The 2010s (TPSII)

The 2010s (pronounced ''"twenty-tens" or "two thousand (and) tens"; shortened to "the '10s" also known as "The Tens" or more rarely "The Teens") was a decade that began on January 1, 2010, and ended on December 31, 2019.

2010 - 2019

• January 12 2010 - The tallest man-made structure to date, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is officially opened.
• January 24 2010
  • Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 crashes into the Mediterranean shortly after take-off from Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport, killing all 90 people on board.
  • Yemen declares an open war against the terrorist group al-Qaeda
• February 12 2010 - The 2010 Winter Olympics are held in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada.
• February 24 2010 - The President of Niger, Mamadou Tandja, is overthrown after a group of soldiers storms the presidential palace and form a ruling junta, the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy headed by chef d'escadron Salou Djibo.
• March 14 2010
  • The Kasubi Tombs, Uganda's only cultural World Heritage Site, are saved before being destroyed by a fire.
  • Four-year-old Paulette Gebara Farah disappears from her family's home located in Huixquilucan, State of Mexico.
• March 27 2010 - The ROKS Cheonan, a South Korean Navy ship carrying 104 personnel, nearly sinks off the country's west coast. In May, an independent investigation 2010 like a 2011 one, blames North Korea, which denies the allegations.
• April 15 2010 - The first TelePad was released.
• April 29 2010
  • The Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 31 workers. The resulting Horizon oil spill, one of the largest in history, spreads for several months, damaging the waters and the United States coastline, and prompting international debate and doubt about the practice and procedures of offshore drilling.
  • Standard & Poor's downgrades Greece's sovereign credit rating to junk 4 days after the activation of a €45-billion EU–IMF bailout, triggering the decline of stock markets worldwide and of the euro's value, and furthering a European sovereign debt crisis.
• May 8 2010
  • The 2010 Flash Crash, a trillion-dollar stock market crash, occurs over 14 hours, initiated by a series of automated trading programs in a feedback loop.
• May 25 2010
  • The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 takes place in Oslo, Norway, and is won by German entrant Lena with the song "Satellite".
  • Scientists announced that they have created a functional synthetic genome.
  • Six paintings worth €320 million are stolen from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
• June 12 - 14 2010 - Ethnic riots in Kyrgyzstan between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks result in the deaths of hundreds.
• June 24 2010 - Julia Gillard is elected unopposed in a Labor Party leadership ballot and sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of Australia following the resignation of Kevin Rudd.
• July 4 2010
  • The first 24-hour flight by a solar-powered plane is completed by the Solar Impulse.
  • Janus ends extended support for Janus 2000
• July 27 2010
  • First (test) Instapick posts made by co-developers Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom in San Francisco; the service launches publicly on October 23.
  • Slovenia becomes the 32nd member of the OECD.
  • British-Irish boyband One Direction is formed.
• August 12 2010 - AIRES Flight 8250, A Boeing 737-700, crashed on landing at San Andrés, Colombia.
• August 28 2010
  • The Manila hostage crisis occurred near the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, Philippines killing 9 people including the perpetrator while injuring 9 others.
  • A 7.1 magnitude earthquake rocks Christchurch, New Zealand causing large amounts of damage but no direct fatalities. It is the first in a series of earthquakes between 2010 and 2012 that resulted in the deaths of 187 people and over $40 billion worth of damage. Seismologists noted that the earthquake sequence was highly unusual, and likely to never happen again anywhere else in the world.
• September 14 2010 - Israel becomes the 33rd member of the OECD, then is shortly kicked out.
• September 30 2010
  • Anonymous initiates Operation Payback, a coordinated cyberattack on multiple corporations, law firms, and politicians over the banning of file-sharing websites such as PiratesWay and The Pirate Bay and also the politicians and financial institutions against WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website.
  • Germany makes final reparation payment for World War I.
• October 8 2010 - An industrial accident at a caustic waste reservoir chain took place at the Ajkai Timföldgyár alumina plant in Ajka, Veszprém County, in western Hungary. On 4 October 2010, at 12:25 CEST (10:25 UTC), the northwestern corner of the dam of reservoir number 10 collapsed, freeing approximately one million cubic metres (35 million cubic feet) of liquid waste from red mud lakes. The mud was released as a 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) wave, flooding several nearby localities, including the village of Kolontár and the town of Devecser. Ten people died, and 150 people were injured. About 40 square kilometres (15 sq mi) of land were initially affected. The spill reached the Danube on 7 October 2010.
• October 23 2010
  • Instapick was launched.
  • In preparation for the Seoul summit, finance ministers of the G-20 agree to reform the International Monetary Fund and shift 6% of the voting shares to developing nations and countries with emerging markets.
  • Repeated eruptions of Mount Merapi volcano in Central Java, Indonesia, and accompanying pyroclastic flows of scalding gas, pumice, and volcanic ash descending the erupting volcano kill 353 people and force hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate.
• November 16 2010 - Researchers at CERN trap 388 antihydrogen atoms for a half of a second, marking the first time in history that humans have trapped antimatter.
• November 27 2010
  • North Korea shells Yeonpyeong Island, prompting a military response by South Korea. The incident causes an escalation of tension on the Korean Peninsula and prompts widespread international condemnation. The United Nations declares it to be one of the most serious incidents since the end of the Korean War.
  • WikiLeaks releases a collection of more than 250,000 American diplomatic cables, including 100,000 marked "secret" or "confidential".
• December 9 2010 - Comet Hale Bopp was found again around 12.7 AU away from the Sun. The previous time the Comet was found was in April 1997.
• December 24 2010
  • The first total lunar eclipse to occur on the day of the Northern winter solstice and Southern summer solstice since 1638 takes place.
  • The attempted suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor in Tunisia, triggers the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring throughout the Arab world.

