The world's first country-wide (Bhutan) total tobacco ban goes into effect.
South Africa played host to the first FIFA World Cup in Africa.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched on its maiden flight.
In the Super Rugby Final at Orlando Stadium, the Bulls defended their title with a 25-17 win over the Stormers in an all-South African final.
The final episode of LOST aired.
The worst air crash involving a Boeing 737 kills 158 in India.
Emmy Award winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus, star of 'Seinfeld,' received the 2,407th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes.
The President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, dies in a plane crash.
Chechen women detonate two bombs in the Moscow underground.
Craig David was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador against tuberculosis (TB) by the World Health Organization.
A massive earthquake strikes Chile.
Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first cricket player to score a double-century in the One Day International format.
WikiLeaks published the first US diplomatic cable leak provided by Chelsea Manning.
Casey Neistat uploaded his first-ever YouTube video.
Justin Bieber reached one million followers on Twitter.
Steve Jobs announced the Apple iPad, the company's most advanced piece of technology at the time.
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti claimed 316,000 lives.
Judge Simon Cowell left American Idol but continued working with FOX on X Factor US.
Giant self-rolling snowballs were found in the UK.
The world's largest building at the time opened in Dubai.
A blue moon and a lunar eclipse occurred on the same day.
Scarlett Johansson made her debut on Broadway.
US President Barack Obama received a vaccine jab against the swine flu.
James Cameron's 'Avatar' was released in the US. It became the highest-grossing film of all time at the time.
Tiger Woods announced his indefinite leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage.
A sequel to LittleBigPlanet was released for the PlayStation Portable.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon premiered in Los Angeles.
Microsoft released the Windows 7 operating system.
EA Games' FIFA 10, the highest-rated FIFA game made, was released in Europe.
The American sitcom 'Modern Family' premiered on ABC.
'Harry Potter' and the Half-Blood Prince” movie by J.K. Rowling was released.
Greenland assumes self-rule.
NASA launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the first American lunar mission in ten years.
Two American journalists were sentenced to 12 years of penal labor after illegally entering North Korea.
Air France flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic.
General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The Sri Lankan Civil War ends.
Justin Bieber made his first tweet at 8:27 pm, promoting his single 'One Time.'
NASA's Atlantis Space Shuttle launched on the final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
Same-sex marriage was legalized in Sweden.
The Zimbabwean dollar was suspended indefinitely.
The American sitcom 'Parks and Recreation' debuted on NBC.
Texas movie fans were surprised with a special premiere viewing of that year's Star Trek movie.
North Korea performed a controversial intercontinental ballistic missile test.
North Korea launched the infamous Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 satellite.
The strain of swine flu known as H1N1 had its first case in the US.
NASA's Discovery Space Shuttle launched from the Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-119.
Brazilian soccer athlete Neymar da Silva Santos Jr. started his professional career at just 17 years old.
Queen Elizabeth II knighted English fantasy author Terry Pratchett.
