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The Top 10 Everything of 2009

TIME charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists

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Top 10 Albums
- American Saturday Night by Brad Paisley
- Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors
- Crack the Skye by Mastodon
- Revolution by Miranda Lambert
- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix
- Love vs. Money by The-Dream
- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt 2 by Raekwon
- Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear
- I and Love and You by the Avett Brothers
- The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga
Top 10 Animal Stories
- The First Family Gets a Dog
- The President Executes a Housefly
- Pet-Pig Craze: The Teacup
- Jessica Simpson's Dog Becomes Coyote's Bitch
- Cat Gets Swine Flu
- Sheep That Shrink Like Wool Sweaters
- Chimp Mauls Woman
- Spain Debates a Ban on Bullfighting
- Bolivia Bans Circus Animals
- Scientists Levitate a Mouse
Top 10 Apologies
- A Rambling Apology from a Roving Governor
- Err Force One
- Apology Not Accepted
- A Heckler in the House
- He Didn't Let Her Finish
- Serena Williams: My Fault
- A Presidential Pardon Me
- Who's the Boss?
- California
- Keep Doing What, Ernie?
Top 10 Art Exhibitions
- Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective
- William Kentridge: Five Themes
- Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice
- Cy Twombly: The Natural World, Selected Works 2000-2007
- Yinka Shonibare MBE
- James Ensor
- Butchers, Dragons, Gods & Skeletons
- Kandinsky
- Georgia O'Keeffe: Abstraction
- Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective
Top 10 Awkward Moments
- Balloon Boy Spills the Beans
- Kanye West Doesn't Let Taylor Swift Finish
- The Beer Summit
- Artie Lange Steals Joe Buck's Show
- Mark Sanford's Mea Culpa
- Ryan Seacrest's Regrettable High Five
- Joaquin Phoenix Bombs on Letterman
- The Colonel Is in the House
- Joe Jackson Works the Red Carpet
- Categorizing Caster Semenya
Top 10 Best Business Deals
- Berkshire Hathaway–Goldman Sachs
- JPMorgan Chase and the Deals It Didn't Do
- BB&T-Colonial
- Berkshire Hathaway–Burlington Northern
- Ford's $23.6 Billion Loan Grab
- BlackRock–Barclays Global Investors
- HP-EDS
- Google-AdMob
- Time Warner Spins Off Cable and AOL
- Mead Johnson Nutrition
Top 10 Breakups
- Silvio Berlusconi and Veronica Lario
- Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston
- Lou Dobbs and CNN
- Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson
- Mel and Robyn Gibson
- Jon and Kate Gosselin
- Michael Phelps and Kellogg Co.
- Oasis
- Harry and Pepper, the San Francisco Zoo's Gay Penguins
- Rihanna and Chris Brown
Top 10 Buzzwords
- Sexting
- Public Option
- Autotune
- Wise Latina
- Death Panel
- Birther
- Opposite Marriage
- Summer of Death
- Beer Summit
- Green Shoots
Top 10 Children's Books
- Duck Rabbit by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld
- Guess Again by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Adam Rex
- Dogs Don't Brush Their Teeth by Diane deGroat and Shelley Rotner
- Crow Call by Lois Lowry; illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
- Elephants Cannot Dance! by Mo Willems
- Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman
- How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
- Pick a Pumpkin, Mrs. Millie! by Judy Cox, illustrated by Joe Mathieu
- The Composer Is Dead by Lemony Snicket; illustrated by Carson Ellis; music (accompanying CD) by Nathaniel Stookey
- The Snow Day by Komako Sakai
Top 10 Crime Stories
- Finding Jaycee Dugard
- The Cleveland Serial Rapist-Killer
- The Craigslist Killer
- The Headscarf Martyr
- The Mystery of the Dead Census Worker
- Murdering the Abortionist
- The Tacoma Massacre
- The Annie Le Murder
- The Deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings
- The Return of the Pishtacos
Top 10 Editorial Cartoons
- 'Save the Women and Children ... and My Bonus Too'
- The Watchful Eye of Twitter
- 'Now Stand Aside, Worthy — Aw, Just Get Outta the Way'
- Downsizing in Detroit
- 'We Only Provided a Target'
- Eight Was Enough
- 'Now This Is It'
- Auditioning for the Supremes
- Public Option No. 1
- The Boy in the Fiscal Bubble
Top 10 Facebook Stories
- The Site that Ate the Internet
- FarmVille
- Twitter Fail
- Getting the Last Laugh
- Rewriting Your Rights
- Facebook: Read the Book, See the Movie
- Michael Jackson vs. Barack Obama
- Breast Practices
