2010s
The 2010s (pronounced <nowiki>"</nowiki>twenty-tens"; shortened to "the '10s", also known as the tens or the teens) was a decade that began on 1 January 2010, and ended on 31 December 2019. The decade began amid a global financial crisis and subsequent international recession dating from the late 2000s. The resulting European sovereign-debt crisis became more pronounced early in the decade and continued to affect the possibility of a global economic recovery. Economic issues, such as austerity, inflation, and an increase in commodity prices, led to unrest in many countries, including the 15-M and  Occupy movements. Unrest in some countries—particularly in the Arab world—evolved into socioeconomic crises triggering revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, and Bahrain as well as civil wars in Libya, Syria, and Yemen in a regional phenomenon commonly referred to as the Arab Spring. Shifting social attitudes saw LGBT rights and female representation make substantial progress during the decade, particularly in the West. The United States continued to retain its global superpower status while China, along with launching vast economic initiatives and military reforms, sought to expand its influence in the South China Sea and in Africa, solidifying its position as  an emerging global superpower, despite also causing series of conflicts around its frontiers, including conflicts with foreign governments with countries around South China Sea, Japan, South Korea, Mekong river countries, Taiwan, and its wolf warrior diplomacy have also distanced itself from some other countries, and within its border China also enhanced suppression and control on territories like Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet and such; global competition between China and the U.S. coalesced into a "containment" effort and a trade war. Elsewhere in Asia, the Koreas improved their relations after a prolonged crisis and the War on Terror continued as Osama bin  Laden was assassinated by U.S. forces in a raid on his compound in Pakistan as a part of the U.S.'s continued military involvement in many parts of the world. The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant extremist organisation in 2014 erased the borders between Syria and Iraq, resulting in a multinational intervention that also saw the demise of its leader. In Africa, South Sudan broke away from Sudan, and mass protests and various coups d'état saw longtime strongmen deposed. In the U.S., celebrity businessman Donald Trump was elected president amid an international wave of populism  and neo-nationalism. The European Union experienced a migrant crisis in the middle of the decade and the historic United Kingdom EU membership referendum followed by withdrawal negotiations during its later years. Russia attempted to assert itself in international affairs, annexing Crimea in 2014. Information technology progressed, with smartphones becoming widespread. The Internet of things saw substantial growth during the 2010s due to advancements in wireless networking devices, mobile telephony, and cloud computing. Advancements in data processing and the rollout of 4G broadband allowed data, metadata, and information to be collect and disperse among domains at paces never before  seen while online resources such as social media facilitated phenomena such as the Me Too movement and the rise of slacktivism, and online cancel culture. Online nonprofit organisation WikiLeaks gained international attention for publishing classified information on topics including Guantánamo Bay, Syria, the Afghan and Iraq wars, and United States diplomacy. Edward Snowden blew the whistle on global surveillance, raising awareness on the role governments and private entities have in global surveillance and information privacy. Global warming became increasingly noticeable through new record temperatures in different years and extreme weather events on all continents. The CO concentration rose from 390  to 410 PPM over the decade. At the same time, combating pollution and climate change continued to be major concerns, as protests, initiatives, and legislation garnered substantial media attention. Particularly, the Paris Agreement (2015) was adopted, and global climate youth movement as well as civil disobedience movement were formed. Major natural disasters included the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the Nepal earthquake of 2015, the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami, and the devastating hurricanes Irene, Washi (Sendong), Sandy, Bopha (Pablo), Haiyan (Yolanda), Harvey, Irma, Maria, Florence, Michael, Idai, and Dorian. Superhero films (most notably film adaptions  from Marvel and DC comics) and animated films became box office leaders in the decade's cinema industry. Cable providers saw a decline in subscriber numbers as cord cutters switched to lower cost online streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and Disney+. Globalization and an increased demand for variety and personalisation in the face of music streaming services such as Spotify, SoundCloud and Apple Music created many subgenres. Dance, hip-hop, and pop music surged into the 2010s, with EDM achieving mass commercial success. Digital music sales topped CD sales in 2012. The video game industry continued to  be dominated by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft; "Minecraft" became the best-selling game of all time. The best-selling book of this decade was "Fifty Shades of Grey". Drake was named the top music artist of the decade in the US by "Billboard. Politics and conflicts. Major conflicts. The prominent wars of the decade include: Revolutions and major protests. Successful revolutions and otherwise major protests of the decade include, but are not limited to: Arab Spring. The Arab Spring