title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The Crown alleged that Lindy Chamberlain had cut Azaria's throat in the front seat of the family car, hiding the baby's body in a large camera case. She then, according to the proposed reconstruction of the crime, rejoined the group of campers around a campfire and fed one of her sons a can of baked beans, before going to the tent and raising the cry that a dingo had taken the baby. It was alleged that at a later time, while other people from the campsite were searching, she disposed of the body.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The key evidence supporting this allegation was the jumpsuit, discovered about a week after the baby's disappearance about 4 km from the tent, bloodstained about the neck, as well as a highly contentious forensic report claiming to have found evidence of foetal haemoglobin in stains on the front seat of the Chamberlains' 1977 Holden Torana hatchback. Foetal haemoglobin is present in infants six months and younger; Azaria was nine weeks old at the time of her disappearance.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: Lindy Chamberlain was questioned about the garments that Azaria was wearing. She claimed that Azaria was wearing a matinee jacket over the jumpsuit, but the jacket was not present when the garments were found. She was questioned about the fact that Azaria's singlet, which was inside the jumpsuit, was inside out. She insisted that she never put a singlet on her babies inside out and that she was most particular about this. The statement conflicted with the state of the garments when they were collected as evidence. The garments had been arranged by the investigating officer for a photograph.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: In her defence, eyewitness evidence was presented of dingoes having been seen in the area on the evening of 17 August 1980. All witnesses claimed to believe the Chamberlains' story. One witness, a nurse, also reported having heard a baby's cry after the time when the prosecution alleged Azaria had been murdered. Evidence was also presented that adult blood also passed the test used for foetal haemoglobin, and that other organic compounds can produce similar results on that particular test, including mucus from the nose and chocolate milkshakes, both of which had been present in the vehicle where Azaria was allegedly murdered.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: Engineer Les Harris, who had conducted dingo research for over a decade, said that, contrary to Cameron's findings, a dingo's carnassial teeth can shear through material as tough as motor vehicle seat belts. He also cited an example of a captive female dingo removing a bundle of meat from its wrapping paper and leaving the paper intact.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The defence's case was rejected by the jury. Lindy Chamberlain was convicted of murder on 29 October 1982 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Michael Chamberlain was found guilty as an accessory after the fact and was given an 18-month suspended sentence.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: An unsuccessful appeal was made to the Federal Court in April 1983. Subsequently, the High Court of Australia was asked to quash the convictions on the ground that the verdicts were unsafe and unsatisfactory. However, in February 1984 the court refused the appeal by majority.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The final resolution of the case was triggered by a chance discovery. In early 1986, British tourist David Brett fell to his death from Uluru during an evening climb. Because of the vast size of the rock and the scrubby nature of the surrounding terrain, it was eight days before Brett's remains were discovered, lying below the bluff where he had lost his footing and in an area full of dingo lairs. As police searched the area, looking for missing bones that might have been carried off by dingoes, they discovered Azaria's missing matinee jacket.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory ordered Lindy Chamberlain's immediate release and the case was reopened. On 15 September 1988, the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously overturned all convictions against Lindy and Michael Chamberlain.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The questionable nature of the forensic evidence in the Chamberlain trial, and the weight given to it, raised concerns about such procedures and about expert testimony in criminal cases. The prosecution had successfully argued that the pivotal haemoglobin tests indicated the presence of foetal haemoglobin in the Chamberlains' car and it was a significant factor in the original conviction. But it was later shown that these tests were highly unreliable and that similar tests, conducted on a "sound deadener" sprayed on during the manufacture of the car, had yielded virtually identical results.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: Two years after they were exonerated, the Chamberlains were awarded $1.3 million in compensation for wrongful imprisonment, a sum that covered less than one third of their legal expenses.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The findings of the third coroner's inquest were released on 13 December 1995; the coroner found "the cause and manner of death as unknown."


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: In December 2011, Elizabeth Morris, then one of the Northern Territory coroners, announced that a fourth inquest would be held in February 2012. On 12 June 2012, at a fourth coronial inquest into the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain, Morris ruled that a dingo was responsible for her death in 1980. Morris made the finding in the light of subsequent reports of dingo attacks on humans causing injury and even death. She stated, "Azaria Chamberlain died at Uluru on 17 August 1980. The cause of her death was as a result of being attacked and taken by a dingo." She subsequently offered her condolences to the parents and siblings of Azaria Chamberlain "on the death of [their] special and dearly loved daughter and sister", and stated that a new death certificate with the cause of death had been registered.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The Chamberlain trial was highly publicised. Given that most of the evidence presented in the case against Lindy Chamberlain was later rejected, the case is now used as an example of how media and bias can adversely affect a trial.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: Public and media opinion during the trial was polarised, with "fanciful rumours and sickening jokes" and many cartoons. In particular, antagonism was directed towards Lindy Chamberlain for reportedly not behaving like a "stereotypical" grieving mother. Much was made of the Chamberlains' Seventh-day Adventist religion, including allegations that the church was actually a cult that killed infants as part of bizarre religious ceremonies.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: One anonymous tip was received from a man, claiming to be Azaria's doctor in Mount Isa, that the name "Azaria" meant "sacrifice in the wilderness" (it actually means "Helped by God"). Others claimed she was a witch.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: It was reported that Lindy Chamberlain dressed her baby in a black dress. This provoked negative opinion.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: Since the Chamberlain case, proven cases of attacks on humans by dingoes have been discussed in the public domain, in particular dingo attacks on Fraser Island (off the Queensland coast), the last refuge in Australia for isolated pure-bred wild dingoes. In the wake of these attacks, it emerged that there had been at least 400 documented dingo attacks on Fraser Island. Most were against children, but at least two were on adults. For example, in April 1998, a 13-month-old girl was attacked by a dingo and dragged for about one metre (3 ft) from a picnic blanket at the Waddy Point camping area. The child was dropped when her father intervened.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: In July 2004, Frank Cole, a Melbourne pensioner, claimed that he had shot a dingo in 1980 and found a baby in its mouth. After interviewing Cole on the matter, police decided not to reopen the case. He claimed to have the ribbons from the jacket which Azaria had been wearing when she disappeared as proof of his involvement. However, Lindy Chamberlain claimed that the jacket had no ribbons on it. Cole's credibility was further damaged when it was revealed he had made unsubstantiated claims about another case.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: In August 2005, a 25-year-old woman named Erin Horsburgh claimed that she was Azaria Chamberlain, but her claims were rejected by the authorities and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's "Media Watch" programme, which stated that none of the reports linking Horsburgh to the Chamberlain case had any substance.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The National Museum of Australia has in its collection more than 250 items related to the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain, which Lindy Chamberlain has helped document. Items include courtroom sketches by artists Jo Darbyshire and Veronica O'Leary, camping equipment, a piece of the dashboard from the Chamberlain family's car, outfits worn by Lindy Chamberlain, the number from her prison door, and the black dress worn by Azaria. The National Library of Australia has a small collection of items relating to Azaria, such as her birth records, as well as a manuscript collection which includes around 20,000 documents including some of the Chamberlain family's correspondence and a large number of letters from the general public. Later the actual car itself was sold to the museum by Dr Michael Chamberlain.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The death of Azaria Chamberlain has been the subject of several books, films and television shows, and other publications and accounts. The John Bryson book "Evil Angels" was published in 1985, and subsequently adapted by Australian film director Fred Schepisi into a 1988 feature film of the same name (released as "A Cry in the Dark" outside of Australia and New Zealand), starring Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain and Sam Neill as Michael. The film gave Streep her eighth Academy Award nomination and her first AFI Award.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: In 2002, "Lindy", an opera by Moya Henderson, was produced by Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The story was dramatised as a television miniseries, "Through My Eyes" (2004), with Miranda Otto and Craig McLachlan as the Chamberlains. This miniseries was based on Lindy's book of the same name.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The death of Azaria and the story of the search, inquests, trial and eventual exoneration of the Chamberlains was documented in a commercial podcast, "A Perfect Storm: The True Story of the Chamberlains". The case was also covered by the "Casefile" podcast, episode 136, the debunking podcast "You're Wrong About," the "Killer Queens" podcast, episode 180, and the crime podcast "International Infamy with Ashley Flowers."


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The event was transmuted from tragedy to morbid comedy material for US television series such as "Seinfeld", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "The Simpsons", and 'became deeply embedded in American pop culture' with phrases such as 'a dingo's got my baby!' serving as 'a punchline you probably remember hearing before you knew exactly what a dingo was'. Lindy Chamberlain's release from jail is a significant event in episode three of "The Newsreader". In the 1998 animated film "The Rugrats Movie", a reporter makes a reference to this case by saying, "Is it true a dingo ate your baby?". Australian puppet-comedian Randy Feltface also referenced the event in his 2021 live show "Purple Privilege", where he claimed he was "...born on the day Lindy Chamberlain's baby was eaten by a dingo."


