2010s facts for kids

The 2010s, pronounced "twenty-tens", "two thousand (and) tens", or simply "the Tens", is the second decade of the 21st century. It began on January 1, 2010 and will end on December 31, 2019. It is the current decade.

Things that have already happened

2010

• January 4 – The world's tallest-ever structure to-date, the Burj Khalifa, is opened in Dubai.
• January 12 – A major Earthquake of magnitude 7, devastates Haiti.
• February 27 – A magnitude 8.8 earthquake hits Chile. It is believed to have been powerful enough to have affected the Earth's axis.
• April 10 – A plane crash in Smolensk, western Russia kills many people who were important in Poland, including President Lech Kaczynski.
• April 14 – A major earthquake hits Qinghai province in China.
• April 14 – A Volcano erupts in southern Iceland. The ash cloud coming from this eruption disrupts air travel.
• from April 20 – Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst oil spill in US history.
• May 7: Human Genome Project concluded
• May 31 – Israel raids a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, killing 9 Turkish activists.
• July/August – Major flooding disaster in Pakistan, affecting more than 15 million people
• October 10 – The Netherlands Antilles are dissolved and split up into new constitutional status.
• October 13 – Thirty-three miners are rescued from the San Jose mine near Copiapo in Chile, after being trapped for 69 days.
• October 25 onwards – In Indonesia, the eruption of the Merapi volcano on Java, and an earthquake in Sumatra kill hundreds of people.
• November 13 – Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is released from house arrest.
• December 2 – The FIFA World Cups for 2018 and 2022 are announced as being held in Russia and Qatar respectively.

2011

• January 1 – Estonia starts to use the euro currency.
• January 14 – Amidst anti-government demonstrations, Tunisia's President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali dissolves the government, declares a state of emergency, and resigns from office.
• February 11 – 2011 Egyptian protests: After more than two weeks of anti-government protests, President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak resigns from office after more than 29 years in power.
• March 11 – A magnitude 9.1 earthquake strikes off the east coast of the Japanese island of Honshu, causing damage to buildings, as tsunamis are triggered, causing thousands of deaths. The quake also triggers fears over radiation levels at two nuclear power plants.
• March 19 – 2011 Libyan protests: UN-authorised military intervention begins in Libya.
• May 1 – Leader of al-Qaeda Osama bin Laden is killed in Pakistan by US Forces.
• July 9 – South Sudan declares independence from Sudan.
• July 21 – With the landing of the Space Shuttle Atlantis the Space Shuttle programme comes to an end.
• August 22 – 2011 Libyan civil war: Troops from the National Transitional Council enter Tripoli.
• September 7 – A plane carrying the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team crashes shortly after take-off, killing the entire team, including one who dies five days later.
• October 20 – 2011 Libyan civil war: Muammar al-Gaddafi is killed, as the National Transitional Council takes control of Sirte.
• October 23 – An earthquake in eastern Turkey kills more than 500 people.
• November 12 – Silvio Berlusconi resigns as Prime Minister of Italy.
• December 15 – US troops withdraw from Iraq.
• December 17 – Kim Jong-il, supreme leader of North Korea, dies. His death leads to fear for stability of the Asian region. He is succeeded by his son Kim Jong-un.
• December 30 – Samoa and Tokelau skip this day as the International Date Line is shifted.

2012

• January 14 – The Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia runs aground and sinks off the island of Giglio (off Italy's west coast), killing at least 11 people.
• July 27 - August 12 - The 2012 Summer Olympics are held in London.
• August 6 - NASA's Curiosity rover lands on Mars.
• October 22-October 30 - Hurricane Sandy causes damage, and over 200 deaths in Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba, Bahamas, Eastern United States and parts of Canada.
• November 6 – Barack Obama is elected to a second term as President of the United States, defeating Mitt Romney.
• November 14 – 21 - A week-long war occurs between Israel and Gaza, before a ceasefire is agreed.

