Posts tagged Year in Review

1
- The Steelers defeat the Cardinals in Super Bowl 43 (XLIII) 27 to 23. The game is highlighted by great plays from wide receivers with Santonio Holmes making an iconic touchdown catch to cap the Steelers late comeback. Cable subscribers in Tucson have the game interrupted by an oral sex scene from a pornographic movie leading to numerous complaints.

2
- England continues to deal with the heaviest snowfall that country has seen since 1991

- Obama warns that more banks are likely to fail as losses mount

3
- California begins issuing IOUs to cover expenses after it goes broke.

- Australia announces a $42 billion stimulus plan and lowers interest rates to 3.25 percent

4
- Panasonic announces it will close 27 plants and cut 15,000 jobs

- Hamas police raid a United Nations warehouse and seize items intended for Palestinian civilians

5
- Michael Phelps is suspended from competition for three months after a photo showing him smoking marijuana appears on the internet

- China declares a national emergency following prolonged droughts

6
- The United States lost 598,000 jobs in January and unemployment rises to 7.6 percent

- Atryn, the first drug made from genetically engineered animals is approved by the FDA.

7
- ‘Black Saturday’ The state of Victoria records more than 400 individual fires that eventually burn 1.1 million acres of land and lead to 173 deaths. 3,500 structures are destroyed and damage estimates are put at up to $1.5 billion.

9
- Nissan announces 20,000 layoffs while France provides a 6.5 billion euro bailout for its auto industry

- Alex Rodriguez admits to using performance enhancing drugs between 2001 and 2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers. His admission came two days after reports surfaced that he tested positive for anabolic steroids in 2003.

10
- UBS announces 15,000 layoffs after posting a loss of $19.7 billion francs in 2008

- General Motors announces 10,000 layoffs and additional pay cuts

11
- Two satellites collide in orbit spreading debris and raising concerns over future incidences due to increasing numbers of satellites.

12
- Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes near Buffalo killing all 49 passengers and crew onboard with one person killed on the ground. Among the dead are 9/11 widow and activist Beverly Eckert and Alison des Forges a human rights activist and expert on the Rwandan genocide. Initial reports indicated ice as the main factor leading to the crash but it was learned that inadequate training and crew fatigue may have played a role in the events that led up to the crash.

- That same day, the NTSB concludes that a bird strike with a flock of Canadian geese led to the ditching of US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River

- Pioneer announces it will leave the television market and cut 10,000 jobs.

13
- Congress approves the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (commonly known as the stimulus bill/plan). As of 10/30/2009 roughly seven percent of projects funded by the bill were completed while roughly 38 percent of projects had yet to be started. The government claims the stimulus saved or created 640,000 jobs but the effectiveness of the program continues to be debated.

14
- Japan completes the first topographic map of the moon

16
- The Pirate Bay criminal/civil trial begins in Stockholm with authorities alleging the site promoted copyright infringement. The defendants are later found guilty and ordered to serve one-year in prison and pay a fine of roughly $3.5 million USD. The defendants appeal their sentence and additional proceedings are scheduled to begin in the summer of 2010.

17
- Pres. Obama approves the deployment of 12,000 additional troops to Aghanistan. Later in the year even more troops are committed to the area to support the ongoing stabilization efforts.

- California announces it will lay off 20,000 government employees.

- The SEC charges Allen Stanford with fraud and he is served two days later when he is located in Virginia. Later the SEC’s complaint is amended and Stanford is accused of operating a massive Ponzi scheme. Stanford is later arrested in June and hospitalized in September after a reported fight with an inmate.

18
- UBS AG agrees to $780 million in fines and restitution to settle accusations that it created and administered Swiss tax shelters for wealthy Americans.

- General Motors announces it plans to lay off 47,000 people by the end of 2009.

19
- The FBI serves a complaint on behalf of the SEC to accused ponzi scheme operator Allen Stanford after locating him in Virginia.

20
- SAAB files for bankruptcy protection a day after General Motors states that it may provide the troubled subsidiary $400 million.

- Benjamin Netanyahu is selected by Shimon Peres to form the next government

- New York AG Andrew Cuomo subpoenas current Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis regarding the acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

21
- Up to 120,000 people march in Dublin to protest the government’s response to the growing financial crisis.

22
- Slumdog Millionaire wins 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Sean Penn and Kate Winslett take home Best Actor and Best Actress

- The infamous Abu Ghraib prison reopens as Baghdad Central Prison

- 73 coal miners are killed after an explosion in China

- Australia holds a national day of mourning for victims of the bushfires that swept through the state of Victoria. At one point, as many as 400 separate fires were confirmed to be burning on the same day.

23
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 drop to their lowest levels since 1997

24
- Ireland’s stock exchange closes at its lowest level since 1995

25
- Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 comes up short of the runway and lands tail first at Amsterdam’s Schilpol Airport killing 9 people including all three pilots. An investigation reveals that the plane’s airspeed dropped 40 knots just before landing as a result of incorrect throttle settings/operation.

- Iran tests its first Nuclear power plant at Bushehr

- Japanese exports drop 45.7 percent between January 2008 and January 2009

26
- The Rocky Mountain News publishes its last edition after 80 years leaving the Denver Post as the city’s only remaining mass circulation daily newspaper

- The US government allows photos of soldiers coffins to be published

- Royal Bank of Scotland reports a $24.1 billion pound loss in 2008

- General Motors chairman Rick Wagoner meets with Obama’s auto task force to request government intervention. That same day, the company reports a fourth quarter loss of $9.6 billion.

27
-Pres. Obama announces that most troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by August 2010 but up to 50,000 troops will remain in the country until the end of 2011 to protect US interests and advise Iraqi troops

- The federal government increases its stake in Citigroup to 36 percent

- It’s announced that US GDP fell 6.2 percent in the final quarter of 2008

- Fox renews The Simpsons for two more seasons making it the longest running primetime television series in history

28
- In response to scandals, China passes the Food Safety Law to introduce new oversight and increase punishments for businesses found to be producing/selling substandard food

- Gov. Schwarzenegger declares a state of emergency in California following severe drought

Deaths

Blossom Dearie, Jazz singer and pianist

Eluana Englaro, Italian woman who was in a persistent vegetative state and became the focus of a major Italian court battle over euthanasia. Her situation was analogous to the Terri Schiavo case.

Erick Lee Purkhiser (Lux Interior), founding member of the garage punk band The Cramps

Hugh Leonard, Irish playwright, novelist and screenwriter

Joe Rodgers, former US Ambassador to France

Larry Miller, businessman, owner of the Utah Jazz

Lukas Foss, composer and professor

Philip Jose Farmer, Novelist

Sheng-yen, Buddhist monk and teacher of Chan/Zen Buddhism, Founder of Dharma Drum Mountain

Willem Johan Kolff, pioneer in dialysis and artificial organs