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: The Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun was Germany's most-produced fully tracked armoured fighting vehicle during World War II, and second-most produced German armored combat vehicle of any type after the Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track. It was built on a slightly modified Panzer III chassis, replacing the turret with an armored, fixed superstructure mounting a more powerful gun. Initially intended as a mobile assault gun for direct-fire support for infantry, the StuG III was continually modified, and much like the later "Jagdpanzer" vehicles, was employed as a tank destroyer.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: The "Sturmgeschütz" originated from German experiences in World War I, when it was discovered that, during the offensives on the Western Front, the infantry lacked the means to engage fortifications effectively. The artillery of the time was heavy and not mobile enough to keep up with the advancing infantry to destroy bunkers, pillboxes, and other minor fortifications with direct fire. Although the problem was well known in the German army, it was General Erich von Manstein who is considered the father of the "Sturmartillerie" (assault artillery). The initial proposal was from von Manstein and submitted to General Ludwig Beck in 1935, suggesting that "Sturmartillerie" units should be used in a direct-fire support role for infantry divisions. On 15 June 1936, Daimler-Benz AG received an order to develop an armoured infantry support vehicle capable of mounting a calibre artillery piece. The gun mount's fixed, fully integrated casemate superstructure was to allow a limited traverse of a minimum of 25° and provide overhead protection for the crew. The height of the vehicle was not to exceed that of the average soldier.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: Daimler-Benz AG used the chassis and running gear of its recent Panzer III medium tank as a basis for the new vehicle. Prototype manufacture was passed over to Alkett, which produced five prototypes in 1937 on Panzer III Ausf. B chassis. These prototypes featured a mild steel superstructure and a Krupp short-barrelled, howitzer-like in appearance, 7.5 cm StuK 37 L/24 cannon. Production vehicles with this gun were known as Gepanzerte Selbstfahrlafette für Sturmgeschütz 7.5 cm Kanone Ausführung A bis D (Sd.Kfz.142).


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: While the StuG was considered self-propelled artillery, it was not clear which land combat arm of the German Army would handle the new weapon. The "Panzerwaffe" (armoured corps), the natural user of tracked fighting vehicles, had no resources to spare for the formation of StuG units and neither did the infantry. It was agreed that it would best be employed as part of the artillery arm. The StuGs were organized into battalions (later renamed "brigades" for disinformation purposes) and followed their own doctrine. Infantry support using direct fire was its intended role. Later, there was also a strong emphasis on its use as an anti-tank gun.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: As the StuG was designed to fill an infantry close support combat role, early models were fitted with a howitzer-pattern, low-velocity 7.5 cm StuK 37 L/24 gun, much as the earliest versions of the fully turreted Panzer IV were. Low-velocity shells are lightly built of thin steel and carry a large charge of explosive, to destroy soft-skin targets and blast fortifications. Such shells do not penetrate armour well. After the Germans encountered the Soviet KV-1 and T-34 tanks, the StuG was first equipped with a high-velocity 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/43 main gun (spring 1942) and in the autumn of 1942 with the slightly longer 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48 gun. These high-velocity guns were the same as those mounted on the Panzer IV for anti-tank use but the heavy steel wall high-velocity shells carried much less explosive and had a lower blast effect for use against infantry or field fortifications. These versions were known as the 7.5 cm Sturmgeschütz 40 Ausf.F", "Ausf. F/8" and " Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz.142/1).


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: Beginning with the StuG III Ausf. G from December 1942, a 7.92 mm MG34 machine gun could be mounted on a shield on top of the superstructure for added anti-infantry protection. Some of the F/8 models were retrofitted with a shield. An additional coaxial 7.92 mm MG34 started to appear in 1944 and became standard on all production during the same year.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: The vehicles of the "Sturmgeschütz" series were cheaper and faster to build than contemporary German tanks; at 82,500 RM, a StuG III Ausf G was cheaper than a Panzer III Ausf. M, which cost 103,163 RM. This was due to the omission of the turret, which greatly simplified manufacture and allowed the chassis to carry a larger gun. By the end of the war, ~11,300 StuG IIIs and StuH 42s had been built.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: The "Sturmgeschütz" III-series of vehicles proved very successful and served on all fronts, from Russia to North Africa and Western Europe to Italy, as assault guns and tank destroyers. Because of their low silhouette, StuG IIIs were easy to camouflage and be hidden and were difficult targets to destroy. As of 10 April 1945, there were 1,053 StuG IIIs and 277 StuH 42s in German service. The StuG assault guns were cost-effective compared with the heavier German tanks such as the Tiger I and the Panther, although as anti-tank guns they were best used defensively as the lack of a traversable turret and their generally thin armour was a severe disadvantage in the attack role. As the situation for the German military deteriorated further later in the war, more StuGs were built than tanks, particularly due to ease of production.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: In Italy, the Sturmgeschütz was highly-valued by crews fighting Allied armour, but was dogged by mechanical unreliability; particularly the delicate final drive units. The small box on the track cover, which was normally fixed on the engine deck, contained the track tools.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: In 1943 and 1944, the Finnish Army received 59 StuG III Ausf. Gs from Germany and used them against the Soviet Union. Thirty of the vehicles were received in 1943 and a further twenty-nine obtained in 1944. The first batch from 1943 destroyed at least eighty-seven enemy tanks for a loss of only eight StuGs (some of which were destroyed by their crews to prevent enemy capture). The later batch from 1944 saw no real action. After the war, the StuGs were the main combat vehicles of the Finnish Army up until the early 1960s when they were phased out. These StuGs gained the nickname "Sturmi" in the Finnish military, which can be found in some plastic scale-model kits.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: 100 StuG III Ausf. Gs were delivered to Romania in the autumn of 1943. They were officially known as TAs (or TAs T3 to avoid confusion with TAs T4 (Jagdpanzer IVs)) in their army's inventory. By February 1945, 13 were still in use with the 2nd Armoured Regiment. None of this initial batch survived the war. Thirty-one TAs were on the Romanian military's inventory in November 1947. Most of them were probably StuG III Ausf. Gs and a small number of Panzer IV/70 (V) (same as TAs T4). These TAs were supplied by the Red Army or were damaged units repaired by the Romanian Army. All German equipment was removed from service in 1950 and finally scrapped four years later due to the army's decision to use only Soviet armour.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: StuG IIIs were also exported to other nations friendly to Germany, including Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, and Spain. Hungary fielded its StuG IIIs against Soviet forces as they invaded their country in end-1944 up until early 1945. As with Hungary, Bulgaria received several StuGs from Germany too but almost none saw service against the Soviets, the country having ended the alliance with Germany by switching sides to the Allies before the Soviets invaded. Post-WWII, these were used for a short time before being turned into fixed gun emplacements on the Krali Marko Line on the border with neighbouring Turkey. StuG IIIs were also given to the pro-German Ustashe Militia in Yugoslavia, most of which were captured in Yugoslavia by Tito's Yugoslav partisans during and after the war, as did German-operated vehicles. These were used by the Yugoslav People's Army until the 1950s when they were replaced by more modern combat vehicles. Spain received a small number (around 10) of StuG IIIs from Germany during WWII, later sold to Syria between 1950 and 1960. Italy received the smallest number of StuG IIIs Germany distributed in the war, with only 3.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: After the Second World War, abandoned German StuG IIIs remained behind in many European nations Germany occupied during the war years, such as in Czechoslovakia, France, Norway and Yugoslavia. The Soviet Union also captured hundreds of ex-German StuGs, most ending up being donated to Syria. An Italian 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine gun taken from Syrian Fiat G.55 was mounted on commander cupola with retrofitted anti-aircraft mount. Syria continued to use StuG IIIs along with other war surplus armoured fighting vehicles received from the USSR or Czechoslovakia (varying from long-barrelled Panzer IVs (late models) and T-34-85s) during the 1950s and up until the War over Water against Israel in the mid-1960s. By the time of the Six-Day War in 1967, many of them had been either destroyed, stripped for spare parts, scrapped or emplaced on the Golan Heights as pillboxes. Some remained in service up to the Yom Kippur War in 1973. None remain in service today. A few Syrian StuG IIIs ended up in Israeli hands and have become war memorials or simply left rusting away on former battlefields.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: A rotating cupola with periscopes was added for the Ausf G.'s commander. However, from September 1943, the lack of ball bearings (resulting from USAAF bombing of Schweinfurt) forced cupolas to be welded on. Ball bearings were once again installed from August 1944. Shot deflectors for the cupolas were first installed from October 1943 from one factory, to be installed on all StuGs from February 1944. Some vehicles without shot deflectors carried several track pieces wired around the cupola for added protection.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: From December 1942, a square machine gun shield for the loader was installed, allowing an MG34 to be factory installed on a StuG for the first time. When stowed this shield folded back, partially overlapping the front half of the loader's hatch cover. A curved protrusion welded to the backside of the shield pushed the shield forward as the front half of the loader's hatch cover was opened and guided the hatch cover to naturally engage a latch point on the shield thus, supporting the shield in its deployed position without exposing the loader to hostile forward fire. F/8 models had machine gun shields retro-fitted from early 1943. The loader's machine gun shield was later replaced by rotating machine gun mount that could be operated by the loader inside the vehicle sighting through a periscope. In April 1944, 27 of them were being field tested on the Eastern front. Favourable reports led to installation of these "remote" machine gun mounts from the summer of 1944.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: From October 1943, G versions were fitted with the "Topfblende" pot mantlet (often called "Saukopf" "Pig's head") gun mantlet without a coaxial mount. This cast mantlet, which had a sloped and rounded shape, was more effective at deflecting shots than the original boxy "Kastenblende" mantlet that had armour varying in thickness from 45 mm to 50 mm. The lack of large castings meant that the trapezoid-shape boxy mantlet was also produced until the very end. Topfblende were fitted almost exclusively to Alkett-produced vehicles.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: A coaxial machine gun was first added to boxy mantlets, from June 1944, and then to cast Topfblende, from October 1944, in the middle of "Topfblende" mantlet production. With the addition of this coaxial machine gun, all StuGs carried two MG 34 machine guns from autumn of 1944. Some previously completed StuGs with a boxy mantlet had a coaxial machine gun hole drilled to retrofit a coaxial machine gun; however, Topfblende produced from November 1943 to October 1944 without a machine gun opening could not be tampered with.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: Also from November 1943 onwards, all-metal return rollers of a few different types were used due to lack of rubber supply. Zimmerit anti-magnetic coating to protect vehicles from magnetic mines was applied starting in September (MIAG facility) or November (Alkett facility) 1943 and ending in September 1944.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: In 1942, a variant of the StuG Ausf. F was designed with a true howitzer instead of the 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/43 cannon. These new vehicles, designated StuH 42 ("Sturmhaubitze 42", Sd.Kfz 142/2), were designed to provide infantry support with the increased number of StuG III Ausf. F/8 and Ausf. Gs being used in the anti-tank role. The StuH 42 mounted a variant of the 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzer, modified to be electrically fired and fitted with a muzzle brake. Production models were built on StuG III Ausf. G chassis. The muzzle brake was often omitted due to the scarcity of resources later in the war. Alkett produced 1,299 StuH 42 from March 1943 to 1945, the initial 12 vehicles were built on repaired StuG III Ausf. F and F/8 from the autumn of 1942 to January 1943.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: In 1943, 10 StuG IIIs were converted to the StuG III (Flamm) configuration by replacing the main gun with a Schwade flamethrower. These chassis were all refurbished at the depot level and were a variety of pre-Ausf. F models. There are no reports to indicate that any of these were used in combat and all were returned to Ausf. G standard at depot level by 1944.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: In late 1941, the StuG chassis was selected to carry the 15 cm sIG 33 heavy infantry gun. These vehicles were known as Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B. Twenty-four were rebuilt on older StuG III chassis of which twelve vehicles saw combat in the Battle of Stalingrad, where they were destroyed or captured. The remaining 12 vehicles were assigned to 23rd Panzer Division.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: Due to the dwindling supply of rubber, rubber-saving road wheels were tested during 8–14 November 1942, but did not see production.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: Bombing raids on the Alkett factory resulted in significant drops in StuG III production in November 1943. To make up for this loss of production, Krupp displayed a substitution StuG on a Panzer IV chassis to Hitler on 16–17 December 1943. From January 1944 onwards, the StuG IV, based on the Panzer IV chassis and with a slightly modified StuG III superstructure, entered production.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: Field modifications were made to increase the vehicle's survivability, resulting in diversity to already numerous variants; cement plastered on front superstructure, older Ausf.C/D retrofitted with a KwK 40 L/48 gun, Ausf.G mounting Panzer IV cupola, a coaxial MG34 through a hole drilled on a boxy mantlet, et cetera.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: The Soviet SU-76i self-propelled gun was based on captured StuG III and Panzer III vehicles. In total, Factory #37 in Sverdlovsk manufactured 181 SU-76i plus 20 commander SU-76i for Red Army service by adding an enclosed superstructure and the 76.2 mm S-1 tank gun.


