Flashback at the Decade

Stephen Corro, Journalist|December 12, 2019

This decade has been one of the greatest ever. So many things have happened, so many amazing people were born, and so many events have happened that changed our world. So, as this decade comes to an end, let’s take a look back at this time one year at a time.
In 2010, the year started with some sad news; Haiti was hit with an earthquake that ruined most of their land. After this event, many questioned the end of the world when the longest solar eclipse approached Earth. When everyone survived that day, Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, introduced the world to the revolutionary product, the iPad. With this, phones added invoice optio ns, which also revolutionized the phone world. Phones weren’t the only thing that became better in the world in 2010. The current largest standing building, the Burj Khalifa, was opened to everyone to see.
In 2011, the year started sad again. Japan was hit with a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. The relief was sent all around the world, and Japan soon rebuilt after the earthquake. In some better light, the infamous leader of al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, was finally found and killed. On the other spectrum of death, the world’s population hit 7 billion. Finally, for technology, the international company Nintendo, release the Wii U, which brought a bigger screen, and a better alternative for the Nintendo DS.
In the year 2012, not much happened, except for the highly awaited Olympics. In this Olympics, many fan-favorite athletes and country teams took on each other and presented one of the best Olympics ever. Some notable winners were Usain Bolt in track, Michael Phelps in swimming, and team USA in basketball. Some other news was President Obama’s second term for the presidency and a new leader in China arose named Xi Jinping.
In 2013, Prince William and Princess Catherine kicked off the year with the amazing news of their new son, Prince George. This year wasn’t filled with many happy moments like this, unfortunately. Many tragedies hit worldwide. Some notable events were the Boston Marathon Bombing, Typhoon Haiyan hitting the Philippines, and the death of Nelson Mandela, which then resulted in the Mandela Effect. In the technology world, the war of the consoles would be born, as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were released worldwide. Also, China makes history in Asia, when they had their first unmanned moon landing.
In 2014, the craziest mixes of events occurred. Notable events are the worldwide Ebola outbreaks, the Malaysian plane disappearance, and the new terrorist group named ISIS starts taking over foreign towns. However, many other things, far from a negative light, have happened that also shaped our world. Some more positive things that have happened in 2014 is that New York City opened the new World Trade Center, India makes their first trip to Mars, and Apple revolutionized the world with the release of the Apple Watch.
In 2015, the negatives of the world have settled, and the path to a better world began. The law for same-sex marriage was approved which made many couples happy worldwide. To add to this, levels of poverty and execution have dropped significantly. The U.S. also made major hits in space when pictures were taken on the dwarf planet, and water was confirmed to be present on Mars. On the technology side, Tesla started to change the world with autopilot.
In 2016, we would be introduced to a new president. In the election, was Republican Donald Trump, and history-making women Democrat, Hilary Clinton. The winner of the election is President Trump. Other events that happened that year was the Zika virus outbreak, the 2016 Olympics, the explosion of the Samsung Note7, and the new trend for the app Snapchat. Many people consider this year the best year of this decade due to the small negatives from this year.
In 2017, the people faced one of the craziest years of our decade. Some examples of this were the Las Vegas Shooting, missile launch tests in North Korea, and a record-setting hurricane season. Besides these, Artificial Intelligence became the newest thing for technology, with Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk creating newer products for the community. Some other notable things from this year were the incredible comeback in the Super Bowl by the Patriots, and the rise of the kneeling in the NFL, during the National Anthem.
In 2018, the year was filled with positivity. In America, unemployment rates dropped majorly and even hit all-time lows. Another example was the saving of the 12 Thai boys who were stuck in a cave. The boys got a lot of help and got home safely. Also, for the eighth time, NASA landed on Mars and got many pictures of the red planet. Even with all of this, the highlight of positivity this year was when North Korea leader, Kim Jong Un, crossed the North Korean and South Korean border, to make peace deals with South Korea leader Moon Jae-in.
Finally, in 2019, many world-shaping things happened. The year started with all politics. First, the highly controversial, Mueller report was released, and as a result made people want to impeach President Trump, even when no clear evidence was displayed in the report. Also, the U.K. Prime Minister, Theresa May resigned because of the U.K. leaving the European Union.
Another important political event was the protests in Hong Kong to become a democracy. On a happier note, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had a baby. This happy hour would end tragically after when the 850-year-old, Notre Dame Cathedral tragically burned down. Besides all these sad events happened, many history-making things also happened. First off, the first all-women space mission was planned out. Second, the women’s Team USA won their fourth FIFA World Cup Title. As this year comes to an end, we can only hope and see what there is to come in the next decade.
On the pop culture side of the decade, the most viewed movies were Bridesmaids (2011), Frozen (2013), and Get Out (2017). The most listened to songs we’re Old Town Road (Lil Nas X), One Dance (Drake), and Shape of You (Ed Sheeran). The most played games of the decade were Fortnite, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Minecraft, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Finally, the most successful teams for each sport of the decade are the Giants (baseball), Warriors (basketball), Patriots (football), and the Blackhawks (hockey).
This past decade gave us so many memories. The future is very bright for the next generation, and we all hope for some more great things to happen in the next ten. For now, however, we say goodbye to the decade that shaped us into who we are today.