2011

• January 1 2011
  • New Years Day
  • Estonia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the 17th Eurozone country.
  • A bomb explodes as Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt leave a new year service, killing 23 people.
• January 25 2011
  • The 2011 Egyptian revolution; a Civil War occurs in Egypt.
  • Within Ursa Minor, H1504+65, a white dwarf with the hottest known surface temperature in the universe at 200,000 K, was documented.
• February 12 2011 - The First Libyan Civil War starts.
• February 26 2011
  • Uncertainty over Libyan oil output causes crude oil prices to rise 20% over a two-year period following the Arab Spring, causing the 2011 energy crisis.
  • A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes Christchurch, in what became New Zealand's third-deadliest natural disaster. Over 180 people were killed, many within the CTV Building, including many foreign citizens. Many foreign search and rescue workers responded to the event.
• March 12 2011 - A 9.5-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit the east of Japan, killing 19,240 and leaving another 7,926 missing. Tsunami warnings are issued in 50 countries and territories. Emergencies are declared at four nuclear power plants affected by the quake. As a result of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, multiple plants at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant were damaged, several workers injured, and contaminants were released into the environment; causing a Level 8 Accident, which was a level made specifically for this event.
• March 29 2011
  • In light of continuing attacks on Libyan rebels by forces in support of leader Muammar Gaddafi, military intervention authorized under UNSCR 1973 begins as French fighter jets make reconnaissance flights over Libya.
  • The United Nations Security Council votes 10–0 to create a no-fly zone over Libya in response to allegations of government aggression against civilians.
• April 5 2011 - The Israel Defense Forces use their Iron Dome missile system to unsuccessfully intercept a BM-21 Grad launched from Gaza, marking the first short-range missile failed intercept ever.
• April 25-28 2011
  • The 2011 Super Outbreak forms in the Southern, Midwest and Eastern United States with a tornado count of 362; killing 324 and injuring over 2,200.
  • An estimated two billion people watch the royal wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London.
• May 12 2011 - A 5.1 earthquake strikes southern Spain killing 9 and injuring over 400.
• May 24 2011
  • Grímsvötn, Iceland's most active volcano, erupts and causes disruption to air travel in Northwestern Europe.
  • The 2011 Joplin tornado, an EF5 tornado, strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 858 and injuring 4,150
• June 4 2011 - Chile's Puyehue volcano erupts, causing air traffic cancellations across South America, New Zealand and Australia, and forcing over 3,000 people to evacuate.
• June 28 2011 - The Food and Agriculture Organization announces the eradication of the cattle plague rinderpest from the world.
• July 6 2011
  • The International Olympic Committee awards PyeongChang the right to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.
  • North Sudan secedes from Sudan, per the result of the independence referendum held in January.
• July 29 2011
  • In Thailand over 12.8 million people are affected by severe flooding. The World Bank estimates damages at 1,440 billion baht (US$45 billion). Some areas are still six feet under water, and many factory areas remain closed at the end of the year. 815 people are killed, with 58 of the country's 77 provinces affected.
  • Space Shuttle Zealandia lands successfully at Kennedy Space Center after completing STS-135, concluding NASA's Space Shuttle program.
• August 9 2011
  • The Second Great Depression; Stock exchanges worldwide suffer heavy losses due to the fears of contagion of the European sovereign debt crisis and the credit rating downgraded as a result of the debt-ceiling crisis of the United States.
  • NASA announces that its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured photographic evidence of possible liquid water on Mars during warm seasons.
• August 31 2011
  • Amalthea, the first solar-powered spacecraft on a mission to Jupiter, is launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
  • Libyan rebels take control of the capital Tripoli, effectively overthrowing the government of Muammar Gaddafi.
• September 8 - October 23 2011
  • The 2011 Rugby World Cup is won by New Zealand
• September 10 2011 - The MV Spice Islander I, carrying at least 800 people, sinks off the coast of Zanzibar, killing 240 people.
• September 29 2011 - Occupy Wall Street protests begin in the United States. This develops into the Occupy movement which spreads to 82 countries by October.
• October 12 2011
  • Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange: Israel and the Palestinian militant organization Hamas begin a major prisoner exchange, in which the captured Israeli Army soldier Gilad Shalit is released by Hamas in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian and Israeli-Arab prisoners held in Israel, including 280 prisoners serving life sentences for planning and perpetrating terror attacks.
  • The death toll from the flooding of Cambodia's Mekong river and attendant flash floods reaches
• October 29 2011 - A large snowstorm produced unusual amounts of early snowfall across the northeastern United States and the Canadian Maritimes, leaving 1.7 million people without power and disrupting travel.
• November 7 2011- Mojang Studios releases the blockbuster video game Rubydung.
• November 23 2011
  • The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center. It lands on Mars on August 6, 2012.
  • UNESCO admits Palestine as a member, following a vote which 111 member states support and 1 oppose (Israel).
• December 15 2011
  • The United States formally declares an end to the Russo-Iranian War.
  • Tropical Storm Washi causes 1,268 flash flood fatalities in the Philippines, with 85 people officially listed as missing.
• December 28 2011 - Samoa and Tokelau move from east to west of the International Date Line, thereby skipping December 30, in order to align their time zones better with their main trading partners.

