Wednesday 30 December 2009 For the First Time Ever - 2009
Turning Points for 2010 offers a global look at how the most important and surprising events of 2009 will influence 2010 and beyond.
U.S. OK'S TESTS OF EMBRYONIC STEM CELL THERAPY
In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the world’s first tests on humans of a therapy derived from embryonic stem cells. The therapy will be tested on eight to 10 people with severe spinal cord injuries. Under President George W. Bush, such approvals were slow in coming â€" although regulators say politics plays no part in the decisions â€" and federal funding for research on embryonic stem cells was restricted, because the cells are taken from destroyed human embryos. President Barack Obama lifted some of those restrictions later in the year.
ICELAND ELECTS WORLD’S FIRST OPENLY GAY LEADER
Johanna Sigurdardottir became the world’s first openly lesbian head of government after the left-wing coalition she leads in Iceland swept to its first majority in April 25 parliamentary elections. The 66-year-old former welfare minister was initially appointed interim prime minister when Iceland’s conservative-led government collapsed on Jan. 26. Icelanders blamed the conservatives for the failure of the country’s banks and the worst economic recession since the tiny North Atlantic island nation gained independence from Denmark in 1944.
EGYPT OPENS ‘BENT’ PYRAMID
The public can now explore the winding tunnels and elaborate chambers inside the 4,600-year-old “bent†pyramid, famous for its irregular profile, outside Dahshur, Egypt. The 330-foot pyramid, 50 miles south of Cairo, was opened to visitors for the first time in May as part of a sustainable development campaign designed to boost tourism while preventing some of the urban sprawl so evident around the more famous pyramids at Giza. Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s top archaeologist, told the Associated Press that hawkers and fast food joints have been banned at Dahshur. Built for the founder of the Fourth Dynasty, Pharoah Sneferu, archaeologists believe the “bent†pyramid’s engineers were forced to change its outer dimensions from 55 degrees to a 43-degree angle halfway into construction for fear the structure would collapse.
KUWAITIS ELECT WOMEN LEGISLATORS
Kuwaitis chose their first-ever women lawmakers in May 16 elections to the oil-rich Gulf state’s 50-seat parliament. Four of the 16 women candidates won seats in the first poll since women gained the right to vote and run for office in 2005. Sunni Islamists, the largest parliamentary bloc, who urged voters against electing any women, lost a third of their seats. “I think today I can confidently say that the gender issue is history in Kuwait â€" I mean regarding women’s role in politics,†Aseel al-Awadhi, an economist and newly elected member of parliament, told CNN.
W.H.O. DECLARES SWINE FLU PANDEMIC
The World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert level twice in 2009 over the outbreak of a severe strain of the H1N1 influenza virus, identified for the first time ever in April. The threat level was raised from phase 4 to phase 5 on April 29 after the virus was found to have spread from Mexico, where it originated that month. On June 11, the group raised its alert level again, to phase 6, the highest on its graduated scale, meaning the spread of the disease was unstoppable. The announcement was made after nearly 30,000 confirmed cases were reported in 74 countries. The pandemic alert warns governments of the spread of a new disease, but not of its severity. In contrast to the seasonal flu that tends to kill the elderly, most cases of the new strain have occurred in people under 25, with most fatalities among young and middle-aged people suffering from some other underlying illness.
NO MORE RAINED OUT FINALS AT WIMBLEDON
Fans and players at the prestigious annual tennis tournament Wimbledon will no longer endure weather-inspired delays and cancellations, at least in the final rounds of play. At a June 29 match at Centre Court, the stadium put its new state-of-the-art retractable roof to work for the first time ever during a competition. The roof is part of a $146.2 million renovation. Rain has been an unwelcome tradition since play at Centre Court began in 1922; last year, the men’s final was delayed twice by downpours.
