December is the twelfth and last month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. In Latin, decem means "ten". December was also the tenth month in the Roman calendar until a monthless winter period was divided between January.
December is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere.
December 1, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama announces that he will send 30,000 extra American troops to Afghanistan within the next six months and start withdrawal in 19 months. (The New York Times)
December 1, 2009, U.S. golfer Tiger Woods announces that he will not be attending his own charity golf tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, or any other tournaments in 2009. (AP via Google News)
December 1, 2009, Maurice Clemmons, suspect in the Lakewood police officer shootings, is shot dead by police in Seattle. (BBC)
December 1, 2009, The International Court of Justice begins hearings into the legality of the Kosovan declaration of independence from Serbia. (AFP)
December 1, 2009, The European Union now has legal personality and has acquired the competences previously conferred on the European Community. Community law therefore becomes European Union law. (ECJ)
- The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union enters into force. (AFP via Google News)
- The European Court of Justice acquires general jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings in the area of freedom, security and justice. (ECJ)
- The first permanent President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, officially takes office. (AFP via Google News)
- The first EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, officially takes office. (AFP via Google News)
December 2, 2009, Release of TruTv Series Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura
December 2, 2009,
December 2, 2009,
December 2, 2009, The trial of suspected Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk is postponed after he is taken ill. (Deutsche Welle)
December 2, 2009, Leading Climate change scientist Dr. Jones steps down from lead role after Climate-Gate scandal.
December 3, 2009,
December 3, 2009, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures deposits in United States commercial banks, is running a deficit of $US8.2 billion. (New York Times)
December 3, 2009, Nigerian farmers sue Shell at a court in The Hague over claims that the oil firm polluted their land in the Niger Delta region. (NEXT)
December 4, 2009, Release of Armored
December 4, 2009, Release of Brothers.
December 4, 2009, Release of Everybodys Fine.
December 4, 2009, Release of Serious Moonlight.
December 4, 2009, Release of Up In Air.
December 4, 2009, The U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision closes down the Cleveland based AmTrust Bank. (Dow Jones via NASDAQ
December 4, 2009, An explosion at a nightclub in Perm, Russia, kills at least one hundred and injures around a hundred people. (RIA Novosti)
December 4, 2009, A fire at a nightclub in the North Sumatra capital of Medan, Indonesia, kills at least 20 people. (AFP)
December 4, 2009, At least 47 people drown after a ferry capsizes in Kishoreganj District, \Bangladesh. (The Daily Star)
December 4, 2009, The judges and jury in the case of the murder of Meredith Kercher in 2007 in Perugia, Italy, retire to consider their verdict. (BBC)
December 4, 2009, The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation announces that 25 member countries will contribute a further 7,000 troops to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in addition to 30,000 additional American and 500 British troops previously announced. (BBC)
December 4, 2009, Nepal's cabinet meets on Mount Everest to highlight the impact of climate change in the Himalayas. (CNN)
December 5, 2009, Tens of thousands of people demonstrate in London and other European capitals ahead of a United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen. (AFP)
December 7, 2009,
December 7, 2009, The United Nations Climate Change Conference opens in Copenhagen. (CNN)
December 7, 2009, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates admits that the United States has had no information on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden for many years. (Dawn)
December 7, 2009, The English town of Swindon becomes the first ever Twin Town of Walt Disney World in the U.S. state of Florida. (BBC)
December 8, 2009, Release of This is War Album By 30 Seconds too Mars.
December 8, 2009,
December 8, 2009, Royal Variety Performance in Blackpool, England.
December 8, 2009, A man was arrested for allegedly throwing two tomatoes at Sarah Palin from the second floor balcony during a book signing event at the Mall of America in Minnesota. MyFoxTwinCities.com
December 8, 2009, Japan unveils a new ¥7.2 trillion (US$80.6 billion) stimulus package to strengthen the country's economy amid signs it is weakening. (BBC)
December 8, 2009, For the second time in as many years, CBS cancels a United States-produced soap opera, this time As The World Turns after 54 years, in effect putting Procter & Gamble, the creators of said genre, out of that business. (Bloomberg News)
December 8, 2009, Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo, the world's first commercial spacecraft, is officially unveiled in the Mojave Desert, California. (The Daily Telegraph)
December 23, 2009, Release of Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squekquel
December 9, 2009, Release of Malice in Wonderland Album by Snoop Dogg
December 9, 2009, Release of Expressions Album by Music Go Round.
