Jan 11 – 2008 Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin signs deal with Fox News to work as contributor Jan 12 – A massive earthquake kills 230,000 people in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Jan 19 – Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown upsets Democrat Martha Coakley in a special election for Sen. Ted Kennedyʼs seat Jan 21 – Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, holds that corporate funding of
JANUARY
2010 The World in Review Jan 25 – Avatar, the first 3D movie filmed entirely with stereoscopic cameras, becomes the highest-grossing film of all time Jan 27 – American author J.D. Salinger dies Jan 28 – Toyota issues a recall after reports of pedals sticking to floor mats. The recall included 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S.
Mar 17 – Senate Democrats and Republicans work together to approve a jobs bill that includes incentives for small business to hire new employees who have been out of work for 60 days
Apr 3 – Apple releases the iPad Apr 5 – 29 miners are killed in an explosion in an underground mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia Apr 14 –Volcanic ash from Iceland forms a cloud and begins to spread over Europe disrupting air travel for weeks
May 2 – The Eurozone and the International Monetary Fund agree to a 110 billion euro bailout package for Greece May 3 – Flooding in Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi kills more than 20 people May 18 – U.S. forms agreement with Russia, China and others on sanctions for Iran
Jun 5 – Two Americans are arrested in New York on their way to Somalia with intentions to join an Islamist extremist group that aims to kill American troops Jun 9 – The UN Security Council passes another set of sanctions against Iranʼs nuclear program
MARCH
Mar 7 – Violence occurs on Election Day in Iraq Mar 7 – Kathryn Bigelow, director of The Hurt Locker, becomes the first woman to win the Best Director award at the Oscars
Mar 23 – President Barack Obama signs a bill for massive health care reform legislation
Apr 20 – A BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico explodes, killing 11 workers and spilling millions of gallons of oil into the ocean
May 26 – Apple passes Microsoft as the worldʼs most valuable technology company
Jun 11 – The 2010 FIFA World Cup begins in South Africa
Jul 15 – BP caps the broken oil well after 87 days of gushing
JULY
Jul 11 – Spain wins the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa Jul 15 – Congress passes landmark financial regulation bill
Oct 12 – Thirty-three Chilean miners were rescued one-by-one in a tiny capsule after 69 days trapped underground. Oct 12 – The White House lifts the moratorium on deepwater drilling for oil and gas. The moratorium had been in place since the BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded Oct 19 – French citizens riot when the retirement age is raised to 62
Nov 2 – In the general election, the Democratic Party holds its majority in Senate while the Republican Party gains control of the House of Representatives Nov 22 – A stampede during Cambodiaʼs annual water festival kills at least 300 people Nov 23 – The military of North Korea unexpectedly attacks a South Korean Island, killing two civilians and two marines
Dec 7 – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is arrested in Sweden for alleged sex offenses Dec 15 – The Senate votes on a tax package that extends tax cuts to all Americans, including those earning high incomes. President Obama promised during his campaign that he would repeal those same Bush-era tax cuts but decided to compromise with Republicans instead
SEPTEMBER
Sep 16 – The U.S. poverty rate hits a 15-year high
OCTOBER
Sep 11 – Florida pastor calls off Quran-burning ceremony he planned to mark the ninth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks
NOVEMBER
Aug 10 – The World Health Organization declares the H1N1 influenza pandemic over
DECEMBER
Aug 4 – A federal judge strikes down the voter-approved gay marriage ban in California, calling the law unconstitutional
AUGUST
Jul 18 – A train crash in India kills at least 63 people
Aug 5 – The Senate votes 63-37 to approve Elena Kagan as the Supreme Courtʼs 112th justice and the fourth woman in its history
Feb 27 – An 8.8 magnitude earthquake damages buildings and kills people in Chile
APRIL
Feb 18 – A man crashes his plane into an office of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Texas, killing himself and one other person
Feb 22 – NATO airstrike in Afghanistan kills 27 civilians
MAY
Feb 12-18 – The 2010 Winter Olympics are held in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada
Feb 19 – Golfer Tiger Woods publicly apologizes for sex scandal
JUNE
Feb 1 – President Obama unveils a $3.8 trillion budget Feb 11 – Alexander McQueen, one of the UKʼs most influential fashion designers, dies
FEBRUARY
independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited under the First Amendment
Mar 23 – A South Korean Navy ship sinks, killing 46 people; North Korea is blamed after investigations in May Mar 29 – 39 people are killed in a subway car bombing attack in Moscow
Apr 23 – Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signs the countryʼs toughest immigration bill. The bill sparked protests across the country
May 28 – American actor Gary Coleman dies
Jun 11 – Flash floods kill 19 people in Arkansas
Jul 21 – Facebook, a social networking site, reaches 500 million users Jul 25 – WikiLeaks, a website that publishes classified documents, releases many American documents related to the war in Afghanistan Jul 26 – Heavy monsoon rains cause widespread flooding in Pakistan
Aug 15 – Chinaʼs economy becomes the second largest in the world, passing Japanʼs and approaching that of the United States Aug 17 – A suicide bomber kills himself and at least 48 army recruits and soldiers at an Iraqi Army recruiting office Aug 31 – Seven years after the war in Iraq began, President Obama announces the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom with the withdrawal of combat troops
Sep 28 – Seven people are killed and 100 are missing after a landslide in Mexico
Oct 25 – An earthquake and tsunami on the Indonesian coast kills more than 400 people Oct 31 – An Al Qaeda-affiliated massacre at a church in Baghdad leaves 58 dead
Nov 28 – WikiLeaks releases classified American diplomatic cables Nov 30 – A survey of active-duty and reserve service members in a nine-month study reveals that 70 percent believe repealing “Donʼt Ask, Donʼt Tell” would impact their units in a positive, mixed or neutral way
Dec 18 – The Senate votes 65 to 31 in favor of repealing “Donʼt Ask, Donʼt Tell,” a military policy that forbids openly gay men and women from serving in the military Dec 21 – The first total lunar eclipse to occur on the day of the northern winter solstice/southern summer solstice since 1638 takes place