2013

• January 3 – The cable television channel Current TV is bought by Al Jazeera America. Current TV became Al Jazeera America on August 20, 2013.
• January 16 – U.S. President Barack Obama's administration sets up a plan for gun control to limit guns up to 10 rounds
• January 21 – Barack Obama is sworn is for a second term as President of the United States.
• January 30 – Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands announces her abdication as Monarch of the Netherlands on Queen's Day, which is April 30, 2013. She is succeeded by her son King Willem-Alexander.
• February 11 – Pope Benedict XVI announces his resignation due to advanced age. He is succeed by Pope Francis on March 13, 2013.
• February 24 – Shortly after being elected President of Cuba for another five-year term, Raul Castro announced that he would not run in the 2018 election.
• March 5 – President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, dies.
• March 13 – Pope Francis becomes Pope of the Roman Catholic church.
• March 14 – Xi Jinping becomes President of the People's Republic of China.
• July 3 – Albert II of Belgium announces his abdication as Monarch of Belgium on King's Day which is July 21, 2013 due to health problems. He is succeeded by his son, Philippe.
• July 3 – Adly Mansour becomes acting President of Egypt after Mohamed Morsi was thrown by a coup.
• August 21 – A chemical weapons attack happened in Syria.
• August 30 – United States Secretary of State John Kerry makes his remarks about the chemical weapon attack in Syria.
• September 7 – The International Olympic Committee awarded the 2020 Summer Olympics to Tokyo, Japan.
• September 10 – Thomas Bach becomes President of the International Olympic Committee.
• October 1-October 17 – A federal government shutdown occurs in the United States, which closed all the things owned by the government (like National Parks). U.S. President Barack Obama signed a bill which ended the shutdown on October 17, 2013.
• December 5 – Former President of South Africa and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, dies.

2014

• January 1 – Latvia starts to use the Euro currency.
• February 7 - February 23 – The 2014 Winter Olympics were held in Sochi, Russia.
• February 13 – Belgium becomes the first country in the world to legalise euthanasia for terminally ill patients of any age.
• February 23 – The Ukrainian parliament votes to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office, replacing him with Oleksandr Turchynov, after days of civil unrest left around 100 people dead in Kiev.
• March 8 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappears in the Gulf of Thailand with 239 people on board. The aircraft possibly crashed in the Indian Ocean.
• March 16 – A referendum status on Crimea is held.
• March 21 – Russia formally annexes Crimea after President Vladimir Putin signed a bill finalizing the annexation process.
• March 24 – During an emergency meeting, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and Canada temporarily suspend Russia from the G8.
• April 14 – An estimated 276 girls and women are abducted and held hostage from a school in Nigeria.
• April 27 – The Catholic Church canonizes Popes John XXIII and John Paul II on Divine Mercy Sunday.
• May 5 – The World Health Organization identifies the spread of poliomyelitis in at least 10 countries as a major worldwide health emergency
• May 5 – Boko Haram militants kill approximately 300 people in a night attack on Gamboru Ngala.
• May 20 – Terrorists in Nigeria detonate bombs at Jos, killing 118 people.
• May 22 – The Royal Thai Army overthrows the caretaker government of Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan after a failure to resolve the political unrest in Thailand.
• June 2 – King Juan Carlos announces his abdication as Monarch of Spain. He is succeeded by his son, Felipe VI.
• June 4 – G7 Summit was held in Brussels, Belgium. It was originally going to be held in Sochi, Russia. It did not due to the Crimean crisis.
• June 19 – Felipe VI became the Monarch of Spain.
• July 17 – After a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, Israel confirms the beginning of a ground offensive in Gaza.
• July 17 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (Boeing 777) crashes in Ukraine, after being shot down by a missile. 298 people die, including 15 crew members.
• July 21 – The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 2166 in response to the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
• July 24 – Air Algérie Flight 5017 crashes in Mali, killing all 116 people on board.
• October 28 – Guy Scott became the acting President of Zambia after Michael Sata died. He became the first White leader in Sub Saharan Africa since 1994, when F. W. de Klerk resigned.

