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Top Song(s)
• Lady GaGa - Poker Face
• The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling
• Beyonce - Halo
• Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You
• Pitbull - I Know You Want Me (calle Ocho)
Top Film(s)
• Inglourious Basterds
• Star Trek
• Up
• Moon
• District 9
Best Selling Book(s)
• Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
• The Help - Kathryn Stockett
• City of Glass - Cassandra Clare
• An Echo in the Bone - Diana Gabaldon
• Blood Promise - Richelle Mead
Famous Deaths
• January 27 - R. [Ramaswamy] Venkataraman, Indian politician, eighth President of India
• February 11 - Willem J. Kolff, Dutch-American Physician and Biomedical Engineer (artificial kidney, hemodialysis)
• March 31 - Raul Alfonsín, President of Argentina (1983-89)
• April 25 - John J. Marchi, American politician (NY Senate 1957-2006)
• June 8 - Omar Bongo, 2nd President of Gabon (1967-2009)
• July 11 - Ji Xianlin, Chinese linguist and paleographer
• August 4 - David Haslam, British rear admiral (hydrographer)
• August 18 - Kim Dae-Jung, 8th President of South Korea (1998-2003)
• September 18 - Oliver Wright, British diplomat, UK Ambassador to Germany and the US
• November 24 - Samak Sundaravej, 25th Prime Minister of Thailand (2008)
Medical/Science/Technology
• In DNA nanotechnology, Arizona State University researchers Hao Yan and Yan Liu use nanoparticles to make 3D DNA nanotubes.
• The first animal from an extinct species to be recreated by cloning, a Pyrenean Ibex.
• 28 individual fossils of the giant prehistoric snake T. cerrejonensis are discovered in La Guajira, Colombia.
• NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope discovers 12 new gamma-ray-only pulsars.
• Comet Lulin, a non-periodic comet, makes its closest approach to Earth.
• The Kepler space observatory is successfully launched, and begins its search for exoplanets.
• Iranian researches found that drinking hot tea causes oesophageal cancer.
• Dr. Yinfa Ma develops a method for pre-cancer screening that uses urine samples for detection.
• NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its final flyby of Mercury, decreasing velocity enough for its orbital capture in 2011.
• Viruses could be engineered to make the rechargeable lithium ion batteries that power iPods, laptops and cell phones, research suggests.
Political
• January 6 - The 111th Congress convenes with Democrats increasing their majority to 256 seats in the House, and to 59 seats in the Senate.
• January 20 – Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, and Joe Biden is sworn in as the 47th vice president.
• January 22 – President Obama signs executive orders to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
• January 26 – Timothy Geithner is sworn in as the new Secretary of Treasury, succeeding Henry Paulson.
• February 18 – President Obama orders the deployment of 17,000 additional US troops to Afghanistan.
• February 19 – President Obama makes Canada the site of his first international visit.
• March 9 - President Obama overturns a Bush-era policy that limited federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
• April 3 - The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously agrees that denying same-sex couples the right to marry is unconstitutional.
• May 19 – President Obama announces vehicle emissions and mileage requirements.
• May 21 – The Senate passes a bill to impose new regulations on the credit card industry.
National
• February 13 – Toon Disney and Jetix relaunched as Disney XD.
• March 3 – Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke says AIG took huge, irresponsible risks.
• March 12 – Bernie Madoff pleads guilty to the Madoff investment scandal.
• April 7 – Vermont legalizes same-sex marriage after the legislature overrides a veto by the governor.
• May 13 – A tornado outbreak devastates Missouri towns of Green City, Novinger, and Kirksville, killing three.
• June 3 – Governor John Lynch signs a bill allowing for same-sex marriage in New Hampshire.
• August 31 – The Walt Disney Company acquires Marvel Entertainment.
• September 24 - President Obama becomes the first US president to preside over the UN Security Council.
• October 9 – President Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize, which surprises many, including Obama himself.
• December 1 – Virginia's smoking ban for most restaurants and bars goes into effect. The bill had broad public support.
Worldwide
• February 7 – Bushfires in Victoria leave 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.
• March 17 – The President of Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana, is overthrown in a coup d'état.
• April 1 – Albania and Croatia join NATO.
• May 15 - France–Pakistan Atomic Energy Framework bilateral energy treaty is signed.
• June 30 – Yemenia Flight 626 crashes off the coast of Moroni, Comoros, killing all but one of the 153 passengers and crew.
• July 16 – Iceland's national parliament, the Althingi, votes to pursue joining the EU.
• August 7 – Typhoon Morakot hits Taiwan, killing 673 and stranding more than 1,000.
• September 30 – A 7.6 earthquake strikes Sumatra, Indonesia, leaving at least 1,115 people dead.
• October 2 - Ireland holds a second referendum on the EU's Lisbon Treaty. The amendment is approved by the Irish electorate.
• December 5 – Fire at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia.