| January 1 | Czech Republic assumes EU presidency |
| January 1 | Slovakia replaces its national currency, the Slovak koruna, with the Euro |
| January 3 | Israel launches an invasion of the Gaza strip |
| January 7 | Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, endorses Russia's decision to turn off gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine |
| January 13 | After two years of trying to maintain order, Ethiopian military forces start pulling out of Somalia |
| January 15 | U.S. Airways plane ditches in the Hudson River - all 155 passengers survive |
| January 17 | Israel declares a unilateral ceasefire in the Gaza War, effective January 18, as Hamas declares a ceasefire of its own |
| January 20 | Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States |
| February 1 | The Russian Orthodox Church enthrones Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow as Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church |
| February 2 | Iran launches first domestically made satellite, Omid, into orbit |
| February 7 | Melbourne, Australia records highest-ever temperature, sparking the deadliest brushfires in Australian history |
| February 10 | A large amount of space debris is created when a Russan and American satellite collide over Siberia |
| February 11 | Morgan Tsvangirai becomes Prime Minister of Zimbabwe after agreeing to share power with President Robert Mugabe |
| February 26 | Former Serbian President Milan Mulutinovic is acquitted of war crimes during the Kosovo War |
| March 2 | Joao Bernardo Vierira, President of Guinea-Bissau is assassinated during an armed attack on his residence in Bissau |
| March 4 | An arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is issued for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur |
| March 4 | Eight people are killed, several injured, after gunmen attack a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketeers in Lahore, Pakistan |
| March 17 | Marc Ravalomanana, President of Madagascar, is overthrown. New President, Andry Rajoelina, is appointed by the military |
| March 27 | At least 99 people are killed after flash flooding and the failure of the Situ Gintung dam in Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia |
| April 2 | At the 21st NATO Summit, new Secretary General, former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is appointed |
| April 6 | Nearly 300 people are killed and 1,500 injured near L'Aquila, Italy, after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes |
| April 7 | Former President of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, receives 25 years in prison for ordering killings and kidnappings by security forces |
| April 17 | The 5th Summit of the Americas takes place in Port of Spain, Trinidad, thirty-four heads of government attend |
| April 24 | Concern about spreading influenza from Mexico and the United States to other countries is expressed by the WHO |
| May 4 | Peace talks witht he Tuareg rebel groups in north Niger are held by the President of Niger, Tandja Mamadou |
| May 9 | A large column of advancing rebels are defeated by Chadian forces |
| May 18 | The C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group meets for the third time in Seoul |
| May 23 | Under investigation for bribery during his Presidency, former President of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun, commits suicide |
| May 25 | North Korea announces a successful nuclear test in North Hamgyong, the U.N. Security Council condems the test |
| June 1 | En route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Paris, Air France Flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic ocean, killing all 228 on board |
| June 11 | The "swine flu", the H1N1 influenza strain is the first condition deemed a global pandemic since the Hong Kong flu of 1967 - 1968 |
| June 18 | The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/LCROSS is launched by NASA to probe the Moon |
| June 25 | Internet traffic reaches unprecedented levels after entertainer Michael Jackson's death triggers an outpouring of worldwide grief |
| June 30 | One person out of 183 passengers and crew survives the crash of Yemenia Flight 626 off the coast of Moroni, Comoros |
| July 1 | Sweden takes over the presidency of the European Union |
| July 15 | Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashes near Qazvin, Iran, all 168 on board are killed |
| July 16 | The parliament of Iceland votes to pursue joining the European Union |
| July 22 | A solar eclipse, the longest in history, lasts up to 6 minutes and 38.8 seconds, over parts of Asia and the Pacific Ocean |
| July 25 | Dozens are killed and injured when wildfires spread across France, Spain, Sardinia and Greece |
