January 13: Port-au-Prince, Haiti earthquake
About 230,000 people are thought to have died in Haiti after a calamitous earthquake razed homes, hotels, and hospitals, leaving the capital in ruins and bodies strewn in the streets. With thousands of people missing, dazed survivors in torn clothes wandered through the rubble as more than 30 aftershocks rocked the ramshackle capital, where more than two million people live, most in the grip of poverty.
April 22: BP oil rig explosion
Failures by a number of parties led to the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster which killed 11 people and caused widespread pollution.
May 2: Iceland’s Eyjafjoell volcano
Clouds of ash swept in from the Icelandic volcano which sparked unprecedented air travel chaos in Europe.
May 5: Athens, Greece protests
Athens police chiefs mobilised all their forces, including those not on active duty, to restore order amid rioting during protests against a government austerity drive. Three people died in a bank that was firebombed on the margins of the demonstrations.
May 11: Britain’s new coalition government
Queen Elizabeth II appointed Conservative leader David Cameron as Prime Minister at the head of a historic coalition government with the Liberal Democrats after the resignation of Gordon Brown five days after cliff-hanger elections.
July 11: Durban, S. Africa World Cup final
Many young sand sculptors from southern African countries showcased their skills by making sand sculptures related to the World Cup football tournament.
October 13: Coplapó, Chile miners rescue
The rescue of 33 miners trapped underground in Chile made front-page news the world over.
December 18: WikiLeaks
If 1999 was the Year of Napster in the history of the internet then 2010 will go down as the Year of WikiLeaks. Napster, the file-sharing renegade, upended the music industry and copyright in ways still being felt a decade later while WikiLeaks, for better or worse, is likely to have a similar impact on government secrecy and transparency. For now, WikiLeaks has governments, institutions and individuals around the world searching for answers to difficult questions surrounding US policy, free speech, internet freedom, privacy, secrecy, transparency and the power – and dangers – of the web.