December 9, 2009, Release of Visitors Album by John O'Rourke
December 9, 2009, Indonesia raises Obama Statue
December 9, 2009, An unexplained spiral light seen in the sky across large parts of Northern Norway confound spectators. Authorities speculate that the light could come from a misfired Russian rocket, but Russian authorities deny this. (Daily Mail)
December 9, 2009, Thousands of Jewish settlers stage a protest at the curbs on settlement building in the West Bank. (BBC)
December 9, 2009, India plans to secure its naval harbours with electric fences "against clandestine threats from the sea". (BBC)
December 9, 2009, Tens of thousands of people rally in several cities in Indonesia demanding the government do more to tackle corruption. (CNN)
December 10, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama accepts the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. (CNN)
December 10, 2009, A failed launch of an intercontinental missile RSM-56 Bulava by Russia is reported to be the cause of the mysterious spiral light seen over Northern Norway yesterday. (BBC)
December 10, 2009, Pakistani officials arrest five US citizens wanted by the FBI on suspicion of terrorism. (BBC)
December 10, 2009, Thousands of "red shirt" anti-government protesters demonstrate in Bangkok, Thailand, calling for new elections. (Thai News Agency)
December 10, 2009, It is revealed that Egypt is building an iron wall up to 100 feet deep along its border with Gaza. (The National)
December 10, 2009, New 4,000-page Spanish grammar guidelines, produced by the Spanish Royal Academy and 21 organizations in Spanish-speaking countries, are unveiled. (AP)
December 11, 2009, Release of Did You hear about the Morgan's.
December 11, 2009, Release of Invictus.
December 11, 2009, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett host Noble Peace Prize Concert.
December 11, 2009, Golfer Tiger Woods announces he is taking an indefinite break from the sport after a scandal over his infidelity in order to focus on "being a better husband, father, and person". (ABC)
December 11, 2009, Vasily Khristoforov, the head archivist for Russia's Federal Security Service confirms for the first time that the Soviet Union's KGB cremated Adolf Hitler's body in 1970 and scattered his ashes in the Biederitz River. (CNN)
December 11, 2009, Oil company Royal Dutch Shell wins the right to develop Iraq's Majnoon oil field in a joint venture with Petronas after the first such auction since the 2003 invasion. The field is expected to generate $900 million a year. (BBC)
December 11, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI releases a statement stating that he shares the "outrage, betrayal and shame" felt by the Irish people over the findings of the Murphy Report into sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy in Dublin. (RTÉ)
December 11, 2009, The USA threatens Iran with "significant new sanctions" over the country's nuclear programme according to US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. (BBC)
December 11, 2009, The discovery of the Triassic theropod dinosaur genus Tawa is announced. (AP)
December 12, 2009, US Central Intelligence Agency has cancelled the contract of private security firm Xe Services LLC also know as Blackwater for its services related to Drone operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.(Dawn)
December 12, 2009,
December 12, 2009, Mark Ingram RB for Alabama Crimson Tide wins Heisman Trophy
December 13, 2009, American Dad S5 Ep9: Rapture's Delight.
December 13, 2009, Global consulting firm Accenture is ending its sponsorship of Tiger Woods, saying the golfer is "no longer the right representative" after the "circumstances of the last two weeks." (Wall Street Journal)
December 13, 2009, American multinational corporation Procter & Gamble says it will begin phasing Tiger Woods out of promotions for its Gillette brand. (Bloomberg)
December 13, 2009, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is hit in the face and knocked to the ground after a political rally in Milan. (BBC News)
December 13, 2009, Campaigners in Copenhagen criticise "heavy handed" tactics by Danish police after 968 people are arrested as a result of protests surrounding the United Nations Climate Change Conference. (BBC)
December 13, 2009, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown makes an unannounced visit to Afghanistan to support British forces deployed as part of the International Security Assistance Force and to hold talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. (BBC)
December 14, 2009, The Group of 77 (including China, India, UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia) suspends participation in treaty negotiations at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, citing the unwillingness of developed nations to live up to the Kyoto Protocol and what they view as a lack of open negotiations. (BBC)
December 14, 2009, Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, claims that some banks were rescued during the recent global financial crisis by billions of dollars that originated from the illegal drug trade. (Press TV)
December 14, 2009, Researchers report that the Veined Octopus retrieves coconut shell halves to use as shelter, becoming the first invertebrates recorded to use tools. (AP)
December 14, 2009, Dubai receives a US$10 billion bailout from Abu Dhabi to help fund troubled Dubai World. (Gulf News)
December 14, 2009, Austrian bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria is nationalised to avert a bank collapse. (Reuters)
December 14, 2009, TeliaSonera opens the world's first 4G LTE cellular network for public in Oslo, Norway, and Stockholm, Sweden. (The Inquirer)
December 15, 2009, Release of Alicia Keys Album Elements of Freedom.