was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Islamic world in the  early 2010s. It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, starting with protests in Tunisia. In the news, social media has been heralded as the driving force behind the swift spread of revolution throughout the world, as new protests appear in response to success stories shared from those taking place in other countries. In many countries, the governments have also recognised the importance of social media for organising and have shut down certain sites or blocked Internet service entirely, especially in the times preceding a major rally. Governments have also scrutinised or suppressed discussion in  those forums through accusing content creators of unrelated crimes or shutting down communication on specific sites or groups, such as through Facebook. Terrorist attacks. The most prominent terrorist attacks committed against civilian populations during the decade include, but are not limited to: Political trends. International relations. China was increasingly called a superpower in the early 2010s, including at the 2011 meeting between President Hu Jintao and United States President Barack Obama. China overtook the U.S. as the world's largest trading nation, filing the most patents, expanding its military, landing its lunar rover "Yutu" on the moon (ending a four -decade lack of lunar exploration) and creating China's Oriental Movie Metropolis as a major film and cultural centre. In 2018, global military spending reached the highest it has been since 1988, late Cold War levels, largely fuelled by increased defence spending by China and the United States, whose budgets together accounted for half of the world's total military spending. In 2019, the Lowy Institute Asia Power Index, which measures the projections of power in the Indo-Pacific, called both China and the United States the superpowers of the 21st century, citing immense influence in almost all eight indexes  of power. Along with China, a Vladimir Putin-led Russia also steadily increased its defence spending and continued to modernise its military capabilities throughout the decade, including the development of the T-14 Armata main battle tank and the fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 jet fighter. Russia also flexed its power projection capabilities, particularly demonstrated during the 2014 annexation of Crimea and its interventions in eastern Ukraine and the Syrian Civil War; Wagner Group had a significant presence in both conflicts. Russia also notably waged information warfare campaigns against its geopolitical foes, including interfering in the 2016 U.S. elections via hacking and  leaking emails of U.S. political party leadership and by spreading disinformation via the Internet Research Agency. Other alleged Russian intelligence operations included the Skripal poisonings and the Montenegrin coup plot, both of which were attributed by some to the Unit 29155 organisation. Collectively, these activities—and the Western-led efforts to combat the influence of Russian oligarchs and political interests—have been referred to as the Second Cold War. The European Union went through several crises. The European debt crisis caused severe economic problems to several eurozone member states, most severely Greece. The 2015 migration crisis led to several million  people entering the EU illegally in a short period of time. There was a significant rise in the vote shares of several eurosceptic parties, including the League in Italy, Alternative for Germany, and the Finns Party in Finland. As a result of a referendum, the United Kingdom became the first member state in the EU's history to initiate proceedings for leaving the Union. Western polarisation. Socio-political polarisation increased as conservatives and social liberals clashed over the role and size of government and other social, economic and environmental issues in the West. In the United States, polls showed a  divided electorate regarding healthcare reform, immigration, gun rights, taxation, job creation, and debt reduction. In Europe, movements protesting increasing numbers of refugees and migrants from Islamic countries developed, such as the English Defence League and Pegida. The trend of polarisation in the West was partially influenced by the prevalence of identity politics, both left-wing and right-wing, among activist movements. Beginning around 2011, far-left and progressive concepts such as combating social inequality and economic inequality, often via progressive stack tactics, proliferated in the Western world and elsewhere. Around the middle of the decade, phenoms such as white nationalism , identitarianism and emboldened feelings of nativism saw a marked reemergence in the West due to drastically increased migration and corresponding crime and amongst both the right and left general disatistcation with Western government and Media responses to certain issues. There were also increased calls for egalitarianism, including between the sexes, and some scholars assert that a fourth wave of feminism began around 2012, with a primary focus on intersectionality. Antiestablishment politics. Populism in politics saw a widespread surge throughout the decade, with many politicians and various political movements expressing populist sentiments and utilising populist rhetoric. This included conservative wave phenomenon  in Latin America and neo-nationalist fervor in Europe and North America. The 2019 European Parliament election saw the highest voter turnout in two decades and saw relatively moderate centre-right and centre-left parties suffer significant losses to less moderate far-right, environmentalist, and both pro-EU and eurosceptic parties, who made gains. Examples of 2010s populist movements included the Tea Party movement, Occupy Wall Street, Brexit, Black Lives Matter, and