- January 14
- American department store chain Gottschalks files to reorganize under bankruptcy protection. [35]
- American apparel chain Goody's files for bankruptcy to liquidate its remaining 282 stores. [35]
- January 15
- A US Airways Airbus 320 Flight 1549 makes an emergency landing into the Hudson River off New York City shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport, after birds disable both engines. All 155 passengers and crew members are safely rescued. [5] [105]
- Bank of America, the largest U.S. bank, posts its first quarterly loss in 17 years, of US$1.79 billion. [35]
- The US Mint releases the 2009 Native American dollar to circulation. [484.86] (January 17 [476.4])
- January 16
- Bank of America is rescued by the U.S. government with a US$20 billion bailout and a guarantee for almost $100 billion of potential losses on toxic assets. [35]
- The US government issues a ban on import of ancient coins of China earlier than 907, without provenances. [476.76]
- January 20
- Italian carmaker Fiat and American carmaker Chrysler agree to a global strategic alliance. Fiat will get a 35 percent stake in Chrysler, which will get access to Fiat's fuel-efficient vehicle technologies. [57]
- Barack Hussein Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. [35] [398]
- January 21
- The U.S. Senate endorses former New York Senator and former first lady Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. [105]
- January 22
- US President Barack Obama orders Guantánamo Bay prison be closed within a year. [374.38]
- January 23
- US President Barack Obama orders the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be closed within a year. [57]
- January 26
- The US Mint releases the District of Columbia quarter dollar to circulation. [466.42] [472.4] [480.52] [484.86]
- The world's largest drug company, Pfizer of New York, announces it will acquire rival Wyeth for US$68 billion. [35] [374.70]
- The US Senate confirms Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary. [374.37]
- January 27
- In Los Angeles, California, a woman gives birth to octuplets, believed to be only the second set of eight babies born in the United States. [35]
- January 28
- The US House of Representatives passes President Barack Obama's US$819 billion economic stimulus package, voting 244 to 188. [57]
- January 29
- Ford Motor Company reports a record US$14.6 billion full-year loss. [35]
- Former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson's single "My Life Would Suck Without You" makes the largest ever leap to number one in Billboard chart history, rising 96 places in one week. [457]
- January (month)
- During the month, U.S. employers cut 741,000 jobs, the biggest monthly loss in 60 years. [35]
- U.S. auto sales: 800,000 cars, a 27-year low. [35]
- February 1
- In Tampa, Florida, the NFL's SuperBowl XLII game is played. The Pittsburgh Steelers win their record sixth Super Bowl by defeating the Arizona Cardinals. Santonio Holmes is named the game's most valuable player. [35]
- February 3
- Spectrum Brands, maker of Ray-O-Vac batteries, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US. [35]
- February 6
- Kyrgyzstan decides to shut a U.S. air base in Manas, used as an important staging post for U.S. forces fighting in Afghanistan. [35]
- February 7
- The number of U.S. workers drawing unemployment aid reaches a record high of 4.99 million, the highest since records began in 1967. [35]
- February 8
- In Los Angeles, California, the Grammay Awards are presented:
- Best album: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss for "Raising Sand"
- Best pop vocal: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
- Best folk/Americana album: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
- Best country: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
- Best record: "Please Read The Letter" by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
- Best song: "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay
- Best rock album: "Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends" by Coldplay
- Best new artist: Adele
- Best pop vocal album: Duffy
- Best female pop vocal song: "Chasing Pavements" by Adele
- Best rap album: "Tha Carter III" by Lil Wayne
[35] [457]
- February 9
- New York Yankees' baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez admits to having used performance-enhancing steroids earlier in his career, over a three-year period from 2001 to 2003 with the Texas Rangers. [57]
- February 10
- U.S. Treasury chief Timothy Geithner unveils a bank rescue plan of US$2 trillion to buy up bad assets and restore credit. [35]
- General Motors Corp announces it will cut its global salaried work force by about 10,000, or 14 percent. [35]
- The U.S. Senate passes its own US$838 billion version of a rescue plan to fight the deepening recession, voting 61 to 37. [35]
- An American Iridium Satellite-operated communications satellite and the defunct Russian Cosmos-2251 military satellite collide at about 485 miles above the Russian Arctic, leaving a debris field of millions of pieces. This is the first publicly known satellite collision. [35] [316.A6] [398]
- February 12
- The US Mint releases the 2009 Lincoln, Childhood in Kentucky, cent to circulation. [480.1] [484.88]
- Colgan Air's Continental Connection Flight 3407 Dash 8 Q400 turboprop commuter plane nosedives and slams into a home in western New York state, killing all 49 people aboard and one on the ground. [35]
- February 13
- The U.S. House of Representatives approves (246-183) a US$787 billion package of spending (64 percent) and tax cuts (36 percent). [35]
- The U.S. House of Congress approves (60-38) the US$787 billion government spending package. [105]
- February 17
- US President Barack Obama signs into law a US$787 billion economic stimulus plan. [57]
- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges Texas billionaire Allen Stanford and three of his companies with fraudulently selling US$8 billion in high-yield certificates of deposit. Stanford International Bank is based in Antigua with 30,000 clients in 131 countries and US$8.5 billion in assets. [35]
- Trump Entertainment Resorts casino operator files for bankruptcy protection in New Jersey, with assets of about US$2.1 billion and total debts of about $1.74 billion as of the end of 2008. [35]
- February 19
- The US Mint releases the 2009 William Henry Harrison Presidential dollar to circulation. [479.76] [481.20] [483.18]
- February 20
- Spot gold hits a peak of US$1005.40, its highest since March 18, 2008. [35]
- Swedish carmaker Saab (a unit of American carmaker General Motors) files for protection from creditors while it tries to find a new partner and raise funds. [35]
- February 22
- In Los Angeles, California, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences holds its Oscar awards ceremony.
- Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
- Best Director: Slumdog Millionaire
- Best Actress: Kate Winslet for The Reader
- Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz for Wicky Cristina Barcelona
- Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight
- Best Actor: Sean Penn for Milk
- Best Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
- Best Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire
- Best Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire
- Best Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire
- Best Song: Slumdog Millionaire
- Best Screenwriter: Dustin Lance Black for Milk
- Best Foreign-language Film: Departures.
[35]
- February 23
- American Express offers US$300 to a limited number of U.S. card holders who pay off their balances and close their accounts. [35]
- The Standard & Poor's 500 Index post its lowest closes since the spring of 1997, dropping 26.71 points, or 3.47 percent, to 743.34. [35]
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average posts its lowest closes since the spring of 1997, dropping 250.73 points, or 3.40 percent, to 7,114.94. [35]
- February 26
- American automaker General Motors reports it lost US$30.8 billion for 2008. Over the past four years, the company's US$82 billion losses is equivalent to about $56 million a day. [35]
- US President Barack Obama proposes a 2009/10 budget of US$3.6 trillion, with a US$1.75 trillion deficit, the highest ever, amounting to a 12.3 percent share of the economy, the largest since 1945. Planned spending includes US$634 billion to pay for healthcare reform, US$200 billion fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an extra US$250 billion set aside in case it is needed to bail out US banks. [35] [57]
- February (month)
- U.S. unemployment rate: 8.1 percent (12.5 million people), a 25-year high; job losses during the month: 651,000. [35]
- North American movie theater box office receipts: US$770 million, a new record for February, in inflation-adjusted numbers. [332.C1]
- March 2
- The Standard & Poor's 500 stock market index drops below 700 for the first time since October 1996. [35]
- American International Group reports a US company record US$61.7 billion quarterly loss, equivalent to US$27.9 million per hour. The US government promises another US$30 billion of new capital, following 2008's commitment for $150 billion in aid. [35]
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes below 7,000 for the first time since May 1997, dropping 299.64 points, or 4.24 percent, to 6,763.29. [35]
- March 4
- The US government launches a US$75 billion foreclosure relief plan, part of a US$275 billion housing stimulus program announced last month. [35]
- March 7
- NASA launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida the unmanned Kepler telescope to orbit the Sun to search for Earth-like planets with the potential to host life. [57] [398]
- March 9
- American pharmaceutical company Merck & Co announces it will acquire Schering-Plough for US$41.1 billion. [35]
- US President Barack Obama signs an executive order restoring funding for stem cell research. [314.A9]
- March 12
- US President Barack Obama signs a US$410 billion bill to fund most government operations through September 30. [35]
- Swiss drugmaking company Roche Holding announces it will acquire the remaining 44 percent of American biotechnology company Genentech stock for US$46.8 billion. [35]
- Bernard Madoff, former Nasdaq stock market chairman, pleads guilty to eleven charges of running a US$171 billion worldwide Ponzi scheme, the biggest investment fraud in Wall Street history. [35]
- March 14
- A copy of the first Superman comic (Action Comics, Number 1, June 1938) sells at an auction for US$317,200. [105]
- March 15
- NASA launches space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. [35]
- March 18
- The US Federal Reserve, for the first time since the 1960s, announces it will buy up to US$300 billion of government Treasury bonds. The Federal Reserve also announces it will expand an existing program to buy debt and securities to US$1.45 trillion. [35]
- March 26
- Mount Redoubt volcano in Alaska erupts, shooting a plume of ash and smoke into the atmosphere, up to 20,000m. [317.A9]
- March 28
- NASA's space shuttle Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. [57] [336.A11]
- March 30
- General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner is ordered to step down by US President Barack Obama. [57]
- The US Mint releases the 2009 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico quarter dollar to circulation. [486.10] [491.10] [492.10]
- March (month)
- The U.S. unemployment rate reaches 8.5 percent, a 25-year high, as employers cut 663,000 jobs. [35] [564.120]
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