2009

• International Year of Astronomy
• International Year of Natural Fibres
• International Year of Reconciliation
• Year of the Gorilla

  Events

January

• January 1
• * Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey and Uganda assume their seats on the United Nations Security Council.
• * Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, becomes the American Capital of Culture and Vilnius and Linz become the European Capitals of Culture.
• * Slovakia adopts the euro as its national currency, replacing the Slovak koruna.
• * Sixty-six nightclub-goers die in the Santika Club fire in Bangkok, Thailand.
• January 3 - The first block of the blockchain of the cryptocurrency and decentralized payment system Bitcoin is established by the creator of the system, known as Satoshi Nakamoto.
• January 15 - US Airways Flight 1549 ditches in the Hudson River in an accident that becomes known as the "Miracle on the Hudson" as all 155 people on board are rescued.
• January 18 - Gaza War: Hamas announces they will accept the Israel Defense Forces offer of a ceasefire, ending the conflict.
• January 20
• *A protest movement in Iceland expands as the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests start.
• *Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, becoming the first African-American to hold the office.
• January 21 - Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, officially ending its three-week war with Hamas. However, intermittent air strikes by both sides continue in the following weeks.
• January 26
• * The first trial at the International Criminal Court opens. Former Union of Congolese Patriots leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo is accused of training child soldiers to kill, pillage and rape.
• * The Icelandic government and banking system collapse. Prime Minister Geir Haarde immediately resigns.
• * An annular solar eclipse takes place over the Indian Ocean, the 50th solar eclipse of Saros cycle 131.

  Unknown

February

• February 1
• * Patriarch Kirill of Moscow is enthroned as the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church following the death of his predecessor, Alexy II in 2008.
• * Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is appointed as the new Prime Minister of Iceland, becoming the world's first openly lesbian head of government.
• February 25 - Soldiers of Bangladeshi border security force Bangladesh Rifles mutiny and take the commanding army officers and their families hostages at the force's headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka. 57 army officers are killed along with 17 civilians by the mutineers.
• February 26 - Former Serbian president Milan Milutinović is acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia regarding war crimes during the Kosovo War.

  March

• March 2 - The President of Guinea-Bissau, João Bernardo Vieira, is assassinated during an armed attack on his residence in Bissau.
• March 4 - The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar 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.
• March 7 - NASA's Kepler Mission, a space photometer that will search for extrasolar planets in the Milky Way galaxy, is launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA.
• March 17 - The President of Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana, is overthrown in a coup d'état, following a month of unrest in Antananarivo.

  April

• April 1 - Albania and Croatia are admitted to NATO, becoming the newest members of the organization.
• April 5 - North Korea launches a rocket from its Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground, which it says is carrying the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 satellite, prompting an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
• April 6 - A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L'Aquila, Italy, killing 308 and injuring more than 1,500.
• April 21 - UNESCO launches The World Digital Library.

  May

• May 11-24 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope on May 11, landing at Edwards Air Force Base May 24.
• May 12–16 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 takes place in Moscow, Russia, and is won by Norwegian entrant Alexander Rybak with the song "Fairytale".
• May 18 - Following more than a quarter-century of fighting, the Sri Lankan Civil War ends with the total military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
• May 25 - North Korea announces that it has conducted a second successful nuclear test in North Hamgyong Province. The United Nations Security Council condemns the reported test.

  June

• June 1 - Air France Flight 447, en route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 on board.
• June 11 - The outbreak of the H1N1 influenza strain, commonly referred to as "swine flu", is deemed a global pandemic.
• June 13 - Mass protests erupt across Iran following a disputed presidential election in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was reelected president, the largest demonstrations in the country since the Iranian Revolution.
• June 18 - NASA launches the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter / LCROSS probes to the Moon, the first American lunar mission since Lunar Prospector in 1998.
• June 21 - Greenland gains self-rule.
• June 28 - The Military of Honduras ousts Honduran President Manuel Zelaya in a coup d'état, which is condemned worldwide.
• June 29 -Pakistan wins ICC cricket world cup
• June 30 - Yemenia Flight 626 crashes off the coast of Moroni, Comoros, killing all but one of the 153 passengers and crew.

