2009 was one hell of a year. While so much has happened, there's some things we'll remember well into the New Year. With the year finally inching to a close, we compiled a list of some of the biggest moments of the year, as well as incidents that were the talk of the town.

Without further adieu, here's our list in no particular order:

Barack Obama's Inauguration in DC
In late 2008, Barack Obama was officially voted into office, making history as the first African-American Commander in Chief, and 44th President of the nation. When January came around, and he officially took the reins from G.W. Bush, his inauguration ceremony became hottest tickets in town. A chance to witness history is why thousands poured into Washington DC to see Obama being sworn into office. The TV coverage was just as crazy. Any channel you turned switched on, you saw a live feed of the event, and then re-aired all day long. After taking the oath, President Obama took the podium, giving one of his memorable speeches, leaving many emotional and full of hope. As the camera panned through the crowd, many people's faces were filled with tears. "This is the meaning of [America's] liberty and our creed -- why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath," he said.

While Obama has been criticized for some of the decisions he's made as President since then, he'll forever go down in history for this one moment in history ... which took place on January 20th, 2009.

Twitter's rise in popularity
We joined the micro-blogging service in late 2008, but 2009 was Twitter's come out party. If you haven't joined yet ... well, you're either late or just plain refusing to jump on the bandwagon into the future. Basically, Twitter allows anyone to sign up and follow their favorite celebrities, companies, or friends, and see what they say -- 140 characters at a time. Individuals "tweet" about what they're having for breakfast, where they're at any given time of the day, or how many bottles they're popping in the club on a given night. But, aside from finding out what kind of coffee your favorite celebrity got a Starbucks this morning, Twitter also helped in breaking world news up-to-the-very-second it happened. If someone died, you better believe people were talking about it in Twitterland.

Twitter.com really took off in April, because that's when actor Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) challenged CNN (@CNNbrk) to a contest to see who could reach one million followers first. Kutcher won, and compared the victory to a "David versus Goliath" match-up. Since this highly-publicized stunt, the service has skyrocketed in popularity. If you search through Twitterland, you can find MC Hammer, Jennifer Lopez, Diddy, Snoop Dogg, and even your favorite porn star on Twitter. You can even follow us as well @BallerStatus.

The 50 Cent-Rick Ross beef
The beef between the two popular rappers began at the top of the year, after Ross released a diss track towards 50 Cent, as he geared up for the release of third solo album, Deeper Than Rap. Fif' struck back quickly ... with a track called "Officer Ricky (Go 'Head, Try Me)," followed by a digital smear campaign where he leaked photos and documents that allegedly proved Ross was, in fact, a correctional officer before shooting to stardom as a rapper.

The disses were thrown back and forth through the year, via interviews and new diss tracks, but 50 took things a step further when he flew Tia (the mother of Rick Ross' son) to New York for an exclusive interview, and then took her on a shopping spree, and later helped her land a book deal. The tactic seemed to pierce Ross' street cred, and Fif' looked like he won the war. However, it didn't seem to slow Ross down much. When Deeper Than Rap finally hit stores, it debuted at no. 1, making it his third chart-topper.

Even if it didn't pan out the way 50 Cent hope, it was one of the most entertaining beefs of recent times.

Nude Photos of Rihanna leak to the Internet
In May, Rihanna's male admirers went ape-sh** when nude photos of the singer popped up all over the Internet. The pics were self-portraits taken via a mobile phone in the mirror, and included shots of RiRi's booty, breasts, and even included one sht of her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown wearing her panties as a hat. The leak came just days after nude photos of hit the web, but once the pics of Rihanna surfaced, no one cared about Cassie any more.

It's still unknown who put them out there, but it was rumored that Brown leaked them in the midst of the controversy surrounding their February domestic altercation. He later denied those claims. The altercation between her and Chris Brown, couple with nude photos, and later a brand new album helped shoot Rihanna into superstardom, and made her a tabloid staple.

But, the nude shots were probably our favorite moment though.

Famous Stars & Straps celebrate 10 Years
Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker started the Famous Stars & Straps clothing line in 1999. A decade later, it's still here, bigger and better than ever. The musician and his company threw a huge party in Los Angeles to celebrate the 10-year milestone, drawing some of Los Angeles' biggest celebrities, and almost the entire west coast hip-hop community. Before the festivities, we had the chance to interview Barker about his journey over the past years in the clothing biz. While 10 years is nothing to scoff at, he tells us, he's got his eye on the future for another 10 year run. That's why we chose this as a moment in 2009.

In the coming year, Famous Stars & Straps have a lot of things in the pipeline. In addition to brand new designs for upcoming seasons, they plan to roll out branded footwear, and sunglasses. Congrats to Travis and Famous for their accomplishments from the BallerStatus.com family.

Kanye's Air Yeezys finally hit stores
Kanye West's sneaker collaboration with Nike was one of the most anticipated of the year for sneaker heads, ever since he was seen rocking pairs of them before they were available in April 2009.

The Air Yeezys were inspired by the Nike Hyperdunks that Marty McFly wore in "Back To The Future II," and collectors wanted them so bad, they waited outside stores for days to make sure they were the first to get them. The shoe's limited supply of its first colorway quickly sold out at $215 a pop, and began to surfacing on eBay shortly after from anywhere to $500 all the way up to $700.

West was so happy with the Air Yeezy's success, he filmed a video to thank everyone while on a boat in Hawaii. "I want to thank everyone that went out and supported and cop the Yeezys," he said. "A lot of people had to pay overprice. Next time, I'm going to do the Yeezy II's. Hopefully we prepare to do some more, but that was real good to get the buzz out there, and I appreciate everybody who went out and supported it."

