2010 – The year that was!

(pictures source: Zeenews network)

Some of the prominent global events that in my view have shaped  2010 are:

1. The BP Oil spill in the gulf of mexico – On April 20, 2010, a deep water horizon drilling rig explosion killed 11 men working on the rig and injured 17 others and released about 4.9 million barrels of crude oil and caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats off the Gulf of Mexico.
2. The Haiti quake – On Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 21:53:10 UTC a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti. The Haitian government estimates 200,000 have died as a result of this sad incident and 2,000,000 people have been left homeless.
3. The eruption of the Iceland Volcano of Eyjafjallajokull caused enormous disruption to air travel across western and northern Europe over an initial period of six days in April 2010.
4. The Wikileaks expose of worldwide secret classified documents by Assange took the world by surprise and diplomats were scurrying to restore relationships with countries over the expose.
5. Facebook and Twitter social media revolution: The social media took the world by storm and the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was voted Times person of the year 2010
6. Paul the Octopus – During the world cup Paul accurately predicted the results of the german games and became an instant celebrity. However, he passed away on 26th Oct. 2010
7. Release of Aung San Suu Kyi – The Burmese military authorities  the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from house arrest on 13th Nov.2010 .The Nobel Peace Prize winner has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years.
8. Nobel Peace prize awarded to Liu Xiabao – The Norwegian Nobel Committee  decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.
9. The break up of Tiger Woods – The world famous professional golfer was embroiled in controversy over numerous extra-marital affairs and his marriage eventually ended in divorce
10. The spat between North & South Korea- North Korea fired scores of artillery shells at a South Korean island  in one of the heaviest attacks on its neighbor since the Korean War ended in 1953.

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