2015

• January 1 – Lithuania starts to use the Euro currency.

Significant political changes

• March 11, 2010 – Sebastián Piñera becomes President of Chile, succeeding Michelle Bachelet.
• April 10, 2010 – Lech Kaczyński, President of Poland dies in a plane crash. He is succeeded by Bronisław Komorowski.
• May 5, 2010 – Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, President of Nigeria dies of illness. He is succeeded by Goodluck Jonathan.
• May 8, 2010 – Laura Chinchilla succeeds Oscar Arias as President of Costa Rica.
• May 11, 2010 – David Cameron, leading a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, replacing Gordon Brown of the Labour Party.
• June 2, 2010 – Yukio Hatoyama resigns as Prime Minister of Japan, and is replaced by Naoto Kan.
• June 8, 2010 – Naoto Kan becomes Prime Minister of Japan succeeding Yukio Hatoyama.
• June 24, 2010 – Julia Gillard succeeds Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister of Australia.
• June 30, 2010 – Benigno Aquino III becomes President of the Philippines, succeeding Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
• July 2, 2010 – Christian Wulff becomes President of Germany, succeeding Horst Koehler, who had resigned after making controversial comments over the war in Afghanistan.
• January 1, 2011 – Dilma Rousseff becomes President of Brazil, succeeding Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
• January 14, 2011 – After protests President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali resigns, leaving the Prime Minister to be acting President.
• February 11, 2011 – After pro-democracy protests President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt resigns, leaving the military in control.
• July 9, 2011 – South Sudan becomes a country. Salva Kiir Mayardit becomes its President.
• August 26, 2011 – Naoto Kan resigns as Prime Minister of Japan, being succeeded by Yoshihiko Noda.
• October 20, 2011 – The National Transitional Council takes control of the whole of Libya on the death of Muammar al-Gaddafi.
• November 11, 2011 – Michael D. Higgins becomes President of Ireland, succeeding Mary McAleese.
• November 12, 2011 – Silvio Berlusconi resigns as Prime Minister of Italy. He is succeeded by Mario Monti.
• December 6, 2011 – Elio di Rupo becomes Prime Minister of Belgium, succeeding Yves Leterme.
• December 17, 2011 – Kim Jong-il, Supreme Leader of North Korea dies. He is succeeded by his son, Kim Jong-un.
• February 17, 2012 – Christian Wulff resigns as President of Germany. Joachim Gauck succeeds him on March 18, 2012.
• February 27, 2012 − Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi becomes President of Yemen, replacing Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had resigned after protests.
• March 1, 2012 – Sauli Niinistö becomes President of Finland, succeeding Tarja Halonen.
• March 18, 2012 – Joachim Gauck becomes President of Germany, succeeding Christian Wulff.
• April 5, 2012 – Bingu wa Mutharika, President of Malawi dies. He is succeeded by Vice President of Malawi, Joyce Banda.
• May 15, 2012 – Francois Hollande becomes President of France, succeeding Nicolas Sarkozy.
• June 30, 2012 – Mohamed Morsi becomes President of Egypt.
• July 24, 2012 – John Atta Mills, President of Ghana dies. He is succeeded by Vice President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama.
• December 1, 2012 – Enrique Peña Nieto becomes President of Mexico, succeeding Felipe Calderon.
• December 26, 2012 – Shinzo Abe becomes Prime Minister of Japan, succeeding Yoshihiko Noda.
• February 25, 2013 – Park Geunhye becomes President of South Korea, succeeding Lee Myung Bak.
• March 5, 2013 – Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela, dies of cancer. Vice President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro becomes acting president until elections were held on April 14, 2013.
• March 14, 2013 – Xi Jinping becomes President of China, succeeding Hu Jintao.
• March 20, 2013 – Zillur Rahman, President of Bangladesh died. Bangladesh parliament speaker Abdul Hamid was appointed acting president until he was sworn in on April 22, 2013.
• April 14, 2013 – In Venezuela, elections were held to fill the term of Hugo Chávez, who died on March 5, 2013. Nicolas Maduro was elected.
• April 28, 2013 – Enrico Letta becomes Prime Minister of Italy, succeeding Mario Monti.
• June 27, 2013 – Kevin Rudd becomes Prime Minister of Australia, succeeding Julia Gillard.
• July 3, 2013 – President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt is thrown by a coup, leaving Adly Mansour, the Egyptian supreme court judge as the Acting President.
• September 18, 2013 – Tony Abbott becomes Prime Minister of Australia, succeeding Kevin Rudd.
• January 27, 2014 – Juan Orlando Hernández becomes President of Honduras, succeeding Porfirio Lobo Sosa.
• March 11, 2014 – Michelle Bachelet becomes President of Chile, succeeding Sebastián Piñera.
• May 8, 2014 – Luis Guillermo Solís becomes President of Costa Rica, succeeding Laura Chinchilla.
• May 31, 2014 – Peter Mutharika becomes President of Malawi, succeeding Joyce Banda.
• June 1, 2014 – Salvador Sánchez Cerén becomes President of El Salvador, succeeding Mauricio Funes.
• June 7, 2014 – Petro Poroshenko becomes President of Ukraine.
• June 8, 2014 – Abdel Fattah el-Sisi becomes President of Egypt.
• July 1, 2014 – Juan Carlos Varela becomes President of Panama, succeeding Ricardo Martinelli.
• July 24, 2014 – Reuven Rivlin becomes President of Israel, succeeding Shimon Peres.
• September 29, 2014 – Ashraf Ghani becomes President of Afghanistan, succeeding Hamid Karzai.
• October 11, 2014 – Charles Michel becomes Prime Minister of Belgium, succeeding Elio Di Rupo.
• October 20, 2014 – Joko Widodo becomes President of Indonesia, succeeding Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
• October 31, 2014 – Blaise Compaoré resigned as President of Burkina Faso.
• December 21, 2014 – Klaus Iohannis becomes President of Romania, succeeding Traian Băsescu.

