The year 2009 had its share of events and happenings. Let us have a look at some of the major events of the year, which went on to have an impact on all of us in some way or the other.
Every year comes and goes, and with it brings joy for many, but also sadness for others. There is happiness, tragedy, some things that could have been avoided, some things that could not, natural disasters, wars, health problems, great achievements, and what not. Some have it good while some go through hell. That’s the way of life.
The year 2009 had its fair share of happenings, both good and bad, and many that had a bearing not only where there happened, but affected the whole world. Let’s have a look at the major events that took place in the last year of the first decade of this millennium.
JANUARY
January 1: Japan, Mexico, Uganda, Turkey, and Austria join the UN Security Council. The Czech Republic takes charge the presidency of the European Union. Slovakia switches from using its Koruna as the nation’s currency, to the Euro.
January 7: Russia cuts off all gas supplies to Europe.
January 13: Ethiopia’s army pulls out of Somalia after 2 years of being stationed there to maintain law and order.
January 20: Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. He is the first African-American to take this charge.
January 21: Israel completes withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
FEBRUARY
February 1: The world’s first lesbian head of government is appointed, when Johanna Siguroardottir becomes the prime minister of Iceland.
February 7: Australia is hit by the most deadliest bushfires it has even experienced.
February 8: A video is released by the Taliban showing the execution of Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak, this first such execution of a Westerner in nearly 7 years.
February 10: An American and Russian satellite collide over Serbia, which creates tons of space debris.
MARCH
March 2: President Joao Bernado Vieira of Guinea-Bissau is assassinated.
March 3: Terrorists attack a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, Pakistan. None of the cricketers were killed, but 8 other people lost their lives.
March 4: An arrest warrant is issued by the International Criminal Court against the president of Sudan, Omar Hasan al-Bashir, for war crimes.
March 17: President Marc Ravalomanana of Madagascar is overthrown in a coup.
March 23: India’s Tata Motors launches the Nano – the world’s cheapest car which is priced at less than 2,000 USD.
APRIL
April 1: Croatia and Albania join NATO.
April 6: L’Aquila in Italy is hit by an earthquake of the magnitude of 6.3. Around 300 people lose their lives in this natural calamity.
April 10: Fiji President Josefa Iioilo suspends the nation’s constitution, dismisses all judges, and himself takes control of all governance of the country.
April 17: The Summit of the Americas is held at Port of Spain, Trinidad.
April 21: The World Digital library is launched by UNESCO.
MAY
May 18: After 25 years of fierce fighting, the LTTE is completely defeated by the Sri Lankan army.
May 23: Roh Moo-hyun, former president of South Korea, who was under investigation for bribery, commits suicide.
May 25: North Korea conducts successful nuclear testing. Cyclone Aila hits India and Bangladesh, killing 100 people.
JUNE
June 1: Air France flight 447 from Brazil to Paris crashes in the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 people on board. General Motors Company files for bankruptcy.
June 11: Swine Flu (H1N1) is officially declared as a global pandemic.
June 12: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is re-elected as president of Iran.
June 18: NASA launches the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter along with India. This, to probe the Moon.
June 25: The King of Pop – Michael Jackson dies.
June 28: Honduran President Manuel Zelaya toppled in a military coup.
June 30: A Yemen flight 626 carrying 153 passengers on board crashes. All but one person die.
JULY
July 1: Sweden takes over as president of the European Union.
July 5: China witnesses deadly riots as local Han Chinese clash with ethnic Uyghurs, which sees at least 150 people being killed.
July 7: The most widely watched and followed funeral ever takes place, for pop star Michael Jackson.
July 15: A Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 carrying 168 people on board crashes in Iran. There are no survivors.
July 17: Pope Benedict XVI falls during his summer vacation in the Italian Alps and breaks his wrist.
July 22: A total solar eclipse lasting more than 6½ minutes takes place over Asia. This was the longest ever in the 21st century.
AUGUST
August 3: Bolivia declares the right of indigenous people to govern themselves.
August 7: More than 500 people lose their lives when Typhoon Morakot hits Taiwan. It causes the worst flooding in more than 50 years.
August 25: Ted Kennedy, the most prominent living member of the Kennedy family dies.
SEPTEMBER
September 14: Popular American actor Patrick Swayze passes away.
September 26: Typhoon Ketsana hits the Philippines and Vietnam. Around 600 people die and 5 million are affected.
September 28: The Guinean army kills more than 150 demonstrators.
September 29: A powerful earthquake in the South Pacific triggers a tsunami which kills 183 in Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga.
September 30: The coast of Sumatra in Indonesia is jolted by an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale. Around 1,000 are left dead.
OCTOBER
October 2: Rio de Janeiro is awarded the 2016 Summer Olympics.
October 9: US President Barack Obama is named as the winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
October 20: More than 30 exoplanets are discovered by European astronomers.
October 22: Microsoft launches Windows 7, which is a new operating system for computers.
October 31: The longest Olympic torch relay ever stretching over nearly 30,000 miles, starts in Victoria, Canada.
NOVEMBER
November 3: GM cancels its plans to sell its European arm, Opel.
November 9: Germany celebrates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a spectacular ceremony that is attended by most European leaders.
November 13: After analyzing data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA declares that there is water on the Moon.
November 23: Around 57 people are abducted and murdered in the Philippines.
November 27: Dubai suddenly requests debt deferment. This triggers a global stock market crash.
DECEMBER
December 4: Nearly 150 people die when indoor fireworks burns down a nightclub in Perm, Russia.
December 7: The United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 begins in Copenhagen.
December 16: Astronomers discover GJ1214b – Super Earth.
The events of 2009 in the world were many, some were expected and some weren’t, and some changed the course of lives for many. It marked the end of the first decade of the millennium, with a lot of hopes pinned on the decades to come.
