Events
January
February
- February 1 – Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow is enthroned as the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.
- February 1 – Johanna Sigurdardottir becomes Prime Minister of Iceland.
- February 2 – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran has launched its own satellite, "Omid", into orbit on an Iranian-built rocket.
- February 7 – The deadliest bushfires in Australian history begin; they kill 173, injure 500 more, and leave 7,500 homeless. The fires come after Melbourne records the hottest-ever temperature (46.4 °C, 115 °F) of any capital city in Australia. The majority of the fires are started by either fallen or clashing power lines or deliberately lit.
- February 9 – Victoria (Australia) hottest day, 48.8 °C at Hopetoun.
- February 10 – A Russian and an American satellite collide over Siberia, creating a large amount of space debris.
- February 17 – The JEM rebel group in Darfur, Sudan sign a pact with the Sudanese government, planning a ceasefire within the next 3 months.
- February 25 – Members of the Bangladesh Rifles paramilitary force begin mutinying. Over 80 are killed.
March
- March 2 – The President of Guinea-Bissau, João Bernardo Vieira, is assassinated during an armed attack on his residence in Bissau.
- March 3 – Gunmen attack a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore, Pakistan, killing eight people and injuring several others.
- March 17 – The President of Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana, is overthrown in a coup d'état, following a month of rallies in Antananarivo. The military appoints opposition leader Andry Rajoelina as the new president.
April
- April 1 – Albania and Croatia join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
- April 5 – North Korea launches the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 rocket, prompting an emergency meeting of—but no official reaction from—the United Nations Security Council.
- April 6 – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L'Aquila, Italy, killing nearly 300 and injuring more than 1,500.
May
- May 4 – The President of Niger, Tandja Mamadou, holds peace talks with the Tuareg rebel groups in north Niger.
- May 18 – The third C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group meets in Seoul.
- May 18 -Following more than a quarter-century of fighting, the Sri Lankan Civil War ends with the total military defeat of the LTTE.\
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Deaths
- January 1 – Johannes Mario Simmel, Austrian writer (born 1924)
- January 3 – Pat Hingle, American actor (born 1924)
- January 12 – Claude Berri, French movie director (born 1934)
- January 27 – John Updike, American writer (born 1932)
- February 6 – James Whitmore, American actor (born 1921)
- March 18 – Natasha Richardson, English actress (born 1963)
- April 25 – Beatrice Arthur, American actress (born 1922)
- May 19 – Robert Furchgott, American scientist (born 1916)
- May 23 – Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean President (born 1946)
- June 3 – David Carradine, American actor (born 1936)
- June 7 – Kenny Rankin, pop and jazz singer and songwriter
- June 8 – Omar Bongo, President of Gabon (born 1935)
- June 13 – Mitsuharu Misawa, Japanese professional wrestler (born 1962)
- June 25 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress (born 1947)
- June 25 – Michael Jackson, American singer and entertainer (born 1958)
- July 1 – Karl Malden, American actor (born 1912)
- July 17 – Walter Cronkite, American news anchor (born 1916)
- July 19 – Frank McCourt, Irish-American writer (born 1930)
- July 31 – Bobby Robson, English football manager (born 1933)
- August 1 – Corazon Aquino, President of the Philippines (born 1933)
- August 18 – Kim Dae-jung, South Korean President (born 1924)
- August 25 – Ted Kennedy, US Senator (born 1932)
- September 14 – Patrick Swayze, American actor (born 1952)
- September 29 – Pavel Popovich, Soviet cosmonaut
- October 4 – Shoichi Nakagawa, Japanese politician
- October 31 – Qian Xuesen, Chinese scientist (born 1911)
- November 10 – Robert Enke, German footballer (born 1977)
- November 21 – Konstantin Feoktistov, Soviet cosmonaut (born 1926)
- December 4 – Eddie Fatu, Samoan-American professional wrestler (born 1973)
- December 5 – Otto Graf Lambsdorff, German politician (born 1926)
- December 17 – Jennifer Jones, American actress (born 1919)
- December 20 – Brittany Murphy, American actress (born 1977)
- December 24 – Rafael Caldera, Venezuelan President (born 1916)
- December 30 – Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesian President (born 1940)
References
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