WORLD HISTORY · 2011 日本語
Events of 2011Heisei 23 (Japan) · Year of the Rabbit
What happened in 2011?
On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, and the next day a hydrogen explosion occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The Kyushu Shinkansen's Kagoshima route opened in full on that same day, and Noda Yoshihiko's cabinet took office in September.
- Egypt's President Mubarak resignsMiddle East
- Great East Japan Earthquake strikesAsia
- Kyushu Shinkansen Kagoshima route fully opensAsia
- Hydrogen explosion at Fukushima Daiichi plantAsia
- South Sudan becomes independentAfrica
- Terrorist attacks in NorwayEurope
- Noda Yoshihiko cabinet takes officeAsia
- Gaddafi regime collapses in LibyaAfrica
Tap an event to jump to it in the timeline below.
2011 at a glance
| Japanese era | Heisei 23 |
|---|---|
| Chinese zodiac | Year of the Rabbit |
| Age of people born in 2011 | Turn 15 in 2026 |
| Previous / next year | 2010 (Heisei 22) ／ 2012 (Heisei 24) |
| Events | 104 |
| AP World History | Unit 9 (Globalization) |
| AP U.S. History | Period 9 |
Famous people born in 2011
Our birthday pages list 3 people born in 2011. Here are some of them.
- Violet McGrawBorn April 22 · turns 15 this year
- Yağız Kaan ErdoğmuşBorn June 3 · turns 15 this year
- Lil BubBorn June 21 · turns 15 this year
Events of 2011 (timeline · 104)
Tip: the PC view is best for studying
On a computer, each region has its own vertical line, so you can follow the flow of events and see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time.
Estonia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the 17th Eurozone country.
A bomb explodes as Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt, leave a new year service, killing 23 people.
Sitting US Congresswoman Gabby Giffords is shot in the head along with 18 others in a mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona. Giffords survived the assassination attempt, but six others died, including John Roll, a federal judge.
Iran Air Flight 277 crashes near Urmia in the northwest of the country, in icy conditions, killing 78 people.
Syrian civil war: The Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) is established with the stated goal of re-organizing Syria along the lines of democratic confederalism.
Anti-government demonstrations take place in Tirana, Albania. Four people die from gunshots, allegedly fired from armed police protecting the Prime Minister's office.
At least 35 are killed and 180 injured in a bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport.
The first wave of the Egyptian revolution begins throughout the country, marked by street demonstrations, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, riots, labour strikes, and violent clashes.
Arab Spring: The Yemeni Revolution begins as over 16,000 protestors demonstrate in Sanaa.
Within Ursa Minor, H1504+65, a white dwarf with the hottest known surface temperature in the universe at 200,000 K, was documented.
Arab Spring: The first wave of the Egyptian revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 17 days of protests.
For the first time in more than 100 years the Umatilla, an American Indian tribe, are able to hunt and harvest a bison just outside Yellowstone National Park, restoring a centuries-old tradition guaranteed by a treaty signed in 1855.
Arab Spring: In Bahrain, security forces launch a deadly pre-dawn raid on protesters in Pearl Roundabout in Manama; the day is locally known as Bloody Thursday.
The debut exhibition of the Belitung shipwreck, containing the largest collection of Tang dynasty artifacts found in one location, begins in Singapore.
Bahraini uprising: Tens of thousands of people march in protest against the deaths of seven victims killed by police and army forces during previous protests.
New Zealand's second deadliest earthquake, the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, kills 185 people.
An Antonov An-148 crashes in Russia's Alexeyevsky District, Belgorod Oblast during a test flight, killing all seven aboard.
An earthquake measuring 9.0 in magnitude strikes 130 km (81 mi) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people. This event also triggered the second largest nuclear accident in history, and one of only two events to be classified as a Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
A reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant explodes and releases radioactivity into the atmosphere a day after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
Libyan Civil War: After the failure of Muammar Gaddafi's forces to take Benghazi, the French Air Force launches Opération Harmattan, beginning foreign military intervention in Libya.
Min Aung Hlaing is appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar's armed forces.
After protests against the burning of the Quran turn violent, a mob attacks a United Nations compound in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of fourteen people, including seven UN workers.
India wins the Cricket World Cup for the second time in history under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.
In San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, over 193 victims of Los Zetas were exhumed from several mass graves.
The Israel Defense Forces use their Iron Dome missile system to successfully intercept a BM-21 Grad launched from Gaza, marking the first short-range missile intercept ever.
A gunman opens fire at an elementary school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, killing twelve children and injuring 22 others before committing suicide.
Six people and the perpetrator are killed and 17 injured in a mass shooting at a shopping mall in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands.
An explosion in the Minsk Metro, Belarus, kills 15 people and injures 204 others.
Fidel Castro resigns as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba after holding the title since July 1961.
The 2011 Super Outbreak devastates parts of the Southeastern United States, especially the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. Two hundred five tornadoes touched down on April 27 alone, killing more than 300 and injuring hundreds more.
The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton takes place at Westminster Abbey in London.
Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted fugitive, is killed by the United States Navy SEALs in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
An E. coli outbreak strikes Europe, mostly in Germany, leaving more than 30 people dead and many others are taken ill.
Two bombs explode in the Charsadda District of Pakistan killing 98 people and wounding 140 others.
STS-134 (ISS assembly flight ULF6), launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the 25th and final flight for Space Shuttle Endeavour.
Mamata Banerjee is sworn in as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, the first woman to hold this post.
Radio broadcaster Harold Camping predicted that the world would end on this date.
An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and wreaking $2.8 billion in damages, the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history.
Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her 25-year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Malta votes on the introduction of divorce; the proposal was approved by 53% of voters, resulting in a law allowing divorce under certain conditions being enacted later in the year.
