At A Glance

3 January 2009 at a glance

Day of the week
3 January 2009 was a Saturday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “Hallelujah” by Alexandra Burke.
Top Film of 2009
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 2009 was Avatar.
Star sign
The star sign for 3 January is Capricorn.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 3 January 2009 fell in the Year of the Rat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 3 January 2009 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 3 January

  • 1999 The Mars Polar Lander is launched by NASA.
  • 2002 Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Israeli forces seize the Palestinian freighter Karine A in the Red Sea, finding 50 tons of weapons.
  • 2009 The first block of the blockchain of the decentralized payment system Bitcoin, called the Genesis block, is established by the creator of the system, Satoshi Nakamoto.
  • 2018 For the first time in history, all five major storm surge gates in the Netherlands are closed simultaneously in the wake of a storm.
  • 2019 Chang'e 4 makes the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, deploying the Yutu-2 lunar rover.

Famous people born on 3 January

  • Florence Pugh, English actress (born 1996)
  • Mel Gibson, American-Australian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1956)
  • Michael Schumacher, German racing driver (born 1969)
  • J. R. R. Tolkien, English writer, poet, and philologist (1892–1973)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 2009 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '2009 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 22 February – At the 81st Academy Awards, British film Slumdog Millionaire wins 8 awards including Best Picture and Best Director. British actress Kate Winslet wins the Best Actress award for her role in The Reader.
  • 27 February – Lloyds Banking Group announces that their HBOS subsidiary made annual losses of £10.8 billion in 2008. The Lloyds TSB division of the group made a profit of £807 million, down 80% on 2007.
  • 16 April – Horrible Histories premieres on CBBC.

Life in 2009

Prime Minister

Gordon Brown

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

£2.75

Loaf of Bread

£1.20

Average House

£154,452

Weekly Wage

£686.00

Or

Browse by Year

Famous Faces Born in the 2000s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

About The Day You Were Born

Ever wondered what was happening in the world when you took your first breath? Our birthday lookup tool reveals the fascinating history of your special day.

About The Birthday Chronicle and where our data comes from →