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 International Year for People of African Descent 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