Timeline — 2011

A chronological index of notable events of 2011 drawn from the knowledge table and dedicated topic files. Year-long developments are listed first, followed by dated events in order.

| Date | Item | Category | Link | |—|—|—|—| | 2011 (year-long) | Arab Spring | History & Politics | link | | 2011 (year-long) | Eurozone Sovereign Debt Crisis | Society & Economics | link | | 2011 (year-long) | Android Mobile Platform Rise | Science & Technology | link | | 2011 (year-long) | 2011 in Film | Arts & Culture | link | | 2011 (year-long) | Music in 2011 | Arts & Culture | link | | 2011 (year-long) | Television in 2011 | Arts & Culture | link | | 2011 (year-long) | Business and Entrepreneurship in 2011 | Society & Economics | link | | 2011 (year-long) | Literary and Intellectual Figures of 2011 | People | link | | 2011 (year-long) | Notable Deaths of 2011 | People | link | | 2011 (year-long) | Scientific Discoveries & Breakthroughs of 2011 | Science & Technology | link | | 2011 (year-long) | Video Games in 2011 | Society & Economics | link | | 2011 (year-long) | 2011 Renewable Energy Expansion | Science & Technology | link | | 2011 (year-long) | Unsung Heroes of 2011 | People | link | | Dec 17, 2010 – Jan 14, 2011 | Tunisian Revolution (Jasmine Revolution) | History & Politics | link | | Jan 4, 2011 | Death of Mohamed Bouazizi (spark of the Tunisian Revolution and Arab Spring) | People | link | | Jan 8, 2011 | 2011 Tucson shooting (Rep. Gabrielle Giffords gravely wounded) | History & Politics | link | | Jan 18, 2011 | Death of R. Sargent Shriver (founding Peace Corps director) | People | link | | Jan 24, 2011 | Adele releases 21 (the best-selling album worldwide of 2011 and 2012) | Arts & Culture | link | | Jan 25 – Feb 11, 2011 | Egyptian Revolution (Mubarak resigns) | History & Politics | link | | Jan 27 – Nov 23, 2011 | Yemeni Revolution (Saleh signs GCC transition deal) | History & Politics | link | | Jan 30, 2011 | The Social Network score wins the Grammy; Reznor & Ross go on to take the Oscar | Arts & Culture | link | | Jan 30, 2011 | 2011 Australian Open final (Djokovic and Clijsters win; Li Na runner-up) | Society & Economics | link | | Feb 6, 2011 | Super Bowl XLV (Green Bay Packers beat Pittsburgh Steelers 31–25) | Society & Economics | link | | Feb 13, 2011 | 53rd Grammy Awards (Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs wins Album of the Year) | Arts & Culture | link | | Feb 14–16, 2011 | IBM Watson wins Jeopardy! exhibition match | Science & Technology | link | | Feb 15 – Oct 23, 2011 | Libyan Civil War & NATO intervention | History & Politics | link | | Feb 19 – Apr 2, 2011 | Cricket World Cup 2011 | Society & Economics | link | | Feb 22, 2011 | Christchurch earthquake | Society & Economics | link | | Feb 27, 2011 | 83rd Academy Awards (The King’s Speech wins Best Picture) | Arts & Culture | link | | Mar 1, 2011 | WikiLeaks superseding charges against Bradley Manning | History & Politics | link | | Mar 11, 2011 | Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami | Society & Economics | link | | Mar 11, 2011 | Fukushima Daiichi disaster | Science & Technology | link | | Mar 15, 2011 | Onset of the Syrian Civil War (Daraa protests) | History & Politics | link | | Mar 18, 2011 | MESSENGER becomes first spacecraft to orbit Mercury | Science & Technology | link | | Mar 23, 2011 | Death of Elizabeth Taylor | People | link | | Mar 24, 2011 | The Book of Mormon opens on Broadway (wins nine Tony Awards) | Arts & Culture | link | | Mar 26, 2011 | Death of Geraldine Ferraro (first woman on a major U.S. presidential ticket) | People | link | | Apr 17, 2011 | Game of Thrones series premiere on HBO | Arts & Culture | link | | Apr 18, 2011 | 2011 Pulitzer Prizes announced | Arts & Culture | link | | Apr 18, 2011 | A Visit from the Goon Squad wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction | Arts & Culture | link | | Apr 29, 2011 | Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton | History & Politics | link | | May 2, 2011 | Death of Osama bin Laden | History & Politics | link | | May 2, 2011 | Osama bin Laden (biography, 1957–2011) | People | link | | May 10, 2011 | Microsoft announces $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype | Society & Economics | link | | May 19, 2011 | LinkedIn IPO (shares surge 109% on debut) | Society & Economics | link | | May 22 – Jun 5, 2011 | 2011 French Open (Nadal wins a sixth title; Li Na becomes the first Asian Grand Slam singles champion) | Society & Economics | link | | May 23, 2011 | Square launches Register (iPad point-of-sale) and Card Case | Society & Economics | link | | May 28, 2011 | 2011 UEFA Champions League Final (Barcelona beats Manchester United 3–1) | Society & Economics | link | | Jun 12, 2011 | 2011 NBA Finals (Dallas Mavericks beat Miami Heat 4–2) | Society & Economics | link | | Jun 15, 2011 | Cloud computing and infrastructure scale up (AWS and Microsoft Azure) | Science & Technology | link | | Jun 18, 2011 | Death of Clarence Clemons (E Street Band saxophonist) | People | link | | Jun 19, 2011 | 2011 U.S. Open golf (Rory McIlroy wins his first major by eight shots) | Society & Economics | link | | Jun 19, 2011 | Bitcoin’s 2011 price surge and Mt. Gox hack | Science & Technology | link | | Jun 20 – Jul 3, 2011 | 2011 Wimbledon