WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO MAY 2009
Find out what all happened January to May 2009

Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina. (26. January 2009)

Seven people are killed and 17 injured at a Queen's Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands in an attempted assassination on Queen Beatrix. (30. April 2009)

Mass protests begin across Moldova under the belief that results from the parliamentary election are fraudulent. (7. April 2009)

The Historical Archive of the City of Cologne collapses. (3. March 2009)

Financier Bernard Madoff pleads guilty in New York to scamming $18 billion, the largest in Wall Street history. (12. March 2009)

Azerbaijan State Oil Academy shooting: 12 people were killed (students and staff members) by an armed attacker. (30. April 2009)

Zimbabwe officially abandons the Zimbabwe Dollar as its official currency. (12. April 2009)

Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is removed from office following his conviction of several corruption charges, including the alleged solicitation of personal benefit in exchange for an appointment to the United States Senate as a replacement for then-U.S. president-elect Barack Obama. (29. January 2009)

A suicide bombing kills at least 35 people and injures 250 more in Lahore, Pakistan. (27. May 2009)

The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt rules that people who do not adhere to one of the three government-recognised religions, while not allowed to list any belief outside of those three, are still eligible to receive government identity documents. (29. January 2009)

Bushfires in Victoria leaves 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history. (7. February 2009)

The communication satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 collide in orbit, destroying both. (10. February 2009)

The storm Klaus makes landfall near Bordeaux, France. It subsequently would cause 26 deaths as well as extensive disruptions to public transport and power supplies. (24. January 2009)

In Tbilisi, Georgia, up to 60,000 people protest against the government of Mikheil Saakashvili. (9. April 2009)

The first block of the blockchain of the decentralized payment system Bitcoin, called the Genesis block, was established by the creator of the system, Satoshi Nakamoto. (3. January 2009)

Sixty-six people die in a nightclub fire in Bangkok, Thailand. (1. January 2009)

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering killings and kidnappings by security forces. (7. April 2009)

The Kepler space observatory, designed to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars, is launched. (7. March 2009)

In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people. (31. January 2009)

Sri Lankan Civil War: The LTTE are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides. (18. May 2009)