- Unfriend (Verb)
- Gatecrash-Gate
Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas
- Stars: They're Not Like Us
- Drew's Do
- Cate's Blanket
- Lady Gaga Tries Normal
- Scaling Up
- Royal Mess
- Never Mind the Bullocks
- Gray Anatomy
- Kilting Me Softly
- Stone Cold
Top 10 Fashion Moments
- Michelle Obama's Inaugural Gown
- In a Downturn, High-End Denim
- Gaga for Lady Gaga
- Shortsgate
- It's the '80s Again, Ladies
- Mad Men's Off-Air Influence
- Respect for the Hat
- Madge's Party Attire
- Sanity Returns to Shoes
- Goth Ninja
Top 10 Feuds
- Gates vs. Crowley
- Gosselin vs. Gosselin
- Cramer vs. Stewart
- Palin vs. Johnston
- Lewis vs. Thain
- Obama vs. Fox News
- Walmart vs. Amazon vs. Target
- Venezuela vs. Colombia
- Greenberg vs. AIG
- Olbermann vs. O'Reilly
Top 10 Fiction Books
- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
- The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter
- Swimming by Nicola Keegan
- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
- Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower
- Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer
- In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin
- Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
- The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
- The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell
Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Octomom
- Susan Boyle
- Miss California
- Orly Taitz
- Dr. Conrad Murray
- Stephanie Birkitt
- The White House Gate Crashers
- John Yettaw
- Tiger Woods' Alleged Mistress
- Edgar (Patient Zero) Hernandez
Top 10 Gadgets
- Motorola Droid
- The Nook
- Dyson Air Multiplier
- iPhone 3GS
- Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
- Dell Adamo XPS
- FinePix Real 3D W1
- Casio G-Shock GW7900B-1
- Beats Solo by Dr. Dre
- Panasonic G10 Series Plasma HDTVs
Top 10 Green Ideas
- U.N. Climate-Change Summit
- Cap-and-Trade Debate in Washington
- Stricter Auto Fuel-Efficiency Standards
- General Motors Goes Bankrupt
- EPA to Regulate CO₂
- Biofuels Aren't That Green
- Factory Farming and Swine Flu
- Obama's Green Cabinet
- China's Green Stimulus
- Nissan's All-Electric Leaf
Top 10 Heroes
- Captain Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger
- Neda Agha-Soltan
- Mike Perham
- Captain Richard Phillips
- Kimberley Munley and Mark Todd
- Ally Jacobs and Lisa Campbell
- Tan Zuoren
- Leonard Abess
- Sultan Munadi
- Muelmar Magallanes
Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Tweetie 2
- Yelp
- Slacker
- FlightTrack Pro
- Mint
- SlingPlayer Mobile
- The Small Chair (McSweeney's)
- RunKeeper
- Photoshop.com Mobile
- Locavore
Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Dave's Dirty Laundry
- The Daily Show's CNBC Takedown
- Conan Gets a Mayor's Attention
- Why Sarah Palin Is No Letterman Fan
- The White House Gets Less Funny
- Jon Stewart: How Not to Do Interviews
- Glenn Beck: Too Wacky Even for Colbert
- Disgraced Politician Watch
- Don't Ask, Don't Take Seriously
- Overdosing on Tweets
Top 10 Magazine Covers
- New York, Feb. 22
- The New Yorker, June 1
- Texas Monthly, March
- W, October
- Tar, Spring-Summer
- The New Yorker, Nov. 2
- The Advocate, June 7
- New York, Oct. 4
- Interview, November
- Vogue Australia, September
Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- New Mammography Guidelines
- AIDS Vaccine
- Funding Ban Lifted on Stem-Cell Research
- H1N1 Vaccine
- Stem-Cell-Created Mice
- Prostate-Cancer Screening
- New Research on Autism
- New Drug for Osteoporosis
- New Alzheimer's Genes
- Brown Fat in Adults
Top 10 Movie Performances
- 1. Mo'nique as Mary Jones in Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
- 2. Carey Mulligan as Jenny in An Education
- 3. Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon in The Lovely Bones
- 4. Meryl Streep as Julia Child in Julie & Julia
- 5. Marion Cotillard as Luisa Contini in Nine
- 1. Colin Firth as George in A Single Man
- 2. Jeremy Renner as Staff Sergeant William James in The Hurt Locker
- 3. George Clooney as Ryan Bingham in Up in the Air
- 4. Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds
- 5. Michael Jackson as Michael Jackson in Michael Jackson's This Is It
Top 10 Movies
- The Princess and the Frog
- Up
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- The Hurt Locker
- Up in the Air
- The White Ribbon
- A Single Man
- Of Time and the City
- District 9
- Thirst
Top 10 New Species
- Ratzilla
- Teeny T. Rex
- Glow-in-the-Dark 'Shrooms
- Land of the Pink Iguana?
