1. On February 6, 2009, Jamaica’s sixth Governor General, Sir Patrick Allen, was sworn in.

2. On July 1, 2009, Spanish Town was recognised as one of the oldest cities in the Caribbean, having reached 475 years old.

3. King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia of Spain visited the old capital of Spanish Town in recognition of the aforementioned occasion.

4. In 2009, Orville (Shaggy) Burrell put on the first Shaggy and Friends concert in a bid to raise money to fund well needed equipment for the Bustamante Children’s Hospital.

5. In January of 2009, sections of the Jubilee Market in downtown, Kingston, went up in flames. The market held significant importance since Emancipation as it was named in honour of Queen Victoria.

6. In 2009, Jamaica celebrated its annual festival season under the theme “We believe in Jamaica”.

7. Despite the recession, which began in 2009, Jamaica held a record of 17,613 registered entertainment events.

8. In 2009, the winner of the popular television programme, Digicel Rising Star was Mitzie ‘Brown Sugar’ Campbell, the second female to have won the competition.

9. In 2009, Jamaican athletes Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser among others, made Jamaica proud when they dominate in the track events at the World Championships. Usain bolt ran 6.58 seconds, a record that has yet to be broken.

10. 2009 saw record job cuts in almost all sectors of Jamaica due to the recession.