The year 2009 is now coming to a close, and it's time to take a look back over
the past 12 months through photographs. Historic elections were held in Iran,
India and the United States, some wars wound down while others escalated, China
turned 60, and the Berlin Wall was remembered 20 years after it came down. Each
photo tells its own tale, weaving together into the larger story of 2009. This
is a multi-entry story, 120 photographs over three days. Please watch for part
3 tomorrow and have a look back at part 1 from yesterday. (40 photos total)
Before
the Iranian election, a supporter of main challenger and reformist
candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi forms a heart shape with her hands to
indicate her support, while wearing green ribbons - the color of the
party, amidst a festive atmosphere at an election rally rally in
Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 9, 2009. 2.An
Iranian supporter of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir
Hossein Mousavi is beaten by Basiji (volunteer paramilitary militia)
and government security members as supporters come to his aid during
riots in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009. Iranian youth opposed to
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad take to the streets Sunday, setting
dumpsters and tires on fire, in a second day of clashes triggered by
voter fraud claims.
3.A
supporter of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein
Mousavi helps evacuate an injured Iranian riot-police officer during
riots in Tehran on June 13, 2009. Hardline incumbent Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad won a crushing victory in Iran's hotly-disputed
presidential vote, according to official results that triggered mass
opposition protests.
4.A
boy touches an ice sculpture of a polar bear as it melts to reveal a
bronze skeleton in Copenhagen, Denmark, host city of the 15th United
Nations Climate Change Conference, on December 8, 2009.
5.Smoke
from the Station Fire rises over downtown Los Angeles Monday, Aug. 31,
2009. The Station Fire (caused by arson) lasted over a month, burning
over 250 square miles, destroying 200 structures, and cost over $100
million (USD) and the lives of two Los Angeles County Firefighters.
6.Spot fires glow after the Station Fire burned through August 30, 2009 in
Acton, California.
7.War-orphan
Faustin Mugisa, 8, who has machete scars on his head and body, stands
at the Kizito orphanage in Bunia in northeastern Congo February 24,
2009. Mugisa was left for dead in a pile of corpses when ethnic Lendu
militiamen hacked to death his mother and seven siblings in 2003.
Mugisa's father discovered him alive and took him to the bush to
recover, but his father was later hacked to death by the same militia
group. Ethnic violence has simmered for years in northeastern Congo,
part of broader civil and regional conflict currently uprooting
hundreds of thousands of Congolese fleeing massacres and reprisal
killings by various armed groups roaming the country's vast and lawless
wilds.
8.A
burning Su-27 jet from the Russian air force elite aerobatic team
Russkiye Vityazi (Russian Knights), dives just seconds after the
aircraft collided with a two-seat Su-27, not seen, not far from the
Zhukovsky airfield, east of Moscow, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009. Two Russian
air force jets rehearsing aerobatic maneuvers collided Sunday near
Moscow, killing one stunt pilot and sending one fighter crashing into
nearby vacation homes, a military official said. The Su-27 fighters
were part of the elite Russian Knights flying group preparing to
perform at the MAKS-2009 air show, the largest and most important
showcase for Russia's aerospace industry.
9.Snow-covered
pine trees sit in flood water March 31, 2009 near Moorhead, Minnesota.
A snowstorm slowed recovery efforts as residents of Moorhead and
neighboring Fargo, North Dakota tried to return to their homes as the
flooded Red River slowly receded.
10.A
bushman from the Khomani San community stands on a dry pan, in the
Southern Kalahari desert on October 15, 2009 in the Kalahari, South
Africa. One of the largest studies of African genetics by an
international team from the University of Pennsylvania, published in
April 2009, revealed that the San, the last indigenous people of South
Africa, are the most genetically diverse on earth, and that the San
homeland could be the spot where modern humanity began.
11.Spanish
matador Israel Lancho is gored by a Palha's ranch bull during a
bullfight at the San Isidro's fair in Las Ventas bullring in, Madrid,
on May 27, 2009. Lancho was hospitalized with an eight-inch wound below
his ribcage.
