2010s

From left, clockwise: Anti-government protests called the Arab Spring arose in 2010–11, and as a result, many governments were overthrown, including when Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed.; Crimea is annexed by Russia in 2014; ISIS/ISIL perpetrates terrorist attacks and captures territory in Syria and Iraq; climate change awareness and the Paris Agreement; the first image of a black hole was released in 2019; Obergefell v. Hodges legalizes same-sex marriage in the United States in 2015; increasing use of digital and mobile technologies; the UK votes to leave the EU in 2016.

The 2010s (pronounced "twenty-tens", shortened to "the '10s", also known as The Tens or The Teens^[1][2]) was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on 1 January 2010, and ended on 31 December 2019.

The decade began amid a global financial crisis and subsequent international recession dating from the late 2000s. The resulting European sovereign-debt crisis became more pronounced early in the decade and continued to affect the possibility of a global economic recovery. Economic issues, such as austerity, inflation, and an increase in commodity prices, led to unrest in many countries, including the 15-M and Occupy movements. Unrest in some countries—particularly in the Arab world—evolved into socioeconomic crises triggering revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, and Bahrain as well as civil wars in Libya, Syria, and Yemen in a regional phenomenon commonly referred to as the Arab Spring. Shifting social attitudes saw LGBT rights and female representation make substantial progress during the decade, particularly in the West.

The United States continued to retain its global superpower status while China, along with launching vast economic initiatives and military reforms, sought to expand its influence in the South China Sea and in Africa, solidifying its position as an emerging global superpower; global competition between China and the U.S. coalesced into a "containment" effort and a trade war. Elsewhere in Asia, the Koreas improved their relations after a prolonged crisis and the War on Terror continued as Osama bin Laden was assassinated by U.S. forces in a raid on his compound in Pakistan as a part of the U.S.'s continued military involvement in many parts of the world. The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant extremist organisation in 2014 erased the borders between Syria and Iraq, resulting in a multinational intervention that also saw the demise of its leader. In Africa, South Sudan broke away from Sudan, and mass protests and various coups d'état saw longtime strongmen deposed. In the U.S., celebrity businessman Donald Trump was elected president amid an international wave of populism and neo-nationalism. The European Union experienced a migrant crisis in the middle of the decade and the historic United Kingdom EU membership referendum followed by withdrawal negotiations during its later years. Russia attempted to assert itself in international affairs, annexing Crimea in 2014.

Information technology progressed, with smartphones becoming widespread. The Internet of things saw substantial growth during the 2010s due to advancements in wireless networking devices, mobile telephony, and cloud computing. Advancements in data processing and the rollout of 4G broadband allowed data and information to disperse among domains at paces never before seen while online resources such as social media facilitated phenomena such as the Me Too movement and the rise of slacktivism, and online call-out culture. Online nonprofit organisation WikiLeaks gained international attention for publishing classified information on topics including Guantánamo Bay, Syria, the Afghan and Iraq wars, and United States diplomacy. Edward Snowden blew the whistle on global surveillance, raising awareness on the role governments and private entities have in mass surveillance and information privacy.

Global warming became increasingly noticeable through new record temperatures in different years and extreme weather events on all continents. The CO₂ concentration rose from 390 to 410 PPM over the decade. At the same time, combating pollution and climate change continued to be major concerns, as protests, initiatives, and legislation garnered substantial media attention. Particularly, the Paris Agreement (2015) was adopted and a global climate youth movement was formed. Major natural disasters included the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the Nepal earthquake of 2015, the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami, and the devastating hurricanes Irene, Washi (Sendong), Sandy, Bopha (Pablo), Haiyan (Yolanda), Harvey, Irma, Maria, Florence, Michael, Idai, and Dorian.

Superhero films (most notably the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and animated films became box office leaders in the decade's cinema industry. Cable providers saw a decline in subscriber numbers as cord cutters switched to lower cost online streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and Disney+. Globalism and an increased demand for variety and personalisation in the face of music streaming services such as Spotify, SoundCloud and Apple Music created many subgenres. Dance, hip-hop, and pop music surged into the 2010s, with EDM achieving mass commercial success. Digital music sales topped CD sales in 2012. The video game industry continued to be dominated by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft; Minecraft became the best-selling game of all time. The best-selling book of this decade was Fifty Shades of Grey.

Politics and conflicts[]

Major conflicts[]

The prominent wars of the decade include:

International wars[]

The war-torn ruins of Donetsk International Airport in late December 2014

In red: the area controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) proto-state in December 2014

Devastation in Mosul's old city after recapture from ISIL in 2017

Civil wars[]

French Rafale fighter jets operating over Mali in 2013 during the Northern Mali Conflict

Peshmerga T-55 tank outside Kirkuk on 19 June 2014. Iraqi Kurdistan played a significant role in combatting ISIL during the Iraqi Civil War

Saudi and Emirati soldiers in Yemen, June 2016. Saudi Arabia intervened in the Yemeni Civil War in 2015

Revolutions and major protests[]

Successful revolutions and otherwise major protests of the decade include, but are not limited to:

Event	Date	Country	hideEvents
Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010	6 April 2010 – 14 December 2010		Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev fled Bishkek amid fierce anti-government riots as the opposition seized control.	[90]
Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy movement	17 September 2011 – c. 2013		Hundreds of protesters marched into the financial district of Wall Street in New York City, beginning the Occupy Wall Street movement.	[91]
Rojava revolution	19 July 2012 – ongoing		A sub-conflict of the Syrian Civil War.
Euromaidan and the 2014 Ukrainian revolution	21 November 2013 – 23 February 2014		Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country following violent protests in the capital, Kyiv. The opposition-controlled Verkhovna Rada voted to remove him as president.	[92]
Abkhazian Revolution	27 May 2014 – 1 June 2014		In a quick turn of events, the President of the breakway republic, Alexander Ankvab, was ousted from power after the government building was stormed.[93]
2014 Burkinabé uprising	28 October 2014 – 3 November 2014
2015–16 protests in Brazil	15 March 2015 – 31 July 2016		In 2015 and 2016, a series of protests in Brazil denounced government corruption and the presidency of Dilma Rousseff, being the largest popular mobilisations in the country since the beginning of the "New Republic".	[94]
Burundian unrest (2015–2018)	26 April 2015 – 17 May 2018		Burundi faces unrest as President Pierre Nkurunziza sought a third term in office, resulting in hundreds killed and thousands more fleeing the country.	[95]
2018–19 Gaza border protests	30 March 2018 – 27 December 2019		Protests against the Blockade of the Gaza Strip, with 183 protesters killed.[96]
2018 Armenian revolution	31 March 2018 – 8 May 2018		Various political and civil groups led by member of parliament Nikol Pashinyan staged anti-government protests in Armenia. Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan resigned on 23 April 2018. Nikol Pashinyan was elected Prime Minister on 8 May 2018.	[97][98]
2018 Bangladesh road-safety protests	29 July 2018 – 1 September 2018		Nation-wide protests mainly by students after reckless driving caused deaths of two high school students.	[99][100]
Yellow vests movement	17 November 2018 – ongoing		France experiences its worst civil unrest since the protests of 1968 due to the yellow vests movement. Protests in Paris morph into riots, with hundreds of people injured and thousands arrested. Over 100 cars are burned and numerous tourist sites are closed.	[101]
Sudanese Revolution	19 December 2018 – 12 September 2019		Amid mass protests, Omar al-Bashir is deposed as President of Sudan in a coup d'état, after nearly 30 years in office.	[102]
2019–20 Hong Kong protests	9 June 2019 – 2020		Mass protests take place in Hong Kong against an extradition bill that many observed would subject Hong Kong residents and those passing through the city to de facto jurisdiction of Chinese Communist Party courts. Despite Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announcing the bill to be "dead" after weeks of mass protests, waves of localised demonstrations continued, some resulting in violent clashes between police, pro-democracy activists, local residents, and Triad members.	[103][104]
2019 Ecuadorian protests	3 October 2019 – 14 October 2019		On 3 October 2019, taxi, bus and truck drivers came out in protest against the planned fuel subsidy abolition and austerity measures announced by President Lenín Moreno. The government seat was relocated from Quito to Guayaquil and a state of emergency was declared following violent protests.	[105]
2019 Chilean protests	14 October 2019 – ongoing		On 14 October 2019, a period of mass protests and violent unrest began in Chile. The protests were initially in response to a fare hike on the Santiago Metro, but the scope of the protestors' demands has since expanded.	[106]
2019 Bolivian protests	21 October 2019 – 21 November 2019		Following a disputed election, protests forced Evo Morales, the president since 2006, to resign and flee to Mexico.[107] The new president, Jeanine Áñez, continued to face opposition from pro-Morales protestors.[108]

Concerns over social and economic inequality, greed, corruption and the influence of corporations on government led to the rise of the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011

The 2014 Hong Kong protests

Algerian protesters gather during the 2019 "Smile Revolution"

Arab Spring[]

The Arab Spring was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Islamic world in the early 2010s. It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, starting with protests in Tunisia.^[109][110] In the news, social media has been heralded as the driving force behind the swift spread of revolution throughout the world, as new protests appear in response to success stories shared from those taking place in other countries. In many countries, the governments have also recognised the importance of social media for organising and have shut down certain sites or blocked Internet service entirely, especially in the times preceding a major rally.^[111] Governments have also scrutinised or suppressed discussion in those forums through accusing content creators of unrelated crimes or shutting down communication on specific sites or groups, such as through Facebook.^[112]

The Arab Spring saw mass unrest in the Arab world early in the decade:   Government overthrown multiple times   Government overthrown   Civil war   Protests and governmental changes   Major protests   Minor protests   Other protests and militant action outside the Arab world

Protesters in Tahrir Square during the Egyptian revolution of 2011.

Anti-Ghaddafi fighters celebrate during the Libyan Civil War.

Territorial changes of the Syrian Civil War, October 2011 – March 2019.

