2010
2010 was designated as: International Year of Biodiversity International Year of Youth 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures There is a debate among experts and the general public on how to pronounce specific years of the 21st century in English. The year 2010 is pronounced either "twenty-ten" or "two thousand [and] ten". 2010 was the first year to have a wide variation in pronunciation, as the years 2000 to 2009 were generally pronounced "two thousand (and) one, two, three, etc." as opposed to the less common "twenty-oh-_". January 4 – The tallest man-made structure to date, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is officially opened. January 8 – The Togo national football team is attacked in Cabinda Province, Angola, and as a result withdraws from the Africa Cup of Nations. The attack was perpetrated by the FLEC, their first since the Angolan Civil War. January 10—Religious violence erupts in Jos Nigeria, which left scores dead, and many injured. January 12 – A 7.0-magnitude earthquake occurs in Haiti, devastating the nation's capital, Port-au-Prince. With a confirmed death toll over 316,000 It is one of the deadliest earthquakes on record. January 14 – Yemen declares an open war against the terrorist group al-Qaeda. January 15 The longest annular solar eclipse of the 3rd millennium occurs. The Chadian Civil War officially ends. Honduras withdraws from ALBA. January 19 - North Caucasian Federal District was split from Southern Federal District by decree of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev January 25 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 crashes into the Mediterranean shortly after take-off from Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport, killing all 90 people on board. February 3 – The sculpture L'Homme qui marche I by Alberto Giacometti sells in London for £65 million (US$103.7 million), setting a new world record for a work of art sold at auction. February 10 – The Australian government is hit by cyberattacks from freedom of expression activists, following recent Australian pornography restrictions.
