Year 2010: Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read presents a collection of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 2010. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, sports facts, historic firsts, entertainment trivia, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. In 2010, Barack Obama was the U.S. president, and Joe Biden was the nation’s vice president.
2. The U.S. unemployment rate ranged from 9.9% in April to 9.3% in December.
3. The nation’s inflation rate was 1.64%, and the average retail price for a gallon of gas was $2.96.
4. The prime rate was 3.25%, and one ounce of gold was $1,420.25.
5. The median annual household income in the United States was $49,445.00.
6. In 2010, the median cost of a newly built, single-family home in the United States was $221,800. (In 2025, the median cost of a newly built, single-family home in the U.S. was $416,900.)
7. The minimum wage was $7.25. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “In 2010, 72.9 million American workers aged 16 and over were paid at hourly rates, representing 58.8 percent of all wage and salary workers. Among those paid by the hour, 1.8 million earned exactly the prevailing Federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.” The BLS adds that “Minimum wage workers tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly-paid workers, they made up about half of those paid the federal minimum wage or less.”
8. At the grocery store, a 16-ounce loaf of white bread cost $2.50, yellow onions were $1.99 for a three-pound bag, and one pound of 90% lean ground beef was $3.99. A gallon of milk cost $3.32, eggs were $2.29 a dozen, and Heinz ketchup was $1.69 for a 14-ounce bottle.
9. In 2010, the average life expectancy at birth in the United States was 76.2 years for men and 81.1 years for women.
10. At the 82nd Academy Awards on March 7, which honored the best films of 2009, The Hurt Locker won an Oscar for Best Picture, and Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) won an Oscar for Best Director. Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) won an Oscar for Best Actor, and Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) won an Oscar for Best Actress.
11. On March 20, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano “began spewing molten lava in an uninhabited area in south Iceland, after being dormant for 180 years.”
12. On March 23, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, into law. ABC News explains that Obamacare was “a law enacted to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable health insurance. It does this by offering consumers discounts (known as tax credits) on government-sponsored health insurance plans and by expanding the Medicaid assistance program to include more people who don't have it in their budgets to pay for health care.” Britannica.com adds that Obamacare ”was widely considered the most far-reaching health care reform act since the passage of Medicare, the U.S. government program guaranteeing health insurance for the elderly, in 1965.”
13. On April 5, 29 miners died after a series of explosions rocked the Upper Big Branch Mine near Charleston, West Virginia.
14. On April 20, an explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 people and triggered the largest offshore oil spill in American history.
15. On May 6, the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly fell nearly 1,000 points shortly after 2:30 PM. The New York Times reports that “the speed and scale of the plunge—the largest intraday decline on record—seemed to feed fears that the financial troubles gripping Europe were at last reaching across the Atlantic.”
16. In August, China had a traffic jam that lasted for 12 days and spanned 62 miles.
17. At the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards on August 29, Modern Family (ABC) won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, and Mad Men (AMC) won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series. Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie) won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
18. On September 16, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the percentage of Americans living below the poverty line—$10,830 for an individual and $22,050 for a family of four—reached a 15-year high in 2010. Officially, an estimated 44 million people, or 14.3% of the U.S. population, were living in poverty.
19. On September 17, the final episode of the 54-year-old soap opera As the World Turns was broadcast. The show aired its 10,000th episode on May 12, 1995.
20. On November 4, Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives during the midterm elections, while Democrats retained control of the Senate. Republican Representative John Boehner of Ohio became the new Speaker of the House, replacing Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi of California.
21. On December 22, President Obama repealed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy.
22. In 2010, the most-visited websites were Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Facebook, AOL, Ask, Amazon, CBS, Viacom, Wikipedia, Apple, eBay, the New York Times, Fox, and Comcast.
23. An estimated 294 billion email messages were sent out each day, and about 89.1% of them were spam.
24. By the end of the year, there were 255 million websites and 152 million blogs on the Internet.
25. In 2010, there were 88.8 million .com domain names, 13.2 million .net domains, and 8.6 million .org domain names. There were also 79.2 million country-code top-level domains, such as .UK or .CN.
26. There were 175 million Twitter accounts and 600 million users on Facebook.
27. In 2010, there were 7.7 million people following Lady Gaga, Twitter’s most popular user.
28. The average netizen in the U.S. watched 186 videos every month.
29. Amazon announced that it was selling more Kindle books than hardcover ones.
30. In 2010, Comcast won Consumerist’s award for “Worst Company in America.” Soon after, the telecommunications conglomerate began using the name “XFINITY” to rebrand the company.
31. Subway had over 34,000 sandwich shops in 96 countries.
32. The average American drank 30 gallons of bottled water.
33. Starbucks and McDonald's both started to offer free Wi-Fi to their customers.
34. Manhattan had 1.5 million residents in 2010 versus 2.3 million people in 1910.
35. Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” was Mark Zuckerberg.
36. Fashion trends in 2010 included tiny sunglasses, couture clogs, designer denim, nautical stripes, copper tones, pastel eyes, and chandelier earrings.
37. Toy Store 3 was the most popular film, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest was Amazon’s best-selling book, and American Idol (Fox) was the top TV show.
38. Here are some sports facts from the year 2010: The New Orleans Saints were the Super Bowl champs, the San Francisco Giants won the World Series, and the Chicago Blackhawks clinched the Stanley Cup.
39. In addition, the demolition of Yankee Stadium in New York City was completed. The ballpark first opened on April 18, 1923.
40. Apples (McIntosh): $2.99 for a three-pound bag
41. Beef (ground, 90% lean): $3.99 a pound
42. Bananas: Three pounds for 99 cents
43. Bread (Wonder): Two 16-ounce loaves for $5.00
44. Cereal (Cheerios): $3.79 for an 8.9-ounce box
45. Coffee (Maxwell House): $3.99 for an 11.5-ounce can
46. Eggs: $2.29 a dozen
47. Ketchup (Heinz): $1.69 for a 14-ounce bottle
48. Milk: $3.32 per gallon
49. Onions (yellow): $1.99 for a three-pound bag
50. SPAM: $2.79 for a 12-ounce can

References:

1. https://www.onthisday.com/date/2010
2. https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/2010/
3. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-2010.html
4. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2010/

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor