The World States of the Year Awards®

2023 - TURKEY, SYRIA

• Major Earthquake on the 6^th of February in Turkey and Syria.

2022 - UKRAINE

• The Russia-Ukraine War.

2021 - BARBADOS

• Barbados becomes a republic on the 30^th of November.

2020 - ITALY, ISRAEL, UAE, BAHRAIN, SUDAN, MOROCCO, USA

• Italy imposes the First COVID-19 quarantine: Italy becomes the first country to implement a nationwide quarantine in response to the COVID-19 outbreak on the 9^th of March.
• Abraham Accords signed: Israel and the UAE agree to normalise relations, marking the Third Israel–Arab Peace Deal on 13^th August. Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco join the deal on the 11^th of September, the 23^rd of October, and the 10^th of December respectively.
• SpaceX begins a new era of space flight:  SpaceX launches NASA astronauts into orbit on the 30^th of May, becoming the first private enterprise ever to launch astronauts there.

2019 - CHINA, USA

• w China lands on the Dark Side of the Moon: China’s robotic space probe Chang’e 4 becomes the first spacecraft in history and the first artificial object to land on the “Far Side” (“Dark Side”) of the moon on the 3^rd of January.
• First All-woman Spacewalk: NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir become the first female astronauts to complete an all-female spacewalk on the 18^th of October.

2018 - SOUTH KOREA, NORTH KOREA

• The historic Inter-Korean Peace Summit:   The South and North Korean leaders meet and shake hands on the South Korean side of the security zone, on 27the April, towards the future Korean Unification.

2017 - USA

• American Hurricane Season:  During the record-setting 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, the United States faced 17 storms and 10 hurricanes including Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, and Hurricane Maria.

2016 - TURKEY

• The Coup:  A military coup attempt in Turkey on the 15^th of July fails.

2015 - NEPAL, USA, CUBA, ALL-STATES [UN]

• Earthquake in Nepal:  A massive earthquake hits Nepal on 25th April killing around 4000 people on the 25th of April.
• The US and Cuba open their embassies bilaterally:  The US and Cuba open their embassies in each other's country, on the 20th of July, ending more than 50 years of hostility and enmity.
• New Horizons spacecraft flies past Pluto:  NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flies past Pluto, on the 14th of July, sending home the first images of the planet and its moon.
• Paris Agreement:  A historic climate change agreement is adopted, on 12th December, by 195 countries to slow the pace of global warming below 2C.

2014 - UKRAINE

• Russia’s annexation of Crimea:  Russia illegally annexes Crimea on 18th March and threatens the rest of Ukraine.

2013    BANGLADESH, PAKISTAN

• The Garment Factory Disaster in Bangladesh:  A garment factory in Bangladesh collapses on 24th April killing 1,127 people and injuring another 2,500.
• The Government of Pakistan completes its full term: The first government in Pakistan to complete a full term, on 16th March, since the country's formation in 1947.

2012 - USA

• Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record:  22nd October-2nd November.
• The space shuttle Endeavour has its final flight on the 21st of September.

2011 - JAPAN

• The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster:  The Nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on the 11^th of March.
  

2010 - ESTONIA, USA

• Estonia becomes the 34th member of the OECD on 9th December.
• The First SpaceX Launch:  The commercial space flight project SpaceX successfully launched its spacecraft Dragon Capsule in December, becoming the first commercial enterprise to release a spacecraft into orbit and successfully return it to Earth.
  

2009 - ALBANIA, CROATIA

• Albania and Croatia join NATO on 1st April.

2008 - SWITZERLAND

• Inauguration of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC):  CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is officially inaugurated on 21st October.

2007 - USA

• New Horizons spacecraft flies past Jupiter:  NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flies past Jupiter on 28th February making observations of Jupiter and its moons and ring system.
• The launch of the Phoenix Mars Lander:  NASA launches the Phoenix Mars Lander toward Mars to study its north pole on 4th August.

2006 - USA, EU

• New Horizons Space Probe Mission to Pluto:  NASA launches the first ever interplanetary space probe, the “New Horizons Space Probe Mission” to Pluto on 19th January.
• Venus Express orbiter arrival at Venus:  The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Venus Express orbiter arrives at Venus on 11th April.

2005 - USA

• Hurricane Katrina on the 29^th of August.

2004 - INDONESIA, SRI LANKA, INDIA, THAILAND, SOMALIA, MYANMAR, The MALDIVES, MALAYSIA, TANZANIA, SEYCHELLES, BANGLADESH, SOUTH AFRICA, YEMEN, KENYA, MADAGASCAR.

• Major Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami on the 26^th of December

2003 - ALGERIA, USA 

• Boumerdès Earthquake:  A major earthquake in Algeria on 21st May.
• Columbia Disaster: NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on 1st February.

2002 - SWITZERLAND,  EAST TIMOR

• Switzerland and East Timor join the UN on the 10th and 27th of September, respectively.

2001 - USA

• 9/11 Attack on the 11^th of September.

2000 - USA, EU, CANADA, JAPAN, RUSSIA

• Assignment of the first crew to live on the International Space Station (ISS) on 2nd November.

1945 - USA, UK, RUSSIA, CHINA, AUSTRALIA, BELGIUM, CANADA, COSTA RICA, CUBA, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, EL SALVADOR, GREECE, GUATEMALA, HAITI, HONDURAS, INDIA, LUXEMBURG, NETHERLANDS, NEW ZEALAND, NICARAGUA, NORWAY, PANAMA, POLAND, SOUTH AFRICA, MEXICO, PHILIPPINES, ETHIOPIA, IRAQ, BRAZIL, BOLIVIA, IRAN, COLOMBIA, LIBERIA, FRANCE, ECUADOR, PERU, CHILE, PARAGUAY, VENEZUELA, VENEZUELA, URUGUAY, TURKEY, EGYPT, SAUDI ARABIA, SYRIA, AND LEBANON.

• The Declaration of the “United Nations Charter”:  The drafting of the Charter of the United Nations is signed by the original signatories.

1942 - USA, UK, RUSSIA, CHINA

• The “United Nations Declaration” by the Allied Big Four at Arcadia Conference:  The "Big Four”, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union (Russia), and China, signs a short document, on 1st January, which later to is known as the United Nations Declaration.