US Airways plane crashes into Hudson River
US Airways Flight 1549 descends on its way to an emergency ditching in the Hudson River, New York, Thursday 15th January 2009. The Airbus A320 bound for Charlotte, N.C., struck a flock of birds just after takeoff minutes earlier at LaGuardia Airport, apparently disabling the engines. The pilot maneuvered the crippled jetliner over New York City and ditched it in the frigid Hudson River, and all 155 on board were pulled to safety as the plane slowly sank.

US Airways plane crashes into Hudson River
Passengers stand on the wings of a US Airways plane after it landed in the Hudson River in New York, 15th January 2009. Capt Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger was out of options at 920 meters on Thursday when he intentionally and calmly steered his crippled US Airways jetliner, fully loaded with passengers, toward the Hudson River

Cold Snap Longest for over a decade
Lyneham entered one of the longest cold snaps for more than 10 years. Cold, mainly dry and frosty conditions, which set in on Boxing Day 2008, continued to last for the next fourteen days as the weather systems were dominated by a large region of high pressure from the continent. This below normal period is the longest prolonged spell of cold weather for this time of year since 1996, with temperatures barely rising above zero centigrade (32°F). 9th January 2009 more..

President Barack Obama reaches out to all nations with vow to 'remake America'
Barack Obama was sworn in as America’s 44th President 20th January 2009 and declared to the world: “There’s work to be done! Two million people poured into Washington to witness the historic day a black man was handed the keys to the White House.
With two billion more watching around the globe, cheering crowds chanted their new Commander-in-Chief’s name as he took to the podium. Holding the same Bible that Abraham Lincoln used for his 1861 inauguration, the son of a Kenyan goat-herder took the Oath of Office. Obama’s tearful wife Michelle, great-great-grand-daughter of a South Carolina slave, kissed her husband as their daughter Sasha, seven, gave dad the thumbs-up. And in that moment on the steps of Capitol Hill, the dreams of millions of Americans came true as cannons fired to mark his inauguration.

It also signalled the hand-over from George Bush of the “nuclear football” – the briefcase containing the codes 47-year-old Obama would need to order a nuclear strike. A galaxy of stars and world leaders were in Washington to see the Chicago senator become the first African-American president and world’s most powerful man.

RAF mercy dash for premature twins on Scottish island
The crew of a Hercules from RAF Lyneham have been hailed heroes, as they battled horrendous weather conditions to rescue premature twins. Twins born prematurely on a remote Scottish island are said to be in a stable condition after being transferred to the mainland on a Hercules based at RAF Lyneham. The mother went into labour at 27 weeks and gave birth to the babies, a boy and girl, in hospital in Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis, More...