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The Top 10 Everything of 2010

In 50 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad, of the past 12 months

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Top 10 Albums
- Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
- Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
- LCD Soundsystem, This Is Happening
- The National, High Violet
- Drake, Thank Me Later
- Sufjan Stevens, Age of Adz
- The Black Keys, Brothers
- Yeasayer, Odd Blood
- Big Boi, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
- Beach House, Teen Dream
Top 10 Animal Stories
- Animals Fight to Survive the Oil Spill
- The Reign of the Bedbugs
- Orca Kills Sea World Trainer
- Three Cheers For Paul the Psychic Octopus
- Asian Carp Swim Towards the Great Lakes
- FDA Considers Genetically Modified Salmon
- Contagious Cancer Culprit Found in Tasmanian Devils
- Lady Throws Cat in Dumpster, Unleashes the Rage of the Internet
- Matador Hero Horrifically Gored
- Giant Panda Accidentally Gassed to Death
Top 10 Apologies
- Tiger Woods, to Everyone, for Cheating on His Wife
- British PM David Cameron, to the Families of Victims of Bloody Sunday
- Taylor Swift, to Taylor Lautner in Song
- Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda, to Toyota Buyers
- Mark McGwire, to Everyone, for Using Steroids
- Veteran White House Reporter Helen Thomas, to Jews
- John Mayer, to Everyone, for Using a Racial Epithet
- Elisabeth Hasselbeck to Erin Andrews, for Making Light of Her Stalker
- President Obama, to Guatemala, for U.S. Medical Experiments
- Kanye West, Sort Of, to President Bush, for Calling Him a Racist
Top 10 Biz Deals
- United Unites with Continental
- General Motors' IPO
- Sanofi-Aventis Makes Hostile Bid for Genzyme
- MetLife Picks Up a Piece of AIG
- Agriculture Bank of China Goes Public
- Unilever Buys Alberto Culver
- Warren Buffett Acquires a Successor
- Private Equity Firm 3G Buys Burger King
- Southwest Buys Airtran
- IBM Sells 1% Bonds
Top 10 Buzzwords
- Vuvuzela
- Top Kill/Junk Shot/Static Kill/Top Hat
- Bedbugs
- Eyjafjallajokull
- Austerity
- Anchor Babies
- Mama Grizzlies
- Release the Kraken!
- Double-dip
- Bunga bunga
Top 10 Campaign Ads
- Jerry Brown, "Echo"
- Joe Sestak, "The Switch"
- Ron Johnson, "57"
- Michael Bennet, "Wake Up"
- Lisa Murkowski, "Ted Stevens"
- John McCain, "J.D. Huckster"
- Joe Manchin, "Dead Aim"
- Barbara Boxer, "Outsourcing"
- Linda McMahon, "What Else?"
- Rick Snyder, "One Tough Nerd"
Top 10 Comebacks
- Conan O'Brien
- General Motors
- Eliot Spitzer
- Lisa Murkowski
- Betty White
- Viktor Yanukovych
- Paul Reubens
- Kanye West
- Michael Vick
- Jerry Brown
Top 10 Crime Stories
- Curtains for Joran van der Sloot?
- Borderline Killings: When Murder Becomes Politics
- The Broadway Bomber's Rough Opening
- Belgium's Skydiving-Murderess Trial
- The Trial of Elizabeth Smart's Abductor
- Tyler Clementi and the Uproar Over Bullying
- China's Epidemic of School Knifings
- The Kamikaze Attack in Austin
- Tenure Terror: The Case of Amy Bishop
- The Murder of Yeardley Love
Top 10 Facebook Trends
- The Facebook Movie: The Social Network
- 500 Million Users
- Facebook Places Introduced
- Celebrity Doppelganger Week
- Zuckerberg Gives Millions to Newark Public Schools
- Breast Cancer Awareness Campaigns
- Queen Joins Facebook
- Instant Messages Revealed
- Privacy Snafus
- Facebook E-mail
Top 10 Fashion Statements
- Lady Gaga
- M.I.A.
- Venus Williams
- Prince
- Rihanna
- Britney Spears
- Rita Wilson
- Taylor Momsen
- Charo
- Heidi Klum
Top 10 Feuds
- Sarah Palin v. Levi Johnston
- Anita Hill v. Ginni Thomas
- The Tea Party v. the NAACP
- Andrew Breitbart v. Shirley Sherrod
- Jon Stewart v. Rick Sanchez
- Bill O'Reilly v. The View
- Danielle Staub v. the Rest of the Cast of The Real Housewives of New Jersey
- Mia Farrow v. Naomi Campbell
- Vienna Girardi v. Jake Pavelka
- Lindsay Lohan v. the Judicial System
Top 10 Fiction Books
- Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
- A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
- Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
- The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
- Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon
- Wilson by Daniel Clowes
- Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
- How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
- The Passage by Justin Cronin
- Faithful Place by Tana French
Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Steven Slater
- Ardi Rizal
- Alvin Greene
- Colton Harris-Moore
- Paul the Octopus
- Jimmy McMillan
- Jason Chen
- Abby Sunderland
- Jim Joyce
- Jack Rebney
Top 10 Food Trends
- The New Naturalism
- Locavores Gone Wild!
