What happened in the 2010s?
The 2010s were the decade of apps, selfies and streaming, of the Arab Spring, Brexit and the first image of a black hole.
44 events, oldest first.
Timeline of The 2010s
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2010
Eyjafjallajökull's ash cloud grounds flights
It caused Europe's biggest air-travel shutdown since the Second World War.
Natural history & deep time
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2010
Hayabusa returns asteroid dust to Earth
It was the first mission to bring back samples from an asteroid.
History of exploration
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2010
Instagram launches
It gained a million users in about two months.
Pop culture history
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2010
The Arab Spring begins
It started in Tunisia after a street vendor's protest.
Modern history
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2010
The Burj Khalifa opens
At 828 metres, it is more than twice the height of the Empire State Building.
Science & technology history
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2010
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days.
Modern history
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2010
Thirty-three trapped Chilean miners are rescued
They had spent 69 days underground.
Modern history
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2011
Game of Thrones first airs
Much of it was filmed in Northern Ireland.
Pop culture history
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2011
South Sudan becomes independent
It is the world's newest country.
Politics & society history
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2011
The Fukushima nuclear disaster
It was triggered by a tsunami after a huge earthquake off Japan.
Modern history
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2011
The Tōhoku earthquake strikes Japan
It shifted Earth's axis by several centimetres.
Natural history & deep time
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2012
CRISPR gene editing is described
Its discoverers won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020.
Science & technology history
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2012
Gangnam Style hits a billion YouTube views
It was the first video ever to reach a billion views on YouTube.
Pop culture history
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2012
Grumpy Cat becomes an internet star
Her famously grumpy expression was caused by feline dwarfism.
Pop culture history
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2012
James Cameron dives solo to the ocean's deepest point
The film director's craft was called Deepsea Challenger.
History of exploration
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2012
London hosts its third Summer Olympics
London became the first city to host the Summer Games three times.
History of sport
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2012
Lonesome George, the last Pinta tortoise, dies
He was the last known giant tortoise from Pinta Island.
Natural history & deep time
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2012
Richard III's skeleton is found under a car park
In a spooky coincidence, he lay beneath a Leicester parking space marked with the letter 'R'.
History of exploration
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2012
Sachin Tendulkar scores his 100th international century
No other player has scored 100 international centuries.
History of sport
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2012
The Higgs boson is discovered
Peter Higgs had predicted it nearly 50 years earlier.
Science & technology history
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2012
The Shard opens in London
At about 310 metres, it is the tallest building in the UK.
Science & technology history
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2012
The Tokyo Skytree opens
At 634 metres, it is the world's tallest tower.
Science & technology history
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2013
A meteor explodes over Chelyabinsk
Dashboard cameras across Russia captured it from many angles.
Natural history & deep time
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2013
Frozen is released
'Let It Go' was written in a single day.
Pop culture history
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2013
'Selfie' becomes Oxford's Word of the Year
Its use had soared by about 17,000% in a year.
Pop culture history
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2014
Rosetta's lander touches down on a comet
The Philae lander bounced twice before coming to rest.
History of exploration
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2014
Russia annexes Crimea
Most of the world's governments did not recognise the annexation.
Modern history
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2014
Scotland votes in an independence referendum
Scots voted 55% to 45% to stay in the UK.
Politics & society history
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2014
The Ice Bucket Challenge goes viral
It raised more than $100 million for ALS research within weeks.
Pop culture history
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2015
Gravitational waves are detected for the first time
They came from two black holes that collided about 1.3 billion years ago.
Science & technology history
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2015
SpaceX lands a rocket booster upright
It was the first time an orbital rocket's first stage landed back on the ground.
History of exploration
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2015
The Paris climate agreement is adopted
Nearly every country agreed to try to limit warming to well below 2°C.
Politics & society history
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2016
A feathered dinosaur tail is found in amber
The tail, trapped in Myanmar amber, still had its feathers.
Natural history & deep time
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2016
Leicester City win the Premier League
Bookmakers had offered odds of 5,000-1 against them.
History of sport
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2016
Oganesson, the heaviest element, gets its name
It is element 118, and only a handful of its atoms have ever been made.
Science & technology history
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2016
Pokémon Go launches
It was downloaded more than 500 million times within months.
Pop culture history
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2016
The UK votes to leave the European Union
The referendum result was 52% to 48%.
Politics & society history
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2017
'Oumuamua visits from another star system
It was the first known object to pass through our solar system from interstellar space.
Science & technology history
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2018
Saudi Arabia lifts its ban on women driving
It was the last country in the world to allow women to drive.
Politics & society history
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2018
The Thai cave rescue
Twelve boys and their football coach were brought out after 18 days.
Modern history
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2019
China lands on the far side of the Moon
Chang'e 4 was the first spacecraft to soft-land there.
History of exploration
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2019
Eliud Kipchoge runs a marathon in under two hours
The run was not an official record because of pacers and other aids.
History of sport
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2019
Fire ravages Notre-Dame de Paris
The cathedral reopened in 2024 after a huge restoration.
Modern history
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2019
The first image of a black hole is revealed
Radio telescopes around the world were combined into one Earth-sized virtual telescope.
Science & technology history
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