What Happened in 2009 — Events, Births & Deaths

Sixty-six people die in a nightclub fire in Bangkok, Thailand.

The first block of the blockchain of the decentralized payment system Bitcoin, called the Genesis block, is established by the creator of the system, Satoshi Nakamoto.

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in northern Costa Rica kills 15 people and injures 32.

US Airways Flight 1549 ditches safely in the Hudson River after the plane collides with birds less than two minutes after take-off. This becomes known as "The Miracle on the Hudson" as all 155 people on board were rescued.

A protest movement in Iceland culminates as the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests start.

Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, officially ending a three-week war it had with Hamas. However, intermittent fire by both sides continues in the weeks to follow.

U.S. President Barack Obama signs an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp; congressional opposition will prevent it being implemented.

Cyclone Klaus makes landfall near Bordeaux, France, causing 26 deaths as well as extensive disruptions to public transport and power supplies.

Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina.

Nadya Suleman gives birth to the world's first surviving octuplets.

Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is removed from office following his conviction of several corruption charges, including solicitation of personal benefit in exchange for an appointment to the United States Senate as a replacement for then-U.S. president-elect Barack Obama.

At least 113 people are killed in Kenya and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.

The first cabinet of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was formed in Iceland, making her the country's first female prime minister and the world's first openly gay head of government.

Bushfires in Victoria leave 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.

The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collide in orbit, destroying both.

Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York while on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing all 49 on board and one on the ground.

Two Tamil Tigers aircraft packed with C4 explosives en route to the national airforce headquarters are shot down by the Sri Lankan military before reaching their target, in a kamikaze style attack.

Soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny at their headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh, resulting in 74 deaths, including 57 army officials.

Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashes during landing at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, primarily due to a faulty radio altimeter, resulting in the death of nine passengers and crew including all three pilots.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Al-Bashir is the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC since its establishment in 2002.

Massereene Barracks shooting: The Real Irish Republican Army kills two British soldiers and injures two other soldiers and two civilians at Massereene Barracks, the first British military deaths in Northern Ireland since the end of The Troubles.

Winnenden school shooting: Fifteen are killed and nine are injured before recent graduate Tim Kretschmer shoots and kills himself, leading to tightened weapons restrictions in Germany.

Financier Bernie Madoff pleads guilty to one of the largest frauds in Wall Street's history.

FedEx Express Flight 80: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Guangzhou, China crashes at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, killing both the captain and the co-pilot.

The dam forming Situ Gintung, an artificial lake in Indonesia, fails, killing at least 99 people.

Twelve gunmen attack the Manawan Police Academy in Lahore, Pakistan.

Jiverly Antares Wong opens fire at the American Civic Association immigration center in Binghamton, New York, killing thirteen and wounding four before committing suicide.

France announces its return to full participation of its military forces within NATO.

North Korea launches its controversial Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 satellite. The satellite passed over mainland Japan, which prompted an immediate reaction from the United Nations Security Council, as well as participating states of six-party talks.

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L'Aquila, Italy, killing 307.

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering killings and kidnappings by security forces.

Mass protests begin across Moldova under the belief that results from the parliamentary election are fraudulent.

In Tbilisi, Georgia, up to 60,000 people protest against the government of Mikheil Saakashvili.

President of Fiji Ratu Josefa Iloilo announces the abrogation of the constitution and assumes all governance in the country, creating a constitutional crisis.

Zimbabwe officially abandons the Zimbabwean dollar as its official currency.

A fire destroys a homeless hostel and kills at least 22 people in Kamień Pomorski, Poland.

Fox News host Sean Hannity offered to be waterboarded for charity in order to prove that it did not amount to torture, though he did not follow through with it.

Chrysler files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Seven civilians and the perpetrator are killed and another ten injured at a Queen's Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands in an attempted assassination on Queen Beatrix.

Same-sex marriage in Sweden is legalized.

An American soldier in Iraq opens fire on a counseling center at Camp Liberty in Baghdad, killing five other US soldiers and wounding three.

Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on the final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

The LTTE are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides.

An Indonesian Air Force Lockheed L-100 Hercules crashes in Magetan Regency, killing 99.

Metalworkers at a Ssangyong Motor plant in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, begin a strike to protest job cuts.

North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device, after which Pyongyang also conducts several missile tests, building tensions in the international community.

Air France Flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. All 228 passengers and crew are killed.

General Motors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is the fourth largest United States bankruptcy in history.

After 65 straight days of civil disobedience, at least 31 people are killed in clashes between security forces and indigenous people near Bagua, Peru.

A fire at a day-care center kills 49 people in Hermosillo, Mexico.