December 15, 2009, Release of Robin Thicke Album Sex Therapy
December 15, 2009,
December 15, 2009, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Danish hosts urge countries on to compromise to salvage agreement on a new U.N. pact aimed at averting dangerous climate change and global warming.(Reuters)
December 15, 2009, The Boeing 787 'Dreamliner' widebody passenger airliner takes its maiden flight, travelling from Paine Field to Boeing Field, in Washington State, U.S.A. (BBC)
December 15, 2009, Evacuations begin in the Albay province of the Philippines as the Mayon Volcano oozes lava, with an eruption possible. (Philippine Inquirer)
December 15, 2009, Canadian sports medicine specialist Anthony Galea, who helped Tiger Woods recover from knee surgery, is accused of providing top athletes with performance-enhancing drugs. (New York Times)
December 16, 2009,
December 16, 2009,
December 16, 2009,
December 16, 2009, Roy E. Disney, head of Disney Animation and responsible for guiding the studio through a golden age of animation, dies in a California hospital in the United States. (CNN)
December 16, 2009, Archaeologists in Jerusalem say they have discovered a burial shroud from around the time of Jesus in a tomb. (Jerusalem Post)
December 16, 2009, The Philippine province of Albay is put under a "state of imminent disaster" as activity at the Mayon Volcano increases. (GMA News)
December 16, 2009, North Korea reportedly bans all foreigners from entering the country until early February 2010, for unknown reasons. (The Chosun Ilbo)
December 17, 2009,
December 17, 2009,
December 17, 2009, Europe is hit by heavy snowfall leading to disruptions in France, Germany, Poland and Spain. (BBC)
December 17, 2009, Egyptian archaeologists recover from the Mediterranean Sea an ancient temple pylon belonging to the palace complex of Cleopatra. (AP)
December 17, 2009, It is revealed that Iraqi militants intercepted live video feeds from U.S. MQ-1 Predator drones, potentially acquiring information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations. (Wall Street Journal)
December 18, 2009, Release of Avatar.
December 18, 2009, Release of Nine
December 18, 2009, Release of The Young Victoria.
December 18, 2009, Thirty world leaders present in Copenhagen for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change agree on a draft accord. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
December 18, 2009, NASA releases the first ever photo of liquid outside of Earth, in the form of sunlight reflecting on a lake on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. (CNN)
December 18, 2009,
December 18, 2009, A large crater resembling a fried egg is discovered off the coast of The Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, prompting speculation that it may have been caused up to 17 million years ago by meteor impact. (BBC)
December 18, 2009, General Motors announces that it will begin shutting down operations at the Swedish carmaker Saab automobile. (New York Times)
December 18, 2009, The Arbeit macht frei sign is stolen from Auschwitz concentration camp. (JTA)
December 18, 2009, Lava flows and ash explosions continue to emerge from Philippine volcano Mount Mayon while scientists predict a major eruption in the coming weeks and 30,000 people remain in temporary shelter. (BBC)
December 18, 2009, Snowfall across the east of England disrupts transport and power supplies. (BBC)
December 19, 2009, The North American blizzard of 2009 produces record snowfall, causing power outages, deaths, and impacting retail sales. (The Weather Channel)
December 19, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI declares two of his predecessors, John Paul II and Pius XII to be Venerable, the second step toward sainthood. (BBC)
December 19, 2009, Freezing conditions cause electrical faults in the Channel Tunnel between Great Britain and France, isolating 2,000 passengers in five trains. The situation is coupled with disruptions at London Heathrow Airport and traffic delays due to snowy conditions in the south-east of England. (BBC)
December 19, 2009, Police recruit sniffer dogs and detectives in their hunt for the Arbeit macht frei sign missing from Auschwitz as appeals for its return are made by Israel, Poland and the European Union. (BBC)
December 19, 2009, Scientists announced the discovery of GJ 1214 b, an ocean planet orbiting a star in the Ophiuchus constellation. (Nature)
December 20, 2009, Brittany Murphy Dies at age 32.