the alt-right. Examples of populist country leaders were just as extensive, with Donald Trump, Narendra Modi, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Hugo Chávez, Matteo Salvini, Jair Bolsonaro, Rodrigo  Duterte, and Boris Johnson, left and right-wing, described as such. Related to the rise of populism and protests movements was the decline of traditional political parties. In Europe, pasokification described the loss of vote share experienced by traditional centre-left or social democratic parties. In France, specifically, Emmanuel Macron's "La République En Marche!" party won a majority in its first election in 2017. Centre-left, neoliberal and traditional social democratic parties often lost their vote share to more socialist or democratic socialist alternatives, especially in Europe. This happened most completely in Greece, where PASOK was replaced by Syriza  as the main left-wing party. Other far-left parties which rose in prominence included Podemos in Spain and La France Insoumise in France. In the two-party systems of the English-speaking world, these challenges mainly came from within the established parties of the left, with Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Party and Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Party pushing for more left-wing policies. The political establishment was also challenged in many countries by protest movements, often organised through new social media platforms. These included the various Arab Spring protests, the Occupy movement, and the yellow vests movement . Democracy and authoritarianism. Countries which democratised fully or partially during the decade included Angola, which reformed under João Lourenço; Armenia, which went through a revolution; Ecuador, which reformed under Lenín Moreno; Ethiopia; and Malaysia, where the ruling party lost the first election since independence. Long-term dictators ousted from power included Muammar Gaddafi of Libya (after 42 years), Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe (37 years), Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen (33 years), Omar al-Bashir of Sudan (30 years), Hosni Mubarak of Egypt (29 years), and Ben Ali of Tunisia (23 years). Democratic backsliding occurred in countries such as Hungary, Venezuela , and Turkey. The Arab Winter refers to the resurgence of authoritarianism, absolute monarchies and Islamic extremism evolving in the aftermath of the Arab Spring protests in Arab countries. The term "Arab Winter" refers to the events across Arab League countries in the Mid-East and North Africa, including the Syrian Civil War, the Iraqi insurgency and the following civil war, the Egyptian Crisis, the Libyan Crisis and the Crisis in Yemen. Events referred to as the Arab Winter include those in Egypt that led to the removal of Mohamed Morsi and the seizure of power by General Abdel Fattah el -Sisi in an anti-Muslim Brotherhood campaign. In 2018, China's National People's Congress approved a constitutional change that removed term limits for its leaders, granting Xi Jinping the status of "leader for life". Xi is the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (de facto leader). Deaths. Sitting world leaders such as Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Kim Jong-il of North Korea, Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Lech Kaczyński of Poland, Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan and Beji Caid Essebsi of Tunisia, all died in office, as did former leaders Fidel Castro, Lee Kuan Yew, Nelson  Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, Robert Mugabe, Giulio Andreotti, Francesco Cossiga, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Jacques Chirac, Helmut Schmidt, Helmut Kohl, Mohamed Morsi, Ariel Sharon, Shimon Peres, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Václav Havel, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, B. J. Habibie, Yasuhiro Nakasone, Alan García, Jorge Rafael Videla, Néstor Kirchner, Fernando de la Rúa, Patricio Aylwin, Itamar Franco, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and George H. W. Bush. Prominent political events. Coups. "Coups d'état" against ruling governments during the decade include: The following tables of events is listed by the region and by chronological  order. The prominent political events include, but are not limited to: Assassinations and attempts. Prominent assassinations, targeted killings, and assassination attempts include: Economics. The 2010s began amidst a global financial crisis that started in the late 2000s. A sovereign-debt crisis in Europe began in early 2010, and the Greek government admitted that it was having difficulties servicing its large sovereign debt. In the summer and fall of 2011, bond yields for Italy and Spain spiked above 6 percent. By 2015 bond rates had returned to normal ranges across Europe, save for Greece, which accepted another, even more stringent bailout  package. The size of the European Financial Stability Facility was increased from €440 billion to €2 trillion. Despite the Eurozone debt crisis, the American Dow Jones Industrial Average had its longest stretch of gains since the late 1990s tech boom. However, economic issues, including inflation and an increase in commodity prices, sparked unrest in many lower-income countries. In some countries, particularly those in the Arab world, political unrest evolved into socioeconomic crises, resulting in the Arab Spring. As a result of the global recession, many central banks instituted a zero interest-rate policy, or close to it . Another form of monetary stimulus was that of quantitative easing. The resulting flood of market liquidity caused a rise in asset prices. As a result, for example, United States stock prices reached record highs. Another consequence has been the rise in housing prices in many major world