In a few days, we’ll be entering into an entirely new decade.
If you’re like us, you’re reflecting on everything that has happened in the last ten years with awe, and are so excited for everything to come in the next. As a country, we went through cannabis prohibition, two different prime ministers, and have seen the rise of the social media influencer, to name a few monumental things that went down in the 20-teens. Below, we’ve rounded up a few of the biggest moments in the last ten years to refect on just how far we’ve come!
2010
Kevin Systrom, Instagram co-founder, uploaded the first-ever picture to the platform (which launched in October) Lady Gaga wore her famous meat dress at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards
The first iPad was released | 33 Miners were rescued after being trapped 2,000 feet underground for 69 days
Scientists trapped antimatter for the first time
Devastating floods in Pakistan displaced 20 million people
Haiti was struck by a catastrophic earthquake
The Deepwater Horizon (AKA BP) Oil Spill became the biggest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry
Scientists created the world’s first synthetic life form.
2011
Occupy Wall Street | Prince William and Kate Middleton’s royal wedding
Last of the Harry Potter movies was released
Rebecca Black’s Friday was released
Steve Jobs passed away
Japan was hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami
Osama Bin Laden was killed
Global population reached 7 billion
Surgeons in Sweden carried out the world’s first synthetic organ transplant
The Oprah Winfrey Show ended its 25-year run
We lost Elizabeth Taylor and Amy Winehouse.
2012
Disney bought Star Wars
The first ensemble Avengers was released
“Gangnam Style” became the most-watched video
Facebook bought Instagram (RIP chronological feed)
Tinder launched in September of 2012
Queen Elizabeth celebrated her Diamond Jubilee
London hosted the Olympic games
Voyager I crossed the heliopause
The Mars Science Laboratory landed the Curiosity rover on Mars
Grumpy Cat
The Mayan calendar reached the end of its current cycle
Whitney Houston, Etta James, Ray Bradbury and Neil Armstrong passed away.
2013
Game of Thrones’ Red Wedding caused a frenzy
Frozen was released, and with it the unending horror of Let It Go
“What Does the Fox Say” became a YouTube hit
Edward Snowden revealed the NSA’s PRISM project
Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize marijuana
Rana Plaza disaster killed over 1,100 workers in Bangladesh
The Vatican elected Pope Francis as leader of the worldwide Catholic Church
China successfully completed its first unmanned moon landing
World’s first Ebola epidemic
We lost Nelson Mandela.
2014
100th Anniversary of World War I
Black Lives Matter movement emerged in 2014
Malaysia Airlines passenger jet disappeared without a trace in early 2014
Boko Haram militants kidnapped more than 270 teenage girls from a boarding school in Nigeria
Mexican forces captured El Chapo
Everyone was doing the Ice Bucket Challenge
#blackandblue or #whiteandgold – the internet had a heated debate over the colour of this dress
Facebook bought WhatsApp
Gamergate
The European Space Agency landed a probe on a comet 310 million miles from Earth
Robin Williams, Maya Angelou, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Joan Rivers and Philip Seymour Hoffman passed away.
2015
Hamilton debuted on Broadway
Amazon introduced Prime Day
Paris Climate Agreement was reached
The world met Caitlyn Jenner
Same-sex marriage became legal in the U.S
Space X landed a rocket after launching it into space
El Chapo escaped from prison through a subterranean tunnel
Queen Elizabeth II became the longest reigning monarch in British history on September 9, 2015
Volkswagen admitted to fitting 11 million cars with defeat devices to cheat emissions tests
The New Horizons probe reached Pluto, becoming the first spacecraft to explore the planet.
2016
Panama Papers were released
Apple AirPods were released
Brexit (Yes, it really has been that long!)
Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar
Harambe became an internet phenomenon
The world went crazy over Pokémon Go
Donald Trump was elected President of the United States
Solar Impulse 2 became the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the Earth
Chewbacca Mom
Rio de Janeiro hosted the Olympic Games
NASA’s Juno spacecraft arrived at Jupiter after a five year journey
David Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Alan Rickman, Harper Lee, Gene Wilder and Carrie Fisher passed away.
2017
Fortnite launched
Harvey Weinstein was exposed and disgraced, propelling the #MeToo movement
Millions attended the Women’s March
Everyone was playing with fidget spinners
We experienced a total solar eclipse
Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal (the first of many scandals involving Facebook)
Amazon bought Whole Foods
Fyre Festival, “the greatest party that never happened”
TikTok launched
Hugh Hefner passed away.
2018
Harry and Meghan’s royal wedding
A Banksy painting self-destructed
After three weeks, all 12 boys and their coach from the Thai soccer team were rescued from a flooded cave
Canada legalized marijuana, becoming the second nation in the world to do so
A Chinese scientist revealed that he had secretly produced the world’s first gene-edited babies
Yanny vs. Laurel
We lost Stan Lee, Aretha Franklin, Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi9c4oEAWZw/
2019
The Toronto Raptors won their first ever NBA title
The first-ever photo of a black hole was taken in 2019
A picture of an egg became the most-liked picture on Instagram
Simone Biles became the most decorated gymnast ever
For the first time the winners of Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss America, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA were all women of colour
NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch completed the first all-female spacewalk
Scientists discovered 71 new species this year | Canada passed a bill banning whale and dolphin captivity
As of the end of this decade, 467 species have been declared extinct.