title: Sturmgeschütz III

text: Approximately 10,000 StuG IIIs of various types were produced from 1940 to 1945 by Alkett (~7,500) and from 1943 to 1945 by MIAG (2,586). From April to July 1944, some 173 Panzer III were converted into StuG III Ausf. G. The 1,299 StuH 42 and the 12 conversions from StuG III were solely built by Alkett.


title: 2010s

text: The 2010s (pronounced <nowiki>"</nowiki>"two-thousand-tens"; shortened to "the '10s" or twenty-tens, also known as "The Tens" or more rarely "The Teens") was a decade that began on January 1, 2010, and ended on December 31, 2019.


title: 2010s

text: The decade began amid a global financial crisis and subsequent international recession dating from the late 2000s. The resulting European sovereign-debt crisis became more pronounced early in the decade and continued to affect the possibility of a global economic recovery. Economic issues, such as austerity, inflation, and an increase in commodity prices, led to unrest in many countries, including the 15-M and Occupy movements. Unrest in some countries—particularly in the Arab world—evolved into socioeconomic crises triggering revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, and Bahrain as well as civil wars in Libya, Syria, and Yemen in a regional phenomenon commonly referred to as the Arab Spring. Shifting social attitudes saw LGBT rights and female representation make substantial progress during the decade, particularly in the West.


title: 2010s

text: The United States continued to retain its superpower status while China, along with launching vast economic initiatives and military reforms, sought to expand its influence in the South China Sea and in Africa, solidifying its position as an emerging superpower, despite also causing series of conflicts around its frontiers, including conflicts with foreign governments with countries around South China Sea, Japan, South Korea, Mekong river countries, Taiwan, and its wolf warrior diplomacy have also distanced itself from some other countries, and within its border China also enhanced suppression and control on territories like Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet and such; global competition between China and the U.S. coalesced into a "containment" effort and a trade war. Elsewhere in Asia, the Koreas improved their relations after a prolonged crisis and the War on Terror continued as Osama bin Laden was assassinated by U.S. forces in a raid on his compound in Pakistan as a part of the U.S.'s continued military involvement in many parts of the world. The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant extremist organization in 2014 erased the borders between Syria and Iraq, resulting in a multinational intervention that also saw the demise of its leader. In Africa, South Sudan broke away from Sudan, and mass protests and various coups d'état saw longtime strongmen deposed. In the U.S., celebrity businessman Donald Trump was elected president amid an international wave of populism and neo-nationalism. The European Union experienced a migrant crisis in the middle of the decade and the historic United Kingdom EU membership referendum followed by withdrawal negotiations during its later years. Russia attempted to assert itself in international affairs, annexing Crimea in 2014.


title: 2010s

text: Information technology progressed, with smartphones becoming widespread. The Internet of things saw substantial growth during the 2010s due to advancements in wireless networking devices, mobile telephony, and cloud computing. Advancements in data processing and the rollout of 4G broadband allowed data, metadata, and information to be collected and dispersed among domains at paces never before seen while online resources such as social media facilitated phenomena such as the Me Too movement and the rise of slacktivism, and online cancel culture. Online nonprofit organisation WikiLeaks gained international attention for publishing classified information on topics including Guantánamo Bay, Syria, the Afghan and Iraq wars, and United States diplomacy. Edward Snowden blew the whistle on global surveillance, raising awareness on the role governments and private entities have in global surveillance and information privacy.


title: 2010s

text: Global warming became increasingly noticeable through new record temperatures in different years and extreme weather events on all continents. The CO concentration rose from 390 to 410 PPM over the decade. At the same time, combating pollution and climate change continued to be major concerns, as protests, initiatives, and legislation garnered substantial media attention. Particularly, the Paris Agreement (2015) was adopted, and global climate youth movement as well as civil disobedience movement were formed. Major natural disasters included the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the Nepal earthquake of 2015, the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami, and the devastating hurricanes Irene, Washi (Sendong), Sandy, Bopha (Pablo), Haiyan (Yolanda), Harvey, Irma, Maria, Florence, Michael, Idai, and Dorian.


title: 2010s

text: Superhero films became box office leaders, with "" becoming the highest-grossing film of all time. Cable providers saw a decline in subscriber numbers as cord cutters switched to lower cost online streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and Disney+. Globalization and an increased demand for variety and personalisation in the face of music streaming services such as Spotify, SoundCloud and Apple Music created many subgenres. Dance, hip-hop, and pop music surged into the 2010s, with EDM achieving mass commercial success. Digital music sales topped CD sales in 2012. The video game industry continued to be dominated by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft; while indie games became sustainably more popular, with "Minecraft" becoming the best-selling game of all time. The best-selling book of this decade was "Fifty Shades of Grey". Drake was named the top music artist of the decade in the US by "Billboard.


title: 2010s

text: During the decade, the world population grew from 6.9 to 7.7 billion people. There were approximately 1.4 billion births during the decade (140 million per year), and about 560 million deaths (56 million per year).


title: 2010s

text: The Arab Spring was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Islamic world in the early 2010s. It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, starting with protests in Tunisia. In the news, social media has been heralded as the driving force behind the swift spread of revolution throughout the world, as new protests appear in response to success stories shared from those taking place in other countries. In many countries, the governments have also recognised the importance of social media for organising and have shut down certain sites or blocked Internet service entirely, especially in the times preceding a major rally. Governments have also scrutinised or suppressed discussion in those forums through accusing content creators of unrelated crimes or shutting down communication on specific sites or groups, such as through Facebook.


title: 2010s

text: The most prominent terrorist attacks committed against civilian populations during the decade include, but are not limited to:


title: 2010s

text: China was increasingly called a superpower in the early 2010s, including at the 2011 meeting between President Hu Jintao and United States President Barack Obama. China overtook the U.S. as the world's largest trading nation, filing the most patents, expanding its military, landing its lunar rover "Yutu" on the moon (ending a four-decade lack of lunar exploration) and creating China's Oriental Movie Metropolis as a major film and cultural centre. In 2018, global military spending reached the highest it has been since 1988, late Cold War levels, largely fuelled by increased defence spending by China and the United States, whose budgets together accounted for half of the world's total military spending. In 2019, the Lowy Institute Asia Power Index, which measures the projections of power in the Indo-Pacific, called both China and the United States the superpowers of the 21st century, citing immense influence in almost all eight indexes of power.


title: 2010s

text: Along with China, a Vladimir Putin-led Russia also steadily increased its defence spending and continued to modernise its military capabilities throughout the decade, including the development of the T-14 Armata main battle tank and the fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 jet fighter. Russia also flexed its power projection capabilities, particularly demonstrated during the 2014 annexation of Crimea and its interventions in eastern Ukraine and the Syrian Civil War; Wagner Group had a significant presence in both conflicts. Russia also notably waged information warfare campaigns against its geopolitical foes, including interfering in the 2016 U.S. elections via hacking and leaking emails of U.S. political party leadership and by spreading disinformation via the Internet Research Agency. Other alleged Russian intelligence operations included the Skripal poisonings and the Montenegrin coup plot, both of which were attributed by some to the Unit 29155 organisation. Collectively, these activities—and the Western-led efforts to combat the influence of Russian oligarchs and political interests—have been referred to as the Second Cold War.


title: 2010s

text: The European Union went through several crises. The European debt crisis caused severe economic problems to several eurozone member states, most severely Greece. The 2015 migration crisis led to several million people entering the EU illegally in a short period of time. There was a significant rise in the vote shares of several eurosceptic parties, including the League in Italy, Alternative for Germany, and the Finns Party in Finland. As a result of a referendum, the United Kingdom became the first member state in the EU's history to initiate proceedings for leaving the Union.