An explosion kills 17 people and injures at least 46 at a hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Eighty-eight year-old James Wenneker von Brunn opens fire inside the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and fatally shoots Museum Special Police Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns. Other security guards returned fire, wounding von Brunn, who was apprehended.

A disputed presidential election in Iran leads to wide-ranging local and international protests.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a NASA robotic spacecraft is launched.

Mass riots involving over 10,000 people and 10,000 police officers break out in Shishou, China, over the dubious circumstances surrounding the death of a local chef.

War in North-West Pakistan: The Pakistani Armed Forces open Operation Rah-e-Nijat against the Taliban and other Islamist rebels in the South Waziristan area of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Greenland assumes self-rule.

A Washington D.C Metro train traveling southbound near Fort Totten station collides into another train waiting to enter the station. Nine people are killed in the collision (eight passengers and the train operator) and at least 80 others are injured.

The death of American entertainer Michael Jackson triggers an outpouring of worldwide grief as reactions online cause the flow of internet traffic to surge to unprecedented and historic levels.

Honduran president Manuel Zelaya is ousted by a local military coup following a failed request to hold a referendum to rewrite the Honduran Constitution. This was the start of the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis.

Yemenia Flight 626, an Airbus A310-300, crashes into the Indian Ocean near Comoros, killing 152 of the 153 people on board. A 14-year-old girl named Bahia Bakari survives the crash.

The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after eight years of closure due to security concerns following the September 11 attacks.

The first of four days of bombings begins on the southern Philippine island group of Mindanao.

A series of violent riots break out in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China.

The Staffordshire Horde, the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered in Britain, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, Staffordshire.

Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashes near Jannatabad, Qazvin, Iran, killing 168.

Space Shuttle program: Endeavour is launched on STS-127 to complete assembly of the International Space Station's Kibō module.

Teoh Beng Hock, an aide to a politician in Malaysia is found dead on the rooftop of a building adjacent to the offices of the Anti-Corruption Commission, sparking an inquest that gains nationwide attention.

Aria Air Flight 1525 crashes at Mashhad International Airport, killing 16.

The militant Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram attacks a police station in Bauchi, leading to reprisals by the Nigeria Police Force and four days of violence across multiple cities.

Metalworkers at a Ssangyong Motor factory in Pyeongtaek, South Korea agree to end a 77-day strike that culminated in a police raid via helicopters leading to several deaths and arrests.

A Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil and Piper PA-32R collide over the Hudson River, killing nine people.

Twenty people are killed in Handlová, Trenčín Region, in the deadliest mining disaster in Slovakia's history.

An accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam in Khakassia, Russia, kills 75 and shuts down the hydroelectric power station, leading to widespread power failure in the local area.

A series of bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 101 and injures 565 others.

Kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard is discovered alive in California after being missing for over 18 years. Her captors, Phillip and Nancy Garrido, are apprehended.

Internal conflict in Myanmar: The Burmese military junta and ethnic armies begin three days of violent clashes in the Kokang Special Region.

NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-128.

The Andhra Pradesh, India helicopter crash occurs near Rudrakonda Hill, 40 nautical miles (74 km) from Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, India. Fatalities include Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

The ro-ro ferry SuperFerry 9 sinks off the Zamboanga Peninsula in the Philippines with 971 persons aboard; all but ten are rescued.

The Dubai Metro, the first urban train network in the Arabian Peninsula, is ceremonially inaugurated.

The G20 summit begins in Pittsburgh with 30 global leaders in attendance.

South African Airlink Flight 8911 crashes near Durban International Airport in Durban, South Africa, killing the captain and injuring the rest of the crew.

Typhoon Ketsana hits the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, causing 700 fatalities.

The military junta leading Guinea attacks a protest rally, killing or wounding 1,400 people.

The 8.1 Mw Samoa earthquake results in a tsunami that kills over 189 and injures hundreds.

The 7.6 Mw Sumatra earthquake leaves 1,115 people dead.

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom takes over the judicial functions of the House of Lords.

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey join in the Turkic Council.

First lunar impact of NASA's Lunar Precursor Robotic Program.

Armenia and Turkey sign the Zurich Protocols, intended to normalize relations. However, they are never ratified by either side.

The October 2009 Baghdad bombings kill 155 and wound at least 721.

The 28 October 2009 Peshawar bombing kills 117 and wounds 213.

NASA successfully launches the Ares I-X mission, the only rocket launch for its short-lived Constellation program.

US President Barack Obama signs the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

An Ilyushin Il-76 crashes near the Mir mine after takeoff from Mirny Airport in Yakutia, killing all 11 aboard.

U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan murders 13 and wounds 32 at Fort Hood, Texas in the deadliest mass shooting at a U.S. military installation.

