Brody's lost years - A timeline of world events

2 February 2012

2004

February; Social Media changes forever with the launch of Facebook reinventing the way people communicate and share information across the Globe

May; The US waved farewell to Rachel, Ross, Joey, Chandler, Monica and Phoebe with the series finale of Friends. Broadcast in the US and the final episode was watched by over 52 million viewers.

September;  Pop Princess Britney Spears marries Kevin Federline a self-proclaimed "American dancer, rapper, fashion model, and actor"

December; A devastating earthquake in the Indian Ocean caused a Tsunami to hit various countries in Asia resulting in a death toll of over 200,000 people.

2005

February; YouTube, a video sharing website, is launched globally a site on which users can upload, view and share videos. The first Youtube video was entitled ‘Me at the Zoo'.

April; Pope John Paul II dies after 26 years in service, the second longest standing pope.

April; During the London Marathon, Paula Radcliffe makes an unscheduled toilet break on the street at the 22 mile point. She later said "I want to apologise to the nation. I didn't really want to resort to that in front of hundreds of thousands of people"

July; 4 bombs were detonated on London transport across the capital in a targeted terrorist attack.

July; London won the 2012 Olympic Bid fighting of stiff competition from New York, Paris, Madrid and Moscow. The 2012 Olympics will be held in London for the first time since 1948.

2006

June; 2006 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Germany. The cup was won by Italy and the final was watched by an estimated 715 million viewers making the tournament one of the most watched events in TV history.

July; Social networking site Twitter is launched across the globe allowing users to share their thoughts, pictures and musings all within 140 characters.

November; Channel 4 launches 4oD, its own-brand video-on-demand service, making it the first UK broadcaster to make all its home-grown programming available on an on demand basis.

November; Saddam Hussein is convicted and hung for crimes against humanity.

 

2007

January; The first Apple Iphone is unveiled in the US.  This revolutionary touchscreen, hand held portable computer / phone had estimated development cost was $150 million.

February; Britney Spears, now separated from Kevin Federline, has a very public meltdown. After months of reckless behaviour she is pictured shaving off all her hair and is admitted to rehab.

July; The smoking ban forced the puffing population onto the pavements of England as the ban was enforced making it illegal to smoke in all enclosed work places.

July; The final Harry Potter book ,The Deathly Hallows, was released worldwide and sold over 11 million copies in the first 24 hours alone, becoming the fastest selling book in history.

2008

March; Heathrow's Terminal 5 opens to utter chaos with broken baggage handling systems and cancelled flights - despite costing £4.3 billion to build.

October; Russell Brand resigned and Jonathan Ross was suspended from the BBC after making a now notorious radio prank call to Andrew Sachs which ccaused an influx of complaints to the BBC.

November; Britney Spears and Kevin Federline divorce.

November; Lewis Hamilton wins the drivers title by one point to take his first Formula One World Championship.

2009

January; Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America and the first ever Black President Elect.

January; An airplane had to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River, New York as it was struck by a flock of geese at take-off. All passengers managed to evacuate the plane and it became known as the Miracle on the Hudson.

June; The King of Pop, Michael Jackson dies aged 50.

June; Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the most expensive player sold in football history with a price tag of £80million.

2010

January; 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastates Port-au-Prince, Haiti It is the region's worst earthquake in 200 years. The quake levels many sections of the city, destroying government buildings, foreign aid offices, and countless slums With a confirmed death toll over 230,000 it is one of the deadliest on record.  

February; Apple sells its 10th billion song via Itunes. The song purchased was Guess Things Happen That Way by Johnny Cash. Downloaded by a 71 year old man in Georgia, he received a personal call from Steve Jobs and a $10,000 iTunes gift card.

April; An explosion in the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland results in a volcanic ash plume in the atmosphere over northern and central Europe. Air travel in the region is halted for several days, causing the cancellation of several thousand flights and disrupting the travel plans of millions of people.

April; An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, a BP oil drilling rig, off the coast of Louisiana kills 11 people and injures 17. Experts estimate that 13,000 gallons of crude oil per hour poured into the Gulf of Mexico on the first day. After 86 days of gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico and several previous attempts to contain the flow, BP managed to cap its leaking oil well.

July; Wikileaks, an online publisher of anonymous, cover and classified material, leaks to the public over 90,000 internal reports about the US led involvement in the War in Afghanistan from 2004 - 2010

October; Florencio Ávalos became the first of the trapped Chilean miners to be brought to the surface of the collapsed mine. The men, dubbed, Los 33, spent 68 days trapped in a mine half a mile underground. Avalos was pulled to safety via a capsule made for the rescue mission. The rest of the miners will be carried to safety over the next 24 hours.

October; Vajazzling took over the country as The Only Way Is Essex stars took to our screens showing off their fake tans, flash cars and their ‘reem' lifestyles.

2011

April; Prince William marries Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey. An estimated audience of over 3 billion tuned in to watch the event live. Bridesmaid Pippa Middletons' bottom becomes a worldwide phenomenon.

May; Lady Gaga becomes the first Twitter user with more than 10million twitter followers. The mega-popular music celebrity is a huge social media star, also being the first person to hit 10 million fans on Facebook, as well as 1 billion views on YouTube.

August; Widespread arson, rioting and looting took place on the streets of London. Starting off in Tottenham and spreading to other parts of England, five people lost their lives in the four days Britain lost control.

October; After more than four decades of authoritarian rule, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime is overthrown by rebel forces after six months of intense fighting. Gaddafi was captured in October but died of his injuries.

December; The world population reaches an estimated 7 billion.

December; The Arab Spring also known as the Arab awakening saw a wave of demonstrations and protests across the Arab World. The attempt to raise awareness of state repression and Internet censorship resulted in the fall of many governments and long standing presidents.

December; Channel 4's 4oD service reached a total of 1.2 billion views in the five years since it launched.