WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO AUGUST 2011
Find out what all happened January to August 2011

The former president of Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled his country to Saudi Arabia after a series of street demonstrations against his regime and corrupt policies, asking for freedom, rights and democracy, considered as the anniversary of the Tunisian Revolution and the birth of the Arab Spring. (14. January 2011)

Digital switchover is completed in 44 of the 47 prefectures of Japan, with Iwate, Miyagi[disambiguation needed ], and Fukushima television stations terminating analog broadcasting operations later as a result of the Tōhoku earthquake. (24. July 2011)

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. (11. March 2011)

A rare tornado outbreak occurs in New England; a strong EF3 tornado strikes Springfield, Massachusetts, during the event, killing four people. (1. June 2011)

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. (22. February 2011)

An E. coli outbreak strikes Europe, mostly in Germany, leaving more than 30 people dead and many others sick from the bacteria outbreak. (2. May 2011)

Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program. (8. July 2011)

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 thirteen people, including eight foreign workers. (1. April 2011)

Final Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103). (24. February 2011)

A winter storm hits North America for the second time in the same month, causing $1.8 billion in damage across the United States and Canada and killing 24 people. (31. January 2011)

The Wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Kate Middleton. (29. April 2011)

Mumbai is rocked by three bomb blasts during the evening rush hour, killing 26 and injuring 130. (13. July 2011)

Beginning of the Syrian civil war. (15. March 2011)

STS-134 (ISS assembly flight ULF6), launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the 25th and final flight for Space Shuttle Endeavour. (16. May 2011)

Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted man is killed by the United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. (2. May 2011)

Malta votes on the introduction of divorce. (28. May 2011)

As a part of Arab Spring, the Bahraini uprising, a series of demonstrations, amounting to a sustained campaign of civil resistance, in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain begins with a 'Day of Rage'. (14. February 2011)

The first wave of the Egyptian revolution begins in Egypt, with a series of street demonstrations, marches, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, riots, labour strikes, and violent clashes in Cairo, Alexandria, and throughout other cities in Egypt. (25. January 2011)

The debut exhibition of the Belitung shipwreck, containing the largest collection of Tang Dynasty artefacts found in one location, begins in Singapore. (19. February 2011)

Libyan civil war: After the failure of Muammar Gaddafi's forces to take Benghazi, French Air Force launches Opération Harmattan, beginning foreign military intervention in Libya. (19. March 2011)