Title: 2009 Content: File:2009 Events Collage V2.png|From left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests erupt over the 2009 Iranian presidential election; US Airways Flight 1549 crash-lands in the Hudson River with no fatalities, with the event becoming known as the "Miracle on the Hudson"; The "King of Pop" Michael Jackson died in 2009; Bitcoin is initially launched by the pseudonymous name Satoshi Nakamoto; the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake strikes central Italy; The H1N1 virus was responsible for the 2009 swine flu pandemic.|430x430px|thumb rect 0 0 200 200 Air France Flight 447 rect 200 0 400 200 first inauguration of Barack Obama rect 400 0 600 200 2009 Iranian presidential election protests rect 0 200 300 400 2009 swine flu pandemic rect 300 200 600 400 US Airways Flight 1549 rect 0 400 200 600 2009 L'Aquila earthquake rect 200 400 400 600 Bitcoin rect 400 400 600 600 Death of Michael Jackson 2009 (MMIX) was . 2009 was called the: * International Year of Astronomy. * International Year of Natural Fibres. * International Year of Reconciliation. 2009 was the Chinese Year of Earth Ox based on the 12-year Chinese Zodiac cycle. == Events == === January === * January 1 – Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, and Uganda assume their seats on the United Nations Security Council. * January 1 – The Czech Republic takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union from France. * January 1 – Slovakia uses the Euro as its money, instead of the Slovak koruna. * January 3 – Israel invades Gaza with its army. * January 7 – Russia shuts off all gas to Europe through Ukraine. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin publicly supports the move and suggests that international observers be brought into the dispute. * January 12 – The Electronic System for Travel Authorization becomes necessary for travelers from Visa Waiver Program countries before travel to the United States. * January 13 – Ethiopian military forces start to go home from Somalia, where they have tried to keep order for nearly two years. * January 15 – US Airways Flight 1549, crash-lands in the Hudson River near Manhattan. All 155 people leave the airplane safely. The accident happened because the plane hit a flock of Canada Geese. * January 17 – Israel declares a cease-fire against Hamas, even though Hamas does not. This ends Israel's attacks after 22 days of fighting in Gaza. * January 20 – Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. * January 26 – The International Criminal Court has its first trial. Union of Congolese Patriots leader Thomas Lubanga is claimed to have used children to make war. * January 26 – The Icelandic government and banking system collapse. Prime Minister Geir Haarde resigns. === February === * February 1 – Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow is enthroned as the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. * February 1 – Johanna Sigurdardottir becomes Prime Minister of Iceland. * February 2 – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran has launched its own satellite, "Omid", into orbit on an Iranian-built rocket. * February 7 – The deadliest bushfires in Australian history begin; they kill 173, injure 500 more, and leave 7,500 homeless. The fires come after Melbourne records the hottest-ever temperature (46.4 °C, 115 °F) of any capital city in Australia. The majority of the fires are started by either fallen or clashing power lines or deliberately lit. * February 9 – Victoria (Australia) hottest day, 48.8 °C at Hopetoun. * February 10 – A Russian and an American satellite collide over Siberia, creating a large amount of space debris. * February 17 – The JEM rebel group in Darfur, Sudan sign a pact with the Sudanese government, planning a ceasefire within the next 3 months. * February 25 – Members of the Bangladesh Rifles paramilitary force begin mutinying. Over 80 are killed. === March === * March 2 – The President of Guinea-Bissau, João Bernardo Vieira, is assassinated during an armed attack on his residence in Bissau. * March 3 – Gunmen attack a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore, Pakistan, killing eight people and injuring several others. * March 17 – The President of Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana, is overthrown in a coup d'état, following a month of rallies in Antananarivo. The military appoints opposition leader Andry Rajoelina as the new president. === April === * April 1 – Albania and Croatia join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). * April 5 – North Korea launches the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 rocket, prompting an emergency meeting of—but no official reaction from—the United Nations Security Council. * April 6 – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L'Aquila, Italy, killing nearly 300 and injuring more than 1,500. === May === * May 4 – The President of Niger, Tandja Mamadou, holds peace talks with the Tuareg rebel groups in north Niger. * May 18 – The third C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group meets in Seoul. * May 18 -Following more than a quarter-century of fighting, the Sri Lankan Civil War ends with the total military defeat of the LTTE.