Events:
1
- Oscar Grant is shot while being detained by BART officers following a fight at the Fruitvale station. Grant was taken to a hospital and died seven hours later. Officer Johannes Mehserle was charged with murder and resigned his position. Reactions to shooting were fueled by multiple videos uploaded to YouTube. Mehserle still awaits trial and a $25-million wrongful death lawsuit was filed on behalf of Grant’s family.

- An Israeli airstrike kills senior Hamas leader Nizar Rayan

- Slovakia adopts the Euro

- Gazprom halts delivery of natural gas to the Ukraine after price negotiations fail

2
- Kilinochchi, the defacto capitol of the Tamil Tigers is captured

3
- The IDF begins a ground offensive in Gaza that leads to the deaths of more than 1,000 Palestinians

4
- Bill Richardson withdraws his nomination for Commerce Secretary under the weight of a federal investigation concerning improper business dealings. Federal prosecutors would later drop the investigation in August.

5
- Minnesota certifies Al Franken as the winner of the 2008 Senate election. Franken’s opponent Norm Coleman would file an appeal the next day to contest the election and Coleman’s appeals would later reach Minnesota’s Supreme Court before he conceded the election on June 30 after his challenge was rejected by the court.

7
- Congressional budget office projects a record $1.2 trillion deficit and forecasts the recession to continue throughout the year

8
- The Bank of England cuts interest rates to the lowest level in 315 years of operation

- The UN Security Council (with the US abstaining) adopts Resolution 1860 calling for a cease fire between Israel and Hamas

9

- The Illinois House of Representatives votes 114-1 to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He is then tried before the Senate where he is later removed from office following a 59-0 vote.

12
- The Indonesian Ferry Teratai Prima sinks near Sulawesi killing 230 people

13
- Carol Bartz is announced as the new CEO of Yahoo!

- Citigroup and Morgan Stanley agree to combine their brokerages

14
- Apple CEO Steve Jobs announces a six month leave of absence

15
- US Airways Flight 1549 ditches in the Hudson River following a bird strike that leads to a loss of power in both engines. All 155 passengers and crew survive survive.

16
- Conficker infects more than 8 million computers

- Palestinian death toll from Gaza War is reported to be more than 1,000 people

17
- Israel declares a ceasefire to begin on Jan. 18th but will keep forces in the area

- North Korea claims to have weaponized nearly 31 kilograms of plutonium which would be enough to create four to five nuclear warheads.

18
- The Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers win their conference championship games and will meet in Super Bowl XLIII

19
- The Palestinian National Authority reports 1300 deaths, 5400 injuries and $1.9 billion USD in property damage from the attacks. It is important to note these figures are by no means exact.

20
- Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of The United States. China Central Television would later edit portions of Obama’s speech when it was rebroadcast the next day.

- The Israel Defense Force completes its withdrawal from Gaza

21
- Hillary Clinton confirmed as Secretary of State

- Toyota passes General Motors as the world’s largest automaker

22
- Obama announces GITMO will be closed within a year and officially bans torture

- Microsoft announces 5,000 layoffs as demand for PCs wains during the recession

- General Motors receives a second loan of $5.4 billion

23
- The United Kingdom officially enters a recession

- Kirsten Gillibrand is appointed to fill Hillary Clinton’s vacant Senate seat

- The number of worldwide unique internet users passes one billion in December 2008

26
- Timothy Geithner is confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury

- Iceland’s coalition government collapses in the wake of the country’s ongoing financial scandal

27
- Hedge fund manager Arthur Nadel is arrested and charged with securities fraud. Nadel had claimed impressive returns on client investments but it was ultimately determined his trading led to an overall net loss.

28
- Snowstorms paralyze the midwest United States. 19 people die and power is cut to more than 600,000 homes

- The House passes the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 commonly known as the stimulus package.

- Boeing announces 10,000 layoffs

29
- The Illinois State Senate votes to remove Rod Blagojevich and Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn is sworn in to finish his term

30
- Michael Steele becomes the first African-American chairman of the RNC

- The State Department announces it will not renew Blackwater Worldwide’s (now Xe Services LLC) contract to provide services in Iraq. A report later claims Blackwater employees were working without a license until as recently as September 2009.

31
- More than 100 people are killed in Molo, Kenya when an oil spill from an overturned truck ignites. The deaths were the result of people attempting to capture spilled oil for personal use.

Deaths:
Helen Suzman anti-apartheid activist

Claiborne Pell, six-term senator from Rhode Island, Pell Grant is named after him

Griffin Bell, Attorney General during the Carter Administration

Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sri Lankan journalist and anti-government activist, assassinated

Ricardo Montalban, actor whose career spanned seven decades

Andrew Wyeth American artist

Novelist John Updike who was famous for his Rabbit series that chronicled the life of main character Rabbit Angstrom.

Former Alabama governor Harold Hunt. Hunt was the first Republican governor of Alabama since Reconstruction