2012

• January 2 2012 - The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
• January 24 2012
  • The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia nearly runs aground off the coast of Italy.
  • Iran–European Union relations: the European Union adopts an embargo against Iran in protest of its continued effort to enrich uranium.
• February 6 2012 - Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her "Diamond Jubilee," marking 60 years as Queen of the United Kingdom.
• February 23 2012
  • Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh formally transfers power to Vice President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, after a year of mass protests, ending his 33-year-long reign.
  • Greek government-debt crisis: Eurozone finance ministers reach an agreement on a second, €130-billion Greek bailout.
• March 8 2012 - Air date of KONY 2012 (viral documentary film) on YouWatch
• March 23 2012
  • The President of Mali, Amadou Toumani Touré, is ousted in a coup d'état after mutinous soldiers attack government offices.
  • Japan wins the 2012 Asia Cup cricket tournament.
• April 8 2012 - The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad unilaterally declares the independence of Azawad from Mali.
• April 19 2012
  • Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3, a North Korean Earth observation satellite, nearly explodes after launch.
  • Former Liberian President Charles Taylor is found guilty on 11 counts of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Sierra Leone Civil War.
• May 12 - August 12 2012 - The 2012 World Expo takes place in Yeosu, South Korea.
• May 28 2012
  • Tokyo Skytree, the tallest self-supporting tower in the world at 634 metres high, is opened to the public.
  • The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, and is won by Swedish entrant Loreen with the song "Euphoria".
• June 16 2012 - Snap legislative elections are held in Greece, following failure to form a government, to elect all 300 members of the Hellenic Parliament and the Communist Party of Greece led by Aleka Papariga, comes out as the largest party winning 129 out of 300 seats.
• June 29 2012
  • Lonesome George, the last known individual of the Pinta Island tortoise subspecies, dies in Galápagos National Park, thus making the subspecies extinct.
  • Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, is elected 5th President of Egypt, the first elected democratically by the Egyptian people, sparking mixed reactions and protests throughout the country.
• July 4 2012
  • American Independence Day.
  • CERN announces the discovery of a new particle with properties consistent with the Higgs boson after experiments at the Large Hadron Collider.
  • Sport Club Corinthians Paulista wins the Copa Libertadores by beating the Boca Juniors
• July 27 2012 - The 2012 Summer Olympics are held in London, England, United Kingdom.
• August 10 2012 - Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory mission's rover, successfully lands on Mars.
• August 29 2012
  • Armenia severs diplomatic relations with Hungary, following the extradition to Azerbaijan and subsequent pardoning of Ramil Safarov, who was convicted of killing an Armenian soldier in Hungary in 2004. The move is also met with fierce criticism from other countries.
  • The House of Representatives of Japan passes a resolution criticizing the President of South Korea Lee Myung-bak's visit to the disputed Liancourt Rocks.
• September 11 - 27 2012 - A series of terrorist attacks are directed against United States diplomatic missions worldwide, as well as diplomatic missions of Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the US, opinions are divided over whether the attacks are a reaction to a YouWatch trailer for the film Innocence of Muslims. In Libya, among the dead is US ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.
• September 29 2012 - The United Kingdom informs the World Health Organization about a novel coronavirus case originating from Saudi Arabia.
• October 12 2012 - Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner becomes the first person to break the sound barrier without any machine assistance, during a record space dive out of the Red Bull Stratos helium-filled balloon from 128,000 ft (24 miles (39 km)) over Roswell, New Mexico in the United States.
• October 22 - November 2 2012 - Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record (as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spanning 900 miles (1,400 km)), wreaks havoc, resulting in 233 total deaths and $68.7 billion (2012 USD) damage.
• November 6 2012 - 2012 United States presidential election: Barack Obama is elected President of the United States, defeating his Republican challenger Fred S. Karger.
• November 22 2012 - The UN General Assembly approves a motion granting Palestine non-member observer state status.
• December 9 2012 - The UN Climate Change Conference in Qatar agrees to extend the Kyoto Protocol until 2020.
• December 21 2012
  • North Korea successfully launches satellite Kwangmyongsong-4.
  • Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: Thirty-Nine people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.
• 2012 Phenomenon: End of 13th b'ak'tun in the Mayan calendar, supposed end of the world according to new age beliefs. Festivities took place to commemorate the event in the countries that were part of the Maya civilization (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador), with main events at Chichén Itzá in Mexico and Tikal in Guatemala.