Nuclear proliferation[]

P5+1 and Iranian negotiators meeting in Geneva for the interim agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme (2013)

• On 8 April 2010, the United States and Russia signed a treaty in Prague, Czech Republic agreed to reduce the stockpiles of their nuclear weapons by half. It is meant to replace the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), which was set to expire.^[123] The treaty went into force on 5 February 2011 after it was ratified by both nations.^[124]
• In 2015, Iran and other world powers agreed to trade sanctions relief for explicit constraints on Iran's contentious nuclear program, including allowing the inspections of nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).^[125] On 16 January 2016 the IAEA confirmed that Iran had complied with the agreement (the JCPOA), allowing the United Nations to lift sanctions immediately.^[126][127] However, on 8 May 2018, United States President Donald Trump announced the United States was withdrawing from the deal.^[128]
• On 7 July 2017, the United Nations passed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, with the goal of leading towards their total elimination.^[129][130] It has been signed by 58 nations.^[131]
• Throughout the decade, North Korea expanded its nuclear capabilities, performing alleged nuclear tests in 2013^[132] and 2016,^[133] which governments responded by placing international sanctions on the country.^[134][135] In response North Korea has threatened the United States, South Korea and Japan with pre-emptive nuclear strikes.^[136] However, in 2018, North Korea suggested that they may disarm their nuclear arsenal after negotiations with the United States.
• On 1 February 2019, The US formally suspended the Russo-American Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF),^[137] and Russia did the same on the following day in response. The US formally withdrew from the treaty on 2 August 2019.^[138]
• The United States initiated a renovation of its nuclear weapon arsenal.

Terrorist attacks[]

Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon on 15 April 2013.

Montage of the November 2015 Paris attacks. Islamic terrorism in Europe spiked following the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in 2014.

The ruins of buildings destroyed in the 14 October 2017 Mogadishu bombings, which killed over 500 people.

The most prominent terrorist attacks committed against civilian populations during the decade include, but are not limited to:

Event	Date	Country	Deaths	Injuries	hideRef.
2010 Lakki Marwat suicide bombing	1 January 2010		105	100+	[139]
2010 Moscow Metro bombings	29 March 2010		40	102	[140]
2011 Mumbai bombings	13 July 2011		26	130+	[141]
2011 Norway attacks	22 July 2011		77	319+	[142]
2011 Mogadishu bombing	4 October 2011		100	110+	[143]
Boston Marathon bombing	15 April 2013		3	264	[144]
Zamboanga City siege	9 September 2013		220	70	[145]
Westgate shopping mall attack	21 September 2013		67	175	[146]
2014 Kunming attack	1 March 2014		35	143
May 2014 Ürümqi attack	22 May 2014		43	90
Camp Speicher massacre	12 June 2014		1,566	–	[147]
2014 Sydney hostage crisis	15 December 2014		3	18	[148]
2014 Peshawar school massacre	16 December 2014		148	114	[149]
2015 Baga massacre	3–7 January 2015		150+	–	[150]
January 2015 Île-de-France attacks	7–9 January 2015		20	22	[151]
2015 Sana'a mosque bombings	20 March 2015		142	351	[152]
Garissa University College attack	2 April 2015		152	79	[153]
2015 Ramadan attacks	26 June 2015	Various	403	336+	[154]
2015 Beirut bombings	12 November 2015		43	240	[155]
2015 Ankara bombings	10 October 2015		109	400+	[156]
2015 Metrojet crash	31 October 2015		224	–	[157]
November 2015 Paris attacks	13 November 2015		131	413	[158]
2015 San Bernardino attack	2 December 2015		14	22	[159]
2016 Brussels bombings	22 March 2016		35	300+	[160]
Orlando nightclub shooting	12 June 2016		49	53	[161]
2016 Istanbul airport attack	28 June 2016		45	236	[162]
July 2016 Baghdad bombings	3 July 2016		340	246	[163]
2016 Nice truck attack	14 July 2016		87	434	[164]
2016 Berlin truck attack	19 December 2016		12	56	[165]
Istanbul nightclub shooting	1 January 2017		39	70	[166]
2017 Westminster attack	22 March 2017		6	49	[167]
2017 St. Petersburg Metro bombing	3 April 2017		15	64	[168]
2017 Stockholm truck attack	7 April 2017		5	14	[169]
2017 Camp Shaheen attack	21 April 2017		140+	160+	[170]
Manchester Arena bombing	22 May 2017		22	59	[171]
2017 London Bridge attack	3 June 2017		11	48	[172]
2017 Barcelona attacks	17–18 August 2017		16	152	[173]
14 October 2017 Mogadishu bombings	14 October 2017		587	316	[174]
2017 New York City truck attack	31 October 2017		8	12	[175]
2017 Sinai mosque attack	24 November 2017		311	122	[176]
2018 Strasbourg attack	11 December 2018		5	11	[177]
Christchurch mosque shooting	15 March 2019		51	49	[178]
2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings	21 April 2019		269	500+	[179]
2019 El Paso shooting	3 August 2019		22	24	[180]
December 2019 Mogadishu bombing	28 December 2019		85	140+	[181]

Political trends[]

International relations[]

BRICS, a supranational economic cooperative comprising five major emerging national economies—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—grew to represent over 3.1 billion people, or about 41 percent of the world population by 2015.

China was increasingly called a superpower in the early 2010s, including at the 2011 meeting between President Hu Jintao and United States President Barack Obama. China overtook the U.S. as the world's largest trading nation, filing the most patents, expanding its military, landing its lunar rover Yutu on the moon (ending a four-decade lack of lunar exploration) and creating China's Oriental Movie Metropolis as a major film and cultural centre. In 2018, global military spending reached the highest it has been since 1988, late Cold War levels, largely fuelled by increased defence spending by China and the United States, whose budgets together accounted for half of the world's total military spending.^[182] In 2019, the Lowy Institute Asia Power Index, which measures the projections of power in the Indo-Pacific, called both China and the United States the superpowers of the 21st century, citing immense influence in almost all eight indexes of power.^[183]

Along with China, a Vladimir Putin-led Russia also steadily increased its defence spending and continued to modernise its military capabilities throughout the decade, including the development of the T-14 Armata main battle tank and the fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 jet fighter. Russia also flexed its power projection capabilities, particularly demonstrated during the 2014 annexation of Crimea and its interventions in eastern Ukraine and the Syrian Civil War; Wagner Group had a significant presence in both conflicts. Russia also notably waged information warfare campaigns against its geopolitical foes, including interfering in the 2016 U.S. elections via hacking and leaking emails of U.S. political party leadership and by spreading disinformation via the Internet Research Agency. Other alleged Russian intelligence operations included the Skripal poisonings and the Montenegrin coup plot, both of which were attributed by some to the Unit 29155 organisation. Collectively, these activities—and the Western-led efforts to combat the influence of Russian oligarchs and political interests—have been referred to as the Second Cold War.

The European Union went through several crises. The European debt crisis caused severe economic problems to several eurozone member states, most severely Greece. The 2015 migration crisis led to several million people entering the EU illegally in a short period of time. There was a significant rise in the vote shares of several eurosceptic parties, including the League in Italy, Alternative for Germany, and the Finns Party in Finland. As a result of a referendum, the United Kingdom became the first member state in the EU's history to initiate proceedings for leaving the Union.

Western polarisation[]

Socio-political polarisation increased as conservatives and social liberals clashed over the role and size of government and other social, economic and environmental issues in the West. In the United States, polls showed a divided electorate regarding healthcare reform, immigration, gun rights, taxation, job creation, and debt reduction.^[184] In Europe, movements protesting increasing numbers of refugees and migrants from Islamic countries developed, such as the English Defence League and Pegida.^[185][186] The trend of polarisation in the West was partially influenced by the prevalence of identity politics, both left-wing and right-wing, among activist movements.^[187] Beginning around 2011, far-left and progressive concepts such as combating social inequality and economic inequality, often via progressive stack tactics, proliferated in the Western world and elsewhere.^{[188][189][190]} Around the middle of the decade, phenoms such as white nationalism, identitarianism and emboldened feelings of nativism saw a marked reemergence in the West due to drastically increased migration and corresponding crime and amongst both the right and left general disatistcation with Western government and Media responses to certain issues.^[191] There were also increased calls for egalitarianism, including between the sexes,^[192] and some scholars assert that a fourth wave of feminism began around 2012, with a primary focus on intersectionality.^[193][194]

Antiestablishment politics[]

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and United States President Donald Trump in 2019. Both leaders are emblematic of a wave of neo-nationalist and globalisation-weary conservative populism in the second half of the decade.

Populism in politics saw a widespread surge throughout the decade, with many politicians and various political movements expressing populist sentiments and utilising populist rhetoric.^[195][196] This included conservative wave phenomenon in Latin America and neo-nationalist fervor in Europe and North America. The 2019 European Parliament election saw the highest voter turnout in two decades and saw relatively moderate centre-right and centre-left parties suffer significant losses to less moderate far-right, environmentalist, and both pro-EU and eurosceptic parties, who made notable gains.^[197] Notable examples of 2010s populist movements included the Tea Party movement,^[198] Occupy Wall Street,^[199] Brexit,^[200] Black Lives Matter,^[201] and the alt-right.^[202][203] Examples of populist country leaders were just as extensive, with Donald Trump,^[204] Narendra Modi,^[205] Andrés Manuel López Obrador,^[206] Hugo Chávez,^[207] Matteo Salvini,^[208] Jair Bolsonaro,^[209] Rodrigo Duterte,^[210] Boris Johnson and others, left and right-wing, described as such.

Related to the rise of populism and protests movements was the decline of traditional political parties. In Europe, pasokification described the loss of vote share experienced by traditional centre-left or social democratic parties. In France, specifically, the collapse of traditional parties was especially notable, with Emmanuel Macron's La République En Marche! winning a majority in its first election in 2017.

Centre-left, neoliberal and traditional social democratic parties often lost their vote share to more socialist or democratic socialist alternatives, especially in Europe. This happened most completely in Greece, where PASOK was replaced by Syriza as the main left-wing party. Other far-left parties which rose in prominence included Podemos in Spain and La France Insoumise in France. In the two-party systems of the English-speaking world, these challenges mainly came from within the established parties of the left, with Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Party and Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Party pushing for more left-wing policies.

The political establishment was also challenged in many countries by protest movements, often organised through new social media platforms. These included the various Arab Spring protests, the Occupy movement, and the yellow vests movement.

Democracy and authoritarianism[]

Xi Jinping became China's leader for life in 2018.

