Facts and Events That Happened in This Year
The Doomsday Clock's minute hand was moved two minutes closer to midnight, making the new Doomsday just five minutes to midnight.
Instruments used to observe Venus found two-thirds of the planet's southern hemisphere brightened after aerosols were triggered on an 'astronomical' scale.
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling officially finished writing The Deathly Hallows.
Steve Jobs announced Apple's very first smartphone, the iPhone 1.
Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union.