12.Pakistani
men pray next to a bullet-ridden vehicle parked in the compound of
radical Lal Masjid or Red mosque as the chief cleric Maulana Abdul
Aziz, not seen, talks to his supporters during Friday prayers, in
Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 17, 2009.
13.Gigantic
puppets The Big Giant and the Little Giantess, part of France's Royal
de Luxe street theatre company production titled "The Berlin Reunion".
The two sleep, reunited once again, in each others' arms in front of
the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009.
14.Romain
Grosjean (left) and Adam Khan (right) test Renault F1 cars in the
desert in Dubai, April 9, 2009. The testing was part of the Renault F1
Roadshow taking place in Dubai.
15.Chinese
military singers take part in a chorus performance of patriotic songs
involving 10,000 participants held at a gym in Beijing, China,
Wednesday Aug. 26, 2009. More than 80 chorus groups from various units
in Beijing sang patriotic songs to celebrate China's 60th national day.
16.Pakistani
Imran Zargul, 71, from the tribal region of Bajur wait to get donated
food during a distribution at the Jalozai refugee camp near Peshawar,
Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 13, 2009.
17.Stars
in the night sky rotate above the distinctive chimney stack on the top
of Cape Cornwall near St Just on April 12, 2009 in Cornwall, England.
The landmark, originally built for the Cape Cornwall Mine in 1850 and
was recently damaged when it was struck by lightning, was bought, along
with the rest of Cape Cornwall, for the nation by Heinz in 1987 and
given to the National Trust to mark Heinz's centenary.
18.A
boy suffering from malnutrition is cradled in the arms of his mother at
a camp for Internally Displaced People (IDP) on the outskirts of
Mogadishu, Somalia on July 11, 2009. More than 200,000 people had been
displaced in the previous two months, while hundreds of civilians were
believed to have been killed and wounded, according to the UN Office of
the High Commissioner for Human Rights. In an effort to escape the
fighting, thousands of families relocated to refugee camps outside the
city where they faced extremely harsh living conditions.
19.People
sunbathe as Ferrari Brazilian's driver Felipe Massa drives at the
Monaco racetrack on May 21, 2009 in Monte Carlo, during the second free
practice session of the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix.
20.An
old car dropped in an industrial trash bin advertising the Cash for
Clunkers program at Battlefield Ford in Culpepper, Virginia, August 1,
2009. "Cash for Clunkers", or the Car Allowance Rebate System was a $3
billion U.S. federal scrappage program to allow U.S. residents to trade
in older cars for newer, more fuel-efficient models. Nearly 700,000
cars were traded under the program.
21.Pro-democracy
protesters carrying a mock coffin try to cross a police line during a
demonstration demanding China improve its human rights record, outside
the Chinese liaison office in Hong Kong October 1, 2009 as China
celebrates the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's
Republic of China.
22.Norway's
Anders Jacobsen competes in the first jump during the third stage of
the Four Hills FIS ski jumping championship (Vierschanzentournee) on
January 04, 2009 in Innsbruck.
23.Michael
Jackson's daughter Paris (center) is comforted by family members at a
memorial service for the music legend at the Staples Center in Los
Angeles on July 7, 2009.
24.From
20 degrees above the ring plane, Cassini's wide angle camera shot 75
exposures in succession for this mosaic showing Saturn, its rings, and
a few of its moons a day and a half after exact Saturn equinox, when
the sun's disk was exactly overhead at the planet's equator. The images
were taken on Aug. 12, 2009, at a distance of approximately 847,000 km
(526,000 mi) from Saturn.
25.A
leopard walks with a tranquilizer dart hanging from its neck, in the
residential area of Jyotikuchi in Guwahati, the capital city of the
northeastern state of Assam, India on March 15, 2009. Three people were
mauled by the leopard after the cat strayed into the city before it was
tranquilized by forestry department officials. The full grown male
leopard was wandering through a part of the densely populated city when
curious crowds startled the animal, a wildlife official said.