  July

• July 5 - Violent riots broke out in Ürümqi, Xinjiang. PRC officials said that a total of 197 people were died.
• July 15 - Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashes near Qazvin, Iran, killing all 168 on board.
• July 16 - Iceland's national parliament, the Althingi, votes to pursue joining the EU.
• July 17 - Two bombs exploded separately at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia, killing 9 people and injuring 53.
• July 22 - The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting up to 6 minutes and 38.86 seconds, occurs over parts of Asia and the Pacific Ocean.
• July 26 - The Islamic extremist group Boko Haram initiates an uprising in Bauchi State, Nigeria and quickly spreads throughout the northern part of the country.

  August

• August 3 - Bolivia becomes the first South American country to declare the right of indigenous people to govern themselves.
• August 7 - Typhoon Morakot hits Taiwan, killing 673 and stranding more than 1,000 via the worst flooding on the island in half a century.
• August 14 - The United Kingdom imposes on the Turks and Caicos Islands after an inquiry that found evidence of government corruption.

  September

• September 28 - At least 157 demonstrators are massacred by the Guinean military at the Stade du 28 Septembre during a protest against the government that came to power in a coup d'état the previous year.
• September 30 - A 7.6 earthquake strikes Sumatra, Indonesia, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII, leaving at least 1,115 people dead.

  October

• October 1 - Paleontologists announce the discovery of an Ardipithecus ramidus fossil skeleton, deeming it the oldest remains of a human ancestor yet found.
• October 2
• * Ireland holds a second referendum on the EU's Lisbon Treaty. The amendment is approved by the Irish electorate, having been rejected in the Lisbon I referendum held last year.
• * The International Olympic Committee awards Rio de Janeiro the right to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.
• October 25 - Two suicide attacks in Baghdad, Iraq, kill 155 people and injure at least 721 people.

  November

• November 3
• * The Czech Republic becomes the final member-state of the European Union to sign the Treaty of Lisbon, thereby permitting that document's initiation into European law.
• * The Prime Minister of Belgium, Herman Van Rompuy, is designated the first permanent President of the European Council, a position he takes up on December 1, 2009.
• November 13 - Having analyzed the data from the LCROSS lunar impact, NASA announces that it has found a "significant" quantity of water in the Moon's Cabeus crater.
• November 23 - In the Philippines, at least 58 people are abducted and killed in the province of Maguindanao, in what the Committee to Protect Journalists called the single deadliest attack on journalists in history.

  December

• December 1 - The Treaty of Lisbon comes into force.
• December 7-18 - The UNFCCC's 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference is held in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• December 8 - A series of attacks in Baghdad, Iraq kill at least 127 people and injure at least 448 more.
• December 16 - Astronomers discover GJ 1214 b, the first-known exoplanet on which water could exist.
• December 18 - Avatar is released in theaters, breaking many box-office records, including becoming the highest-grossing movie at the time.
• December 25 - A Nigerian terrorist plotted an attempted terrorist bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 en route from Amsterdam to Detroit.

  Births

• April 15 – Julia Butters, American child actress
• May 4 – Prince Henrik of Denmark
• October 1 – Samaya Clark-Gabriel, American child athlete

  Deaths

January

• January 1
• * Nizar Rayan, Palestinian military and political leader
• * Johannes Mario Simmel, Austrian writer
• * Helen Suzman, South African activist and politician
• January 2 - Steven Gilborn, American actor
• January 3 - Pat Hingle, American actor
• January 8 - Don Galloway, American actor
• January 12
• * Claude Berri, French film director
• * Arne Næss, Norwegian philosopher
• January 13 - Patrick McGoohan, Irish-American actor
• January 14 - Ricardo Montalbán, Mexican-born American actor
• January 16 - Andrew Wyeth, American painter
• January 20 - Stéphanos II Ghattas, Egyptian Patriarch of Alexandria
• January 22 - Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum, 21st Prime Minister of Cambodia
• January 25 - Mamadou Dia, 1st Prime Minister of Senegal
• January 27
• * John Updike, American writer
• * R. Venkataraman, 8th President of India
• January 30 - Ingemar Johansson, Swedish boxer