Things that are supposed to happen

• The baby-boomer generation, which is a phrase that refers to many people who were born after World War II in 1945, will be at least 65 years old, which will result in many people retiring (stop working due to old age). Many people will think this may make the government have less money than it should due to government services retired people use, such as Medicare and Social Security.

Sporting events

• Different Olympic games:
  • 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia
  • 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore
  • 2012 Summer Olympics in London
  • 2012 Winter Youth Olympics
  • 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, southern Russia
  • 2014 Summer Youth Olympics
  • 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro
  • 2016 Winter Youth Olympics
  • 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea
  • 2018 Summer Youth Olympics
• Different World Cup games:
  • 2010 FIFA World Cup was held in South Africa, won by the Spain
  • 2011 Cricket World Cup was held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, won by India
  • 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was held in Germany, won by Japan
  • 2011 Rugby World Cup was held in New Zealand, won by New Zealand
  • 2014 FIFA World Cup was held in Brazil, won by the Germany
  • 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup to be held in Canada
  • 2015 Cricket World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand
  • 2015 Rugby World Cup to be held in England
  • 2018 FIFA World Cup to be held in Russia
  • 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
  • 2019 Cricket World Cup to be held in England and Wales
  • 2019 Rugby World Cup to be held in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore

Images for kids

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  Osama bin Laden

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  Muammar Gaddafi

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  Malala Yousafzai

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  Jamal Khashoggi

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  Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

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

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  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

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  A poster used during the Occupy Wall Street movements with the phrase "We are the 99%". The movement was against the economic inequality and the influence of money in politics. US President Barack Obama claimed the movement would help "Americans express their frustrations", while Vice President Joe Biden remarked that "The middle class has been screwed."

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  Applications such as Wii Street U merged the world of video games and technology.

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

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

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  Rihanna was a fashion icon of the era

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

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  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

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  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

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

See also

In Spanish: Años 2010 para niños