2009

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**2009**
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**Year Overview**
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The year 2009 was a common year starting on Thursday. It is the 9th year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium.

**International Designations**
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* International Astronomy Year (IAU)
* International Natural Fiber Year
* International Reconciliation Year (UNEP and UNESCO)
* Goril Year (UNEP and UNESCO)

**Events**
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### January

* **1 January**: Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, and Uganda inherited seats in the United Nations Security Council.
* Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, was designated as the European Capital of Culture in Lithuania and Linz with Vilnius.
* Slovakia began to use the Euro instead of the Slovak koruna as its national currency.
* The Santika Club fire occurred in Bangkok, Thailand, resulting in 66 deaths and 222 injuries.
* **3 January**: Satoshi Nakamoto created the first block of the Bitcoin blockchain, marking the beginning of the cryptocurrency.

### Other Events

* **January 15**: US Airways Flight No. 1549 experienced a miraculous landing after encountering difficulties during takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport.

**Calendar Systems**
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The year 2009 is represented differently in various calendar systems:

* **Gregorian Calendar**: 2009
* **Chinese Calendar**: 4706 / 4707 (Chinese New Year of the Earth Ox took place on February 26, 2009)
* **Hebrew Calendar**: 5769 / 5770 (Tishri 5770 began on September 18, 2008)
* **Indian Calendar**: 1930 / 1931 (Chaitra 1931 began on April 1, 2009)
* **Japanese Calendar**: 21st year of the Heisei era
* **Muslim Calendar**: 1430 / 1431 (Muharram 1431 began on July 20, 2009)
* **Persian Calendar**: 1387 / 1388 (Farvardin 1388 began on March 21, 2009)

**Notable Milestones**
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The year 2009 marked the end of the decade 2000-2009 and was declared the World Year of Astronomy by the United Nations General Assembly. This designation commemorated Galileo's contributions to astronomy 400 years prior, including his discovery of Jupiter's moons, the Moon's mountains and craters, and sunspots.