The best and the worst of 2010

You can't reduce a year on Earth to a mere list. The most talked-about stories, however, can be condensed into the tiniest of spaces: a list of top Twitter trends. For 2010, these included crises like the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the floods in Pakistan and the earthquake in Haiti. These also included such highlights as the rescue of the Chilean miners, the FIFA World Cup, the Apple iPad, and Prince William's engagement. The hottest media story of the year, WikiLeaks Cablegate, sharply refocused the limits of information-flow control and media-driven democracy in the age of the internet.

But some big stories are missing among the trending topics. What happened to the European fiscal crisis? Obama's divisive health-care overhaul? The heartening release of Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma, or the disheartening news from Belarus? Why is there no mention of the volcano in Iceland that grounded air travel across Europe? Are these too local to trend globally?

Much of what happens over the course of a year and registers online is simply too transient to make the grade and go down in history. But on the next page, review those very biggest of events that will remain with us. Oh, and do a bit of brushing up, too, on your comparatives and superlatives.

Anne Hodgson