Countries which democratised fully or partially during the decade included Angola, which reformed under João Lourenço;^[211] Armenia, which went through a revolution;^[211][212] Ecuador, which reformed under Lenín Moreno;^[211] Ethiopia;^[211][212] and Malaysia, where the ruling party lost the first election since independence.^[211][213]

Long-term dictators ousted from power included Muammar Gaddafi of Libya (after 42 years),^[214] Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe (37 years),^[215] Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen (33 years),^[216] Omar al-Bashir of Sudan (30 years),^[217] Hosni Mubarak of Egypt (29 years),^[218] and Ben Ali of Tunisia (23 years).^[219]

Democratic backsliding occurred in countries such as Hungary,^[220] Venezuela,^[221] and Turkey.^[222]

The Arab Winter refers to the resurgence of authoritarianism, absolute monarchies and Islamic extremism^[223] evolving in the aftermath of the Arab Spring protests in Arab countries.^[224] The term "Arab Winter" refers to the events across Arab League countries in the Mid-East and North Africa, including the Syrian Civil War,^[225][226] the Iraqi insurgency and the following civil war,^[227] the Egyptian Crisis,^[228] the Libyan Crisis and the Crisis in Yemen.^[229] Events referred to as the Arab Winter include those in Egypt that led to the removal of Mohamed Morsi and the seizure of power by General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in an anti-Muslim Brotherhood campaign.^[230]

In 2018, China's National People's Congress approves a constitutional change that removes term limits for its leaders, granting Xi Jinping the status of "leader for life". Xi is the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (de facto leader).

Deaths[]

Sitting world leaders such as Hugo Chávez, Muammar Gaddafi, Kim Jong-il, Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Lech Kaczyński, Islam Karimov and Tunisia's first freely elected president, Beji Caid Essebsi, all died in office, as did former leaders Fidel Castro, Lee Kuan Yew, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, Robert Mugabe, Giulio Andreotti, Francesco Cossiga, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Jacques Chirac, Helmut Schmidt, Helmut Kohl, Mohamed Morsi, Ariel Sharon, Shimon Peres, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Václav Havel, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, B. J. Habibie, Yasuhiro Nakasone, Alan García, Jorge Rafael Videla, Néstor Kirchner, Fernando de la Rúa, Patricio Aylwin, Itamar Franco, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and George H. W. Bush.

Prominent political events[]

Coups[]

Coups d'état against ruling governments during the decade include:

Event	Date	Country	hideRef.
Nigerien coup d'état	18 February 2010		[231]
Malian coup d'état	21 March 2012		[232]
Guinea-Bissau coup d'état	12 April 2012		[233]
Egyptian coup d'état	3 July 2013		[234]
Thai coup d'état	22 May 2014		[235]
Yemeni coup d'état	21 September 2014		[236]
Turkish coup d'état attempt	15 July 2016		[237]
Zimbabwean coup d'état	14 November 2017		[238]
Gabon coup d'état attempt	7 January 2019		[239]
Sudanese coup d'état	11 April 2019		[240]
Amhara coup d'état attempt	22 June 2019		[241]

The following tables of events is listed by the region and by chronological order. The prominent political events include, but are not limited to:

Africa[]

Event	Country	Date	Description	hideReferences
2011 South Sudanese independence referendum		9 July 2011	A referendum was held in Southern Sudan on whether the region should remain part of Sudan. An overwhelming majority voted in favour of separation and formed the new country of South Sudan.	[242]
Death of Nelson Mandela		5 December 2013	Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid activist and President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, died.	[243]
2014 Tunisian presidential election		21 November 2014	Beji Caid Essebsi won the first regular presidential election following the Tunisian Revolution against outgoing president Moncef Marzouki. He became Tunisia's fifth president and first freely elected head of state in the Arab world.	[244]
2015 Nigerian general election		29 March 2015	Muhammadu Buhari was elected President of Nigeria, the first time the opposition ever won an election against an incumbent and the first ever peaceful transfer of power in the country.	[245]
2016 Gambian presidential election		1 December 2016	Adama Barrow was elected President of The Gambia, defeating long-time President Yahya Jammeh and ending more than 22 years of authoritarian rule.	[246]
Resignation of Jacob Zuma		14 February 2018	Jacob Zuma resigns as President of South Africa, after nine years in power.	[247]
Resignation of Abdelaziz Bouteflika		2 April 2019	Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigns as President of Algeria amid widespread protests, after nearly two decades in office.	[102]
Khartoum massacre		3 June 2019	Security forces of the Transitional Military Council, the military junta ruling Sudan following the ousting of Omar al-Bashir, massacre over 100 people at a sit-in protest amid mass protests in Khartoum. The massacre prompts the African Union to suspend Sudan's participation until civilian rule is reestablished in the country.	[248][249]
2019 Tunisian presidential election		13 October 2019	Conservative academic Kais Saied wins more than 70% of the votes, defeating businessman Nabil Karoui. He became Tunisia's sixth president and second freely elected head of state in the Arab world.	[250]

Americas[]

Event	Country	Date	Description	hideReferences
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act		23 March 2010	President Barack Obama signs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, marking a major reform of the U.S. health insurance and health care systems.	[251]
2010 Brazilian presidential election		31 October 2010	Dilma Rousseff was elected as the first female President of Brazil.	[252]
2010 Midterm elections and Tea Party movement		2 November 2010	The Republicans become the dominant party with a majority of the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and gain seats in the U.S. Senate. This was seen as due to a tide of Libertarian support amongst the U.S. populace exemplified in the Tea Party.	[253]
2011 Canadian federal election		2 May 2011	Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, is re-elected in Canada's federal election, with a majority government.	[254]
2011 Argentine general election		23 October 2011	Front for Victory candidate and President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner wins a second term as President of Argentina, defeating Socialist candidate Hermes Binner by 54% of votes.	[255]
Impeachment of Fernando Lugo		22 June 2012	On 21 June the Chamber of Deputies voted 76 to 1 to impeach Lugo, and the Senate removed him from office the following day, by 39 votes to 4, resulting in Vice President Federico Franco, who had broken with Lugo, becoming president.	[256]
2012 Mexican general election		1 July 2012	Enrique Peña Nieto won the Mexican general election, bringing the Institutional Revolutionary Party back to prominence for the first time since 2000.	[257]
2012 United States presidential election		6 November 2012	Barack Obama was re-elected President of the United States, defeating Republican nominee Mitt Romney.	[258]
Death of Hugo Chávez		5 March 2013	Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez died at the age of 58 after governing the country for 14 years.	[259]
Obergefell v. Hodges		26 June 2015	Same-sex marriage was legalised in all 50 U.S. states due to a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States.	[260]
2015 Canadian federal election		19 October 2015	The Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau, won Canada's federal election, defeating the Conservative Party in the country's longest election in a century.	[261]
2015 Argentine general election		22 November 2015	Cambiemos candidate and Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri became the President of Argentina, defeating Front for Victory candidate Daniel Scioli via ballotage by 51% of votes
2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election		6 December 2015	The Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) won majority seats of the Venezuelan National Assembly, defeating the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and its wider alliance, the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP) for the first time since 1999.	[262]
Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff		12 May 2016	The Brazilian Senate votes to open the impeachment process against President Dilma Rousseff and suspend her from office while the trial takes place, as the Vice President, Michel Temer, assumes the presidential powers and duties as Acting President of Brazil.	[263]
2016 United States presidential election		8 November 2016	Republican nominee Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States, defeating former U.S. Secretary of State and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. He became the first President without prior diplomatic or military experience.	[264][265]
Death of Fidel Castro		25 November 2016	Former First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and revolutionary leader Fidel Castro died at the age of 90.	[266]
2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis		29 March 2017	The Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela took over legislative powers of the National Assembly and removed its members' immunity, most of whom belonged to the opposition. The decision was reversed a few days later following domestic and international condemnation of the court's actions.	[267]
Inauguration of Miguel Díaz-Canel		19 April 2018	Miguel Díaz-Canel is sworn in as President of the State Council of Cuba, marking the first time since 1959 that Cuba has had a prime minister or a president other than Fidel or Raúl Castro.
2018 Mexican general election		1 July 2018	Andrés Manuel López Obrador won the historic Mexican general election, bringing the National Regeneration Movement for new prominence for the first time without any political rule like Institutional Revolutionary Party and National Action Party.
2018 Brazilian general election		28 October 2018	Jair Bolsonaro was elected President of Brazil, marking the first time that the country is ruled by the right since the start of the New Republic in 1985. The election also interrupted 4 victories of the Workers' Party in a row.	[268]
Venezuelan presidential crisis		10 January 2019	On 10 January 2019, the opposition-majority National Assembly declared that incumbent Nicolás Maduro's 2018 reelection was invalid and declared its president, Juan Guaidó, to be acting president of the nation. Maduro's government states that the crisis is a "coup d'état led by the United States to topple him and control the country's oil reserves."	[citation needed]
2019 Peruvian constitutional crisis		30 September 2019	On 30 September 2019, President Martín Vizcarra dissolved the Congress of Peru on 30 September 2019. Congress responded by declaring Vizcarra's presidency suspended and appointed Vice President Mercedes Aráoz as interim president, moves that were largely seen as null and void.	[269]
2019 Canadian federal election		21 October 2019	Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party, is re-elected in Canada's federal election, albeit with a minority government.	[270]
2019 Argentine general election		27 October 2019	Peronist candidate Alberto Fernández of Frente de Todos is elected President of Argentina, defeating President Mauricio Macri of Juntos por el Cambio by 48% of votes.
2019 Bolivian political crisis		10 November 2019	Bolivian president Evo Morales resigns following 19 days of protests after the disputed 2019 Bolivian general election and following calls for his resignation by the military.	[271]
Impeachment of Donald Trump		18 December 2019	United States president Donald Trump is impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.	[272]

Miguel Díaz-Canel (left) with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2015. Díaz-Canel became the first president of Cuba not to be of the Castro family since Osvaldo Dorticós

Donald Trump, former media personality, reality-TV celebrity and businessman, became president of the United States in 2017.