cities. Some of the cities which recorded the most dramatic rises included Sydney, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Auckland. In 2010, China became the second largest global economy, surpassing Japan. Japan also saw a rating downgrade the following year due to debt burden. In August 2011, the S&P downgraded the United States' credit rating  from triple AAA to AA-plus following a debt ceiling crisis. Also in 2011, a Gallup poll found that more than half of Americans believed the country was still in a recession. In June 2015, the Shanghai Stock Exchange lost a third of the value of A-shares within one month, an event known as the 2015–16 Chinese stock market turbulence. India became the fastest growing major economy of the world in 2015, surpassing China. In 2018, as the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates, fears of a yield curve inversion preceding a potential U.S. recession sent inflation higher in  several emerging markets, including Argentina, where interest rates hit 40% and an International Monetary Fund bail out was issued. In 2019, Singapore supplanted the United States as the world's most competitive economy, with the U.S. dropping to third, behind Hong Kong. Global oil production in 2014 reached a historic peak, reaching 93 million barrels/day. In 2018, partially due to a shale boom, the United States overcame Russia and Saudi Arabia in becoming the world's largest crude oil producer, the first time since 1973. Around the year 2017 is a period seen by some economists as being the  new peak of a "goldilocks economy". The International Monetary Fund's April 2019 World Economic Outlook stated, "After peaking at close to 4 percent in 2017, global [economic] growth remained strong, at 3.8 percent in the first half of 2018, but dropped to 3.2 percent in the second half of the year." In 2018, United States President Donald Trump announced he would put into place new tariffs on some Chinese products, starting the 'US-China Trade War', an economic conflict involving the world's two largest economies. Trump said the reasoning for the trade war is to punish China for  'unfair' trade practices, such as the appropriation of jobs and the theft of American intellectual property. China responded with tariffs of its own, and a cycle began, escalating the conflict to the situation faced today. As part of his 'America First' policy, Trump also announced new tariffs were being placed on countries around the world for various products such as steel and aluminium, which has drawn some economic retaliation. By the end of the decade, in North American and some Western European domestic economies, consumer-level purchasing habits had shifted significantly, a partial consequence of the Great Recession's impact  on discretionary incomes and a shifting breadwinner model. The so-called "retail apocalypse" had commenced as consumers increasingly resorted to online shopping and e-commerce, accelerating the decline of brick-and-mortar retail and the continued decline of indoor shopping malls. The transitioning retail industry and popularity of online shopping facilitated economic phenomena such as bricks and clicks business models, pop-up and non-store retailing, drone delivery services, ghost restaurants, and a quickly maturing online food ordering and delivery service sector. This was only further perpetuated by the rise in cryptocurrency throughout the decade, such as Bitcoin. By May  2018, over 1,800 cryptocurrency specifications existed. In the same vein as cryptocurrency, the trend towards a cashless society continued as non-cash transactions and digital currency saw an increase in favourability in the 2010s. By 2016, only about 2 percent of the value transacted in Sweden was by cash, and only about 20 percent of retail transactions were in cash. Fewer than half of bank branches in the country conducted cash transactions. A report published during the final year of the decade suggested that the percentage of payments conducted in cash in the United Kingdom had fallen to 34% from  63% ten years earlier. The 2016 United States User Consumer Survey Study claimed that 75 percent of respondents preferred a credit or debit card as their payment method while only 11 percent of respondents preferred cash. Science and technology. Two of the most prominent deaths in the scientific community during the decade were Neil Armstrong in 2012 and Stephen Hawking in 2018. Below are the most significant scientific developments of each year, based on the annual Breakthrough of the Year award of the American Association for the Advancement of Science journal "Science". Technology. Robotics, particularly drones like quadcopters, experienced a  wide use and application in the 2010s. Autonomous and electric car technology and sales showed considerable growth as well. In addition, sustainable space launch technologies were spearheaded by entrepreneurs like Elon Musk. Video Games began to merge hand in hand with technology as seen in applications like "Wii Street U", an app which used Google Street View and the Nintendo Wii U to examine the cities of the world, streets, and addresses on a virtual globe. Cyber security and hacking. Cyber security incidents, such as hacking, leaks or theft of sensitive information, gained increased attention of governments, corporations and individuals . Health and society. AIDS, a pandemic responsible for killing over 30 million people since its discovery in the early 1980s, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, became a treatable condition, though by the end of the decade only two cases had been cured. With good treatment patients can generally expect normal lives and lifespans. However, only some 5 million of the 12 million afflicted had access to such treatment. During the 2010s, social changes included increases in life expectancy