title: 2010s

text: Socio-political polarisation increased as conservatives and social liberals clashed over the role and size of government and other social, economic and environmental issues in the West. In the United States, polls showed a divided electorate regarding healthcare reform, immigration, gun rights, taxation, job creation, and debt reduction. In Europe, movements protesting increasing numbers of refugees and migrants from Islamic countries developed, such as the English Defence League and Pegida.


title: 2010s

text: The trend of polarisation in the West was partially influenced by the prevalence of identity politics, both left-wing and right-wing, among activist movements. Beginning around 2011, far-left and progressive concepts such as combating social inequality and economic inequality, often via progressive stack tactics, proliferated in the Western world and elsewhere. Around the middle of the decade, phenoms such as white nationalism, identitarianism and emboldened feelings of nativism saw a marked reemergence in the West due to drastically increased migration and corresponding crime and amongst both the right and left general disatistcation with Western government and Media responses to certain issues. There were also increased calls for egalitarianism, including between the sexes, and some scholars assert that a fourth wave of feminism began around 2012, with a primary focus on intersectionality.


title: 2010s

text: Populism in politics saw a widespread surge throughout the decade, with many politicians and various political movements expressing populist sentiments and utilising populist rhetoric. This included conservative wave phenomenon in Latin America and neo-nationalist fervor in Europe and North America. The 2019 European Parliament election saw the highest voter turnout in two decades and saw relatively moderate centre-right and centre-left parties suffer significant losses to less moderate far-right, environmentalist, and both pro-EU and eurosceptic parties, who made gains. Examples of 2010s populist movements included the Tea Party movement, Occupy Wall Street, Brexit, Black Lives Matter, and the alt-right. Examples of populist country leaders were just as extensive, with Donald Trump, Narendra Modi, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Hugo Chávez, Matteo Salvini, Jair Bolsonaro, Rodrigo Duterte, and Boris Johnson, left and right-wing, described as such.


title: 2010s

text: Related to the rise of populism and protests movements was the decline of traditional political parties. In Europe, pasokification described the loss of vote share experienced by traditional centre-left or social democratic parties. In France, specifically, Emmanuel Macron's "La République En Marche!" party won a majority in its first election in 2017.


title: 2010s

text: Centre-left, neoliberal and traditional social democratic parties often lost their vote share to more socialist or democratic socialist alternatives, especially in Europe. This happened most completely in Greece, where PASOK was replaced by Syriza as the main left-wing party. Other far-left parties which rose in prominence included Podemos in Spain and La France Insoumise in France. In the two-party systems of the English-speaking world, these challenges mainly came from within the established parties of the left, with Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Party and Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Party pushing for more left-wing policies.


title: 2010s

text: The political establishment was also challenged in many countries by protest movements, often organised through new social media platforms. These included the various Arab Spring protests, the Occupy movement, and the yellow vests movement.


title: 2010s

text: Countries which democratised fully or partially during the decade included Angola, which reformed under João Lourenço; Armenia, which went through a revolution; Ecuador, which reformed under Lenín Moreno; Ethiopia; and Malaysia, where the ruling party lost the first election since independence.


title: 2010s

text: Long-term dictators ousted from power included Muammar Gaddafi of Libya (after 42 years), Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe (37 years), Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen (33 years), Omar al-Bashir of Sudan (30 years), Hosni Mubarak of Egypt (29 years), and Ben Ali of Tunisia (23 years).


title: 2010s

text: The Arab Winter refers to the resurgence of authoritarianism, absolute monarchies and Islamic extremism evolving in the aftermath of the Arab Spring protests in Arab countries. The term "Arab Winter" refers to the events across Arab League countries in the Mid-East and North Africa, including the Syrian Civil War, the Iraqi insurgency and the following civil war, the Egyptian Crisis, the Libyan Crisis and the Crisis in Yemen. Events referred to as the Arab Winter include those in Egypt that led to the removal of Mohamed Morsi and the seizure of power by General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in an anti-Muslim Brotherhood campaign.


title: 2010s

text: In 2018, China's National People's Congress approved a constitutional change that removed term limits for its leaders, granting Xi Jinping the status of "leader for life". Xi is the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (de facto leader).


title: 2010s

text: Sitting world leaders such as Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Kim Jong-il of North Korea, Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Lech Kaczyński of Poland, Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan and Beji Caid Essebsi of Tunisia, all died in office, as did former leaders Fidel Castro, Lee Kuan Yew, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, Robert Mugabe, Giulio Andreotti, Francesco Cossiga, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Jacques Chirac, Helmut Schmidt, Helmut Kohl, Mohamed Morsi, Ariel Sharon, Shimon Peres, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Václav Havel, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, B. J. Habibie, Yasuhiro Nakasone, Alan García, Jorge Rafael Videla, Néstor Kirchner, Fernando de la Rúa, Patricio Aylwin, Itamar Franco, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and George H. W. Bush.


title: 2010s

text: The following tables of events is listed by the region and by chronological order. The prominent political events include, but are not limited to:


title: 2010s

text: The 2010s began amidst a global financial crisis that started in the late 2000s. A sovereign-debt crisis in Europe began in early 2010, and the Greek government admitted that it was having difficulties servicing its large sovereign debt. In the summer and fall of 2011, bond yields for Italy and Spain spiked above 6 percent. By 2015 bond rates had returned to normal ranges across Europe, save for Greece, which accepted another, even more stringent bailout package. The size of the European Financial Stability Facility was increased from €440 billion to €2 trillion. Despite the Eurozone debt crisis, the American Dow Jones Industrial Average had its longest stretch of gains since the late 1990s tech boom. However, economic issues, including inflation and an increase in commodity prices, sparked unrest in many lower-income countries. In some countries, particularly those in the Arab world, political unrest evolved into socioeconomic crises, resulting in the Arab Spring.


title: 2010s

text: As a result of the global recession, many central banks instituted a zero interest-rate policy, or close to it. Another form of monetary stimulus was that of quantitative easing. The resulting flood of market liquidity caused a rise in asset prices. As a result, for example, United States stock prices reached record highs. Another consequence has been the rise in housing prices in many major world cities. Some of the cities which recorded the most dramatic rises included Sydney, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Auckland.


title: 2010s

text: In 2010, China became the second largest global economy, surpassing Japan. Japan also saw a rating downgrade the following year due to debt burden. In August 2011, the S&P downgraded the United States' credit rating from triple AAA to AA-plus following a debt ceiling crisis. Also in 2011, a Gallup poll found that more than half of Americans believed the country was still in a recession. In June 2015, the Shanghai Stock Exchange lost a third of the value of A-shares within one month, an event known as the 2015–16 Chinese stock market turbulence. India became the fastest growing major economy of the world in 2015, surpassing China. In 2018, as the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates, fears of a yield curve inversion preceding a potential U.S. recession sent inflation higher in several emerging markets, including Argentina, where interest rates hit 40% and an International Monetary Fund bail out was issued. In 2019, Singapore supplanted the United States as the world's most competitive economy, with the U.S. dropping to third, behind Hong Kong.


title: 2010s

text: Global oil production in 2014 reached a historic peak, reaching 93 million barrels/day. In 2018, partially due to a shale boom, the United States overcame Russia and Saudi Arabia in becoming the world's largest crude oil producer, the first time since 1973. Around the year 2017 is a period seen by some economists as being the new peak of a "goldilocks economy". The International Monetary Fund's April 2019 World Economic Outlook stated, "After peaking at close to 4 percent in 2017, global [economic] growth remained strong, at 3.8 percent in the first half of 2018, but dropped to 3.2 percent in the second half of the year."


title: 2010s

text: In 2018, United States President Donald Trump announced he would put into place new tariffs on some Chinese products, starting the 'US-China Trade War', an economic conflict involving the world's two largest economies. Trump said the reasoning for the trade war is to punish China for 'unfair' trade practices, such as the appropriation of jobs and the theft of American intellectual property. China responded with tariffs of its own, and a cycle began, escalating the conflict to the situation faced today. As part of his 'America First' policy, Trump also announced new tariffs were being placed on countries around the world for various products such as steel and aluminium, which has drawn some economic retaliation.


title: 2010s

text: By the end of the decade, in North American and some Western European domestic economies, consumer-level purchasing habits had shifted significantly, a partial consequence of the Great Recession's impact on discretionary incomes and a shifting breadwinner model. The so-called "retail apocalypse" had commenced as consumers increasingly resorted to online shopping and e-commerce, accelerating the decline of brick-and-mortar retail and the continued decline of indoor shopping malls. The transitioning retail industry and popularity of online shopping facilitated economic phenomena such as bricks and clicks business models, pop-up and non-store retailing, drone delivery services, ghost restaurants, and a quickly maturing online food ordering and delivery service sector. This was only further perpetuated by the rise in cryptocurrency throughout the decade, such as Bitcoin. By May 2018, over 1,800 cryptocurrency specifications existed.


title: 2010s

text: In the same vein as cryptocurrency, the trend towards a cashless society continued as non-cash transactions and digital currency saw an increase in favourability in the 2010s. By 2016, only about 2 percent of the value transacted in Sweden was by cash, and only about 20 percent of retail transactions were in cash. Fewer than half of bank branches in the country conducted cash transactions. A report published during the final year of the decade suggested that the percentage of payments conducted in cash in the United Kingdom had fallen to 34% from 63% ten years earlier. The 2016 United States User Consumer Survey Study claimed that 75 percent of respondents preferred a credit or debit card as their payment method while only 11 percent of respondents preferred cash.


title: 2010s

text: Two of the most prominent deaths in the scientific community during the decade were Neil Armstrong in 2012 and Stephen Hawking in 2018.