- The World's Biggest Snake
- The World's Weirdest Fish
- New Spiders from New Guinea
- Frog Bonanza in Madagascar
- A Dinosaur Named Zac
- Himalayan Hoard
Top 10 News Stories
- America's Economic Crisis: Now for the Non-Recovery
- Afghanistan: Can the U.S. Avoid a Quagmire?
- Iran's Tumultuous Election and Its Aftermath
- The Divisive Debate Over Health Care Reform
- Massacre at Fort Hood: The New Face of Terrorism?
- The Death of Michael Jackson
- Pakistan: On the Verge of a Breakdown
- Mexico's Bloody Drug War
- H1N1: That's Swine Flu to You
- The End of Sri Lanka's Cataclysmic Civil War
Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes
- D-Day by Antony Beevor
- Lit by Mary Karr
- Changing My Mind by Zadie Smith
- The Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed
- Logicomix by Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos H. Papadimitriou, Alecos Papadatos and Annie Di Donna
- Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon
- Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder
- Cooking Dirty by Jason Sheehan
- John Cheever: A Life by Blake Bailey
Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Sweden Burns Bunnies for Fuel
- 'Cello Scrotum' as Mythical Ailment
- Going in the Sky
- Rage Against the Musical Torture
- Fugitive Doll
- High Hombres
- Catering to Criminals
- Science Is for the Birds
- No More Naked Hiking
- Not Exactly Twins
Top 10 Pariahs
- Ponzi Schemer
- Octomom
- Balloon Boy's Dad
- The Whipping Boy of Wall Street
- Rihanna's Ex-Boyfriend
- Reality TV's Newly Single Dad
- Lockerbie Convict Released
- From Governor to Wannabe Reality Contestant
- Hollywood's Most Famous Former Fugitive
- Soccer's Ponytail Yanker
Top 10 Pictures of the Year
- Historic Moment
- Vigilant
- Farewell
- Tears
- Miraculous
- Armed and Dangerous
- Iran Explodes
- Gaza Digs Out
- Parched
- Summer Break
Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Ruined
- A Steady Rain
- The Norman Conquests
- The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
- Ragtime
- Mary Stuart
- Finian's Rainbow
- Hamlet
- Fela!
- After Miss Julie
Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Joe Biden's Swine Flu Hysteria
- Barack Obama's Bowling Blooper
- Joe Wilson's Unwanted Outburst
- Hillary Clinton Gets Lost in Translation
- Michael Steele's Abortion Aberration
- Larry Summers' White House Sleepover
- Barack Obama Opens the Floodgates
- Joe Biden's Stimulus Stumble
- Sarah Palin's Coin Conspiracy
- Michelle Obama's Buckingham Brush with Etiquette
Top 10 Quotes
- Holding Back
- Obama's Grim Reapers?
- No Retreads
- Red Peril Redux
- The King's Epitaph
- Let Them Eat Tiramisu
- Bill Who?
- Late Show Confessional
- The Silent Scream
- Schemer's Remorse?
Top 10 Religion Stories
- Secularism or Bust
- What Reformation?
- Keeping the Faith-Based
- Faith Healing Turns Fatal
- Going to the Chapel
- Dr. Dobson Has Left the Building
- Obama's Notre Dame Touchdown
- Americans Go Church Shopping
- Banning the Baha'i
- Religious Runaway
Top 10 Scandals
- The Love Guv
- Expensive MPs
- Et Tu, Letterman?
- The Family Way
- Ensign and the Assignations
- Balloon Boy
- Tiger or Lyin' Cheetah?
- Missing Minneapolis
- ACORN Falls
- Love Hurts
Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Our Oldest Ancestor, "Ardi"
- The Human Epigenome, Decoded
- Gene Therapy Cures Color Blindness
- A Robot Performs Science
- Breeding Tuna on Land
- Water on the Moon
- The Fundamental Lemma, Solved
- Teleportation!