Since April, the buzz surround the kicks have died down. At press time, a quick search on Google and eBay found several pairs for under $100.

MTV's "Jersey Shore" reality show
At the beginning of December, MTV introduced the world to a cast of young Italian kids, who referred to themselves as "guidos" and "guidas". They are the stars of a reality show called "Jersey Shore." Basically eight young people -- four girls and four guys -- spend the summer in New Jersey's Seaside Heights beach community, partying and causing a scene, all while MTV's cameras capture it. After we first caught the previews, we -- and everyone else -- had to tune in to see what it was all about. They didn't disappoint either. While they're probably some of the most obnoxious people ... EVER! They're pretty entertaining to watch.

Since the premiere of the first episode, it's become one of most talked about shows of the moment. They've become such as sensation, TMZ has even started covering them. If you haven't watched it yet, please tune in ... it'll be the funniest hour of your day. Cast member "Snooki" is out for attention and will do just about anything to get it, and "The Situation" ... well, that guy is just pure entertainment. Any time he opens his mouth, he starts another catch phrase. Hate them, or love then, you can't deny their entertainment value. Thanks MTV.

Head over to MTV.com for the series' schedule.

Oprah gives away KFC dinners, but they run out
It's a recession, people are struggling. So, being the woman that Oprah is, she hooked up with KFC earlier this year to give away a two-piece chicken dinnerdinner to anyone who downloaded the coupon from her site. Of course, it was all done to promote the chain's new "grilled" chicken option. But, it worked to perfection.

People rushed to their local KFC restaurants to get their free meal, which consisted of two pieces of KFC's grilled chicken, two sides and a biscuit -- all during a two-day stretch in May.Maybe it worked too well though, because KFC couldn't handle the rush of people, and ran out of food at many locations across the nation. We even tried to get our free chicken dinner at a local KFC to no avail.

With the influx of customers, KFC halted the promotion, angering many and even causing a little chaos. They eventually ran a commercial thanking everyone for the support, and apologized for not being able to honor the coupon, offering a rain check at a later date. Did anyone even get that rain check? We didn't.

It sounded good at first, and I think everyone -- including us -- were excited to get some free KFC. But, we're still waiting and so are many others. Oh well, can't dwell on it now ... maybe next time.

Eminem Returns
The Detroit rapper finally made his return in 2009, after nearly five years off. His last album was 2004's Encore, and when fans learned he was back in the studio, the buzz crew. Who else can comeback after that much time and still garner this much attention?

In late 2008, Em emerged from his bat cave to attend the release party for his book, The Way I Am. During an interview, he revealed that a new album was on the way. That album was Relapse. In early 2009, tracks from the album finally started surfacing, and the Eminem media circus began. He came back in regular fashion, taking stabs at celebrities, re-lighting a beef with Mariah Carey, and gave people some insight to why he disappeared. He was addicted to pills, and was finally clean ... so, he did what he does best, hit the studio.

When Relapse finally hit stores in May, it topped the charts. Since then, it's gone on to sell more than 1.5 million copies, making it one of the best-selling albums of the year. Is Eminem the greatest? If not the greatest, he's up there among the best.

Deaths in 2009
2009 took the lives of a lot of good people. Now, with the year closing out, it's time to stop for a moment of silence to remember them.

At the start of the year, super producer Dr. Dre took a blow to his family when his 20-year-old son Andre Young Jr. died of an accidental overdose. As the year continued, three football players -- Corey Smith of the Detroit Lions, Marquis Cooper of the Oakland Raiders, and William Bleakley, a former Florida college football player -- parished when their fishing boat overturned off the coast of Florida.

In May, former NBA player Wayman Tisdale died at the age of 44 following a battle with cancer. Later in May, Konvict Muzik's young artist Dolla was gunned down at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles after a scuffle with a group of men in the mall's valet area. As May came to an end, former boxing champ Mike Tyson had to endure the loss of a child, when his 4-year-old daughter died in a "tragic accident" at her Phoenix home.

In the summer, retired NFL quarterback Steven McNair was shot and killed in Nashville in what is being called a murder-suicide at the hands of his mistress. Then, the boxing world lost of two former stars -- Canadian boxer Arturo Gatti, who was killed in Brazil by his wife; and Vernon Forrest, who was fatally shot in a robbery in Atlanta. Later in the summer, Slum Village member Baatin has died at the age of 35.

As the year closed out, the world lost the loved DJ AM, who died in his New York apartment from an accidental overdose; X-Ecutioners member Roc Raida passed away in September following complications from a spinal injury; DJ and mixshow pioneer Mr. Magic died of a heart attack in October; Mike Beck, a member of Fat Joe's K.A.R. crew, was gunned down in Brooklyn right before Halloween; in December, Charlie Murphy's wife passed away from breast cancer; right before Christmas actress Brittany Murphy died after going into full cardiac arrest at her home in Los Angeles. She was just 32; and days ago, the original DJ for 90s hip-hop duo Organized Konfusion, DJ Omega Supreme, died of cancer.

With all the losses of the year. Michael Jackson's shocking death was by far the biggest and most talked about. The King of Pop passed away in June after going into cardiac arrest at his home in Holmby Hills. He was 50 years old. His death was such big news, it shut down the Internet.

So, with that, here's to all the people we lost this year. May they rest in peace.

There you have it, the biggest moments of 2009. There were several other moments that we could've included -- such as the Chris Brown/Rihanna fight, Joe Budden's run-in with Raekwon at Rock The Bells, the H1N1 virius -- but we decided to keep it short and sweet.

May everyone have a Happy New Years, and a properous and happy 2010! Cheers!