title: 2010s

text: Below are the most significant scientific developments of each year, based on the annual Breakthrough of the Year award of the American Association for the Advancement of Science journal "Science".


title: 2010s

text: Robotics, particularly drones like quadcopters, experienced a wide use and application in the 2010s. Autonomous and electric car technology and sales showed considerable growth as well. In addition, sustainable space launch technologies were spearheaded by entrepreneurs like Elon Musk. Video Games began to merge hand in hand with technology as seen in applications like "Wii Street U", an app which used Google Street View and the Nintendo Wii U to examine the cities of the world, streets, and addresses on a virtual globe.


title: 2010s

text: In 2018, during the Falcon Heavy test flight, the first production car was launched into space. The car was attached to the Falcon Heavy rocket, the most powerful rocket in operation at the time.


title: 2010s

text: Cyber security incidents, such as hacking, leaks or theft of sensitive information, gained increased attention of governments, corporations and individuals.


title: 2010s

text: AIDS, a pandemic responsible for killing over 30 million people since its discovery in the early 1980s, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, became a treatable condition, though by the end of the decade only two cases had been cured. With good treatment patients can generally expect normal lives and lifespans. However, only some 5 million of the 12 million affected people had access to such treatment.


title: 2010s

text: During the 2010s, social changes included increases in life expectancy and falling birth rates leading to larger proportions of the population being elderly. This put pressure on pensions and other social security programs in developed nations. The environment became a topic of greater public concern around the world. Many parts of the world moved towards greater acceptance of LGBT people often including the legalisation of same-sex marriage. The internet took an ever greater role in entertainment, communication, politics and commerce, especially for younger people and those living in wealthier countries. In 2011, the world population reached seven billion people.


title: 2010s

text: Fashion of the 2010s became slimmer-fit and slightly more formal compared to previous decades. In addition, people's handheld devices such as cellphones which came in a variety of colors and cases (as well as things like handheld gaming systems) became more prevalent personal items. The decade was also defined by hipster fashion, athleisure, and a revival of austerity-era and other nostalgic alternative fashion trends (such as 1980s-style neon streetwear and unisex 1990s-style elements influenced by grunge).


title: 2010s

text: In 2018, a subculture of "e-kids" came into existence, whom took their style from Japanese street fashion, cosplay, skater aesthetic, and other pieces of pop culture. In contrast to the colorful subculture of "e-kids" later in the decade, the early 2010s saw the Emo revival.


title: 2010s

text: Political fashion became a genre of fashion starting around 2016, as people wore hats like MAGA hats (popularized by political outsider, prior TV-star and businessman President Donald Trump), as well as the Pussyhat. These two pieces of fashion wear would be popularized in the 2010s in popular culture on television and further, but would become controversial in their own right.


title: 2010s

text: The decade sparked many smaller fashion movements, notable examples including Cottagecore and Normcore (a notable icon of Normcore in the 2010s was Steve Jobs, whom represented the decade's casual clothing). To a lesser extent, objects like the Fidget spinner, Silly Bandz, and Shutter shades remained popular among youth throughout the decade.


title: 2010s

text: Superhero films became box office leaders, especially with the Marvel Cinematic Universe whose "" became the highest-grossing film of all time, grossing , followed by "", "The Avengers" and "Black Panther". Horror film "It", which was based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, became the highest-grossing horror film of all time. "Toy Story 3" became a success and the highest grossing animated film of the early 2010s until "Frozen" became the highest-grossing animated film of all time worldwide, which was then further beaten by the 2019 remake of "The Lion King", while "Incredibles 2" became the highest-grossing animated film of all time in North America. "Brave" became the first film to use the Dolby Atmos sound format. Motion capture grew in terms of its realism and reach, and was seen in movies like Steven Spielberg's "Ready Player One", a film which was praised for its visual effects and acting performances, winning several awards. The decade also saw the release of many popular and critically acclaimed films such as "The Social Network", "Her", "12 Years a Slave", "Boyhood", "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl", "The Edge of Seventeen", "The Fault in Our Stars", "The Wolf of Wall Street", "The Perks of Being a Wallflower", "The Grand Budapest Hotel", "La La Land", "Eighth Grade", "Steve Jobs", "Lady Bird", "Green Book", "Moonlight", "Get Out", "Parasite", "Love, Simon", "The Irishman", "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", and "Uncut Gems."


title: 2010s

text: The critically acclaimed movies of the '10s mentioned above set new precedents, movies like "Boyhood" (2014) were filmed over the span of a decade in real time to show the growth and childhood of a young boy, movies like "Uncut Gems" (2019) brought Adam Sandler back to a wide screen release and was critically acclaimed for Sandler's serious portrayal of Ratner, while teenage movies like "The Edge of Seventeen" (2016) and "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" (2015) helped kickstart the careers and gave more attention to actresses Hailee Steinfeld and Olivia Cooke, and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (2012) was called the period drama of the early 2010s by The Sentry. "Her" (2013) became Spike Jonze's highest grossing and most critically acclaimed movie, noted for its filming locations and art direction, "Parasite" (2019) became the first foreign film to win best picture, and movies like "Ready Player One" (2018) helped advance motion capture technologies (winning two Outstanding Achievement Awards from the Visuals Effects Society and a Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film), in addition to becoming one of Steven Spielberg's highest-grossing films and serving as a return to the classic Spielberg format with references to 2010s pop culture.


title: 2010s

text: 2019's "Joker" became the first R rated movie to gross over $1 billion and cemented itself in popular culture by making the Joker Stairs famous in late 2019, a group of stairs seen in the movie and on its poster. These stairs became a popular place for tourists to take photographs of and walk down, as if to impersonate the Joker character from the 2019 film. In January 2010, "James Cameron's Avatar" surpassed $1 billion in sales, becoming the first movie of the decade to do so, then it surpassed $2 billion in sales by February 2010. The following year, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" became one of the fastest grossing films of all time, and became the highest-grossing film of 2011.


title: 2010s

text: The 2010s decade is often said to be apart of the Golden Age of Television, due to the widespread quality of multiple shows, as well as advancements in technology leading to streaming, cable television, and online outlets bringing this quality and quantity of programming.


title: 2010s

text: Cable providers saw a decline in subscriber numbers as cord-cutting viewers switched to lower-cost online streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. On cable television, as well as streaming services, a variety of shows gained popularity. Newer adult animation grew rapidly throughout the decade with shows such as "Rick and Morty" ("Rick and Morty" specifically in the realm of adult entertainment became a phenomenon among Generation Z and other groups, the show growing a dedicated fanbase and cult following), "BoJack Horseman", "Bob's Burgers", among many others. Nickelodeon brought back three classic Nicktoons; "Hey Arnold!" (""), "Rocko's Modern Life" ("", which was themed around late 2010s culture), and "Invader Zim" ("") near the end of the decade, turning them into reboot films. Cartoon Network also brought back shows such as "Mad", "The Powerpuff Girls", and "Johnny Bravo", while adult animation like "Family Guy", "Futurama", "South Park", "The Simpsons" and 2011's "Beavis and Butt-Head" remained popular. "Adventure Time", "The Loud House" (which featured one boy and ten sisters and later turned into a live-action series), "Regular Show", "Steven Universe", "Phineas and Ferb", "Gravity Falls", "The Amazing World of Gumball", "" (which, under its G4 status, became a pop culture phenomenon in its own right, thanks to its controversial, but loyal cult following known as 'Bronies' who peaked in 2012–2015), and "SpongeBob SquarePants" were among other cartoons that were popular during the decade. "SpongeBob SquarePants" also made headlines for the petition and attempts to get "Sweet Victory" played at the 2019 Super Bowl after the passing of its series creator Stephen Hillenburg. The comedy sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" ran for the entirety of the decade, and was the number-one television sitcom for all of its airing prior to its finale in 2019. The show featured a group of scientists – Sheldon Cooper, Howard Wolowitz, Raj Koothrappali, Leonard Hofstadter and their friends – and became a hit for CBS, the show often referencing tech, films, and shows of the decade, a notable example being The Indecision Amalgamation, where Sheldon can't decided between buying a PlayStation 4 and an Xbox One, asking his friends their opinions. Other sitcoms like "Curb Your Enthusiasm", "The Office", "Scrubs: Med School", Netflix's "Trailer Park Boys" and its Out Of The Park: USA and Europe specials and "How I Met Your Mother" narrated by Bob Saget ("HIMYM" of which gained controversy for its 2014 finale, "Last Forever", which sparked an alternate finale to be created for the show, a television-first) were popular in the 2010s. Cult shows like "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", carried its popularity from the 2000s and lasted through the entirety of the 2010s. "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" featured a group of degenerates in Philadelphia, the show, a comedy, sometimes making light and comedic fun of serious political and current world events of the 2010s, political satire heavily seen in its 2018 season. CBS's "Two Broke Girls" began it's run in 2011 (ending in 2017), it's pilot being the highest watched on the network in a decade. In 2011, in the television world, Charlie Sheen was fired from "Two and a Half Men", who made his last appearance in the show in Season 8 during February 2011. Sheen's 2011 outbursts and firing from "Two and a Half Men" were highly publicized. "The Apprentice" was a reality television show that starred media personality and businessman Donald Trump as host until 2015, at which time resigning as host Trump would use the success he gained on "The Apprentice" to run for President of the United States; Trump was elected in 2016. The show coined Trump's well known catchphrase "You're fired!". Additionally, programs such as "The Celebrity Apprentice", Comedy Central's "The Roast Of Donald Trump", and Donald Trump's November 2015 hosting of "Saturday Night Live", would send the reality TV star and businessman into the spotlight to win the U.S. presidency. Governor in the early 2010s and movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger took Trump's place on "The Celebrity Apprentice", much to Trump's public disproval, Trump touting his success as host asked audiences at a prayer breakfast to "Pray for Arnold's ratings". Indian sitcom "Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah" became the world's longest-running sitcom, with over 2,500 episodes, and dramas like "Breaking Bad" (2008–2013), "The Walking Dead" (2010–2022), "Game of Thrones" (2011–2019) and the "Breaking Bad" spin-off "Better Call Saul" (2015–2022) became some of the most popular American television series of all time.