Championships (Djokovic and Kvitová win maiden titles) | Society & Economics | link | | Jun 28, 2011 | Google+ social network launches | Science & Technology | link | | Jun 30, 2011 | Mark Zuckerberg in 2011 (Facebook Timeline, Open Graph, and IPO run-up) | People | link | | Jul 2–24, 2011 | 2011 Tour de France (Cadel Evans becomes the first Australian champion) | Society & Economics | link | | Jul 4–10, 2011 | News of the World phone-hacking crisis (Milly Dowler report to newspaper’s closure) | History & Politics | link | | Jul 5, 2011 | Casey Anthony acquitted of murder in Caylee Anthony’s death | History & Politics | link | | Jul 9, 2011 | South Sudan independence | History & Politics | link | | Jul 15, 2011 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 released (2011’s highest-grossing film) | Arts & Culture | link | | Jul 17, 2011 | Japan wins the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the first Asian side to take a senior World Cup | Society & Economics | link | | Jul 19, 2011 | Rupert and James Murdoch testify to Parliament; Leveson Inquiry and press-regulation overhaul follow | History & Politics | link | | Jul 20, 2011 | UN declares famine in southern Somalia (2011 East Africa drought) | Society & Economics | link | | Jul 21, 2011 | Space Shuttle program ends (STS-135) | Science & Technology | link | | Jul 22, 2011 | 2011 Norway attacks (Oslo bombing and Utøya massacre) | History & Politics | link | | Jul 23, 2011 | Death of Amy Winehouse | People | link | | Jul–Dec 2011 (peak Oct–Nov) | Thailand monsoon floods (Chao Phraya basin, Bangkok) | Society & Economics | link | | Aug 5, 2011 | S&P downgrades U.S. credit rating to AA+ | Society & Economics | link | | Aug 5, 2011 | Launch of NASA’s Juno spacecraft to Jupiter | Science & Technology | link | | Aug 6–11, 2011 | 2011 England riots | Society & Economics | link | | Aug 10, 2011 | The Help released (Octavia Spencer later wins the Best Supporting Actress Oscar) | Arts & Culture | link | | Aug 13, 2011 | 2012 U.S. presidential campaign early phase (Rick Perry enters; Bachmann wins the Ames Straw Poll) | History & Politics | link | | Aug 17, 2011 | 2011 Hugo Awards (Renovation Worldcon, Reno) | Arts & Culture | link | | Sep 9 – Oct 23, 2011 | 2011 Rugby World Cup (New Zealand wins) | Society & Economics | link | | Sep 12, 2011 | Snapchat founded (Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy launch the ephemeral photo-messaging app) | Science & Technology | link | | Sep 17, 2011 | Occupy Wall Street begins | Society & Economics | link | | Sep 23, 2011 | OPERA reports apparent faster-than-light neutrinos | Science & Technology | link | | Sep 26, 2011 | Death of Wangari Maathai | People | link | | Sep 29, 2011 | Launch of Tiangong-1, China’s first space laboratory module | Science & Technology | link | | Oct 3–10, 2011 | 2011 Nobel Prizes announced | Science & Technology | link | | Oct 5, 2011 | Steve Jobs death | People | link | | Oct 6, 2010 – 2011 | Instagram launches on iOS (2010) and passes ten million users through 2011 | Science & Technology | link | | Oct 12, 2011 | Death of Dennis Ritchie (creator of C and Unix) | People | link | | Oct 14, 2011 | iPhone 4S & Siri introduced | Science & Technology | link | | Oct 20, 2011 | Death of Muammar Gaddafi (captured and killed in Sirte, ending the Libyan Civil War) | History & Politics | link | | Oct 31, 2011 | World population reaches seven billion | Society & Economics | link | | Nov 4, 2011 | Groupon IPO (raises ~$700M at a $12.7B valuation; emblem of the web 2.0 bubble) | Society & Economics | link | | Nov 7, 2011 | Death of Joe Frazier (former undisputed heavyweight champion) | People | link | | Nov 8, 2011 | Phobos-Grunt Mars sample-return mission launches (later lost) | Science & Technology | link | | Nov 9, 2011 | Penn State football scandal (Joe Paterno fired after Sandusky arrest) | Society & Economics | link | | Nov 11, 2011 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim released | Arts & Culture | link | | Nov 18, 2011 | Minecraft 1.0 released at MineCon, completing the sandbox game | Science & Technology | link | | Nov 23, 2011 | The Muppets revives Jim Henson’s franchise (later wins Best Original Song) | Arts & Culture | link | | Nov 26, 2011 | NASA launches Curiosity rover | Science & Technology | link | | Nov 28 – Dec 11, 2011 | UN Climate Change Conference COP17 adopts the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action | Society & Economics | link | | Dec 5, 2011 | NASA confirms Kepler-22b, the first planet in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star | Science & Technology | link | | Dec 15, 2011 | Death of Christopher Hitchens | People | link | | Dec 17, 2011 | Death of Kim Jong Il | History & Politics | link | | Dec 17, 2011 | Kim Jong Il (biography, 1941–2011) | People | link | | Dec 18, 2011 | Death of Václav Havel | History & Politics | link | | Dec 18, 2011 | Václav Havel (biography, 1936–2011) | People | link | | Dec 18, 2011 | End of the Iraq War — last U.S. troops withdraw | History & Politics | link | | Jan 18, 2012 | Wikipedia SOPA/PIPA blackout (protest of 2011-introduced bills) | Science & Technology | link | | Jan 19, 2012 | Eastman Kodak files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy | Society & Economics | link |