Asia[]

Event	Country	Date	Description	hideReferences
2010 Myanmar general election		7 November 2010	Thein Sein was elected President of Myanmar, the first civilian President of the country since 1962.	[273]
Death of Kim Jong-il		17 December 2011	Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il of North Korea died after governing the country for 17 years. His son, Kim Jong-un, succeeded him.	[274]
2012 Japanese general election		26 December 2012	The Liberal Democratic Party, led by Shinzō Abe, won a landslide victory in Japan's general election.	[275]
North Korea and weapons of mass destruction		11 March 2013	The Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un of North Korea broke all peace pacts with South Korea and started a new nuclear weapons plan, inflaming tensions on the Korean Peninsula.	[276]
2014 Indian general election		12 May 2014	The Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Narendra Modi, won a landslide victory in India's general election, the first time a single party gained a majority on its own since 1984.	[277]
2014 Indonesian presidential election		9 July 2014	Joko Widodo won Indonesia's presidential election, becoming the first president not to be from the country's political elite or military.	[278]
Pope Francis's visit to the Philippines		18 January 2015	An estimated 6 to 7 million attended the Concluding Eucharistic Celebration in Manila on the Feast Day of Santo Niño de Cebú, ending the 5-day apostolic and state visit of Pope Francis in the Philippines, the largest papal crowd in history.	[279]
Death of King Abdullah		23 January 2015	Abdullah, the King of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2015, died and was succeeded by King Salman.	[280]
Death of Lee Kuan Yew		23 March 2015	Founding Prime Minister of Singapore who ruled from 1959 to 1990, highly regarded as the founding father of the nation, died from pneumonia at the age of 91.	[281]
India–Bangladesh enclaves		6 June 2015	India and Bangladesh officially ratified their 1974 agreement to exchange enclaves along their border.	[282]
2016 Taiwanese general election		16 January 2016	Tsai Ing-wen was elected President of Taiwan, the first woman to hold the position.	[283]
2016 Philippine presidential election		9 May 2016	Rodrigo Duterte was elected President of the Philippines.	[284]
Death of Bhumibol Adulyadej		13 October 2016	Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand from 1946 to 2016, died and was succeeded by his son, Vajiralongkorn.	[285]
Impeachment of Park Geun-hye		10 March 2017	South Korean President Park Geun-hye is impeached by the Constitutional Court of Korea in a unanimous decision, terminating Park's presidency. South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn assumes power following the ruling.	[286]
2017 South Korean presidential election		9 May 2017	Moon Jae-in was elected the 12th President of South Korea, originally scheduled to take place later in the year, the election was moved to early May following the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.	[287]
2018 Malaysian general election		9 May 2018	The opposition-led Pakatan Harapan coalition, led by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, secures a parliamentary majority in the Malaysian Parliament, ending the 61-year rule of the Barisan Nasional coalition and leading to the pardon of Anwar Ibrahim.	[288][289]
2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit		12 June 2018	United States President and North Korea's Supreme Leader, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, formally meet, the first time any leader of their respective countries met.	[290]
Abdication of Muhammad V of Kelantan		6 January 2019	Muhammad V of Kelantan abdicates the federal throne as the 15th monarch of Malaysia, making him the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong to do so.	[291]
2019 North Korea–United States Hanoi Summit		27–28 February 2019	United States President and North Korea's Supreme Leader, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, formally meet, the second time any leader of their respective countries met.	[292]
Kim–Putin meetings		25 April 2019	North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Russky Island after being invited to hold talks.	[293]
Abdication of Akihito		30 April 2019	Akihito, the Emperor of Japan from 1989 to 2019, abdicated and was succeeded by his son, Naruhito.	[294]
2019–20 Persian Gulf crisis		5 May 2019	The Persian Gulf region saw tensions between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran escalate in mid-2019. The crisis saw oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz sabotaged and seized, drone shootdowns, and efforts by the U.S. and United Kingdom to pursue military patrols to protect shipping in the gulf.	[295]
2019 Koreas–United States DMZ Summit		30 June 2019	United States President, North Korea's Supreme Leader and South Korea's President, Donald Trump, Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in, formally meet at an impromptu summit at the Korean Demilitarised Zone. The summit saw the first time a sitting U.S. president stepped into North Korea since the Korean War.

In 2013, China launched the ambitious Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, with over 150 countries announcing participation by the end of the decade.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump meet during the first North Korea–United States summit in Singapore, June 2018

Women to drive movement: Women's rights in Saudi Arabia made progress when women were allowed to drive in the kingdom in 2018.

Europe[]

Event	Country	Date	Description	hideReferences
Resignation of Silvio Berlusconi		16 November 2011	The longest-serving Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, resigned in November 2011, after a sexual allegation scandal, a financial crisis and public protests. The economist Mario Monti was appointed new Prime Minister, at the head of a technocratic cabinet.	[296]
Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II		6 February 2012	Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, which marked the 60th anniversary of her accession.	[297]
2012 French presidential election		22 April 2012	François Hollande was elected as the new President of France, becoming the first socialist president of the country in 17 years.	[298]
Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and Papal inauguration of Pope Francis		28 February – 13 March 2013	Benedict XVI resigned as pope, the first to do so since Gregory XII in 1415, and the first to do so voluntarily since Celestine V in 1294. On 13 March, after a papal conclave, Jorge Mario Bergoglio is inaugurated as Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first non-European Pope in over 500 years.	[299][300]
Death of Margaret Thatcher		8 April 2013	Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, died.	[301]
2013 Italian presidential election		20 April 2013	Amid growing financial tensions, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano was re-elected, the first ever Italian president to be re-elected. Napolitano appointed Enrico Letta Prime Minister, at the head of a grand coalition.	[302]
Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation		18 March 2014	Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine following an internationally unrecognised referendum on the status of the region.	[303]
2014 Scottish independence referendum		18 September 2014	In a referendum called by the governing Scottish National Party, Scotland voted to remain in the United Kingdom, with 55.3% of votes against independence while 44.7% voted in favour.	[304][305]
Abdication of Juan Carlos I of Spain		19 June 2014	King Juan Carlos I of Spain abdicated in favour of his son, Felipe VI.	[306]
2015 Irish constitutional referendums		23 May 2015	The Republic of Ireland voted to legalise same-sex marriage, becoming the first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote.	[307]
Adoption of the Paris Agreement		12 December 2015	A historic agreement aimed at keeping global warming below 2 °C compared to pre-industrial levels and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is adopted by all 195 UNFCCC member states.	[308]
2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum		23 June 2016	In a referendum held in the United Kingdom on whether or not to continue being a member of the European Union, 52% of voters chose to leave it. Prime Minister David Cameron announced his resignation afterwards, being succeeded by Theresa May.	[309][310]
2016 Austrian presidential election		4 December 2016	Independent green Alexander Van der Bellen narrowly beat the far-right Freedom Party of Austria candidate Norbert Hofer in a repeat of the 2016 Austrian presidential election after the first election was annulled.	[311]
2017 French presidential election		7 May 2017	En Marche! candidate Emmanuel Macron was elected the President of France, replacing incumbent Hollande and defeating National Front candidate Marine Le Pen in the second round of voting. Macron is the youngest president in the history of the French Fifth Republic.	[312]
Death of Helmut Kohl		16 June 2017	Helmut Kohl, former Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 (of West Germany 1982–1990 and of the reunited Germany 1990–1998), dies at the age of 87.	[313]
2017 Spanish constitutional crisis		6 September 2017	Political conflict sparks between the Spanish and the Catalan governments over the 2017 Catalan independence referendum. It still went ahead, with 91% of voters supporting independence within Catalonia, with unionists and Spain opposing the vote. On 27 October, Catalonia declares independence from Spain but it is not recognised by any sovereign nation, while Madrid imposes direct rule for 6 months.[314]	[315]
2018 Italian general election		4 March 2018	The centre-right alliance, in which the right-wing populist League emerged as the main political force, won a plurality of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate, while the anti-establishment Five Star Movement became the party with the largest number of votes. After months of negotiations, the two populist parties, M5S and League, formed a government.	[316][317]
2018 Russian presidential election		18 March 2018	Presidential elections were held in Russia on 18 March 2018. Incumbent Vladimir Putin won reelection for his second consecutive (fourth overall) term in office with 77% of the vote.	[318]
2019 European Parliament election		23–26 May 2019	The first European Parliamentary election following the European migrant crisis and the vote for Brexit saw large anti-establishment gains by the Greens-European Free Alliance and by Right-Wing Eurosceptic Parties within Identity and Democracy and European Conservatives and Reformists, such as League in Italy, Alternative for Germany, and National Rally in France. Other populist gains were seen in the success of the Brexit Party in the United Kingdom and the Five Star Movement in Italy.	[319]
2019 Conservative Party leadership election		7 June – 22 July 2019	The Conservative Party of the United Kingdom voted for Boris Johnson to be the party's new leader and prime minister following the resignation of Theresa May on 24 May 2019, the party's first contested leadership election since 2005.	[320]
2019 United Kingdom general election		12 December 2019	After an extended period of political deadlock over how to proceed with leaving the European Union an early general election took place in the United Kingdom in which the pro-withdrawal Conservative party won a sizeable majority of seats effectively guaranteeing Brexit would take place in January the following year.	[321]

Pope Francis with U.S. President Barack Obama, 2014

28 February 2014: following the removal of pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych from office, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine

Syrian and Iraqi refugees arriving in Greece. In the 2010s Europe had been severely affected by a huge migration from Africa and Middle East

World leaders[]

2010 – 2011 – 2012 – 2013 – 2014 – 2015 – 2016 – 2017 – 2018 – 2019

Assassinations and attempts[]

Prominent assassinations, targeted killings, and assassination attempts include:

Osama bin Laden

Muammar Gaddafi

Malala Yousafzai

Jamal Khashoggi

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Disasters[]

Non-natural disasters[]

Aviation[]

Event	Date	Country	Description	hideReferences
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409	25 January 2010		Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after take-off from Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport, killing all 90 people on board.	[353]
2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash	10 April 2010		Polish President Lech Kaczyński and dozens of Polish government and military officials were among 96 people killed when their plane crashed near Smolensk, Russia.	[354]
Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771	12 May 2010		Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 crashed on a runway at Tripoli International Airport in Libya, killing all but one of the 104 passengers and crew.	[355]
Air India Express Flight 812	22 May 2010		Air India Express Flight 812 overshot the runway at Mangalore International Airport in India, killing 158 people, with eight surviving.	[356]
Airblue Flight 202	28 July 2010		Airblue Flight 202 en route from Karachi to Islamabad crashed in the Margalla Hills near Islamabad, killing all 152 aboard, becoming the deadliest air crash in Pakistan's history.	[357]
Dana Air Flight 992	3 June 2012		Dana Air Flight 992 crashed in the Nigerian city of Lagos, killing all 153 people aboard. 10 people on the ground also perished.	[358]
Asiana Airlines Flight 214	6 July 2013		Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed at San Francisco airport killing 3 and injuring 181 people.	[359]
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370	8 March 2014		Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The bulk of the plane is still missing, with all 239 people on board presumed dead. The first remains of the aircraft were found on 29 July 2015, after they washed ashore on Réunion Island.	[360][361]
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17	17 July 2014		Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine and crashed near the Ukrainian-Russian border, killing all 298 people on board, making it the deadliest airliner shoot down in history.	[362]
Air Algérie Flight 5017	24 July 2014		Air Algérie Flight 5017 crashed in southern Mali, killing all 116 passengers and crew.	[363]
Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501	28 December 2014		Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crashed in the Java sea after an attempt to avoid heavy thunderstorms, leaving all 162 people dead.	[364]
Germanwings Flight 9525	24 March 2015		Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed in the French Alps, killing all 150 on board.	[365]
2015 Indonesian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules crash	30 June 2015		A Lockheed C-130 Hercules operated by the Indonesian Air Force crashed into a crowded residential neighbourhood in Medan shortly after take-off from Soewondo Air Force Base, killing 143 people including 22 on the ground, making it the deadliest crash in Indonesian Air Force peacetime history.	[366]
Metrojet Flight 9268	31 October 2015		Metrojet Flight 9268, an Airbus A321 airliner en route to Saint Petersburg from Sharm el-Sheikh, crashes near Al-Hasana in Sinai, killing all 224 passengers and crew on board.	[367]
LaMia Flight 2933	29 November 2016		A chartered Avro RJ85 plane carrying 77 people, including the Chapecoense football team, crashes near Medellín, Colombia. Six of the passengers survived. The 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals were suspended, and Atlético Nacional, Chapecoense's to-be opponents, gave them the trophy out of respect.	[368]
2016 Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 crash	25 December 2016		A Tupolev Tu-154 crashes near Sochi, Russia, killing all 92 people on board, including 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble.	[369]
Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3704	18 February 2018		Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3704 crashes in the Zagros Mountains, en route from Tehran to Yasuj. All 65 passengers and crew members perish.	[370]
Cubana de Aviación Flight 972	18 May 2018		Cubana de Aviación Flight 972 crashes shortly after take-off near José Martí International Airport in Havana, killing 112 and leaving only one survivor.	[371]
Lion Air Flight 610	29 October 2018		Lion Air Flight 610 crashes off the coast of Java, with 189 passengers on board.	[372]
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302	10 March 2019		Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 bound for Nairobi, crashes shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa killing all 157 people on board.	[373]
Aeroflot Flight 1492	5 May 2019		Aeroflot Flight 1492 makes a hard landing, causing fire and partial destruction at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, killing 41 of the 78 people on board.	[374]