title: 2010s

text: A new era of family television and tween television existed in the 2010s, sitcoms of which were mainly spearheaded by Disney and Nickelodeon, but also appeared on cable channels such as ABC ("The Middle" on ABC for example) and streaming like Netflix. Shows such as Nickelodeon's "iCarly" and "Victorious", and Disney's "Girl Meets World" were notable examples of popular shows among tween and youth throughout the 2010s. "Stranger Things" gained a massive following during the decade among teen and youth, and 2019's "Stranger Things 3" gained even more recognition for the character of Robin Buckley, who was popularized online. The short lived 2018 version of "Roseanne", (a family sitcom on ABC), gained attention for the firing of its main star Roseanne and her outbursts (just like "Two and a Half Men" gained recognition for Charlie Sheen and his outbursts earlier in the decade). The cancellation of "Roseanne" even caused former TV star and President Donald Trump to remark on the situation, tweeting against Bob Iger of ABC. The decade proved to be monumental for television reboots and revivals, including "Dallas", "Will & Grace","The Conners", "Murphy Brown", "Fuller House", among many many others.


title: 2010s

text: Reality television as somewhat mentioned above grew an increased following during the decade. "Kitchen Nightmares" and "Hotel Hell" gained popularity on cable television, as well as getting millions of views on YouTube, making Gordon Ramsay famous. "America's Got Talent" drew in viewers when radio personality Howard Stern announced his joining of the show in late 2011, staying as host until 2015. "AGT" made acts such as The Singing Trump, Grace VanderWaal, and Darci Lynne famous. "Property Brothers" and "A Very Brady Renovation" ( a show seeing "The Brady Bunch" cast build their home from the show) brought viewership to HGTV, especially with older audiences. Meanwhile, shows on ABC such as "Shark Tank" allowed entrepreneurs to pitch their products which led to the fame and fortune of many products seen on the show, and ABC's "The Bachelor" gained attention for Arie Luyendyk Jr. and his confession on the show's 2018 season finale that he was still in love with the runner-up, not the girl he gave the final rose to. Corinne Olympios also gained recognition on the 2017 season of "The Bachelor" for her behavior on set. "American Idol" remained popular into the beginning of the decade with musical talent like Steven Tyler as hosts, in addition to "The Voice" which was popular and saw musicians like CeeLo Green singer of 2010's "Fuck You" host the show. "Impractical Jokers" flourished throughout the decade, gaining exposure on YouTube. TMZ became a popular television show and news source in the 2010s, and MTV's reality show "Ridiculousness" was popular.


title: 2010s

text: Science Fiction television gained a renewed sense of interest, thanks to "The Orville" and its second season which aired on Fox between 2017 and 2019, serving as somewhat of a parody of the "Star Trek" franchise. "Black Mirror" became popular due in part to episodes such as White Bear, Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too, Hang the DJ, and Playtest. Science Nonfiction such as "" also joined the line up on Fox, both "The Orville" and "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" of which were led at the direction of Seth MacFarlane. As well, "Stranger Things" and "Rick and Morty" (as previously mentioned) joined science fiction shows. "The Orville" gained high audience scores, and received a 100% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes for its second season.


title: 2010s

text: The video streaming website YouTube became popular, especially among younger people, as memes like Nyan Cat, Dat Boi, "We Are Number One", and well known channels like Fred Figglehorn (FRED), The Annoying Orange, Smosh, PewDiePie and Angry Video Game Nerd attracted millions of views, channels and videos becoming viral on the site. The popularity of YouTubers even ended up spawning films based on popular YouTubers, including "" (2014), "" (2015), and the Fred Trilogy (2010–2012) starting with "". These YouTubers became well known through comedic skits, video game reviews, and "Let's Play" videos, as Angry Video Game Nerd reviewed games like "Sonic The Hedgehog" for the Xbox 360, and "Life of Black Tiger" for the PlayStation 4, which AVGN reviewed in a video featuring Gilbert Gottfried, Smosh would upload skits like "FOOD BATTLE" and Pewdiepie would play games such as "Five Nights at Freddy's".


title: 2010s

text: Other YouTubers that constantly received views within the millions or went viral during the decade included the likes of bill wurtz for his "history of japan" and "history of the entire world i guess" videos (and music like "and the day goes on"), Swoozie, Etika (and his fanbase the "JOYCONBOYZ"), h3h3Productions, Fine Brothers Entertainment, and TheOdd1sOut, among many others. YouTube itself would even end up banning controversial content creators like LeafyIsHere, who gained prominence during the 2010s.


title: 2010s

text: Globalism and an increased demand for variety and personalisation in the face of music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music created many new subgenres. US digital music sales topped CD sales in 2012. Dance, hip-hop, and pop music surged in the 2010s, with hip-hop and R&B surpassing rock as the biggest US music genre in 2018. At the beginning of the decade in 2010, musicians like Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj (with their successful albums "The Fame Monster", "My World 2.0", "Teenage Dream", "Doo-Wops & Hooligans", "Speak Now", "Loud" and "Pink Friday" respectively) increased the global commercial appeal of pop music, with each of them selling over 100 million records in the 2010s and becoming some of the best-selling musicians of all time. Electronic dance music (EDM) achieved mass commercial success in the middle of the decade but fell somewhat into decline by the end. The mass global appeal of EDM music (and subgenres such as dubstep, electro house and trap) from the early-to-mid part of the decade spawned the rise in fame of DJs and digital music producers, such as Skrillex, Tiësto, Avicii, Steve Aoki, Deadmau5, Calvin Harris, Baauer and Diplo. Country music also saw a resurgence throughout the '10s in the United States, with artists like Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Kacey Musgraves, Chris Stapleton and Florida Georgia Line topping the charts and garnering many music industry awards. With the rise of the internet in the 2010s, independent music (or "indie music") gained a large international cult following, with successful indie bands being Foster the People, Dr. Dog, Tally Hall, Florence and The Machine, Beach House, alt-J, Of Monsters and Men, The National, Two Door Cinema Club, and M83; as well as successful indie solo artists being Tame Impala, Neil Cicierega, St. Vincent, Father John Misty, Ellie Goulding, Feist, Sufjan Stevens, Lana Del Rey, Justin Vernon and Lorde.


title: 2010s

text: "Billboard" named Drake the top artist of the decade in the US. Other popular musical solo artists of the 2010s included Adele, Ed Sheeran, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Khalid, Sam Smith, Travis Scott, Cardi B, Future, Shawn Mendes, Post Malone, Kesha and Selena Gomez. Popular musical groups of the decade included One Direction, BTS, Imagine Dragons, Mumford & Sons, Arcade Fire, Twenty One Pilots, Migos, Swedish House Mafia, Bon Iver, Zac Brown Band, Maroon 5, Alabama Shakes, The Chainsmokers, OneRepublic, Vampire Weekend, The Lumineers, Lady A and Fun. Successful duos included The Black Keys, Run the Jewels, Matt and Kim, Rae Sremmurd, Love and Theft, LMFAO, Garfunkel and Oates and Dan + Shay.


title: 2010s

text: Several prominent musicians from past decades died in the 2010s, including Ronnie James Dio in 2010, Amy Winehouse in 2011, Whitney Houston and Adam Yauch in 2012, Lou Reed in 2013, Joe Cocker in 2014, B.B. King, Lemmy Kilmister and Ben E. King in 2015, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Glenn Frey, Phife Dawg, Prince and George Michael all in 2016, Chuck Berry, Chris Cornell, Prodigy and Tom Petty all in 2017, Aretha Franklin in 2018, and Keith Flint in 2019. There were also several deaths of newer hip hop artists who had started or first became successful in the 2010s, including Capital Steez, Lil Peep, XXXTentacion, Mac Miller, Nipsey Hussle, Juice WRLD and others.


title: 2010s

text: The video game industry continued to be dominated by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft; "Minecraft" became the best-selling game of all time in 2019. The popularity of video games increased across the world, as the Wii influenced gaming in the early part of the decade, and the Nintendo 3DS provided 3D gaming through autostereoscopy. The successful Nintendo Wii was followed by the Wii U in 2012, a commercial failure. The Nintendo Wii would be responsible for the most critically acclaimed game of the 2010s decade, "Super Mario Galaxy 2" (which is also often considered one of the greatest video games of all time by game critics). The Wii (and later to a lesser extent the Wii U) would singlehandedly cause the increased use of motion controls in gaming with its "Wii" line up of games such as "", "Wii Fit U", "Wii Sports Club", "Wii Party" and "Wii Party U", all released in the 2010s. Motion controls would carry over and advance during the decade with the Nintendo Switch's Joy-Con in 2017, and would form the foundation of 2010's motion-based PlayStation Move and Xbox Kinect, counterparts and competitors to the Wii. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One released in 2013, and in the United States the PlayStation 4 became the highest-selling console of the decade. The Nintendo Switch launched in 2017 and was responsible for bringing Nintendo's success back, the success of the console initially spawned by the strong sales of both "" and "Super Mario Odyssey", as well as titles like "ARMS", "1-2-Switch", "Super Smash Bros Ultimate", "Yoshi's Crafted World", "Super Mario Maker 2", "Splatoon 2", "Luigi's Mansion 3", "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe", "New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe", among many others. Ports and sequels to Wii U games on the Nintendo Switch sold considerably better than their Wii U counterparts. YouTube became a platform for "Let's Players" to upload videos of themselves playing certain games, which led to the popularity of existing games and newer indie games like "Cuphead", "Undertale", "Octodad"/"", and "Five Nights At Freddy's" (indie games like "Cuphead" were lauded for its rubber hose animation style, while "Undertale's" soundtrack like "Megalovania" came to light). "Let's Players" were even referenced in greater pop culture such as the 2014 episode Rehash on "South Park" where gamer Pewdiepie appeared. The use of iPods, tablets, and cell phones became one of the most popular forms of gaming as the decade progressed with the rise of mobile games, expanding the industry's appeal among less traditional markets such as women and older adults. Apps such as "Angry Birds", "Pokémon Go", "Subway Surfers", "Doodle Jump", "Cut the Rope", "Smash Hit", "Miitomo", and "Candy Crush Saga" became hits. (In addition to "Super Mario Galaxy 2", it is notable in mentioning that Nintendo Wii released a large group of critically acclaimed games in the early 2010s with popular titles such as "Kirby's Epic Yarn", "Donkey Kong Country Returns", "", and "Sonic Colors").