26.The sun sets behind the London eye on March 16, 2009 in London, England.
27.Palestinian
civilians and medics run to safety during an Israeli strike over a UN
school in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip early on January 17, 2009. A
woman and a child were killed early today in the Israeli strike on the
UN-run school in northern Gaza where civilians were sheltering from the
fighting, medics and witnesses said.
28.Thousands
of scrapped taxis are abandoned at a yard in the center of Chongqing
city on March 4, 2009. Traffic congestion and pollution have worsened
dramatically in Chinese cities as the country's long-running economic
expansion has allowed increasing numbers of consumers to make
big-ticket purchases such as cars.
29.Bengal
Tiger Kingda Ka smashes pumpkins during Fall at Six Flags Great
Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, November 8, 2009.
30.A
Palestinian demonstrator uses a tennis racket to return an empty tear
gas canister at Israeli soldiers during a protest against the
controversial Israeli barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin near
Ramallah October 23, 2009.
31.Ultra-Orthodox
Jews belonging to the Vishnitz Hassidic sect dance on their benches as
they celebrate the Jewish festival of Purim late on March 9, 2009 in
Bnei Brak, a religious town near Tel Aviv.
32.A
ring of water vapour is created around pilot Lt. Justin Halligan (left)
and Lt. Michael Witt (right) as they fly their F/A-18F Super Hornet
airplane while performing at New York Air Show at Jones Beach in
Wantagh, New York, May 23, 2009.
33.SC
Braga's goalkeeper Eduardo Carvalho pulls his shirt over his head at
the end of their Portuguese First league football match against FC
Porto at the AXA Stadium in Braga, on September 19, 2009. Braga won the
match 1-0. (MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP/Getty Images)
34.Supporters
of former South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun gather during a funeral
ceremony in downtown Seoul on May 29, 2009. Thousands of weeping
mourners packed the streets to pay their last respects to former
President Roh Moo-Hyun amid a massive outpouring of grief and tight
security.
35.Belgian
milk producers pour about 3 million liters (793,000 gallons) of milk
onto a field near the Belgian city of Ciney September 16, 2009 in
protest over a growing industrial dispute over low prices. Support is
growing among European Union member states for a new regulatory set-up
for milk farmers struggling with depressed prices, France's agriculture
minister, Michel Barnier, said on Tuesday.
36.Russia's
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rides a horse in southern Siberia's Tuva
region August 3, 2009. Putin, a judo black belt who has flown in a
fighter aircraft and shot a Siberian tiger in the wild, plunged into
the depths of Lake Baikal aboard a mini-submersible on Saturday in a
mission that added a new dimension to his macho image.
37.Debris
hangs on a destroyed building next to a giant statue and restaurant
boat swept away along the Marikina river on September 29, 2009, outside
Manila. Hundreds of thousands of exhausted Philippine flood survivors
endured squalor in schools, gymnasiums and other makeshift shelters on
September 29 as the death toll from Typhoon Ketsana (known in the
Phillippines as "Ondoy") eventually climbed to over 650.
38.A
strange light phenomenon is sighted in the night sky above parts of
northern Norway early December 9, 2009. Russia's new submarine-based
intercontinental missile suffered the latest in a series of test
failures, newspapers reported on Thursday, as unusual lights were
spotted in Norway across the border from the launch site.
39.A
local performer dressed in traditional costume sings during the
celebrations for the lantern festival in the city of Tianjin, located
100 km (62 miles) east of Beijing February 9, 2009. The lantern
festival marks the last day of the two-week Chinese lunar new year
celebrations.
40.An
empty wheelchair belonging to quadriplegic Patrick Ivison, 15, sits
idle on the beach while Ivison, his mother, and friends prepare for
another surf ride at the Cardiff State Beach in San Diego, California
on October 6th, 2009.
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