Jan 15 – Pilot C.B. Sullenberger safely lands a crashing plane into the Hudson River, saving 155 lives Jan 18 – Israel ends a 22-day offensive in the Gaza Strip; 1,330 Palestinians dead
Feb 1 – Johanna Sigurdardottir is anointed as the new prime minister of Iceland—the worldʼs first openly lesbian head of state Feb 1 – The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Arizona Cardinals to win the Super Bowl Feb 7 – The deadliest wildfires in Australian history kill 200 people and leave more than 7,000 people homeless Feb 11 – Morgan Tsvangirai is sworn in as prime minister of Zimbabwe in power-sharing deal with Robert Mugabe, who remains president
Mar 2 – NFL players Corey Smith and Marquis Cooper and one other man are missing after their boat capsized in the Gulf of Mexico Mar 2 – The CIA is accused of destroying 92 interrogation tapes
FEBRUARY
Jan 7 – Russia cuts off all gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine
MARCH
Jan 6 – 111th Congress is sworn in
JANUARY
2009 The World in Review Jan 20 – Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States and the first black president in U.S. history Jan 22 – President Obama ordered the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba Jan 31 –Michael Steele becomes the first African American chairman of the Republican National Committee
Feb 12 – A plane destined for Buffalo, N.Y. crashes in Clarence Center, N.Y., killing all passengers and crew on board Feb 15 – Venezuelan Prezident Hugo Chávez wins bid to end presidential term limits, allowing him to run for reelection Feb 27 – Obama announces August 31, 2010, as the end date of the Iraq War
Mar 4 – The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Sudan President Omar Hassan Ahmad al Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity Mar 17 – The president of Madagascar is overthrown in a coup dʼetat Mar 29 – Gunman kills 8 at North Carolina nursing home
Apr 4 – North Korea launches a rocket in defiance of world leaders Apr 6 – UNC wins NCAA menʼs basketball championship
APRIL
Apr 1 – Albania and Croatia join NATO Apr 2 – G-20 world leaders commit $1.1 trillion to developing countries in economic crisis
May 7 – Afghani police claim more than 100 civilians are dead after U.S. air strikes May 18 – Sri Lankaʼs military declares victory in its decades-old conflict with the Tamil Tigers May 18 – Obama announces stricter auto emissions and mileage standards effective 2012
May 19 – Scientist unveil the fossilized remains of a 47-million-year-old primate, “Ida” May 23 – Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun commits suicide by jumping off a cliff
Jun 13 – Protests begin in Iran after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is reelected as president
JUNE
Jun 11 – The outbreak of H1N1 influenza, “swine flu,” is declared a global pandemic
Apr 30 – Justice David Souter steps down from Supreme Court
May 25 – North Korea conducts second nuclear test
Jun 1 – General Motors is declared bankrupt; U.S. government to take over company Jun 1 – Air France jet from Rio de Janeiro to Paris disappears over Atlantic Ocean, killing 228 people
Apr 8 – Somali pirates hijack an American ship and take captain hostage
May 19 – Congress passes stricter regulations on the credit card industry
MAY
May 11 – U.S. soldier kills five comrades on American base in Baghdad
Apr 7 – Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering killings and kidnappings
Jun 12 – Congress passes a bill that allows the FDA to regulate cigarettes
Jun 22 – Nine are killed and 75 are wounded in a Washington, D.C. subway crash Jun 25 – Worldwide superstar Michael Jackson dies in his home at age 50 Jun 30 – The U.S. hands over control of Iraqi cities to Iraqi government
Jul 2 – U.S. unemployment rate reaches 9.5 percent Jul 3 – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announces her resignation Jul 3-6 – Russia agrees to allow U.S. in its airspace to fight Afghanistan war and
JULY
Jul 2 – Indiaʼs highest court overturns an 1861 law banning homosexuality Jul 5 – Roger Federer takes Wimbleton to win his 15th Grand Slam title, breaking Peat Samprasʼ record Jul 11 - Nearly 200 people are dead in unrest between Han Chinese and Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang Jul 20 – World marks 40th anniversary of the moon landing
Aug 4 – North Korea pardons two imprisoned American journalists after former U.S. President Bill Clinton visits Kim Jong-il Aug 5 – The Taliban leader in Pakistan was reportedly killed by a CIA drone Aug 8 –Sonia Sotomayor is sworn in as the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice Aug 10 – A typhoon causes a mudslide in Taiwan that kills hundreds
AUGUST
the countries agree to discuss lowering their nuclear weapons counts
Oct 1 – Iran agrees to send its enriched uranium to Russia and open its nuclear plant for international inspection Oct 1 – Scientists announce the discover of the 4.4-million-year-old skeleton of a human ancestor Oct 1 – General Motors announces it will shut down the Saturn line of vehicles
Nov 4 – New York Yankees win their 27th World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies Nov 5 – Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan shot and killed 13 and injured 31 others at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas Nov 6 – U.S. unemployment rate hits 10.2 percent
Dec 1 – Obama announces the deployment of 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and sets July 2011 as the beginning of military withdrawal from the country Dec 7-18 – Officials from 192 nations attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark
OCTOBER
Sep 24 – Scientists announce they have created a vaccine that reduced the risk of contracting HIV by more than 31 percent
NOVEMBER
Sep 22 – China promises to reduce emissions by 2010 and to use more renewable and nuclear energy
DECEMBER
Sep 4 – A NATO bombing kills up to 90 in Afghanistan, including many civilians Sep 14 – The U.S.-supported Pakistan Army is linked to hundreds of deaths in the Swat Valley
SEPTEMBER
Aug 19 – Two bombings kill 95 in Baghdad
Aug 20 – Hamid Karzai wins the presidency of Afghanistan in an election marked by fraud Aug 20 – Libyan man convicted of 1988 Lockerbie aircraft bombing is released from jail in Scotland because he is terminally ill Aug 26 – U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy dies of brain cancer at age 77 Aug 28 – Michael Jacksonʼs death is ruled a homicide by drug overdose
Sep 25 – The U.S., Britain and France warn Iran about a secret nuclear enrichment plant being built there Sep 25 – World leaders announce that the G-20 will replace the G-8 in assuming greater control over the world economy Sep 30 – A 7.6-magnitude earthquake strikes Sumatra in Indonesia, killing about 1,000 people
Oct 2 – Rio de Janeiro is selected to host the 2016 Olympic Games Oct 9 – President Barack Obama receives the Nobel Peace Prize Oct 25 – Suicide bombings kill more than 155 in Baghdad Oct 28 – At least 300 die in Taliban attacks in Pakistan
Nov 10 – News breaks that Blackwater executives tried to bribe Iraqi officials after Blackwater security guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in September 2007 Nov 10 – The 2002 D.C. Sniper is executed in a Virginia prison Nov 13 – Scientists discover water on the moon
Dec 18 – The Climate Change Conference disappoints environmentalists because the Copenhagen accord limits temperature rises to 2 degrees Celsius but does not limit emissions Dec 24 – The Democratic-led Senate passes a health care reform bill with a 60-39 vote along party lines