2009
Obama inaugurated
Nearly two million people filled the National Mall on a frigid morning to watch Barack Hussein Obama take the oath of office as the forty-fourth president. Aretha Franklin sang in a felt bow hat. The country's first Black president looked out at the crowd and admitted, gently, that the work would be hard.
Iran's Green Movement
After Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of a clearly fraudulent election, millions of Iranians filled Tehran's streets in green wristbands shouting "Where is my vote?" The regime answered with truncheons, Basij motorcyclists, and mass arrests. Neda Agha-Soltan, shot dead on camera while standing on the sidewalk, became the movement's icon and a global symbol of resistance.
Eurozone debt crisis ignites
A new Greek government revealed its predecessor had been hiding the true size of its budget deficit. Markets panicked. Within months Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and eventually Spain and Italy were in some form of bailout or austerity program. The euro nearly cracked apart, and Germany discovered the price of being Europe's banker.
Michael Jackson dies
The King of Pop, fifty years old and rehearsing a comeback concert series in Los Angeles, suffered cardiac arrest from a propofol overdose administered by his personal physician. The internet briefly buckled under the grief as news sites crashed worldwide. A childhood that the whole world had watched on Motown stages ended in a doctor's syringe.
Miracle on the Hudson
A US Airways Airbus struck a flock of Canada geese just seconds after takeoff from LaGuardia, lost both engines simultaneously, and was glided into the icy Hudson River by Captain Chesley Sullenberger with textbook calm. All 155 passengers and crew survived. In a year of bank failures and foreclosures, an entire country needed exactly this story.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 2009?
Saeculum lists 5 curated events from 2009. The most significant is Obama inaugurated: Nearly two million people filled the National Mall on a frigid morning to watch Barack Hussein Obama take the oath of office as the forty-fourth president.
What era was 2009 part of?
2009 falls within the Contemporary (2001-2026). Networks, climate, and the new uncertainty.
Which regions saw notable events in 2009?
The curated events from 2009 span North America, Middle East and Europe.