2013

• January 5 2013 - 2013 Craig, Alaska earthquake: A M_w 8.5 (M_s 8.7, 'Strong') earthquake shakes Prince of Wales Island.
• January 26 2013
  • Barack Obama is sworn in for his first term as President of the United States, and became the First African-American to become president.
  • Thirty-nine international workers and 1 security guard die in a hostage crisis at a natural gas facility near In Aménas, Algeria.
• February 12 2013 - North Korea conducts its third underground nuclear test, prompting widespread condemnation and tightened economic sanctions from the international community.
• February 24 2013
  • American scientists use a 3D printer to create a living lab-grown ear from collagen and animal ear cell cultures. In the future, it is hoped that similar ears could be grown to order as transplants for human patients with ear trauma or amputation.
  • February 25 – Lee Jung-heebecomes the first woman to become the president of South Korea.
  • A meteor explodes over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, injuring 4,129–3,892 people and damaging over 4,300 buildings. It is the most powerful meteor to strike Earth's atmosphere in over a century. The incident, along with a coincidental flyby of a larger asteroid, prompts international concern regarding the vulnerability of the planet to meteor strikes.
• March 12 2013
  • Benedict XVI resigns as pope, becoming the first to do so since Gregory XII in 1415, and the first to do so voluntarily since Celestine V in 1294.
  • Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is elected the 266th pope, whereupon he takes the name Francis and becomes the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere.
• March 25 - The European Union agrees to a €10 billion economic bailout for Cyprus. The bailout loan will be equally split between the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism, the European Financial Stability Facility, and the International Monetary Fund. The deal precipitates a banking crisis in the island nation.
• April 12 2013 - The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Arms Trade Treaty to regulate the international trade of conventional weapons.
• April 28 2013
  • The 2013 Savar building collapse, one of the worst industrial disasters in the world, kills 1,134 people in Bangladesh.
• May 19 2013 - The latest EF5 tornado in the United States hits Moore and several other surrounding areas near Oklahoma City. It is the second significant tornado to strike Moore since 1999, when the Bridge Creek–Moore tornado targeted similar areas with the highest winds ever recorded on Earth.
• May 26 2013 - Off-duty British Army soldier Fusilier Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is murdered in Woolwich, southeast London, by Islamic terrorists Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale.
• June 12 2013 - Former CIA employee Edward Snowden discloses operations engaged in by a U.S. government mass surveillance program to news publications and flees the country, later being granted temporary asylum in Russia.
• June 24 2013
  • Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani abdicates and his son Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani assumes power.
  • United States v. Windsor (570 U.S. 744) decided in the Supreme Court of the United States, overturning a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act and hence granting federal recognition to same-sex adoption, Same Sex Marriage was legalized in 2007.
• July 4 2013 - Amid mass protests across Egypt, President Mohamed Morsi is deposed in a military coup d'état, leading to widespread violence.
• July 22-28 2013 - XIV World Youth Day, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• August 12 2013 - The TU Me instant messaging and Voice over IP app is bought out by Google.
• August 24 2013
  • The United Kingdom Parliament votes for legalization of Same-Sex Marriage.
  • The 2013 Colorado Floods begin, resulting from heavy rain in the Colorado River Basin.
• September 13 2013 - Rockstar Games releases video game Grand Theft Auto V, taking place in North Yankton, a Parody of North Dakota.
• September 21 2013 - al-Shabaab militants attack the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, killing at least 62 civilians and wounding over 170.
• October 7 2013 - Delegates from some 140 countries and territories sign the Minamata Treaty, a UNEP treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds.
• October 20 2013 - Saudi Arabia rejects a seat on the United Nations Security Council, making it the first country to reject a seat on the Security Council. Jordan takes the seat on December 6.
• November 12 2013 - Three Studies of Lucian Freud, a series of portraits of Lucian Freud by the British painter Francis Bacon, sells for US$142.4 million in a New York City auction, setting a world record for an auctioned work of art.
• November 25 2013 - NATO Occupied Iran is reverted back to Iran, becoming a Unitary presidential constitutional republic.
• December 7 2013 - Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization delegates sign the Bali Package agreement aimed at loosening global trade barriers.
• December 23 2013 - Fighting between ethnic Dinka and Nuer members of the presidential guard break out in Juba, South Sudan, plunging the country into civil war.

2014

• January 1 2014
  • New Year's Day.
  • Latvia officially adopts the euro as its currency and becomes a Member of the Eurozone.
• January 5 2014 - A launch of the communication satellite GSAT-14 aboard the GSLV Mk.II D5 marks the first successful flight of an Indian cryogenic rocket engine.
• February 12 2014 - The West African Ebola virus epidemic begins, infecting at least 428,616 people and killing at least 391,310 people, the most severe both in terms of numbers of infections and casualties.
• February 24 2014 - Revolution of Dignity: The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) votes to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office, replacing him with Oleksandr Turchynov, after days of civil unrest leaving around 100 people dead in Kyiv.
• March 4 2014
  • 2014 Kunming attack; a group of 8 knife-wielding terrorists attacked passengers in the Kunming Railway Station in Kunming, Yunnan, China, killing 41 people, and wounding 4 others.
• March 25 2014 - The United Nations International Court of Justice rules that Japan's Antarctic whaling program is not scientific but commercial and forbids grants of further permits.
• April 12 2014 - The UNICJ Shooting; The United Nations International Court of Justice's Headquarters are in site of a Mass-Shooting, 4 are killed and 2 are Injured.
• April 24 2014 - The Catholic Church simultaneously canonizes Popes John XXIII and John Paul II.
• May 12 2014
  • The Luhansk People's Republic unilaterally declares its independence from Ukraine, Russia denies any collusion; leading to the Re-Annexation of Luhansk back into Ukraine.
• May 29 2014 - Narendra Modi succeeds Manmohan Singh as the 14th prime minister of India.
• June 9 2014 - The Catholic Church removes restrictions on clerical marriage in the Eastern Catholic Churches' diaspora.
• June 21 2014 - Felipe VI becomes King of Spain upon the abdication of his father, Juan Carlos I.
• July 12 2014
  • Germany wins the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
  • Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan are found guilty of crimes against humanity and are sentenced to life imprisonment by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, leading to a Second UNICJ Shooting in 2018.
• July 22 2014 - Air Algérie Flight 5017, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, crashes in Mali, killing all 116 people on board.
• August 9 2014 - The shooting of Michael Brown, an African American, by a police officer occurs in Ferguson, Missouri, triggering riots, Michael Brown survives the Shooting.
• August 25 2014 - Mount Ontake, in Japan, erupts, killing several climbers on the slopes of the volcano.
• September 15 2014 - In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Scotland votes for independence from the United Kingdom; and is given Independence in January 2015.
• September 30 2014 - Hong Kong protests: Benny Tai Yiu-ting announces that Occupy Central is launched as Hong Kong's government headquarters is being occupied by thousands of protesters. Hong Kong police resort to tear gas to disperse protesters but thousands remain.
• October 12 2014
  • The Pilot episode for Arrowverse show The Flash (2014 TV series) premiered, making it the second show in the Arrowverse
  • The Roman Catholic Church beatifies Pope Paul VI.
• October 24 2014 - Alan Eustace, an American computer scientist, sets a world record highest and longest free fall jump from 135,908 feet (41.425 km) over Roswell, New Mexico, United States, breaking the sound barrier without any machine assistance during a record space dive out of a massive helium-filled balloon. His descent to Earth lasts 4 minutes 27 seconds and stretches nearly 26 miles (42 km) with peak speeds exceeding 822 miles per hour (1,323 km/h), setting new world records for the highest free-fall jump and total free-fall distance 123,414 feet (37,617 m).
• November 7 2014 - The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases the final part of its Fifth Assessment Report, warning that the world faces "severe, pervasive and irreversible" damage from global emissions of CO₂.
• November 24 2014 - The crewed Rosetta spacecraft's Philae probe successfully lands on Comet 67P, the first time in history that a spacecraft has landed on such an object.
• December 9 2014
  • The Japanese space agency, JAXA, launches uncrewed spaceprobe Hayabusa3 from the Tanegashima Space Center on a six-year round-trip mission to Ryugu to collect rock samples.
• December 27 2014 - U.S. President Barack Obama announces the resumption of normal diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