December 20, 2009, United States Army Major General Anthony Cucolo makes pregnancy a court-martial offense for both female and male troops under his command in northern Iraq. (BBC)
December 21, 2009, Release of Eminem Album Refill.
December 21, 2009, Soon to be King (Sun) spends night homeless (Lowest Status)
December 21, 2009,
December 21, 2009, Remains of the first dwelling in Nazareth that can be dated back
to the time of Jesus have been found by Israeli archaeologists. (The Jerusalem Post)
December 22, 2009, A priest in York causes controversy when he says shoplifting from large national chain stores is acceptable in certain circumstances. (The Irish Times)
December 22, 2009, Brazil Judge Hands Goldman Custody Win. (CBS)December 23, 2009, Release of Alvin and the Chimpmunks: The Squeakquel.
December 23, 2009,
December 23, 2009, Gävle's giant straw goat — a traditional symbol of yuletide in Scandinavia — is burned down for the 24th time. (The Daily Telegraph)
December 23, 2009, American Airlines Flight 331, with 154 people onboard, overshoots the runway at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica, injuring 44. (Jamaica Observer)
December 23, 2009, Soyuz TMA-17, carrying an international crew of one Russian, one American, and one Japanese astronaut, docks with the International Space Station. (RIA Novosti)
December 24, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI is knocked down by a woman during a procession before the Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City. He is uninjured, but Cardinal Roger Etchegaray suffers a hip fracture. (Sky News)
December 24, 2009, The United States Senate passes a controversial health-care bill expected to extend insurance coverage to 30 million additional Americans while substantially raising taxes, in a party-line vote, 60-39. (BBC)
December 25, 2009, Christmas
December 25, 2009, Release of Dr. Parnassus: Imaginarium.
December 25, 2009, Release of Sherlock Holmes.
December 25, 2009, Release of It's Complicated
December 25, 2009, The 19th century St Mel's Cathedral of Longford in Ireland is destroyed by an ongoing fire in the town. (RTÉ)
December 25, 2009, American officials investigate a possible attempted terrorist attack after an incident on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit.
(MSNBC)
December 27, 2009, A consortium led by Korea Electric Power gets a US$20.4-billion contract to build nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates, the largest-ever energy deal in the Middle East. (The Wall Street Journal)
December 27, 2009, A tomb, believed to be that of Cao Cao, one of the Chinese leaders during the Three Kingdoms period, is discovered in Henan Province. (Xinhua)
December 28, 2009,
December 28, 2009, Two Argentine men become the first gay couple to legally marry in Latin America at a civil ceremony. (Buenos Aires Herald)
December 28, 2009, President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez quotes Mary and Karl Marx in a New Year message broadcast by state media, describing an end to the "illusion" of Barack Obama and predicting a global ecological disaster. (Reuters)
December 29, 2009,
December 30, 2009, Police in Italy locate a wooden toy guitar sculpture which co-founder of Cubism Pablo Picasso made for his daughter Paloma. (BBC)
December 31, 2009,
December 31, 2009, A High Court in Malaysia rules that the country's Christians have a constitutional right to use the word Allah in reference to God, declaring the government's ban on the use of Allah by non-Muslims as unconstitutional. (BBC News)
December 31, 2009, Former Catholic Primate of All Ireland Cardinal Cahal Daly, "the hierarchy's foremost theologian and its most trenchant critic of politically-inspired violence", dies in Belfast aged 92. (RTÉ)
December 31, 2009, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade issues an apology to "humiliated" Christians for comparing an "idolatrous" statue to Jesus Christ. (BBC)
December 31, 2009, The Althing (Icelandic parliament) approves the payment of €3.8 billion to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands as deposit insurance for the collapsed Icesave savings scheme. (BBC News)
December 31, 2009, Patrick Stewart, the actor who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor X in X-Men, is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. (CNN)
December 31, 2009, Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur. (CNN)
December is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere.