and falling birth rates leading to larger proportions of the population being elderly. This put pressure on pensions and other social security  programs in developed nations. The environment became a topic of greater public concern around the world. Many parts of the world moved towards greater acceptance of LGBT people often including the legalisation of same-sex marriage. The internet took an ever greater role in entertainment, communication, politics and commerce, especially for younger people and those living in wealthier countries. In 2011, the world population reached seven billion people. Popular culture. Fashion. Fashion of the 2010s became more formal, and the fashion of the decade was often defined by gimmicky accessories, like Silly Bandz, and the fidget spinner (which were often  worn, traded, or kept by children). In addition, people's handheld devices such as cellphones which came in a variety of colors and cases (as well as things like handheld gaming systems) became more prevalent personal items. The decade was also defined by hipster fashion, athleisure, and a revival of austerity-era and other nostalgic alternative fashion trends (such as 1980s-style neon streetwear and unisex 1990s-style elements influenced by grunge). Furthermore, the decade saw the wearing of shirts with references to movies, shows, video games, popular culture, memes, and sports teams on them. In 2018, a subculture of  e-kids came into existence, whom took their style from Japanese street fashion, cosplay, skater aesthetic, and other pieces of pop culture. Film. Superhero films became box office leaders, especially with the Marvel Cinematic Universe whose "" became the highest-grossing film of all time, grossing , followed by "", "The Avengers" and "Black Panther". Horror film "It", which was based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, became the highest-grossing horror film of all time. "Toy Story 3" became a success and the highest grossing animated film of the early 2010s until "Frozen" became the highest-grossing animated  film of all time worldwide, which was then further beaten by the 2019 remake of "The Lion King", while "Incredibles 2" became the highest-grossing animated film of all time in North America. "Brave" became the first film to use the Dolby Atmos sound format. Motion capture grew in terms of its realism and reach, and was seen in movies like Steven Spielberg's "Ready Player One", a film which was praised for its visual effects and acting performances, winning several awards. The decade also saw the release of many popular and critically acclaimed films such as "The Social Network , Her", "12 Years a Slave", "Boyhood", "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl", "The Edge of Seventeen", "The Fault in Our Stars", "The Wolf of Wall Street", "The Perks of Being a Wallflower", "The Grand Budapest Hotel", "La La Land", "Eighth Grade", "Moonlight", "Get Out", "Parasite", and "Uncut Gems." The critically acclaimed movies of the '10s mentioned above set new precedents, movies like "Boyhood" (2014) were filmed over the span of a decade in real time to show the growth and childhood of a young boy, movies like "Uncut Gems" (2019) brought Adam Sandler back to a wide screen release  and was critically acclaimed for Sandler's serious portrayal of Ratner, while movies like "The Edge of Seventeen" (2016) and "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" (2015) helped kickstart the careers and gave more attention to actresses Hailee Steinfeld and Olivia Cooke. "Her" (2013) became Spike Jonze's highest grossing and most critically acclaimed movie, noted for its filming locations and art direction, "Parasite" (2019) became the first foreign film to win best picture, and movies like "Ready Player One" (2018) helped advance motion capture technologies, in addition to becoming one of Steven Spielberg's highest-grossing films and  serving as a return to the classic Spielberg format with references to 2010s pop culture. 2019's "Joker" became the first R rated movie to gross over $1 billion and cemented itself in popular culture by making the Joker Stairs famous in late 2019, a group of stairs seen in the movie and on its poster. These stairs became a popular place for tourists to take photographs of and walk down, as if to impersonate the Joker character from the 2019 film. Television. Cable providers saw a decline in subscriber numbers as cord-cutting viewers switched to lower-cost  online streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. On cable television, as well as streaming services, a variety of shows gained popularity. Adult animation grew rapidly throughout the decade with shows such as "Rick and Morty" ("Rick and Morty" specifically in the realm of adult entertainment became a phenomenon among Generation Z and other groups, the show growing a dedicated fanbase and cult following), "BoJack Horseman", "Bob's Burgers", among many others. "Adventure Time", "The Loud House" (which featured one boy and ten sisters and later turned into a live-action series), "Regular Show", "Steven Universe", "Phineas and  Ferb", "Gravity Falls", "The Amazing World of Gumball", "" (which, under its G4 status, became a pop culture phenomenon in its own right, thanks to its controversial, but loyal, cult following), and "SpongeBob SquarePants" were among other cartoons that were popular during the decade. "SpongeBob SquarePants" also made headlines for the petition and attempts to get "Sweet Victory" played at the 2019 Super Bowl after the passing of its series creator Stephen Hillenburg. The comedy sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" ran for the entirety of the decade, and was the number-one television sitcom for all of its airing prior to  its finale in 2019. The show featured a group of scientists – Sheldon Cooper, Howard Wolowitz, Raj