- Lardcore
- Fast-Food Dada
- Pop-Up Restaurants
- The Culinary Hive Mind
- Dude Food
- Third-Wave Coffee
- It's in the Bag
- Black Market, White Milk
Top 10 Gadgets
- iPad
- Samsung Galaxy S
- 11-In. MacBook Air
- Google TV Via Logitech Revue
- Nexus One
- iPhone 4
- Apple TV
- Toshiba Libretto Dual-Screen Laptop
- Kinect
- Nook Color
Top 10 Green Stories
- The Oil Spill — and What It Didn't Change
- The Death of Cap-and-Trade
- The UN Climate Process Falls Flat
- Prop 23 Is Defeated
- California Embarks on Cap-and-Trade
- Lake Mead Is Drying Up
- The IPCC Screws Up
- The Electric Car Finally Arrives
- Trend Alert! Collaborative Consumption
- Nations Agree to Slow Biodiversity Loss
Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Netflix
- Groupon
- iMovie
- Springpad
- Twitter
- Dragon Dictation
- Petfinder
- Hulu Plus
- iBooks
- Nike + GPS
Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Conan v. Leno: Tonight Show Smackdown
- Stewart Rallies for Sanity
- Colbert Rallies for Fear
- Bush Sees the Light
- Glenn Beck's Crying Game
- Obama: Just What the Republicans Needed
- Woods' Wife Wins
- An Off-Color Midterm Strategy
- Client No. 9 Does TV
- Conan's (Basic Cable) Return
Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Rolling Stone, November 2010
- National Geographic, April 2010
- Wallpaper, August 2010
- W, November 2010
- The New Yorker, March 29, 2010
- Mad, May 2010
- Harper's Bazaar, April 2010
- ESPN the Magazine, October 2010
- The Economist, Oct. 9, 2010
- Martha Stewart Living for the iPad, November 2010
Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- AIDS Drugs Lower the Risk of HIV Infection
- Synthetic Cell
- Blood Test for Alzheimer's
- FDA Approves Botox for Migraines
- Taking the Resuscitation Out of CPR
- The FDA Restricts Avandia
- Blood Test for Heart Attack
- Predicting IVF Success
- Artificial Ovary
- Creating iPS Cells Safer and Faster
Top 10 Movie Performances
- Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
- Colin Firth as King George VI in The King's Speech
- Edgar Ramírez as Ilich Ramírez Sánchez in Carlos
- Jacki Weaver as Janine (Smurf) in Animal Kingdom
- Tilda Swinton as Emma Recchi in I Am Love
- Christian Bale as Dickie Eklund in The Fighter
- Chloë Grace Moretz as Mindy in Kick Ass
- Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross in True Grit
- Emma Stone as Olive in Easy A
- Angela Wesselman as Abby Pierce et al. in Catfish
Top 10 Movies
- Toy Story 3
- Inside Job
- Never Let Me Go
- Life During Wartime
- The Social Network
- Rabbit Hole
- Wild Grass
- Green Zone
- Waiting for 'Superman'
- Four Lions
Top 10 New Species
- Beaked Toad
- Darwin's Bark Spider
- High-Altitude Tree Ant
- Mossula Katydid
- Pea-Sized Pitcher Plant Frog
- Ecuadorean Glass Frog
- Giant Woolly Rat
- Tube-Nosed Fruit Bat
- Bluetooth Tarantula
- Five-Foot Penguin
Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
- The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Let's Take the Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell
- The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood by Jane Leavy
- Brilliant by Jane Brox
- War by Sebastian Junger
- Life by Keith Richards
- Hellhound on His Trail by Hampton Sides
- Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff
- You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier
Top 10 Numbers
- 206 million
- 466,743
- 1,951
- $16.36
- 2%
- $140 million
- $1,424.50
- $2.7 billion
- $75,000
- 193%
Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- The $8 Million iPhone
- The Mystery Missile That Wasn't
- The 2-Year-Old Smoker
- Kobayashi: From Competitive-Eating Champion to Jailbird
- King Tut's Penis: Missing?
- Is That a Time Traveler on the Charlie Chaplin DVD?
- Fired for Excessive Beauty?