• 

  On 10 April 2010 a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft of the Polish Air Force crashed in Russia with the Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 other passengers including many senior officials

• 

  For over 15 months it was unclear what exactly happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 until at the end of July 2015 a few remnants of the plane swept to the shores of the island of Réunion

General[]

Event	Date	Country	Description	hideReferences
2010 Copiapó mining accident	13 October 2010		Thirty-three miners near Copiapó, Chile, were trapped 700 metres (2,300 feet) underground in a mining accident in San José Mine, before being rescued after surviving for a record 69 days.	[375]
2013 Savar building collapse	24 April 2013		An eight-story factory building collapsed in the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 1,129 people and injuring over 2,000 more, becoming the deadliest structural failure in history.	[376]
2015 Tianjin explosions	12 August 2015		Two explosions occurred within 30 seconds of each other at a container storage station at the Port of Tianjin in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, China, killing at least 173.	[377]
Mecca crane collapse	11 September 2015		A crane toppled over at Mecca, killing 111 people, weeks before the official Hajj pilgrimage.	[378]
2015 Mina stampede	24 September 2015		A stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, killed at least 2,236 people, making it the deadliest Hajj disaster in history.	[379]
Bento Rodrigues dam disaster	5 November 2015		An iron ore tailings dam in Bento Rodrigues, a subdistrict of Mariana, Brazil, suffered a catastrophic failure, causing flooding and at least 17 deaths. At least 16 people have been injured. This incident has been described as the worst environmental disaster in Brazil's history.	[380][381][382]
Tham Luang cave rescue	23 June – 10 July 2018		Twelve boys and their football coach are rescued from the flooded Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Thailand, following a 17-day ordeal that gained worldwide attention.	[383][384]
Ponte Morandi Collapse	14 August 2018		Part of the Morandi Bridge collapses after a violent storm in Genoa, Italy, causing 43 fatalities. Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio and transport minister Danilo Toninelli blame private company Autostrade per l'Italia.	[385][386]
Tlahuelilpan pipeline explosion	18 January 2019		A gasoline pipeline exploded in the town of Tlahuelilpan, in the Mexican state of Hidalgo. The blast killed at least 135 people and injured dozens more. Mexican authorities blamed fuel thieves, who had illegally tapped the pipeline.	[387]
2019 Xiangshui chemical plant explosion	21 March 2019		A major explosion at a chemical plant in Xiangshui, Jiangsu, China, kills at least 64 people and injures more than 600 others. Its powerful impact registered as an artificial earthquake.	[388]

Fires[]

Event	Date	Country	Description	hideReferences
Comayagua prison fire	14–15 February 2012		A fire at the National Penitentiary in Comayagua, Honduras killed 361 people.	[389][390]
2012 Dhaka garment factory fire	24 November 2012		117 people were confirmed dead in a garment factory fire, and over 200 were injured, making it the deadliest factory fire in the nation's history.
Kiss nightclub fire	27 January 2013		242 people were killed in a fire at a nightclub in Santa Maria, Brazil.	[391]
Colectiv nightclub fire	30 October 2015		64 people were killed in a fire at a nightclub in Bucharest, Romania.
Ghost Ship warehouse fire	2 December 2016		36 were killed in an artists' live-and-work collective in an Oakland, CA accident due to substandard wiring.
Grenfell Tower fire	14 June 2017		A fire ignited by a faulty refrigerator in a London council estate tower block spread to almost the entirety of the building causing 72 deaths and over 70 injuries.	[392][393]
2018 Kemerovo fire	25 March 2018		60 people die in a fire at a shopping and entertainment complex in the Russian city of Kemerovo.	[394]
2018 Valencia, Venezuela fire	28 March 2018		At least 78 people die in a fire in the police headquarters of Valencia, Venezuela.	[395]
National Museum of Brazil fire	2 September 2018		A fire destroys the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. No one was injured, but 90 percent of the collection was destroyed.	[396][397]
February 2019 Dhaka fire	20 February 2019		A major fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh kills at least 78 people.	[398]
Notre-Dame de Paris fire	15 April 2019		A major fire at the Notre-Dame Cathedral destroyed most of its roof, and its upper walls were severely damaged; extensive damage to the interior was prevented by its stone vaulted ceiling, which largely contained the burning roof as it collapsed. 3 injuries were reported, but there were no confirmed deaths.	[399]

• 

  View of Notre-Dame Cathedral on fire as seen from Quai de Montebello in Paris

Marine[]

Event	Date	Country	Description	hideReferences
Costa Concordia disaster	13 January 2012		The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia hit a reef and partially capsized off the coast of Isola del Giglio, Italy, killing 32 people.	[400]
Sinking of MV Sewol	16 April 2014		South Korean ferry MV Sewol capsized while en route to Jeju, killing 295 people, mostly secondary school students from Danwon High School.	[401]
Sinking of Dongfang zhi Xing	1 June 2015		The river cruise ship Dongfang zhi Xing capsized in the Yangtze River after being hit by a waterspout, killing 442 people, making it the deadliest maritime disaster in China's peacetime history.	[402]
Sinking of MV Nyerere	20 September 2018		The MV Nyerere capsizes on Lake Victoria, killing at least 227 passengers.	[403]

Pollution[]

Event	Date	Country	Description	hideReferences
Deepwater Horizon oil spill	20 April 2010		An explosion on BP's Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig, operating in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, left eleven crewmen dead and resulted in a fire that sank the rig and caused a massive oil spill, becoming the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.	[404][405]
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster	11 March 2011		A magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Sendai caused a tsunami that severely damaged the Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini nuclear power plants. The damage resulted in the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster, contaminating the entire area.	[406][407]
Flint water crisis	25 April 2014		The U.S. city of Flint, Michigan's water source was changed from the treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Flint River, where officials had failed to apply corrosion inhibitors. This decision led to the water being contaminated by lead and eventual nationwide outrage about an alleged coverup.	[408][409]

Natural disasters[]

Earthquakes and tsunamis[]

Event	Date	Country	Description	hideReferences
2010 Haiti earthquake	12 January 2010		A 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, causing widespread destruction in Port-au-Prince. Haitian authorities believe that the disaster killed between 200,000 and 250,000 people and over three million more were affected by the quake. The earthquake was the deadliest disaster in the decade.	[410][411]
2010 Chile earthquake	27 February 2010		An 8.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in Chile, triggering a tsunami across the Pacific and killing 497. One of the largest earthquakes in recorded history, this rare megathrust earthquake likely shifted Earth's axis and slightly shortened its days.	[412][413][414]
2010 Baja California earthquake	4 April 2010		A 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Mexicali and Baja, killing three and injuring more than two hundred. US border towns in Imperial Valley, California were affected.	[415]
2010 Yushu earthquake	13 April 2010		A 6.9 magnitude earthquake occurred in western China, killing at least 2,200 and injuring more than 12,000.	[416][417]
February 2011 Christchurch earthquake	22 February 2011		A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 185 people.	[418]
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami	11 March 2011		A 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit near Sendai, Japan. It created a 30 feet (9.1 m) high tsunami, leaving 15,893 dead, 2,565 missing and over 150,000 displaced. It was the largest earthquake to hit Japan in 140 years.	[419][420][421]
2011 Van earthquake	23 October 2011		A 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Turkish city of Van, leaving over 604 dead and thousands more injured.	[422]
April 2015 Nepal earthquake	25 April 2015		A massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal killed at least 8,857 people and injured tens of thousands more. It is the worst disaster to hit Nepal in decades.	[423][424][425]
May 2015 Nepal earthquake	12 May 2015		A second major earthquake hit Nepal, measuring 7.3 on the moment magnitude scale, killing 218 more people.	[426]
2016 Ecuador earthquake	16 April 2016		A 7.8 earthquake struck near Muisne, Ecuador, killing over 673 people and displacing at least 25,000 more.	[427]
August 2016 Central Italy earthquake	24 August 2016		A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck Central Italy near Norcia, 75 km (47 mi) southeast of Perugia and 45 km (28 mi) north of L'Aquila, in an area near the tripoint of the Umbria, Lazio, and Marche regions. At least 299 people were left dead.	[428]
2017 Central Mexico earthquake	19 September 2017		A 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck near the city of Puebla. Coincidentally, it was also the 32nd anniversary of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, which was commemorated with a national seismic alert drill, just two hours before the real earthquake struck, which left 360 dead and over 6,000 injured.	[429]
2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami	28 September 2018		A magnitude 7.5 earthquake hits Sulawesi, Indonesia, causing a tsunami that kills at least 2,256 people and injures more than 540 others.	[430]
2018 Sunda Strait tsunami	22 December 2018		A tsunami hits the Sunda Strait, Indonesia, killing at least 430 people and injuring nearly 1,500.	[431]
2019 Peru earthquake	26 May 2019		An 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck in Loreto Region, Peru, killing 2 people and injures more than 30 others.	[432]
2019 Albania earthquake	26 November 2019		A 6.4 magnitude earthquake hits Albania near the cities of Durrës and Tirana, killing 51 people and injuring over 3,000 others.	[433]