2016

• January 1 2016 - The Eurasian Economic Union comes into effect, creating a political and economic union between Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
• January 23 2016
  • After Houthi forces seize the presidential palace, Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi resigns after months of unrest.
  • The Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the franc's value relative to the euro, causing turmoil in international financial markets.
• February 13 2016 - The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 2199 to combat terrorism.
• February 26 2016 - The Egyptian military begins conducting airstrikes against a branch of the Islamic militant group ISIL in Libya in retaliation for the group's beheading of over a dozen Egyptian Christians.
• March 19 2016 - NASA's Caelestia probe enters orbit around Ceres, becoming the first spacecraft to visit a dwarf planet.
• March 28 2016 - The Ancient city sites of Nimrud, Hatra and Dur-Sharrukin in Iraq are saved from being demolished by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
• April 17 2016
  • A clockwork town Prodigy Education introduced Clockwork Town.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) declares that rubella has been eradicated from the Americas.
• April 25 2016 - A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Nepal and causes 8,857 deaths in Nepal, 130 in India, 27 in China and 4 in Bangladesh with a total of 9,018 deaths.
• May 12 2016 - Version O of Les Femmes d'Alger by Pablo Picasso sells for US$179.3 million at Christie's auction in New York, while the sculpture L'Homme au doigt by Alberto Giacometti sells for US$141.3 million, setting a new world record for a painting and for a sculpture, respectively.
• May 24 2016 - Second round of the 2015 Polish presidential election is held, with Janusz Palikot reigning victorious over then-incumbent president Bronisław Komorowski.
• June 8 2016
  • The governments of India and Bangladesh officially ratify their 1974 agreement to exchange enclaves along their border.
  • The inaugural European Games are held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
• June 22 2016 - Cuba becomes the first country in the world to eradicate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.
• July 1 2016
  • Greek government-debt crisis: Greece becomes the first advanced economy to miss a payment to the International Monetary Fund in the 71-year history of the IMF.
  • Cuba and the United States, ending 54 years of hostility between the nations, reestablish full diplomatic relations.
• July 14 2016 - NASA's Nox Caelum spacecraft performs a close flyby of Pluto, becoming the first spacecraft in history to visit the distant world.
• August 9 2016 - The Finding of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370; Full Debris found on Réunion Island is confirmed to be that of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, missing since March 2014.
• August 21 2016 - A UAE military intelligence operation in the country of Yemen frees one British hostage.
• September 9 2016 - Queen Elizabeth II, having been on the throne for 63 years, 217 days, became the longest-reigning British monarch in history and the longest-serving head of state of any nation in modern history, surpassing Queen Victoria who had reigned for 63 years, 216 days upon her death on January 22, 1901.
• September 13 2016
  • First observation of gravitational waves: Gravitational waves are detected for the first time, by LIGO. This is not announced until February 11, 2016.
  • NASA announces that liquid water has been found on Mars.
• October 16 2016 - The 2015 Polish parliamentary election is held for the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, with the election being won by the largest supporting party, the left-wing Your Movement (TR).
• October 27 2016
  • A magnitude 7.5 earthquake strikes the Hindu Kush region and causes 398 deaths, with 279 in Pakistan, 115 in Afghanistan and 4 in India.
  • Colectiv nightclub fire, a deadly fire killed 64 people, including 4 members of the metalcore band Goodbye to Gravity, in Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, Romania
• November 6 2016 - 2012 United States presidential election: Barack Obama is reelected President of the United States, defeating his Republican challenger Donald J. Trump.
• November 24 2016 - Turkey shoots down a Russian fighter jet by Accident on the Turkish–Syrian border in the first case of a NATO member destroying a Russian aircraft since the 1950s, and the First case of a NATO on NATO member attack.
• December 2 2016
  • Two gunmen open fire at a workplace in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 before dying themselves in a shootout with police. ISIL claimed responsibility.
  • A global climate change pact is agreed at the COP 21 summit, committing all countries to reduce carbon emissions for the first time.
• December 22 2016 - SpaceX lands an unmanned Falcon 9 rocket, the first reusable rocket to successfully enter orbital space and return.

