Video: Extreme Moments of 2010
When the earth cracks under your feet and splits into a crater the size of a three-story factory, you know that nobody’s going to believe you unless they see it for themselves. The next best thing: pictures. We can never resist the biggest, the brightest, the tallest, the smallest, that…
No. 10: Ruben van Assouw
Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 from Johannesburg, South Africa, crashed on approach to the airport in Tripoli, Libya, on May 12. It was a clear day, without strong winds; investigators’ preliminary findings indicated pilot error, possibly low visibility because of mist and sand. The plane was smashed into bits, the pieces…
No. 9: Wangjialing Coal Miners
The accident in a northern Chinese mine in late March seemed to be yet another tragic moment in the country’s history of mining disasters. China is the largest producer of coal, contributing about half of the world’s supply. But the industry, which employs 3 million miners, remains exceptionally dangerous in…
No. 8: Times Square Heroes
Times Square, May 1, 2010: Saturday night, and the famous New York intersection was packed with tourists. Faisal Shahzad figured it was the perfect target for a car bomb. Although he failed, the attempt struck a nerve in a city scarred by prior terrorist attacks. The bomb could easily have…
No. 7: El Blog del Narco
Mexico’s drug cartels have long been associated with grisly violence. But killings and intimidation have escalated significantly in recent years, among rival groups as well as against government forces attempting to crack down on lawlessness. Since Felipe Calderon became president in 2006 and declared war on the cartels, nearly 30,000…
No. 6: Fort Hood Witnesses
One year after the horrific 2009 attack at the Fort Hood Soldier Readiness Center, 56 witnesses testified in the military pretrial hearing against Nidal Malik Hasan. More than two dozen of the witnesses were soldiers. Two of the soldiers were members of the team that Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused…
No. 5: Abby Sunderland
Circumnavigating the globe isn’t the same today as it was for Ferdinand Magellan in the 1500s: A sailor can call home via satellite phone and, of course, can blog. But when the elements are at their worst, it’s just you, your boat, and the ocean — a frightening prospect. But…
No. 4: Jaycee Dugard
It’s a parent’s worst nightmare: A stranger comes out of nowhere, snatches a child, and they vanish. Statistically, it’s a rare occurrence. According to the Department of Justice, about 200,000 kids per year are abducted by family members, and almost 60,000 are kidnapped by strangers. Only about 115 kidnappings involve…
No. 3: Iraq War Soldiers
On August 19, the Army’s 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, crossed the border from Iraq into Kuwait. The departure of the last U.S. combat brigade closed a chapter in American history that began with the 2003 invasion of Iraq. U.S. leaders believed that after toppling Saddam Hussein, the vast…
No. 2: Chilean Miners
Mining is one of the pillars of Chile’s economy; the country is the world’s top producer of copper. Thus, when an August 5 cave-in at the San Jose gold and copper mine in Chile’s northern Atacama Desert trapped 33 miners 2,300 feet underground, the disaster was a blow to the…