Tropical cyclones[]

Event	Date	Country	Description	hideReferences
Typhoon Megi	18 October 2010		Typhoon Megi, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Juan, hit the Philippines, killing at least 69 and causing US$709 million in damage.	[434]
Hurricane Irene	22 August 2011		Hurricane Irene, the first hurricane and major hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, caused devastation on various islands in the Caribbean and the East Coast of the United States, killing 49 and causing almost $14.2 billion in damages.
Tropical Storm Washi	16 December 2011		Tropical Storm Washi, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Sendong, caused catastrophic damage on the Philippine island of Mindanao. More than 1,000 died and thousands were injured or missing.	[435]
Hurricane Sandy	25 October 2012	Various	Hurricane Sandy caused immense destruction in Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the United States, leaving at least 233 dead. It became the largest Atlantic tropical storm ever.	[436] [437]
Typhoon Bopha	2 December 2012		Typhoon Bopha, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Pablo, struck the Philippines, killing at least 650 people and leaving millions more homeless.	[438]
Typhoon Haiyan	7 November 2013		Typhoon Haiyan, known as Super Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, hits the Philippines, killing at least 6,000 people, with a thousand more still missing, making it the deadliest typhoon to ever hit the Philippines.	[439]
Hurricane Joaquin	28 September 2015 – 7 October 2015		Hurricane Joaquin was a powerful tropical cyclone that devastated several districts of the Bahamas and caused damage in the Turks and Caicos Islands, parts of the Greater Antilles, and Bermuda.	[440]
Typhoon Melor	13 December 2015		Typhoon Melor, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Nona, hits the Philippines, killing 42 and causing $136 million in damages.	[441][442]
Cyclone Winston	20 February 2016		Cyclone Winston struck Fiji, killing 44 people and causing $1.4 billion in damages, making it the costliest tropical cyclone in South Pacific history.	[443]
Hurricane Matthew	28 September 2016 – 9 October 2016		Hurricane Matthew caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Stan in 2005, it caused extensive damage to landmasses in the Greater Antilles, severe damage in several islands of the Bahamas and was responsible for 603 fatalities.	[444]
Hurricane Harvey	23 August 2017		Hurricane Harvey slams into southeastern Texas after reorganising over the Gulf of Mexico, causing catastrophic flooding and billions in damages. It became the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Total damage from the hurricane was estimated at $125 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster ever in the United States, tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina.	[445][446]
Hurricane Irma	30 August 2017 – 16 September 2017		Hurricane Irma, an extremely powerful and catastrophic Cape Verde-type hurricane, the strongest observed in the Atlantic since Wilma in 2005 in terms of maximum sustained winds. It was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record. The storm caused catastrophic damage in Barbuda, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Anguilla, and the Virgin Islands as a Category 5 hurricane.	[447][448]
Hurricane Maria	16 September 2017 – 3 October 2017		Hurricane Maria is regarded as the worst natural disaster on record in Dominica, and caused catastrophic damage and a major humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico. The third costliest Atlantic hurricane to date, it caused catastrophic damage and thousands of fatalities across the northeastern Caribbean, compounding recovery efforts in areas still damaged from Hurricane Irma just two weeks prior.	[449][450]
Typhoon Mangkhut	15 September 2018		Typhoon Mangkhut, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Ompong, hits northern Luzon, triggering deadly landslides and killing at least 95 people.	[451][452]
Hurricane Michael	7 October 2018 – 16 October 2018		Hurricane Michael was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the contiguous United States since Andrew in 1992. In addition, it was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States in terms of pressure, behind the 1935 Labor Day hurricane and Hurricane Camille of 1969. It was the first Category 5 hurricane on record to impact the Florida Panhandle, and was the fourth-strongest landfalling hurricane in the contiguous United States, in terms of wind speed. Michael was responsible for 74 deaths.	[453]
Hurricane Dorian	24 August 2019 – 10 September 2019		Hurricane Dorian was one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in years, and also is tied as the strongest landfalling Atlantic hurricane since the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane. Dorian also became the worst natural disaster in all of the Bahamas' history, killing over 73 people and causing over US$4.68 billion in damage, with US$3.4 billion of damage in The Bahamas alone after the storm stalled over Grand Bahama at incredible Category 5 intensity. The storm also caused 1.2 billion dollars of damage in the United States after making landfall near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.	[454]

Tornadoes[]

Event	Date	Country	Description	hideReferences
2011 Super Outbreak	25–28 April 2011		A tornado outbreak in the United States and Canada killed 324 people across six states. At 360 tornadoes, it was the largest and one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in United States history.	[455]
21–26 May 2011 tornado outbreak sequence	21 May 2011		Another U.S. tornado outbreak took place over six days. 178 people were killed, most of which occurred in Joplin, Missouri after an EF5 tornado swept through the city, killing 158 people and injuring at least 1,150.	[456]
2019 Nepal tornado	31 March 2019		A tornado struck the Bara and Parsa districts of Nepal, killing 28 and injuring 1,176 people. It is the first officially recorded tornado in Nepalese history.	[457]

Floods, avalanches, and mudslides[]

Event	Date	Country	Description	hideReferences
2010 Pakistan floods	July 2010		Flooding occurred in Pakistan after record monsoon rains, killing at least 1,600 people, thousands were rendered homeless, and more than thirteen million people were affected. Estimates from rescue service officials suggest the death toll might have reached 3,000.	[458][459][460]
January 2011 Rio de Janeiro floods and mudslides	11 January 2011		Floods and mudslides killed 903 people across the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.	[461][462]
2013 Alberta floods	19 June 2013		Massive flooding occurred in Alberta, becoming the province's worst flooding in decades.	[463]
2014 Southeast Europe floods	13–27 May 2014		Between 13 and 18 May 2014 a low pressure cyclone designated "Tamara" and "Yvette" affected a large area of Southeastern and Central Europe, causing floods and landslides. Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina suffered the greatest damage as the rain was the heaviest in 120 years of recorded weather measurements. At least 86 people were killed and hundreds of thousands had been forced from their homes. Assessments of damage range up to 3.5 billion euros for Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
2015 Afghanistan avalanches	24 February 2015		An avalanche killed 310 people and wounded over 129 in Panjshir Province, Afghanistan.	[464]
2015 South Indian floods	8 November 2015		Heavy rainfall generated by the annual northeast monsoon affected the Coromandel Coast region of the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. More than 500 people were killed and over 1.8 million people were displaced. With estimates of damages and losses ranging from nearly ₹200 billion (US$3 billion) to over ₹1 trillion (US$14 billion), the floods were the costliest to have occurred in 2015, and were among the costliest natural disasters of the year.	[465]

Volcanic eruptions[]

Event	Date	Country	Description	hideReferences
2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull	20 March 2010		Eruptions of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland caused unprecedented disruption to international air travel, rendering transatlantic flight impossible and closing airways across much of Europe. The event was the largest air traffic shut-down since World War II.	[466]
2010 eruptions of Mount Merapi	Early November 2010		Mount Merapi erupted in Indonesia, killing 353 people and grounding flights across Southeast Asia, becoming the largest eruption from the mountain in a century.
2018 lower Puna eruption	3 May 2018		A lava flow erupted in Hawai'i from Kīlauea's east rift zone, causing much damage and resulting in evacuation orders.
2018 Volcán de Fuego eruption	3 June 2018		Volcán de Fuego erupted in Guatemala, killing at least 190 people, the deadliest eruption in Guatemala since 1929.
2019 Whakaari/White Island eruption	9 December 2019		Whakaari/White Island, an active stratovolcano off the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, erupted, killing 20 people.	[467]

Droughts, heat waves, and wildfires[]

Event	Date	Country	Description	hideReferences
2011–17 California drought	December 2011 – March 2017		The state of California suffered through a water drought for the most part of the decade, affecting the way how Californians showered, use their drinking water, and even some of their electricity.	[468]
2015 Indian heat wave	24 May 2015		A heatwave in Southern India resulted in over 2,500 deaths.	[469]
2015 Pakistani heat wave	20 June 2015		A related heatwave hit neighbouring Pakistan, killing over 2,000 people in Karachi alone.	[469]
2016 Fort McMurray wildfire	1 May 2016		A wildfire began southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. On 3 May, it swept through the community, destroying more than 2,400 homes and buildings and forcing the largest wildfire evacuation in Alberta's history. The wildfire is the costliest disaster in Canadian history.	[470][471]
2018 Camp Fire	8–25 November 2018		A wildfire began in Northern California that eventually became the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history to date. It was also the deadliest wildfire in the United States since the Cloquet fire in 1918, and among the list of deadliest wildfires, it was the sixth-deadliest U.S. wildfire overall, killing 85 people and injuring 17.	[472][473]
2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires	January 2019 – October 2019		The 2019 wildfires season saw an unusual surge in the number of fires occurring in the Amazon rainforest and other parts of the Amazon biome contained within the countries of Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru during the 2019 Amazonian tropical dry season.	[474][475]
2019–20 Australian bushfires	August 2019 – June 2020		The 2019 Australian bushfire season arrived in the wake of heavy droughts across the country, with fires covering the east coast including the metropolitan confines of Sydney. So far there have been 6 fatalities and hundreds of properties destroyed. Subsequent smoke has covered the city of Sydney, causing toxic air pollution.	[476][477]

Economics[]

Greece and Eurozone's rise of debt in the early years of the decade

The weighted capital city residential property price index, produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, since 2003

A man and a delivery robot waiting at a pedestrian crossing in Redwood City, California, United States. E-commerce spurred advancements in drone delivery and transformed parts of the services and retail sectors

The financial crisis dissipated through the early 2010s under Barack Obama. The United States economy was at its all-time best, when former reality television star and businessman Donald Trump became president.

The 2010s began amidst a global financial crisis that started in the late 2000s. A sovereign-debt crisis in Europe began in early 2010, and the Greek government admitted that it was having difficulties servicing its large sovereign debt. In the summer and fall of 2011, bond yields for Italy and Spain spiked above 6 percent.^[478] By 2015 bond rates had returned to normal ranges across Europe, save for Greece, which accepted another, even more stringent bailout package. The size of the European Financial Stability Facility was increased from €440 billion to €2 trillion.^[479] Despite the Eurozone debt crisis, the American Dow Jones Industrial Average had its longest stretch of gains since the late 1990s tech boom.^[480] However, economic issues, including inflation and an increase in commodity prices, sparked unrest in many lower-income countries. In some countries, particularly those in the Arab world, political unrest evolved into socioeconomic crises, resulting in the Arab Spring.