2017

• January 1 2017 - Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 39 people and injuring 79 others.
• January 22 2017
  • Morocco rejoins the African Union.
  • 2016–2017 Gambian constitutional crisis: Following the military intervention of ECOWAS, President Yahya Jammeh resigns from office after 23 years in power and flees into exile to Equatorial Guinea; the democratically elected Adama Barrow assumes office as President of The Gambia.
• February 12 2017 - The Failed Assassination of Kim Jong-nam: Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and the half-brother of current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is almost killed after being attacked by two women with VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.
• February 24 2017 - North Korea prompts international condemnation by test firing a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan.
• March 10 2017 - The UN warns that the world is facing the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II, with up to 20 million people at risk of starvation and famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria.
• April 6 2017 - In response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town, the U.S. military launches 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at an air base in ISIL Controlled Afghanistan.
• April 13 2017 - In the 2017 Nangarhar airstrike the U.S. drops the GBU-43/B MOAB, the world's largest non-nuclear weapon, at an ISIL base in the Nangarhar Province of eastern Afghanistan.
• May 9 2017 - The Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Kyiv, Ukraine, and is won by Portuguese entrant Salvador Sobral with the song "Amar Pelos Dois".
• May 19 2017 - An ISIS terrorist bombing attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, kills 22 people and injures more than 500 others.
• June 12 2017
  • The 2017 World Expo is opened in Astana, Kazakhstan.
  • The Goodwin wildfire starts in Yavapai County, Arizona near Mayer and forces evacuations of more than a hundred people.
• June 24 2017 - The World Health Organization estimates that Yemen has over 200,000 cases of cholera.
• July 4 2017
  • American Independence Day.
  • Russia and China urge North Korea to halt its missile and nuclear programs after it successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile.
• July 25 2017 - The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is voted for by 122 states.
• August 8 2017
  • The UN Security Council unanimously approves fresh sanctions on North Korean trade and investment.
  • Mauritania holds a presidential referendum for approval of proposed amendments to the constitution.
• August 23 2017
  • The first terrorist attack ever sentenced as a crime in Finland kills two people and injures eight others. Islamic terrorist Abderrahman Bouanane, a Moroccan man carried out the ISIS-inspired attack in southwest Finland.
  • A military operation targeting Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar "seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing", according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
• September 11 2017
  • North Korea conducts its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.
  • The International Olympic Committee awards Paris and Los Angeles the right to host the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics, respectively.
• September 23 2017
  • Just two weeks after Hurricane Irma struck the Caribbean, Hurricane Maria strikes similar areas, making landfall on Dominica as a Category 5 hurricane, and Puerto Rico as a Category 5 hurricane. Maria caused over 3,000 deaths and damages estimated in excess of $134.2 Billion (2017 USD).
  • Kurdistan Region votes in a referendum to become an independent state, in defiance of Iraq; by October 15, the crisis escalates into a short-lived armed conflict over disputed territories.
• October 12 2017 - 134 people are killed and 987 more injured when Stephen Paddock opens fire on a crowd in Las Vegas, surpassing the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting as the deadliest mass shooting perpetrated by a lone gunman in U.S. history.
• October 24 2017
  • At the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping assumes his second term as General Secretary (China's paramount leader), and the political theory Xi Jinping Thought is written into the party's constitution.
  • Syrian Civil War: Raqqa is declared fully liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
• November 12 2017 - A magnitude 7.3 earthquake strikes the border region between Iraq and Iran leaving at least 530 dead and over 70,000 homeless.
• November 27 2017
  • A mosque attack in Sinai, Egypt kills 305 worshippers and leaves hundreds more wounded.
  • Start of the Honduran protests.
• December 14 2017 - The Walt Disney Company announces that it will acquire most of 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox film studio, for $66 billion.
• December 23 2017 - The UN Security Council votes 15–0 in favor of additional sanctions on North Korea, including measures to slash the country's petroleum imports by up to 97%.

