# Events in the last decade **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 9, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540 "2010-06-09T15:02:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/1 "2010-06-09T15:02:34Z")
I was recently thinking that the past ten years have been so odd, so full of unprecedented disasters (and a few good things), that if I told a total shut-in about them all, I would not be believed. And yet no matter how many I think of, there are always more. Can we list them all? Include good things as well as bad. For the sake of argument, let’s list everything from June 9th, 2000. That we we can include both the 2000 US general election fiasco AND the BP oil spill. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/2 "2010-06-09T18:54:39Z")
Cell phones for everyone, not just producers and their spoiled kids. The rise of unscripted, for lack of a better term, TV. Most notably Survivor and American Idol. Katrina. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/3 "2010-06-09T18:57:45Z")
I wasn’t so much thinking general trends in society. Sorry if I didn’t make that clear. I was thinking more of one-off events, such as 9/11 The anthrax scare War in Afghanistan War in Iraq Hurricane Katrina The 2004 tsunami You know, BIG stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/4 "2010-06-09T19:18:56Z")
In no particular order: Space Shuttle Columbia disaster [Moscow theater hostage crisis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_theater_hostage_crisis) Enron Polish Air Force Crash Haiti Earthquake ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/5 "2010-06-09T19:22:29Z")
Wow, I’d forgotten about half of those things! Bernie Madoff Election of the first black POTUS Valerie Plame That weird scare that made people put plastic on their windows Record high gas prices ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/6 "2010-06-09T19:26:23Z")
Beslan school attack. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/7 "2010-06-09T19:26:31Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Wow, I’d forgotten about half of those things! > > Bernie Madoff > Election of the first black POTUS > Valerie Plame > **That weird scare that made people put plastic on their windows** > Record high gas prices Huh? ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/8 "2010-06-09T19:26:57Z")
Real estate bubble and crash ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/9 "2010-06-09T19:37:07Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Huh? The details are fuzzy to me, and I never took it very seriously. But sometime after 9/11 (but I think before the Iraq invasion), there was some scare of a chemical attack, and people wouldn’t be safe in their own homes. People were urged (by government officials, I believe) to buy heavy duty clear plastic sheets and seal up their windows so the toxins wouldn’t get in. Crazy times, man. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/10 "2010-06-09T19:41:29Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > The details are fuzzy to me, and I never took it very seriously. But sometime after 9/11 (but I think before the Iraq invasion), there was some scare of a chemical attack, and people wouldn’t be safe in their own homes. People were urged (by government officials, I believe) to buy heavy duty clear plastic sheets and seal up their windows so the toxins wouldn’t get in. > > Crazy times, man. IIRC, people were (and possibly still are) told to have plastic sheets available to seal up their windows, but were never told to actually seal the windows. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/11 "2010-06-09T19:47:31Z")
I have a (possibly false) memory of seeing some sealed windows. I do remember seeing someone on a bus wearing a gas mask. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/12 "2010-06-09T19:51:15Z")
What big disease outbreaks did we have? I remember… Swine flu Bird flu ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/13 "2010-06-09T19:51:41Z")
2008 Mumbai attacks 2004 Madrid train bombings _Old Man of the Mountain_ collapse\* Taliban destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan (before 9/11/01) _Aardman Animations_ warehouse fire\* Somali pirates \*OK, not exactly of global significance, but still. > [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > What big disease outbreaks did we have? I remember… > > Swine flu > Bird flu West Nile virus ---
**Author:** ![IdahoMauleMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71c47a/32.png) [@IdahoMauleMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IdahoMauleMan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/14 "2010-06-09T19:52:58Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I was recently thinking that the past ten years have been so odd, so full of unprecedented disasters (and a few good things), that if I told a total shut-in about them all, I would not be believed. And yet no matter how many I think of, there are always more. > > Can we list them all? Include good things as well as bad. For the sake of argument, let’s list everything from June 9th, 2000. That we we can include both the 2000 US general election fiasco AND the BP oil spill. If you don’t mind replying, I’ll ask…how old are you? Just curious. I once went through this exercise about the 70’s, 80’s and the 90’s. The ages of the people who proposed each ‘OP’ were exactly the same age. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/15 "2010-06-09T19:57:14Z")
Bad Thing: Joran van der Sloot alledgedly killing Natalee Holloway and apparently getting away with it. Good Thing: Joran van der Sloot alledgedly killing Stephany Flores Ramirez and being brought to justice. * * * Bad Thing: Haiti’s 2004 rainstorm kills more than 2,600, on top of its continuing grinding poverty and politican upheaval. Badder Thing: Haiti’s tropical storm Jeanne kills more than 1,900 and leaves 200,000 homeless, on top of its continuing grinding poverty and politican upheaval. Baddest Thing: Haiti’s 2010 Earthquake kills 230,000 leaving 1,000,000 homelss, on top of its continuing grinding poverty and politican upheaval. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/16 "2010-06-09T20:01:38Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > The details are fuzzy to me, and I never took it very seriously. But sometime after 9/11 (but I think before the Iraq invasion), there was some scare of a chemical attack, and people wouldn’t be safe in their own homes. People were urged (by government officials, I believe) to buy heavy duty clear plastic sheets and seal up their windows so the toxins wouldn’t get in. > > Crazy times, man. Thanks. That never got mentioned in Canada, at least on any news story I ever heard or read. The stock market tanked in 2001 and then again in 2009. Lots and lots of manufacturing jobs vanished in a puff of smoke in both instances. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/17 "2010-06-09T20:03:43Z")
From a UK angle… The 7/7 Tube bombings. Suicide bombers on the Underground! And blowing up a red London bus! Then two weeks later, failed Tube bombings… closely followed by an innocent man being shot umpteen times in a Tube train by an armed response team. That was a crazy period. Weeks of edgy glances at anyone with a suspicious-looking rucksack on the train. ([Solution!](http://paulstott.typepad.com/photos/hows_life_in_london_/ruck.html)) Also - less dramatic but perhaps changing the character of the city more: The smoking ban in pubs and just about anywhere really The alcohol ban on the Tube And while we’re talking diseases… whatever happened to SARS? And in the UK - foot and mouth disease ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/18 "2010-06-09T20:08:35Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > ([Solution!](http://paulstott.typepad.com/photos/hows_life_in_london_/ruck.html)) “As soon to be requested by Metropolitan Police” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/19 "2010-06-09T20:09:15Z")
> [@IdahoMauleMan](#): > > If you don’t mind replying, I’ll ask…how old are you? > > Just curious. I once went through this exercise about the 70’s, 80’s and the 90’s. The ages of the people who proposed each ‘OP’ were exactly the same age. I’m 48 – probably not the answer you were looking for, huh? I’m not sure what got me to thinking about this. Certainly in every decade we get a ton of major news stories. It just seems like in this past decade we’ve gotten more than our fair share. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540/20 "2010-06-09T20:12:08Z")
Then there was the [AZF](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AZF) fertiliser factory in France which exploded: _Three hundred tonnes of ammonium nitrates were stored (the maximum capacity was 2,000 tonnes) in the hangar #221. The whole factory was destroyed making a crater of depth 20 to 30 m (65 to 100 ft), with a diameter of 200 m (650 ft); steel girders were found 3 km away from the explosion. The explosion was heard 80 km away (50 miles)._ This happened 10 days after another notable event in Manhattan, so slipped under the radar somewhat, Mother Teresa style. At any other time, I think it would have been quite big news. Also on an explosive note, the Buncefield oil depot explosion in the UK. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/events-in-the-last-decade/542540.md?page=2)