  February

• February 6
• * Philip Carey, American actor
• * James Whitmore, American actor
• February 9 - Eluana Englaro, Italian patient in right-to-die case
• February 12 - Giacomo Bulgarelli, Italian footballer
• February 18 - Kamila Skolimowska, Polish hammer thrower
• February 25 - Philip José Farmer, American writer
• February 26 - Wendy Richard, English actress
• February 27 - Manea Mănescu, 50th Prime Minister of Romania
• February 28 - Paul Harvey, American radio broadcaster

  March

• March 2 – João Bernardo Vieira, 2nd President of Guinea-Bissau
• March 3 – Sydney Chaplin, American actor
• March 4 – Horton Foote, American playwright and screenwriter
• March 5 – Valeri Broshin, Turkish footballer and manager
• March 7 – Tullio Pinelli, Italian screenwriter
• March 8 – Hank Locklin, American country music singer
• March 13
• * Betsy Blair, American actress
• * James Purdy, American novelist, poet and playwright
• * Test, Canadian-American professional wrestler and actor
• March 14
• * Alain Bashung, French singer, songwriter and actor
• * Edith Lucie Bongo, First Lady of Gabon
• March 15 – Ron Silver, American actor and political activist
• March 17 – Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian fashion stylist
• March 18 – Natasha Richardson, English actress
• March 20 – Abdellatif Filali, 13th Prime Minister of Morocco
• March 22 – Jade Goody, British reality TV star
• March 25
• * Yukio Endo, Japanese gymnast
• * Dan Seals, American country music singer-songwriter
• March 28 – Janet Jagan, 6th Prime Minister and 6th President of Guyana
• March 29
• * Andy Hallett, American singer and actor
• * Maurice Jarre, French composer and conductor
• March 31 – Raúl Alfonsín, 49th President of Argentina

  April

• April 12
• * Marilyn Chambers, American pornographic actress
• * Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, American social theorist
• April 14 - Maurice Druon, French novelist
• April 19 - J. G. Ballard, English novelist
• April 22
• * Ken Annakin, English film director
• * Jack Cardiff, English cinematographer
• April 25 - Bea Arthur, American actress and singer
• April 26 - Pupuke Robati, 4th Prime Minister of Cook Islands
• April 28
• * Vern Gosdin, American country music singer
• * Ekaterina Maximova, Russian ballerina

  May

• May 2
• * Augusto Boal, Brazilian theatre director
• * Jack Kemp, American politician and football player
• May 4 – Dom DeLuise, American actor and comedian
• May 9 – Chuck Daly, American basketball coach
• May 11 – Abel Goumba, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic
• May 13 – Achille Compagnoni, Italian mountaineer
• May 17 – Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan writer
• May 18
• * Wayne Allwine, American voice actor
• * Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan militant
• May 19 – Robert F. Furchgott, American scientist
• May 20 – Lucy Gordon, British actress and model
• May 23 – Roh Moo-hyun, 16th President of South Korea
• May 27 – Clive Granger, British economist
• May 29 – Karine Ruby, French snowboarder
• May 30
• * Luís Cabral, 1st President of Guinea-Bissau
• * Ephraim Katzir, 4th President of Israel
• * Gaafar Nimeiry, 4th President of the Sudan
• May 31 – Kamala Surayya, Indian poet