title: 2010s

text: The 2010s marked the growth, release, and large expansion of the "Toys To Life" category. Brands such as Nintendo's Amiibo became massively popular, and allowed figurines to be bought which were scanned into games to level up, train your figurine, or receive goods for your figurine. The Amiibo skyrocketed in success due to the roster of figurines available for "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U", with many posting videos of them online going "amiibo hunting" mostly around late 2014 and 2015. Skylanders and Disney Infinity also remained popular at the time, as fads. The Nintendo Labo released in 2018, was also a part of the "Toys To Life" brand of video games, using cardboard to create objects such as a fishing pole, a crank, and a race-car wheel to be played with games. Micro-consoles also emerged during the decade, a notable example being the Ouya, a system which was a commercial and critical failure that received attention online.


title: 2010s

text: In the 2010s movies based on video game franchises became popular, grossing more and being talked about in the media and among fans more than ever before. Movies like Ryan Reynold's "Detective Pikachu" (which starred additional actors like Kathryn Newton as Lucy Stevens and Bill Nighy as Howard Clifford) broke box office records for movies based on game series at the time, while movies like actor Jim Carrey's "Sonic The Hedgehog" created buzz in the media and on shows like "Conan" (where the film and its fans were satirized) in 2019 for the movie's depiction of a more realistic looking hedgehog character, which by demand of the fans, was changed into a more cartoon version of the titular character to much like and approval upon the November 2019 trailer and movie's release. Video game themed movies became popular as well, with films such as "Ready Player One", "Pixels", "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World", and "Wreck-It Ralph".


title: 2010s

text: The best-selling book of the decade was "Fifty Shades of Grey", having sold 15.2 million copies in the United States.


title: 2010s

text: The following is a list of the 10 best-selling books of the decade. Note that global data is unavailable and this is limited to the United States:


title: 2010s

text: The "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series also became one of the best-selling book series of all time throughout the 2010s, with installments such as "" and "" winning awards at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.


title: 2010s

text: Popular athletes of the decade included Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Megan Rapinoe, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Álvarez, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Kyle Busch, Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, Mike Trout, Michael Phelps, Shaun White, Kelly Slater, Simone Biles, Sidney Crosby and many more.


title: 2010s

text: A doping scandal and investigation that was concluded in 2012 led to former professional road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong being stripped of all seven of his Tour de France titles.


title: 2010s

text: In November 2016, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time since 1908, over the then-Cleveland Indians. Their win, along with Game 7 and the entire 2016 Series, was heavily noted in the sports and baseball community. It is often considered one of the best World Series ever played, due to the underdog nature of both teams, how close the games were and especially the final game, and how it ultimately ended the over 100-year drought of the Cubs not winning a series.


title: 2010s

text: In January 2018, the final play of an NFL playoffs game between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints, dubbed the "Minneapolis Miracle", became the first time in NFL playoffs history where a game ended in a touchdown as time expired, and prompted a change to the NFL's rules as they pertain to extra-point conversion attempts.


title: 2010s

text: As the decade drew to a close, some commentators looked back on it as a politically unstable period. An article in the "New York Times" stated: "With the rise of nationalist movements and a backlash against globalisation on both sides of the Atlantic, the liberal post-World War II order – based on economic integration and international institutions – began to unravel." It heavily discussed the US presidency of Donald Trump (a reality TV Star and businessman with no political experience at the time of taking office, succeeding Barack Obama) whilst also commenting, "Echoes of Mr. Trump's nationalist populism can be found in Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain's recent electoral victory and the Brexit referendum of 2016, and in the ascent of the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. Democracy is under threat in Hungary and Poland. Once fringe right-wing parties with openly racist agendas are rebranding themselves in Sweden and Belgium. And far-right groups in Germany and Spain are now the third-largest parties in those nations' parliaments." A December 2019 piece in "The Guardian" argued that the 2010s would be remembered "as a time of crises", elaborating "there have been crises of democracy and the economy; of the climate and poverty; of international relations and national identity; of privacy and technology". The article also noted that, in Britain, "politics since 2010 has often been manic. Parties have hastily changed their leaders and policies; sometimes their entire guiding philosophies. Last week's general election was the fourth of the decade; the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s had two apiece." Similar trends of political unrest were felt beyond the Western world, as suggested in "The Asian Review", which described the 2010s as a "tumultuous time for Asia, sometimes tragic, sometimes triumphant and never dull".


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded in 1910, and since then, about 110 million Americans have participated in BSA programs. BSA is part of the international Scout Movement and became a founding member organization of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1922.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: The stated mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to "prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law." Youth are trained in responsible citizenship, character development, and self-reliance through participation in a wide range of outdoor activities, educational programs, and, at older age levels, career-oriented programs in partnership with community organizations. For younger members, the Scout method is part of the program to instill typical Scouting values such as trustworthiness, good citizenship, and outdoors skills, through a variety of activities such as camping, aquatics, and hiking. To further these outdoor activities, the BSA has four high-adventure bases: Northern Tier (Minnesota, Manitoba, and Ontario), Philmont Scout Ranch (New Mexico), Sea Base (Florida, US Virgin Islands, and Bahamas), and Summit Bechtel Reserve (West Virginia), as well as nearly one hundred separate camps and reservations specifically dedicated to scouts.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: The main Scouting divisions are Cub Scouting for ages 5 to 11 years, Scouts BSA for ages 10 to 18, Venturing for ages 14 through 21, and Sea Scouts for ages 14 through 21. The BSA operates Scouting by chartering local organizations, such as churches, clubs, civic associations, or educational organizations, to implement the Scouting program for youth within their communities. Units are led entirely by volunteers appointed by the chartering organization, who are supported by local councils using both paid professional Scouters and volunteers. Additionally, Learning for Life is an affiliate that provides in-school and career education.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: On February 1, 2019, the Boy Scouts of America renamed its flagship "program", Boy Scouts, to Scouts BSA to reflect its policy change allowing girls to join separate, gender-specific troops. Shortly thereafter, the largest charter organization supporting BSA, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, decided to part ways substantially contributing to a net loss of nearly a million scouts/leaders. On February 18, 2020, the National BSA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is currently restructuring its financial situation. On November 16, 2020, the National BSA disclosed in their bankruptcy filings that over 92,000 former Scouts had reported sexual abuse by members of the organization. In December 2021, the insurer for the Boy Scouts of America agreed to pay $800M into the fund for victims.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: The progressive movement in the United States was at its height during the early 20th century. With the migration of families from farms to cities, there were concerns among some people that young men were no longer learning patriotism, self-reliance, and individualism. Several groups attempted to fill this void. The YMCA was an early promoter of reforms for young men with a focus on social welfare and programs of mental, physical, social and religious development. Others, included the Woodcraft Indians started by Ernest Thompson Seton in 1902 in Cos Cob, Connecticut, and the Sons of Daniel Boone founded by Daniel Carter Beard in 1905 in Cincinnati, Ohio., two notable independent scouting predecessors of BSA within the United States.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: In 1907, Robert Baden-Powell founded the Scouting movement in England using elements of Seton's works among other influences. In 1909, Chicago publisher W. D. Boyce was visiting London, where he encountered a boy who came to be known as the Unknown Scout. Boyce was lost on a foggy street when an unknown Scout came to his aid, guiding him to his destination. The boy then refused Boyce's tip, explaining that he was a Boy Scout and was merely doing his daily good turn. Interested in the Boy Scouts, Boyce met with staff at the Boy Scouts Headquarters and, by some accounts, Baden-Powell. Upon his return to the US, Boyce was inspired by his experience and incorporated the "Boy Scouts of America" on February 8, 1910. Edgar M. Robinson and Lee F. Hanmer became interested in the nascent BSA and convinced Boyce to turn the program over to the YMCA for development in April 1910. Robinson enlisted Seton, Beard, Charles Eastman, and other prominent leaders in the early youth movements. Former president Theodore Roosevelt, who had long complained of the decline in American manhood, became an ardent supporter. In January 1911, Robinson turned the movement over to James E. West who became the first Chief Scout Executive and Scouting began to expand in the US Among other programs in the US, the Woodcraft Indians and Sons of Daniel Boone, eventually merged with the BSA.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: The BSA's stated purpose at its incorporation in 1910 was "to teach [boys] patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred values." Later, in 1937, Deputy Chief Scout Executive George J. Fisher expressed the BSA's mission: "Each generation as it comes to maturity has no more important duty than that of teaching high ideals and proper behavior to the generation which follows." The current mission statement of the BSA is "to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law."


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: At its peak, Boy Scouts had an active membership of over 4 million youth in 1973. Today, popularity in outdoor events has waned and membership has dropped. However, BSA remains the largest scouting organization and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants and about one million adult volunteers .


