Reaper's powers and takes up the fight against soul-devouring Hollows.

The Royal Danish Navy commissioned HDMS Absalon, lead ship of the Absalon-class flexible support ships built at Odense Steel Shipyard. The 137-meter vessel combines helicopter, troop, and vehicle capacity with modern weapon systems.

Studio Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle opens in Japan, Hayao Miyazaki's adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones's novel about a young hatmaker cursed into an old woman's body who takes refuge with a wizard in his walking castle.

Norman Foster's Millau Viaduct, the tallest bridge in the world, opened over southern France's Tarn valley, completing the A75 motorway route between Paris and the Mediterranean.