President Ronald Reagan, Michael Jackson, and first lady Nancy Reagan emerge from the White House May 14, 1984.
White House Photo Office

With the passing of a number of celebrities since May, some have called this the summer of death, but for most of us it was probably just another summer spent happily escaping RIT’s quarter system. Just in case you slept in too late or were traveling the world, here is a recap of events from summer 2009.

June

June 19 2009
Apple kicks off the summer with the release of the iPhone 3GS, and don’t forget, that “S” stands for speed.

June 23 2009
Famed television host Ed McMahon dies. McMahon was most famous for his stint on The Tonight Show.

June 25 2009
Michael Jackson, “The King of Pop,” dies allegedly at the hands of his doctor by a Propofol overdose. Actress Farrah Fawcett also passes away.

June 28 2009
Billy Mays dies from complications caused by heart disease and purported cocaine use.

July

July 14 2009
The health care reform plans are introduced to the House. Although they were announced in February, they quickly became a hot topic of the summer.

July 16 2009
The 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing was marked with a celebration at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

July 17 2009

Journalist Walter Conkrite dies. He was the only non-NASA member to receive the Moon Rock Award.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands on the surface of the moon.
NASA

July 19 2009
Amateur astronomer, Anthony Wesley, captures the first photographs of a celestial body’s impact on Jupiter’s surface which caused a black spot the size of the planet’s “Little Red Spot” to appear.

August

August 6 2009
Twitter suffers from a “denial-of-service” attack theorized to silence anti-Russian blogger, Cyxymu. (Facebook, LiveJournal and Google Blogger were also affected.

August 8 2009
A helicopter and small airplane collide over the Hudson River killing nine, including five Italian tourists.

August 11 2009
Eunice Kennedy Shriver dies followed by her brother Edward “Ted” Kennedy only 14 days later on August 25th.

August 13 2009
Guitar and recording innovator Les Paul dies in White Plains, New York at the age of 94.

August 25 2009
Student and swimsuit model, Bethany Edmund, is attacked by a baby great white shark. Surprisingly, she snaps photos of her attacker instead of screaming for help.

August 28 2009
DJ AM dies less than a year after surviving a plane crash that killed four others. The only other survivor of the crash was drummer Travis Barker.

August 31 2009
Disney announces its plans to bring Spiderman and Minnie Mouse together, with a four billion dollar deal to buy Marvel Comics.