2011

File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates the independence of South Sudan, the world's newest country; the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami devastates Eastern Japan and kills nearly 20,000 people; Minecraft is released and goes on to become the best-selling video game; the 2011 Norway attacks mark the rise of white supremacist terrorism across the west; The U.S. national security team gathered in the White House Situation Room to monitor the progress of Operation Neptune Spear that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden; Anti-government protests called the Arab Spring arose in 2010–2011, and as a result, many governments were overthrown in the Middle East and Northern Africa., 300x300px, thumb
rect 0 0 200 200 Occupy movement
rect 200 0 400 200 Killing of Muammar Gaddafi
rect 400 0 600 200 South Sudan
rect 0 200 300 400 Arab Spring
rect 300 200 600 400 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
rect 0 400 200 600 Operation Neptune Spear
rect 200 400 400 600 2011 Norway attacks
rect 400 400 600 600 Minecraft

The most notable event of the year was the Arab Spring that involved the killing of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya as part of a series of protests and government overthrows that swept through the Middle East.

2011 was designated as:
*International Year of Forests
*International Year of Chemistry

In 2011, the nation of Samoa only had 364 days as it moved across the International Date Line skipping December 30, 2011; it is now 24 hours ahead of American Samoa.

Events

January

* January 1
** Estonia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the 17th Eurozone country.
** A bomb explodes as Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt leave a new year service, killing 23 people.
** Flight 348 with 134 occupants, operated by Kolavia, catches fire while taxiing out for take-off. Three people are killed and 43 were injured, four critically, from smoke inhalation or burns.
* January 4 – Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi dies after setting himself on fire a month earlier, sparking anti-government protests in Tunisia and later other Arab nations. These protests become known collectively as the Arab Spring.
*January 5 – Internet vigilante group Anonymous launches DoS attacks on Syrian, Tunisian, Bahraini, Egyptian, Libyan, and Jordanian government websites in response to the Arab Spring protests.
* January 9 – Iran Air Flight 277 crashes near Orumiyeh in the northeast of the country, killing 78 people.
* January 14 – The Tunisian government falls after a month of increasingly violent protests; President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali flees to Saudi Arabia after 23 years in power.
* January 15 – The result of the South Sudanese independence referendum, 2011 is in favour of independence, paving the way for the creation of the new state in July.
* January 24 – 37 people are killed and more than 180 others wounded in a bombing at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia.
* January 25 – The 2011 Egyptian revolution begins.
* January 27 – Within Ursa Minor, H1504+65, a white dwarf with the hottest known surface temperature in the universe at 200,000 K, was documented.

February

* February 11 – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigns after widespread protests calling for his departure, leaving control of Egypt in the hands of the military until a general election can be held.
* February 15 – The First Libyan Civil War starts.
* February 22 – March 14 – Uncertainty over Libyan oil output causes crude oil prices to rise 20% over a two-week period following the Arab Spring, causing the 2011 energy crisis.
* February 22 – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes Christchurch, in what became New Zealand's third-deadliest natural disaster. Over 180 people were killed, many within the CTV Building, including many foreign citizens. Many foreign search and rescue workers responded to the event.

March

* March 6 – Civil uprising phase of the Syrian Civil War is triggered when 15 youths in Daraa are arrested for scrawling graffiti on their school wall denouncing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
* March 11 – A 9.1-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit the east of Japan, killing 15,840 and leaving another 3,926 missing. Tsunami warnings are issued in 50 countries and territories. Emergencies are declared at four nuclear power plants affected by the quake.
* March 15
** Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain, declares a three-month state of emergency as troops from the Gulf Co-operation Council are sent to quell the civil unrest.
** Protests breakout across Syria demanding democratic reforms, resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, and release of those imprisoned for the March 6 Daraa protest. The government responds by killing hundreds of protesters and laying siege to various cities, beginning the Syrian Civil War.
* March 17 – The United Nations Security Council votes 10–0 to create a no-fly zone over Libya in response to allegations of government aggression against civilians.
* March 19 – In light of continuing attacks on Libyan rebels by forces in support of leader Muammar Gaddafi, military intervention authorized under UNSCR 1973 begins as French fighter jets make reconnaissance flights over Libya.

April

* April 2 – India wins the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
* April 7 – The Israel Defense Forces use their Iron Dome missile system to successfully intercept a BM-21 Grad launched from Gaza, marking the first short-range missile intercept ever.
* April 11 – Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo by supporters of elected President Alassane Ouattara

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