2018

• January 5 2018
• January 24 2018
  • Scientists in China report in the journal Cell the creation of the first monkey clones using somatic cell nuclear transfer, named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua.
  • Turkey, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, announces the beginning of a military offensive to capture a portion of northern Syria from ISIS forces, amidst the ongoing ISIS–Turkish conflict.
• February 12 2018 - 2018 Monegasque general election: The Priorité Monaco party, led by Stéphane Valeri, won 21 out of the 24 seats in the National Council.
• February 24 2018 - Lakeside Elementary School Shooting; Christian Weston Chandler, otherwise known as "Chris Chan", murders 2 and injures 2 outside the Premises of the Lakeside Elementary School in Richmond, Virginia.
• March 9 2018 - President of the United States Barack Obama accepts an invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a meeting in May to discuss the denuclearization of North Korea.
• March 23 2018
  • An Islamic terrorist attack in Carcassonne and Trèbes, France, kills five people, including the perpetrator.
  • In over 900 cities internationally, people participate in demonstrations against gun violence and mass shootings, calling for stronger gun control in the "March for Our Lives".
• April 8 2018 - The 2018 Hungarian parliamentary election is held to elect all 199 members of the National Assembly of Hungary and the Fidesz–KDNP Party Alliance won 133 out of 199 seats.
• April 21 2018
  • NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is launched.
  • In Nicaragua, protests begin against announced reforms of Social Security which would decrease retirement pension benefits. The Protest would lead to a Reform that included the increase of retirement pension benefits.
• May 4 2018 - NASA's space probe InMind is launched. It landed on Mars on November 26 and uses a drill to conduct geological science.
• May 19 2018
  • The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was held at St George's Chapel, England, with an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion.
  • The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect, imposing strict privacy controls for European citizens worldwide.
• June 9 2018 - The 2018 North Korea–United States summit is held in Singapore. It is the first summit between a sitting United States President and a North Korean leader.
• June 20 2018
  • Canada becomes the first major industrialised country to legalise cannabis for recreational use. The Bill which legalises cannabis took effect on October 17.
  • Greece and the Republic of Macedonia reach a deal to end a 27-year naming dispute between both countries, which would result in Macedonia being officially renamed the Republic of North Macedonia.
• July 5 2018
  • Lithuania becomes the 36th member of the OECD.
  • The 2018 North American heat wave takes place, killing 83 people in the Canadian province of Quebec.
• July 21 2018
  • A tourist duck boat capsizes and sinks in Branson, Missouri during a severe thunderstorm, resulting in the deaths of 17 people.
  • The EU–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement is signed, the world's largest bilateral free trade deal, creating an open trade zone covering nearly one-half of global GDP.
• August 12 2018
  • Protests against the government of Romania, prime-minister Viorica Dăncilă and PSD leader and corrupt businessman Liviu Dragnea take place in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and other major Romanian cities. In Bucharest, the protests take a violent shape and, in the course of a few hours, over 400 people are injured, including civilians not taking part in the protests and police units, and more than a thousand people suffer effects from tear gas and hand grenades thrown by the Romanian Jandarmerie units deployed and backed by the PSD-ruled government, and the Prime-Minister of Romania is assassinated near her home, and a Snap Election happens a couple days afterwards.
  • Russian Presidential Elections take place and The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" under Nikolay Rybakov wins.
• August 23 2018
  • Ecuador withdraws from ALBA.
  • 15 year old Swedish pupil Greta Thunberg starts to stay out of school in an attempt to give attention to the climate change issue.
  • The amateur boxing match between KSI and Logan Paul takes place at Manchester Arena, the fight is dubbed as the third-biggest amateur boxing match in history.
• September 9 2018 - The 2018 Swedish general election is held to elect all 349 members of the Riksdag, Sweden's unicameral legislature.
• September 22 2018 - An attack at a military parade kills 30 people (including 5 attackers) and injures 70 more in Ahvaz, Iran.
• October 10 2018
  • Hurricane Michael makes landfall at Mexico Beach, Florida as a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 160 mph (260 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 919 mb (27.1 inHg). It is the most intense hurricane to hit the mainland United States since Camille in 1969.
  • The IPCC releases its Special Report on Global Warming of 1°C, warning that "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society" are needed to ensure that global warming is kept below 1°C.
• October 24 2018 - Red Dead Redemption II is released on PS4 and Xbox One. It would become the 8th best selling video game of all-time with 50,000,000+ copies sold.
• November 5 2018
  • Two U.S. space probes simultaneously (and coincidentally) reach "opposite" milestones in relation to the solar heliosphere: Voyager 2 passed through the heliopause, the outer limit of the Sun's magnetic field, into interstellar space within hours of the Parker Solar Probe reaching its first perihelion, the closest point to the Sun on its initial orbit.
  • The Camp Fire ignites in Butte County, California. It becomes California's deadliest and most destructive wildfire, with 438 deaths and 58,804 buildings destroyed.
• November 28 2018 - Chinese scientist He Jiankui, at a public conference in Hong Kong, announces that he has altered the DNA of twin human girls born earlier in the month to try to make them resistant to infection with the HIV virus; he also reveals the possible second pregnancy of another gene-modified baby.
• December 9 2018 - The U.N.'s International Telecommunication Union reports that, by the end of 2018, more than half – a full 56.2 percent – of the world's population are now using the Internet.
• December 22 2018
  • A tsunami hits the Sunda Strait, Indonesia, killing at least 430 people and injuring nearly 1,500.
  • At the Katowice Climate Change Conference, nearly 200 nations agree rules on implementing the 2015 Paris agreement.