As a result of the global recession, many central banks instituted a zero interest-rate policy, or close to it.^[481] Another form of monetary stimulus was that of quantitative easing. The resulting flood of market liquidity caused a rise in asset prices.^[482] As a result, for example, United States stock prices reached record highs.^[483] Another consequence has been the rise in housing prices in many major world cities.^[484] Some of the cities which recorded the most dramatic rises included Sydney, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Auckland.^[485]

In 2010, China became the second largest global economy, surpassing Japan.^[486] Japan also saw a rating downgrade the following year due to debt burden.^[487] In August 2011, the S&P downgraded the United States' credit rating from triple AAA to AA-plus following a debt ceiling crisis.^[488] Also in 2011, a Gallup poll found that more than half of Americans believed the country was still in a recession.^[489] In June 2015, the Shanghai Stock Exchange lost a third of the value of A-shares within one month, an event known as the 2015–16 Chinese stock market turbulence. India became the fastest growing major economy of the world in 2015, surpassing China.^[490] In 2018, as the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates, fears of a yield curve inversion preceding a potential U.S. recession sent inflation higher in several emerging markets, including Argentina, where interest rates hit 40% and an International Monetary Fund bail out was issued.^[491] In 2019, Singapore supplanted the United States as the world's most competitive economy, with the U.S. dropping to third, behind Hong Kong.^[492]

Global oil production in 2014 reached a historic peak, reaching 93 million barrels/day.^[493] In 2018, partially due to a shale boom, the United States overcame Russia and Saudi Arabia in becoming the world's largest crude oil producer, the first time since 1973.^[494] Around the year 2017 is a period seen by some economists as being the new peak of a "goldilocks economy".^[495] The International Monetary Fund's April 2019 World Economic Outlook stated, "After peaking at close to 4 percent in 2017, global [economic] growth remained strong, at 3.8 percent in the first half of 2018, but dropped to 3.2 percent in the second half of the year."^[496]

In 2018, United States President Donald Trump announced he would put into place new tariffs on some Chinese products, starting the 'US-China Trade War', an economic conflict involving the world's two largest economies. Trump said the reasoning for the trade war is to punish China for 'unfair' trade practices, such as the appropriation of jobs and the theft of American intellectual property. China responded with tariffs of its own, and a cycle began, escalating the conflict to the situation faced today. As part of his 'America First' policy, Trump also announced new tariffs were being placed on countries around the world for various products such as steel and aluminium, which has drawn some economic retaliation.

By the end of the decade, in North American and some Western European domestic economies, consumer-level purchasing habits had shifted significantly, a partial consequence of the Great Recession's impact on discretionary incomes and a shifting breadwinner model. The so-called "retail apocalypse" had commenced as consumers increasingly resorted to online shopping and e-commerce, accelerating the decline of brick-and-mortar retail and the continued decline of indoor shopping malls. The transitioning retail industry and popularity of online shopping facilitated economic phenomena such as bricks and clicks business models, pop-up and non-store retailing, drone delivery services, ghost restaurants, and a quickly maturing online food ordering and delivery service sector.^[497][498] This was only further perpetuated by the rise in cryptocurrency throughout the decade, such as Bitcoin. By May 2018, over 1,800 cryptocurrency specifications existed.^[499]

In the same vein as cryptocurrency, the trend towards a cashless society continued as non-cash transactions and digital currency saw an increase in favourability in the 2010s. By 2016, only about 2 percent of the value transacted in Sweden was by cash, and only about 20 percent of retail transactions were in cash. Fewer than half of bank branches in the country conducted cash transactions.^[500] A report published during the final year of the decade suggested that the percentage of payments conducted in cash in the United Kingdom had fallen to 34% from 63% ten years earlier.^[501] The 2016 United States User Consumer Survey Study claimed that 75 percent of respondents preferred a credit or debit card as their payment method while only 11 percent of respondents preferred cash.^[502]

Science and technology[]

Two of the most prominent deaths in the scientific community during the decade were Neil Armstrong in 2012 and Stephen Hawking in 2018.

Below are the most significant scientific developments of each year, based on the annual Breakthrough of the Year award of the American Association for the Advancement of Science journal Science.

• 2010: The first quantum machine^[503]
• 2011: HIV treatment as prevention (HPTN 052)^[504]
• 2012: Discovery of the Higgs boson^[505]
• 2013: Cancer immunotherapy^[506]
• 2014: Rosetta comet mission^[507]
• 2015: CRISPR genome-editing method^[508]
• 2016: The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory makes the first observation of gravitational waves, fulfilling Einstein's prediction^[509]
• 2017: Cosmic convergence: Neutron star merger (GW170817)^[510]
• 2018: Development cell by cell^[511]
• 2019: First black hole image released^[512][513]

Technology[]

Robotics, particularly drones like quadcopters, experienced a wide use and application in the 2010s. Autonomous and electric car technology and sales showed considerable growth as well. In addition, sustainable space launch technologies were spearheaded by entrepreneurs like Elon Musk.

Cyber security and hacking[]

Cyber security incidents, such as hacking, leaks or theft of sensitive information, gained increased attention of governments, corporations and individuals.

Edward Snowden, former NSA employee who revealed a large number of global surveillance programs.

Jürgen Mossack, co-founder of Mossack Fonseca, which shut down in light of revelations from the Panama Papers.

Health and society[]

AIDS, a pandemic responsible for killing over 30 million people since its discovery in the early 1980s, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, became a treatable condition, though by the end of the decade only two cases had been cured.^[528] With good treatment patients can generally expect normal lives and lifespans. However, as of 2011 only some 5 million of the 12 million afflicted had access to such treatment.^[529]

During the 2010s, social changes included increases in life expectancy and falling birth rates leading to larger proportions of the population being elderly. This put pressure on pensions and other social security programs in developed nations. The environment became a topic of greater public concern around the world.^[530] Many parts of the world moved towards greater acceptance of LGBT people often including the legalisation of same-sex marriage. The internet took an ever greater role in entertainment, communication, politics and commerce, especially for younger people and those living in wealthier countries. In 2011, the world population reached seven billion people.^[531]

Popular culture[]

• 

  Netflix, a streaming service which for a fee gave users access to a portfolio of films and television, rose to prominence from around the middle of the 2010s onwards.

• 

  Silly Bandz, a piece of pop culture and fashion wear in the early 2010s.

• 

  The film Frozen (2013) spawned a wide use of its characters and music in popular culture.

• 

  One of the sets used in the television show The Big Bang Theory, which was popular in the 2010s.

• 

  The fidget spinner, one of the most popular toys of the decade. They gained popularity in 2017.

• 

  The Nintendo 3DS, a portable 3D gaming device that contained glasses-free 3D and was released during the height of the 3D fad in the 2010s. Its flagship title was Super Mario 3D Land.

• 

  A smartphone, which were popular and new gadgets in the 2010s. Smartphones could be used to play games, make telephone calls and check the Internet.

• 

  The Nintendo Wii was a popular gaming console in the 2010s which influenced the Microsoft Kinect and PlayStation Move. One of the most critically acclaimed games of the decade, Super Mario Galaxy 2, released on this console.

• 

  An example of an Internet meme with a main centrepiece/joke and top/bottom text. Internet memes became of cultural significance in the 2010s. Popular memes included Nyan Cat, Trollface, Pepe the Frog and Dat Boi.

• 

  By the mid-/late 2010s, a plethora of applications on phones, like Snapchat, Instagram and Discord, had released and were used.

• 

  A self-balancing scooter. These devices, though they weren't mainstream, attracted much attention and curiosity around 2015 on the Internet.

• 

  Around 2015–2016, selfie sticks were a fad. They allowed people to attach their phone to a stick/dock to take pictures from a better angle.

• 

  Wavy hair (as modeled here by popular rapper of the decade Macklemore) and the growing of beards became trends. Fashion-wise, the 2010s supported more formal and colourful outfits. People also wore shirts with references to television shows, video games, and memes on them.

• 

  Fedora hats were popular at the beginning of the 2010s, as modeled here by Bruno Mars (singer of Uptown Funk), one of the decade's most popular artists. Uptown Funk showed a step away from earlier hits of the decade like Somebody That I Used to Know and Pumped Up Kicks.

• 

  An image of people playing the mobile game Pokémon Go on their cellphones in a group.

• 

  During the late 2010s, first-generation virtual reality took off, and inspired films like Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One.

• 

  A PlayStation 4 controller. The PlayStation 4 was released in 2013 (as was the competing Xbox One), which succeeded the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the seventh-generation systems that started out the 2010s.

• 

  Someone cosplaying as the character Ramona Flowers from the 2010 movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. The fashion of Ramona Flowers and other fictional characters was responsible for igniting the e-girl aesthetic seen in the late 2010s. (Fashion similar to this image.)

• 

  In the late 2010s vaping became popular. Some people would purchase and smoke e-cigarettes, or the more expensive Juul brand. Vape flavours could be purchased like mint, mango, fruit, and creme. Vaping became controversial and in late 2019 Donald Trump condemned Juuls but said that "not all vaping is bad".

• 

  Vaporwave was a 2010s music genre that attracted attention. It consisted of remixing and stylising electronic sounds/music with often distinct album covers. Lo-fi hip hop was also new and grew a following.

• 

  A group of teens dabbing, a fad and gesture of the youth where an individual would droop their head into their arm similar to that of a sneeze. Dabbing was a gesture of playfulness and an Internet meme, popular around 2015–2016.

• 

  Kesha was the first artist to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 2010s.

• 

  The iPad was introduced in 2010. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, unveiled the iPad in January 2010. Jobs later died in October 2011.

• 

  Angry Birds was popular in the early 2010s. With the infancy of mobile gaming stores in the early 2010s, apps like Doodle Jump, Angry Birds, Cut the Rope and others became a hit, with the success of apps like Pokémon Go coming later on.

• 

  The Nintendo Switch released in 2017, as Nintendo's comeback from poor Wii U Sales. The system saw the line up of games such as Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 2, ARMS and 1-2-Switch.

• 

  Throughout the 2010s, wired earbuds were the norm, until the late 2010s and early 2020s when wireless technologies like AirPods increased in usage.