  June

• June 1
• * Silvio Barbato, Italian-Brazilian opera conductor and composer
• * Fatma Ceren Necipoğlu, Turkish harpist and university lecturer for piano and harp
• * Prince Pedro Luiz of Orléans-Braganza, heir to the line of succession in Brazil
• June 2 - David Eddings, American author
• June 3
• * David Carradine, American actor
• * Koko Taylor, American musician
• June 6 - Jean Dausset, French Nobel immunologist
• June 8 - Omar Bongo, 2nd President of Gabon
• June 11 - Sumire, Japanese fashion model
• June 12 - Félix Malloum, 3rd President of Chad
• June 13 - Mitsuharu Misawa, Japanese professional wrestler
• June 16 – Peter Arundell, British racing driver
• June 17 - Ralf Dahrendorf, German-British social theorist and politician
• June 18
• * Giovanni Arrighi, Italian economist, sociologist and world-systems analyst
• * Hortensia Bussi, 28th First Lady of Chile
• June 20 – Godfrey Rampling, English athlete and army officer
• June 24 – Olja Ivanjicki, Serbian painter, sculptor, and poet
• June 25
• *Farrah Fawcett, American actress
• * Michael Jackson, American singer, songwriter and dancer
• June 27 - Gale Storm, American actress
• June 30
• * Pina Bausch, German choreographer
• * Harve Presnell, American actor and singer
• * Shi Pei Pu, Chinese opera singer

  July

• July 1
• * Alexis Argüello, Nicaraguan boxer and politician
• * Karl Malden, American actor
• July 3 – Jorge Enrique Adoum, Ecuadorian writer, poet, politician, and diplomat
• July 4
• * Brenda Joyce, American actress
• * Allen Klein, American businessman
• July 6
• * Vasily Aksyonov, Russian novelist
• * Robert McNamara, 8th United States Secretary of Defense
• July 11 - Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer
• July 13 - Amin al-Hafez, 22nd Prime Minister of Lebanon
• July 17
• * Meir Amit, Israeli general and politician
• * Walter Cronkite, American newscaster
• * Leszek Kołakowski, Polish philosopher
• * Gordon Waller, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• July 18
• * Yasmine Belmadi, French actor
• * Ricardo Londoño, Colombian racing driver
• July 19
• * Frank McCourt, Irish-American author
• * Henry Surtees, British racing driver
• July 24 - José Carlos da Costa Araújo, Brazilian goalkeeper
• July 25
• * Yasmin Ahmad, Malaysian film director, writer and scriptwriter
• * Harry Patch, English war veteran
• July 26 - Merce Cunningham, American choreographer
• July 31 - Bobby Robson, English footballer and manager

  August

• August 1 - Corazon Aquino, 11th President of the Philippines
• August 5 - Budd Schulberg, American screenwriter
• August 6
• * John Hughes, American film director and writer
• * Savka Dabčević-Kučar, Prime Minister of Croatia
• * Willy DeVille, American singer-songwriter
• August 8 - Daniel Jarque, Spanish footballer
• August 9 - John Quade, American actor
• August 10 - Urpo Korhonen, Finnish olympic cross-country skier
• August 11 - Eunice Kennedy Shriver, American founder of the Special Olympics
• August 12 - Rashied Ali, American free jazz drummer
• August 13 - Les Paul, American musician and inventor
• August 18 - Kim Dae-jung, 15th President of South Korea
• August 24 - Toni Sailer, Austrian alpine ski racer
• August 25 - Ted Kennedy, American politician
• August 26 - Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, Iraqi politician and theologian
• August 27 - Sergey Mikhalkov, Soviet-Russian author
• August 28 - DJ AM, American DJ

  September

• September 8 - Aage Bohr, Danish Nobel physicist
• September 11
• * Juan Almeida, Cuban revolutionary and politician
• * Jim Carroll, American author, poet and musician
• * Yoshito Usui, Japanese manga artist
• September 12
• * Norman Borlaug, American Nobel agronomist
• * Jack Kramer, American tennis player and promoter
• September 13 - Paul Burke, American actor
• September 14
• * Keith Floyd, British cook and restaurateur
• * Henry Gibson, American actor and songwriter
• * Patrick Swayze, American actor and dancer
• September 16 - Mary Travers, American singer and songwriter
• September 17 - Noordin Mohammad Top, Malaysian Islamist militant
• September 18 - Irving Kristol, American writer and political commentator
• September 23 - Ertuğrul Osman, 43rd Head of the Ottoman Dynasty
• September 25 - Alicia de Larrocha, Spanish pianist
• September 28 - Guillermo Endara, 32nd President of Panama
• September 29 - Pavel Popovich, Soviet cosmonaut