December 1, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama announces that he will send 30,000 extra American troops to Afghanistan within the next six months and start withdrawal in 19 months. (The New York Times)
December 1, 2009, U.S. golfer Tiger Woods announces that he will not be attending his own charity golf tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, or any other tournaments in 2009. (AP via Google News)
December 1, 2009, Maurice Clemmons, suspect in the Lakewood police officer shootings, is shot dead by police in Seattle. (BBC)
December 1, 2009, The International Court of Justice begins hearings into the legality of the Kosovan declaration of independence from Serbia. (AFP)
December 1, 2009, The European Union now has legal personality and has acquired the competences previously conferred on the European Community. Community law therefore becomes European Union law. (ECJ)
- The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union enters into force. (AFP via Google News)
- The European Court of Justice acquires general jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings in the area of freedom, security and justice. (ECJ)
- The first permanent President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, officially takes office. (AFP via Google News)
- The first EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, officially takes office. (AFP via Google News)
December 2, 2009, Release of TruTv Series Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura
December 2, 2009,
December 2, 2009,
December 2, 2009, The trial of suspected Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk is postponed after he is taken ill. (Deutsche Welle)
December 2, 2009, Leading Climate change scientist Dr. Jones steps down from lead role after Climate-Gate scandal.
December 3, 2009,
December 3, 2009, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures deposits in United States commercial banks, is running a deficit of $US8.2 billion. (New York Times)
December 3, 2009, Nigerian farmers sue Shell at a court in The Hague over claims that the oil firm polluted their land in the Niger Delta region. (NEXT)
December 4, 2009, Release of Armored
December 4, 2009, Release of Brothers.
December 4, 2009, Release of Everybodys Fine.
December 4, 2009, Release of Serious Moonlight.
December 4, 2009, Release of Up In Air.
December 4, 2009, The U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision closes down the Cleveland based AmTrust Bank. (Dow Jones via NASDAQ
December 4, 2009, An explosion at a nightclub in Perm, Russia, kills at least one hundred and injures around a hundred people. (RIA Novosti)
December 4, 2009, A fire at a nightclub in the North Sumatra capital of Medan, Indonesia, kills at least 20 people. (AFP)
December 4, 2009, At least 47 people drown after a ferry capsizes in Kishoreganj District, \Bangladesh. (The Daily Star)
December 4, 2009, The judges and jury in the case of the murder of Meredith Kercher in 2007 in Perugia, Italy, retire to consider their verdict. (BBC)
December 4, 2009, The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation announces that 25 member countries will contribute a further 7,000 troops to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in addition to 30,000 additional American and 500 British troops previously announced. (BBC)
December 4, 2009, Nepal's cabinet meets on Mount Everest to highlight the impact of climate change in the Himalayas. (CNN)
December 5, 2009, Tens of thousands of people demonstrate in London and other European capitals ahead of a United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen. (AFP)
December 6, 2009, Release of Alice Mini-Series
December 6, 2009, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom firmly warns newspaper editors in a letter to cease publication of personal pictures of the British Royal Family after years of being "hounded" by paparazzi. (BBC)
December 7, 2009,
December 7, 2009, The United Nations Climate Change Conference opens in Copenhagen. (CNN)
December 7, 2009, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates admits that the United States has had no information on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden for many years. (Dawn)
December 7, 2009, The English town of Swindon becomes the first ever Twin Town of Walt Disney World in the U.S. state of Florida. (BBC)
December 8, 2009, Release of This is War Album By 30 Seconds too Mars.
December 8, 2009,
December 8, 2009, Royal Variety Performance in Blackpool, England.
December 8, 2009, A man was arrested for allegedly throwing two tomatoes at Sarah Palin from the second floor balcony during a book signing event at the Mall of America in Minnesota. MyFoxTwinCities.com
December 8, 2009, Japan unveils a new ¥7.2 trillion (US$80.6 billion) stimulus package to strengthen the country's economy amid signs it is weakening. (BBC)
December 8, 2009, For the second time in as many years, CBS cancels a United States-produced soap opera, this time As The World Turns after 54 years, in effect putting Procter & Gamble, the creators of said genre, out of that business. (Bloomberg News)
December 8, 2009, Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo, the world's first commercial spacecraft, is officially unveiled in the Mojave Desert, California. (The Daily Telegraph)
December 23, 2009, Release of Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squekquel
December 9, 2009, Release of Malice in Wonderland Album by Snoop Dogg
December 9, 2009, Release of Expressions Album by Music Go Round.