Koothrappali, Leonard Hofstadter and their friends – and became a hit for CBS, the show often dealing with technology and situations of the time such as Bitcoin, PlayStation 4 vs. Xbox One, drone technology, iPhone's Siri, 3D printing, app design, the Fitbit, etc., as notably seen in episodes like "The Indecision Amalgamation" in the 2013–14 season and "The Opening Night Excitation" where the gang sees the 2015 movie "Star Wars: The Force Awakens". Other sitcoms like "The Office" and "How I Met Your Mother  (HIMYM" of which gained controversy for its 2014 finale, "Last Forever", which sparked an alternate finale to be created for the show, a television-first) were popular in the early 2010s, as well as cult shows like "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", carrying its popularity from the 2000s and lasting through the 2010s. "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" featured a group of degenerates in Philadelphia, the show, a comedy, sometimes making light and comedic fun of serious political and current world events of the 2010s. In 2011, in the television world, Charlie Sheen was fired from "Two and  a Half Men", who made his last appearance in the show in Season 8 during February 2011. Sheen's 2011 outbursts and firing from "Two and a Half Men" were highly publicized. "The Apprentice" was a reality television show that starred media personality and businessman Donald Trump as host until 2015, at which time resigning as host Trump would use the success he gained on "The Apprentice" to run for President of the United States; Trump was elected in 2016. The show coined Trump's well known catchphrase "You're fired!". Additionally, programs such as "The Celebrity Apprentice", Comedy Central 's "The Roast Of Donald Trump", and Donald Trump's November 2015 hosting of "Saturday Night Live", would send the reality TV star and businessman into the spotlight to win the U.S. presidency. Governor in the early 2010s and movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger took Trump's place on "The Celebrity Apprentice", much to Trump's public disproval, Trump touting his success as host asked audiences at a prayer breakfast to "Pray for Arnold's ratings". Indian sitcom "Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah" became the world's longest-running sitcom, with over 2,500 episodes, and dramas like "Breaking Bad" (2008–2013), "The  Walking Dead" (2010–present) and "Game of Thrones" (2011–2019) became some of the most popular American television series of all time and placed characters like Walter White in 2010s pop culture. A new era of family television and tween television existed in the 2010s, sitcoms of which were mainly spearheaded by Disney and Nickelodeon, but also appeared on cable channels such as ABC and streaming like Netflix. Shows such as Nickelodeon's "iCarly" and "Victorious", and Disney's "Girl Meets World" and "Andi Mack" were popular. Other shows such as "The Suite Life on Deck", "My Babysitter's a Vampire , Good Luck Charlie", "Wizards of Waverly Place", "Sonny with a Chance", "Hannah Montana Forever", and "The Middle" were popular as well. These shows of the 2010s gained attention; "The Middle" was praised for its accurate representation of middle-class families, while "Girl Meets World" was praised for its handling of aspergers in regards to the character of Farkle Minkus and "Andi Mack" along with "Good Luck Charlie" were praised for their inclusion of gay characters. Family shows on Netflix such as "Alexa & Katie", "Fuller House", and "Stranger Things" were popular among teen and youth, and 2019's "Stranger Things 3  gained even more recognition for the character of Robin Buckley. The short lived 2018 version of Roseanne", (a family sitcom on ABC), gained attention for the firing of its main star Roseanne and her outbursts (just like "Two and a Half Men" gained recognition for Charlie Sheen and his outbursts earlier in the decade). The cancellation of "Roseanne" even caused former TV star and President Donald Trump to remark on the situation, tweeting against Bob Iger of ABC. Reality television as somewhat mentioned above grew an increased following during the decade. "Kitchen Nightmares" and "Hotel Hell" gained popularity on cable  television, as well as getting millions of views on YouTube, making Gordon Ramsay famous. "America's Got Talent" drew in viewers when radio personality Howard Stern announced his joining of the show in late 2011, staying as host until 2015. "AGT" made acts such as The Singing Trump, Grace VanderWaal, and Darci Lynne famous. "Property Brothers" and "A Very Brady Renovation" ( a show seeing "The Brady Bunch" cast build their home from the show) brought viewership to HGTV, especially with older audiences. Meanwhile, shows on ABC such as "Shark Tank" allowed entrepreneurs to pitch their products which led to the  fame and fortune of many products seen on the show, and ABC's "The Bachelor" gained attention for Arie Luyendyk Jr. and his confession on the show's 2018 season finale that he was still in love with the runner-up, not the girl he gave the final rose to. Corinne Olympios also gained recognition on the 2017 season of "The Bachelor" for her behavior on set. "American Idol" remained popular into the beginning of the decade with musical talent like Steven Tyler as hosts, in addition to "The Voice" which was popular and saw musicians like CeeLo Green singer  of 2010's "Fuck You" host the show. Science Fiction television gained a renewed sense of interest, thanks to "The Orville" and its second season which aired on Fox between 2017 and 2019, serving as somewhat of a parody of the "Star Trek" frachise. Science Nonfiction such as "" also joined the line up on Fox, both "The Orville" and "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" of which were lead at the direction of Seth