  October

• October 2 - Marek Edelman, Polish political and social activist
• October 4
• * Shōichi Nakagawa, Japanese politician
• * Günther Rall, German fighter pilot
• * Mercedes Sosa, Argentine singer
• October 5 - Israel Gelfand, Soviet-American mathematician
• October 7 - Irving Penn, American photographer
• October 10 - Stephen Gately, Irish singer
• October 11 - Joan Martí i Alanis, 64th Co-Prince of Andorra
• October 13 - Al Martino, American singer and actor
• October 14 - Lou Albano, Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor
• October 17 - Carla Boni, Italian singer
• October 19 - Joseph Wiseman, Canadian actor
• October 20 - Yuri Ryazanov, Russian artistic gymnast
• October 22 - Soupy Sales, American comedian, actor, radio/television personality
• October 28 - Taylor Mitchell, Canadian singer
• October 30 - Claude Lévi-Strauss, French anthropologist
• October 31 - Hsue-Shen Tsien, Chinese scientist

  November

• November 2 – Amir Pnueli, Israeli computer scientist
• November 3 - Francisco Ayala, Spanish novelist
• November 8 - Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian Nobel physicist
• November 10
• * Robert Enke, German footballer
• * John Allen Muhammad, African-American spree killer
• November 15
• * Pierre Harmel, 39th Prime Minister of Belgium
• * Pavle, Serbian Patriarch, Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church
• * Jocelyn Quivrin, French actor
• November 16
• * Antonio de Nigris, Mexican footballer
• * Edward Woodward, English actor and singer
• November 19 - Daul Kim, South Korean model
• November 20 - Lino Lacedelli, Italian mountaineer
• November 21 - Konstantin Feoktistov, Soviet cosmonaut
• November 24 - Samak Sundaravej, 25th Prime Minister of Thailand
• November 30 - Milorad Pavić, Serbian writer

  December

• December 3 – Richard Todd, Irish-born British actor
• December 4
• * Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Russian actor
• * Umaga, Samoan-American professional wrestler
• December 5
• * Alfred Hrdlicka, Austrian artist
• * Otto Graf Lambsdorff, German politician
• December 9
• * Gene Barry, American actor
• * Rodrigo Carazo Odio, 38th President of Costa Rica
• December 13 – Paul Samuelson, American Nobel Prize-winning economist
• December 15 – Oral Roberts, American Evangelist
• December 16
• * Roy E. Disney, American businessman
• * Yegor Gaidar, Russian politician
• December 17
• * Amin al-Hafiz, President and Prime Minister of Syria
• * Alaina Reed Hall, American actress
• * Jennifer Jones, American actress
• December 19
• * Hussein-Ali Montazeri, Iranian scholar and human rights activist
• * Kim Peek, American savant
• December 20
• * Brittany Murphy, American actress and singer
• * Arnold Stang, American actor and comedian
• December 21 – Edwin G. Krebs, American Nobel biologist
• December 23 – Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, Tibetan politician
• December 24 – Rafael Caldera, 54th and 60th President of Venezuela
• December 25 – Vic Chesnutt, American singer-songwriter
• December 26
• * Dennis Brutus, South African activist, educator, journalist and poet
• * Jacques Sylla, 12th Prime Minister of Madagascar
• December 28 – The Rev, American musician
• December 30 – Abdurrahman Wahid, 4th President of Indonesia
• December 31 – Rashidi Kawawa, 1st Prime Minister of Tanzania

  Nobel Prizes

• Chemistry - Ada Yonath, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, and Thomas A. Steitz
• Economics - Elinor Ostrom and Oliver E. Williamson
• Literature - Herta Müller
• Peace - Barack Obama
• Physics - Charles K. Kao, Willard Boyle, and George E. Smith
• Physiology or Medicine - Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak

  New English words

• alt-right
• anti-vaxxer
• copernicium
• subtweet