December 9, 2009, Release of Visitors Album by John O'Rourke
December 9, 2009, Indonesia raises Obama Statue
December 9, 2009, An unexplained spiral light seen in the sky across large parts of Northern Norway confound spectators. Authorities speculate that the light could come from a misfired Russian rocket, but Russian authorities deny this. (Daily Mail)
December 9, 2009, Thousands of Jewish settlers stage a protest at the curbs on settlement building in the West Bank. (BBC)
December 9, 2009, India plans to secure its naval harbours with electric fences "against clandestine threats from the sea". (BBC)
December 9, 2009, Tens of thousands of people rally in several cities in Indonesia demanding the government do more to tackle corruption. (CNN)
December 10, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama accepts the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. (CNN)
December 10, 2009, A failed launch of an intercontinental missile RSM-56 Bulava by Russia is reported to be the cause of the mysterious spiral light seen over Northern Norway yesterday. (BBC)
December 10, 2009, Pakistani officials arrest five US citizens wanted by the FBI on suspicion of terrorism. (BBC)
December 10, 2009, Thousands of "red shirt" anti-government protesters demonstrate in Bangkok, Thailand, calling for new elections. (Thai News Agency)
December 10, 2009, It is revealed that Egypt is building an iron wall up to 100 feet deep along its border with Gaza. (The National)
December 10, 2009, New 4,000-page Spanish grammar guidelines, produced by the Spanish Royal Academy and 21 organizations in Spanish-speaking countries, are unveiled. (AP)
December 11, 2009, Release of Did You hear about the Morgan's.
December 11, 2009, Release of Invictus.
December 11, 2009, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett host Noble Peace Prize Concert.
December 11, 2009, Golfer Tiger Woods announces he is taking an indefinite break from the sport after a scandal over his infidelity in order to focus on "being a better husband, father, and person". (ABC)
December 11, 2009, Vasily Khristoforov, the head archivist for Russia's Federal Security Service confirms for the first time that the Soviet Union's KGB cremated Adolf Hitler's body in 1970 and scattered his ashes in the Biederitz River. (CNN)
December 11, 2009, Oil company Royal Dutch Shell wins the right to develop Iraq's Majnoon oil field in a joint venture with Petronas after the first such auction since the 2003 invasion. The field is expected to generate $900 million a year. (BBC)
December 11, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI releases a statement stating that he shares the "outrage, betrayal and shame" felt by the Irish people over the findings of the Murphy Report into sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy in Dublin. (RTÉ)
December 11, 2009, The USA threatens Iran with "significant new sanctions" over the country's nuclear programme according to US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. (BBC)
December 11, 2009, The discovery of the Triassic theropod dinosaur genus Tawa is announced. (AP)
December 12, 2009, US Central Intelligence Agency has cancelled the contract of private security firm Xe Services LLC also know as Blackwater for its services related to Drone operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.(Dawn)
December 12, 2009,
December 13, 2009, American Dad S5 Ep9: Rapture's Delight.
December 13, 2009, Global consulting firm Accenture is ending its sponsorship of Tiger Woods, saying the golfer is "no longer the right representative" after the "circumstances of the last two weeks." (Wall Street Journal)
December 13, 2009, American multinational corporation Procter & Gamble says it will begin phasing Tiger Woods out of promotions for its Gillette brand. (Bloomberg)
December 13, 2009, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is hit in the face and knocked to the ground after a political rally in Milan. (BBC News)
December 13, 2009, Campaigners in Copenhagen criticise "heavy handed" tactics by Danish police after 968 people are arrested as a result of protests surrounding the United Nations Climate Change Conference. (BBC)
December 13, 2009, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown makes an unannounced visit to Afghanistan to support British forces deployed as part of the International Security Assistance Force and to hold talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. (BBC)
December 14, 2009, The Group of 77 (including China, India, UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia) suspends participation in treaty negotiations at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, citing the unwillingness of developed nations to live up to the Kyoto Protocol and what they view as a lack of open negotiations. (BBC)
December 14, 2009, Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, claims that some banks were rescued during the recent global financial crisis by billions of dollars that originated from the illegal drug trade. (Press TV)
December 14, 2009, Researchers report that the Veined Octopus retrieves coconut shell halves to use as shelter, becoming the first invertebrates recorded to use tools. (AP)
December 14, 2009, Dubai receives a US$10 billion bailout from Abu Dhabi to help fund troubled Dubai World. (Gulf News)
December 14, 2009, Austrian bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria is nationalised to avert a bank collapse. (Reuters)
December 14, 2009, TeliaSonera opens the world's first 4G LTE cellular network for public in Oslo, Norway, and Stockholm, Sweden. (The Inquirer)
December 15, 2009, Release of Alicia Keys Album Elements of Freedom.