MacFarlane. As well, "Stranger Things" and "Rick and Morty" (as previously mentioned) joined science fiction shows. "The Orville" gained high audience scores, and received a 100% critic rating  on Rotten Tomatoes for its second season. YouTube. The video streaming website YouTube became popular, especially among younger people, as videos and channels like Nyan Cat, Fred Figglehorn (FRED), The Annoying Orange, Smosh, PewDiePie and Angry Video Game Nerd attracted millions of views, channels and videos becoming viral on the site. The popularity of YouTubers even ended up spawning films based on popular YouTubers, including "", "", and the Fred Trilogy (2010–2012) starting with "". Music. Globalism and an increased demand for variety and personalisation in the face of music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music created many new subgenres. US  digital music sales topped CD sales in 2012. Dance, hip-hop, and pop music surged in the 2010s, with hip-hop and R&B surpassing rock as the biggest US music genre in 2018. At the beginning of the decade in 2010, musicians like Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj (with their successful albums "The Fame Monster", "My World 2.0", "Teenage Dream", "Doo-Wops & Hooligans", "Speak Now", "Loud" and "Pink Friday" respectively) increased the global commercial appeal of pop music, with each of them selling over 100 million records in the 2010s and  becoming some of the best-selling musicians of all time. Electronic dance music (EDM) achieved mass commercial success in the middle of the decade but fell somewhat into decline by the end. The mass global appeal of EDM music (and subgenres such as dubstep, electro house and trap) from the early-to-mid part of the decade spawned the rise in fame of DJs and digital music producers, such as Skrillex, Tiësto, Avicii, Steve Aoki, Deadmau5, Calvin Harris, Baauer and Diplo. Country music also saw a resurgence throughout the '10s in the United States, with artists like Luke Bryan, Jason  Aldean, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Kacey Musgraves, Chris Stapleton and Florida Georgia Line topping the charts and garnering many music industry awards. With the rise of the internet in the 2010s, independent music (or "indie music") gained a large international cult following, with successful indie bands being Foster the People, Florence and The Machine, Beach House, alt-J, Of Monsters and Men, The National, Two Door Cinema Club, and M83; as well as successful indie solo artists being Tame Impala, St. Vincent, Father John Misty, Ellie Goulding, Feist, Sufjan Stevens, Lana Del Rey and Lorde. "Billboard" named Drake  the top artist of the decade in the US. Other popular musical solo artists of the 2010s included Adele, Ed Sheeran, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Khalid, Sam Smith, Travis Scott, Cardi B, Future, Shawn Mendes, Post Malone and Selena Gomez. Popular musical groups of the decade included One Direction, BTS, Imagine Dragons, Mumford & Sons, Arcade Fire, Twenty One Pilots, Migos, Swedish House Mafia, Bon Iver, Zac Brown Band, Maroon 5, Alabama Shakes, The Chainsmokers, OneRepublic, Vampire Weekend, The Lumineers, Lady A and Fun. Successful duos included The Black Keys , Run the Jewels, Matt and Kim, Rae Sremmurd, Love and Theft, LMFAO, Garfunkel and Oates and Dan + Shay. Several prominent musicians from past decades died in the 2010s, including Ronnie James Dio in 2010, Amy Winehouse in 2011, Whitney Houston and Adam Yauch in 2012, Lou Reed in 2013, Joe Cocker in 2014, B.B. King, Lemmy Kilmister and Ben E. King in 2015, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Glenn Frey, Phife Dawg, Prince and George Michael all in 2016, Chuck Berry, Chris Cornell, Prodigy and Tom Petty all in 2017, Aretha Franklin in 2018, and Keith Flint in 2019. There  were also several deaths of newer hip hop artists who had started or first became successful in the 2010s, including Capital Steez, Lil Peep, XXXTentacion, Mac Miller, Nipsey Hussle, Juice Wrld and Pop Smoke (who was killed at the beginning of 2020), as well as others. Video games. The video game industry continued to be dominated by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft; "Minecraft" became the best-selling game of all time in 2019. The popularity of video games increased across the world, as the Wii influenced gaming in the early part of the decade, and the Nintendo 3DS provided 3D gaming  through autostereoscopy. The successful Nintendo Wii was followed by the Wii U in 2012, a commercial failure. The Nintendo Wii would be responsible for the most critically acclaimed game of the 2010s decade, "Super Mario Galaxy 2" (which is also often considered one of the greatest video games of all time by game critics). The Wii would singlehandedly cause the increased use of motion controls in gaming (even with the Nintendo Switch in 2017), and 2010's motion-based PlayStation Move and Xbox Kinect, counterparts to the Wii. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One released in 2013, and in the  United States the PlayStation 4 became the highest-selling console of the decade. The Nintendo Switch launched in 2017 and was responsible for bringing Nintendo's success back, the success of the console initially spawned by "" and "Super Mario Odyssey". YouTube became a platform for "Let's Players" to upload videos of themselves playing certain games, which led to the popularity of existing games and newer indie games like "Cuphead", "Undertale", "Octodad"/"", and "Five Nights At Freddy's" (indie games like "Cuphead" were lauded for its rubber hose animation style, while "Undertale's" soundtrack like "Megalovania" came to light). "Let 's Players" were even referenced in greater pop culture such as the 2014 episode Rehash on "South Park" where gamer Pewdiepie appeared. The use of