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Troubling economic news dominated headlines worldwide, while other events — in¬
cluding the explosion of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which resulted in the
spewing of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico — added to the bad news.
Worries also emerged about cyberwarfare attacks on governments and the prospect
of invasive species’ thriving in temperatures that were getting warmer by the year.
In Yemen al-Qaeda stirred up trouble and gained a foothold in the south of the coun¬
try by encouraging secessionists to break away from the north, and the militant group estab¬
lished a base from which to coordinate terrorist activities. In the U.S. the grassroots Tea Party
movement brewed up a tempest in the political arena with its credo to oppose excessive tax¬
ation, immigration, and government intervention in the private sector. In Africa 17 countries,
14 of them former French colonies, marked the 50th anniversary of their independence. The
earthquakes in Haiti and Chile brought to the fore the need for smart engineering of build¬
ings to sustain the shocks from massive temblors. On the bright side, the Winter Olympic
Games in Vancouver, B.C., provided spills and chills early in the year, and epicureans every¬
where savoured the new and interesting concoctions that resulted from the culinary applica¬
tions of Molecular Gastronomy. All of these topics are covered in Special Reports.
Significant elections took place in Australia, the U.K., and the U.S., where the midterm elec¬
tions resulted in the Republicans’ taking majority control in most states and in the House of
Representatives. Some believed that the new and unpopular U.S. health care bill initiated by
the administration of Pres. Barack Obama was one factor that led to the Democrats’ defeat.
The cataclysmic Haiti earthquake, which killed about 220,000 persons, led to billions of dol¬
lars in pledges from countries worldwide, but by year’s end that country had yet to receive
many of the donations. Europe had its fair share of economic woes, especially the countries
of the so-called PUGS; Greece and Ireland had to accept massive bailouts to keep their
economies afloat. Putting a positive spin on the news, wind turbines were helping to conserve
energy, and China’s commercial wind farm began providing electricity to Expo 2010 Shang¬
hai China, a world’s fair that attracted some 70 million visitors. In the realm of sports, the
first Summer Youth Olympic Games were held in Singapore, and the association football (soc¬
cer) World Cup featured a final duel between Spain and the Netherlands, with the former
emerging victorious. These stories appear as Sidebars.
A number of sports legends died during the year, including basketball coach John Wooden
and three baseball legends: New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, longtime manager
Sparky Anderson, and Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob ("Rapid Robert”) Feller. Hollywood had
its share of losses, notably actors Tony Curtis, Dennis Hopper, and Lynn Redgrave. Other
prominent deaths included those of Polish Pres. Lech Kaczynski, civil rights activist Dorothy
Height, fashion designer Alexander McQueen, writers J.D. Salinger and Jose Saramago, opera
singer Dame Joan Sutherland, and songstresses Lena Horne and Kate McGarrigle.
The personalities of the year featured in biographies include WikiLeaks founder Julian
Assange, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, British Prime Minister David Cameron, film
director Kathryn Bigelow, pop-culture icon Lady Gaga, golfer Phil Mickelson, and baseball
pitcher Roy Halladay. In the Britannica family of authors, we salute longtime geology and
geochemistry expert Peter J. Wylie, who is retiring after 34 years.
Though the news was mostly bad in 2010, it was a year in which exciting discoveries were
made, technology took greater strides forward, and people bid a final farewell to the decade.
There are many more compelling stories to read between the pages of this volume, the
Britannica Book of the Year 2011. I invite you to discover them.
Explanation:
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