December 15, 2009, Release of Robin Thicke Album Sex Therapy
December 15, 2009,
December 15, 2009, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Danish hosts urge countries on to compromise to salvage agreement on a new U.N. pact aimed at averting dangerous climate change and global warming.(Reuters)
December 15, 2009, The Boeing 787 'Dreamliner' widebody passenger airliner takes its maiden flight, travelling from Paine Field to Boeing Field, in Washington State, U.S.A. (BBC)
December 15, 2009, Evacuations begin in the Albay province of the Philippines as the Mayon Volcano oozes lava, with an eruption possible. (Philippine Inquirer)
December 15, 2009, Canadian sports medicine specialist Anthony Galea, who helped Tiger Woods recover from knee surgery, is accused of providing top athletes with performance-enhancing drugs. (New York Times)
December 16, 2009,
December 16, 2009,
December 16, 2009,
December 16, 2009, Roy E. Disney, head of Disney Animation and responsible for guiding the studio through a golden age of animation, dies in a California hospital in the United States. (CNN)
December 16, 2009, Archaeologists in Jerusalem say they have discovered a burial shroud from around the time of Jesus in a tomb. (Jerusalem Post)
December 16, 2009, The Philippine province of Albay is put under a "state of imminent disaster" as activity at the Mayon Volcano increases. (GMA News)
December 16, 2009, North Korea reportedly bans all foreigners from entering the country until early February 2010, for unknown reasons. (The Chosun Ilbo)
December 17, 2009,
December 17, 2009,
December 17, 2009, Europe is hit by heavy snowfall leading to disruptions in France, Germany, Poland and Spain. (BBC)
December 17, 2009, Egyptian archaeologists recover from the Mediterranean Sea an ancient temple pylon belonging to the palace complex of Cleopatra. (AP)
December 17, 2009, It is revealed that Iraqi militants intercepted live video feeds from U.S. MQ-1 Predator drones, potentially acquiring information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations. (Wall Street Journal)
December 18, 2009, Release of Avatar.
December 18, 2009, Release of Nine
December 18, 2009, Release of The Young Victoria.
December 18, 2009, Thirty world leaders present in Copenhagen for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change agree on a draft accord. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
December 18, 2009, NASA releases the first ever photo of liquid outside of Earth, in the form of sunlight reflecting on a lake on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. (CNN)
December 18, 2009,
December 18, 2009, A large crater resembling a fried egg is discovered off the coast of The Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, prompting speculation that it may have been caused up to 17 million years ago by meteor impact. (BBC)
December 18, 2009, General Motors announces that it will begin shutting down operations at the Swedish carmaker Saab automobile. (New York Times)
December 18, 2009, The Arbeit macht frei sign is stolen from Auschwitz concentration camp. (JTA)
December 18, 2009, Lava flows and ash explosions continue to emerge from Philippine volcano Mount Mayon while scientists predict a major eruption in the coming weeks and 30,000 people remain in temporary shelter. (BBC)
December 18, 2009, Snowfall across the east of England disrupts transport and power supplies. (BBC)
December 19, 2009, The North American blizzard of 2009 produces record snowfall, causing power outages, deaths, and impacting retail sales. (The Weather Channel)
December 19, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI declares two of his predecessors, John Paul II and Pius XII to be Venerable, the second step toward sainthood. (BBC)
December 19, 2009, Freezing conditions cause electrical faults in the Channel Tunnel between Great Britain and France, isolating 2,000 passengers in five trains. The situation is coupled with disruptions at London Heathrow Airport and traffic delays due to snowy conditions in the south-east of England. (BBC)
December 19, 2009, Police recruit sniffer dogs and detectives in their hunt for the Arbeit macht frei sign missing from Auschwitz as appeals for its return are made by Israel, Poland and the European Union. (BBC)
December 19, 2009, Scientists announced the discovery of GJ 1214 b, an ocean planet orbiting a star in the Ophiuchus constellation. (Nature)
December 20, 2009, Brittany Murphy Dies at age 32.
