Who would have thought that hope would spring from an election marked by fraud, censorship and bloodshed? In June, after incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of Iran's presidential election by an implausibly wide margin, millions of Iranians massed in Tehran to shout anti-regime slogans and protest a rigged election. Bedecked in green, they turned out day after day, many donning sneakers in case they were forced to flee from the thuggish Basij paramilitary force patrolling the demonstrations and clubbing dissidents. Thanks to a media crackdown, social media spread the gruesome news, making household names out of victims like Neda Agha-Soltan, whose murder was caught on a video that ricocheted around the globe. There was no happy ending for the protesters: Ahmadinejad's win was certified. But though the crowds went home, they coalesced intermittently around anniversaries to protest again and again, leaving the country in a political quagmire as reformists and heavyweights in the conservative theocracy battle it out behind closed doors.
The Top 10 Everything of 2009
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Art Exhibitions
- Top 10 Awkward Moments
- Top 10 Best Business Deals
- Top 10 Breakups
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Children's Books
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Editorial Cartoons
- Top 10 Facebook Stories
- Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas
- Top 10 Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Ideas
- Top 10 Heroes
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 News Stories
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Pariahs
- Top 10 Pictures of the Year
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 T-Shirt-Worthy Slogans
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Untruths
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 Worst Biz Deals
TIME charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists