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.
118 events, oldest first.
Timeline of The 2010s
-
2010
Ai Weiwei fills Tate Modern with sunflower seeds
The 100 million seeds were made of porcelain and painted by hand by about 1,600 Chinese artisans.
Art & literature history
-
2010
Apple's iPad goes on sale
Apple sold 300,000 on the first day and three million in under three months.
Science & technology history
-
2010
Eyjafjallajökull's ash cloud grounds flights
It caused Europe's biggest air-travel shutdown since the Second World War.
Natural history & deep time
-
2010
Hayabusa returns asteroid dust to Earth
It was the first mission to bring back samples from an asteroid.
History of exploration
-
2010
Instagram launches
It gained a million users in about two months.
Pop culture history
-
2010
Isner and Mahut play an 11-hour Wimbledon match
Spread over three days, the final set alone ended 70–68.
History of sport
-
2010
Kraft takes over Cadbury
The American takeover ended 186 years of British independence for the chocolate maker.
Food & brand history
-
2010
One Direction forms on The X Factor
The five had auditioned as solo singers and only finished third in the competition.
Pop culture history
-
2010
Paul the Octopus predicts World Cup results
The German aquarium octopus correctly picked the winner of all eight matches he was asked about.
Pop culture history
-
2010
Spain win their first World Cup
It was the first time a European team won the World Cup outside Europe.
History of sport
-
2010
The Arab Spring begins
It started in Tunisia after a street vendor's protest.
Modern history
-
2010
The Burj Khalifa opens
At 828 metres, it is more than twice the height of the Empire State Building.
Science & technology history
-
2010
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days.
Modern history
-
2010
Thirty-three trapped Chilean miners are rescued
They had spent 69 days underground.
Modern history
-
2010
WikiLeaks publishes US diplomatic cables
The leak contained more than 250,000 confidential cables from US embassies.
Politics & society history
-
2011
Adele releases her album 21
It became the UK's best-selling album of the 21st century.
Pop culture history
-
2011
Game of Thrones first airs
Much of it was filmed in Northern Ireland.
Pop culture history
-
2011
IBM's Watson computer wins Jeopardy!
Beaten champion Ken Jennings wrote 'I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords' on his final answer.
Science & technology history
-
2011
India win the Cricket World Cup on home soil
Captain MS Dhoni sealed the final in Mumbai with a six.
History of sport
-
2011
Prince William marries Catherine Middleton
Her Alexander McQueen dress by Sarah Burton was kept secret until she stepped out of the car.
Modern history
-
2011
Siri arrives on the iPhone
Co-founder Dag Kittlaus took the name from a Norwegian colleague, saying it means 'beautiful woman who leads you to victory'.
Science & technology history
-
2011
South Sudan becomes independent
It is the world's newest country.
Politics & society history
-
2011
The final Space Shuttle mission lands
Atlantis brought the programme to an end after 135 missions over 30 years.
History of exploration
-
2011
The Fukushima nuclear disaster
It was triggered by a tsunami after a huge earthquake off Japan.
Modern history
-
2011
The Tōhoku earthquake strikes Japan
It shifted Earth's axis by several centimetres.
Natural history & deep time
-
2011
The world's population reaches seven billion
It had passed six billion only about 12 years earlier.
Politics & society history
-
2012
Bradley Wiggins wins the Tour de France
He was the first British winner, and took Olympic time-trial gold ten days later.
History of sport
-
2012
CRISPR gene editing is described
Its discoverers won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020.
Science & technology history
-
2012
Curiosity rover lands on Mars
It was lowered to the ground on cables by a rocket-powered 'sky crane'.
Science & technology history
-
2012
Facebook buys Instagram
Facebook paid $1 billion for an app run by just 13 employees.
Food & brand history
-
2012
Facebook reaches one billion users
It hit the milestone just eight years after starting in a Harvard dorm room.
Science & technology history
-
2012
Felix Baumgartner skydives from the edge of space
He broke the sound barrier in free fall, and millions watched live on YouTube.
Pop culture history
-
2012
Gangnam Style hits a billion YouTube views
It was the first video ever to reach a billion views on YouTube.
Pop culture history
-
2012
Grumpy Cat becomes an internet star
Her famously grumpy expression was caused by feline dwarfism.
Pop culture history
-
2012
James Cameron dives solo to the ocean's deepest point
The film director's craft was called Deepsea Challenger.
History of exploration
-
2012
London hosts its third Summer Olympics
London became the first city to host the Summer Games three times.
History of sport
-
2012
Lonesome George, the last Pinta tortoise, dies
He was the last known giant tortoise from Pinta Island.
Natural history & deep time
-
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
-
2012
Sachin Tendulkar scores his 100th international century
No other player has scored 100 international centuries.
History of sport
-
2012
The Higgs boson is discovered
Peter Higgs had predicted it nearly 50 years earlier.
Science & technology history
-
2012
The last known First World War veteran dies
Florence Green had served as a mess steward in the Women's Royal Air Force in 1918.
Modern history
-
2012
The Shard opens in London
At about 310 metres, it is the tallest building in the UK.
Science & technology history
-
2012
The Tokyo Skytree opens
At 634 metres, it is the world's tallest tower.
Science & technology history
-
2013
A meteor explodes over Chelyabinsk
Dashboard cameras across Russia captured it from many angles.
Natural history & deep time
-
2013
Andy Murray wins Wimbledon
He was the first British man to win the singles title since Fred Perry.
History of sport
-
2013
Frozen is released
'Let It Go' was written in a single day.
Pop culture history
-
2013
Grand Theft Auto V is released
It earned $1 billion in three days, faster than any entertainment product before it.
Pop culture history
-
2013
Nelson Mandela dies
Nearly 100 current and former world leaders attended his memorial service in Soweto.
Modern history
-
2013
Pope Francis is elected
He is the first pope from the Americas and the first Jesuit pope.
Politics & society history
-
2013
'Selfie' becomes Oxford's Word of the Year
Its use had soared by about 17,000% in a year.
Pop culture history
-
2013
Sir Alex Ferguson retires from Manchester United
He won 38 trophies in more than 26 years in charge.
History of sport
-
2013
The Cronut debuts in New York
Queues formed before dawn for Dominique Ansel's croissant-doughnut, and Time named it a top invention.
Food & brand history
-
2013
The first lab-grown burger is tasted
The patty cost about £215,000 to make, funded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
Food & brand history
-
2013
The PlayStation 4 is released
It sold over a million consoles in North America in its first 24 hours.
Science & technology history
-
2014
Ceramic poppies fill the Tower of London's moat
Each of the 888,246 poppies stood for a British or Colonial soldier killed in the First World War.
Art & literature history
-
2014
Ellen's Oscars selfie breaks Twitter
Bradley Cooper took the picture, and it was retweeted over three million times.
Pop culture history
-
2014
Facebook buys WhatsApp
The $19 billion deal bought a company with only about 55 employees.
Food & brand history
-
2014
Germany beat Brazil 7–1 at the World Cup
Germany scored four goals in about six minutes, and Miroslav Klose became the top World Cup scorer.
History of sport
-
2014
Malala Yousafzai wins the Nobel Peace Prize
At 17 she became the youngest Nobel laureate ever.
Politics & society history
-
2014
Microsoft buys Minecraft
Microsoft paid $2.5 billion for Mojang, the small Swedish studio behind the game.
Food & brand history
-
2014
Microsoft ends support for Windows XP
XP's famous 'Bliss' wallpaper is a photo by Charles O'Rear of a green hill in California's Sonoma County wine country.
Science & technology history
-
2014
Rosetta's lander touches down on a comet
The Philae lander bounced twice before coming to rest.
History of exploration
-
2014
Russia annexes Crimea
Most of the world's governments did not recognise the annexation.
Modern history
-
2014
Scotland votes in an independence referendum
Scots voted 55% to 45% to stay in the UK.
Politics & society history
-
2014
The Ice Bucket Challenge goes viral
It raised more than $100 million for ALS research within weeks.
Pop culture history
-
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
-
2015
Hamilton opens on Broadway
Lin-Manuel Miranda got the idea from a biography of Alexander Hamilton he read on holiday.
Art & literature history
-
2015
Ireland votes for same-sex marriage
It was the first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote.
Politics & society history
-
2015
Japan stun South Africa at the Rugby World Cup
Before the 'Brighton Miracle', Japan had won only one World Cup match in their history.
History of sport
-
2015
New Horizons flies past Pluto
It revealed a huge heart-shaped plain, and carries some of the ashes of Pluto's discoverer.
History of exploration
-
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
-
2015
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is released
It reached $1 billion at the box office in just 12 days, a record at the time.
Pop culture history
-
2015
The Apple Watch goes on sale
The 18-carat gold Edition model cost up to $17,000.
Science & technology history
-
2015
'The Dress' divides the internet
Millions argued over white and gold or blue and black; the real dress was blue and black.
Pop culture history
-
2015
The Paris climate agreement is adopted
Nearly every country agreed to try to limit warming to well below 2°C.
Politics & society history
-
2015
The US and Cuba reopen embassies
The US embassy in Havana reopened after being closed for 54 years.
Modern history
-
2016
A feathered dinosaur tail is found in amber
The tail, trapped in Myanmar amber, still had its feathers.
Natural history & deep time
-
2016
AlphaGo beats Go champion Lee Sedol
Its 37th move in game two was so unusual that commentators first assumed it was a mistake.
Science & technology history
-
2016
Bob Dylan wins the Nobel Prize in Literature
He skipped the ceremony; Patti Smith sang his song A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall in his place.
Art & literature history
-
2016
Leicester City win the Premier League
Bookmakers had offered odds of 5,000-1 against them.