December 20, 2009, United States Army Major General Anthony Cucolo makes pregnancy a court-martial offense for both female and male troops under his command in northern Iraq. (BBC)
December 21, 2009, Winter Solstice
December 21, 2009, Release of Eminem Album Refill.
December 21, 2009, Soon to be King (Sun) spends night homeless (Lowest Status)
December 21, 2009,
December 21, 2009, Remains of the first dwelling in Nazareth that can be dated back
to the time of Jesus have been found by Israeli archaeologists. (The Jerusalem Post)
December 22, 2009, A priest in York causes controversy when he says shoplifting from large national chain stores is acceptable in certain circumstances. (The Irish Times)
December 22, 2009, Brazil Judge Hands Goldman Custody Win. (CBS)December 23, 2009, Release of Alvin and the Chimpmunks: The Squeakquel.
December 23, 2009,
December 23, 2009, Gävle's giant straw goat — a traditional symbol of yuletide in Scandinavia — is burned down for the 24th time. (The Daily Telegraph)
December 23, 2009, American Airlines Flight 331, with 154 people onboard, overshoots the runway at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica, injuring 44. (Jamaica Observer)
December 23, 2009, Soyuz TMA-17, carrying an international crew of one Russian, one American, and one Japanese astronaut, docks with the International Space Station. (RIA Novosti)
December 24, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI is knocked down by a woman during a procession before the Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City. He is uninjured, but Cardinal Roger Etchegaray suffers a hip fracture. (Sky News)
December 24, 2009, The United States Senate passes a controversial health-care bill expected to extend insurance coverage to 30 million additional Americans while substantially raising taxes, in a party-line vote, 60-39. (BBC)
December 25, 2009, Christmas
December 25, 2009, Release of Dr. Parnassus: Imaginarium.
December 25, 2009, Release of Sherlock Holmes.
December 25, 2009, Release of It's Complicated
December 25, 2009, The 19th century St Mel's Cathedral of Longford in Ireland is destroyed by an ongoing fire in the town. (RTÉ)
December 25, 2009, American officials investigate a possible attempted terrorist attack after an incident on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit.
(MSNBC)
December 27, 2009, A consortium led by Korea Electric Power gets a US$20.4-billion contract to build nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates, the largest-ever energy deal in the Middle East. (The Wall Street Journal)
December 27, 2009, A tomb, believed to be that of Cao Cao, one of the Chinese leaders during the Three Kingdoms period, is discovered in Henan Province. (Xinhua)
December 28, 2009,
December 28, 2009, Two Argentine men become the first gay couple to legally marry in Latin America at a civil ceremony. (Buenos Aires Herald)
December 28, 2009, President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez quotes Mary and Karl Marx in a New Year message broadcast by state media, describing an end to the "illusion" of Barack Obama and predicting a global ecological disaster. (Reuters)
December 29, 2009,
December 30, 2009, Police in Italy locate a wooden toy guitar sculpture which co-founder of Cubism Pablo Picasso made for his daughter Paloma. (BBC)
December 31, 2009,
December 31, 2009, A High Court in Malaysia rules that the country's Christians have a constitutional right to use the word Allah in reference to God, declaring the government's ban on the use of Allah by non-Muslims as unconstitutional. (BBC News)
December 31, 2009, Former Catholic Primate of All Ireland Cardinal Cahal Daly, "the hierarchy's foremost theologian and its most trenchant critic of politically-inspired violence", dies in Belfast aged 92. (RTÉ)
December 31, 2009, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade issues an apology to "humiliated" Christians for comparing an "idolatrous" statue to Jesus Christ. (BBC)
December 31, 2009, The Althing (Icelandic parliament) approves the payment of €3.8 billion to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands as deposit insurance for the collapsed Icesave savings scheme. (BBC News)
December 31, 2009, Patrick Stewart, the actor who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor X in X-Men, is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. (CNN)
December 31, 2009, Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur. (CNN)
In Liberec Zoo in Czech Republic 2 lions managed to open a door into the White Tiger's cage and then killed it.
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