• 

  Due to the growth and widespread use of the Internet in the 2010s, indie bands gained traction through online communities. Such bands as Tally Hall (featured above who split in 2011 and made their own music separately), Garfunkel & Oates, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Tame Impala, Dr. Dog. These bands creating the respective indie hits of Where'd All The Time Go?, God's Loophole, The Less I Know The Better and &.

• 

  A group of men dressed up as Steve from Minecraft at E3 2011. Minecraft was a sandbox game that became a phenomena in the 2010s, with such events as Mine-Con existing for the game.

• 

  EDM music obtained commercial success as seen with songs like "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO.

• 

  Canadian rapper Drake was one of the best selling artists of the decade, known for such hits as Hotline Bling, a song which US President Donald Trump sang while hosting SNL in 2015.

• 

  Instagram was introduced in 2010 and was one of the most popular social media platforms in the decade.

Fashion[]

Fashion of the 2010s became more formal, and the fashion of the decade was often defined by gimmicky accessories, like Silly Bandz, the fidget spinner, and people's handheld devices such as cellphones. The decade was also defined by hipster fashion, athleisure, and a revival of austerity-era and other nostalgic alternative fashion trends (such as 1980s-style neon streetwear and unisex 1990s-style elements influenced by grunge).

Film[]

Superhero films became box office leaders, especially with the Marvel Cinematic Universe whose Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing film of all time, grossing over $2.7 billion worldwide, followed by Avengers: Infinity War, The Avengers and Black Panther. The Lion King became the highest-grossing animated film of all time worldwide while Incredibles 2 became the highest-grossing animated film of all time in North America. Brave became the first film to use the Dolby Atmos sound format.^[532] Motion capture grew in terms of its realism and reach, and was seen in movies like Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One, a film which was praised for its visual effects and acting performances, winning several awards.^[533] The decade also saw the release of many critically acclaimed films such as The Social Network, Her, 12 Years a Slave, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonlight, Get Out, and Parasite.

Television[]

Cable providers saw a decline in subscriber numbers as cord-cutting viewers switched to lower-cost online streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu.^[534] On cable television as well as streaming services, a variety of shows gained popularity. Adult animation grew rapidly throughout the decade with shows such as Rick and Morty (Rick and Morty specifically in the realm of adult entertainment became a phenomenon among Generation Z and other groups, the show growing a dedicated fanbase and cult following), BoJack Horseman, Bob's Burgers, among many others. Adventure Time, Regular Show, Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, The Amazing World of Gumball, and SpongeBob SquarePants were among other cartoons that were popular during the decade. The comedy sitcom The Big Bang Theory ran for the entirety of the decade, and was the number-one television sitcom for all of its airing prior to its finale in 2019. The show featured a group of scientists and became a hit for CBS, the show often dealing with technology and situations of the time such as Bitcoin, PlayStation 4 vs Xbox One, drone technology, iPhone's Siri, etc. Other sitcoms like The Office and How I Met Your Mother were popular in the early 2010s, as well as cult shows like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, carrying its popularity from the 2000s, and lasting all through the 2010s.^[535] The Apprentice was a reality television show that starred businessman Donald Trump as host until 2015, at which time resigning as host Trump would use the success he gained on The Apprentice to run for President of the United States; Trump was elected in 2016. Indian sitcom Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah became the world's longest-running sitcom, with over 2,500 episodes.^[536][537] Children's programming like iCarly and Victorious helped obtain viewership on Nickelodeon. The video streaming website YouTube became immensely popular, especially among younger people, as videos and channels like Nyan Cat, Fred Figglehorn (FRED), The Annoying Orange, SMOSH, PewDiePie and others attracted millions of views, channels and videos becoming viral on the site.^[538][539] Animated content and reaction videos also became popular on YouTube throughout the decade.

Music[]

Adele, the highest-selling musical artist of the 2010s

Globalism and an increased demand for variety and personalisation in the face of music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music created many subgenres. US digital music sales topped CD sales in 2012.^[540] Dance, hip-hop, and pop music surged in the 2010s,^[541] with hip-hop and R&B surpassing rock as the biggest US music genre in 2018.^[542] At the beginning of the decade in 2010, musicians like Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars and Rihanna (with their hit albums The Fame Monster, My World 2.0, Teenage Dream, Doo-Wops & Hooligans and Loud respectively) all gave global commercial appeal to the genre of pop music, each artist selling over 100 million records throughout the 2010s and becoming some of the best-selling musicians of all time. Electronic dance music (EDM) achieved mass commercial success in the middle of the decade but fell somewhat into decline by the end.^[543][544] The mass global appeal of EDM music (and subgenres such as dubstep, electro house and trap) from the early-to-mid part of the decade spawned the rise in fame of DJs and digital music producers, such as Skrillex, Tiësto, Avicii, Steve Aoki, Deadmau5, Calvin Harris, Baauer, Diplo and others. Country music also saw a resurgence throughout the '10s in the United States, with artists like Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Kacey Musgraves, Chris Stapleton, Florida Georgia Line and others topping the charts and garnering many music industry awards.

Billboard named Drake the top artist of the decade.^[545] Some of the other most popular musical solo artists of the 2010s included Adele, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Khalid, Sam Smith, Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, Cardi B, Future, Shawn Mendes, Post Malone, Selena Gomez and more.^[545] Popular musical groups of the decade included One Direction, BTS, Imagine Dragons, Mumford & Sons, Arcade Fire, Twenty One Pilots, The Black Keys, Swedish House Mafia, Bon Iver, Zac Brown Band, Maroon 5, Alabama Shakes, The Chainsmokers, OneRepublic, Vampire Weekend, The Lumineers, Lady A and more.

Several prominent musicians from past decades died in the 2010s. The most notable deaths were Ronnie James Dio in 2010, Amy Winehouse in 2011, Whitney Houston and Adam Yauch in 2012, Lou Reed in 2013, Joe Cocker in 2014, B.B. King and Lemmy Kilmister in 2015, David Bowie, Glen Frey, Phife Dawg, Prince, Leonard Cohen and George Michael all in 2016, Chuck Berry, Chris Cornell, Prodigy and Tom Petty all in 2017, Aretha Franklin in 2018, and Keith Flint in 2019. There were also several deaths of newer hip hop artists who had started or first became successful in the 2010s, including Capital Steez, Lil Peep, XXXTentacion, Mac Miller, Nipsey Hussle, Juice Wrld and Pop Smoke (who was killed at the beginning of 2020), as well as others.

Video games[]

The video game industry continued to be dominated by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft; Minecraft became the best-selling game of all time in 2019.^[546] The popularity of video games increased across the world, as the Wii influenced gaming in the early part of the decade,^[547] and the Nintendo 3DS provided 3D gaming through autostereoscopy.^[548] The successful Nintendo Wii was followed by the Wii U in 2012, a commercial failure.^[547] The Nintendo Wii would be responsible for the most critically acclaimed game of the 2010s decade, Super Mario Galaxy 2. The Wii would also be responsible for the increased use of motion controls in gaming (even with the Nintendo Switch in 2017), and 2010's motion-based PlayStation Move and Xbox Kinect, counterparts to the Wii. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One released in 2013,^[549] and in the United States the PlayStation 4 became the highest-selling console of the decade.^[550] The Nintendo Switch launched in 2017 and was responsible for bringing Nintendo's success back, the success of the console initially spawned by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey.^{[citation needed]} YouTube became a platform for "Let's Players" to upload videos of themselves playing certain games, which led to the popularity of existing games and indie games like Life Is Strange and Octodad/Octodad: Dadliest Catch, for example. The use of iPods, tablets, and cell phones became one of the most popular forms of gaming as the decade progressed with the rise of mobile games, expanding the industry's appeal among less traditional markets such as women and older adults.^[551][552]

The best-selling games of every year were as follows:

• 2010: Call of Duty: Black Ops^[553]
• 2011: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3^[553]
• 2012: Call of Duty: Black Ops II^[553]
• 2013: Grand Theft Auto V^[553]
• 2014: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare^[553]
• 2015: Call of Duty: Black Ops III^[553]
• 2016: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare^[553]
• 2017: Call of Duty: WWII^[553]
• 2018: Red Dead Redemption 2^[553]
• 2019: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare^[554]

Literature[]

The best-selling book of the decade was Fifty Shades of Grey, having sold 15.2 million copies worldwide,^[555] and one of the best-selling book franchises of the decade was the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series which, depicting life from the perspective of a preteen schoolboy, was a success among young audiences and spawned several movies.^{[citation needed]} After a slow start, the books of John Green began to catch on with teen audiences throughout the 2010s.^{[citation needed]}

Sports[]

LeBron James, a popular sports icon of the decade, is the only NBA player to have won four championships with three separate franchises.

Popular athletes of the decade included Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Megan Rapinoe, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Álvarez, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Kyle Busch, Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, Mike Trout, Michael Phelps, Shaun White, Simone Biles, Sidney Crosby and many more.

A doping scandal and investigation that was concluded in 2012 led to former professional road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong being stripped of all seven of his Tour de France titles.

In November 2016, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time since 1908. Their win was heavily noted in the sports and baseball community.

Analysis[]

As the decade drew to a close, some commentators looked back on it as a politically unstable period. An article in the New York Times stated: "With the rise of nationalist movements and a backlash against globalisation on both sides of the Atlantic, the liberal post-World War II order – based on economic integration and international institutions – began to unravel." It heavily discussed the US presidency of Donald Trump (a reality TV Star and businessman with no political experience at the time of taking office, succeeding Barack Obama) whilst also commenting, "Echoes of Mr. Trump's nationalist populism can be found in Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain's recent electoral victory and the Brexit referendum of 2016, and in the ascent of the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. Democracy is under threat in Hungary and Poland. Once fringe right-wing parties with openly racist agendas are rebranding themselves in Sweden and Belgium. And far-right groups in Germany and Spain are now the third-largest parties in those nations' parliaments."^[556] A December 2019 piece in The Guardian argued that the 2010s would be remembered "as a time of crises", elaborating "there have been crises of democracy and the economy; of the climate and poverty; of international relations and national identity; of privacy and technology". The article also noted that, in Britain, "politics since 2010 has often been manic. Parties have hastily changed their leaders and policies; sometimes their entire guiding philosophies. Last week's general election was the fourth of the decade; the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s had two apiece."^[557] Similar trends of political unrest were felt beyond the Western world, as suggested in The Asian Review, which described the 2010s as a "tumultuous time for Asia, sometimes tragic, sometimes triumphant and never dull".^[558]

See also[]

• List of decades

Timeline[]

The following articles contain brief timelines which list the most prominent events of the decade:

Notes[]

References[]