History of sport
-
2016
NASA's Juno probe arrives at Jupiter
Juno carried three Lego figures: Galileo and the Roman gods Jupiter and Juno.
History of exploration
-
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
-
2016
Pokémon Go launches
It was downloaded more than 500 million times within months.
Pop culture history
-
2016
Rio de Janeiro hosts South America's first Olympics
A Refugee Olympic Team competed for the first time, with ten athletes.
History of sport
-
2016
Samsung recalls the overheating Galaxy Note 7
US authorities banned the phone from all flights, even switched off in checked luggage.
Food & brand history
-
2016
Stranger Things first airs
The show later sent Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill to No. 1 in the UK, 37 years after its release.
Pop culture history
-
2016
The Chicago Cubs win the World Series after 108 years
Their long drought spawned the 'Curse of the Billy Goat', blamed on a tavern owner whose goat was turned away from a game.
History of sport
-
2016
The Panama Papers leak
The 11.5 million leaked documents forced Iceland's prime minister to resign within days.
Politics & society history
-
2016
The UK votes to leave the European Union
The referendum result was 52% to 48%.
Politics & society history
-
2017
A total solar eclipse crosses the USA coast to coast
It was the first total eclipse to sweep across the US from coast to coast since 1918.
Science & technology history
-
2017
Cassini dives into Saturn
NASA crashed it on purpose so it could never contaminate moons that might host life, like Enceladus.
Science & technology history
-
2017
Despacito becomes YouTube's most-watched video
It was the first YouTube video to pass three billion views, and later the first to reach five billion.
Pop culture history
-
2017
Fortnite Battle Royale launches
Epic Games built the free last-player-standing mode in roughly two months.
Pop culture history
-
2017
Leonardo's Salvator Mundi sells for $450 million
It is the most expensive painting ever sold, and it has not been publicly displayed since.
Art & literature history
-
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
-
2017
Starbucks launches the Unicorn Frappuccino
The colour-changing drink turned from sweet to sour as you stirred, and sold for only about five days.
Food & brand history
-
2017
The #MeToo movement goes viral
The phrase was coined more than a decade earlier by activist Tarana Burke.
Politics & society history
-
2017
The Nintendo Switch goes on sale
It became the fastest-selling home console in Nintendo's US history in its first month.
Pop culture history
-
2018
A Banksy shreds itself just after being sold
The half-shredded Girl with Balloon, renamed Love is in the Bin, later resold for £18.6 million.
Art & literature history
-
2018
Apple becomes the first $1 trillion US company
PetroChina had briefly been valued at $1 trillion more than a decade earlier.
Food & brand history
-
2018
Black Panther is released
It became the first superhero film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
Pop culture history
-
2018
Falcon Heavy launches a Tesla Roadster into space
A dummy astronaut called Starman sat at the wheel with David Bowie's Space Oddity on the stereo.
Science & technology history
-
2018
France win the World Cup in Russia
Didier Deschamps became only the third man to win it as both player and coach.
History of sport
-
2018
Greta Thunberg begins her school strike for climate
She sat alone outside the Swedish parliament with a hand-painted sign, aged 15.
Politics & society history
-
2018
Prince Harry marries Meghan Markle
Bishop Michael Curry's fiery sermon on the power of love ran for about 14 minutes.
Modern history
-
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
-
2018
The Thai cave rescue
Twelve boys and their football coach were brought out after 18 days.
Modern history
-
2019
Avengers: Endgame becomes the highest-grossing film
It overtook Avatar, but Avatar won the record back after a re-release in China.
Pop culture history
-
2019
Baby Yoda appears in The Mandalorian
Disney kept the character secret, so there were no Baby Yoda toys in the shops that Christmas.
Pop culture history
-
2019
Beyond Meat's shares soar on their stock market debut
Its share price jumped 163% on day one, the best first-day rise for a major US listing since 2000.
Food & brand history
-
2019
China lands on the far side of the Moon
Chang'e 4 was the first spacecraft to soft-land there.
History of exploration
-
2019
Disney+ launches
It signed up 10 million subscribers on its first day.
Food & brand history
-
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
-
2019
England win the Cricket World Cup on boundary count
Both the final and the Super Over were tied, so England won on boundaries scored.
History of sport
-
2019
Fire ravages Notre-Dame de Paris
The cathedral reopened in 2024 after a huge restoration.
Modern history
-
2019
Google claims quantum supremacy
Its Sycamore chip did in 200 seconds a task Google estimated would take a supercomputer 10,000 years.
Science & technology history
-
2019
Old Town Road spends a record 19 weeks at US No. 1
Billboard dropped it from the country chart as not country enough; Billy Ray Cyrus then joined the remix.
Pop culture history
-
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
Think you know your history?
Put 5, 7 or 10 events in chronological order in three tries. A new Chrono-Shift puzzle arrives every day.
Play today's Chrono-ShiftOr try Eras and Higher or Lower.