WORLD’S HUNGRY TO SURPASS 1 BILLION
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization projected that the number of hungry people around the globe would reach a new high of 1.02 billion in 2009, caused mainly by the world economic slump. Lower incomes and rising unemployment have reduced access to food; nearly all the world’s malnourished live in developing countries. “A dangerous mix of the global economic slowdown combined with stubbornly high food prices in many countries has pushed some 100 million more people than last year into chronic hunger and poverty,†Jacques Diouf, director-general of the U.N. group, said in a release posted on the group’s Web site on June 19. The U.N. defines hunger as a lack of food that prevents people from living “healthy and productive lives.†“The silent hunger crisis â€" affecting one-sixth of all humanity â€" poses a serious risk for world peace and security,†he said.
MADOFF SENTENCED TO 150 YEARS FOR BIGGEST PONZI SCHEME
On June 29, a New York federal court sentenced Bernard Madoff to 150 years in prison, the maximum penalty for operating the largest and most sweeping Ponzi scheme in recent history. On March 12, Madoff pled guilty to 11 federal charges relating to his theft of billions of dollars from hundreds of investors over more than two decades. He confessed that he never invested his clients’ money, but instead deposited the funds into a bank account. Madoff used new investments to fund payoffs to earlier investors. His victims ranged from high-profile million-dollar charities to elderly widows of modest means. When his penalty was announced in court, victims in attendance cheered.
HOPE FOR TRIAL HIV VACCINE
For the first time, a vaccine has shown it can prevent some people from contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Researchers in Thailand, who conducted a six-year clinical trial on more than 16,000 volunteers â€" the largest AIDS vaccine trial yet â€" using a combination of two previously unsuccessful vaccines, reported in September that the risk of infection had been reduced by 31.2 percent. The $105 million trial, the largest AIDS vaccine trial ever, was run jointly by the U.S. Army, the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the United States, the Thai Ministry of Public Health, and two corporate vaccine manufacturers. “I don’t want to use a word like breakthrough, but I don’t think there’s any doubt that this is a very important result,†Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the institutes, told The New York Times. “For more than 20 years now, vaccine trials have essentially been failures. Now, it’s like we were groping down an unlit path, and a door has been opened.†About 25 million people have died of AIDS since the disease was identified in the early 1980s. Each day, 7,000 people are infected with HIV worldwide.
THE WINNER IS ... RIO
Rio de Janeiro was awarded the 2016 Summer Olympics, marking the first time the Games will be held in South America. The Brazilian city beat Madrid, Tokyo and Chicago in a tight bidding race that concluded at the International Olympic Committee’s final voting session on Oct. 2 in Copenhagen. The competition attracted some well-known names from the worlds of politics, sports and entertainment, who lobbied IOC members in person. They included U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle (marking the first time a U.S. president lobbied on behalf of the American bid), Brazilian soccer star Pele and King Juan Carlos of Spain. “Today is the most emotional day in my life, the most exciting day of my life,†Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said after the IOC decision was announced. The 2012 Summer Olympics will be held in London.
FOR THIS U.S. AUTOMAKER, 2009 WAS A GOOD YEAR
In a trying year for most traditional automakers, Tesla Motors, an all-electric U.S. automaker, turned a profit in July for the first time since its incorporation in 2003. The Silicon Valley-based manufacturers of highway-capable all-electric vehicles â€" shown in stores in North America and Europe â€" generated $1 million in profit and $20 million in revenue from sales and lowered production costs. First launched in 2006, the Tesla Roadster is a sleek sports car that runs on a lithium-ion battery and retails for around $100,000.
A MAN, A METAL DETECTOR AND A CACHE OF ANGLO-SAXON GOLD
More than 10 pounds of Anglo-Saxon artifacts â€" the largest find to date â€" were discovered in July by Terry Herbert, 55, an unemployed man with a metal detector. Herbert unearthed 1,345 gold and silver pieces just below the surface of a cultivated field in south Staffordshire, England. The gold was scattered over farmland in the region of Britain that was once Mercia, one of the main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The pieces, nearly all war gear dating back to A.D. 675, include 84 sword pommels, three crosses, and the remains of several helmets. The items will be displayed in the U.K. and will then be open to bids from U.K. museums. Herbert agreed to split the proceeds of the sale, expected to reach seven figures, with the owner of the land.
