WHAT ALL HAPPENED MAY TO DECEMBER 2010
Find out what all happened May to December 2010

JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, launches the solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS aboard an H-IIA rocket. The vessel would make a Venus flyby late in the year. (21. May 2010)

In international waters, armed Shayetet 13 commandos, intending to force the flotilla to anchor at the Ashdod port, boarded ships trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, resulting in 9 civilian deaths. (31. May 2010)

At least 40 people are killed and more than 70 others are wounded as an explosion rips through an evening wedding party in Arghandab, Kandahar. (9. June 2010)

WikiLeaks publishes classified documents about the War in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in U.S. military history. (25. July 2010)

A Chinese fishing trawler collided with two Japanese Coast Guard patrol boats in disputed waters near the Senkaku Islands. The collisions occurred around 10am, after the Japanese Coast Guard ordered the trawler to leave the area. After the collisions, Japanese sailors boarded the Chinese vessel and arrested the captain, Zhan Qixiong. (7. September 2010)

Falcon 9 Flight 1 is the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40. (4. June 2010)

Ten members of International Assistance Mission Nuristan Eye Camp team are killed by persons unknown in Kuran wa Munjan District of Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan. (5. August 2010)

Widespread rioting erupts in Karachi, Pakistan, after the assassination of a local politician, leaving at least 85 dead and at least 17 billion Pakistani rupees (US$200 million) in damage. (3. August 2010)

The Japanese solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS passes the planet Venus at a distance of about 80,800 km. (8. December 2010)

Germany's Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing wins Formula One's Drivers Championship to become the sport's youngest champion. (14. November 2010)

The repeal of the Don't ask, don't tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama. (22. December 2010)

The Ajka plant accident in western Hungary releases about a million cubic metres (35 million cubic feet) of liquid alumina sludge. Nine people are killed and 122 injured, and the Marcal and Danube rivers are severely contaminated. (4. October 2010)

Canterbury earthquake: a 7.1 magnitude earthquake which struck the South Island of New Zealand at 4:35 am causing widespread damage and several power outages. (4. September 2010)

An Air India Express Boeing 737 goes over a cliff and crashes upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of the 166 people on board. It is the worst crash involving a Boeing 737. (22. May 2010)

The Royal Thai Armed Forces concludes its crackdown on protests by forcing the surrender of United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship leaders. (19. May 2010)

Jamaican police begin a manhunt for drug lord Christopher Coke, after the United States requested his extradition, leading to three days of violence during which at least 73 bystanders are killed. (23. May 2010)

The South Kivu tank truck explosion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo kills at least 230 people. (2. July 2010)

Airblue Flight 202 crashes into the Margalla Hills north of Islamabad, Pakistan, killing all 152 people aboard. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Pakistan history and the first involving an Airbus A321. (28. July 2010)

Flash floods across a large part of Jammu and Kashmir, India, damages 71 towns and kills at least 255 people. (6. August 2010)

The Cumbria Shootings - In West Cumbria, a 52-year old man went on a four hour killing spree, shooting dead 13 (inc. himself) and injuring 11 others. The massacre was branded "one of the worst criminal acts involving firearms in British history" by Prime Minister David Cameron who paid tribute to the victims along with The Queen, Home Secretary Theresa May and the Prince of Wales. (2. June 2010)