- The Large Hadron Collider, Revived
- A New Planet (or Brown Dwarf?) Discovered
Top 10 Songs
- "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson
- "Two Weeks" by Grizzly Bear
- "No Line on the Horizon" by U2
- "The Fear" by Lily Allen
- "Crown on the Ground" by Sleigh Bells
- (Tie) "Stillness Is the Move" by Dirty Projectors and also Solange
- "White Liar" by Miranda Lambert
- "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" by Jay-Z
- "Sabali" by Amadou and Mariam
- "Mad World" by Adam Lambert
Top 10 Sports Moments
- Another Wimbledon Winner
- Golf for the Ages
- Lightning Bolts, Take Two
- Perfect Catch Saves a Perfect Game
- Phenomenal Filly
- Tiptoe to a Title-Winning Touchdown
- Rio's Olympic Win Is Chicago's Loss
- Reynolds to the Rescue
- Hockey's Dream Series
- Barcelona's Big Triple
Top 10 T-Shirt-Worthy Slogans
- Kanye West
- Tiger Woods
- Silvio Berlusconi
- Alex Rodriguez
- General Stanley McChyrstal
- Kate Moss
- Tabby Cat
- President Obama
- Lloyd Blankfein
- Ernie Anastos
Top 10 TV Ads
- Evian Roller Babies
- Hulu
- Coca-Cola
- Careerbuilder.com
- Prius
- American Express
- Travelers Insurance
- Budweiser Bud Light
- Shelter.org.uk
- General Motors Re:invent
Top 10 TV Episodes
- The Office, "Stress Relief"
- Glee, "Pilot"
- Big Love, "Come, Ye Saints"
- Dollhouse, "Briar Rose"
- Nurse Jackie, "Tiny Bubbles"
- 30 Rock, "Apollo, Apollo"
- Mad Men, "My Old Kentucky Home"
- Party Down, "Taylor Stiltskin Sweet Sixteen"
- Breaking Bad, "Phoenix"
- Curb Your Enthusiasm, "The Table Read"
Top 10 TV Series
- Mad Men
- Modern Family
- Breaking Bad
- Big Love
- Battlestar Galactica
- Lost
- Friday Night Lights
- Glee
- Sons of Anarchy
- (Tie) The Office / Parks and Recreation
Top 10 Tweets
- Ashton Kutcher
- Neil Patrick Harris
- Iran
- Oprah
- Shaquille O'Neal
- Larry Johnson
- Tracy Morgan
- Pete Hoekstra
- Cory Booker
- Miley Cyrus
Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Continuing Segregation Is Hurting U.S. Competitiveness
- Nigerian Blood for Oil
- The Maoist Insurgency in India
- America: Barring Foreign Brains?
- Ethnic Unrest in Iran
- The Deadlier Flu Virus: When Pigs Fly
- Obama Allows Faith-Based 'Discrimination'
- Who Owns the Mekong?
- Oops! U.S. Nuclear Secrets Are Posted Online
- Experimenting with Children
Top 10 Untruths
- Death Panels
- Balloon Boy
- Hiking the Appalachian Trail
- The Birther Movement
- Recovery.gov Is a Little Buggy
- Shepard Fairey Loses Hope
- Sizing Up the Tea Party
- Fake Flu-Fighting Products
- Staying Alive
- Latvia Is Bored
Top 10 Video Games
- Modern Warfare 2
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- DJ Hero
- Borderlands
- New Super Mario Bros. Wii
- Geo-Defense Swarm
- Scribblenauts
- Halo 3: ODST
- Assassin's Creed 2
- Uncharted 2
Top 10 Viral Videos
- Susan Boyle
- Kevin Heinz and Jill Peterson's Wedding
- David After Dentist
- All the Single Babies
- Slate V: The All-Star Celebrity Rant
- 'Total Eclipse of the Heart': Literal Video Version
- United Breaks Guitars
- The Longest Way 1.0 — One Year Walk–Beard Grow Time Lapse
- Deadline: Post-It Stop-Motion
- Flutter
Top 10 Worst Biz Deals
- Stuyvesant Town
- Huntsman Corp.
- Chrysler's Bailout
- Tribune's Tribulations
- Clear Channel Lowers the Volume
- MySpace Loses Face
- Citi Sells Phibro
- Dubai's Bankers
- CityCenter
- Iceland and Ireland Lenders

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The Top 10 Everything of 2009

Features

News, Politics and Science
Arts & Entertainment
Business, Tech & Sports
Pop Culture
Video: Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas of 2009
Video: Best Television Episodes of 2009
Video: Best Television Series of 2009
Video: Top 10 Gadgets of 2009
Video: Top 10 Songs of 2009
Video: The Top 10 Viral Videos of 2009

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