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: The BSA holds one of the comparatively rare congressional charters under Title 36 of the United States Code. On behalf of the BSA, Paul Sleman, Colin H. Livingstone, Ernest S. Martin, and James E. West successfully lobbied Congress for a federal charter for the BSA which President Woodrow Wilson signed on June 15, 1916. One of the principal reasons for seeking a congressional charter was to deal with competition from other Scout organizations including the United States Boy Scouts and the Lone Scouts of America. The 1916 statute of incorporation established this institution among a small number of similarly chartered patriotic and national organizations, such as the Girl Scouts, Civil Air Patrol, the American Legion, the Red Cross, Little League Baseball, and the National Academy of Sciences. The federal incorporation was originally construed primarily as an honor; however, it does grant the chartered organization some special privileges and rights, including freedom from antitrust and monopoly regulation and complete control over the organization's symbols and insignia, though it neither implies nor accords Congress any special control over the BSA, which remains free to function independently.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: There are about 100,000 physically or mentally disabled Scouts throughout the United States. Anyone certified as disabled "may enroll in Scouting and remain in its program beyond the regulation age limits. This provision allows all members to advance in Scouting as far as they wish."


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: Unlike the BSA's Learning for Life, membership in the regular BSA programs had been more restricted and controversial. Until the late 2010s, Cub Scouting or the program then-named Boy Scouting was open to boys only, but girls were permitted to join the Venturing, Sea Scouting, and Explorers programs in 1970. Women could also serve as adult volunteers in all programs in approximately the same time frame. On October 11, 2017, the BSA announced that girls would be allowed to become Cub Scouts, starting in 2018, and be a part of the Scouts BSA Program, starting on February 1, 2019.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: The BSA allowed gay youths full participation in 2014 and openly gay adults as leaders in 2015. It is a common belief that the BSA does prohibit members who are atheist and agnostic based on its "duty to God" principle and that members (adult and youth) agree with the Declaration of Religious Principle in the bylaws. However, the BSA has had Buddhist troops since 1920, and Buddhism is a nontheistic religion which does not assert belief in a creator God. The BSA also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Unitarian Universalist Association in 2016 which specifically gives ultimate authority over a participant's spiritual welfare to the individual Unitarian Universalist congregation. The MOU also specifically includes within Unitarian Universalist chartered troops Humanism as an acceptable form of spirituality as well as Earth-centered religions.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled in "Boy Scouts of America v. Dale" that Boy Scouts and all similar, private voluntary organizations have the constitutionally protected right under the First Amendment of freedom of association to set membership standards. In 2004, the BSA adopted a new policy statement, including a "Youth Leadership" policy that disallowed members to continue in leadership positions in the event they were to hold themselves out as "open and avowed homosexuals.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: At the Scouts annual meeting in April 2012, a leader from the Northeast presented a resolution that "would allow individual units to accept gays as adult leaders". However, in July 2012, at the culmination of a review started in 2010, an 11-person committee convened by the BSA reached a "unanimous consensus" recommending retaining the current policy. Intel, UPS, and Merck cut financial ties with the BSA over the policy decision. Within the BSA National Executive Board, members James Turley, CEO of Ernst & Young, and Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T and who was then "on track to become president of the Scout's national board in 2014" and later was, publicly opposed the policy and stated their intention "to work from within the BSA Board to actively encourage dialogue and sustainable progress" in changing the policy. On January 28, 2013, the BSA announced it was considering rescinding the ban on homosexuals, allowing chartered organizations to determine local policy.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: On May 23, 2013, 61% of the 1,400-member BSA National Council voted to remove the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation while emphasizing that any sexual conduct, whether heterosexual or homosexual, is not allowed. The resolution went into effect on January 1, 2014, but Scout leaders who were "open and avowed homosexuals" were still prohibited. The policy specifically states that BSA does not inquire into a person's sexuality. Gay rights groups hailed the decision, but vowed to press on until all gay members were accepted. Some churches and conservative members threatened to quit the Boy Scouts in response. On June 12, 2013, the Southern Baptist Convention passed non-binding resolutions urging the BSA not to change their policy. In September 2013, a new scouting group called Trail Life USA was created, in support of what founders call "traditional, Christian" scouting. Subsequently, some Christian denomination congregations replaced their Boy Scouts of America troops with those of Trail Life USA.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: In May 2015, Boy Scouts of America President Robert Gates said it was time to end the ban on gay leaders. Gates said it "cannot be sustained" any longer. On July 10, 2015, the Boy Scouts of America Executive Committee agreed, and referred the matter to the National Executive Board. On July 27, 2015, the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board voted to lift the organization's blanket ban on openly gay leaders and employees. Local chartering organizations are still permitted to set their own standards based on religious principle for selecting the adult volunteers for their unit.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: On January 30, 2017, the Boy Scouts of America announced that transgender children who identify as boys would be allowed to enroll in boys-only programs, effective immediately. Previously, the sex listed on an applicant's birth certificate determined eligibility for these programs; going forward, the decision would be based on the gender listed on the application. Joe Maldonado became the first openly transgender child identifying as a boy to join the Scouts on February 7, 2017. In 2016, he was rejected from the Boy Scouts for being transgender, but the policy was changed after his story became nationally known.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: On October 11, 2017, the Boy Scouts of America announced that girls would be welcomed into Cub Scouts beginning in fall of 2018, with an early adopter program beginning on January 15, 2018, in councils that wished to participate early. The announcement included the statement that girls in Cub Scouting will simply be called "Cub Scouts". The flagship program of Boy Scouts of America, previously known as "Boy Scouting", became known as Scouts BSA on February 1, 2019, when the program opened to girls. Members of Scouts BSA are known as "Scouts". On November 6, 2018, the GSUSA filed a federal trademark lawsuit seeking to block the BSA from rebranding itself simply as "Scouts"; this is not the first time the two organizations have legally contested the use of the term "scout".


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: The objectives of the BSA are referred to as the Aims of Scouting: Character, Citizenship, Personal Fitness, Leadership. The BSA pursues these aims through an informal education system called the Scout method, with variations that are designed to be appropriate for the age and maturity of each membership division.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: Cub Scouts wear a uniform that gives each Scout a level of identity within the den, the pack and the community. The Scouts learn teamwork by meeting and working together in a den of four to ten boys or girls under adult leadership. They learn and apply the ideals codified in the Scout Oath and the Scout Law through an advancement system using age-based ranks earned by completing required and elective adventures. Some advancement is done in the home and is intended to involve the entire family and many Cub Scout activities include family members.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: In the Scouts BSA program, Scouts learn to use the ideals spelled out in the Scout Oath, the Scout Law, the Outdoor Code, the Scout motto ("Be prepared"), and the Scout slogan ("Do a good turn daily"). They wear a uniform and work together in patrols of four to ten Scouts with an elected patrol leader, who then appoints an assistant patrol leader. Scouts share responsibilities, apply skills learned at meetings and live together in the outdoors. The advancement system provides opportunities for personal growth and self-reliance. Scouts interact with adult leaders who act as role models and mentors, but they are expected to plan their own activities within the troop and to participate in community service.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: Venturers are expected to know and live by the Scout Oath and Law. Before May 2014, members of the Venturing program followed the now discontinued Venturing Oath and Venturing Code. Venturers associate and work directly with adults advisors, but the crew is led by elected youth officers who are given opportunities to learn and apply leadership skills. Venturers plan and participate in interdependent group experiences dependent on cooperation. An emphasis on high adventure provides opportunities for team-building and practical leadership applications. A series of awards provide opportunities for recognition and personal growth. Each award requires the Venturer to teach what they have learned to others, thereby returning the skill and knowledge back to the community and enabling the Venturer to master those skills.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: In October 2012, the National Council announced that, as a result of the findings and recommendations of a select committee made up of volunteer Scouters, the Cub Scout and Venturing programs would transition to use of the Scout Oath and Law, and in the case of the Venturers, the Boy Scout three-finger salute and sign as well. The Venturing change occurred in May 2014; and the Cub Scout change in mid-2015.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: There are seven ranks that a Scout in the Scouts BSA program may attain (note that Eagle Palms are not considered ranks). To obtain a rank, a Scout must complete the requirements for that rank, as well as have a Scoutmaster Conference and a Board of Review (with the exception of Scout Rank).


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: The seven ranks that a Scout may earn are: Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star Scout, Life Scout, and Eagle Scout. Some merit badges and leadership positions require a certain rank before being given to the scout and certain ranks require different merit badges and leadership positions.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: Eagle Scout is the highest rank one can receive in Scouts BSA. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than two million youth. Requirements include earning at least 21 merit badges and demonstrating Scout Spirit through the Scout Oath and Law, service, and leadership, all before or by age 18. This includes an extensive service project that the Scout plans, organizes, leads, and manages. Eagle Scouts are presented with a medal and a badge that visibly recognizes the accomplishments of the Scout. Additional recognition can be earned through Eagle Palms, awarded for completing additional tenure, leadership, and merit badge requirements.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: Many famous Americans are Eagle Scouts: astronauts Neil Armstrong and Jim Lovell, film directors Michael Moore and Steven Spielberg, basketball Hall of Famer Bill Bradley and Olympic gold medalist Steven Holcomb, TV host Mike Rowe, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, President Gerald Ford, and civil rights leader (and Tuskegee Airman) Percy Sutton are just a small sample of Eagle Scouts. Three recipients of the Medal of Honor – Thomas R. Norris, Mitchell Paige and Leo K. Thorsness – were Eagle Scouts.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: Upon the introduction of girls into Scouts BSA in February 2019, a temporary time extension was allowed for up to 2 years for all scouts who were older than 16 but not yet 18 years of age on February 1, 2019.


title: Boy Scouts of America

text: Of the 21 merit badges Eagle Scouts are required to earn, 14 of the badges must include: First Aid, Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Citizenship in Society, Communication, Cooking, Personal Fitness, Emergency Preparedness OR Lifesaving, Environmental Science OR Sustainability, Personal Management, Swimming OR Hiking OR Cycling, Camping, and Family Life.