\ === June === * June 1 – An Air France plane crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil, killing all of the 228 people on board. * June 12 – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is reelected as the president of Iran. Over the following weeks, thousands of the opposition's supporters protest the results. ** The end of analog television broadcast in United States. * June 25 – Music legend Michael Jackson dies in Los Angeles at the age of 50. * June 28 – Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is ousted in a coup. === July === * July 1 – Sweden assumes the presidency of the European Union. * July 4 – The Organization of American States suspends Honduras due to the country's recent political crisis after its refusal to reinstate President Zelaya. * July 5 – Over 150 are killed when a few thousand ethnic Uyghurs target local Han Chinese during major rioting in Ürümqi, Xinjiang. * July 15 – Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashes near Qazvin, Iran, killing all 168 on board. * July 16 – Iceland's parliament votes to pursue joining the EU. * July 22 – The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting up to six minutes and 38.8 seconds, occurs over parts of Asia and the Pacific Ocean; it is figured to be the most widely observed total eclipse in human history. === August === * August 4 – North Korean leader Kim Jong-il pardons two American journalists, who had been arrested and imprisoned, for illegal entry earlier in the year, after the old U.S. President Bill Clinton meets with Kim in North Korea. === September === * September 26 – Typhoon Ketsana hits the Philippines. === October === * October 1 – The Ohio Turnpike gets E-ZPass. * October 2 – Rio de Janeiro is awarded the 2016 Olympic Games. * October 9 – Barack Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize. * October 22 -- Microsoft release operating system Windows 7. === November === * November 20 – The Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland was restarted. * November 30 – The Large Hadron Collider set a new energy record for a particle accelerator. === December === * December 1 – The EU's Lisbon Treaty enters effect. * December 25 – Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab unsuccessfully attempts a terrorist attack on the USA while aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253. == Deaths == * January 1 – Johannes Mario Simmel, Austrian writer (born 1924) * January 3 - Pat Hingle, American actor (born 1924) * January 12 – Claude Berry, French movie director (born 1934) * January 27 – John Updike, American writer (born 1932) * February 6 – James Whitmore, American actor (born 1921) * March 18 – Natasha Richardson, English actress (born 1963) * April 25 – Beatrice Arthur, American actress (born 1922) * May 19 – Robert Furchgott, American scientist (born 1916) * May 23 – Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean President (born 1946) * June 3 – David Carradine, American actor (born 1936) * June 7 - Kenny Rankin, pop and jazz singer and songwriter * June 8 – Omar Bongo, President of Gabon (born 1935) * June 13 – Mitsuharu Misawa, Japanese professional wrestler (born 1962) * June 25 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress (born 1947) * June 25 – Michael Jackson, American singer and entertainer (born 1958) * July 1 – Karl Malden, American actor (born 1912) * July 17 – Walter Cronkite, American news anchor (born 1916) * July 19 – Frank McCourt, Irish-American writer (born 1930) * July 31 – Bobby Robson, English football manager (born 1933) * August 1 – Corazon Aquino, President of the Philippines (born 1933) * August 18 – Kim Dae-jung, South Korean President (born 1924) * August 25 – Ted Kennedy, US Senator (born 1932) * September 14 – Patrick Swayze, American actor (born 1952) * September 29 – Pavel Popovich, Soviet cosmonaut (born 1930) * October 4 – Shoichi Nakagawa, Japanese politician (born 1953) * October 31 – Qian Xuesen, Chinese scientist (born 1911) * November 10 – Robert Enke, German footballer (born 1977) * November 21 – Konstantin Feoktistov, Soviet cosmonaut (born 1926) * December 4 – Eddie Fatu, Samoan-American professional wrestler (born 1973) * December 5 – Otto Graf Lambsdorff, German politician (born 1926) * December 17 – Jennifer Jones, American actress (born 1919) * December 20 – Brittany Murphy, American actress (born 1977) * December 24 – Rafael Caldera, Venezuelan President (born 1916) * December 30 – Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesian President (born 1940)