- Life in the Time of Vuvuzelas
- The Way of the Samurai Porn Star
- The U.S. Wishes the Queen Happy Birthday — on the Wrong Day
Top 10 Overreported Stories
- Being Sarah Palin
- Chelsea Clinton's Wedding
- Bewitched by Christine O'Donnell
- The Mortalizing of Barack Obama
- Gordon Brown's 'Bigotgate'
- Giving Terry Jones a Platform
- LeBron James' 'Decision'
- Bieber Fever
- Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite
- Kanye's Beautiful, Dark Twittered Fantasy
Top 10 Pictures
- Nameless Victim
- Tragedy in Haiti
- The Chilean Miners are Found
- Volcanic Eruption in Iceland
- Flooding in Pakistan
- Afghanistan Votes
- Uprising in Kyrgyzstan
- Troop Drawdown in Iraq
- Southern Sudan Prepares to Vote
- A Soldier's Final Resting Place
Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- When the Rain Stops Falling
- Venice
- The Little Foxes
- La Cage aux Folles
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
- A View from the Bridge
- A True History of the Johnstown Flood
- Come Fly Away
- Mistakes Were Made
- The Scottsboro Boys
Top 10 Quotes
- McCain Makes a U-Turn
- VP Says It Plain
- Hayward "Apologizes"
- George Bush Really Cares About Kanye West
- A Papal Apology
- An Exasperated Obama
- Don't Put Your Hands on Me
- Hawking Shocks with Predictable Statement
- Make Up Your Mind Already!
- Putin's Just Sayin'
Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Joe Biden and the BFD
- Harry Reid's Bad Delivery of Good News
- Michael Steele's Short-Lived Afghan Withdrawal
- Gibbs and the "Professional Left"
- Jan Brewer Draws a Blank
- Christine O'Donnell Flubs the First Amendment
- Martha Coakley's Unforced Error
- Sharron Angle's Ethnic Eye Test
- Obama Plagued by the Middle East
- Palin's North Korean Allies
Top 10 Reality-TV Moments
- Simon Signs Off
- A Real Housewife Crashes a White House Party
- A Look Behind the Curtain on The Hills
- Bridalplasty Bombs
- The Watermelon Incident
- Sister Wives Investigated
- A Death in the Family
- Bristol Palin Dances in a Gorilla Suit
- Sarah Palin's Alaska Premieres
- The Jersey Shore Takes Miami
Top 10 Religion Stories
- Park51: The "Ground Zero Mosque"
- The Vatican and the Child Abuse Scandal
- The Bankruptcy of the Crystal Cathedral
- Franklin Graham vs. the Muslims
- The Rev. Terry Jones Threatens to Burn Korans
- Women Priests, In Spite of the Vatican
- The Pope Doesn't Quite Endorse Condoms
- Christians Under Attack in the Middle East
- Obama Decides Not to Visit the Golden Temple
- The Vatican and Homer Simpson
Top 10 Scandals
- Woman Returns Son to Sender
- Sarah Ferguson Sells the Prince for a Price
- Jesse James Cheats on Sandra Bullock with Tattooed Lady
- Mel Gibson Loses His Cool — and Any Vestigial Public Goodwill
- Small City, Big Pay Scandal
- Flight Attendant Goes Awol
- Charlie Sheen Trashes Hotel Room
- Katy Perry Barred From Sesame Street
- Dora the Explorer Sues Nickelodeon
- CEO Loses Job Because of Money and Sex
Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- The Horniest Dinosaur That Ever Lived
- Big News About a Small Particle
- Our (Sort of) Watery Moon
- The Robot Sleuth and the Mexican Tunnel
- Getting Old? Blame This Gene
- Planet Population Explodes
- The Ultimate Magician's Cape
- Meet the Ancestors
- A New Element — Maybe
- The Drinking Cat
Top 10 Songs
- Cee Lo Green, "F___ You"
- Janelle Monáe, "Tightrope"
- Kanye West, "Power"
- Arcade Fire, "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
- Eminem featuring Rihanna, "Love the Way You Lie"
- Yeasayer, "Ambling Alp"
- Jónsi, "Animal Arithmetic"
- Drake, "Find Your Love"
- Elizabeth Cook, "All the Time"
- Sleigh Bells, "Rill Rill"
Top 10 Sports Moments
- Baseball's Imperfect Game
- LeBron's Bad Decision
- A College Basketball Cinderella Comes Oh So Close
- Football Uses Its Head
- Ghana's World Cup Giveaway
- McDowell's Ryder Cup Magic
- Saints Come Marching On
- The Three-Day Duel at Wimbledon
- Rochette Brightens the Games for Canada
- Making Cricket History
Top 10 Talented Web Videos
- Happy Together/Paper Planes Lip Dub
- Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
- OK Go, "White Knuckles"
- Up & Over it: We No Speak Americano
- Last Minutes with ODEN
- Carly Sakolove: Broadway Divas "Send in the Clowns"
- The Johnny Cash Project
- 35mm
- Take Care
- 2 Guys 600 Pillows (Backwards Music Video)
Top 10 Toys
- Sing-a-ma-jigs
- Morphology
- LEGO Board Games
- Toy Story Mania
- Paper Jamz
- Doodle Track Car
- Fisher Price Kid Tough Digital Camera
- Razor Sole Skate
- Computer Engineer Barbie
- Disney Princess & Me Doll
Top 10 Travel Moments
- Iceland's Volcano Snarls European Air Traffic
- Steven Slater's JetBlue Freak-Out
- "Don't Touch My Junk" and the TSA
- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Kills New York–New Jersey Tunnel
- 4,500 Carnival Cruise Passengers Stranded
- China's 62-Mile-Long Traffic Jam
- Virgin Galactic's First Commercial Spaceflight
- World's Longest Tunnel Completed in Switzerland
- Kevin Smith: Too Fat to Fly Southwest?