Ships of the South and North Korean navies skirmish off Daecheong Island in the Yellow Sea.

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-129 to the International Space Station.

A mine explosion in Heilongjiang, China kills 108.

The Maguindanao massacre occurs in Ampatuan, Philippines; 58 opponents of Andal Ampatuan Jr. are kidnapped and killed.

The Avdhela Project, an Aromanian digital library and cultural initiative, is founded in Bucharest, Romania.

Jeddah floods: Freak rains swamp the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during an ongoing Hajj pilgrimage. Three thousand cars are swept away and 122 people perish in the torrents, with 350 others missing.

Nevsky Express bombing: A bomb explodes on the Nevsky Express train between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, derailing it and causing 28 deaths and 96 injuries.

Maurice Clemmons shoots and kills four police officers inside a coffee shop in Lakewood, Washington.

The Treaty of Lisbon entered into force in the European Union.

A suicide bombing at a hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, kills 25 people, including three ministers of the Transitional Federal Government.

Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq kill 127 people and injure 448 others.

Finnish game developer Rovio Entertainment releases the hit mobile game Angry Birds internationally on iOS.

MV Danny F II sinks off the coast of Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 44 people and over 28,000 animals.

Iranian election protests: On the Day of Ashura in Tehran, Iran, government security forces fire upon demonstrators.

Forty-three people die in a suicide bombing in Karachi, Pakistan, where Shia Muslims are observing the Day of Ashura.

A segment of the Lanzhou–Zhengzhou–Changsha pipeline ruptures in Shaanxi, China, and approximately 150,000 L (40,000 US gal) of diesel oil flows down the Wei River before finally reaching the Yellow River.

A suicide bomber kills nine people at Forward Operating Base Chapman, a key facility of the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan.

Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur.

Walker Scobell, American actor

Lumi Pollack, American actress

YaYa Gosselin, American actress

The Suleman octuplets

Antonio Arena, Italian footballer

Shaylee Mansfield, deaf American actress and YouTuber

Valentina Tronel, French child singer

Hala Finley, American actress

Coco Yoshizawa, Japanese skateboarder

Leah Jeffries, American actress

Christian Convery, Canadian actor

Salish Matter, American YouTuber

Owen Cooper, English actor

Maddox Batson, American singer and songwriter

Gert Jonke, Austrian poet, playwright, and author (born 1946)

Griffin Bell, American lawyer and politician, 72nd United States Attorney General (born 1918)

Jan Kaplický, Czech architect, designed the Selfridges Building (born 1937)

Ricardo Montalbán, Mexican actor (born 1920)

Stéphanos II Ghattas, Egyptian patriarch (born 1920)

Billy Werber, American baseball player (born 1908)

Robert W. Scott, American farmer and politician, 67th Governor of North Carolina (born 1929)

Werner Flume, German jurist (born 1908)

Billy Powell, American keyboard player and songwriter (born 1952)

Hélio Gracie, Brazilian martial artist (born 1913)

John Martyn, British singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1948)

Blossom Dearie, American singer and pianist (born 1924)

Orlando "Cachaíto" López, Cuban bassist and composer (born 1933)

Bernard Ashley, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Laura Ashley plc (born 1926)

Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, South Korean cardinal (born 1921)

Kelly Groucutt, English singer and bass player (born 1945)

Larry H. Miller, American businessman and philanthropist (born 1944)

Johnny Kerr, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (born 1932)

Wendy Richard, English actress (born 1943)

Norm Van Lier, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (born 1947)

Paul Harvey, American radio host (born 1918)

João Bernardo Vieira, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (born 1939)

Shigeru Morita, Japanese painter (born 1907)

Gilbert Parent, Canadian educator and politician, 33rd Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada (born 1935)

Hank Locklin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1918)

Betsy Blair, American actress (born 1923)

Alan W. Livingston, American businessman (born 1917)

Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian television host and politician (born 1937)

Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, Iranian journalist and blogger (born 1980)

Maria Bergson, Austrian-American architect and interior designer (born 1914)

Irving R. Levine, American journalist and author (born 1922)

Deborah Digges, American poet and educator (born 1950)

Ioannis Patakis, Greek politician (born 1940)

Clement Freud, German-English journalist, academic, and politician (born 1924)

László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (born 1907)

J. G. Ballard, English novelist, short story writer, and essayist (born 1930)

Jack Cardiff, British cinematographer, director and photographer (born 1914)

Hans Holzer, Austrian-American paranormal investigator and author (born 1920)

Frankie Manning, American dancer and choreographer (born 1914)

Woo Seung-yeon, South Korean model and actress (born 1983)

Kevin Grubb, American race car driver (born 1978)

David Mellor, English designer (born 1930)