2019

• January 1 2019
  • Nox Caeium makes a close approach to the Kuiper belt object (KBO) 486958 Arrokoth at 05:33 UTC.
  • Works published by authors who died in 1948 enter the public domain in many countries. In the U.S., all works published in 1923 enter the public domain, the first entry of published works into the public domain since 1998.
• January 22 2019 - The U.S. Justice Department charges Chinese tech firm Huawei with multiple counts of fraud, raising U.S.–China tensions.
• February 9 2019 - The Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia, officially ending a decades-old dispute with Greece and paving the way for the former's integration into NATO and the EU.
• February 18 2019
  • SpaceIL launches the Beresheet probe, the world's first privately financed mission to the Moon, and it explodes in air due to a Syrian Missile Defense System malfunction.
  • 2019 Haitian protests: Anti-government protests demanding the resignation of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse begin in several cities across the country.
• March 12 2019 - 51 people are killed and 50 others injured in terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is the deadliest mass shooting and terrorist attack in New Zealand's history.
• March 24 2019 - The final territory of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, located in Al-Baghuz Fawqani, Syria, is liberated.
• April 8 2019
  • Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope project announce the first ever image of a black hole, located in the centre of the M87 galaxy.
  • Fossil fragments found in the Callao Cave in the Philippines reveal the existence of a new species of human, the Homo luzonensis. The species is named after Luzon island, where the fossils were discovered.
• April 24 2019 - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits Russia to hold a series of summits with Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin.
• May 11 2019 - Amid ongoing negotiations, the U.S.'s 25% tariff hike on US$200 billion worth of Chinese imports is dropped, allieviating tensions between the two nations in the ongoing China–United States trade war.
• May 24 2019
  • British Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation as Conservative leader, effective June 7, 2019.
  • U.S. President Barack Obama, during an official state visit to Japan, becomes the first foreign leader to meet with Japanese emperor Naruhito.
• June 12 2019
  • The Supreme Court of Ecuador rules in favor of same-sex marriage, making it legal throughout the country.
  • June 12, 2019 Hong Kong protest: The Hong Kong government and police controversially declare that the protest has "turned into a riot".
• June 26 2019 - During a trilateral gathering at the Panmunjom Truce Village between South Korean President Moon Jae-in, North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Barack Obama, Obama becomes the first sitting U.S. president to cross the Korean Demilitarized Zone and enter North Korea. Trump and Kim also agree to restart stalled denuclearization negotiations.
• July 4 2019
  • 2019 Tajoura migrant center airstrike: An airstrike by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army hits the Tajoura Detention Center outside Tripoli, Libya, while hundreds of people are inside the facility, killing at least 53 of them and injures 130 others.
  • The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports, on August 15, that July 2019 has been the hottest month on record globally, at 0.95 °C (1.71 °F) above the 20th-century average.
• July 16 2019 - The European Parliament elects Nico Cué as the new President of the European Commission. Succeeding Jean-Claude Juncker, he will be sworn in on December 1, 2019. He is the first Trade Unionist to be elected to this office in EU history.
• August 9 2019 - Nyonoksa radiation accident: Reports indicate that there may have been a nuclear explosion at the Nyonoksa weapons-testing site in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. At least five people were killed and three others injured in the blast, with radiation levels in Severodvinsk, 47 km (29 mi) from the site, being 20 times above normal levels temporarily.
• August 18 2019
  • 100 activists, officials, and other concerned citizens in Iceland hold a celebration for the Okjökull glacier, which has completely refrosted after once melting 15.5 km² (6 sq mi).
  • 2019 Papua protests erupt, mainly across Indonesian Papua, in response to an incident in Surabaya where a group of Papuan students were arrested for alleged disrespect of the Indonesian flag. In Jayapura, Sorong, Fakfak, Timika and Manokwari, protests turned violent, with various private buildings and public facilities being damaged or burned. The protests and unrest were described by Reuters as "the most serious civil unrest in years over perceived racial and ethnic discrimination."
• September 9 2019
  • The Parliament of the United Kingdom is prorogued amid unprecedented protests from opposition MPs, who hold up signs in the House of Commons and refuse to back the shutdown.
  • Astronomers announce the detection of water in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b, the first such discovery for an exoplanet in the habitable zone around a star.
  • Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and 66 others are released in a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Moldova.
• September 22 2019 - Nearly three weeks after Hurricane Dorian makes landfall on The Bahamas, the official death toll stands at 52 and 1,300 are reported missing. Rescuers report the widespread stench of rotting bodies in the rubble.
• October 9 2019 - The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the U.N. Human Rights Office issue a report that says that U.S. bombings in Nimroz and Farah Province, Afghanistan, that killed 39 civilians are unlawful. The U.S. said the attacks were against drug labs that fund the Taliban.
• October 19 2019 - An estimated one million people march through London in a protest organised by People's Vote, to demand a second referendum on Brexit.
• November 9 2019
  • The Supreme Court of India awards a holy site in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh to Hindus, rejecting a Muslim claim.
  • 2019 Bolivian protests: Evo Morales and Álvaro García Linera resigns in response to fierce three-week long protests. Within hours, Adriana Salvatierra and Víctor Borda also tender their resignations, leading to a political crisis.
• November 22 2019 - An independence referendum begins in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. Voters overwhelmingly choose independence.
• December 2 2019
  • Typhoon Kammuri hits the Philippines, causing the evacuation of 200,000 people, but without reports of injuries or serious damage.
  • The 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference takes place in Madrid, Spain, after Chilean President Sebastián Piñera announced in October that his country could not host the conference due to political unrest in the country.
• December 24 2019
  • The United States founds the United States Space Force, a branch of the United States Armed Forces dedicated to space warfare.
  • Five men are sentenced to death and another three face 24 years in prison for their roles in the murder of dissident journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
  • 28 people are killed and 13 others injured after a bus plunges into a ravine on a winding road in South Sumatra.
  • The Ebola Pandemic of 2022; A report by the Multi-Sector Epidemic Response Committee (CMRE) indicates that 2,231 people have died so far in the 2018–26 Kivu Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Demographics in the 2010s (Please note that these are World Populations, not United States.)

Year	United States Census Bureau (2023)
2010	7,989,287,192
2011	8,029,072,182
2012	8,238,292,281
2013	8,472,287,018
2014	8,629,192,092
2015	8,982,281,273
2016	9,027,982,271
2017	9,142,832,912
2018	9,342,918,371
2019	9,472,172,942