A rare tornado outbreak occurs in New England; a strong EF3 tornado strikes Springfield, Massachusetts, during the event, killing four people.
RusAir Flight 9605 crashes in Besovets during approach to Petrozavodsk Airport, killing 47.
A man goes on a killing spree in Grand Rapids, Michigan, killing seven and wounding two before killing himself.
Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program.
A rally takes place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to call for fairer elections in the country.
Russian cruise ship Bulgaria sinks in the Volga River near Syukeyevo, Tatarstan, causing 122 deaths.
Amid widespread backlash to revelations of phone hacking, the British weekly tabloid newspaper News of the World publishes its final issue and shuts down after nearly 168 years in print.
Ninety-eight containers of explosives self-detonate killing 13 people in Zygi, Cyprus.
Noar Linhas Aéreas Flight 4896 crashes in Boa Viagem, Recife, killing all 16 people on board.
Mumbai is rocked by three bomb blasts during the evening rush hour, killing 26 and injuring 130.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1999 is adopted, which admits South Sudan to member status of United Nations.
Guinean President Alpha Condé survives an attempted assassination and coup d'état at his residence in Conakry.
NASA's Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
Norway attacks: A bomb explodes, targeted at government buildings in central Oslo, followed by a massacre at a youth camp on the island of Utøya.
A high-speed train rear-ends another on a viaduct on the Yongtaiwen railway line in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, China, resulting in 40 deaths.
A Royal Moroccan Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules crashes near Guelmim Airport in Guelmim, Morocco. All 80 people on board are killed.
While flying from Seoul, South Korea to Shanghai, China, Asiana Airlines Flight 991 develops an in-flight fire in the cargo hold. The Boeing 747-400F freighter attempts to divert to Jeju International Airport, but crashes into the sea South-West of Jeju island, killing both crew members on board.
Marriage of Queen Elizabeth II's eldest granddaughter Zara Phillips to former rugby union footballer Mike Tindall.
War in Afghanistan: A United States military helicopter is shot down, killing 30 American special forces members and a working dog, seven Afghan soldiers, and one Afghan civilian. It was the deadliest single event for the United States in the War in Afghanistan.
A terrorist attack on Israel's Highway 12 near the Egyptian border kills 16 and injures 40.
First Air Flight 6560 crashes 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Resolute Bay runway, killing 12 of the 15 aboard.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is overthrown after the National Transitional Council forces take control of Bab al-Azizia compound during the Libyan Civil War.
A magnitude 5.8 (class: moderate) earthquake occurs in Virginia. Damage occurs to monuments and structures in Washington, D.C. and the resulted damage is estimated at 200 million–300 million USD.
Fifty-two people are killed during an arson attack caused by members of the drug cartel Los Zetas.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing's all-new composite airliner, receives certification from the EASA and the FAA.
Hurricane Irene strikes the United States east coast, killing 47 and causing an estimated $15.6 billion in damage.
The Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash in Russia kills 43 people, including nearly the entire roster of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Kontinental Hockey League team.
A dedication ceremony is held at the United States National September 11 Memorial on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in New York City, and the memorial opens to family members.
Four miners are killed in the Gleision Colliery mining accident in the Swansea Valley, Wales.
The 2011 Sikkim earthquake is felt across northeastern India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and southern Tibet.
Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees surpasses Trevor Hoffman to become Major League Baseball's all-time career saves leader with 602.
The United States military ends its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time.
The special court in India convicted all 269 accused officials for atrocity on Dalits and 17 for rape in the Vachathi case.
In the Mekong River massacre, two Chinese cargo boats are hijacked and 13 crew members murdered.
Libyan Crisis: Rebel forces capture Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his son Mutassim in his hometown of Sirte and kill them shortly thereafter, ending the first Libyan civil war.
Iraq War: President Barack Obama announces that the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq will be complete by the end of the year.
A powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Van Province, Turkey, killing 582 people and injuring thousands.
The global population of humans reaches seven billion. This day is now recognized by the United Nations as the Day of Seven Billion.
Mario Draghi succeeds Jean-Claude Trichet and becomes the third president of the European Central Bank.
The potentially hazardous asteroid 2005 YU55 passes 0.85 lunar distances from Earth (about 324,600 kilometres or 201,700 miles), the closest known approach by an asteroid of its brightness since 2010 XC15 in 1976.
The first national test of the Emergency Alert System is activated in the United States at 2:00 p.m. EST.
A helicopter crash just outside Mexico City kills seven, including Francisco Blake Mora the Secretary of the Interior of Mexico.
Silvio Berlusconi tenders his resignation as Prime Minister of Italy, effective November 16, due in large part to the Euro area crisis.
A blast in Iran's Shahid Modarres missile base leads to the death of 17 of the Revolutionary Guards members, including Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, a key figure in Iran's missile program.
Arab Spring: After 11 months of protests in Yemen, Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh signs a deal to transfer power to the vice president, in exchange for legal immunity.
NATO attack in Pakistan: NATO forces in Afghanistan attack a Pakistani check post in a friendly fire incident, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others.
The Zhanaozen massacre occurs when violent protests by oil workers take place in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, resulting in security forces killing at least 14 and injuring 100 more.
NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon.
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
FAQ
What year was 2011 in the Japanese calendar?
2011 was Heisei 23 in the Japanese era system.
What Chinese zodiac animal is 2011?
2011 is the Year of the Rabbit.
How old is someone born in 2011?
They turn 15 on their birthday in 2026.
What happened in 2011?
On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, and the next day a hydrogen explosion occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The Kyushu Shinkansen's Kagoshima route opened in full on that same day, and Noda Yoshihiko's cabinet took office in September.
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.