Saying goodbye to a decade with some trivia that might shock you!

2010 to 2019: Ten years in trivia

A new decade is just around the corner… What will the “twenty-twenties” hold for all of us and for the planet? Great things, we hope! Rather than try to gaze into a crystal ball, though, we’re going reflect on the ten years that have just passed.

Back on 1 January 2010, workers in Dubai were putting the finishing touches on the Burj Khalifa, in time for the building’s grand opening on 4 January. A decade down the track, “the Burj” is still the tallest man-made structure on the planet (828 metres). But a lot other stuff has changed! Enjoy a look back with our list of facts, trivia, highlights and lowlights of the years 2010 to 2019.

Notable social media launches

Instagram (2010)
Pinterest (2010)
Snapchat (2011)
Tinder (2012)
TikTok (2017)

Web browsers we used

Start of 2010: Internet Explorer 55%, Firefox 31%, Chrome 6%, Safari 4%
End of 2019: Chrome 71%, Firefox 9%, Safari 5%, Internet Explorer 5%

Notable natural/non-natural disasters and incidents

2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill
2010 Eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull
2011 Christchurch earthquake
2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami / Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
2012 Hurricane Sandy
2014 Disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370
2015 Nepal earthquakes
2017 Grenfell Tower fire
2018 Tham Luang cave rescue
2019 Australian bushfires

Songs we listened to

“Gangnam Style”, Psy
“Somebody That I Used to Know”, Gotye featuring Kimbra
“Uptown Funk”, Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
“Hello”, Adele
“Shape of You”, Ed Sheeran

10 new dictionary words

Noob
Schmoozefest
Twittersphere
YOLO
Gaydar
Emoji
Twerk
Glamping
Hangry
Binge-watch

Gadgets we (or our kids) used

Fidget spinners
Selfie sticks
Smartwatches
Electric scooters
Drones

iPhone updates

Latest Apple iPhone version available at the start of 2010: iPhone 3GS
Latest Apple iPhone version available at the end of 2019: iPhone 11 Pro Max

Biggest developments in health

AIDS became a treatable condition
Africa was struck by two Ebola epidemics
3D-printed body parts became a reality
Healthcare apps and online communities became commonplace
Self-powered pacemakers were trialled in animals

5 world leaders remaining in power the entire decade

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
Lee Hsien Long, Prime Minister of Singapore
Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran
Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria

Video games we (or our kids) played

Pokemon Go
Candy Crush (okay, that was mostly us, not our kids…)
Minecraft
Breath of the Wild
Fortnite

10 pieces of sporting trivia

Usain Bolt becomes the world’s most successful sprinter of all time in terms of world records, world championship titles and Olympic gold medals.
Leicester City goes from the 5,000-to-1 underdog to win a miraculous English Premier League title in the 2015-16 season.
John Isner defeats Nicolas Mahut in a marathon tennis match at Wimbledon 2010; it takes three days to finish and ends 70-68 in the last set.
London hosts the Olympic Games for the third time in 2012, becoming the first city to do so.
Lance Armstrong is stripped of all his Tour de France titles in 2012 after being found to have used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career.
In 2019, Tiger Woods completes an amazing comeback to win his first major title since 2008.
“Deflategate” hits the 2014-15 NFL Playoffs, with quarterback Tom Brady accused of deliberately letting air out footballs.
Michael Phelps wins his 23rd Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Games in Rio.
Spain becomes the first international football team to win three consecutive major tournaments, including the 2010 World Cup.
In October 2019, following threats from governing body Fifa, Iran overturns a 40-year ban on female spectators watching football and other sports in its stadiums.

10 fashion trends that came and went (or stayed)

Wedge sneakers
Hipster fashion
Naked dresses
Athleisure
Mom jeans
Festival wear / Coachella style
White sneakers
High-waisted pants
Slow fashion
VSCO girls

Films we watched

Marvel films (21 released in the decade, starting with Iron Man 2 in May 2010, and ending in Spider-Man: Far From Home in July 2019)
Star Wars films (5 released in the decade, including 3 “main” films, and 2 “anthology” films)
Frozen
Harry Potter films (the final 2 films in the series were released in 2010 and 2011)
Furious 7

Films we might have missed that were critically acclaimed

The Social Network
Boyhood
Interstellar
Mad Max: Fury Road
Moonlight

Prominent political events

Ongoing: Arab Spring / Syrian civil war
2011: Occupy Wall Street movement
2013: Death of Nelson Mandela
2015: Adoption of the Paris Agreement on global warming
2016: Brexit referendum (51.9% vote to leave)
2016: Election of Donald Trump as 45th President of the United States
2019: Hong Kong protests

10 bizarre world records set

2010: Most naked riders on a theme park ride (102, set in Somerset, England)
2012: Longest time to spin a basketball on a toothbrush while holding the toothbrush in the mouth (22.41 seconds)
2012: Most number of bees on a human body (331,000, by a Chinese beekeeper)
2013: Most number of facial masks applied simultaneously by a group of people for 10 minutes (1,213, in Taipei)
2015: Most balloons blown up by an individual in one hour (910)
2016: Most eggs cracked with a whip in 30 seconds (17, by a 17-year-old girl in Illinois)
2016: Most apples crushed with the bicep in one minute (14, by former Australian rugby star Drew Mitchell)
2018: Longest jump by a cat (2.13 metres, by Waffles the Warrior Cat)
2018: Most toothpicks placed in a human beard (3,500)
2019: Most people lying on top of each other in a multi-layered bed-of-nails “sandwich” (9)