HISPANIC JUDGE JOINS HIGHEST U.S. COURT
Sonia Sotomayor, 55, became the first Hispanic judge on the Supreme Court in its 220-year history when she was sworn in on Aug. 8. Born in New York City to parents from Puerto Rico, Sotomayor grew up in a government-funded housing project. Sotomayor earned degrees from Princeton and Yale Law, and worked her way up from public prosecutor’s office to a judge’s seat on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. Her ascent to the nation’s highest court was celebrated by many Hispanic Americans, who are the largest minority group and fastest growing segment of the U.S. population.
VENEZUELANS FILL THEIR COFFEE CUPS â€" FROM ABROAD
Once one of the world’s leading coffee producers, Venezuela was forced to import coffee for the first time ever in August to meet domestic demand. Faced with looming shortages, Venezuela purchased 1,500 tons of coffee from Brazil. Venezuela’s coffee industry has steadily declined as successive governments focused on exploiting the country’s vast oil reserves. The industry faced near collapse due to government price controls. President Hugo Chavez blames the shortages on privately owned coffee manufacturers whom he accuses of hoarding, speculation and smuggling. In August, his government seized two of the country’s largest coffee roasters, Fama de America and Café Madrid, which together made up 80 percent of Venezuela’s coffee production.
JAPAN TURNS TO THE LEFT
A record turnout of Japanese voters on Aug. 30 ousted the right-of-center Liberal Democratic Party that had governed Japan, the world’s second-largest economy, nearly without interruption since World War II. Faced with a poor economy, record unemployment and a rising income gap, especially among young people, the opposition Democratic Party of Japan was voted in by a landslide. The party joined two smaller leftist parties to form the country’s first ever left-of-center coalition. The new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, has promised to rein in Japan’s entrenched bureaucratic elite.
SYDNEY SEES RED (DUST)
Residents of Sydney awoke on Sept. 23 to the heaviest concentration of dry desert dust to fill the city’s air since records were first kept in the 1970s. Powerful winds sucked up dust accumulated over a decade-long dry spell, creating what weather experts called the biggest dust storm since 1942. The rust-red hued plume stretched more than 370 miles along the coast from Sydney to the Queensland border. The millions of tons of dust halted air and harbor transport and left hundreds of people hospitalized with breathing problems.
WELCOME, EARTHLINGS!
Scientists from Brown University, the University of Maryland and the U.S. Geological Survey discovered the strongest evidence yet of water on the moon. Using data from three spacecraft that flew close to the moon, researchers found evidence that small amounts of water might be chemically bound up with the soil across vast areas of the moon. The greatest concentrations were found in the coldest regions near the two poles. The discovery raises the possibility of placing a settlement on the moon, because water could be a key element in providing breathable air and rocket fuel for trips back to Earth. The findings were published in September on the Web site of the journal Science.
A NEW RING FOR SATURN
Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, working with the Spitzer Space Telescope, have identified a new ring around Saturn. The inside edge is 3.7 million miles away from Saturn, and the ring itself is 7.4 million miles wide, which makes it the largest ring in the solar system. Details of the discovery were published on Oct. 7 in the journal Nature.
http://www.poder360.com/article_detail.php?id_article=3345&pag=1#
If only Tesla was alive to see...everyone using his name for anything.
Note to myself,buy metal detector.
I don't see how a roof on Wimbeldon is big news nor how an Autrailian dust storm will affect 2010.
Nonetheless, a very interesting list. I can't wait to hear of solid plans to put humans back on the moon. I would propose a live landing at the previous location to show the historic leftovers of our first visit and finally quiet the "moon landing hoax" believers. Trip two should be to the pole where water was found to start a colony.