- United and Continental Merge, Forming World's Largest Airline
Top 10 TV Commercials
- Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
- Snickers: Betty White
- Nike: Write the Future
- Google: Parisian Love
- Windows Phone: Really?
- Nike: What Should I Do?
- Subaru: Baby Driver
- Coca-Cola: Hard Times
- GEICO: This Little Piggy
- Bridgestone: Bachelor Party
Top 10 TV Episodes
- Friday Night Lights, "The Son"
- Mad Men, "The Suitcase"
- Community, "Modern Warfare"
- Breaking Bad, "One Minute"
- Fringe, "Peter"
- Louie, "Bully"
- Lost, "The End"
- Treme, "Do You Know What It Means" (Pilot)
- The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, Final Episode
- Justified, "Fire in the Hole" (Pilot)
Top 10 TV Series
- Breaking Bad
- Mad Men
- Parks and Recreation
- Louie
- Boardwalk Empire
- Party Down
- The Pacific
- The Good Wife
- Rubicon
- Terriers
Top 10 Tweets
- John McCain
- Sarah Palin
- Kevin Smith
- Kanye West
- Lindsay Lohan
- Angie Jackson
- Roger Ebert
- Bill Cosby
- Russell Brand
- Dustin Curtis
Top 10 Twitter Moments
- Kanye West Joins Twitter
- Conan O'Brien's Twitter Wit
- Justin Bieber, Trending No More
- Library of Congress Archives Tweets
- New Twitter Design
- From Twitter Feed to Hit Sitcom
- Journalist Freed After Tweets
- MTV Selects Twitter Jockey
- Ivy Bean, Oldest User, Dies
- @BPGlobalPR: Oil-Spill Satire
Top 10 World News Stories
- Haiti Earthquake
- WikiLeaks
- Chilean Miners
- Pakistan Floods
- North Korea's Year of Bad Behavior
- South Africa's World Cup
- Yemen: New Front in the War on Terrorism
- European Austerity Measures
- Mexico's Drug War
- Thailand's Red Shirts
Top 10 Underreported Stories
- The Outcome in Iraq
- Jihadists Take Somalia
- Mass Rape in the Congo
- Health Care Fraud
- Iran's Internal Power Struggle
- Transparency in Medical Research
- America's Natural-Gas Boom
- The Rise of Europe's Anti-immigrant Right
- Another War in Sudan?
- No Shame on Wall Street
Top 10 U.S. News Stories
- The BP Oil Spill
- Rise of the Tea Party
- Obama's Quagmire: Health Care
- Obama's Quagmire II: The Economy
- U.S. Islamophobia
- McChrystal and the War in Afghanistan
- Arizona's Strict Immigration Law
- US-China Tensions
- The Arrival of the iPad
- The Supreme Court Sides With Citizens United
Top 10 Video Games
- Alan Wake
- Angry Birds
- Red Dead Redemption
- Halo: Reach
- Super Mario Galaxy 2
- Limbo
- Super Meat Boy
- Super Street Fighter IV
- Starcraft II
- Mass Effect 2
Top 10 Viral Videos
- Double Rainbow
- Merton on Chatroulette
- Bed Intruder
- OK Go, "This Too Shall Pass"
- Old Spice, "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like"
- General Larry Platt, "Pants on the Ground"
- Insane Clown Posse, "Miracles"
- Next Media Animation
- "Trololo" Guy
- Phil Davison

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The Top 10 Everything of 2010

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