Danny Ozark, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1923)

Abel Goumba, Central African physician and politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (born 1926)

Claudio Huepe, Chilean economist and politician, Chilean Minister Secretary-General of Government (born 1939)

Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda, Indian admiral (born 1915)

Antonio Vega, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1957)

Bud Tingwell, Australian actor, director, and producer (born 1923)

Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player and bass player (born 1964)

Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan journalist, author, and poet (born 1920)

Jung Seung-hye, South Korean journalist and producer (born 1965)

Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean soldier and politician, 9th President of South Korea (born 1946)

Vincent O'Brien, Irish horse trainer (born 1917)

David Eddings, American author (born 1931)

David Carradine, American actor (born 1936)

Koko Taylor, American singer (born 1928)

Jeff Hanson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1978)

Jean Dausset, French-Spanish immunologist and academic; awarded the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his studies of the genetic basis of immunological reaction (born 1916)

Omar Bongo, Gabonese captain and politician, President of Gabon (born 1935)

Mitsuharu Misawa, Japanese professional wrestler (born 1962)

Fathi Yakan, Lebanese scholar and politician (born 1933)

Bob Bogle, American musician (born 1934)

Gale Storm, American actress (born 1922)

Pina Bausch, German dancer, choreographer, and director (born 1940)

Harve Presnell, American actor and singer (born 1933)

Vasily Aksyonov, Russian author and academic (born 1932)

Robert McNamara, American businessman and politician, 8th United States Secretary of Defense (born 1916)

Walter Cronkite, American journalist and actor (born 1916)

Leszek Kołakowski, Polish historian and philosopher (born 1927)

Henry Allingham, English soldier (born 1896)

Jill Balcon, English actress (born 1925)

Vedat Okyar, Turkish footballer (born 1945)

Mark Rosenzweig, American psychologist and academic (born 1922)

Richard M. Givan, American lawyer and judge (born 1921)

Blake Snyder, American screenwriter and producer (born 1957)

Mary Catherine Lamb, American textile artist (born 1949)

Don Hewitt, American television producer, created 60 Minutes (born 1922)

Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian author and poet (born 1913)

Norman Borlaug, American agronomist and humanitarian, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1914)

Jack Kramer, American tennis player and sportscaster (born 1921)

Willy Ronis, French photographer and author (born 1910)

Paul B. Fay, American sailor and politician, United States Secretary of the Navy (born 1918)

Nelly Arcan, Canadian author (born 1975)

Alicia de Larrocha, Spanish pianist (born 1923)

Vladimir Beekman, Estonian poet and translator (born 1929)

Gerhard Kaufhold, German footballer (born 1928)

Günther Rall, German general and pilot (born 1918)

Irving Penn, American photographer (born 1917)

Angelo DiGeorge, American physician and endocrinologist (born 1922)

Halit Refiğ, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1934)

Heinz Versteeg, Dutch-German footballer (born 1939)

Norma Fox Mazer, American author and educator (born 1931)

Claude Lévi-Strauss, French anthropologist and ethnologist (born 1908)

Mustafa Mahmud, Egyptian physician and author (born 1921)

Tom Wheatcroft, English businessman, founded the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition (born 1922)

Qian Xuesen, Chinese aerodynamicist and academic (born 1911)

Francisco Ayala, Spanish sociologist, author, and critic (born 1906)

Hubertus Brandenburg, German bishop (born 1923)

Ron Sproat, American screenwriter and playwright (born 1932)

Red Robbins, American basketball player (born 1944)

Lino Lacedelli, Italian mountaineer (born 1925)

Foge Fazio, American football player and coach (born 1938)

Eric Woolfson, Scottish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (born 1945)

Leila Lopes, Brazilian actress and journalist (born 1959)

Richard Todd, Irish-born British soldier and actor (born 1919)

Liam Clancy, Irish singer, actor, and guitarist (born 1935)

Luis Días, Dominican singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1952)

Eliza Atkins Gleason, American librarian (born 1909)

Oral Roberts, American evangelist, founded the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (born 1918)

Roy E. Disney, American businessman (born 1930)

Yegor Gaidar, Russian economist and politician, Prime Minister of Russia (born 1956)

Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, South African physician and politician, 22nd South African Minister of Health (born 1940)

Kim Peek, American megasavant (born 1951)

Brittany Murphy, American actress and singer (born 1977)

Arnold Stang, American actor (born 1918)

Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)

Christos Lambrakis, Greek journalist and businessman (born 1934)

Luis Francisco Cuéllar, Colombian rancher and politician (born 1940)

Albert Scanlon, English footballer (born 1935)

Cahal Daly, Irish cardinal and philosopher, Archbishop of Armagh (born 1917)