iPods, tablets, and cell phones became one of the most popular forms of gaming as the decade progressed with the rise of mobile games, expanding the industry's appeal among less traditional markets such as women and older adults. Apps such as "Angry Birds", "Pokémon Go", "Subway Surfers", "Doodle Jump", "Cut The Rope", "Smash Hit", and "Candy Crush" became hits. (In addition to "Super Mario Galaxy 2", it is notable in mentioning that Nintendo Wii  released a large group of critically acclaimed games in the early 2010s with popular titles such as "Kirby's Epic Yarn", "Donkey Kong Country Returns", "The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword", and "Sonic Colors"). The 2010s marked the growth, release, and large expansion of the "Toys To Life" category. Brands such as Nintendo's Amiibo became massively popular, and allowed figurines to be bought which were scanned into games to level up, train your figurine, or receive goods for your figurine. Skylanders and Disney Infinity also remained popular at the time, as fads. In the 2010s movies based on video  games franchises became popular, grossing more and being talked about in the media and among fans more than ever before. Movies like Ryan Reynold's "Detective Pikachu" (which starred additional actors like Kathryn Newton as Lucy Stevens and Bill Nighy as Howard Clifford) broke box office records for movies based on game series at the time, while movies like actor Jim Carrey's "Sonic The Hedgehog" created buzz in the media and on shows like "Conan" (where the film and its fans were satirized) in 2019 for the movie's depiction of a more realistic looking hedgehog character, which by  demand of the fans, was changed into a more cartoon version of the titular character to much like and approval upon the November 2019 trailer and movie's release. The best-selling games of every year were as follows: Literature. The best-selling book of the decade was "Fifty Shades of Grey", having sold 15.2 million copies in the United States. The following is a list of the 10 best-selling books of the decade. Note that global data is unavailable and this is limited to the United States: The "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series also became one of  the best-selling book series of all time throughout the 2010s, with installments such as "" and "" winning awards at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. Sports. Popular athletes of the decade included Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Megan Rapinoe, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Álvarez, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Kyle Busch, Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, Mike Trout, Michael Phelps, Shaun White, Kelly Slater, Simone Biles, Sidney Crosby and many more. A doping scandal and investigation that was concluded in 2012 led to former professional road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong being stripped of all seven of his  Tour de France titles. In November 2016, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time since 1908, over the then-Cleveland Indians. Their win, along with Game 7 and the entire 2016 Series, was heavily noted in the sports and baseball community. It is often considered one of the best World Series ever played, due to the underdog nature of both teams, how close the games were and especially the final game, and how it ultimately ended the over 100-year drought of the Cubs not winning a series. In January 2018, the final play of an  NFL playoffs game between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints, dubbed the "Minneapolis Miracle", became the first time in NFL playoffs history where a game ended in a touchdown as time expired, and prompted a change to the NFL's rules as they pertain to extra-point conversion attempts. Analysis. As the decade drew to a close, some commentators looked back on it as a politically unstable period. An article in the "New York Times" stated: "With the rise of nationalist movements and a backlash against globalisation on both sides of the Atlantic, the liberal post-World War  II order – based on economic integration and international institutions – began to unravel." It heavily discussed the US presidency of Donald Trump (a reality TV Star and businessman with no political experience at the time of taking office, succeeding Barack Obama) whilst also commenting, "Echoes of Mr. Trump's nationalist populism can be found in Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain's recent electoral victory and the Brexit referendum of 2016, and in the ascent of the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. Democracy is under threat in Hungary and Poland. Once fringe  right-wing parties with openly racist agendas are rebranding themselves in Sweden and Belgium. And far-right groups in Germany and Spain are now the third-largest parties in those nations' parliaments." A December 2019 piece in "The Guardian" argued that the 2010s would be remembered "as a time of crises", elaborating "there have been crises of democracy and the economy; of the climate and poverty; of international relations and national identity; of privacy and technology". The article also noted that, in Britain, "politics since 2010 has often been manic. Parties have hastily changed their leaders and policies; sometimes their  entire guiding philosophies. Last week's general election was the fourth of the decade; the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s had two apiece." Similar trends of political unrest were felt beyond the Western world, as suggested in "The Asian Review", which described the 2010s as a "tumultuous time for Asia, sometimes tragic, sometimes triumphant and never dull". See also. Timeline. The following articles contain brief timelines which list the most prominent events of the decade: