Arab Spring
A protest in Tunisia sparks uprisings across the region
The self-immolation of street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, in December 2010 sparked protests across the Arab world. The rulers of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen were toppled, and civil wars broke out in Libya, Syria and Yemen.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 21st century
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Whole world
- 2008 Global financial crisis — 2 years earlier
Europe
- 1989 Invention of the World Wide Web — 21 years earlier
- 1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall — 21 years earlier
- 1992 Maastricht Treaty — 18 years earlier
- 2002 Euro notes and coins — 8 years earlier
- 2012 Discovery of the Higgs boson — 2 years later
Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1985–1991 Perestroika — 25 years earlier
- 1986 Chernobyl disaster — 24 years earlier
- 1989 Revolutions of 1989 — 21 years earlier
- 1991 Dissolution of the Soviet Union — 19 years earlier
Middle East
- 1990–1991 Gulf War — 20 years earlier
Asia
- 1989 Tiananmen Square protests — 21 years earlier
- 1991 Eruption of Mount Pinatubo — 19 years earlier
- 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami — 6 years earlier
- 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami — 1 year later
Americas
- 1990 Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope — 20 years earlier
- 2001 September 11 attacks — 9 years earlier
- 2003 Human genome sequenced — 7 years earlier
- 2007 Apple unveils the iPhone — 3 years earlier
Oceania
- 1992 The Mabo decision — 18 years earlier
Alive at the time
- Nelson Mandela (aged 92)
- Neil Armstrong (aged 80)
- Jimmy Carter (aged 86)
- Fidel Castro (aged 84)
- Elizabeth II (aged 84)
- Gabriel García Márquez (aged 83)
- Mikhail Gorbachev (aged 79)
- Pelé (aged 70)
- George H. W. Bush (aged 86)
- Chinua Achebe (aged 80)